Introduction: Diverting ostomy is a commonly perfomed procedure but may be associated to its own morbidity (early or late complications). Colostomy-related evisceration is a rare but potentially life threatening condition (requiring emergency surgery), relatively undocumented for its mechanisms. Case report: A male aged 84 was admited for chronic low digestive occlusion due to a locally advanced, stenosing, rectal adenocarcinoma. Prior to neoadjuvant therapy, a loop sigmoidostomy was indicated using a left iliac open aproach, with no preparation of the colic content. The sigmoid was loaded with hard stools. The parietal breach was reaproximated by 2 monofilament nylon sutures, fascial and colocutaneus fixation. Colostomy was opened two days later, but was not functional (postoperative paralytic ileus). Parastomal evisceration of ileum in day 3, dehiscence of parietal suture. Emergency operation, using the same aproach. Results: Favourable outcome. Thoraco-abdominal CT scan: N0,M0. Pelvic MRI: proliferative mass of inferior and middle rectum, involving mesorectum fascia, levator ani and a few regional lymphatic nodes. Radio-chemotherapy and abdomino-perineal resection. Pathologic result: colorectal adenocarcinoma, G2, ypT1ypN0, ICD-O: 8140/3. Conclusions: We rewiewed 8 case reports published since 2011, equally distributed as late or early complications. There was no connection with the princeps indication (colorectal cancer in half of cases); neither related to topography (transverse or sigmoid) or type of colostomy (loop or end). Occurence of the complication is not time-dependent (5 to18 months in late, 3 to 12 days for early eviscerations). The main premise is colostomy itself (a place of reduced parieto-abdominal resistence), stressed by increassed intra-abdominal pressure (eg. bronchopulmonary disease, digestive obstruction). Predisposing factors for late evisceration seems to be related to spontaneous rupture of parastomal hernia/colostomy prolapse. As for early evisceration, both technical details and surgical strategy must be considered (indequate fixation; creation of a larger than necessary colostomy aperture).


This paper reports on design, fabrication, and kinematics modeling of a 3D printed soft parallel robot equipped with soft pneumatic actuators. Soft robotics is an emerging field of research which facilitates safe human machine interface. Soft elastomeric actuators made through molding process are one of the key elements of soft robotic systems. However, molding process is tedious and time consuming making the fabrication process undesirable. Recently reported 3D printed soft pneumatic actuators pave the way for manufacturing of novel soft actuators and robots with complex geometries. The current work can be considered as a proof of concept for 3D printing of a soft parallel robot. The robot consists of two soft pneumatic actuators that are connected to two passive links by mean of flexible hinges. The robot has two degrees of freedom and can be used in planar manipulation tasks. Moreover, a number of robots can be configured to operate in a cooperative manner to increase the manipulation dexterity. A kinematic model is developed to simulate the motion of robot end-effector. Through application of the kinematic model it has been shown that the robot is capable of following any planar trajectories within its workspace. Also, pseudo-rigid-body model (PRBM) is used to develop a dynamic model of the soft robot to more accurately predict the robot interaction with its environment and also develop advanced control system for robust position control of the robot.


ABSTRACT
 Precise studies on the structure and behavior of thrips can be particularly difficult, due to their small size and restless behavior. As a result, many "host-plant" records are no more than casual "finding places" with limited biological significance. Definitions of "host-plant" are complicated by situations where a plant species provides an important feeding or behavioral resource, but is not used for breeding. Similarly, failure to clearly define some structures on a thrips body, often due to inadequate technical and microscopy skills, can lead to faulty interpretation of species identities and evolutionary relationships. This article re-examines some of these problems.


Mathematical modeling for power dc-dc converters is a historical problem accompanying dc-dc conversion technology since the 1940s. The traditional mathematical modeling is not available for complex structure converters since the differential equation order increases very high. We have to search for other ways to establish mathematical modeling for power dc-dc converters. We have defined energy factor (EF) and new mathematical modeling for power dc-dc converters that have attracted much attention in recent years. This paper describes the small signal analysis of EF and mathematical modeling for power dc-dc converters in continuous conduction mode and discontinuous conduction mode. EF and the subsequential parameters can illustrate the unit-step response and interference recovery. This investigation may be helpful for system design and dc-dc converters characteristics. Two dc-dc converters: Buck converter and super-lift Luo-converter as the samples, are analyzed in this paper to demonstrate the applications of EF, pumping energy, stored energy (SE), capacitor/inductor SE ratio, energy losses, time constant tau, and damping time constant taud


The contrast between the tiger's (Panthera tigris) 2-3 My age and extant tigers' coalescence approximately 110,000 years ago suggests an ancient demographic bottleneck. Here we collected over 60 extinct specimens across mainland Asia and generated whole genome sequences from a 10,600-year-old Russian Far East (RFE) specimen (RUSA21, 8ξ coverage), 14 South China tigers (0.1-12ξ), three Caspian tigers (4-8ξ), plus 17 new mitogenomes. RUSA21 clustered within modern Northeast Asian phylogroups and partially derived from an extinct Late Pleistocene lineage. While some 8,000-10,000-year-old RFE mitogenomes are basal to all tigers, one 2,000-year-old specimen resembles present Amur tigers. The Caspian tiger likely dispersed from an ancestral Northeast Asian population and experienced gene flow from southern Bengal tigers. Lastly, genome-wide monophyly supported the South China tiger as a distinct subspecies, albeit with mitochondrial paraphyly, hence resolving its longstanding taxonomic controversy. The distribution of mitochondrial haplogroups corroborated by biogeographical modeling suggested Southwest China was a Late Pleistocene refugium for a relic basal lineage. As suitable habitat returned, Eastern China became a genetic melting pot to foster divergent lineages to merge into South China tigers and other subsequent northern subspecies to develop. Genomic information retrieved from ancient tigers hence sheds light on the species' full evolutionary history leading to nine modern subspecies and resolves the natural history of surviving tigers.


Despite initial skepticism following the introduction of cytapheresis with blood cell separators, this technology is now accepted in the field of blood donation. Serious, life-threatening reactions have not been observed and thus could not influence the development, and minor problems can be reduced further on the basis of recommended safety guidelines. Additionally, the continuous registration of side effects is helpful for a complete elimination of undesired reactions.


BACKGROUND: Child Health Investment Partnership (CHIP) of Roanoke Valley is a home visiting program that promotes children's health and family self-sufficiency. CHIP's Begin With a Grin program provides preventive dental services in the home (oral health anticipatory guidance and fluoride varnish) for children aged 0 to 6 years. The purpose of this study was to compare the dental utilization of Medicaid-enrolled children in CHIP versus Medicaid-enrolled children not in CHIP. METHODS: Using the propensity score method, control subjects were selected from the statewide Medicaid database by using a caliper-matching algorithm. A vector of chosen covariates was used to match control subjects; these covariates included risk factors, estimated propensity score, age, race, gender, and days of Medicaid eligibility. Propensity scores were developed by using a logistic regression. Differences in dental utilization outcomes were tested: ≥1 dental claim (logistic regression) and number of dental claims (Poisson regression) for each subject within the test period. RESULTS: When CHIP children were compared with Medicaid-only children, the CHIP child was 3 times more likely to have at least 1 dental visit (odds ratio: 3.0 [95% confidence interval: 1.9–4.7]) and have a higher number of dental claims (ratio of estimated average number of dental claims [cases/control]: 8.60/3.05 = 2.82 [95% confidence interval: 2.56–3.12]). CONCLUSIONS: A home visiting model can introduce children and their families to dental prevention, improve dental health literacy, establish a dental home, and provide application of fluoride varnish.


This article discusses the challenges that the rendering of the pragmatic implications of texts into a target
 language posed for human translators and, by extension, for automated translation. It starts by discussing the importance of
 pragmatics, focusing on two concepts that have received much attention on the part of pragmaticians as well as translation
 scholars, namely implicatures and politeness. It moves to on to present some of the most notable publications on the interface
 between pragmatics and machine translation. These illustrate that the interest in the pragmatic value of language has not
 succeeded in advancing the integration of pragmatics into automated translation. Drawing on Kesckes and House, the last section
 discusses two concepts to be considered regarding the role of pragmatics in intercultural mediation.


Abstract Protein-rich pea flour is toxic and repellent to three major stored-grain pests: the rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae L.; the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst); and the rusty grain beetle, Cryptolestes ferrugineus (Stephens). This study found that protein-rich pea flour was not toxic to, and did not reduce the offspring of, Anisopteromalus calandrae (Howard), a parasitoid of S. oryzae, nor did it reduce offspring of Cephalonomia waterstoni (Gahan), a parasitoid of C. ferrugineus. Protein-rich pea flour was also not repellent to A. calandrae. Small-scale and large-scale tests of a combination of protein-rich pea flour and parasitoids were conducted in 2-liter jars and in barrels containing 330 kg wheat. A larger population of A. calandrae was found at a high host infestation rate (24 adults/kg for 25 d), but the parasitoid did not become established at middle and low host infestation rates (2.4; 0.24 adults/kg for 25 d). The combinations of protein-rich pea flour and parasitoids reduced populations of S. oryzae in both tests. Additional effects of protein-rich pea flour and parasitoids were found in the large-scale test. Releasing parasitoids alone reduced the populations of S. oryzae by 46% and C. ferrugineus by 49%. Treating wheat with 0.04 or 0.1% protein-rich pea flour reduced the population of S. oryzae by 26 and 79% and C. ferrugineus by 27 and 43%, respectively. Combining parasitoids with 0.04 or 0.1% protein-rich pea flour reduced S. oryzae populations by 76 and 98% and C. ferrugineus populations by 42 and 75%, respectively. At the end of the large-scale experiment, grain treated with protein-rich pea flour alone or in combination with parasitoids had better grain quality than the untreated controls.


