Abstract The relative competitive ability of common lambsquarters and giant foxtail in mixed weed–corn communities was characterized in 1998 and 1999 using empirical models that described late-season weed biomass on the basis of weed density, early-season relative leaf area, or early-season relative shoot volume. Competition coefficients estimated from weed density were inconsistent between years because they indicated that giant foxtail was more competitive than common lambsquarters in 1998 but that common lambsquarters was more competitive than giant foxtail in 1999. In contrast, the competition coefficients based on relative leaf area and relative volume were consistent between years. Competition coefficients estimated from relative leaf area indicated that giant foxtail was more competitive than common lambsquarters in each year. Competition coefficients estimated from weed relative volume indicated that the relative competitive ability of each weed species was similar in each year. Weed relative competitive abilities were characterized further by describing the mechanisms of competition related to shoot height and width growth. Giant foxtail was taller than common lambsquarters shortly after emergence each year, but plasticity of common lambsquarters growth resulted in reduced height differential between the weed species over time. Even so, giant foxtail was taller than common lambsquarters at physiological maturity each year. Coefficients that described the ability of each weed species to crowd neighbors indicated that giant foxtail shoot width was affected more by increased common lambsquarters density and proportion than was common lambsquarters shoot width by giant foxtail. The greater ability of common lambsquarters to crowd neighbors relative to giant foxtail was attributed to the greater leaf area density (LAD) of common lambsquarters compared with that of giant foxtail. Although characterization of shoot height, width, LAD, and biomass elucidated in part the mechanisms of competition between these species, models that accounted for differences in early-season relative plant size were consistent between years, indicating that giant foxtail was equally or more competitive than common lambsquarters in corn. Nomenclature: Common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. CHEAL; giant foxtail, Setaria faberi Herrm. SETFA; corn, Zea mays L. 'Dekalb DK493SR'.


The effect of the enzymatic deamidation by protein-glutaminase (PG) on flavor-binding properties of soy protein isolate (SPI) under aqueous conditions was evaluated by a modified equilibrium dialysis (ultrafiltration) technique. Binding parameters, such as number of binding sites (n) and binding constants (K), were derived from Klotz plots. The partial deamidation of SPI by PG (43.7% degree of deamidation) decreased overall flavor-binding affinity (nK) at 25 °C for both vanillin and maltol by approximately 9- and 4-fold, respectively. The thermodynamic parameters of binding indicated that the flavor-protein interactions were spontaneous (negative ΔG°) and that the driving force of the interactions shifted from entropy to enthalpy driven as a result of deamidation. Deamidation of soy protein caused a change in the mechanism of binding from hydrophobic interactions or covalent bonding (Schiff base formation) to weaker van der Waals forces or hydrogen bonding.


Evaluation of climate policies and other issues requires a variable population setting where population is endogenously determined. We propose and axiomatize the rank-discounted critical-level utilitarian social welfare order. It is shown to fill out the space between critical-level utilitarianism and (a version of) critical-level leximin. Moreover, it satisfies many conditions and principles used to evaluate variable population criteria. In particular, it avoids the repugnant conclusion even when the critical level is zero.


As we all know, health cannot be sold or purchased by anyone anywhere. According to the holistic concept of health which is based on 'Bio-psycho-social model', a person can only be healthy if he/she is able to maintain a harmonious balance between physical, mental/emotional, social and spiritual dimensions of self. No doctor or hospital however big they may be, can give health to anyone until and unless a person chooses to be healthy by making the right choices in his day to day behavior. Adolescence is the time when a person learns to make the choices about his daily behavior. Therefore, giving them the correct information about the routine behavior is of paramount importance for everyone concerned with health including public health experts. One such concept has been developed by the author as 'Seven Health Sins' which he has been sharing with the adolescents in the schools as well as the first-year medical students.


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

Obesity promotes the pathogenesis of many cancers, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood malignancy. Clinical studies have shown that children who are obese at the time of ALL diagnosis have a greater risk of relapse than normal weight children; however, this risk may be attenuated if their weight normalizes over the majority of treatment. One possible explanation is that nutrient-deficiency may induce host, but not ALL, cell senescence, thereby augmenting chemotherapy specificity and efficacy. Here, we hypothesize that a calorie- and fat-restricted diet during chemotherapy differentially alters host and ALL cell metabolism, improving chemotherapy efficacy and overall survival of high-fat diet-induced obese mice with ALL.

To test the effect of dietary restriction on survival, C57BL/6J mice were placed on a high-fat diet (60% calories from fat) upon weaning. At 20 weeks of age, obese and control mice were implanted with syngeneic BCR/ABL+ ALL cells. After a 7-day latency, half of the obese mice were switched onto a low-fat (10% calories from fat) diet. Concurrently, vincristine chemotherapy (0.5mg/kg/wk x 4wks) was initiated and mice were tracked for survival. Separate groups of implanted mice were sacrificed 1 day before, 1 day and 1 week after dietary restriction for bone marrow and spleen collection. BrdU incorporation and p-AKT(Ser 473), p-eIF2A(Ser51) and p-S6K(Thr412) levels in marrow and spleen ALL and host cells were analyzed via flow cytometry for changes in cell cycle and metabolism. Finally, we also evaluated the effect of dietary restriction on human ALL outcome, using an obese xenograft ALL model treated with vincristine, dexamethasone and L-asparaginase.

Dieted obese C57BL/6J leukemic mice exhibited a greater percentage of weight loss over the first two weeks of chemotherapy compared to non-dieted obese mice (Dieted vs. non-dieted obese: -25.2±10.6% vs. -0.3±4.5%, p<0.001). Dieted obese leukemic mice had significantly higher survival than non-dieted obese and lean mice after 4 months (Dieted: 91.6%, Obese: 16.7%, Lean: 41.7%; n = 12/group; p<0.001). Flow cytometry of the murine bone marrow and spleen showed no diet-induced alterations in BrdU incorporation or AKT pathway activation in either host or ALL cells. Surprisingly, however, we did not observe a similar effect of dietary restriction on survival in the obese xenograft ALL model.

Based on these findings, a calorie and fat restricted diet initiated at the onset chemotherapy improves overall survival in obese mice with syngeneic ALL, though this phenomenon was not observed in a human xenograft model. Further work is needed to explore the possibility of a dietary intervention as an effective potential adjuvant during chemotherapy in obese cancer patients.

Citation Format: Jonathan Tucci, Waseem Alhushki, Xia Sheng, Steven D. Mittelman. Calorie and fat restriction during chemotherapy improves survival in obese mice with syngeneic acute lymphoblastic leukemia. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1633. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1633


In this present paper,  an experimental study of some plasma characteristics in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) system using several variables, such as different frequencies and using two different electrodes metals(aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu)), is represented. The discharge plasma was produced by an AC power supply source of 6 and 7 kHz frequencies for the nitrogen gas spectrum and for two different electrodes metals(Al and Cu). Optical emission spectrometer was used to study plasma properties (such as electron temperature ( ), electron number density ( ), Debye length ( ), and plasma frequency ( )). In addition, images were analysed for the plasma emission intensity at atmospheric air pressure.


Abstract Immunohistochemical staining for keratin proteins may be useful as a diagnostic parameter in head and neck neoplasms. Our study evaluates the keratin antibody staining properties of normal tissues as well as neoplastic and non-neoplastic head and neck lesions from surgical procedures performed on 100 patients. The results indicate that the anti-keratin antibody technique can be helpful in several areas of head and neck pathology.


BACKGROUND:
The DIA Adaptive Designs Scientific Working Group has a devoted subteam to performing surveys, literature reviews, and registry reviews every 4 years to assess the perception and use of adaptive designs (ADs) in the development of drugs and biologics.

METHODS:
A survey was distributed to pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and contract research organizations to collect information about the usage of ADs of different types and perception of challenges for their use. Literature and registry reviews were conducted to assess the prevalence of ADs of different types in drug and biologics development. These results were compared to previous surveys and reviews using summary statistics.

RESULTS:
ADs appear to be more widely considered in the last 4 years as compared to earlier 4-year periods.

CONCLUSIONS:
The most common types of ADs remain early stopping, treatment group adaptations, and sample size re-estimation. Both stopping early for safety and changing the endpoint of the analyses were rarely mentioned in literature prior to 2012 but are now appearing more frequently. The barriers of change management and negative experiences by some institutions with ADs remain a source of concern. Additional, consistent training would be helpful to choose the right adaptation(s) needed for specific clinical trials and for planning appropriately for operational efficiency such as for drug supply management and data management. The perceived barrier of regulatory acceptance also remains a concern, which could be alleviated by additional interaction with agencies and an update of the FDA draft guidance to industry on adaptive designs.


Protein phosphorylation is central to multiple regulatory processes in cells. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a cytokine synthesized by macrophages, effects polymorphonuclear leukocyte (neutrophil) chemotaxis, induces superoxide anion generation, and mediates neutrophil adhesion to endothelial cells. Although protein phosphorylation is almost certainly involved in many TNF-mediated neutrophil functions, little is known about TNF's impact on neutrophil protein phosphorylation. Therefore, we studied human recombinant TNF-alpha-induced protein phosphorylation in human neutrophils. Neutrophils were preincubated with 32PO(4)2- and treated with a variety of stimulatory agents. One- and two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to analyze phosphorylated proteins. Phosphoaminoacids were identified by two-dimensional thin layer chromatography electrophoresis. The findings were as follows: (1) TNF induces the phosphorylation of two 16-kD proteins (pI = 5.9 and 6.1) by 5- to 6-fold, and a 57-kD protein (pI = 5.8) by 3- to 4-fold compared with untreated neutrophils; (2) these proteins are phosphorylated as early as 15 min after stimulation with TNF, and phosphorylation is induced by concentrations of TNF as low as 1 ng/ml (10 U/ml); (3) TNF induces the phosphorylation of proteins at either serine or threonine residues and not at tyrosine; (4) TNF-stimulated neutrophils show a unique pattern of protein phosphorylation when compared to neutrophils treated with formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine; (5) lipopolysaccharide does not induce protein phosphorylation in neutrophils; (6) a 16-kD protein is phosphorylated in response to TNF in neutrophils but not in mononuclear cells; and (7) protein kinase inhibitors appear to have no effect on TNF-induced protein phosphorylation. Thus, the mechanism of action of TNF on neutrophils may involve protein phosphorylation.


