Malaria is one of the major public health problems for low income countries, a major
global health priority, and it has also a dramatic economic impact. Funding for
malaria control is on the rise and both international donors and governments of
malaria endemic countries need tools and evidence to assess which are the best and
most efficient strategies to control malaria.
Standard tools traditionally used to assess the public health and economic impact of
malaria control interventions, such as efficacy trials and static cost-effectiveness
analyses, capture only short term effects. They fail to take into account long term and
dynamic effects due to the complex dynamic of malaria, and to the interactions
between intervention effectiveness and health systems.
This thesis is part of a wider research project, conducted by the Swiss Tropical
Institute, aimed at developing integrated mathematical models for predicting the
epidemiologic and economic effects of malaria control interventions. The thesis
specifically combines innovative mathematical models of malaria epidemiology with
innovative modeling of the health system and of the costs and effects of malaria
control interventions. These approaches are applied to simulate the epidemiological
impact and the cost-effectiveness of hypothetical malaria vaccines. Chapter 1 describes why malaria is a public health priority, the increasing relevance
of conducting economic analyses in the health sector, the economic evaluation
framework, and the economic consequences of malaria.
Chapter 2 presents an approach to dynamically modeling the case management of
malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Chapter 3 describes an approach to costing the delivery of a hypothetical malaria
vaccine through the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), on the basis of the
information available on the likely characteristics of the vaccine most advanced in
development. The results show that, although the vaccine price determines most of
the total delivery costs, other costs are relevant and should be taken into account
before planning its inclusion into the EPI.
Chapter 4 and 5 combine modeling of malaria transmission and control with
predictions of parasitologic and clinical outcomes, to assess the epidemiological
effects and the potential short and long term cost-effectiveness of a pre-erythrocytic
vaccine delivered via the EPI. The results suggest a significant impact on morbidity
and mortality for a range of assumptions about the vaccine characteristics, but only small effects on transmission intensities. They also suggest that at moderate to low
vaccine prices, a pre-erythrocytic vaccine providing partial protection, and delivered
via the EPI, may be a cost-effective intervention in countries where malaria is
endemic.
Chapter 6 simulates the cost-effectiveness of three different vaccine types: Preerythrocytic
vaccines (PEV), Blood stage vaccines (BSV), mosquito-stage
transmission-blocking vaccines (MSTBV), and combinations of these, each delivered
via a range of delivery modalities (EPI, EPI with booster, and mass vaccination
combined with EPI). The simulations presented in this Chapter show that PEV are
more effective and cost-effective in low transmission settings. In contrast to PEV,
BSV are predicted to be more effective and cost-effective at higher transmission
settings than low transmission. Combinations of BSV and PEV are predicted to be
more efficient than PEV, in particular in moderate to high transmission settings, but
compared to BSV, combinations are more cost-effective in mostly moderate to low
transmission settings. Combinations of MSTBV and PEV or PEV and BSV do not
increase the effectiveness or the cost-effectiveness compared to PEV and BSV alone
when delivered through the EPI. However, when applied with EPI and mass
vaccinations, combinations with MSTBV provide substantial incremental health
benefits at low incremental costs in all transmission settings. This highlights the
importance of developing other vaccine candidates as they have potential to facilitate
a PEV/BSV combination vaccine to be more beneficial. Chapter 6 simulations
indicate that the transmission setting and the vaccine delivery modality adopted are
important determinants of the cost-effectiveness of malaria vaccines. Alternative
vaccine delivery modalities to the EPI may sometimes, but not always, be more costeffective
than the EPI. In general, at moderate vaccine prices, most vaccines and
delivery modalities simulated are likely to present cost-effectiveness ratios, which
compare favorably with those of other malaria interventions. Chapter 7 discusses the implications of approaches and results presented in the thesis,
their limitations and potentials. The approach used in this research represents the first
attempt to develop dynamic models of malaria transmission and disease to evaluate
the cost-effectiveness of malaria control interventions. Combining advanced
stochastic simulation modeling of malaria epidemiology with health system dynamic
modeling is a crucial innovation proposed by the approaches presented in this thesis.
In fact, while it is well known that the interactions between malaria and health
systems take place under temporal and spatial heterogeneity, integration of health
system metrics in epidemiological modeling is rarely done. The cost-effectiveness analyses are based on an approach to model the health system characteristics of the
settings where a new intervention, such as a malaria vaccine, will be implemented,
The rationale of this approach rests on: a) the need to capture the long term health and
economic impact due to the interactions between malaria control interventions and
the health system - e.g. the impact on the health system of variations in transmission
intensity due to an intervention; b) the recognition that policy makers are more
interested in cost-effectiveness predictions that are specifically tailored to their health
system context rather than on a hypothetical one.
The approaches developed provide a platform that could be used to model the effects
of integrated strategies for malaria control. The increase in computer power available
makes possible simulating complex scenarios with several dimensions/variables in a
relatively short time. This, coupled with the increasing availability of information on
malaria endemic countries health systems, should be exploited to further modeling
health system dynamics, which is fundamental to assess integrated malaria control
strategies.
The models and the approaches presented could be applied to inform decisions at
several levels. Further applications might include simulating the epidemiology, the
costs and consequences of packages of interventions, allowing estimating both
effectiveness and (technical and allocative) efficiency. This would, thus, help policy
makers to determine which intervention or, most likely, which package of
interventions, might be most effective and efficient in a particular area. Additionally,
it would be possible to simulate the implications of coverage extension of malaria
control interventions, and of different strategies and service delivery modalities that can reach the poorest.
The approaches developed could also allow identification of areas where intensified
malaria control is the only feasible option, areas where malaria elimination is more
likely to be achieved, the incremental cost-effectiveness of proceeding to elimination
once a high level of control has been achieved, the optimal transmission levels at
which to change strategy, and, in principle, economies of scope and or synergies in
effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of new strategies. These are all research areas
that have been identified as fundamental in the research agenda to be set up following
the recent call for malaria elimination.


Fingering instabilities akin to the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in fluids have been observed in a binary granular system consisting of dense and small particles layered on top of lighter and larger particles, when the system is subjected to vertical vibration and fluidizing gas flow. Using observations from experiments and numerical modelling we explore whether the theory developed to describe the Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in fluids is also applicable to binary granular systems. Our results confirm the applicability of the classic RT instability theory for binary granular systems demonstrating that several key features are observed in both types of systems, viz: (i) The characteristic wavenumber of the instability is constant with time, (ii) the amplitude of the characteristic wavenumber initially grows exponentially and (iii) the dispersion relation between the wavenumbers k of the interface instability and the growth rates n ( k ) of their amplitudes holds in both fluid-fluid and binary granular systems. Our results also demonstrate that inter-particle friction is essential for the RT instability to occur in granular media. For zero particle friction the interface instability bears a greater resembles to the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. We further define a yield criterion Y for the interface by treating the granular medium as a viscoplastic material; only for Y > 15 fingering occurs. Interestingly, previous work has shown that instabilities in the Earth's lower mantle, another viscoplastic material, also occur for similar values of Y .


This paper develops and estimates a model for the choice of part-time and full-time employment and the decision to pay for childcare among single mothers. The results indicate that a lower childcare price and a higher full-time wage rate both lead to an increase in overall employment and the use of paid childcare. The part-time wage effects are found to be too small to have significant behavioral implications. An analysis of cost-effectiveness indicates that the additional hours of work generated per dollar of government expenditure is larger for a childcare subsidy than a wage subsidy.


We study a weighted `-regularization technique for solving inverse problems when the forward operator has a significant nullspace. In particular, we prove that a sparse source can be exactly recovered as the regularization parameter α tends to zero. Furthermore, for positive values of α, we show that the regularized inverse solution equals the true source multiplied by a scalar γ, where γ = 1 − cα. Our analysis is supported by numerical experiments for cases with one and several local sources. This investigation is motivated by a PDE-constrained optimization problem, but the theory is developed in terms of Euclidean spaces. Our results can therefore be applied to many problems.


Purpose - Ethics, which constitute the behaviors that should be abided by or avoided by parties, are all material and non-material factors that include social, cultural, economic and scientific values that are the basis for inter-personal relationships, and are a discipline that deal with behavioral norms and rules such as correct or wrong, good or bad, which people have to abide by. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to demonstrate business ethics in corporate governance and assessment of the need for business ethics, ethical leader and ethical behaviors relationship in corporate governance, explanation of organizational ethical climate and its impacts on workers as well as perception of workers in banking sector regarding the ethical rules implemented in the context of corporate governance and the impacts of such rules. Methodology- In this study, questionnaire method was used as data collection method and ten demographical questions as well as nine questions regarding ten ethical leadership scales, eleven ethical climate scales and five non-ethical behavior scales were asked in the questionnaire. This study is a relational screening model that reviews the relations among two different situations that can affect each other in terms of several variables. Findings-   There were no statistically significant differences in terms of "ethical leadership" scale scores between males and females in this study and there was a significant difference in terms of "ethical leadership" and "ethical climate" between married and single individuals observed. The desire of married individuals to work in a more stable environment and tend to be less risky also lead to the valuing of ethical leadership and ethical climate. When we look at educational status and education areas, there was a statistically significant difference between "ethical leadership" and "ethical climate" scale scores. Conclusion- This study is a guide and it will play a role and contribute to institutions in determining their own ethics and spreading this ethics to the personnel working at bank through training to be given to employees of the institution. It is foreseen that the banking structure, which is a growing and spreading system, can develop even more with the ethical rules internalized by the employees in addition to the the written ethical rules, which can affect the business loyalty and motivation of the employees in the bank. Keywords: Et hical, Ethical Leadership, Ethical Climate,Corporate Governance


STUDY OBJECTIVES
Sleep disturbances are common in military personnel with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and may persist following treatment. This study examined service members seeking treatment for PTSD reporting insomnia symptoms, nightmares, excessive daytime sleepiness, and potential obstructive sleep apnea at baseline and the impact of sleep disturbances on a course of PTSD treatment.