We report the novel methods to reconstitute artificial lipid membranes in an array on a chip, using the micro-fluidic system, for the batch analysis of membrane proteins. The micro-fabricated device should render the ease of injection/recirculation of the reagents as well as multi-channel and high-sensitive detection of protein activities incorporated in the bilayer membrane. It is shown that the lipid bilayer membrane can be formed on 100/spl sim/200 /spl mu/m square apertures fabricated in a silicon substrate in two methods. In the first method, the bilayer is formed by flowing the lipid solution and the buffer alternately. In the second method, it is done by placing a buffer droplet on a thin layer of the lipid solution. Parylene coating is found to be suitable for both bilayer formation and noise reduction. The future application includes the high-sensitive ion sensor chip and high-throughput drug screening chip.


Residual dipolar couplings are now widely used for structure determination of biological macromolecules. Until recently, the main focus has been on measurement of dipolar couplings in the protein main chain. However, with the aim of more complete protein structure, it is also essential to have information on the orientation of protein side chains. In addition, residual dipolar couplings can potentially be employed to study molecular dynamics. In this Communication, two simple NH(2) and spin-state edited experiments are presented for rapid and convenient determination of five residual dipolar couplings from (15)N, (1)H correlation spectrum in asparagine and glutamine side chains. The pulse sequences are demonstrated on two proteins, 30.4-kDa Cel6A in diluted liquid crystal phase and 18-kDa human cardiac troponin C in water.


This paper aims to construct a high-frequency coincident indicator of economic activity for Lombardy and for the provinces of Milan and Pavia, by using the dynamic factor model approach introduced by Stock e Watson (1998a e 1998b). The principal component analysis is first used to summarize the information contained in a large dataset in a limited number of common factors capable of capturing the main features of local business fluctuations. The EM (Expectation Maximization) algorithm then allows to compute the desired territorial indicators by taking into account the official annual data on regional GDP or provincial valueadded growth.


Advanced Level Candy Crush Saga Player Guide This is the ONLY Candy Crush Saga Advanced Player Guide you'll find on Amazon. It's available in both Kindle & paperback versions. Following on from the success of 'Candy Crush Saga: Fire HD Version Guide', I've written an advanced guide for those of you who want more specific tips, advice & strategies on the higher levels of this fantastic game app developed by King.com. e.g. how to get past the lethal time bomb maker in level 275 & how to make it through the notorious level 342 that contains meringues with hidden jellies. To give you an idea of what you'll be getting in this advanced level guide, here is a condensed list of some of the major headings: Advanced Game Modes and Levels The Deadlier Obstacles Advanced Level Perks Train Stuck Between the Two Stations Tricks to Clear the Trickiest Levels The Secret behind Tornado Tips To Get Through the Advanced Jelly Levels Tips To Get Through the Advanced Ingredient Levels Special Candies Only The Hardest Levels of Candy Crush Saga Win the Candylicious Fight!! Both the Kindle & paperback versions have screenshots throughout. You can be sure there is no better advanced guide available for Candy Crush Saga and a choice of format that best suits you. If you are not quite ready for an advanced guide yet then you may prefer my previous guide, 'Candy Crush Saga: Fire HD Version Guide' by Tyler Davis and Emily Jackson. If you want more of your advanced level game to be Tasty, Sweet & Delicious then this is definitely the game guide for you. Do yourself a favor and buy this advanced guide now rather than returning after being disappointed with the other Candy Crush Saga Guides!


The authors report on synchrotron X-ray studies of the nematic (N) and the smectic-A (SMA) phases under nonequilibrium 'steady state' shear flow conditions. Under shear, the presence of SMA fluctuations leads to a novel flow-induced fluctuation force on the nematic director n which alters its equation of motion. This leads to rich behaviour where the nematic phase exhibits a sequence of regimes in which the orientational phase space (OPS) explored by n evolves as the N-SMA transition is approached. They directly observe the critical slowing down of the SMA order parameter fluctuations through the X-ray profiles which give the intensity map of the time- and space-averaged OPS traversed by n. The data are consistent with the classical Ericksen-Leslie-Parodi theory of nematodynamics away from the immediate vicinity of the N-SMA transition temperature. Closer in, however, fluctuation effects dominate and a model of critical nematodynamics has to be considered. The experiments demonstrate that synchrotron scattering techniques may be used as effective structural probes of dynamical systems.


Specific IgG1 and IgG4 antibodies synthesis is well known after immunotherapy. IgG4 may act as "blocking antibodies" and IgG1 may inhibit the synthesis of specific IgEs. However, the dosage of these antibodies by a technic using a solid phase is sometimes unreliable. Moreover these technics do not appreciate the functional activity of IgGs, which is best studied by incubating the allergen with IgG and then, measuring the allergen potential (using histamine release or basophil degranulation). Our studies regarding rush immunotherapy with mites by measuring the human basophil degranulation indicate the following: 1. the blocking activity is induced by rush; 2. is significant the 7th day; however there are some individual variations which do not depend on the cumulate dose of the allergens; 3. it is due to IgG and not to IgA or IgM (fractionation on column); 4. it disappears under the effect of the anti-human-IgG antibodies; 5. it increases with the time of incubation but it appears significant activity even at time 0 min. We conclude that the role of these IgGs during rush to mite is fundamental.


Objectives
To demonstrate the differential effect of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin on the Intercellular adhesive molecule 1(ICAM-1) in acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients.

METHODS
The case-control study was done in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, from May to July, 2020 and involved sixty-six patients with AIS compared with twenty-two healthy controls. They were divided into four groups; Group I: Patients with AIS on atorvastatin therapy (n=22). Group II: Patients with AIS on rosuvastatin therapy (n=22), Group III: Patients with AIS not on statin therapy (n=22), Group IV: Healthy controls (n=22). Anthropometric, lipid, and pressure profiles were evaluated. As well, ICAM-1 serum level was estimated in different treatment groups. SPSS version 20.00 was used for data analysis.

RESULTS
ICAM-1 levels were increased in patients with AIS compared to the controls. ICAM-1 serum levels were higher in patients with AIS not on statins therapy compared to the controls (P=0.0001), and it was lower in patients with AIS on statins therapy (77.41±16.46) as compared with patients with AIS not on statin therapy (118.71±10.38), (P=0.001). Besides, there was differential effect of statin therapy on the ICAM-1 serum level, which was higher in patients with AIS on rosuvastatin (72.93±9.03) as compared with patients with AIS on atorvastatin (70.61±10.94), (P=0.44). Stroke risk score (SRS) was lower in patients with AIS on atorvastatin therapy (7.60±2.05) as compared with patients with AIS on rosuvastatin therapy (9.11±2.72), (P=0.04).

CONCLUSIONS
ICAM-1 is regarded as a surrogate biomarker of AIS in patients with underlying poor cardio-metabolic profile. Both atorvastatin and rosuvastatin are effective in attenuation of AIS measured by lowering of ICAM-1 serum levels.


Background: Bovine enterovirus (BEV) and bovine adenovirus (BAV) are widely distributed in cattle population, and are among possible causes of gastroenteritis and respiratory disease, respectively, although the infection is more often subclinical. BAV infection may be also related to conjunctivitis, and may lead to severe infections and death in immunosuppressive calves. BEV infections have been associated with disorders of respiratory and reproductive tracts, and diarrhea. There is little available information about BAV and BEV in Brazil; however the main of the present study was to investigate the presence of antibodies against these viruses in cattle from some counties of the Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. Material, Methods & Results: A total of 415 bovine serum samples collected in 2015 year to detect neutralizing antibodies against BEV and BAV by Virus neutralization (VN) assay were performed. The serum samples were gently provided from Setor de Virologia da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (SV-UFSM). The samples came from bovine with a history or report of clinical cases of diarrhea, respiratory and reproducible disorders and/or abortion suggestive of Leucosis, Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) and/or Bovine herpesvirus type 1 and 5 (BoHV-1 and 5) infections. The samples are originated as from dairy and beef herd cattle in the following regions from RS State: Southwest, Northeast, Northwest, West, Southeast, Midwest and Metropolitan regions; and were classified according to the origin, gender and age. The serum samples were tested against 100 TCID50/mL of (tissue cellular infection dose 50/mL) of previously characterized BEV and BAV-3 isolates. Serial dilution of the serum was performed in duplicate, starting at 1:5 up to > 1:640 for BEV and at 1:2 to > 1:256 for BAV in 96 wells plates. The serum and virus mixture was incubated in 37oC for 4-6 h and then a suspension of CRIB cells was added to each well. The plates were incubated in 37oC and 5% CO2 for three days for BEV and five days for BAV assay. Neutralization titers were calculated as the reciprocal of the highest serum dilution able to avoid the cytopathic effect. A total of 99.7% (414/415) serum samples showed neutralizing antibodies to BAV and/or BEV. 99.2% (411/414) showed neutralizing antibodies against only BEV and 97.3 % (403/414) were seropositive only to BAV3. Regarding the sex of the analyzed population, males corresponded to 41.6% (173/415) and female 30.3% (126/415) of the total. From BEV seropositive samples, a higher frequency of neutralizing antibodies titers of 1:320, regarding 22.1% (91/411) of samples and for BAV-3 the titers > 1:256 were more prevalent, 72.2% (291/403) of seropositive. Discussion: The data in the present study showed that the frequency of neutralizing antibodies was high for both viruses as well as co-infection was prevalent; demonstrated that both viruses are actively circulating in the bovine population. However reinfections with BEV may be related to a higher proportion of animals presenting strong humoral immunity. Since BAV and BEV are normally related to subclinical infections, in the absence of clinical cases and high levels of herd immunity, it could be inferred that no other preventive measures need to be taken in these herds until no clear overt of clinical signs is noticed. In another hand, is important research these viruses in animals with signs historic of respiratory tract disease, reproductive disorders and diarrhea.


Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is a spectrum of clinical and imaging abnormalities linked to the pathology of small penetrating arteries and arterioles in the brain irrigating subcortical structures1. Accumulating data suggest that cSVD is the most prevalent neurological disorder in the ageing society of the developed world2, 3. The prevalence of its seemingly asymptomatic manifestations –silent brain infarctsincreases with age from approximately 6-7% at 60 years to 28% at 80 years of age according to a recent review4. In another study lacunar infarcts were found in 23% of all subjects over 65 years, and in 43% of subjects over 80 years of age5. Its acute, symptomatic manifestations –lacunar strokesaccount for approximately 20% of all ischemic strokes6-8. Thus improved management of cSVD based on better understanding of the disease is of great importance. cSVD is characterised by the arteriolosclerosis and/or microatheromatosis of small calibre (50-500 μm) cerebral arterial vessels caused by various pathologies1. Its most common, sporadic form is related to age and vascular risk factors including hypertension and diabetes in particular. Inherited forms are increasingly recognised with CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy) being the most prevalent genetic cSVD caused by the mutation of NOTCH 3 gene encoding a transmembrane receptor of vascular smooth muscle cells9, 10. CADASIL -affecting young to middle aged, otherwise healthy individualsprovides a pure model for cSVD and therefore has been extensively studied 11. Inflammatory, infective and immunologically mediated forms are usually part of systemic diseases of diverse origin characterised by central nervous system vasculitis 12. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) –a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's diseaseaffects small vessels both cortically and subcortically and may also lead to ischemic changes, although it is particularly associated with recurrent lobar haemorrhages12. In this chapter we will only focus on the most common and well studied age and vascular risk factor related form of cSVD and CADASIL. cSVD predominantly affects perforating end-arteries branching usually perpendicularly from a large parent artery. These penetrating arteries irrigate the so called perforator areas including the basal ganglia and internal capsule (lenticulostriate arteries from the anterior cerebral artery (ACA) A1 segment and middle cerebral artery (MCA) M1 segment), the


The Service Availability Forum (SAF) has defined a set of service API specifications addressing the growing need of commercial-off-the-shelf high availability solutions. Among these services, the Availability Management Framework (AMF) is the service responsible for managing the high availability of the application services by coordinating redundant application components. To achieve this task, an AMF implementation requires a specific logical view of the organization of the application's services and components known as an AMF configuration. Developing manually such a configuration is a complex, error prone, and time consuming task. In this paper, we present an approach for automatic generation of AMF configurations from a set of requirements given by the configuration designer and the description of the software as provided by the vendor. Our approach alleviates the need of configuration designers dealing with a large number of AMF entities and their relations.


Dynamic power dissipation due to redundant switching is an important metric in data-path design. This paper focuses on the use of ingenious operand isolation circuits for low power design. Operand isolation attempts to reduce switching by clamping or latching the output of a first level of combinational circuit. This paper presents a novel method using power supply switching wherein both PMOS and NMOS stacks of a circuit are connected to the same power supply. Thus, the output gets clamped or latched to the power supply value with minimal leakage. The proposed circuits make use of only two transistors to clamp the entire Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) block. Also, the latch-based designs have higher drive strength in comparison to the existing methods. Simulation results have shown considerable area reduction in comparison to the existing techniques without increasing timing overhead.


Genus 2 curves have been an object of much mathematical interest since eighteenth century and continued interest to date. They have become an important tool in many algorithms in cryptographic applications, such as factoring large numbers, hyperelliptic curve cryptography, etc. Choosing genus 2 curves suitable for such applications is an important step of such algorithms. In existing algorithms often such curves are chosen using equations of moduli spaces of curves with decomposable Jacobians or Humbert surfaces.
In these lectures we will cover basic properties of genus 2 curves, moduli spaces of (n,n)-decomposable Jacobians and Humbert surfaces, modular polynomials of genus 2, Kummer surfaces, theta-functions and the arithmetic on the Jacobians of genus 2, and their applications to cryptography. The lectures are intended for graduate students in algebra, cryptography, and related areas.


The deployment of a sensor network plays an important role in implementation of the smart grid. An integrated sensor system is proposed in this paper, which is built with an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) structure. A functional wind monitoring sensor network and an indoor environment monitoring sensor network are described from a design and implementation aspect. With the concern of energy efficiency, a Multiple Access Control (MAC) mechanism is designed for a ZigBee network and a UDP-based communication strategy is used to achieve a high sampling frequency. Additionally, multiple energy-aware programming skills are talked from a practical aspect, as well as an energy harvesting strategy and a power consumption survey of this system. Based on the data gained by the system, initial data analysis and visualisation results are also presented.


The issue of short-term competitiveness, i.e. price and cost competitiveness, has moved to center stage in the economic policy debate amid the economic crisis. Within the Eurosystem, the various indicators that are used to monitor short-term competitiveness are revised at regular intervals by the ECB and national compilers. In Austria, these indicators are compiled by the OeNB in cooperation with WIFO, the Austrian Institute of Economic Research. The regular revisions are meant to ensure that the indicators adequately reflect changing countryspecific trade patterns, remain useful measures and continue to be internationally comparable. In the revision undertaken in 2013, the basic conceptual framework was left unchanged in as much as the typical building blocks of the Austrian competitiveness indicator have been retained. At the same time, a number of adjustments were made: The previously fixed country weights were replaced by variable weights based on non-overlapping three-year periods, the underlying samples of trading partners and competing countries were adjusted, a services subindex was substituted for the existing travel and tourism subindex, and two new competitiveness indicators were added to enable cross-checks with the traditional consumer pricebased measures. The two additions are, first, a new price competitiveness indicator for the manufacturing industry, based on relative producer prices and second, a new cost competitiveness indicator for the Austrian economy and the services industry, based on relative unit labor costs of the total economy. The revised set of indicators shows that Austria's price and cost competitiveness has improved continually over the past decade and a half, with manufacturing exporters experiencing stronger gains in competitiveness than other areas of the economy. Services providers have also become evidently more competitive since the beginning of 1999. Here, the improvement is found to be larger when we take into account changes in the HICP/ CPI rather than total unit labor costs.


We review the derivation of the homogenized one-population Amari equation by means of the two-scale convergence technique of Nguetseng in the case of periodic microvariation in the connectivity function. A key point in this derivation is Visintin's theorem for two-scale convergence of convolution integrals. We construct single bump solutions of the resulting homogenized equation using a pinning function technique for the case where the solutions are independent of the local variable and the firing rate function is modelled as a unit step function. The parameter measuring the degree of heterogeneity plays the role of a control parameter. The connectivity functions are periodically modulated in both the synaptic footprint and in the spatial scale. A framework for analysing the stability of these structures is formulated. This framework is based on spectral theory for Hilbert–Schmidt integral operators and it deforms to the standard Evans function approach for the translational invariant case in the limit of no heterogeneity. The upper and lower bounds of the growth/decay rates of the perturbations imposed on the bump states can be expressed in terms of the operator norm of the actual Hilbert–Schmidt operator. Intervals for which the pinning function is increasing correspond to unstable bumps, while complementary intervals where the pinning function decreases correspond to stable bumps, just as in the translational invariant case. Examples showing the properties of the bumps are discussed in detail when the connectivity kernels are given in terms of an exponential decaying function, a wizard hat function and a damped oscillating function.


Cancer patients usually receive therapies according to their primary tumor's molecular traits. These characteristics may change during the molecular evolution of distant metastases as the leading cause of cancer deaths. Primary tumor tissue, if accessible at all, does not always provide enough information to stratify individual patients to the most promising therapy. Re-analysis of metastatic lesions by needle biopsy is possible but invasive, and limited by the known intra-patient heterogeneity of individual lesions. These hurdles might be overcome by analyzing tumor cells or tumor cell products in blood samples (liquid biopsy), which in principle might reflect all subclones present at that specific time point and allow sequential monitoring of disease evolution. Liquid biopsies inform on circulating tumor cells as well as tumor-derived cell-free nucleic acids, exosomes and platelets. Here, we introduce the different approaches of blood-based liquid biopsies and discuss the clinical applications in oncology.


Outlines a general methodology for the solution of the system of algebraic equations arising from the discretization of the field equations governing coupled problems. Considers that this discrete problem is obtained from the finite element discretization in space and the finite difference discretization in time. Aims to preserve software modularity, to be able to use existing single field codes to solve more complex problems, and to exploit computer resources optimally, emulating parallel processing. To this end, deals with two well‐known coupled problems of computational mechanics – the fluid‐structure interaction problem and thermally‐driven flows of incompressible fluids. Demonstrates the possibility of coupling the block‐iterative loop with the nonlinearity of the problems through numerical experiments which suggest that even a mild nonlinearity drives the convergence rate of the complete iterative scheme, at least for the two problems considered here. Discusses the implementation of this alternative to the direct coupled solution, stating advantages and disadvantages. Explains also the need for online synchronized communication between the different codes used as is the description of the master code which will control the overall algorithm.


Estrogen synthesis evolved in chordates to control reproduction. The terminal enzyme in the cascade directly responsible for estrogen synthesis is aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) encoded by the CYP19 gene. Mammals typically have a single CYP19 gene but pigs, peccaries and other Suiformes have two or more resulting from duplication in a common ancestor. Duplication of CYP genes in the steroid synthetic cascade has occurred for only one other enzyme, also terminal, 11beta-hydroxylase P450 (P450c11). P450arom and P450c11 share common substrates and even physiological functions as possible remnants from a common P450 progenitor, perhaps an ancestral P450arom, which is supported by phylogenetic analysis. Conserved tissue-specific expression patterns of P450arom paralogs in placenta and gonads of pigs and peccaries suggest how functional adaptation may have proceeded divergently and influenced adopted reproductive strategies including ovulation rate and litter size. Data suggest that the porcine placental paralog evolved catalytically to protect female conceptuses from testosterone produced by male siblings; the gonadal paralog to synthesize a novel, nonaromatizable testosterone metabolite (1OH-testosterone) that may increase ovulation rate. This would represent a coevolution facilitating litter bearing as pigs diverged from peccaries. Evidence of convergence between the peccary CYP19 genes and lower tissue expression may therefore represent initiation of loss of the functional paralogs. Studies on the Suiforme aromatases provide insights into the evolution of the steroidogenic cascade and metabolic pathways in general, how it translates into physiological adaptations (altered reproductive strategies for instance), and how duplicated genes become stabilized or disappear from genomes.