Assessment of the quality of care in surgical outreach programs is necessary to improve their reliability. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical results of a surgical outreach program involving large numbers of patients. Material and Method: Retrospective study of clinical data and outcomes of patients operated on within a surgical outreach held in Togo's Central Region was carried out. Data was collected from patient's files with a follow-up, of 2 years. Results: Two hundred and seventy seven patients (277) underwent 304 surgical procedures within the surgical outreach. The conditions were essentially made of hernias of the abdominal wall (89%). Cases of hydroceles, endemic goiter and uterine myo-fibroids were also managed. Spinal anesthesia was the most common procedure of anesthesia (75%). Day case surgery involved 165 patients (59.5%). A post operative morbidity was observed in 31 patients (11%) essentially made of hematoma 28 cases (9.2%) and parietal abscesses 20 cases (6.5%).There were no postoperative deaths. Conclusion: outcomes in this study encourage surgical outreach programs as reliable means to address surgery accessibility issues of rural populations in low incomes countries.


Sialic acids (Sia) are a family of 9-carbon α-keto acids found pre-dominantly at the nonreducing end of oligosaccharide chains on glycoproteins and glycolipids. Sia can occur free in nature, but are generally found glycosidically linked to either galactose (Gal), N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), or as α-(2→8)-linked homopolymers known as polysialic acid (PolySia) (Fig. 11.1). Sia show remarkable structural diversity, with the family currently comprising over 50 naturally occurring members. The larg-est structural variations of naturally occurring Sia are at carbon 5, which can be substituted with either an acetamido, hydroxyacetami-do, or hydroxyl moiety to form 5-N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac), 5-N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), or deaminoneuraminic acids (KDN), respectively (Fig. 11.1), with Neu5Ac being the most common Sia found in nature. Further structural diversity is generated primarily by a combination of the above-mentioned variations at C-5 with modifications of any of the hydroxyl groups located at C-4, C-7, C-8, and C-9. For further information on Sia structure and diversity we highly recommend (Schauer and Kamerling, 1997; Angata and Varki, 2002; Chen and Varki, 2009).


Background: The introduction of ART dramatically improved the survival and health quality of HIV-infected patients in the industrialized world; and the survival benefit of ART has been well studied too. However, in resource-poor settings, where such treatment was started only recently, limited data exist on treatment results. Since the military across most countries of the world had been identified as one of the eight vulnerable and most-at-risk sub-populations to HIV/AIDS, it is worthwhile undertaking studies in the area. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to estimate mortality rate and to identify survival predictors of patients taking ART based on data obtained from Armed Forces Teaching and General Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: The records of 734 patients enrolled in the Armed Forces General Teaching Hospital in Addis Ababa between September 2003 and August 2007 were reviewed, and a retrospective cohort study conducted. The KaplanMeier method and log-rank test were used to compare the survival experience of different categories of patients. The proportional hazards Cox regression model was employed to identify predictors of mortality. Results: Of the 734 included in the current study, 86 (11.7%) died during the first 12 months. Of these 28 (32.6%) deaths occurred within the first three months after initiation of ART; another 15 died in the following three months of follow up; that is to say a total of 43 (50%) deaths occurred within six months. In the last six months 43 patients died; that makes the remaining 50% of the total. The most important predictors of mortality at 0.05 level of significance were low CD4 cell count at baseline, employment status, functional status, WHO clinical stages III and IV, TB coinfection, and opportunistic infections. Conclusion: Based on the finding of the study it can be concluded that a careful monitoring of patients with low CD4 cell count, advanced WHO stages, history of opportunistic infections, ambulatory and bedridden functional status, coinfection with TB and being employed/unemployed must be undertaken in order to improve the survival of AIDS patients.


RALDH2 expressed in dendritic cells (DCs) plays a critical role in the development of regulatory T cells in mesenteric lymph nodes. Despite the importance of RALDH2 in intestinal immunity, little is known about the mechanism of DC-specific expression of RALDH2. In the current study, we focused on the hematopoietic cell–specific transcription factors PU.1 and IRF4 as the determinants of Aldh1a2 gene expression. The mRNA level of Aldh1a2, and subsequently the enzyme activity, were decreased by knockdown of PU.1 and IRF4 in bone marrow–derived DCs (BMDCs) of BALB/c mice. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that PU.1 and IRF4 bound to the Aldh1a2 gene ∼2 kb upstream from the transcription start site in BMDCs. A reporter assay and an EMSA revealed that the Aldh1a2 promoter was synergistically transactivated by a heterodimer composed with PU.1 and IRF4 via the EICE motif at −1961/−1952 of the gene. The effect of small interfering RNAs for Spi1 and Irf4 and specific binding of PU.1 and IRF4 on the Aldh1a2 gene were also observed in DCs freshly isolated from spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes, respectively. GM-CSF stimulation upregulated the Aldh1a2 transcription in Flt3 ligand–generated BMDCs, in which the IRF4 expression and the PU.1 recruitment to the Aldh1a2 promoter were enhanced. We conclude that PU.1 and IRF4 are transactivators of the Aldh1a2 gene in vitro and ex vivo.


Virtually all higher organisms form holobionts with associated microbiota. To understand the biology of holobionts we need to know how species assemble and interact. Controlled experiments are suited to study interactions between particular symbionts, but they can only inform about a tiny portion of the diversity within each species. Alternatively, interactions can be inferred from associations among symbionts in the field that are more or less frequent than expected under random assortment. However, random assortment may not be a valid null hypothesis for maternally transmitted symbionts in finite populations, where drift alone can result in associations. Here we report results from a European field survey of endosymbionts in the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum), and we develop a model to study the effect of drift on symbiont associations under different population sizes, considering varying rates of horizontal and maternal transmission. The model showed that even though horizontal transmissions and maternal transmission failures tend to randomise symbiont associations, drift can induce significant departures from random assortment, at least in moderate-sized populations. Based on these results, we carefully interpret our field survey and we re-visit the association between Spiroplasma and Wolbachia in Drosophila neotestacea reported by Jaenike et al. (2010). For this and for several significant associations between symbionts in European pea aphids we conclude that under reasonable assumptions of effective population size, they are indeed likely to be maintained by biased co-transmission or selection. Our study shows that formulating appropriate null expectations can strengthen the biological inference from co-occurrence patterns in the field.


There is a very high incidence of solar keratoses (SKs) in Australia, largely due to the hot, sunny climate. The proposal that these lesions progress to invasive squamous cell carcinomas makes research into their etiology particularly vital. Solar keratoses are hyperkeratotic lesions usually found on sun-exposed sites. Their incidence increases with the duration (years) of sun exposure. In a survey conducted in Maryborough, Victoria, in 1982, more than 50% of persons older than 40 years of age were found to have at least one SK.' The latter study was extended over the next 3 years to include more than 6,000 people who were examined for the presence of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), and SKs. It was discovered that in all but one case of SCC a SK was associated, suggesting that the majority of SCCs found on sun-exposed sites arise from pre-existing SKs. In contrast, BCCs appeared to be unrelated


The idea that a man passes through a period comparable to what in the woman is known as the menopause, is no new one. In ancient medicine a grand climacteric was recognized and was placed at the age of sixty-three. Those modern writers who recognize its existence are inclined to place it earlier; Max Thorek in the early fifties, Max Marcuse between forty-four and fifty-four, and Havelock Ellis even so early as thirty-eight. But before discussing the merits of these different assessments, it will be useful to investigate what is meant by the term " male climacteric." By what signs can its arrival be recognized? What is its underlying pathology ?


Spicules are an important very dynamical and rather cool structure extending between the solar surface and the corona. They are partly filling the space inside the chromosphere and they are surrounded by a transition thin layer. New space observations taken with the SOT of the Hinode mission shed some light on their still mysterious formation and dynamics. Here we restrict the analysis to the most radial and the most interesting polar spicules situated at the base of the fast solar wind of coronal holes. We consider a first important parameter of spicules as observed above the solar visible limb: their apparent diameter as a function of the height above the limb which determines their aspect ratio and leads to the discussion of their magnetic origin using the flux tube approximation. We found that indeed spicules show a whole range of diameters, including unresolved "interacting spicules" (I-S), depending of the definition chosen to characterize this ubiquitous dynamical phenomenon occurring into a low coronal surrounding. Superposition effects along the line of sight have to be taken into account in order to correctly measure individual spicules and look at I-S. We take advantage of the so-called Madmax operator to reduce these effects and improve the visibility of these hair-like features. An excellent time sequence of images obtained above a polar region with the Hinode SOT through the HCaII filter with a cadence of 8 s was selected for analysis. 1-D Fourier amplitude spectra (AS) made at different heights above the limb are shown for the first time. A definite signature in the 0.18 to 0.25 Mm range exists, corresponding to the occurrence of the newly discovered type II spicules and, even more impressively, large Fourier amplitudes are observed in the 0.3 to the 1.2 Mm range of diameters and spacing, in rough agreement with what historical works were reporting. Additionally, some statistically significant behavior, based on AS computed for different heights above the limb, is discussed. "Time slice or x-t diagrams" revealing the dynamical behavior of spicules are also analyzed. They show that most of spicules have multiple structures (similarly to the doublet spicules) and they show impressive transverse periodic fluctuations which were interpreted as upward kink or Alfven waves. Evidence of the helical motion in spicules is now well evidenced, the typical periods of the apparent oscillation being around 120 sec. A fine analysis of the timeslice diagram as a function of the effective heights shows an interesting new feature near the 2 Mm height. We speculate on the interpretation of this feature as being a result of the dynamical specificities of the spicule helical motion as seen in these unprecedented high resolution HCaII line emission time series. PACS: 96.60._j