METHODS
In this secondary analysis, sleep was evaluated in 223 service members who participated in a randomized clinical trial comparing Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD delivered in individual or group formats. Sleep assessments included the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Trauma-Related Nightmare Survey (TRNS), and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) administered at baseline and 2 weeks posttreatment.

RESULTS
Following PTSD treatment, there were significant improvements for insomnia symptoms (MΔ = -1.49; d = -0.27), nightmares (MΔ = -0.35; d = -0.27), and excessive daytime sleepiness (MΔ = -0.91; d = -0.16). However, mean scores remained in clinical ranges at posttreatment. Participants with baseline insomnia symptoms had worse PTSD severity throughout treatment. Participants with baseline excessive daytime sleepiness or probable obstructive sleep apnea had greater PTSD severity reductions when treated with CPT individually versus in a group. Those with insomnia symptoms, nightmare disorder, and sleep apnea had greater depressive symptoms throughout treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Insomnia symptoms, nightmares, and excessive daytime sleepiness were high at baseline in service members seeking treatment for PTSD. While sleep symptoms improved with PTSD treatment, these sleep disorders were related to worse treatment outcomes with regards to symptoms of PTSD and depression. Individual CPT is recommended over group CPT for patients with either excessive daytime sleepiness or probable obstructive sleep apnea.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02173561).


Objectives: To study the effect of a lack of antioxidant defenses during lethal pneumonia induced by Klebsiella pneumonia, compared to wild-type mice. Setting: Laboratory experiments. Subjects: C57Bl6 and glutathione peroxidase 1 knockout mice. Intervention: Murine acute pneumonia model induced by Klebsiella pneumonia. Measurements and Main Results: We show here that despite a lack of one of the major antioxidant defense enzymes, glutathione peroxidase 1 knockout mice are protected during lethal pneumonia induced by Klebsiella pneumonia, compared to wild-type mice. Furthermore, this protective effect was suppressed when antioxidant defenses were restored. Infected glutathione peroxidase 1 mice showed an early and significant, albeit transient, increase in the activity of the NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome when compared with wild-type mice. The key role of the NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome during acute pneumonia was confirmed in vivo when the protective effect was suppressed by treating glutathione peroxidase 1 mice with an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist. Additionally we report, in vitro, that increased concentrations of active caspase-1 and interleukin-1&bgr; are related to an increased concentration of hydrogen peroxide in bacterially infected glutathione peroxidase 1 macrophages and that restoring hydrogen peroxide antioxidant defenses suppressed this effect. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that, contrary to current thinking, an early intervention targeting NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 inflammasome activity induces a timely and efficient activation of the innate immune response during acute infection. Our findings also demonstrate a role for hydrogen peroxide in the mechanisms tightly regulating NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 activation.


Evergreen sclerophyll shrubland is a
prominent feature of Mediterranean Basin.
Elevated temperatures and extended drought
period are predicted to have a large influence on
the functioning of natural and semi-natural
environments both directly and through
interactions with land management and pollutant
loading (Larcher, 2000; Llorens et al., 2003).
Climatic changes may have particular strong
effects on vulnerable ecosystems, which are
already subjected to other stresses such as
elevated N deposition, intensive grazing or the
risk of fire (Sala et al., 1998).
An experimental manipulation of climatic
conditions at field scale was conducted
employing a newly developed "night-time
warming" technique and an automated covering
system to extend summer drought (Beier et al.,
2002).
The objective of this study was to test how a
future extended drought period and an increase
in temperature could affect plant response in
terms of plant cover and biomass, plant growth
and reproductive effort. In this paper preliminary
results obtained during the two first years of
experiment (2002 and 2003) are shown.


In order to clarify the growth process and hard to understand reported spectra of iodine film and silver iodide (AgI) film, various spectral transitions have been measured in situ: (a) optical density spectra of films grown on low temperature substrates by vacuum evaporation of an iodine lump, during deposition and annealing; (b) optical extinction spectra of vapour zones produced by gas evaporation of AgI powder, during evaporation; and (c) optical density spectra of films grown on low temperature and room temperature substrates by vacuum evaporation of AgI powder, during deposition and annealing. After these in situ real time measurements, the film specimens were allowed to recover and were examined by means of comparative measurements of the optical density and photoluminescence spectra at about 12 K. The spectra obtained were analysed and compared with those reported previously by other workers, and the following questions have been optically clarified: (1) How does annealing improve the crystal quality of iodine film? (The annealing at about 200 K improves the crystal quality considerably.) (2) What is the film that is quench deposited on low temperature sapphire surfaces by thermal evaporation of AgI powder? (It is AgmIn () dispersed iodine film.) (3) How does AgI film grow in the deposited film? (Above about 220 K, iodine evaporates abruptly to grow uniform AgI film on the substrate.) (4) How does excess iodine affect the optical spectrum of AgI? (The excess iodine creates both several exciton absorptions due to polytype structures at wavelengths between 370 and 410 nm, and a tail at wavelengths longer than 430 nm.) (5) What is the best evaporation condition for the fabrication of AgI and iodine films? (The best quality of iodine and βAgI films can be obtained at a substrate temperature of about 200 K in the quench deposition method.) Besides this, the present optical experiments have answered the following question: is there truly a strongly enhanced optical absorption in quench deposited AgI films, as reported by Kondo et al (1998 Phys. Rev. B 57 13235)? The present studies have elucidated that the enhanced absorption is not due to amorphization of AgI but due merely to intense optical absorption of iodine in the films.


An attempt has been made to predict the life of Lake Nainital, a natural lake located in the Kumaun Himalaya with a fairly large human settlement around it. Sediment accumulation rates estimated by dating the lake sediment cores employing 210Pb and '37Cs dating techniques have been used for the purpose. The sediment accumulation rates estimated by radioisotope techniques are comparable to the rates obtained by the sediment balance method using suspended sediment data. The estimated useful life of the lake is about 2,200 years, which is much higher than the results obtained by earlier investigators who used short- term bathymetric data. In the present study, long-term (46 years) annual lake sounding data have also been analysed. Large bi-directional variations in the annual bathymetry imply that major errors are associated with the lake sounding data that led to the under-estimation of the life span of Lake Nainital by earlier investigators.


The purpose of this study is to investigate researchers' attitudes, perceptions, and barriers toward scholarly publication. The current research can be a foundation for conversations on removing obstacles to scholarly publication. A total of 284 researchers participated in the present study. This quantitative analysis is based on a structured questionnaire through convenient sampling. For gathering data, a self-administered questionnaire was developed. The author used descriptive statistics to examine the data. Half (50 %) of the respondents had 1-2 years of research experience. Most of the participants (71.8 %) had participated in a session on research methods, and nearly half (48.9 %) had attended a session on article writing. Additionally, close to one-third (29.2 %) had written 1-2 articles, and more than half (59.5 %) had published research articles in a journal. The scholarly publication contributes to the academic growth of the institution, research enhances professional development and lack of research skills was the most prominent item considering attitudes, perceptions and barriers towards scholarly publication respectively. Across the tested analysis, gender has no significant difference, while age has a substantial difference in participating in conducting research. Gender has no significant difference, while age significantly correlates with article publication. Experience impact in conducting meaningful research, whereas attending research methodology training correlates with publishing articles and attending an article-writing workshop correlates with published articles. Incessant and collective consideration is imperative to overcome barriers to publishing scholarly articles. Moreover, training in research methodology, article writing, mentorship, facilities and funding are prerequisites for conducting research.


Monitoring the expression level of the intracellular tumor suppressor gene p21 mRNA is essential to reveal the progress and prognosis of a tumor. Methods widely reported for the detection of p21 mRNA are the real-time polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot. However, these methods only detect mRNA in vitro and cannot realize the in situ monitoring of the p21 mRNA expression level in living cells. Additionally, the sensor for the real-time tracking and monitoring of the p21 mRNA location without the help of a transfection reagent in living cells is still limited. Herein, a novel sticky-flare was constructed for the dynamic monitoring of the temporal and spatial variations of p21 mRNA in living cells. The nanoprobe consists of AuNP, a recognition sequence modified with Cy5, and a thiol-modified DNA sequence. The thiol oligonucleotide strand could act partially complementary to the Cy5-modified oligonucleotide strand to form a double-stranded DNA linked to AuNP, resulting in the fluorescence quenching of Cy5 due to the energy transfer from Cy5 to the gold sphere. In the presence of p21 mRNA, the Cy5-modified recognition nucleic acid specifically bound to p21 mRNA to form a more stable double chain and escaped from the gold sphere, leading to the recovery of red fluorescence. Our method is better than other methods in its ability to quantify the spatial distribution and expression level of p21 mRNA in living cells and discriminate various tumor cell lines with different p21 mRNA expression levels by the naked eye. Particularly, the sticky-flare probe used in this assay could allow the visual evaluation of the tumor treatment effect and the determination of the tumor progression stage by enabling monitoring of the relative expression level of p21 mRNA in tumor cells after cisplatin treatment. The method reported here is accurate, reliable and needs no auxiliary tools (transfection reagent), and thereby provides a promising route for the prognostic evaluation and drug development of cancer treatment in the future.