This paper presents the generalized stability criterion of 3-D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) schemes for doubly lossy media, where both electric and magnetic conductivities coexist. The generalized stability criterion is applicable for all 3-D FDTD schemes, such as time-average (TA), time-forward (TF), time-backward (TB) and exponential time differencing (ETD). It is reducible to either electrically lossy, magnetically lossy or lossless media. The stability criterion for perfectly matched layer (PML) matching condition can also be obtained as a special case to the doubly lossy media. It is shown that, for doubly lossy media, the stability criterion for ETD and TF becomes even more relaxed, and for TB, even more stringent compared to either electrically lossy, magnetically lossy or lossless media. On the other hand, the stability criterion for TA remains unchanged even in doubly lossy media. As numerical demonstration, the tunneling of electromagnetic wave through a very thin doubly lossy conductor is simulated. Numerical experiments further show the maximum allowed time step as dictated by the derived stability criterion for different schemes.


The paper addresses the nature of duties grounded in human rights. I contend that rather than being protections against harm, per se, human rights largely shield against risk impositions to protected interests. "Risk imposition" is a normative idea requiring explication, but understanding dutiful action in its terms enables human rights to provide prospective policy guidance, hold institutions accountable, operate in nonideal circumstances, embody impartiality among persons, and define the moral status of agencies in international relations. Slightly differently, I indicate a general understanding of dutiful action that permits human rights to see to the tasks of an institutional morality.


This study was carried out to investigate dietary effects of illite on humoral immune response against Salmonella typhimurium flagella in Hyline Brown laying hens. Total of twenty eight 36-week-old hens were divided into two groups; The first was fed commercial diet as control and the other was fed diet containing 2 % illite. Each group was divided into 2 sub-groups and then performed immunization of Salmonella flagella with different adjuvants which were Freund's adjuvant and croton oil. The rates of egg-production in all groups were normal range but no difference was found between illite-treated and untreated groups. The serum antibody titers of Freund's adjuvant-used subgroup in illite fed groups were significantly increased, especially from 6- to 9-week after 1 st immunization compared to those of control groups (p<0.05). And the antibody titers of croton oil-used subgroup in illite-fed groups were also significantly increased, especially at 4-, 6- and 7-week (p<0.05). The results demonstrated that the feeding illite stimulated the immune response against S. typhimurium flagella antigen in laying hens and suggest that the supplementation of illite to the poultry diets may support protective effects against bacterial infections such as Salmonellosis.


This paper proposes a new shape adaptive integer wavelet transform (SAIWT) based progressive transmission coding scheme for 2-D and 3-D brain MRI. This scheme consists of: (a) extraction of shape information (mask) by morphological operations; (b) 2D/3D separable biorthogonal 9-7 SAIWT; (c) intraband wavelet encoding of the foreground object. This object based coding greatly improves both overall progressive transmission performance and lossless compression; (d) entropy coding of resulting bit stream and differential coding of the boundary of binary mask. The performance of shape adaptive scheme (both 2D and 3D) is superior to the conventional rectangular based schemes at all bit rates.


Here we report the context encounters of elephant attacks on humans in Bangladesh, during the period 1989 to 2012. Attack rates significantly increased over this study period. The proportion of encounters that caused deaths or injuries differed statistically significant between the two sexes (men more deaths), age groups (elder more deaths), time of the day (more deaths during night), place of casualty (more deaths outside forests), weapon used by elephants (more deaths when elephants were using both trunk and leg) and study sites. No difference was found between seasons, elephant group size, or financial status, occupation and household size of victims. Elephant family groups were mostly responsible for attacks in the north, while single bulls were more responsible in the southeast. The place of casualty (inside or outside forests), time of the day, gender and regions were all significant in explaining the variation in encounters which resulted in human deaths or injuries. Conflict mitigation approaches including incentive-, awareness-or training programs from the forest department could help to reduce the conflict between humans and elephants in Bangladesh.


Abstract:  Bacterial content may be helpful in differentiating forensic soil samples; however, the effectiveness of bacterial profiling depends on several factors, including uniqueness among different habitat types, the level of heterogeneity within a habitat, and changes in bacterial communities over time. To examine these, soils from five diverse habitats were tested over a 1 year period using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) analysis. Soil samples were collected at central locations monthly, and 10 feet in cardinal directions quarterly. Similarity indices were found to be least related among habitats, while the greatest bacterial similarities existed among collection locations within a habitat. Temporally, however, bacterial content varied considerably, and there was substantial overlap in similarity indices among habitats during different parts of the year. Taken together, the results indicate that while bacterial DNA profiling may be useful for forensic soil analysis, certain variables, particularly time, must be considered.


BACKGROUND
Due to uncontrolled activation of digestive enzymes produced within the pancreas, acute pancreatitis is a disease with a great potential for complications and variable course. Since the pathophysiological steps of human pancreatitis can only be inadequately investigated, various animal models were established to study the course of disease. The model of supramaximal caerulein stimulation allows to gain insights into intracellular events of the early phase of acute pancreatitis. Usually, overnight fasted animals are used for the model of acute pancreatitis to achieve a maximum zymogen granula accumulation and a standardised initial situation due to diminished secretion of CCK. Furthermore, the role of the nutritional state for pathogenesis and course of acute pancreatitis is controversially discussed. The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of the nutritional status on pancreatic injury in experimental acute pancreatitis.

METHODS
Using standardised supramaximal caerulein stimulation (dose: 50 µg/kg; time intervals, 1/h; max. 7×), acute oedematous interstitial pancreatitis in fasted and non-fasted mice was induced. Pancreatic injury was locally characterised by pancreatic oedema, histopathological alterations and the release of pancreatic enzyme to the serum while systemic alterations were objectified by IL-6, CRP und pulmonal MPO.

RESULTS
1) Increased pancreatic serum enzyme levels after induction of acute pancreatitis in non-fasted animals do not reflect a greater affection of the pancreas since amylase and lipase in serum and pancreatic tissue correlate proportionally. The induction of acute pancreatitis provoked release of 1.3 % and 0.7 % of amylase and lipase, respectively, independently of nutritional status. 2) Neither local nor systemic parameters of pancreatic injury were significantly altered by the nutritional regimen. Pathohistologic investigations revealed increase of zymogen granula portion and cell size in non-fasted mice but no further differences compared with fasted animals. 3) During a 16-hour recovery period (no further caerulein injection), local and systemic parameters normalised.

DISCUSSION
In the relatively mild model of pancreatitis induced by hormonal hyperstimulation, there was no greater pancreatic injury despite higher intrapancreatic enzyme accumulation in non-fasted animals indicating a steady state between potentially damaging and protective factors and mechanisms.


More advanced robotic applications require high accuracy positioning of the robot manipulator. This paper introduces a novel approach to measure the elastic deformations of robot links in order to improve its pose accuracy. The paper develops a model of the fiber Bragg sensors that locally measure strain. In conjunction with an finite model of the link geometry this information enables the prediction of the arm deformation. The approach opens an avenue for more advanced position control, which considers the elastic link deformations. Both models provide the basis for a systematic analysis and optimization of the spectrometer, signal processing and sensor configuration. An evolutionary algorithm optimizes the sensor locations in order to minimize the predicted deformation error. The proposed scheme is verified experimentally on an industrial manipulator.


Purpose
In 2016, the oversight body for policing in England and Wales reported a national shortage of 5,000 qualified detectives and other investigators. Commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council, this research critically assessed initiatives taken by the Police Service of England and Wales since that time to remedy that shortfall. The purpose of this study is to answer the question, "To what extent can fast-track investigator recruitment and training schemes enhance the PSEW's investigative capacity and capability?"

Design/methodology/approach
Between 2019 and 2020, the authors examined four cases in England and Wales. Three were novel fast-track programmes for new joiners. The fourth was an investigator resilience programme. This study was qualitative and interpretive in nature. The authors carried out systematic reviews of the literature on investigative policy and detective work. The authors reviewed internal evaluations completed by Forces A, B and C. The authors interviewed respondents (n = 82) and supplemented the interview data with survey data (n = 45; N = 127); the authors analysed the data thematically and reviewed the findings in the context of systems theory and social identity theory.

Findings
The major themes identified by the analysis presented in this study were marketing and recruitment, attrition and progression, acceptance of the trainees, training and trainees' welfare and well-being. The programmes were not as successful as they might have been because of systems failures. Principally, ineffective coordination of the programmes with other elements of the forces on which their success also relied (such as training, human resources and detective, departments). A critical limiting factor was the lack of experienced, skilled detectives able to train, support and mentor the trainees.

Practical implications
This paper provides empirical evidence of the efficacy of a whole systems approach to organisational change. This study evidences the crisis in police investigative practice that limits the service that the police can provide to victims and communities and ultimately threatens police legitimacy. This study provides insights from police practitioners into detective work in the modern era and highlights areas where improvement is necessary. The research on which this study is based was commissioned by the National Police Chiefs Council. Thus, there is institutional buy in to its findings.