Sensitized recipients with pretransplant donor-specific Abs are at higher risk for Ab-mediated rejection than nonsensitized recipients, yet little is known about the properties of memory B cells that are central to the recall alloantibody responses. Using cell enrichment and MHC class I tetramers, C57BL/6 mice sensitized with BALB/c splenocytes were shown to harbor H-2Kd–specific IgG+ memory B cells with a post–germinal center phenotype (CD73+CD273+CD38hiCD138−GL7−). These memory B cells adoptively transferred into naive mice without memory T cells recapitulated class-switched recall alloantibody responses. During recall, memory H-2Kd–specific B cells preferentially differentiated into Ab-secreting cells, whereas in the primary response, H-2Kd–specific B cells differentiated into germinal center cells. Finally, our studies revealed that, despite fundamental differences in alloreactive B cell fates in sensitized versus naive recipients, CTLA-4Ig was unexpectedly effective at constraining B cell responses and heart allograft rejection in sensitized recipients.


Youth work in the Netherlands goes
back a long way and since the
1970s has taken on a rather strong professional
image. During the last decades,
it went through some hard times,
but recently it has undergone a revival
and revaluation. (Griensven & Smeets,
2003). The fi rst section of this paper is
about how the characteristics of the
Dutch affect social work and youth
work concepts. The second part discusses
the Dutch framework for youth
work: definition, fields of activities,
core tasks and the ambiguous relationship
between youth work and social
work. The third section deals with the
history of youth work. The paper concludes
with a refl ection on the future
directions that youth work could take.
The article is based on Dutch historical
research, some by the author, and the
author's involvement in youth work,
both as a youth worker and editorin-
chief of the semi-scientifi c journal
Jeugd en samenleving.


We settle a conjecture of Farmer and Ki in a stronger form. Roughly speaking we show that there is a positive proportion of small gaps between consecutive zeros of the zeta-function $\zeta(s)$ if and only if there is a positive proportion of zeros of $\zeta'(s)$ lying very closely to the half-line. Our work has applications to the Siegel zero problem. We provide a criterion for the non-existence of the Siegel zero, solely in terms of the distribution of the zeros of $\zeta(s)$. Finally on the Riemann Hypothesis and the Pair Correlation Conjecture we obtain near optimal bounds for the number of zeros of $\zeta'(s)$ lying very closely to the half-line. Such bounds are relevant to a deeper understanding of Levinson's method, allowing us to place one-third of the zeros of the Riemann zeta-function on the half-line.


This article describes measurements of methane purification by condensed rotational separation. First, the separation concept is introduced. Then the test-setup and measurements are described. The thermodynamic performance of the system is compared with thermodynamic predictions and is found to be in good agreement. The separation performance of the centrifugal separator is addressed. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010


An analysis of the voltage induced onto the inner wire of a cable above a ground plane shows that this voltage does not depend on the resistance of the cable shield at frequencies below the R/L break frequency, where the current is limited by the shield resistance and above the R/M break frequency, where the current is limited by the shield's self inductance. In the frequency range between the break frequencies, roughly from 5 kHz to 1 MHz, the current is limited by the loop inductance, and the induced voltage is proportional to the shield's resistance. For the waveforms and conditions considered in this study, the peak amplitude of the induced time domain waveform should also be proportional to the shield resistance.


Solid propellants are particulate composite with a light cross-linked elastomeric binder filled with a high concentration of energetic, solid aggregates. Solid propellants are often considered as highly nonlinear elastomeric materials, with elastic behavior resulted from its binder and plastic behavior from its energetic particles. The study of the micro-structure and mechanical properties of solid propellant is crucial for its design, safety evaluation, and lifetime prediction of solid fuel carriers. The constitutive model proposed for rubber-like material can often be generalized to predict the nonlinear behavior of solid propellant due to the dependency on the mechanical behavior of solid propellant on its elastomeric binder material. This paper focuses on developing a model that predicts the stress softening and strain-residual mechanism of the solid propellant. This micro-mechanical model for solid propellant was proposed based on the network evolution theory. The motivation of this study is the lack of a micro-mechanical model that can describe both the stress softening effect and strain residual in the quasi-static behavior of propellants. The simplified network-evolution model with only five parameters is a simple micro-mechanical model that captures both the stress softening effect and strain residual. Besides the simplicity and reduced fitting procedure, the model was validated against several experimental data and illustrated good agreement in small and large deformations, making the proposed model a suitable option for commercial and other applications.


In this paper, we use Monte Carlo methods to study the small sample properties of the classical maximum likelihood (ML) estimator in artificial samples generated by the NewKeynesian open economy DSGE model estimated by Adolfson et al. (2008) with Bayesian techniques. While asymptotic identification tests show that some of the parameters are weakly identified in the model and by the set of observable variables we consider, we document that ML is unbiased and has low MSE for many key parameters if a suitable set of observable variables are included in the estimation. These findings suggest that we can learn a lot about many of the parameters by confronting the model with data, and hence stand in sharp contrast to the conclusions drawn by Canova and Sala (2009) and Iskrev (2008). Encouraged by our results, we estimate the model using classical techniques on actual data, where we use a new simulation based approach to compute the uncertainty bands for the parameters. From a classical viewpoint, ML estimation leads to a significant improvement in fit relative to the log-likelihood computed with the Bayesian posterior median parameters, but at the expense of some the ML estimates being implausible from a microeconomic viewpoint. We interpret these results to imply that the model at hand suffers from a substantial degree of model misspecification. This interpretation is supported by the DSGE-VAR() analysis in Adolfson et al. (2008). Accordingly, we conclude that problems with model misspecification, and not primarily weak identification, is the main challenge ahead in developing quantitative macromodels for policy analysis.


Global and regional summits occur regularly, yet we know little about the factors supporting an effective summit. This article reviews knowledge about the chair, agenda building and prenegotiation preparation within an institutionalised régime, and then turns to our venue, the G20, and our specific case, the 2014 G20 Australian presidency. Through case analysis, we develop a Prenegotiation Framework, identifying tasks and key issues that are usefully addressed during summit preparation. Furthermore, we identify a linked relationship between the chair, their management of prenegotiation planning, the agenda that is adopted and the way in which that agenda determines public perception of the fundamental nature or "identity" of a particular international organisation. Thus, the prenegotiation process can have significant consequences for our understanding of those institutions engaged in global governance. We conclude that data no longer support a characterisation of the G20 as a global crisis committee, as an analysis of G20 Summit agendas demonstrates that it has evolved into a global steering committee. With its identity established, the effectiveness of the G20 as a global steering committee is the key question, while régime continuity and change constitute the real long-term G20 challenge.


Persulfate-promoted radical cascade trifluoromethylthiolation of aryl acetylenes with AgSCF3 provides a simple reaction system for the synthesis of SCF3-substituted dibenzazepines or dioxodibenzothiazepines with good Z/E selectivity. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction data confirms the structures of the final products. A series of scaled-up experiments, further transformations, and radical inhibition experiments were operated in the reaction system.


Making decisions about how to allocate funds for health care is a common responsibility for governments in publicly funded health care systems. Resources are scarce so decisions need to be made as to how best to distribute them.

The work presented here was initiated as a result of a research project that was designed to develop a funding allocation methodology for healthcare in Manitoba, Canada. The primary focus was to how to best meet the healthcare needs of populations living in different regions, based on their health status. The principle of equity suggests that those with more need will require more healthcare services and funding for those services. A method of allocating healthcare funds most equitably is proposed for hospital care, home care, and nursing homes using administrative healthcare data and other data on the health status of populations. The proposed "Manitoba approach to funding allocation" (described in the first paper) was developed specifically to address issues within the province, and may be generalized to other jurisdictions, but as is demonstrated in the second paper, there are many ways that others have looked at it. The third paper addresses a need to publish in the academic literature an approach to assigning healthcare costs to administrative data.

Taken together, these papers provide readers with insights into, and tools for, making decisions regarding funding allocation for healthcare.


Evodiamine (EVO) exhibits strong anti-cancer effects. However, the effect of EVO on the human colorectal cancer cell line HCT-116 has not been explored in detail, and its underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. In the present study, cell viability was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). Cell cycle and apoptosis were measured by flow cytometry, and morphological changes in the nucleus were examined by fluorescence microscopy and Hoechst staining. Cell motility was detected by Transwell assay. ELISA was used to assess the protein levels of autocrine motility factor (AMF) in the cell supernatant, and protein expression was determined by Western blotting. Our results showed that EVO inhibited the proliferation of HCT-116 cells, caused accumulation of cells in S and G2/M phases, and reduced the levels of the secreted form of AMF. The protein levels of tumor suppressor protein (p53), Bcl-2 Associated X protein (Bax), B cell CLL/lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), phosphoglucose isomerase (PGI), phosphorylated signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3) were altered in cells treated with EVO. Taken together, our results suggest that EVO modulates the activity of the p53 signaling pathway to induce apoptosis and downregulate MMP3 expression by inactivating the JAK2/STAT3 pathway through the downregulation of PGI to inhibit migration of HCT-116 human colorectal cancer cells.