In this paper, we investigate the parameter estimation problem for reflected OU processes. Both the estimates based on continuously observed processes and discretely observed processes are considered. The explicit formulas for the estimators are derived using the least squares method. Under some regular conditions, we obtain the consistency and establish the asymptotic normality for the estimators. Numerical results show that the proposed estimators perform well with moderate sample sizes.


This article introduces a benchmarking framework that allows rigorous evaluation of parallel model-based optimizers for expensive functions. The framework establishes a relationship between estimated costs of parallel function evaluations (on real-world problems) to known sets of test functions. Such real-world problems are not always readily available (e.g., confidentiality and proprietary software). Therefore, new test problems are created by Gaussian process simulation. The proposed framework is applied in an extensive benchmark study to compare multiple state-of-the-art parallel optimizers with a novel model-based algorithm, which combines ideas of an explorative search for global model quality with parallel local searches to increase function exploitation. The benchmarking framework is used to configure good batch size setups for parallel algorithms systematically based on landscape properties. Furthermore, we introduce a proof of concept for a novel automatic batch size configuration. The predictive quality of the batch size configuration is evaluated on a large set of test functions and the functions generated by Gaussian process simulation. The introduced algorithm outperforms multiple state-of-the-art optimizers, especially on multimodal problems. Additionally, it proves to be particularly robust over various problem landscapes, and performs well with all tested batch sizes. Consequently, this makes it well suited for black-box kinds of problems.


6-Methoxy-2-benzoxazolinone (6-MBOA) at concentrations greater than 20 microM stimulates serotonin N-acetyltransferase (NAT) activity of rat pineal glands in 48-hr organ culture as well as of glands freshly cultured, indicating that 6-MBOA acts postsynaptically. The effects of 6-MBOA on NAT activity can be blocked by propranolol but not by prazosin, suggesting that 6-MBOA acts on the beta receptor. At the doses used 6-MBOA stimulation does not block or enhance NAT stimulation by norepinephrine, but is additive with vasoactive intestinal polypeptide which stimulates NAT activity at a site different than the beta receptor. This study demonstrates that 6-MBOA stimulates rather than inhibits melatonin biosynthesis and does not prevent stimulation of melatonin synthesis by norepinephrine. The progonadal association with eating plants containing 6-MBOA in the Montane vole may be due to over stimulation of melatonin receptor sites. Other possible explanations include an extrapineal action such as a blockade of melatonin receptors in the central nervous system, a blockade of receptors on the gonads or to a direct action of this agent on the gonads.


Many metamaterials, including metal wire grid, was invented to enhance the performance of the antenna in the last decade. A novel zero index metamaterial (ZIM), consisting of double metal layers with periodic circular perforation cells, was proposed and studied for horn antenna loading in this paper. The simulation model of array loaded with ZIM was constructed and optimized by CST software. The results indicate that array loaded with ZIM shows an enhanced performance at the resonant frequency and could be used for antenna loading application. An experimental study was also carried out to verify the design of ZIM. The measured resonant frequency of ZIM shows a good agreement with the results of the derived analytical formula. A maximum of 2.3 dB gain enhancement and 0.88 aperture efficiency at 9.3GHz was observed according to the measurement. Compared with typical standard horn with the same aperture, the tapering length of array loaded with ZIM was reduced by half, and the aperture efficiency demonstrates more than 70% increase at the resonant frequency in the meantime.


We investigate the association between related party transactions (RPT) and real earnings management (REM). We also investigate the role of internal governance mechanism through the effectiveness of board of commissioner and audit committee in mitigating the association between RPT and REM. Our research sample consists of 386 firm-years of manufacturing firms listed in Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) from year 2010 - 2014. Using linear regression, we find evidence that RPT has positive association with REM, only when the firm has higher RPT but not in the lower RPT. We find a contradictory result that board of commissioners strengthen the positive association between RPT and REM. Finally, we find evidence that the effectiveness of audit committees weaken the positive association between RPT and REM, both in full sample and in high RPT sample.


This book is the catalog for two of the first major exhibits to show only modernist jewelry from such a broad group of artists. Both take place in 2008 in Fort Wayne, Indiana: one at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art (May 2 to August 24) and the other at The University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts (May 2 to May 30). Over fifty collectors and living art jewelers have lent some of the best examples of this innovative style. Sculptors Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia, Jose de Rivera, Peter and Daniel Macchiarini, Earl and Tod Pardon, and merry rank are among the 96 artists featured, along with their extensive jewelry creations. Their work was experimental and stimulated originality in successive generations. Plastics, pearls, brass, copper, silver, gold, and enamels are among the materials found here in mini-sculptures and jewelry ornaments for men and women alike. The author's extensive research uncovers connections among the artists and documents this important art period and medium. Artists, collectors, cultural historians, and students all will want to see the exhibits and own the catalog.


In the bachelor's thesis the attitude of online commentators towards the so-called Delfi
draft (draft legislation amending the Electronic Communication Act, the Information
Society Services Act, the Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of
Misdemeanor Procedure) and other means regulating commenting was researched
involving the period 25.02.2005-07.05.2007.
The methods used were text analysis, with a comment as a unit of analysis, and a standard
online questionnaire.
The main questions and hypotheses of the thesis were:
1. Which are the principal arguments of commentators against the draft legislation?
2. Which method of regulation is preferred by the commentators themselves?
Hypothesis 1. Opposition to the draft legislation is maintained although time passes.
Hypothesis 2. Commentators are against any regulations (limitations).
The research work for the seminar is a part of the bachelor's thesis. During the first period
(25.02.2005-01.05.2006) 2915 comments were analyzed for the seminar. During the
second period (08.05.2007-09.05.2007) 266 comments were analyzed for the thesis. The
analyzed comments had been made on the articles, which dealt with regulating means
imposing limits on making comments, e.g. registration, deletion, draft legislation.
An article was published in Postimees online to encourage the commentators to express
their opinions in the commentary room with regard to the imposition of regulations. The article received 91 comments and these comments were also analyzed by the means of text
analysis.
There were also published 6 questions on the web page of Postimees. The aim of these
questions was to find out the opinions of readers and commentators with regard to
regulations and commenting in general.
All these data were compared and analyzed and the questions and hypotheses got the
following answers:
1. The principal arguments against the draft legislation were that Estonian politicians
would benefit from this law and this draft will restrict the freedom of speech.
2. The commentators did not suggest any preferred means of regulation, but they are
definitely against any restricting laws.
Hypothesis 1: Opposition to the draft legislation is maintained although time passes. It
has proved true.
Hypothesis 2. Commentators are against any regulation (limitations). It was partially
proved as the number of those commentators, who understand the need for
regulations, has increased.
There was a need to carry out a research in the given issue to map the present situation in
commentary rooms of the Estonian daily newspapers before the corresponding draft
legislation will be open for discussion.


One of the ways to determine the inherent reliability of a design is to test it under controlled environments based on the product usage that is understood by the development requirements. This can be accomplished by performing a reliability growth test on the product. A testing approach can be developed that enhances the product reliability and reduces the production testing cycle. Research performed to date points to the fact that this proposed methodology may not exist, and is the focus of continued research to refine the development of an approach to fill this gap. The combining of multiple testing approaches in order to ensure that the reliability requirement is met or exceeded while at the same time having the capability to reduce the testing cycle time when required due to schedule and cost constraints has not been addressed in the open literature till date. The methodology is to utilize a combination of multiple testing approaches to accomplish this task by exploring complementary testing ideas from various technologies that have been utilized previously with documented success. This approach demonstrated that component‐level testing reduced the product‐level failures by greater than 80% while at the same time reducing the schedule to complete all testing. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A Swimming performance underlies the biomechanical properties and functional morphology of fish fins. In this article, design and realization of a swimming robot propelled by a pair of pectoral fin is implemented. The suggested shape of the pectoral fins is concave; this type of fin provides a simple approach in generating effective hydrodynamic thrust force through only one degree of freedom (1-DOF). Next, we show the effect of varying fin oscillation speed in two phases, the first phase is the power stroke one, where the fins start to push toward the backward of the body, and the recovery phase, where the fins return toward the frontal part of the body. The detailed steps of the robot design are presented and the thrust force exerted by pectoral fins has been evaluated. The robot is consisting of a rigid-body with an elliptical cross-sectional area, which helps in minimizing the water resistance during the thrusting process. Since pectoral fins provide a vital role in the propulsion mechanism of Labridae fish, the proposed model is driven by a pair of concave-shaped fin to simulate labriform mode swimming mechanism. For motion control, we have suggested to use PID controller in order to improve the system performance. The kinematic and dynamic model of a swimming robot has been derived based on Newton-Euler equations, while an evaluation of the total hydrodynamic forces that are exerted on the swimming robot's body is studied via the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The proposed design has been validated theoretically via Solidworks{\textregistered} platform and examined experimentally. The results of the simulation and practical experiments showed the validity and agility of Labriform swimming robot.