Originality/value
With its roots firmly in empiricism, this paper presents the first scholarly evaluation of the police's attempts to make up a massive shortfall in investigators. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper presents the first attempt to explain the challenges the police faced in this context, thematically. This study's focus on systems and on human behaviour is intended to inform a wide audience beyond British policing.


Abstract A prepitting procedure to generate a single pit of 'controlled' depth on a steam turbine disc steel has been developed using disodium tetraborate-sodium chloride solution. The optimal conditions for controlled pit generation and growth were obtained by varying the ratio of tetraborate to chloride ions and applying an anodic current of 10 mA. The procedure can be used to produce a single pit on a cylindrical specimen, which can be used subsequently for stress corrosion cracking or corrosion fatigue tests. The growth rate and the shape of the pits have also been investigated.


Background: Bullying and peer victimization among adolescents are growing public health concerns that affect victims' emotional well-being, and their social and academic functioning. Despite concerns about this public health epidemic in low- and middle-income countries, most prevalence, policy and intervention studies have been conducted in developed countries and economies. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2016 and July 2017 at seven public and private schools located in five districts in Pakistan: Lodhran, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Multan, Thatta, and Nawabshah. A total of 2,315 schoolchildren were surveyed with a specially designed instrument in Urdu with items about demographics and bullying behavior, together with a strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 14.63 (2.87) years. More than half of the respondents were males (n = 1301, 56.2%), and a majority reported that their mothers were housewives (n = 2,100, 90.7%). A total of 615 (26.6%) respondents reported being bullied at school, and 415 (17.9%) reported being bullied away from school. Perpetration of bullying was reported by 430 (18.6%) participants at school and 376 (16.3%) away from school. Being bullied in the past was strongly associated with becoming a perpetrator of bullying in the future. Internalizing symptoms were significantly associated with male gender, older age, being a victim of bullying, and employment status of the respondent's mother. Externalizing symptoms were significantly associated with male gender, older age, being a victim and perpetrator of bullying, and mother's employment status. Conclusion: Bullying perpetrators have a greater tendency to exhibit externalizing symptoms, whereas victims develop both externalizing and internalizing psychopathologies.


I examine here the use of the term madār in the Muslim hadīth literature in an effort to reassess G.H.A. Juynboll's claim that this term is equivalent to his common link. I argue that there are significant differences between the understanding and use of madār by both classical and contemporary Muslim scholars, on the one hand, and Juynboll's notion of the common link, on the other. After summarizing Juynboll's conclusions, I present and discuss some examples of the use of madār chosen from authoritative hadīth commentaries and rijāl books; discuss how Muslim scholars understood the term madār; and reevaluate Juynboll's ideas about the related terms, mutābi'āt and shawāhid.


During periodontitis, alveolar bone resorption is associated with activation of T helper type 17 (Th17) lymphocytes and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) -induced osteoclasts. We previously reported that serotype b of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans has a higher capacity to trigger Th17-type differentiation and function in activated T lymphocytes and its lipopolysaccharide is a more potent immunogen compared with the other serotypes. This study aimed to investigate whether serotype b of A. actinomycetemcomitans induces higher Th17-associated RANKL production, RANKL-induced osteoclast activation, and antigen-specific memory T lymphocyte proliferation. On naive CD4(+) T lymphocytes stimulated with autologous dendritic cells primed with different A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes, RANKL production, T-bet, GATA-3, RORC2 and Foxp3 expression, RORC2/RANKL intracellular double-expression, TRAP(+) osteoclast activation, and bone resorption were quantified. The frequency of proliferating memory T lymphocytes in response to A. actinomycetemcomitans serotypes was determined in periodontitis and healthy subjects. Naive CD4(+) T lymphocytes stimulated by serotype b-primed dendritic cells elicited higher levels of RANKL, RORC2, TRAP(+) osteoclasts, and bone resorption than the same cells stimulated with the other serotypes. RANKL positively correlated and co-expressed with RORC2. Memory T lymphocytes responding to serotype b were more frequently detected in periodontitis patients than healthy subjects. These results indicate that serotype b of A. actinomycetemcomitans is associated with higher production of RANKL and these increased levels are associated with Th17 lymphocyte induction, osteoclast activation, and bone resorption.


The de Sitter invariant Special Relativity (dS-SR) is SR with constant curvature, and a natural extension of usual Einstein SR (E-SR). In this paper, we solve the dS-SR Dirac equation of Hydrogen by means of the adiabatic approach and the quasi-stationary perturbation calculations of QM. Hydrogen atom is located in the light cone of the Universe. FRW metric and ΛCDM cosmological model are used to discuss this issue. To the atom, effects of de Sitter space-time geometry described by Beltrami metric are taken into account. The dS-SR Dirac equation turns out to be a time dependent quantum Hamiltonian system. We reveal that: (i) The fundamental physics constants me, , e variate adiabatically along with cosmologic time in dS-SR QM framework. But the fine-structure constant α ≡ e2/(c) keeps to be invariant; (ii) (2s1/2−2p1/2)-splitting due to dS-SR QM effects: By means of perturbation theory, that splitting ΔE(z) are calculated analytically, which belongs to (1/R2)-physics of dS-SR QM. Numerically, we find that when |R| {103 Gly, 104 Gly, 105 Gly}, and z {1, or 2}, the ΔE(z) 1 (Lamb shift). This indicates that for these cases the hyperfine structure effects due to QED could be ignored, and the dS-SR fine structure effects are dominant. This effect could be used to determine the universal constant R in dS-SR, and be thought as a new physics beyond E-SR.


[1] Currently, the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) level II aerosol product (MOD04/MYD04) is the best aerosol optical depth product suitable for near-real-time aerosol data assimilation. However, a careful analysis of biases and error variances in MOD04/MYD04 aerosol optical depth product is necessary before implementing the MODIS aerosol product in aerosol forecasting applications. Using 1 year's worth of Sun photometer and MOD04/MYD04 aerosol optical depth (τ) data over global oceans, we studied the major biases in MODIS aerosol over-ocean product due to wind speed, cloud contamination, and aerosol microphysical properties. For τ less than 0.6, we found similar uncertainties in the mean MOD04/MYD04 τ as suggested by the MODIS aerosol group, while biases are nonlinear for τ larger than 0.6. We showed that uncertainties in MOD04/MYD04 data can be reduced, and the correlation between MODIS and Sun photometer τ can be improved by reducing the systematic biases in MOD04/MYD04 data through empirical corrections and quality assurance procedures. By removing noise and outliers and ensuring that only the highest-quality data were included, we created a modified aerosol optical depth product that removes most massive outliers and ultimately reduced the absolute error (MODIS–Sun photometer) in MODIS τ at 0.55 μm (τ0.55) by 10–20%. Averaged over 1 year's worth of Terra MODIS aerosol product over global oceans, we found a 12% reduction in MODIS τ0.55 with extremes of 30% over the southern midlatitudes and the North Pacific due to a reduction in cloud contamination. This modified aerosol optical depth product will be used operationally.


The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of the use of learning strategies in piano education on students' achievement and metacognitive awareness. According to the education model programmed in order to achieve the objective of the study, an educational program for piano courses including the activities using the learning strategies, for a period of 14 weeks and consisting of 14 units has been prepared. The study sample (N=20) consists of the second class (grade) piano students continuing their piano education during the academic year 2008-2009 in Music Teacher Education Programme of Marmara University, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Department of Fine Arts Education. The study was designed in accordance with the experimental design pattern with pretest-post-test control group. In order to achieve the results of the study, two measurement tools have been used, an achievement test and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory. As a result, students in the experimental group demonstrated considerable improvement in terms of achievement in their piano classes, and in metacognitive awareness. Furthermore, improvement that accomplished by the experimental group is significantly advanced compared to the students in the control group. In sum, it showed that the program, which is prepared for this research to advance the learning strategies, outstandingly enhances students' achievement in their piano classes, and in metacognitive awareness compared to the students who are educated with traditional methods. Key words: Piano education, learning strategies, piano course achievement, metacognitive awareness.


The role of the tungsten-188/rhenium-188 (188W/188Re) generator system to provide the no-carrier added (NCA) 188Re therapeutic radionuclide for applications in nuclear medicine and oncology is well established. The evolution and successful use of the 188W/188Re generator in nuclear medicine has resulted from new discoveries and innovations from separation science along with technological advances which have broadened the scope and utility of 188W/188Re generators. Nonetheless, there are still additional opportunities for improvements and innovations in separation science which will undoubtedly continue to provide improvements in 188W/188Re generator technology. In this review, we discuss the reported separation technologies such as the adsorption-type systems which have been traditionally used as well as emerging separation technologies which have the potential for further development of 188W/188Re generator systems. This article also outlines the comparative advantages and disadvantages of various key separation technologies. Further, the regulatory challenges, the impact on 188W/188Re technology with the emergence of professionally run central radiopharmacies, and the role of automation are discussed.


This chapter elaborates a review of sol-gel–prepared TiO 2 photocatalyst for different photocatalytic applications. Among the semiconductors employed, TiO 2 is known as an attractive photocatalyst owing to its high photosensitivity, nontoxicity, easy availability, strong oxidizing power and long-term stability. Some research works related to the effect of solgel preparation parameters on physicochemical properties and different photocatalytic applications of prepared TiO 2 photocatalysts are reported. Furthermore, various sol-gel and related systems for modification of TiO 2 photocatalytic performance, including transition metals and co-doing of TiO 2 , were considered. The results illustrated that doping TiO 2 with metal ions through sol-gel method usually resulted in an improved efficiency of TiO 2 photocatalyst. This method has all the advantages over other preparation techniques in terms of purity, homogeneity, felicity and flexibility in introducing dopants in a large concentration, stoichiometry control, ease of processing and composition control.