A 54-base-long oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) termed triple helix-forming oligonucleotide A (TFO A), designed against the 3'-polypurine tract (PPT) of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), exhibits long-term efficacy in antiretroviral treatment. Viral replication of strains propagated in this laboratory as well as primary patient isolates are inhibited by TFO A, whereas ODNs with a randomized sequence but identical base composition show no effect. TFO A inhibits proviral DNA synthesis. To learn more about the molecular mechanism of function of TFO A, three HIV-1 isolates whose reverse transcriptase (RT) exhibits resistance against RT inhibitors were analyzed. They exhibit resistance against azidothymidine, dideoxyinosine, deoxythiacytidine, and the nonnucleoside inhibitor nevirapine. HIV-1 replication in TFO A-treated T cell cultures was assessed by monitoring p24 viral core antigen production and syncytium formation. No p24 antigen or syncytia were detected for up to 30 days when cells that had been infected with wild-type virus received TFO A. Similarly, replication of all three mutant HIV-1 strains was completely inhibited by TFO A treatment during the whole duration of the culturing period. No viral breakthrough was detectable. These results indicate that TFO A interferes with functions of the replicative cycle distinct from polymerization by the RT.


Local anesthesia largely depends on the preliminary preparation of the patient before it is executed, individual topographic anatomical features of the area, which is carried out anesthesia, the selected local anesthetic, the correct execution of technique of anesthesia, the general condition of the patient, concomitant diseases, and diseases, where local anesthesia held.
The choice of local anesthetic is always done individually for each patient, taking into account:
- The pharmacological properties of the drug;
- Contraindications in the usage of local anesthetic with the addition of vasoconstrictors;
- Contraindications to the use of a local anesthetic;
- Interaction with other local anesthetic drugs.
However, as a rule, most of the groups of painkillers contain vasoconstrictors of the cartridge, such as adrenaline hydrochloride, noradrenaline, although the last one is currently banned for use because of the complications that it can cause.
Despite the effectiveness of local anesthesia, simplicity and accessibility of its application, dentists encounter complications that arise both during anesthesia and after the meeting.
Tissue necrosis may result from erroneous insertion into tissue anesthetic instead of hypertonic solutions other substances protoplasmic poison to the tissues (ethyl alcohol, calcium chloride, hypertonic saline solution, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, formalin, etc.). The introduction of these solutions in the fabric there is a sharp pain, forcing the doctor to stop the further implementation and figure out the cause of the pain and above all to find out which solution is injected. It is necessary to introduce as quickly as possible to the injection of 0.25-0.5% solution of novocaine in the amount of 50-100 ml. The complication may result in tissue edema. If the doctor did not pay attention to sharp pain and continued the introduction, at the injection site necrosis produced, its magnitude will depend on the amount of injected solution of its kind, the site of administration of the drug.
One of the most common complications is currently necrosis of soft tissues.
Necrosis of the oral mucosa may occur as a result of:
- The introduction of more than 0.5 ml of the anesthetic in the palatal anesthesia;
- The rapid introduction of the anesthetic subperiosteal;
- In patients with severe vascular sclerosis;
- At very high concentrations of the vasoconstrictor, when injected a large amount of anesthetic;
- When applying infiltration anesthesia with vasoconstrictor in the mandible.
Complications often encountered in the lower jaw. This is due to the fact that the lower jaw is insufficient blood supply to the intraosseous and supplied with blood mainly due to vascular periosteum. With the introduction of anesthetic with vasoconstrictor by infiltration anesthesia takes a long vasospasm periosteum disrupted the blood supply decreases the supply of oxygen to tissue hypoxia. Furthermore, as used vasoconstrictors 0.2% norepinephrine, epinephrine tartrate, and 0.18% epinephrine hydrochloride 0.1% solution.
However, norepinephrine often causes tissue necrosis, because it is not applied in dentistry, in the same way and adrenaline tartrate. The most safe adrenaline hydrochloride 0.1% solution.
In this context, the aim of our study was to investigate the causes of tissue necrosis, as complications of local anesthesia and the development of preventive measures.
Objects and methods of research. Clinical studies in the surgical department of the clinic 5 patients with complications of local anesthesia.
Results of the study.
We observed 5 patients with a complication of local anesthetic - soft tissue necrosis after anesthesia.
Patients ranged in age from 35 to 50 years, 4 women and 1 man.
Necrotic ulcers are diagnosed as a result of infiltration anesthesia in the mandible in 3 patients after bilateral mandibular anesthesia - at first the patient and the first patient in the upper jaw necrosis.
All patients complained of pain at the site of occurrence of necrosis.
An objective study, in 2 patients necrosis was found on a transitional fold in 4.3 and 4.5 of the teeth. Ulcers were rounded, within soft tissue without damaging , the mucous membrane around the damaged tissue swollen, painful when touch, the surface is covered with patches of damage nepotic gray fabrics.
In the 1 st patient with the diagnose of necrosis of the mucous membrane of the alveolar ridge to the vestibular surface of the tooth at 3.6 over the entire width of the crown on top of the transition to the fold, the bone exposed, measuring 1 cm by 1.5 cm. Fabrics transition folds swollen, hyperemic, painful on palpation.
In the 1st patient whose doctor restored teeth in the anterior mandible under the bilateral mandibular anesthesia occurred necrosis of the gums with the vestibular surface symmetrically between 4.3 and 4.2, between 3.3 and 3.2 teeth. Necrotic ulcers oval, arranged vertically, the tissue around the swollen, bloodshot, palpation is painful.
And the first patient with the diagnose of necrosis of the mucous membrane of the alveolar bone in the upper jaw between 1.1 and 1.2 teeth, measuring 0.3 by 0.4 cm, redness and swelling of the surrounding tissues, pain when touched.
As it turned out, necrosis appeared after anesthesia in all patients. In 3 patients infiltration anesthesia in 4.3 and 4.5 of the teeth was performed, as well as in the treatment of pulpitis at 3.6 tooth.  As it turned out, a doctor added a solution of adrenaline tartrate 0.18% in the anesthetic lidocaine that patient who had a symmetric necrosis , one patient with necrosis of the upper jaw has also been applied vasoconstrictor epinephrine tartrate 0.18%. Everyone else was injected with an anesthetic vasoconstrictor epinephrine hydrochloride 0.1% solution.
Treatment of complications conducted using antiseptic agents, anti-inflammatory, analgesic drugs and in further improving regeneration. All 4 patients had a complication as ulcers . And only the 1st patient with tooth necrosis at 3.6 in the future there was sequestration of the outer wall of the alveoli and the tooth had to be removed 3.6.


INTRODUCTION
Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone (AA+P) has shown to significantly improve survival. COSMiC, a Canadian Observational Study in Metastatic Cancer of the Prostate, set out to prospectively amass real-world data on metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients managed with AA+P in Canada. Here, we report their patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

METHODS
After a median followup of 67.1 weeks, 254 patients were enrolled across 39 sites. Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Prostate (FACT-P), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Brief Pain Inventory-Short form (BPI-SF), Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), and Current Health Satisfaction in Prostate Cancer (CHS-PCa) were evaluated at baseline, as well as at weeks 12, 24, 48, and 72 after AA+P initiation. Descriptive analysis was used with continuous variables. Changes from baseline were summarized using mean (standard deviation [SD]).

RESULTS
At a median age of 76.6 (8.94), baseline FACT-P total score was 111.3 (19.56) with no significant change in their functional status observed from baseline over time. The median baseline MoCA score was 25.2 (4.52), yet subsequent assessments showed an absence of cognitive decline while under treatment. Similarly, no meaningful changes were detected in BPI, BFI, and CHS-PCa during the 72-week study period, thus suggesting that patients' PROs were well-maintained throughout AA+P treatment. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response with >50% decline was 66.4%. Safety profile was consistent with the known side effect of AA+P.

CONCLUSIONS
COSMiC represents the largest Canadian mCRPC cohort treated with AA+P with real-world, prospective evaluation of PROs. This data demonstrated the maintenance in quality of life and cognitive status over the course of the study and underscores the importance of PRO use in this complex patient population.


This paper is a case study of the implementation of one of the nation's largest solar array panel arrays, within a year's time frame at a public university. The state funding received for solar energy will create 2 megawatts per day for a savings of 22 million dollars over 30 years.


Refinements in the technique of carotid endarterectomy have been accompanied by a growing literature calling into question the notion that a broad class of patients is at high-risk for surgery due to clinical comorbidities. Moreover, progress in the percutaneous revascularization of carotid bifurcation disease has highlighted the need for direct comparisons between endarterectomy and stenting across the entire spectrum of perioperative risk. The improved safety of carotid stenting, to some extent due to the advent of cerebral protection devices, has further altered the risk-to-benefit analysis. Lastly, dramatic improvements in medical therapy for the systemic manifestations of atherosclerosis have prompted a reevaluation of carotid revascularization as the standard of care for patients with severe carotid bifurcation stenosis. Endarterectomy and stenting each have unique procedure-specific factors that determine whether a patient is at increased risk for perioperative complications. Determining which patients are at high-risk for these modalities will impact the individualized treatment algorithm. This article examines the anatomical and physiologic conditions that can affect the anticipated outcome of each treatment modality. Ultimately, a tailored approach to each patient's clinical situation is likely to result in the best outcome following treatment.