Fractures of the odontoid peg are common spinal injuries in the elderly. This study compares the survivorship of a cohort of elderly patients with an isolated fracture of the odontoid peg versus that of patients who have sustained a fracture of the hip or wrist. A six-year retrospective analysis was performed on all patients aged > 65 years who were admitted to our spinal unit with an isolated fracture of the odontoid peg. A Kaplan-Meier table was used to analyse survivorship from the date of fracture, which was compared with the survivorship of similar age-matched cohorts of 702 consecutive patients with a fracture of the hip and 221 consecutive patients with a fracture of the wrist. A total of 32 patients with an isolated odontoid fracture were identified. The rate of mortality was 37.5% (n = 12) at one year. The period of greatest mortality was within the first 12 weeks. Time made a lesser contribution from then to one year, and there was no impact of time on the rate of mortality thereafter. The rate of mortality at one year was 41.2% for male patients (7 of 17) compared with 33.3% for females (5 of 15). The rate of mortality at one year was 32% (225 of 702) for patients with a fracture of the hip and 4% (9 of 221) for those with a fracture of the wrist. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of mortality following a hip fracture and an odontoid peg fracture (p = 0.95). However, the survivorship of the wrist fracture group was much better than that of the odontoid peg fracture group (p < 0.001). Thus, a fracture of the odontoid peg in the elderly is not a benign injury and is associated with a high rate of mortality, especially in the first three months after the injury.


SQL injection (SQLI) is one of the most important security threats against web applications. Many tech-niques have been proposed for counteracting SQLI attacks; however, second-order attacks and the injectionattacks that are raising data-type mismatch errors have been ignored in most of them. In this paper, wepropose a new anomaly-based method (deploying as a proxy between the application server and its databaseserver) for detection and/or prevention of SQLI attacks without requiring any modi cation to the sourcecode of vulnerable applications. The majority of attacks, which lead to a change in the syntax of applica-tion queries, are identi ed in the detection phase by lexical analysis of the queries. The remained types ofattacks, such as second-order attacks and attacks generating data type mismatch errors, are prevented tobe executed in the prevention phase, where each query is automatically converted to a parameterized query(before submitting to its database) using a semantic analysis method.


SUMMARY Objectives: A high Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) seroprevalence has been found in many extragastrointestinal disorders. Moreover, it has been reported that the tuberculosis (TB) risk may be increased in patients with a history of peptic ulcer disease. The aim of this study was to assess the H. pylori seroprevalence in patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB, before the initiation of antituberculosis treatment. Methods: We evaluated all patients with newly diagnosed pulmonary TB presenting to our hospital during a 2-year period. We evaluated 80 patients with pulmonary TB and 70, age and sexnmatched, control subjects. All enrolled subjects (tuberculosis patients and controls) underwent an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) IgG serologic test for H. pylori diagnosis. Results: A correlation between age and H. pylori IgG level was detected for both TB patients (r=0.42, p=0.004) and controls (r=0.44, p=0.004). The H. pylori seropositivity in the TB group was significantly higher than that of controls (87.5% vs 61.4%, p=0.02). The mean serum concentration of IgG antibodies against H. pylori was also significantly higher in TB patients than in control subjects (39.0‐ 25.2 U/ml vs 26.1‐21.2 U/ml, p=0.001). Conclusions: H. pylori infection may be associated with pulmonary TB. Further studies should be undertaken to confirm our results and to clarify the potential underlying pathogenetic mechanisms.


This research will study the relationship between HRM ethics, CSR and its impact on employer brand. (or) A question that arises in this context is then how the two constructs – HRM ethics and CSR – are correlated and what is their impact on the employer brand? To achieve the aim of this research, it is divided into three main sections. In the first section, a theoretical framework related to ethical HRM, CSR and employer brand is outlined. The second, empirical section begins with research design and sampling, data collection and measurement followed by validity and reliability of the survey instrument. At last, the research provides the statistical techniques used to test the hypotheses. Finally, the conclusion section summarizes the major contributions of the research, and the implications for theory, practice and for future research.


Clinical literature has frequently alluded to the role of psychological stress in diabetic blood glucose fluctuations. Past research in the area has been minimal and inconsistent. Recent methodological and measurement advances have made it possible to more accurately assess the impact of psychological stress on long-term diabetic control. Study 1 of this report found a significant positive correlation between the Hassles Scale and Hemoglobin A1 levels in a group of 59 adult insulin-dependent diabetic patients. Social Supports, Type A behavior, and reported therapeutic compliance neither correlated with hemoglobin A1 nor influenced the Hassles-Hemoglobin A1 relationship. In a separate sample of 123 subjects, Study II revealed that diabetic patients generally perceive stress as a very potent factor in blood glucose control, but that different stressors may have differential effects for different diabetic patients. A factor analysis of these data reveals three different stress dimensions of the perceived stress-blood glucose relationship: fight/flight, passive/ruminative, and positive affect.


New configurations as well as new applications are constantly discovered for space structures. There is every indication that this trend will continue for a very longtime. This paper describes four configurations developed in the last ten years to provide architects with a framework for the accommodation of any building program. These configurations have their origin in a multi-layer, three-way space frame. They are, however, very different from each other. Although these have been the subjects of separate publications, they are discussed here together for the first time. The author feels that the discussion of topological aspects of space frames which relate to architectural considerations will make a positive contribution towards a more generalized use of space structures.


Middle school students experience substantial changes in their emotion and cognition while they grow. They have mixed feelings, which may negatively affect their motivation, self-esteem, and academic success due to different classroom management strategies of their teachers. There is available research about motivation of middle school students and classroom management approaches of middle school teachers. However, empirical studies are lacking to provide sufficient information about the relationship between student self-esteem and classroom management in middle schools. In this study, classroom management of middle school teachers and self-esteem of middle school students were examined. A total of eight middle school teachers and 60 middle school students from an urban middle school in western United States participated in the study.  Data acquired from the Classroom Management Self – Assessment (CMSA) and the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (CSEI) were analyzed with independent samples t-tests. The findings of the study indicated a significant difference between teachers on CMSA and between students on CSEI.

	Key words: Classroom management, student self-esteem, teachers, middle school.


Author(s): Halliwill, Kyle D. | Advisor(s): Balmain, Allan | Abstract: Cancer is a complex constellation of diseases, each driven by a variety of different environmental and genetic influences. Understanding how cancer development is shaped by these influences is paramount to developing better treatment and prevention protocols. In pursuit of this understanding I have undertaken an investigation into the forces molding tumor development in mouse models of cancer. To characterize the influence of the environment on tumor development as well as progression, I have utilized two independent models of chemical carcinogenesis. In the first model, we induced mouse lung tumors by either chemical or genetic means. By comparing between the two induction strategies we were able to demonstrate that chemical induction leaves an indelible mark on the tumor and is significantly different from signature of genetic induction. In the second model chemical carcinogens were used to induce primary carcinomas that were allowed to develop into metastases. By comparing the primary and metastatic lesions we found that shared mutations were defined by the chemical specificity of the inducing carcinogen, while mutations private to the metastases were representative of genomic instability. These results show that the influence of environmental factors can wax and wane during tumor development and progression.To gain insight on the genetic factors influencing cancer susceptibility, we investigated the genetics of body-mass index (BMI) and how this factor influences tumor development. We found that in a genetically heterogeneous mouse population elevated BMI strongly influenced cancer susceptibility. By carefully dissecting the genetics influencing BMI in this population we were able to identify a candidate gene (Panx3) linking BMI and tumorigenesis. This represents a significant step forward in our understanding of the genetics underlying these traits. Finally, we profiled the genetic elements contributing to the development of inflammation-driven tumors. Through a combined approach involving sequence, expression, and gene coexpression network analysis we were able to implicate the S100 gene family as a major factor influencing inflammation driven tumorigenesis. We further validated these claims in a human tumor cohort and demonstrated that network expression levels are severely impacted during tumor progression. The combined result of the work detailed in this dissertation is to illuminate the relationship between both environmental and genetic factors and cancer development through the use of mouse models. By extending these observations and methods to human data we hope to develop a better understanding of how human tumors develop, in order to improve both prevention and treatment strategies.


Background: High stress in pregnant women is common and places them at risk of developing mental illness, poorer birth outcomes, and can impact infant development and maternal bonding. Codesigned online meditation-based programs that consider maternal experiences of the perinatal period and protocol interventions are a potentially scalable intervention for at-risk perinatal populations.

Methods: Mothers reviewed online compassion or mindfulness-based inventions; they participated in focus groups around their experience of pregnancy and motherhood and of online meditation programs for pregnant women with distress. A qualitative approach using thematical analysis was employed to analyse data sets.

Results: A convenience sample of 16 mothers were recruited, 13 attended focus groups and completed written feedback, and five participated in follow up phone calls. Thematic analyses of group and individual data produced eight key themes: It's tough for most of us; no time or space for me as a mum; meditation helped me to calm; mediation was hard; valuing self-care; value for others; things that support practice; co-design input into program changes.

Discussion: Women perceived wellbeing benefits from reviewing intervention materials and reported the programs would be beneficial for pregnant women. Codesign and focus group processes aided engagement with intervention materials, normalised challenges of motherhood and meditations, and provided participants with a felt-sense of peer support.

Conclusions: Pregnancy is an opportune time to introduce accessible preventative online health interventions to reduce maternal distress. Online meditation interventions are potentially acceptable and beneficial for subclinical perinatal populations but should consider the need for social connection amongst participants. Meditation-based interventions for women in the perinatal period consisting of only informal practices warrant exploration.


Physical justification is provided for the use of kinetic energy backscatter in forecast models, particularly in respect of ensemble prediction systems. The rate of energy backscatter to scales near the truncation limit is controlled by a total energy dissipation function involving contributions from numerical diffusion, mountain drag and deep convection. A cellular automaton is used to generate evolving patterns that, together with the dissipation function, define a stream‐function forcing field. Each member of the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ensemble forecast system is perturbed by a different realization of this backscatter forcing, and the resulting increase in ensemble spread, if not excessive, has a beneficial impact on probabilistic measures of forecast skill. The input of small‐scale kinetic energy by the backscatter algorithm also helps to correct a known problem with the energy spectrum in the ECMWF model—the absence of the observed −5/3 spectral slope in the mesoscales. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.