The interconnection network communicates and links together the processing units of modern high-performance computing systems. In this context, network faults have an extremely high impact since most routing algorithms were not designed to tolerate faults. Because of this, just a single fault may stall messages in the network, preventing the finalization of applications, or may lead to deadlocked configurations. In this paper we introduce a scalable deadlock avoidance technique specifically designed to deal with large interconnection networks suffering from a large number of dynamic faults. Our method is based on adding one-slot deadlock avoidance buffers and does not require the use of any virtual channels. Additionally, fully-adaptive routing algorithms may be designed on the basis of our proposal.


Objective: The role of hyperoxia in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains controversial. The objective of this study was to determine the association between hyperoxia and mortality in critically ill TBI patients compared to critically ill trauma patients without TBI. Design: Secondary analysis of a multicenter retrospective cohort study. Setting: Three regional trauma centers in Colorado, USA, between October 1, 2015, and June 30, 2018. Patients: We included 3464 critically injured adults who were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) within 24 h of arrival and qualified for inclusion into the state trauma registry. We analyzed all available SpO2 values during the first seven ICU days. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of time spent in hyperoxia (defined as SpO2 > 96%) and ventilator-free days. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: In-hospital mortality occurred in 163 patients (10.7%) in the TBI group and 101 patients (5.2%) in the non-TBI group. After adjusting for ICU length of stay, TBI patients spent a significantly greater amount of time in hyperoxia versus non-TBI patients (p = 0.024). TBI status significantly modified the effect of hyperoxia on mortality. At each specific SpO2 level, the risk of mortality increases with increasing FiO2 for both patients with and without TBI. This trend was more pronounced at lower FiO2 and higher SpO2 values, where a greater number of patient observations were obtained. Among patients who required invasive mechanical ventilation, TBI patients required significantly more days of ventilation to day 28 than non-TBI patients. Conclusions: Critically ill trauma patients with a TBI spend a greater proportion of time in hyperoxia compared to those without a TBI. TBI status significantly modified the effect of hyperoxia on mortality. Prospective clinical trials are needed to better assess a possible causal relationship.


This paper presents the problem of robustly stabilizing a class of nonlinear systems by using an H∞ fuzzy output feedback controller. Sufficient condition is derived to ensure the robust stability of the fuzzy observer based controller with guaranteed H∞ disturbance attenuation level. The observer and controller design problem is cast in the form of bilinear matrix inequalities (BMIs). Using two-step procedure, these BMIs are reduced to two sets of LMIs which can be solved very efficiently using convex optimization techniques. The design procedure proposed in this paper extends previous results in the literature by considering both the premise uncertainty and the consequent uncertainty simultaneously. Furthermore, a modified two-step procedure is suggested for the plants with linear output equation. Finally, a simulation example illustrates the validity and applicability of the given approach


Human African trypanosomiasis is a neglected parasitic disease for which the current treatment options are quite limited. Trypanosomes are not able to synthesize purines de novo and thus solely depend on purine salvage from the host environment. This characteristic makes players of the purine salvage pathway putative drug targets. The activity of known nucleoside analogues such as tubercidin and cordycepin led to the development of a series of C7-substituted nucleoside analogues. Here, we use RNA interference (RNAi) libraries to gain insight into the mode-of-action of these novel nucleoside analogues. Whole-genome RNAi screening revealed the involvement of adenosine kinase and 4E interacting protein into the mode-of-action of certain antitrypanosomal nucleoside analogues. Using RNAi lines and gene-deficient parasites, 4E interacting protein was found to be essential for parasite growth and infectivity in the vertebrate host. The essential nature of this gene product and involvement in the activity of certain nucleoside analogues indicates that it represents a potential novel drug target.


Deformation of slope for all section is almost the same while the width of slope along the strike is large enough, that is plane deformation. If the width is small, then cannot analyze according to the plane problem. According to above method, slope deformation of concave base is 3D problem if excavates a limited width concave conveyor belt alone the slope dip in open-pit mine. In this article, the relation between excavation width and deformation is analyzed by 3D numerical simulation method, on the basis of some mine actual geological occurrence conditions, meanwhile, calculative equation among deformation geometry and limit equilibrium is established to evaluate concave base slope stability. Concave base slope for conveyor belt is 32% for deformation of plane mode slope in light of numerous simulation result, and the stability coefficient can be improved by 0.5 through case studies analysis. So, the safety of belt transport system is ensured.


This paper addresses basic dilemmas for higher education (HE) in development, posing three questions: 'Where is HE in the global development agenda'? 'What is the contribution of HE to development'? 'What dimensions of development should HE address?' It argues for broader conceptions of 'higher education' and 'development', countering global pressures pushing narrow, unsustainable interpretations to the fore. A critical approach involves broader developmental and cognitive rationales. An inclusive post-2015 agenda for HE should consider fundamental demands to transform knowledge and knowledge relationships to make 'sustainable human development' attainable. In practice, HE could re-imagine scholarship in a more holistic, integrated manner. Individual, specialist professional education can be re-aligned with societal visions for transformation, engaging diverse publics through curriculum and research that directly address urgent sustainability problems. "Development's" relative neglect of HE can be redressed, by revitalizing its public and common good mission for sustainable human development.


IntroductionA two-year collaborative project between professors in the department of Black studies, the department of global studies, and the Center for Black Studies Research at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), culminated in a research trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in June 2015. The research collaborative aimed to develop a conceptual and inclusive framework for short-term and long-term development prospects in the earthquake-devastated community of Carrefour-Feuilles. The research trip included a two-day workshop that brought UCSB scholars to this specific community in Haiti to engage with community leaders and residents, Haitian faculty and students, grassroots organizations, governmental agencies, and international nongovernmental organizations working in Carrefour-Feuilles.The research project, titled "The Haiti Sustainable Development Research Collaborative: The Carrefour-Feuilles Neighborhood Redevelopment Project," consisted of three professors from global studies and Black studies, three graduate students, five undergraduates, and two videographers, one of whom recently completed a master's degree in the UCSB global studies program. Together, we spent seven days in Haiti hoping not only to reach our research goals but to also to provide the five undergraduates with an educational opportunity to broaden their historical and sociocultural understandings of Haiti and its development in an increasingly globalized world.Their reflections, provided below, offer valuable insights on the undergraduates' first experiences in a non-Western developing country; they also uncover the fruitful complexities of translating textbook knowledge into real-world understandings of both local and global issues. The students-Unique Vance, Mariah Boyd, Sean Tanabe, Ashley Baker, and Andrew Neiman-each completed a course and research project in Spring 2015 with Nadege T. Clitandre, an assistant professor of global studies who has close ties to the community of Carrefour-Feuilles. She and Claudine Michel, professor of Black studies, co-led the trip with the assistance of Philip McCarty, a lecturer in global studies and anthropologist with experience in field research in countries outside the United States.Together with reflections offered by N. Pierre, Jamella Gow, and Nikita Carney, doctoral students who focus on Haiti and the broader Caribbean, this short essay provides insight into the preliminary processes of building a partnership between a large US research university and a community in Port-au-Prince, as well as the experience of engaging with leaders and other members of the community of Carrefour-Feuilles. In this piece, we provide personal and critical reflections developed in the field and also a commentary on the value of cross-cultural research and academic exchange between students from different countries. We share these reflections in the hopes of generating more interest in this fruitful collaboration between the Center for Black Studies Research and the department of global studies.N. PierrePhD Candidate; History, New York University; Visiting Researcher, UCSB Center for Buck Studies ResearchThe Center for Black Studies Research and the global studies department at the University of California, Santa Barbara, secured funding for the Haiti Sustainable Development Research Collaborative. The essential kernel of the trip was to conduct a needs assessment brief to function as guide for the redevelopment of a neighborhood in Carrefour-Feuilles, Port-au-Prince.There were five major objectives: 1) investigate current NGO strategies pertinent to reconstruction; 2) assess the effectiveness of aid toward longterm infrastructure development; 3) examine the role of local leaders in relation to their constituents and foreign NGOs; 4) develop a plan of action for local community members to recover their collective history; and 5) which resonated with me most, develop research questions and theoretical frameworks that would enable community members to participate in the reconstruction of their hometowns. …


State-of-the-art, 60-GHz, low-noise MMICs based on pseudomorphic modulation-doped FETs, with 0.25- mu m*60- mu m gates offset 0.3 mu m from the source ohmic, are discussed. Single-state low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) exhibited minimum noise figures of 2.90 dB with 4.1 dB of associated gain at 59.25 GHz. Dual-state MMICs had minimum noise figures of 3.5 dB and 10.8 dB of associated gain at 58.50 GHz. Cascaded four-stage LNAs (two dual-stage MMICs) had minimum noise figures of 3.7 dB and over 20.7 dB of associated gain at 58.0 GHz. Finally, when biased for maximum gain, the four-stage amplifier exhibited over 30.4 dB of gain at 60.0 GHz.<<ETX>>


Sentential complementation is generally unmarked in Chinese Pidgin English (ChnP). However, around the middle of the 19th century, the word so began to be used as a complementizer. This paper focuses on the origins of so as a complementizer in ChnP. An examination of so and another closely related expression so fashion ('so, like this') shows that their meanings and functions can largely be attributed to the corresponding expressions in the source languages, namely Cantonese gam 2 ('so, like this') and English so in its anaphoric function. As Cantonese gam 2 and English so are not complementizers, it is hypothesized that so- complementation is the result of reanalysis by which the anaphoric so is reinterpreted as a complementizer. It is further argued that the emergence of so- complementation is facilitated by a common grammaticalization pathway whereby deictic expressions acquire grammatical functions such as that of complementizer.


The causal effect of the European Central Bank's corporate bond purchase program on bond spreads in the primary market is evaluated, making use of a novel regression discontinuity design. The results indicate that the program did not, on average, permanently alter the yield spreads of eligible bonds relative to those of noneligible. Combined with evidence from previous studies, this finding suggests the effects of central bank asset purchase programs are in no way limited to the prices of the specific assets acquired.