Interaction effects capture the impact of one explanatory variable x1 on the marginal effect of another explanatory variable x2. To explore interaction effects, so-called interaction terms x1x2 are typically included in estimation specifications. While in linear models the effect of a marginal change in the interaction term is equal to the interaction effect, this equality generally does not hold in non-linear specifications (AI, NORTON, 2003). This paper provides for a general derivation of marginal and interaction effects in both linear and non-linear models and calculates the formulae of the marginal and interaction effects resulting from HECKMAN's sample selection model as well as the Two-Part Model, two commonly employed censored regression models. Drawing on a survey of automobile use from Germany, we argue that while it is important to test for the significance of interaction effects, their size conveys limited substantive content. More meaningful, and also more easy to grasp, are the conditional marginal effects pertaining to two variables that are assumed to interact.


Our objective was to examine effects of groups of mixed numbers and ages of male North American elk Cervus elaphus on the reproductive performance of females. We conducted research at the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in northeastern Oregon, USA, during 1993-2000. Each spring in late March, we released 40 female elk, eight yearling (9-month old) male elk and 2-8 branch-antlered elk (i.e. ≥ 2 years of age during rut the following autumn) into a 622-ha fenced pasture. Elk were gathered during autumn and early winter, and were brought to winter feeding grounds where blood samples were drawn to determine pregnancy status. The following spring, females were released into an 80-ha pasture prior to parturition. We searched for and captured newborn calves and obtained ear-punch samples for genetic analysis. We used 18 microsatellite loci to establish paternity of each calf. We varied the ratio of mature males (i.e. ≥ 3 years old) to female ratio from 0.03 to 0.21. As expected, mature males (older and heavier) were more successful in siring calves than were younger males. Within age classes, however, body mass in spring did not accurately predict mating success in autumn. Reproductive rates were not affected by season of grazing by cattle, yearling male to female ratio or mature male to female ratio. Sire age had no effect on mean dates of calf births or on calf weights. Neither sire age nor season of grazing by cattle had significant effects on calf weights; however, mean date of birth was significantly earlier when cattle grazing occurred during the previous autumn than when cattle grazed during the preceding spring. Furthermore, the number of calves sired by yearling males was greater when cattle grazing occurred during autumn, than when grazing occurred during spring. In the years with disruptive cattle grazing during rut, females mated not only with yearling males, in general, but often with those who were lighter in body mass during the previous spring than others in the same cohort. The extent to which those yearling males are untested in combat with older, dominant herd bulls may have genetic consequences leading to differences in fitness and subsequent reductions in calf survival. Please note that the supplementary information, including Appendix SI mentioned in this article, is available in the online version of this article, which can be viewed at www.wildlifebiology.com


This research portrays the beliefs and practices of a teacher writer which shaping the journey of her professional development as a teacher writer. The teacher writer being investigated in this study teaching English at a one of junior high school in Indonesia. Being a teacher is one profession, so is the case being a writer is another different profession. Thus, become a teacher as well as a writer is a tenuous experience. In addition, such beliefs, experiences, and practices from a teacher writer are thought-provoking to explore, as there were only few to mention the teacher who concurrent as a writer. The data were collected through an in- depth interviews, questionnaires, and documentary studies. The research showed that the teacher's beliefs on the practice of writing are consistent with her practice as reflected on her works as a professional writer. Her writing activities are also published along with her profession as a fulltime English teacher. The findings also revealed that she was actively involved in academic activities as her genuine passion to improve her professional development. Ultimately, this is the pondering that never goes out from full dedication and enthusiasm as a professional teacher writer.


Energy consumption and its environmental impact are now among the most challenging problems in most developing cities. The common sources of energy used as the fuel in transportation sector include gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, biofuels, electricity, coal, and hydrogen. However, in Tanzania, diesel and gasoline are still the dominant source of energy used by public and private vehicles. We have experienced significant efforts of converting conventional vehicles (gasoline engines) to operate on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or on hybrid system (gasoline and natural gas) as an alternative source of energy in Tanzania. The CNG is considered as cleaner combustion energy used as a vehicular fuel alternative to gasoline or diesel. In this chapter, the amount of energy consumption from the fuel combustion, the impact of environmental health (toxicity gas emission), the cost of fuel used by the transit buses in terms of fuel energy consumption, and driving profile are discussed. The scope of this work is based on the total energy contained in the fuel only. The ability of the engine to transform the available energy from the fuel into useful work power (efficiency) is left to the designers and manufacturers.


Aneuploidy is a rare condition in untransformed cells and one of the hallmarks of cancer. It often coexists with chromosomal instability and correlates with intra-tumor heterogeneity and poor clinical outcome. Several studies performed in various organisms engineered to harbor chromosome abnormalities have revealed that aneuploidy confers common phenotypes such as intracellular pathway deregulation and increased energy and metabolic requests, all eventually impairing cellular fitness. Even if the majority of aneuploid cells are less proliferatively active than normal diploid cells, favorable karyotypic variants and selection pressure can confer a growth advantage to chromosomally unstable cells, due to their improved adaptability, possibly promoting tumorigenesis.
As a rare event in normal tissues, aneuploidy constitutes an attractive potential therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Indeed, some studies have started to investigate this opportunity, mainly in cell line models, leading to the identification of some compounds that specifically target aneuploidy.
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients with aneuploid karyotypes respond poorly to conventional chemotherapy. Thus, the identification of aneuploidy-specific antiproliferative compounds that could be used for the treatment of this subset of AML patients constitutes an intriguing strategy.
Here we show that 8-azagunanine is a potential aneuploidy-selective antiproliferative compound in AML. 8-Azaguanine causes endoplasmic reticulum stress, possibly exacerbating proteotoxic stress as one of the predominant features of aneuploid cells, and specifically enhances the death of cells with abnormal karyotypes.
Moreover, we demonstrate in AML cells that p53 deficiency enables the propagation of extensive karyotypic heterogeneity and chromosome abnormalities including structural aneuploidy (gains or losses of sub-chromosomal regions) and structural rearrangements (alterations of chromosome structure), which are conversely prevented in p53-proficient cells. Numerical aneuploidy, on the other hand, does not inevitably trigger p53 activation. These results suggest that p53 provides maintenance of genomic stability especially with regard to structural chromosome abnormalities.


The purpose of this paper is to present the achievement of the Hybrid Petri Nets techniques used for modeling and behavioral analysis of a class of hybrid systems. In our sense, a dynamic hybrid system contains at least two distinct subsystems which interact: a continuous subsystem (linear, or not) and a discrete subsystem with a finite number of states. In this context, after a brief introduction to the basic elements of Hybrid Petri Nets modeling, two hybrid systems, consisting of liquid level control of one and two interconnected tanks were analyzed in different specific scenarios. The analysis starts with the synthesis of a Hybrid Petri Net model for each system, followed by their refinement and validation by simulation of their behavioral properties, in order to achieve and implement a command control structure (the sequential controller) of the process. For the models synthesis and for their validation, Modified Hybrid Petri Nets were used. Such structure is a extinction of the classical topology of a generalized Hybrid Petri Nets model, achieved by assignation to every continuous transition a firing speed as a algebraic relation whose variables depend of different marking of continuous places, arbitrary or not. The synthesis of the models and their validation was obtained using Visual Object Net++ tool. Cuvinte cheie: sisteme hibride, Reţele Petri, modelare, simulare.


The UV stability of a-C:H films was investigated by irradiating them with a 248 nm excimer laser or a DUV lamp with a 248 nm filter. Both transmittance and phase angle of the film at 248 nm were measured at different UV dose intervals up to a cumulative dose of 10,000 J/cm2. We found that film stability was dependent on processing conditions. Excellent stability was achieved when the a-C:H films were sputtered from a graphite target in a Ar/hydrocarbon process gas mixture with the substrate held at an rf bias. If no substrate bias was used, films were stable only up to a maximum of 1,000 J/cm2 for a nominal transmittance of about 6%. These instabilities were attributed to adsorption of oxygen on the film and its subsequent diffusion into the films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that under DUV irradiation the oxygen content increases from 13 to 29 at.% on the carbon surface. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) shows also oxygen diffusion into the carbon film. It appears that the oxygen first removes the graphitic content since film transmittance was found to increase. It is believed that rf bias sputtering results in denser films that are more impervious to oxygen penetration and hence more durable to this UV assisted oxidative degradation process. The sputtered films with no substrate bias were found stable when irradiated in a nitrogen atmosphere.


The authors report data from a case-control family study of lifetime psychiatric diagnoses among the relatives of individuals with major depression. Specifically, they address the relationship between anxiety disorders and major depression. The findings indicate that relatives of individuals with major depression plus an anxiety disorder are at greater risk for major depression, as well as anxiety disorders; than are the relatives of individuals with major depression without an anxiety disorder. This increased risk appears to be present whether or not the anxiety disorder occurs solely in association with episodes of major depression or is temporally separate. The nosological implications of these findings are discussed.


The work is dedicated to comparison methods of processing the results of the depth dose distributions measurements to determine the practical range of electrons. The sets of test data were obtained by modeling the depth dose distributions with use Monte Carlo method. The accuracy of the calculation method is determined by the mean square error of processing results the sets of test data. The comparison of computational methods of processing the measurement results was performed in the paper. The result of measurements differs in the sizes of the array of data being processed and types of the functions which are used for approximation the data. Comparison the accuracy methods may leads to selection of computational method for determining the practical range of electrons for computational dosimetry of electron radiation.


The presence of a third polypeptide subunit in Paracoccus cytochrome c oxidase is demonstrated. This protein (apparent molecular mass 23 kDa) binds dicyclohexylcarbodiimide in membranes of aerobically grown bacteria and in the purified enzyme. The N-terminal amino-acid sequence of this dicyclohexylcarbodiimide-binding protein is identical to the deduced sequence of the COIII gene product [Raitio et al. (1987) EMBO J. 6, 2825-2833]. We conclude that the aa3-type oxidase in Paracoccus is composed of at least three subunits, which correspond to the three mitochondrially coded polypeptides in the eukaryotic enzyme.