Introduction: Advances in information technology and data collection methods have enabled high-speed collection and storage of huge amounts of data. Data mining can be used to derive laws from large data volumes and their characteristics. Similarly, fuzzy logic by facilitating the understanding of events is considered a suitable complement to scientific data mining. Methods: The present study used clustering to identify the independent characteristics of data. Related fuzzy sets, linguistic variables, and data classifications were defined, and the index was introduced based on the characteristics extracted from useful results. By considering the disease risk factors, the results were analyzed. Results: Two factors contributing to the health improvement or deterioration were defined: 'age' and 'the appropriateness or inappropriateness between insulin level and blood sugar'. In addition, according to the results, fasting had a positive effect on fatty substances of the blood (cholesterol and triglycerides). Conclusion: The results can help us determine whether or not an individual with a cardiovascular disease should fast in the month of Ramadan. However, due to variations in some features such as blood pressure throughout the day, there are uncertainties in some input data; therefore, the results could be far from reality. If it is possible to generate fuzzy data, then we can obtain more accurate results.


We performed angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) of bulk 2H-WSe$_2$ for different crystal orientations linked to each other by time-reversal symmetry. We introduce a new observable called time-reversal dichroism, which quantifies the modulation of the photoemission intensity upon effective time-reversal operation. We demonstrate that the hidden orbital-texture of the crystal's electronic structure leaves its imprint onto the time-reversal dichroism, due to multiple orbitals interference effects in photoemission. Our experimental results are in quantitative agreement with state-of-the-art fully relativistic calculations performed using the one-step model of photoemission. While spin-resolved ARPES probes the spin component of entangled spin-orbital texture in multiorbital systems, we demonstrate that time-reversal dichroism is sensitive to its orbital-texture counterpart.


Perceptual quality enhancement of heavily compressed videos is a difficult, unsolved problem because there still not exists a suitable perceptual similarity loss function between two video pairs. Motivated by the fact that it is hard to design unified training objectives which are perceptual-friendly for enhancing regions with smooth content and regions with rich textures simultaneously, in this paper, we propose a simple yet effective novel solution dubbed "Adaptive Spatial-Temporal Fusion of Two-Stage Multi-Objective Networks" (ASTF) to adaptive fuse the enhancement results from networks trained with two different optimization objectives. Specifically, the proposed ASTF takes an enhancement frame along with its neighboring frames as input to jointly predict a mask to indicate regions with high-frequency textual details. Then we use the mask to fuse two enhancement results which can retain both smooth content and rich textures. Extensive experiments show that our method achieves a promising performance of compressed video perceptual quality enhancement.


This article selects studies on the preparation of fluorinated polyurethane-nano-alumina composite coating materials, and analyzes the anti-wear, water resistantance, and surface microstructure. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) shows that the polyurethane synthesized in this study does not contain hydrophilic –CH2OH groups. The cavitation wear test depicts that the actual cavitation amount C of the Al2O3-FPU (4) (fluorinated polyurethane) coating is 0.9035 × 10−3 kg, and the anti-wear ability increases by 61.9% compared with FPU-0.5. The water-resistant test shows that the contact angle of water droplets on the surface of the coating increase from 95.3° of FPU-0.5 to 123.1° of Al2O3-FPU (4), and the water absorption decreases from 2.52% to 1.04%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation confirms that alumina particles can protrude on the coating surface and resist strong wear, while the C-F chain with high bond energy at the near-surface exhibits high strength and water resistance, which prevents wear from spreading deep into the coating. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results show that the Tg(HS) value of the hard segment phase decreases with higher external force. Notably, when the coating is subjected to erosion, which enhances the crystallinity of the hard segment phase, the tensile strength of the hard segment phase of the coating surface is improved, which supports the wear resistance. Herein, we show that the addition of nano-alumina to fluorinated polyurethanes can control high water and abrasion resistance.


A 69-year-old Japanese man underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy for the resection of carcinoma at lower part of the common bile duct. Hemodialysis had already begun to treat chronic renal failure. He had been admitted for obstructive jaundice due to the carcinoma four months earlier. The serum total bilirubin was then 38.5 mg/dL, and the serum creatinine was 7 mg/dL. Hemodialysis was performed the day before the operation, and on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th postoperative day. A rapidly degrading synthetic protease inhibitor was used as an anti-coagulant in the dialyzer to prevent systemic bleeding during the first postoperative week. Heparin was used from the second week. The maximum discharge from the drains was 2,300mL on the 3rd postoperative day. The drip intravenous infusion was changed from 1,900mL to 3,300mL during the first week to maintain the same body weight as the preoperative weight. Fresh frozen plasma and partial plasma fraction were used to maintain the colloidal pressure in the vessels so body weight reflects the fluid volume in the vessels. The postoperative course was uneventful. We present herein a successful case of pancreaticoduodenectomy for a patient undergoing hemodialysis to maintain the same body weight.


Learning the design of control systems requires not only deep theoretical but also practical experience that can be get in laboratory work. Goal of the projects "JGIFT" and "FIPS" - created by members of the Institute of Theoretical and Technical Computer Science of the Technical University of Ilmenau - is to examine and implement new techniques for a development and training system based on Finite State Machines (FSM). In our contribution we would like to present means and methods required for providing this tool set web wide for a large user base and independent from the operating system.


Background-Inflammation plays an important role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis and systemic blood markers of inflammation like white blood cell count and C-reactive protein have emerged as powerful predictor of coronary events. This study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between baseline white blood cell count and C-reactive protein with angiographic severity of coronary artery disease in patients with acute coronary syndrome and to identify those subsets of patients with acute coronary syndrome who may need to undergo invasive strategy.
Method- A total of 100 patients with acute coronary syndrome including unstable angina, non-ST elevation myocardial infarction and ST elevation myocardial infarction (not thrombolysed ) were evaluated in Department of Cardiology, Sawai Man Singh Medical College & Hospital, Jaipur , Rajasthan, India with a aim to correlate baseline white blood cell count and C-reactive protein with angiographic severity of coronary artery disease.
Results- This study observed that raised white blood cell count and raised C-reactive protein independently and combination of both raised white blood cell count and CRP were significantly associated with angiographic more severe coronary artery disease in form of multi vessel disease ,high stenosis score, more complex lesions and reduced TIMI flow grading.
Conclusion- Raised white blood cell count and C- recactive protein in patient with acute coronary syndrome are associated with angiographic features of severe coronary artery disease. Both these markers can be used as a simpler tool for risk stratification patients with acute coronary syndrome.


Abstract The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (Acari: Ixodidae), is a vector for several human disease-causing pathogens such as tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the understudied spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) infection caused by Rickettsia montanensis. It is important for public health planning and intervention to understand the distribution of this tick and pathogen encounter risk. Risk is often described in terms of vector distribution, but greatest risk may be concentrated where more vectors are positive for a given pathogen. When assessing species distributions, the choice of modeling framework and spatial layers used to make predictions are important. We first updated the modeled distribution of D. variabilis and R. montanensis using maximum entropy (MaxEnt), refining bioclimatic data inputs, and including soil variables. We then compared geospatial predictions from five species distribution modeling frameworks. In contrast to previous work, we additionally assessed whether the R. montanensis positive D. variabilis distribution is nested within a larger overall D. variabilis distribution, representing a fitness cost hypothesis. We found that 1) adding soil layers improved the accuracy of the MaxEnt model; 2) the predicted 'infected niche' was smaller than the overall predicted niche across all models; and 3) each model predicted different sizes of suitable niche, at different levels of probability. Importantly, the models were not directly comparable in output style, which could create confusion in interpretation when developing planning tools. The random forest (RF) model had the best measured validity and fit, suggesting it may be most appropriate to these data.


Abstract Ancestry assessment represents a major component of forensic anthropological analysis of recovered human remains. Interpretations of ancestry, together with other aspects of the biological profile, can help narrow the search of missing persons and contribute to eventual positive identification. Such information can prove useful to authorities involved in the identification and investigative process since many lists of missing persons have a reference to this parameter. Recent research has strengthened available methodologies involving metric, non-metric morphological as well as chemical and genetic approaches. This review addresses the new anthropological techniques that are now available, as well as the complex historical context related to ancestry evaluation.


This paper takes Pride (2014) as a focal point for a discussion of a popular European cinema that looks back on key moments in the twentieth-century political past(s) through the re-enactment of queer scenarios of activism and resistance. My contention is that, as significant as identity politics is the notion of movement itself. Pride 's intersectional retro-politics injects queer moves into heritage cinema, literally including musical moments of (camp) dance and song that dislodge characters from constraining social spaces and sedimented subjectivities. I look at Pride alongside other examples of new heritage filmmaking through their use of the movement-image (Deleuze) to retrieve the memory of political moments in history through queer moves. Encounters set to music underscore the road trip of a Swiss feminist journalist and her team of radio broadcasters adrift in the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in Les Grandes Ondes (a l'ouest)/Longwave (2013); out-of-step punk musical performances punctuate a queer coming-of-age girl narrative set in the 1980s in El Calentito (2005); dance scenes of queer female eroticism derail heteronormative trajectories of marriage and family in Anni felici/Those Happy Years (2013) and La Belle saison/Summertime (2015), two stories that intersect with the international women's liberation movement in the 1970s. These films suggest a European heritage cinema as interzone (Randall Halle, 2014). I explore the ways in which these films eschew nostalgia via the stress on movement, queer performativity and the possibility of (not yet formed) communities. By retrieving Pride in (and for) a broader European cinematic context, this paper makes a move towards a reading of the film's intersectional politics as a timely response to the incompleteness of the European social project of integration.