Objectives Chronic β1-adrenergic receptor (β1-AR)-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) activation leads to Ca2+ handling disturbances and adverse cardiac remodeling. We have previously demonstrated that insulin treatment exerts anti-apoptotic and prosurvival effects on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion. This study attempted to determine whether insulin treatment influences the prolonged ischemic cardiac remodeling and function and the underlying mechanisms. Methods Myocardial infarction (MI) was induced by left coronary artery ligation in adult male rats. Sham and MI rats were randomly treated with saline, insulin (2 U/kg/d, hypo. daily), or insulin plus wortmannin (a PI3K inhibitor) for 4 wks. Results At the end of four weeks after the ischemia surgery, MI rats receiving insulin treatment showed increased cardiac ejection fraction (46.9 %±1.5 % vs 37.4%±2.4 %, p<0.05), left ventricular developed pressure (LVDP) and positive maximal values of the first derivative of left ventricular pressure (+LV dP/dtmax) compared with those in saline group. Insulin-treated rats also showed a smaller LV cavity and thicker systolic interventricular septum. Although the general size and weight of heart were similar among four groups, the myocyte cross-sectional area was significantly increased in both saline and insulin groups. The pathologic hypertrophy-related proteins were decreased in insulin group (β-MHC, BNP, and ANP, all p<0.05). Moreover, insulin-treated rats showed increased PI3K p110 expression and Akt phosphorylation, and significantly decreased phosphorylation of phospholamban (Thr 17) and CaMKII both in basal and isoproterenol (ISO)-stimulated myocardial tissue (p<0.05). Importantly, inhibition of insulin signaling with wortmannin not only blocked insulin's inhibition of CaMKII, but also abolished the effects of insulin on cardiac structure and function (all p<0.05). Conclusion Chronic insulin treatment promotes physiological hypertrophy and restrains pathological hypertrophy and consequently improves prolonged function in post-ischemic hearts. This may, at least partially, be attributed to the inhibition of β1-AR-CaMKII activation by insulin-stimulated PI3K-Akt signaling.


BACKGROUND
The decline of estrogen levels increases cardiovascular risk in women. Platelets express estrogen receptors and 17β-estradiol- (E2) can produce a protective effect on thrombus formation. The hydroxylation of cholesterol generates several sterols and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC) predominates in circulation.

AIM
To evaluate the effect of 27HC as an endogenous antagonist of the anti-aggregating properties of E2 in platelets of postmenopausal women.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Platelet function of postmenopausal women was evaluated ex-vivo. Platelets pre-incubated with 27HC in the presence or absence of E2, were stimulated with collagen. Aggregation was evaluated using turbidimetry using a Chrono-log aggregometer.

RESULTS
Collagen-stimulated platelet aggregation was significantly inhibited by E2. The inhibitory effect of E2 on collagen-stimulated platelet aggregation was significantly reversed in the presence of 27HC.

CONCLUSIONS
The suppressive effect of E2 on platelet aggregation is inhibited by 27HC, which could contribute to increase cardiovascular risk in postmenopausal women.


In a previous study, pressoreceptor stimulation was found to augment parasympathetic activity in the bladder. This investigation is a continuum to determine any influence of similar effects on the ureter. With equal urine flow, stimulation of pressoreceptors caused an increase in ureteral peristaltic activity. The exact mechanism of action was not determined.


A study of tissue cultures prepared from rabbit sciatic nerves was undertaken to determine the effect of reinnervation on the amount of cell outwandering from nerves undergoing Wallerian degeneration. For this purpose, 25 and 100 days before culturing, some nerves were completely severed and reinnervation prevented, while others were crushed, allowing rapid reinnervation. It was found that reinnervation profoundly diminished the amount of Schwann cell outwandering, in comparison with the outwandering from non-reinnervated nerves. This effect extended only a few cm. distally to the lesion when the nerve was cultured 25 days after interruption, but by 100 days extended much farther towards the periphery. In the region a few cm. distally to the lesion the intensity of the effect was little if at all increased by prolonging the period between operation and culture. The effect was confirmed in reinnervated nerves prepared by complete severance and subsequent suture. Reinnervation influences only the Schwann cells in this way; the outwandering of cells other than Schwann cells did not differ significantly between reinnervated and non-reinnervated nerves. The total cell population within the nerves, estimated from histological sections, is not detectably affected by reinnervation. The interpretation suggested is that a specific adhesion deveops between Schwann cells and nerve fibres, and this prevents the migration during tissue culture of a proportion of the Schwann cells.


Software development teams are increasingly incorporating security practices in to their software development processes. However, little empirical evidence exists on the costs and benefits associated with the application of security practices. Balancing the trade off between the costs in time, effort, and complexity of applying security practices and the benefit of an appropriate level of security in delivered software requires measuring security practice benefits and costs. The goal of this research is to support researcher investigations of software development security practice adherence by building and validating a set of security practices and adherence measures through literature review and survey data analysis. We extracted 16 software development security practices from a review of the literature, and established a set of adherence measures based on technology acceptance theory. We built a survey around the 13 most common practices and our adherence measures. We surveyed 11 security-focused open source projects to collect empirical data as a test of our theorizing about practice adherence. In our collected survey data, each of the 13 security practices we identified was used daily by at least one survey participant. Tracking vulnerabilities and applying secure coding standards are the practices most often applied daily. In our data, Ease of use, Effectiveness, and Training, measured via Likert items, did not always show the expected theoretical relationship with practice use. In our data, Training is positively correlated with practice use, while Effectiveness and Ease of use vary in their correlations with practice use on a practice by practice basis.


Tubifex tubifex and Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, fed intestinal tissue of carp containing oocysts of Goussia carpelli, produced infections in laboratory-reared carp. Sporocysts ingested by the tubificids released the sporozoites that were found to be motile in the intestinal contents and incorporated in intestinal cells of the oligochaetes. Tubificids remained infective for carp at least up to 57 days postexposure (PE). Tubificids were also able to transmit G. carpelli to carp that had recovered from a previous infection, whereas attempts of direct transmission of G. carpelli among these carp failed. Direct transmission to uninfected carp by fecal contamination was possible. Organisms from the pond plankton, benthic Limnadia sp., and chironomid larvae did not transmit G. carpelli to carp.


THE Internet of Things (IoT) is a new paradigm of interconnectivity that has recently garnered attention in the field of ICT, with an estimated proliferation of 50-200 billion connected devices (i.e. IoT/smart devices) by the end of the decade. This exponential device growth raises concerns as it elicits potential risks including an increase in global energy consumption arising from the deployment of such numbers of devices, the additional network energy cost for handling potential IP traffic increment and the potential impact on the global energy consumption and carbon footprint of the ICT industry. However, due to the development/deployment of many IoT services being in their embryonic stage, there is little research on the characterisation of energy consumption of these services in the literature. In this thesis, we aim to investigate and gain a better understanding of the energy consumption of IoT network applications and services. We do so by developing energy consumption models and in turn, energy-efficient network architectures for the delivery of IoT services. To achieve this goal, we employ and model a few case studies including two of the most well-known and widely deployed IoT services, home automation and security (HAS) and video surveillance services. For the assessment of energy consumption of an IoT service, we obtained a range of IoT products including a consumer-off-the-shelf (COTS) HAS system, as a representative example. We analyse and model (through direct measurements) the energy consumption of each component and the complete system including an IoT attributable share of the home gateway energy consumption. Our results reveal that the energy consumption of a simple COTS IoT service is non-trivial (more than one-third) when compared to the annual energy usage of a mid-size suburban home. HAS energy consumption globally iii becomes substantial, in comparison with the ICT industry's energy consumption projections, when IoT service numbers are scaled using published deployment estimates. The IoT leverages a number of existing and emerging technologies to provide a complete end-to-end service, one of which is short-range wireless network protocols. We obtained, measured and analysed the energy-efficiency of five of the most popular COTS wireless protocol modules, Bluetooth Classic & Low Energy, ZigBee, Wi-Fi and RF 433 MHz. We compare these technologies through their application in a simple domestic stockcontrol IoT service with three communication paradigm options. The results demonstrate that careful consideration should be given to the choice of a communication mode and wireless interface in IoT application development. Such decision should be driven by the volume of traffic exchange and frequency of transmission of the application/service. The emergence of edge/fog computing as an alternative to cloud computing promises to tackle some critical pitfalls of cloud including energy consumption. To investigate the energy efficiency of IoT network architectures, the data-intensive video surveillance IoT service is employed as a case study. Using the end-to-end energy models developed, we investigate four (Local, Edge and Cloud) dissimilar network architectures for the delivery of IoT services. We show that it is more energy-wise to adopt an edgebased architecture for on-demand streaming applications but both live streaming and computationally-intensive applications are more energy-efficient when designed with a local access architecture. We further study a number of access network technologies for the IoT. They include very-high bit rate digital subscriber line (VDSL2), passive optical network (PON), pointto-point optical network (PtP), fourth generation long term evolution (4G LTE), low power wide area networks (LPWA) and Wi-Fi access (Shared and Unshared). We show that for low data access rates, LPWA is more energy-efficient while a Shared Wi-Fi access with PON backhaul is most energy-efficient for medium to higher data access rates. The findings in this thesis reinforce the need for careful design consideration when developing future IoT solutions.