Accurate, precise, and timely estimation of crop yield is key to a grower's ability to proactively manage crop growth and predict harvest logistics. Such yield predictions typically are based on multi-parametric models and in-situ sampling. Here we investigate the extension of a greenhouse study, to low-altitude unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Our principal objective was to investigate snap bean crop (Phaseolus vulgaris) yield using imaging spectroscopy (hyperspectral imaging) in the visible to near-infrared (VNIR; 400–1000 nm) region via UAS. We aimed to solve the problem of crop yield modelling by identifying spectral features explaining yield and evaluating the best time period for accurate yield prediction, early in time. We introduced a Python library, named Jostar, for spectral feature selection. Embedded in Jostar, we proposed a new ranking method for selected features that reaches an agreement between multiple optimization models. Moreover, we implemented a well-known denoising algorithm for the spectral data used in this study. This study benefited from two years of remotely sensed data, captured at multiple instances over the summers of 2019 and 2020, with 24 plots and 18 plots, respectively. Two harvest stage models, early and late harvest, were assessed at two different locations in upstate New York, USA. Six varieties of snap bean were quantified using two components of yield, pod weight and seed length. We used two different vegetation detection algorithms. the Red-Edge Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (RENDVI) and Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM), to subset the fields into vegetation vs. non-vegetation pixels. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used as the regression model. Among nine different optimization models embedded in Jostar, we selected the Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Simulated Annealing (SA), and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and their resulting joint ranking. The findings show that pod weight can be explained with a high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.78–0.93) and low root-mean-square error (RMSE = 940–1369 kg/ha) for two years of data. Seed length yield assessment resulted in higher accuracies (R2 = 0.83–0.98) and lower errors (RMSE = 4.245–6.018 mm). Among optimization models used, ACO and SA outperformed others and the SAM vegetation detection approach showed improved results when compared to the RENDVI approach when dense canopies were being examined. Wavelengths at 450, 500, 520, 650, 700, and 760 nm, were identified in almost all data sets and harvest stage models used. The period between 44–55 days after planting (DAP) the optimal time period for yield assessment. Future work should involve transferring the learned concepts to a multispectral system, for eventual operational use; further attention should also be paid to seed length as a ground truth data collection technique, since this yield indicator is far more rapid and straightforward.


A planar dual-band quadrature branch-line coupler with coupled lines is presented in this letter. The quarter-wavelength transformers in a conventional branch-line coupler are replaced by coupled lines. With derived explicit design formula, the proposed branch-line coupler can not only be operated at two arbitrary frequencies, but it can also exhibit the required output power ratio at the designed dual frequencies. The measured return losses and isolation are all better than 16 dB at the operating frequencies. Phase imbalance less than 1° is obtained. The measured data validate the proposed design methodology, and show good agreement with the simulation results.


Cardiovascular death is steadily decreasing but still accounts for 40% of deaths (235,000) in this country per year. More than 85% occur in older patients over the age of 65 years. The future of cardiology lies in the delivery of care to this rapidly expanding population of older people, whose growing numbers will account for an increasing trend upwards in the prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity in the UK. There will be increasing numbers of heart failure, hypertension, myocardial infarction, angina, atrial fibrillation, pacemaker implants and heart valve implantation in older patients. Randomised clinical trials often exclude the treatment of these conditions in patients over 75 years and results cannot always be easily extrapolated. Older patients often seem to be disadvantaged when compared with younger patients with cardiovascular disease. This article is the first in a series examining the treatment of older patients with cardiovascular disease.


Abstract Athletes participating in overhead sports are at particularly high risk of shoulder impingement syndrome. Subcoracoid impingement is defined as impingement of the anterior soft tissues of the shoulder between the coracoid process and the lesser tuberosity. Subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) occurs due to extrinsic compression of the rotator cuff between the humeral head and coracoacromial structures or intrinsic degeneration of the supraspinatus tendon and subsequent superior migration of the humerus. Internal impingement is a major cause of shoulder pain in overhead athletes, and it occurs due to repetitive impingement of the articular surface of the rotator cuff with the glenoid during maximum abduction and external rotation of the arm. When examining athletes with suspected impingement of the shoulder, it is important to discuss the sport-specific motion that regenerates the symptoms and perform a combination of physical examination tests to improve the diagnostic accuracy. Radiographic evaluation is recommended, and the extent of soft tissue abnormalities can be assessed on ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging of the shoulder. Management of shoulder impingement syndrome can be conservative or operative, based on the severity and chronicity of symptoms and the associated structural abnormalities. This review provides an update on the management of SIS, subcoracoid impingement, and internal impingement in the athletic population.


The basic physical effects leading to radiation-induced forces are reviewed. A simple derivation of the mathematical expressions for the classical light forces is given. The influence of quantum fluctuations is demonstrated and the possibilities for trapping neutral particles are discussed. Two recent successful laser cooling and trapping experiments are described to illustrate the applications of the basic principles.


The utilization of zooming cameras during a non-cooperative rendezvous in space is investigated in this paper. An image-based controller, utilizing visual servoing techniques usually applied to ground-based robotic systems, is designed for the particular problem of far-to-close approach of a spacecraft to a non-cooperative object. The controller directly utilizes the visual features from image frames of the noncooperative target for computing both attitude and orbital maneuvers concurrently. The additional feature derived from the utilization of the zooming camera gives a greater versatility to the maneuvers if compared with the classic fixed optics approaches. The stability of the proposed controller is proven analytically in the invariant space, and its viability is explored through the application to a realistic space debris removal scenario.


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

The association of genetic abnormalities and specific cancers is leading to an increasing number of biomarkers that can be used for early detection of cancers, determination of treatment protocols and predicted prognoses. Additionally, the methylation state of an increasing number of genes is also producing possible predictive biomarkers for specific cancers and stages of cancer as well. To this end, we have analyzed both breast and ovarian cancers and their normal adjacent tissue using both DNA methylation analysis and genome wide array screening for LOH and copy number variations. The combination of these two methods has yielded several groupings of markers that are cancer specific as well as showing specificity for the specific tumor type. Specifically, there are increased copies in the chr1q21.3 region in both ovarian and breast tumor DNA and differences in the methylation when one compares breast tumor to ovarian tumor DNA's. Interestingly, in ovarian tumor samples where there is no amplification of the region, the hypomethylation is greater than in tumor samples in which there is amplification in the region. This suggests that a greater degree of demethylation is needed to potentially activate this region of the genome, where this may not be necessary in regions where an increase in gene copy number may cause increased expression.

Citation Format: Matthew L. Poulin, Ann Meyer, Jessica Alexander, Jessica Xu, Liying Yan. Methylation, copy number, and LOH analysis of Chr1q21.3 for discovery of ovarian and breast cancer biomarkers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 425. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-425


The single-mode, single-project, resource-constrained project-scheduling problem is solved by an evolutionary algorithm. The design of this algorithm is presented. Results of a computational study on two sets of benchmark problems, the first consisting of 330 problem instances and the second 2040, are presented. These results show that the proposed algorithm is effective in terms of the number of times it achieves both the best-known solutions and the average error with respect to these solutions, particularly given that the best-known solutions have been compiled from various sources, using a variety of algorithms. Moreover, the computation time requirements are quite modest.


We describe theoretical results and empirical study of context-sensitive restart policies for randomized search procedures. The methods generalize previous results on optimal restart policies by exploiting dynamically updated beliefs about the probability distribution for run time. Rather than assuming complete knowledge or zero knowledge about the run-time distribution, we formulate restart policies that consider real-time observations about properties of instances and the solver's activity. We describe background work on the application of Bayesian methods to build predictive models for run time, introduce an optimal policy for dynamic restarts that considers predictions about run time, and perform a comparative Study of traditional fixed versus dynamic restart policies.


THE EFFICACY OF LEVOFLOXACIN: In treating community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been assessed during 5 large clinical trials (including 4 controlled randomized trials). 1067 PATIENTS HAVE BEEN TREATED BY LEVOFLOXACIN: And 645 by a comparator. Success rates were identical between levofloxacin and comparator ranging from 70.6% to 84.2% for levofloxacin treated patients, and from 75% to 85.7% for comparators treated patients. 549 PRESUMED OR PROVED PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA: Have been treated by levofloxacin with a success rate ranging from 83% to 100%, and 379 have been treated by a comparator with a success rate ranging from 90% to 95%. Success rates for the 310 pneumococcal-documented infections, including 96 bacteraemia, were identical between levofloxacin and comparator. The severity of the patients ranged between studies from moderate to severe. PROOFS COMING FROM THOSE CLINICAL TRIALS: Show the efficiency of levofloxacin in the treatment of moderate to severe community acquired pneumonia in adults, and in the treatment of presumed or proved pneumonia, with or without bacteraemia.


We describe a technique that measures ultralow interfacial tensions using paramagnetic spheres in a co-flow microfluidic device designed with a magnetic section. Our method involves tuning the distance between the co-flowing interface and the magnet's center, and observing the behavior of the spheres as they approach the liquid-liquid interface-the particles either pass through or are trapped by the interface. Using threshold values of the magnet-to-interface distance, we make estimates of the two-fluid interfacial tension. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for measuring very low interfacial tensions, O(10(-6)-10(-5)) N m(-1), by testing solutions of different surfactant concentrations, and we show that our results are comparable with measurements made using a spinning drop tensiometer.


The increasing complexity of system-on-chip design – especially the software part of those systems – has stimulated much research work on design space exploration at the early stages of system development. In this paper we propose a new methodology for system modeling based on a specific UML profile. It defines a high design abstraction level for modeling and analyzing hardware resource sharing between system elements. Additionally, a SystemC-based simulator is developed in order to simulate modeled systems and evaluate their performance. Due to the high level of abstraction, the developed simulator enables fast exploration of design solutions.First promising results are presented and discussed over a mobile platform for the 3GPP LTE protocol stack.