The Project B1 within the CRC 806 "Our way to Europe" is focused on the "Eastern Trajectory" of modern human migration from Africa into Europe. The Middle East, Anatolia, Balkans and Southeastern Europe constitute the principal areas to be investigated. Within these larger regions key areas were selected for combined archaeological and geoarchaeological research, fieldwork having delivered case studies for initial Modern Human adaptational systems, yet to be fully analysed. During the first stage of the B1 research programme (2009-2013), key areas were in Jordan (Wadi Sabra/Petra), in Romania (Upper Timis valley/Southern Banat) and in Ukraine (Doroshivtsy / Northern Bukovina, Chernivtsi region), all within the Marine Isotope stage (MIS) 3/2 time range. Thus, the first phase of the CRC focused on locations of Early Upper Palaeolithic sites in selected morphological positions, and specifically the upland-lowland comparative concept. It is anticipated to (1) intensify regional studies in the Serbian Banat and western Romania, now with a north-western extension in Hungary. Chronologically we continue research into later MIS 3 archaeological and geological archives (40,000 to 20,000 B.P.), now also extending the time range to late Middle Palaeolithic (e.g. Garandhal and Bukk), and reaching back to the earlier MIS 3 and MIS 4 time range.


Approaches and results of endoscopic transpapillary procedures in the treatment of patients with obstructive jaundice of various origins are analyzed. Modern trends in the development of endobiliary surgery and recommendations devoted to various endoscopic techniques and methods of biliary decompression depending on etiology and severity of obstructive jaundice, management of patients and dates of interventions are described. Leading specialized centers are characterized by quite high effectiveness of endoscopic transpapillary interventions in patients with cholelithiasis complicated by obstructive jaundice (95.2–97.5%), benign biliary strictures (63.7–92.8%) and biliopancreatoduodenal malignancies (70–96.8%). Analysis of modern tactical and technical approaches and international guidelines for transpapillary interventions allowed us to determine the current capabilities of retrograde minimally invasive curative technologies, systematize and optimize the basic algorithms for endoscopic care in patients with obstructive jaundice, and outline the prospects for the introduction and improvement of the effectiveness of new techniques.


SYP-34773 is a pyrimidinamine derivative and a novel fungicide modified from diflumetorim. This study determined the antimicrobial spectrum of SYP-34773, which showed it could strongly inhibit the growth of some important plant pathogens including fungi and oomycetes. In particular, Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete sensitive to SYP-34773, and the mycelium growth stage was found to be the most sensitive stage, with an EC50 value of 0.2030 μg/mL. At a concentration of 200 μg/mL, SYP-34773 displayed an excellent control efficacy of 69.55% and 81.48% against potato and tomato blight disease caused by P. infestans under field conditions, respectively. Mode of action investigations showed that this fungicide could cause severe ultrastructure damage to the mycelia of P. infestans, inhibit its respiration, and increase the cell membrane permeability of this pathogen. The results of this study could provide useful information for the fungicide registration and application of SYP-34773 as a novel fungicide.


Robust retention is achieved on 1-Mb CuxSiyO resistive random access memory test chip. The Ron retention fail bits can be effectively improved by enhanced set algorithm. The baking failure rate is less than 9 ppm after baking at 125°C for 1000 h under set algorithm (CC = 25 μA, PA = 2 V, and PD = 100 ns). Ron resistance can be used as retention criterion in production screening whatever the algorithm is. The mechanism of retention enhanced by algorithm is proposed based on the conductive filament model.


Autoimmune enteropathy (AIE) is a differential diagnosis of incurable chronic diarrhea, malnutrition, and weight loss. This type of diarrhea is associated with protein enteropathy that usually affects the small intestine. The diagnosis of AIE is based on chronic diarrhea, malabsorption, specific histological result, antibodies against enterocytes, and excluding similar conditions. In this case, a 28-year-old female presented with diarrhea, lower limb edema, weight loss, and electrolyte imbalances. Endoscopic examination demonstrated duodenal villous atrophy, while duodenal biopsies revealed villous blunting, scattered intraepithelial lymphocytes, and crypt hyperplasia in the lamina propria. The patient was treated with immunosuppressive treatment including methylprednisolone and azathioprine, achieving clinical remission.


Maintaining constant CO2 and H+ concentrations in the arterial blood is critical for life. The principal mechanism through which this is achieved in mammals is the respiratory chemoreflex whose circuitry is still elusive. A candidate element of this circuitry is the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), a collection of neurons at the ventral medullary surface that are activated by increased CO2 or low pH and project to the respiratory rhythm generator. Here, we use intersectional genetic strategies to lesion the RTN neurons defined by Atoh1 and Phox2b expression and to block or activate their synaptic output. Photostimulation of these neurons entrains the respiratory rhythm. Conversely, abrogating expression of Atoh1 or Phox2b or glutamatergic transmission in these cells curtails the phrenic nerve response to low pH in embryonic preparations and abolishes the respiratory chemoreflex in behaving animals. Thus, the RTN neurons expressing Atoh1 and Phox2b are a necessary component of the chemoreflex circuitry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.07051.001


: The superfamily cytochrome P450s is involved in the evolution of insecticide resistance. However, whether CYP4G68 , a differentially expressed gene identified from our transcriptomics analysis, confers resistance to the world's heavily used insecticide class neonicotinoids is unknown. Hence, we explored the role of CYP4G68 in conferring imidacloprid and thiamethoxam resistance in Bemisia tabaci . The species B. tabaci MED developed low-to-high resistance to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Exposure to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam significantly increased the expression of CYP4G68 . Moreover, quantitative real-time PCR analysis demonstrated that CYP4G68 was remarkably overexpressed in imidacloprid-resistant and thiamethoxam-resistant strains compared to susceptible strains. Further correlation analysis showed that CYP4G68 expression was significantly positively correlated with the associated resistance level in various strains of B. tabaci. These results suggest that the enhanced expression of CYP4G68 appears to mediate imidacloprid and thiamethoxam resistance in B. tabaci . Additionally, silencing CYP4G68 via RNA interference strongly increased the susceptibility of B. tabaci MED to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Collectively, this work revealed that CYP4G68 plays a vital role in imidacloprid and thiamethoxam resistance in B. tabaci MED. These findings will not only advance our understanding of the role of P450s in insecticide resistance but also provide a great potential target for the sustainable control of destructive insect pests such as whiteflies.


A study was conducted to compare the effect of one and two steps equilibration method of vitrificationon the morphology and viability of mouse blastocysts. Blastocysts were firstly exposed to modified PhosphateBuffered saline (mPBS) containing 1% Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) proceeded by exposure in mPBSrespectively containing 0.25M sucrose (S) for 2 minutes . Blastocysts were then exposed for 2 minutesrespectively to mPS+0.5M S (one step method) or in mPBS+0.5M S+10% ethylene glycol (EG) (two stepmethod).. Blastocysts were then exposed in mPBS+0.5M S+30% EG for 60 second, loaded into 0.25 mlplastic straw, and exposed immediately in vapor of liquid nitrogen for 10 second before they were and thenplunged into liquid nitrogen. The blastocysts were reconstituted by diluting with mPBS+0.5M S followedby mPBS+0.25M S for each 3 min and washed in mPBS without sucrose. The viability of cells was assessedby fluorescent vital staining, by re-expansion for 24 hours in vitro culture, and by implantation into therecipient oviduct. The percentages of morphologically normal blastocysts following recovery fromvitrification were higher (p<0.05) in one step equilibration than in those of two steps methods (89.6%. vs82.6%). The viability of blastocysts examined under light microscope after staining with biz-benzimidizepropidiumiodine and 24 hours in vitro culture in one step methods (64.0%; 57.8%) were higher (p<0.05)compared with two steps methods (40.0%; 35.6%), respectively. The implantation rate of vitrifiedblastocysts (23.1%) was not significantly different to that of fresh blastocysts (33.4%). These resultsshowed that the one and two step equilibration methods are effective for vitrification and maintaining theviability of the mouse blastocysts.


A survey was conducted in the Bakossi landscape area during the wet season to determine the species richness and distribution of large mammals within the three conservation sites. Results show that 10 species of large mammals (Red duikers, Blue duikers, Red river hog, Chimpanzees, Drill, Putty-nosed monkey, Mona monkey, Black-fronted duikers, Bushbuck and Sitatunga) were present in the Bakossi landscape. Of these, two species are considered to be threatened on the IUCN Red list (1990): chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus) (http://www.iucnredlist.org/). The results also suggested that the indigenous people depend on the forest for their survival since the forest is highly valued as a source of food (51.66%), medicine and building materials (39.40%), fuel wood and household items (9%).


The effects of excess aluminum on water distribution system and human health were mainly attributable to the presences of some aluminum species in drinking water. A prediction model for the concentrations of aluminum species was developed using three-layer front feedback artificial neural network method. Results showed that the reaction rates of both inorganic monomeric aluminum and soluble aluminum varied with reaction time and water quality parameters, such as water temperature, pH, total aluminum, fluoride, phosphate and silicate. Their reaction orders were both three. The reaction kinetic parameters of inorganic monomeric aluminum and soluble aluminum could be predicted effectively applying artificial neural network; the correlation coefficients of k and 1/C0(2) between calculated value and predicted value were both greater than 0.999. Aluminum species prediction results in the drinking water of City M showed that when the concentration of total aluminum was less than 0.05 mg x L(-1), the relative prediction error was large for inorganic monomeric aluminum. When the concentration of total aluminum was above 0.05 mg x L(-1), the model could predict inorganic monomeric aluminum and soluble aluminum concentrations effectively, with relative prediction errors of +/- 15% and +/- 10% respectively.