This study was designed to characterize the microbiomes of the lung tissues of lung cancer patients. RNA-sequencing was performed on lung tumor samples from 49 patients with lung cancer. Metatranscriptomics data were analyzed using SAMSA2 and Kraken2 software. 16S rRNA sequencing was also performed. The heterogeneous cellular landscape and immune repertoires of the lung samples were examined using xCell and TRUST4, respectively. We found that nine bacteria were significantly enriched in the lung tissues of cancer patients, and associated with reduced overall survival (OS). We also found that subjects with mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene were less likely to experience the presence of Pseudomonas. aeruginosa. We found that the presence of CD8+ T-cells, CD4+ naive T-cells, dendritic cells, and CD4+ central memory T cells were associated with a good prognosis, while the presence of pro B-cells was associated with a poor prognosis. Furthermore, high clone numbers were associated with a high ImmuneScore for all immune receptor repertoires. Clone numbers and diversity were significantly higher in unpresented subjects compared to presented subjects. Our results provide insight into the microbiota of human lung cancer, and how its composition is linked to the tumor immune microenvironment, immune receptor repertoires, and OS.


The Once and Future Web Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet. a play by Jerry James. May and June 2001,. National Library of . Medicine, Bethesda, MD. The Once and Future Web. Michael Sappol and Hunter Crowther-Heyck, Curators. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. www.nlm.nih.gov/onceandfutureweb This exhibit on information technology explores parallels between the global communication networks of the telegraph and the Internet.


A hammerhead ribozyme [R(-)] targeting the minus strand RNA of potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd) and a mutated nonfunctional ribozyme [mR(-)] were designed, cloned, and transcribed. As predicted, both monomer and dimer transcripts of the active R(-) ribozyme gene could cleave the PSTVd minus strand dimer RNA into three fragments of 77, 338, and 359 bases in vitro at 25 and 50 degrees C. The tandem dimer genes of R(-) and mR(-) were subcloned separately into the plant expression vector pROK2. Transgenic potato plants (cultivar Desirée) were generated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. Twenty-three of 34 independent transgenic plant lines expressing the active ribozyme R(-) resulted in having high levels of resistance to PSTVd, being free of PSTVd accumulation after challenge inoculation with PSTVd, but the remaining lines showed weaker levels of resistance to PSTVd with low levels of PSTVd accumulation. In contrast, 59 of 60 independent transgenic lines expressing the mutated ribozyme mR(-) were susceptible to PSTVd inoculation and had levels of PSTVd accumulation similar to that of the control plants transformed with the empty vector. The resistance against PSTVd replication was stably inherited to the vegetative progenies.


Lynch, Jacqueline R. M.S., Purdue University, August 2014. Habitat effects on chick-adee call complexity. Major Professor: Jeffrey Lucas. Past studies on the communication systems of species in urban environments (such as Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos Brehm), brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), Southern brown tree frogs (Litoria ewingii)) have shown multiple ways that species change vocal signaling behavior to adjust to urban habitats (e.g. alarm calls and singing). This study further investigates the changes in signaling in relation to the chick-a-dee call of the Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis). A secondary goal of this study was to compare both the amount of information and rate of calling across seasons. Six different variants of chick-a-dee calls were used in playbacks at sites in three types of habitats: closed canopy, mixed and urban. Ad lib recordings were also conducted around the area. Playback trials and ad lib recordings overlapped both the breeding and the non-breeding season to facilitate observations of seasonal changes. The recordings were analyzed for seasonal and habitat differences in call rate, information encoded in call and notes, average call length, and probability of note transitions. Our results show that chick-a-dee rates differed significantly between treatments and seasons suggesting seasonality in the context of the calls. Across the habitat types, we found indications of increased vocal complexity in closed canopy flocks. Vocal response rates and distance of approach in these closed forest flocks differed significantly between playbacks compared to the other habitats. In urban habitats there was no difference between responses to the treatments suggesting less vocal complexity. Based on our results, habitat as well as season seems to create additional complexity in the chick-a-dee call system.


Experiments were conducted in green-house for 2 years to study the effects of organic manure amendments on the incidence of Pythium damping-off of melon. Pasturized soil in plastic pots was infected with cultures of Pythium aphanidermatum and mixed with rice husks and cow dungs respectively . The organic amendments added to the soil were allowed to decompose for 0,5,10, and 20days before planting melon seeds, while the control experiment was Pythium – infected soil without amendments. Pythium damping-off was less severe in the seedlings raised under rice husk and cow dung amendments. Increase in days of decomposition before planting also influenced significantly the effect of rice husk and cow compost on the incidence and severity of the the disease. The number of developed leaves of melon seedlings was highest in soil with seeds sown 20 days after amendment with compost. Melon seedlings in the control without amendment collapsed 7 days after germination. KEY WORDS: Pythium aphanidermatum, Soil amendment, Melon, Damping off Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol.2(2) 2003: 102-105


The dependent variable BVIT (business value of info rmation technology) has been a point of significant debate among IT researchers and has pro ved to be difficult to operationalize [Wade and Hulland 2004 ]. Past IT research which was concentrated on conce ptualizing or measuring BVIT, paid little attention to the multif arious perspectives of BVIT, both from the time-series aspect as well as from the multi-discip line nature of BVIT existence. Practically, IT researchers have tended to construct BVIT from R BV (resource-based view) elements, which cannot cover its broad nature, or to adopt a rel tively narrow definition, which usually uses specific BVIT proxy measurements as growth rat e, profitability or perceived corporate performance. This paper defines and explores two ne w major sub-variables for BVIT, Attained (short-term) BVIT and Sustained (long-term ) BVIT, constructed on the fundamental theory of RBV and connected to the groundwork of SA M (strategic alignment model). Attained-BVIT can be originated in an ex-ante position to the firm's perceived performance and given competition, in which case IT investments can influence assets utilization, improve efficiencies, enhance short term-duration of compet itiv ness and reinforce endogenous firm manageability. Sustained-BVIT can be originated in an ex-post position to the firm's actual performance and evolving competition, in which case IT investments can leverage resources to form unique advantages, improve firm effectivene ss, enhance long term-duration of competitiveness above IAE (industry average earning s), and can enrich the firm agility to cope with exogenous dynamic competitive forces.


We calibrate a segmented diffusion model by incorporating the knowledge of physicians' prescription behavior using a sample of four product histories from the pharmaceutical industry. The results show that when compared to the standard diffusion with retention model, the segmented diffusion model based on the knowledge of physicians' prescription behavior has a better fit than models that are not based on physicians' prescription behavior. Our comparison also reveals a significantly different influence of marketing activity on potential innovator and imitator physicians across models.


To investigate the key factors affecting the reliability of the analytical results, a laboratory-performance study was attempted for the notified methods to detect genetically modified (GM) maize (CBH351) and GM potato (NewLeaf Plus and NewLeaf Y). The test samples were designed as three pairs of blind duplicates, which included 0%, 0.1% and 1.0% GM maize (CBH351) or GM potato (NewLeaf Plus or NewLeaf Y). Fourteen laboratories participated in the study. The test samples were sent to the participating laboratories along with the protocol. The data were collected from all laboratories and statistically analyzed. For the 0% sample of the CBH351 maize, one laboratory reported a false-positive result. It was considered that contamination could have occurred via the common use of equipment or tools for the test. For the 0.1% samples of the NewLeaf Plus potato or NewLeaf Y potato, on the other hand, three laboratories reported false-negative results. It was presumed that these results were due to changes of the conditions of the electrophoresis and agarose-gel staining. The other laboratories reported appropriate results. It was considered that the method employed in this study was suitable for the assessment of laboratory performance.


Camera calibration without control points or automated orientation are being received attention for the operatinalzation of digital photogrammetry. With this motive, the authors has been concentrating on decreasing control points by utilizing information such as distance which are included on the imagery or utilizing special equipment such as video theodolite.As an another approach for camera calibration without geodetic surveying, it is able to use dot pattern which are projected by dot matrix laser. This paper presents calibration method using dot matrix laser.


Placenta extracts are used for their health benefits; however, the anti-fatigue effects of placenta have not been elucidated. Thus, we investigated the anti-fatigue effects of porcine placenta extract (PE) and the amino acids present in the PE (glycine, Gly; proline, Pro; glutamic acid, GA; and arginine, Arg) using a forced swimming test (FST) and a tail-suspension test (TST) on mice. Whole PE or individual amino acids decreased immobility times in the FST. PE, Pro, and Arg all lowered blood levels of lactic acid and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). PE and Gly improved glycogen content and catalase activity. As determined from the serum after the FST: PE regulated the effects of interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α; GA regulated the effects of IFN-γ; Gly and Arg regulated the effects of interleukin (IL)-6; and all of the amino acids present in PE regulated the effects of TNF-α. As determined from the spleen after the FST: Gly and Arg regulated the effects of IL-1β; Gly, Pro, and Arg regulated the effects of IL-6; PE and all of the amino acids present in PE regulated the effects of TNF-α. After the TST, PE and all of the amino acids present in PE reduced immobility duration as well as levels of aspartate aminotransferase and ALT. As determined from the serum after the TST: PE and Gly regulated the effects of TNF-α; Gly and Arg regulated the effects of IL-1β; Gly, Pro, and Arg regulated the effects of IL-6; PE and all of the amino acids present in PE regulated the effects of TNF-α. These results suggest that PE should be considered a candidate anti-fatigue agent.


A compact linear array antenna fed by substrate integrated image guide (SIIG) at 94 GHz is presented. The SIIG is a low-loss dielectric waveguide which is synthesized directly on a high dielectric constant substrate or semiconductor wafer. Such a low-cost approach of integration allows for the development of directive low profile antennas for future commercial millimeter-wave products. Special attention was directed towards the radiation elements that are fabricated in printed circuit technique on top of the SIIG. Their novel design provides a wide tuning range for the radiation coefficient and excellent linear polarization purity. In addition, an optimized reflection compensation technique effectively reduces the overall return loss and permits frequency scanning through broadside direction without suffering from a stop band due to distributed Bragg reflection. Published theory concerning the scan range of this class of frequency-scannable array antennas is extended in this work. Detailed design guidelines are given along with simulation and measurement results of a prototype. The 2 cm long implementation produced a fan beam with 11 dB gain.