High-field electrical conduction over a temperature range of 303-363 K has been studied in sandwich structures of Al/Ta2O5/Al and Al/Ta2O5/Ta in the thickness range 400-900 nm. The oxide film was produced by reactively sputtering a tantalum target in a mixture of argon and oxygen. No marked rectification was observed in the samples and it was observed that the conduction process bore strong resemblance to either a Poole-Frenkel or a Schottky mechanism, the results showing a definite lowering of the activation energy for the conduction process with field. Detailed analysis of the data suggest an electrode-limited mechanism such as that suggested by Schottky.


Abstract Persons with dementia in residential care commonly express resistance of aggressiveness. Caregivers Singing (CS) - when caregivers sing for or together with persons with dementia during caring, has shown to reduce these expressions and increase communication and cooperation. Previous studies of CS have included both persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and persons with Vascular dementia (VD), but no studies have been done focusing on possible differences regarding these diagnoses. As disabilities and symptoms differ between these diagnoses, the emotions and expressions, such as resistance may differ regarding response to CS. This polit study aims to describe emotions and resistiveness to care among persons with vascular or Alzheimer's disease. Participants were five persons with AD and five persons with VD living at two different nursing homes. Video observations (VIO) occurred with them and their caregivers during morning care situations four times without CS and four times with CS. In all, 80 VIOs were rated using the Observed Emotion Rating Scale and the Resistiveness to Care Scale. These were then analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results revealed that for both persons with AD and VD, the positive emotion pleasure were never observed without CS while with CS it increased for both groups. In contrast to the positive emotion effect of CS, the negative emotions and resistiveness decreased more for persons with VD than for persons with AD. For persons with VD, the number of observations without anger increased, while observation without anger or anxiety/fear for persons with AD remind the same.


Since the ability to control the investor's income or loss within a certain range, barrier option has been among the most popular path-dependent options where its payoff depends on whether or not the underlying asset's price reaches a given "barrier". First, assuming the underlying asset as an uncertain variable for the case that the Caputo fractional-order derivative is adopted instead of the ordinary derivative, the real financial market is better modeled by the uncertain fractional-order differential equation with Caputo type. Then, a first-hitting time model which can measure the exercise ability is innovatively presented. Second, based on the first-hitting time theorem of the uncertain fractional-order differential equation, the reliability index (including validity and survival index) for the proposed model is obtained, and four types of European barrier option (including up-and-in call, down-and-in put, up-and-out put, and down-and-out call options) pricing formulas are obtained accordingly. Lastly, applying the predictor–corrector method, numerical algorithms are provided for calculating European barrier and the reliability index, numerical experiments and corresponding sensitivity analysis are also illustrated concerning various conditions.


In today's turbulent world, effective leadership at every level of an organization is essential. Leadership is not only about motivating people, it is also about providing clear goals and a sense of purpose that everyone in the organization buys into. One of the few books on leadership that can genuinely be called a 'classic', this pioneering work from leadership expert John Adair has transformed the understanding of how leadership works and how executives can become business leaders. Accessible guidance on exactly what you need to become a leader is presented in the form of a dialogue with a young business executive, who is soon to become a strategic leader. Each fundamental aspect of leadership is exposed and explained in a concise, lucid way. "Not Bosses But Leaders" will enable you to greatly improve your leadership skills. It is a book that doesn't depend on historical models but springs from the day-to-day realities of management. It is the study of what a leader actually has to do. The contents are: Part 1 - Qualities of Leadership; Situational Leadership; Functional Leadership ;Motivation; and Keypoints, Part 2 - The Circles Interact; Leadership Functions; Sharing Decisions; Styles of Leadership; and Keypoints, Part 3 - Leaders or Managers? Leadership and Change; Hallmarks of Leadership; Managing and Management; The Manager as Leader; The Roots of Management; Both Leaders and Managers; and Keypoints, and Part 4 - High-performance Teams; Wearing Three Hats; Levels of Leadership; and Keypoints. It also includes: Part 5 - The Purpose of Industry; Strategic Leadership; Involving Others in Strategy; and Keypoints, Part 6 - Moving from Plans to Action; Agreeing Objectives; Relating the Parts to the Whole; Respecting the Line; Line-and-Staff; Two-way Communication; The Roots of Morale; and Keypoints, Part 7 - Sharing and Caring; The Case of the Injured Worker; The Role of Trade Union Leadership; Coping with Redundancy; Growing Organizations; True Authority; and Keypoints, Part 8 - Leadership and Power; Humility; Gaining Respect; Giving Respect; Leadership and Hierarchy; and Keypoints, Part 9 - Leadership from Within; The Leader as Conductor; and Keypoints, and Conclusion Notes and References.


Recognition of The Semantic Objects in Video is important in video analysis. It has great significance for the classification of video management and video retrieval. In this paper, we design an algorithm for recognition of the semantic objects in video. We analyzed problems of the current video object recognition algorithm, and propose a video object recognition algorithm based on the KNN algorithm. This paper selected some low-level features of video, such as grayscale, color and two-dimensional wavelet feature. Some similarity determination methods were analyzed in the paper. The experimental results show that the algorithm is effective and feasible in monitor video.


This Interface Control Document (ICD) describes the interface between the Tank Farm System and the Central Waste Complex (CWC) or the Low-Level Burial Ground (LLBG). The Tank Farm System generates solid waste during operations. These facilities do not have a direct physical interface since the waste will be moved by truck to the CWC or LLBG. The purpose of the ICD process is to formalize working agreements between the River Protection Project (RPP) Tank Farm System and organization/companies internal and external to RPP. This ICD has been developed as part of the requirements basis for design of the DST System to support the Phase I Privatization effort. The signatures on the cover page of this document indicate agreement between the parties that this document reflects the current technical baseline for each system and that the requirements contained in this document will not be revised without the agreement of all parties.


Background and Purpose: Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a heterogeneous group of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular diseases involving the temporomandibular joint complex and the surrounding muscle and osseous structure. TMD can be classified as intra-articular or extra-articular. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of arthrocentesis in terms of maximum mouth opening (MMO) and pain in patients with TMD of intra-articular origin. In addition to this treatment, the effects of factors such as splints, medication, and physical therapy on arthrocentesis were examined. Material and methods: This retrospectively designed study was conducted with 79 patients who had previously undergone arthrocentesis. These patients were divided into three groups according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorder: disc displacement (DD) with locking (Group 1), DD without locking (Group 2), and degenerative joint diseases (Group 3) groups. The maximum mouth opening (MMO) and visual analog score (VAS) values of the groups were recorded before arthrocentesis (Baseline: T0), on the third day after arthrocentesis (T1), and at the sixth month (T2) after arthrocentesis. Information about whether the patients received concurrent medical treatment, splint treatment, and physical therapy was also recorded. These data were compared between groups. Results: It was observed that the VAS scores in all three groups decreased from T1 compared to T0 (p < 0.05). Likewise, the MMO value increased in all groups at T1 compared to T0. (p < 0.05). It was observed that splint treatment, pain killer and muscle relaxant treatment, and physical therapy made no additional contribution to arthrocentesis in terms of reducing pain or increasing MMO value (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Arthrocentesis was observed to be effective in terms of pain and function in TMJ patients in this study. It was observed that splint therapy, physical therapy, and medical therapy made no additional contribution to arthrocentesis in terms of MMO or pain.


Background: Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) is caused by mutations in the PKHD1 (polycystic kidney and hepatic disease 1) gene on chromosome 6p12, a large gene spanning 470 kb of genomic DNA. So far, only micromutations in the 66 exons encoding the longest open reading frame (ORF) have been described, and account for about 80% of mutations. Objective: To test the hypothesis that gross genomic rearrangements and mutations in alternatively spliced exons contribute to a subset of the remaining disease alleles. Methods: Using DHPLC for alternatively spliced exons and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction to detect genomic imbalances, 58 ARPKD patients were screened, of whom 55 were known to harbour one PKHD1 point mutation in the longest ORF. Results: Three different heterozygous PKHD1 deletions and several single nucleotide changes in alternatively spliced exons were identified. The detected partial gene deletions are most likely pathogenic, while a potential biological function of the alterations identified in alternatively spliced exons must await the definition of transcripts containing alternative exons and their predicted reading frames. Conclusions: Gross PKHD1 deletions account for a detectable proportion of ARPKD cases. Screening for major genomic PKHD1 rearrangements will further improve mutation analysis in ARPKD.


AIM: To evaluate copeptin as an early marker of atherosclerosis in adolescent type 1 diabetics. METHODS: Sixty-two type 1 diabetic patients and 50 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Serum copeptin, glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), lipid profile, oxidised low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL), urinary albumin/creatinine ratio, carotid intimal medial thickness (cIMT), aortic intimal medial thickness (aIMT) and resistivity index were assessed for all participants in the study. RESULTS: HbA1c, albumin/creatinine ratio, lipid profile, OxlDL, copeptin, cIMT and aIMT were significantly higher in diabetic patients. Copeptin was higher in patients with positive cIMT and aIMT. Copeptin correlated with cIMT and aIMT. Stepwise multiple regression analysis found that copeptin correlated with aIMT. ROC curve showed that copeptin had 100 % specificity with aIMT and cIMT and 95.2 and 60,7 sensitivity with aIMT and cIMT respectively. CONCLUSION: Copeptin can be used as a marker for early detection of atherosclerosis of type 1 diabetic patients.