Given a large number of online services on the Internet, from time to time, people are still struggling to find out the services that they need. On the other hand, when there are considerable research and development on service discovery and service recommendation, most of the related work are centralized and thus suffers inherent shortages of the centralized systems, e.g., adv-driven, lack at trust, transparence and fairness. In this paper, we propose a ServiceNet - a peer-to-peer (P2P) service network for service discovery and service recommendation. ServiceNet is inspired by blockchain technology and aims at providing an open, transparent and self-growth, and self-management service ecosystem. The paper will present the basic idea, an architecture design of the prototype, and an initial implementation and performance evaluation the prototype design.


Holmium:YAG lithotripsy is effective for all stone compositions, and high success rates may be expected. Large renal and bladder calculi may be treated effectively with Ho:YAG lasertripsy. Using angled optical fibers and increasing power settings may be particularly useful to increase lithotripsy speed.


Drug release kinetics from matrix dosage form is governed by polymer swelling and erosion, drug dissolution/diffusion and polymeric combination. For the preparation of controlled release dosage form, hydrophilic, swellable polymers in optimum combination are essential. The major objective of the current study is to prepare Amoxicillin trihydrate-loaded bucco-matrix tablets by direct compression technique and to study the effect of ratio of HPMCK100M and HPMCK15M used in the formulation on the basic properties and on drugrelease and permeation kinetics. The tablets offered satisfactory physicochemical results. The buccal strength, detachment force and bond strength of the tablets were good enough to hold the tablets in the buccal region. The drug release data generated during in vitro drug release study of bucco-matrix tablets in phosphate buffer pH 6.8 were evaluated by zero-order, first-order, Higuchi, Korsmeyer – Peppas, and Kopcha models. Release exponent (n) of Korsmeyer- Peppas equation of the formulations exhibited diffusion as the principal mechanism of drug release. It was further confirmed by Kopcha model. Evaluation of diffusion and erosion terms in the Kopcha model showed that diffusion dominated swelling or erosion process through out the study. The permeation kinetics of the drug showed linearity when studied across goat buccal mucosa. Permeation coefficient of drug decreased with increase in % swelling index of the formulations.


The proposition that the performer of music can use vibrotactile sensations to supplement auditory cues as feedback signals in order to enhance tonal control of the instrument is examined. As a basis for evaluating this proposition, we present some fundamental characteristics of human vibrotactile sensation, including measurements at the threshold of detectability, at suprathreshold levels, and of subject variables that could affect sensation. It is reasonable to assume that the sensory capacities of skin could enable tactile feedback cues to be used by singers and some instrumentalists in controlling the tone of their instruments.


The concept of a design as an underlying structure for technology education process is well established and a number of models of increasing complexity have been produced to explicate the process. Allied to this has been a strong design-make-appraise approach to many emerging technology education curriculum statements, and this concept appears to underpin much of the practice in New Zealand classrooms. The evidence strongly suggests that this model reflects neither the way designers work in the adult world, nor how children work in the classroom. This paper begins by examining the development and implementation of models of design processes and the influence of these on teacher's classroom practice. The actuality of the practice of professional designers and student designers is then explored. The paper then argues that if technology education is to flourish we need to reject reference to design process and develop a new paradigm which reflects more accurately technological practice. Finally it offers some suggestions as to what a new paradigm might be, and briefly outlines an on-going Action Research project investigating the application of the approach in the classroom.


Background Digital ulcers (DU) are a frequent, persistent and debilitating manifestation of systemic sclerosis (SSc). The DUO Registry is a European, multicenter, prospective, observational cohort study of SSc patients with ongoing DU disease. Objectives To describe and compare the management of SSc patients with ongoing DU disease across 4 European countries. Methods The DUO Registry enrolls consenting patients with current, or a history of, DU. Patients are clinically assessed and receive medical care as determined by their physician. Since April 2008, data collected have included demographics, SSc and DU medical history, and complications/interventions, such as gangrene/medication, associated with DU. The demographics and treatment of patients in Italy, France, Germany and the UK up to May 2011 are described. Results In total 2944 patients have enrolled in the DUO Registry, 1825 being from Italy (n=643), France (n=288), Germany (n=661) and the UK (n=233). Patient demographics were very similar; the mean age (range between countries) was 54.6 (54.0–55.4) years; patients were predominantly female, 82.1% (76.7–89.8%); the mean age of a first incidence of Raynaud's phenomenon was 39.8 (37.3–41.6) years; and average age at first DU was 46.9 (44.8–47.8) years. For all countries the rates of diffuse SSc (range 37.1–44.4%) and limited SSc (range 45.4–53.4%) were similar. However, the UK and Germany had a higher percentage of patients with overlap SSc/mixed connective tissue disease (8.6 and 9.5%, respectively) compared with Italy and France (4.7 and 4.5%, respectively). Previous use of parenteral prostanoid therapy was higher in Italy (82.4%) than France (52.5%), Germany (57.1%) or the UK (69.9%). For patients with one or more DU the ongoing use of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)-related therapy; phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5-I), calcium channel blockers (CCB), prostacyclin (PGI2) and endothelin receptor antagonists (ERAs -primarily bosentan) are summarized in the table. Key differences in ongoing medication use between countries included a low rate of ERA use in the UK compared with the other countries, but a higher use of PDE-5I. A high rate of prostacyclin use was observed in Italy compared with the other countries. Patients also received general therapies; antibiotics (range between countries) (6.0–47.1%), immunosuppressants (21.1–37.7%), topical treatments (19.3–45.4%) and analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs (52.5–66.2%). Use of these other therapies varied widely between each country. Interpretation of the frequency of use of ERAs and DU-specific therapies must be done with caution as selection bias based on the use of bosentan as a criterion for enrollment cannot be ruled out. Table 1. Ongoing treatment of patients with 1≥DU ERA, % PDE5-I, % CCB, % PGI2,% Italy (n=515) 54.8 3.9 48.5 79.2 France (n=227) 65.2 2.6 64.8 34.4 Germany (n=301) 49.8 4.7 30.9 32.2 UK (n=204) 7.4 9.8 42.2 47.5 Conclusions This observational registry highlights the wide variation in the treatment of SSc-associated DU across Europe, and likely reflects the differences in access to therapy in different countries and healthcare environments. These findings draw attention to the need for a coordinated European approach in establishing the best management practice for these patients. Disclosure of Interest M. Matucci-Cerinic Consultant for: Actelion Pharmaceuticals, L. Guillevin Paid Instructor for: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, C. Denton Grant/Research support from: Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Corporation, Consultant for: Actelion Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Corporation, B. Schwierin Employee of: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, D. Rosenberg Employee of: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, T. Krieg Consultant for: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Paid Instructor for: Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd


This study was performed to estimate p53 and Bax overexpression as a predictor of the response to chemotherapy of patients with gastric cancer. The subjects were 20 patients with stage IV gastric cancer and 3 with locally recurrent lesions treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and low-dose cisplatin (CDDP) for 4 weeks. Of the total 23 patients, there were 10 responders: 2 showing complete response (CR) and 8, partial response (PR). Carcinoma biopsy specimens of all were obtained endoscopically with anti-p53 and anti-Bax antibodies. Of the 10 responders, 7 were in the negative p53 staining group, while of the 13 non-responders, 11 were in the positive p53 staining group (p = 0.013). But no correlation was demonstrated between the chemotherapeutic effect and Bax staining alone. Moreover, among the p-53-positive cases, the patients with Bax-negative tumors were all chemoresistant. Therefore, immunohistochemical identification of p-53 and Bax prior to chemotherapy may be a useful predictor for choice of non-responders to chemotherapy.


Our previous studies showed that bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNCs) from 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) pre-treated rats (named BMRMNCs) had a better therapeutic efficacy in ischemia/reperfusion rats as compared to BMMNCs from untreated rats. This study was undertaken to further explore the potential mechanisms underlying the neuroprotective effects of BMRMNCs in the same model. Rats were intravenously pre-treated with 5-FU, and BMRMNCs were collected 7 days later and subjected to flow cytometry for detection of CD34, CD45 and CD90. Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was induced in rats, and BMMNCs and BMRMNCs were independently transplanted via the tail vein at 24 h after MCAO. NISSL staining was performed 14 days after cell transplantation and the viable cells in the hippocampus were counted. Stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) mRNA expression was detected in the penumbra at 7 and 14 days after treatment. The contents of pro-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors as well as microvessel density (MVD) were determined at 14 days. Results showed more BMRMNCs were positive for CD34, CD45 and CD90. After transplantation, more viable cells were observed in the hippocampus of BMRMNCs treated rats. In addition, BMRMNCs transplantation significantly increased MVD, reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines and raised growth factors in the penumbra. However, the SDF-1 mRNA expression was comparable between BMRMNCs group and BMMNCs group. Our results indicate that BMRMNCs are likely to more effectively improve the local microenvironment to increase viable cells and elevate angiogenesis, exerting neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemia in rats.


ABSTRACT Piriformospora indica is a root endophyte having a vast host range in plants. Plant growth promotion is a hallmark of the symbiotic interaction of P. indica with its hosts. As a plant growth-promoting microorganism, it is important to know the mechanisms involved in growth induction. Hitherto, multiple reports have demonstrated various molecular mechanisms of P. indica-mediated growth promotion, including protein kinase-mediated pathway, enhanced nutrient uptake and polyamine-mediated growth phytohormone elevation. Here, we briefly present a discussion on the state-of-the-art molecular mechanisms of P. indica-mediated growth promotion in host plants, in order to obtain a future prospect on utilization of this microorganism for sustainable agriculture.


Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for N95 respirators far exceeded the supply, leading to widespread shortages. Initially, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not recommend N95 respirators in nonhealthcare settings, in order to reserve them for healthcare workers. As N95s became more available, the recommendations were updated in May 2021 to include N95 respirators for nonhealthcare settings. In this study, we estimated the numbers of N95s needed for nonhealthcare essential workers in the United States. This information is valuable for crisis preparedness and planning for future large-scale communicable respiratory infectious disease epidemics or pandemics. We adapted a spreadsheet-based tool originally built to estimate the potential demand for N95 respirators during an influenza pandemic. We defined nonhealthcare essential occupations according to the 2020 US Department of Homeland Security guidance and used US Bureau of Labor Statistics employment numbers and Occupational Information Network data as model parameters. We modeled minimum, intermediate, and maximum N95 provision scenarios (as 1, 2, and 5 N95 respirators, respectively) per week per worker, for pandemic durations of 15 and 40 weeks. For 85.15 million nonhealthcare essential workers during a 15-week pandemic, an estimated 1.3 billion N95 respirators would be needed under minimum provision scenarios, 2.6 billion for intermediate provision, and 6.4 billion for maximum provision. During a 40-week pandemic, these estimates increased to 3.4 billion, 6.8 billion, and 17 billion. Public health authorities and policymakers can use these estimates when considering workplace respirator-wearing practices, including prioritization of allocation, for nonhealthcare essential workers. Our novel spreadsheet-based tool can also be used to quickly generate estimates of other preparedness and response equipment.


Introduction: Harris County, Texas is the 3rd largest county in the United States, and home to a large ratio of racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants. It has one of the highest rates of cervical cancer, where nearly all cases are caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), with the incidence rate highest among African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos. A wealth of medical resources exist, yet HPV-related cancers have failed to improve over the past 10 years. Youth are particularly at risk for HPV infection and are more likely to not receive the HPV vaccine. The aim of this research was to better understand the factors influencing HPV vaccination among youth in Harris County and to develop an evidence-based approach to improve vaccine uptake. Methods: A socio-ecological framework was used to identify key stakeholders. Data was collected using a mixed methods approach between October 2014 and October 2015 in Harris County, Texas. One focus group and 31 focused interviews were conducted with parents of 5-18 year old children. Seven key informant interviews were conducted with school nurses; a political leader; and health professionals from adolescent health clinics, pediatric hospitals, health centers, community-based organizations (CBOs), and medical institutions. Three community advisory board (CAB) meetings were held with school nurses and board members; physicians; and health professionals from health departments, CBOs, and educational and advocacy organizations. Results: Parents Most parents lacked knowledge of HPV and the vaccine. Many felt the best way to receive education was from their providers. Others expressed interest in receiving education from schools, the media, seminars, and community involvement. Spanish-speaking parents emphasized the need for more linguistically appropriate literature. Some parents voiced discomfort with vaccinating 9-12 year olds, mainly due to safety concerns and vaccine efficacy. Physicians9 recommendations were an influential factor in some parents9 decision making regarding vaccination. Other key stakeholders Lack of education about HPV infection and the vaccine was cited as a major barrier to vaccination. CAB participants often felt misinformed by their providers, and stated some physicians lack time to hold discussions and fail to provide confident recommendations. Perceived negative side effects; cultural and religious beliefs; lack of reminders for the 2nd and 3rd doses; and labeling the vaccine as a cervical cancer and sexual vaccine were noted as other barriers. Health clinics felt some providers9 recommendation approaches were a barrier. Mistrust of the healthcare system was reported as common in Hispanic/Latino communities, and lack of engagement in preventable activities was described as common in African American and immigrant communities. It was stressed that education targeting parents, use of the opt-out approach for provider recommendations, and promoting the vaccine as a cancer-prevention vaccine are essential to increasing HPV vaccine uptake. Conclusions: Comprehensive educational interventions at the provider-, school-, and community-level are needed to ensure that physicians, parents, patients, and educators receive accurate information. Provider trainings can equip physicians with the accurate knowledge needed to make confident recommendations; emphasize use of the opt-out approach for recommendations; and provide them with multilingual educational materials to share with parents and patients. Collaborative efforts with school board members and parent organizations/associations can encourage inclusion of HPV in the curriculum, and foster discussions among parents and educators. Community-based interventions should focus on innovative, culturally-appropriate ways to disseminate education messages in medically, underserved communities. Citation Format: Aba Coleman, Marva Mallory, Jane Montealegre, Peggy Smith, Ruth Buzi, Michael Scheurer, Maria Daheri, Maria Jibaja-Weiss, Matthew Anderson. Understanding the influential factors to human papillomavirus vaccination among youth in Harris County, Texas: A qualitative study. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A46.


In São Paulo, Brazil, Campinas city is characterized by both the history of an economic boom, which was influenced by agrarian, financial, and real estate capital, and food scarcity among those comprising its low-income population. As the result of an intense process of gentrification and the presence of hunger, an urban food situation is highlighted in the reproduction of urban space that is characterized by a large number of food establishments that provide food for workers, decrease food scarcity, and prevent the inflation of staple food prices. By drawing on secondary research and empirical data, we demonstrate that Campinas has experienced important urban transformations that have prompted changes in food practices in the period between 1850 and 2016. Hunger among the poor population of Campinas is rooted in the rationalization of the urban space comprising the peripheral sprawl and the growth and densification of markets offering cheap, prepared foods in the city center; these serve to prevent famine among the vulnerable working class, which constitutes the hungry masses of Campinas' urban world.


We study a microwave superconducting stripline resonator made of NbN on a sapphire substrate. A radiation detector (RD) having a thin meander shape is integrated into the resonator. We harness an extremely strong nonlinear instability occurring in the device in order to enhance its sensitivity to infrared radiation impinging on the RD. Characterization measurements yield a noise equivalent power of 34 fW/radicHz at a modulation frequency of 7.74 GHz. Such a device may be exploited for fast and sensitive radiation detection.


Prostate carcinoma (PC) is the most common malign neoplasm found in men over 65 years of age. In Italy, the incidence of this cancer is around 60/100,000/year, corresponding to about 11,000 new cases each year. Patients with PC consume health resources for a cost that is 10-24% higher than that of similar populations without PC. It is estimated that in Italy, each year, there are 19,000 hospitalizations for prostate cancer in patients over 65, a figure that represents 4% of the total hospitalizations for oncological diseases. We conducted a marginal cost/effectiveness analysis of bicalutamide vs. flutamide, both administered in combination with LHRH, in patients with advanced (metastatic) PC, on the basis of a randomized trial comparing 4 strategies of total androgenic blockade (TAB). The analysis was conducted in the perspective of the SSN (National health system). The comparison revealed that drug acquisition costs are not the only determinants of the economical differences between the two therapeutical strategies. Furthermore, we demonstrated that prolonged survival of the patients does not increase the consumption of health resources, since the chronological shift of the terminal phase reduces the value of the resources dedicated to it. When conducing the cost/effectiveness analysis, the survival advantage associated to bicalutamide has been adjusted to balance the low quality of life of PC patients. The pharmacoeconomical benefit of bicalutamide resulted of 12,150 Euro/QALY, while the cost per year of life saved resulted inferior, ranging from 8.327 to 11.440 Euro. This cost/QALY value is nevertheless lower than that associated to several therapeutical strategies that are commonly accepted in developed countries (domiciliar hemodialysis, heart transplantation, breast cancer screening, etc.). Considering that 12.150 Euro/QALY is the highest estimate of the relative cost/effectiveness of bicalutamide, it appears that the combination bicalutamide + LHRH represents an economically acceptable alternative to flutamide + LHRH in advanced PC patients.


This paper provides an outline of the main historical developments and recurrent themes that have taken place in the history of the Ergonomics Society (ES) over 50 years. Alongside a chronology of significant events during the period 1949–1999, a set of issues raised by interviews with prominent members of the ES and other historical materials, we focus specifically on seven main areas: the growth and influence of the ES (e.g. internationalization, membership changes); external relations (e.g. press and public relations); publications (e.g. Society journals and key texts); key individuals and institutions; influence on government and other bodies (e.g. participation in committees and inquiries); and image and identity (e.g. changes to the image of the ES over time). We conclude the paper with a summary and discussion of the key developments in the history, as well as the outstanding challenges for the future.


The situation that arose on the Russian auditing market became the subject of analysis of this publication. Long-term monitoring of the processes of audit services that arose on the Russian market allowed the authors to determine and critically comprehend the cause-effect relationships of the existing crisis phenomena and errors in the regulation of audit activities. The purpose of the research was to identify the features and patterns development of the Russian audit market, clarifying and systematizing the main crisis zones of regulatory legal regulation of audit activities in Russia. Results: The authors presented detailed analysis of the development and the state of the Russian audit market, the main factors under which it developed and its main problems.


In this paper, as a further generalization of ideals, we introduce the notion of biquasi-interior ideals as a generalization of bi-ideal, quasi ideal, interior ideal, bi-interior ideal and bi-quasi ideal of Γ−semiring and study the properties of bi-quasi-interior ideals of Γ−semiring.