A 42-year-old male patient with a history of occupational exposure to benzene presented with pancytopenia. His bone marrow showed evidence of trilineage dysplasia and cytogenetic analysis revealed a unique t(9;13)(q34;q12) translocation. Five months after diagnosis he developed secondary AML. He was treated with four courses of chemotherapy and an autologous bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Four years post-transplantation he remains in haematological and morphological remission though the cytogenetic abnormality is still present in all metaphases examined.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate how the different processing methods cryopreservation and dehydration affect the structural integrity and biological composition of key signalling molecules within amniotic membrane and umbilical cord tissues.

METHOD
We directly compared cryopreserved amniotic membrane (AM) and umbilical cord (UC) tissues with dehydrated amniotic membrane/chorion (dHACM) tissue using biochemical and functional assays including histological and histochemical staining, BCA, agarose gel electrophoresis, western blot, ELISA, and proliferation and cell death assays.

RESULTS
Cryopreservation retains the native architecture of the AM/UC extracellular matrix and maintains the quantity and activity of key biological signals present in fresh AM/UC, including high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, heavy chain-HA complex, and pentraxin 3. In contrast, dehydrated tissues were structurally compromised and almost completely lacked these crucial components.

CONCLUSION
The results presented here indicate that cryopreservation better preserves the structural and biological signaling molecules of foetal tissues.


Several cases of failures in gray cast iron paper machine dryer rolls were evaluated. The rolls were found have ground outer cylindrical surfaces on which the paper web is dried. They were found to rotate about their longitudinal axes at speeds from 50 to 250 rpm while containing saturated steam from 35 to 380 kPa. Failures were found to occur in the shell body, in a head near a hand hole or a manhole opening, or in a head near the journal-to-head interface. A cleavage fracture was revealed by scanning electron microscopy regardless of the driving stress for failure. Fracture surface were found to exhibit chevron marks typical of fatigue or raised points or tears pointing in the direction of the probable origin of failure. The characteristics of the thinwall cast iron structures like the variation in composition due to pouring from multiple ladles, variation in solidification rates, and variation in tensile strength to be noted during inspection were described.


Areas of spectral reflectance, or highlights, can be analyzed for a wide range of information or clues that they give us about a scene. This paper presents a local algorithm for analyzing a moderately unconstrained color image to determine the areas of spectral reflectance. The algorithm is based on the separability of the diffuse and spectral reflection components by differential methods. The location of specular reflectances are marked by finding zero-crossings in concave down regions for twodimensional arrays of intensities representing the color image. These zero-crossings correspond to the centers of the highlight regions. The highlight centers are then expanded to highlight regions by region growing in a direction orthogonal to the local orientation of the highlight. Thus, at the conclusion of the algorithm, the information known about each highlight includes location, size and direction.


An adaptive inverse controller design for a micro-permanent magnet synchronous motor control system is proposed. The adaptive inverse controller is constructed by using an adaptive model and an adaptive controller. The parameters of the adaptive model and adaptive controller are on-line tuned. By using the proposed adaptive inverse controller, the transient responses, load disturbance responses and tracking responses of the control system are improved. To detect the shaft rotor position, a micro-encoder is attached with the micro-permanent magnet synchronous motor. The micro-encoder provides only 100 pulses/revolution because of its space limitation. As a result, the resolution of the position signal and speed signal is not good enough. In order to improve the resolution, a state estimator is proposed here. By using the proposed state estimator, the control system can be operated from 1 to 25 000 r/min. The adaptive inverse control algorithm and the state estimation algorithm are executed by a digital signal processor, TMS320F28335. In addition, the proposed adaptive inverse control algorithm can be applied to the position control for the micro-permanent magnet synchronous motor as well. Several experimental results validate the theoretical analysis. The experimental results show that the proposed system has good performance including transient responses, load disturbance responses, and tracking responses.


This study investigates antibiotic resistance in gut commensals obtained from children presenting with diarrhoea in Khartoum and Juba, Sudan. Fifty-one isolates of Escherichia coli were obtained from the faeces of 34 children. Sensitivity to six antibiotics generally available in Sudan were determined for all isolates using a disc diffusion method. Twenty-five (74%) of the children had isolates resistant to at least four of the antibiotics, and seven (20%) had isolates resistant to all six antibiotics. A greater number of resistant isolates was obtained from inpatients than outpatients but were significantly different for only two antibiotics. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of resistant isolates obtained from children below 1 year of age. The results suggest that multiply resistant Escherichia coli may be acquired from the environment, and may play a role in the epidemiology of multiply resistant enteric pathogens.


The manufacturing industry has been using Lean Sigma for years in pursuit of continuous improvement to obtain a competitive advantage. The objectives of these efforts are to use the Lean techniques for reducing cycle times and the Six Sigma concepts for reducing product defects. The Iowa Business Council with several advocates worked with the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC) and two other Iowa hospitals to determine whether Lean Sigma is adaptable in healthcare. A team of 15 people at UIHC used the Kaizen Breakthrough Methodology over a five-day period in an aggressive identification and elimination of non-value added activities in Radiology CT scanning. The results exceeded the initial project objectives and indicated that Lean Sigma is applicable in healthcare. Overall, the Lean Sigma project increased revenue by approximately $750,000 per year. The Kaizen process proved to be successful and interesting. Within three days, the team installed new work flow processes. This implementation-oriented approach is what differentiates Lean Sigma from other quality improvement processes.


The exploration of alternative socioeconomic futures is an important aspect of understanding the potential consequences of climate change. While socioeconomic scenarios are common and, at times essential, tools for the impact, adaptation and vulnerability and integrated assessment modeling research communities, their approaches to scenario development have historically been quite distinct. However, increasing convergence of impact, adaptation and vulnerability and integrated assessment modeling research in terms of scales of analysis suggests there may be value in the development of a common framework for socioeconomic scenarios. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways represents an opportunity for the development of such a common framework. However, the scales at which these global storylines have been developed are largely incommensurate with the sub-national scales at which impact, adaptation and vulnerability, and increasingly integrated assessment modeling, studies are conducted. The objective of this study was to develop subnational and sectoral extensions of the global SSP storylines in order to identify future socioeconomic challenges for adaptation for the U.S. Southeast. A set of nested qualitative socioeconomic storyline elements, integrated storylines, and accompanying quantitative indicators were developed through an application of the Factor-Actor-Sector framework. In addition to revealing challenges and opportunities associated with the use of the SSPs as a basis for more refined scenario development, this study generated sub-national storyline elements and storylines that can subsequently be used to explore the implications of alternative sub-national socioeconomic futures for the assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation.


Evidence based practice demonstrates using clippers immediately before surgery, when perioperative hair removal is necessary, results in the fewest surgical site infections (Kjonniksen, Andersen, Sondenaa, & Segadal, 2002). In addition, one of The Joint Commission's national patient safety goals for 2008 is "to reduce the risk of healthcare associated infections" (The Joint Commission, 2008, Goal 7). Therefore, a project was undertaken to change perioperative nursing care in a large teaching hospital from using razors for hair removal in the perioperative setting to using clippers. Change is difficult and encompasses many interdisciplinary areas. A description of the process of utilizing evidence to change behavior in the perioperative setting and its outcomes will be provided in this paper. Klevens, et al., (2007) reported that 22% of healthcare associated infections were the result of surgical site infections (SSIs). Changing practice to utilizing clippers for hair removal is an extrinsic factor of SSIs that can be easily modified. Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) patients that require hair removal before surgery (i.e., acoustic neuroma, cranial-facial resections, and head and neck reconstruction) may benefit from this change in practice. Perioperative nurses are in a prime position to reduce the incidence of SSIs in ORL patients.


The present investigation deals with study of thermoelastic damping and frequency shift of Kirchhoff plate resonators by using generalized thermoelasticity theory of dual-phase-lag model. The basic equations of motion and heat conduction equation are written with the help of Kirchhoff-Love plate theory and dual phase lag model. The analytical expressions for thermoelastic damping and frequency shift of modified couple stress dual-phase-lag thermoelastic plate have been obtained. A computer algorithm has been constructed to obtain the numerical results. Influences of modified couple stress dual-phase-lag thermoelastic plate; dualphase-lag thermoelastic plate and Lord-Shulman (L-S, 1967) thermoelastic plate with few vibration modes on the thermoelastic damping and frequency shift are examined. The thermoelastic damping and frequency shift with varying values of length and thickness are shown graphically for clamped-clamped and simply supported boundary conditions. It is observed from the results that the damping factor and frequency shift have noticed larger value in the presence of couple stress for varying values of length but opposite effect are shown for varying values of thickness in case of both vibration modes and boundary conditions. © 2020 IAU, Arak Branch. All rights reserved.


The increased penetration of phasor measurements units (PMUs) in electric power grids have put to forefront issues related to quality of phasor data. Phasor measurements, because of their perceived inherent accuracies, are oftentimes used to benchmark the results of critical system monitoring functions such as state estimators. However, instrument transformers significantly impact the final accuracies of phasor data. This paper will quantify the impact of optical current and voltage sensors on the accuracies of phasor data and wide area control. By comparing these results with those of traditional instrument transformer we demonstrate the benefits of using optical measurement units to better the performance of PMUs and their wide area applications.


This article reviews recent research on the prevalence and virulence of obesity as a causal risk factor for mortality and morbidity. The prevailing assumption that obesity, by itself, is a chronic disease or a primary risk factor for health is challenged. A historical perspective is used to analyze the efficacy of various medical and educational approaches that have attempted to alter body size in the pursuit of enhanced physical health. The motivational discrepancies between society's media-induced desire for thinness and the health field's risk reduction approach to weight loss are outlined. Finally, ethical issues are raised in relation to current weight control measures, implications for future educational efforts are discussed, and potential guidelines for future weight management programs are presented.