NPWT has recently been associated with severe complications and bleeding
when used in wounds with exposed blood vessels. The aims of this work were to investigate
the mechanisms of action of NPWT and to explore the possibility of using thin plastic discs
to protect exposed blood vessels in the wound bed during NPWT.
Three different kinds of wounds were created in pigs: 6 cm and 10 cm diameter circular
defect wounds on the back and 6 cm incision wounds in the groin, exposing the femoral
artery. Microvascular blood flow was studied with transcutaneous laser Doppler flowmetry
(LDF), invasive LDF, and thermodiffusion. Femoral artery blood flow was studied with
invasive LDF. Pressure in the wound edge tissue, in the wound cavity and periarterial
pressure was measured with pressure transducers. Wound contraction and wound fluid
removal were also studied.
Tissue pressure 0.1 cm from the wound edge decreased while an increase was found further
(0.5 cm) from the wound edge. Increased tissue pressure is believed to be the result of
wound contraction and wound edge tissue deformation. The use of a small foam wound
filler allowed significant wound contraction, which may result in considerable mechanical
stress. In contrast, gauze or a large foam filler led to less wound contraction, which may be
more appropriate when NPWT causes pain.
Furthermore, NPWT induced a decrease in blood flow 0.5 cm, and an increase 2.5 cm
from the wound edge, with a transition zone at 1 cm. This combination of hypo- and
hyperperfusion may facilitate both oxygenation and stimulate angiogenesis. However,
NPWT should be used with caution in tissues with compromised vascularity due to the risk
of ischemia.
Thin plastic discs of different designs were placed in the wound bed during NPWT.
Femoral artery blood flow and wound bed tissue blood flow decreased when NPWT was
applied, but was restored when a disc was inserted. The key mechanisms of NPWT – i.e.,
pressure transmission to the wound cavity, wound contraction, and wound fluid removal –
were not impaired by the discs. Further development and studies on the possible protective
effects of thin plastic discs used during NPWT are needed before these can be implemented
in clinical practice.


Mechanism of randomization describes behaviors of velocity randomization, but ignoring individual differences in traffic such as psychosocial, cultural and other social complexity. In this paper, 1) building multi-level model of roads based on the complexity of the analytical community, and turn factors of randomization into basic elements, especially the personalized factors, expanding the architecture of Agent in the traditional homogenization cellular automata model, 2)integrating those factors by the Multi-Agent collaboration. Describing the differences of randomization of individual cellular, making it more detail in traffic psychology, culture and other social complexity, the whole randomization behaviors of simulation transport system will be closer to reality. Finally, through designing simulation systems according to the specific situations in the related literature, analyzing and integrating factors of randomization, the results of speed - density and flow – density have a higher degree of compliance with the actual situation than the data of original paper to prove the advantages of personalized mechanism of randomization which have been built in this paper.


Abstract The purpose of the present article is to examine the position of Nikolaos Kabasilas on the life in Christ in comparison with the relevant positions of Gregory Palamas and Gregory Akindynos. Kabasilas's view that the grace of God, through the mysteries, creates in man's soul a certain mental disposition towards God, is much closer to Akindynos' theory that the virtues are created results of the divine grace's working inside man's soul, than to Palamas's thesis that the virtues of the deified soul are uncreated. Kabasilas's insistence on the ethical dimensions of the life in Christ is a proof that he did not embrace the doctrinal positions of the Palamite party as wholeheartedly as many contemporary scholars maintain. In the same context Kabasilas's Anti-Zealot discourse is tentatively interpreted as an attack of the author against the Palamite ecclesiastical establishment of his time.


Abstract : Funding for this project was used to purchase three research grade instruments: a mini twin-screw extruder, a dynamic mechanical analyzer, and a benchtop powder x-ray diffractometer. The new equipment has been used to prepare materials for fire testing, to assess crystallinity of our composite materials, and to examine the effects of flame retardants on the viscoelastic properties of the composites. Results have indicated that the use of POSS-modified cellulose improves multiple properties of poly(lactic acid) and has significant advantages over conventional intumescing flame retardant additives. Furthermore, the equipment has been used to assess the properties of similar materials prepared in other collaborative projects. The measurements have already resulted in one publication, and several other manuscripts are in preparation. Acknowledgement to the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, including the award number for this grant, has been included in these manuscripts.


Human islets from an adult subject with nesidioblastosis were isolated and used to perform in vitro studies. Isolated nesidioblastotic islets showed an increased basal rate of insulin secretion (nesidioblastotic islets, 81.3 ± 6.4 vs. control islets, from cadaveric organ normal donors, 10.2 ± 0.9 μU/islet/90 min) without any further release with increasing glucose concentration. In addition, islets isolated from the pancreas with nesidioblastosis contained more insulin than control islets, 1,547.0 ± 128.7 vs. 935.0 ± 51.7 μU/islet, and the levels of insulin mRNA were also higher than those measured in controls. Interestingly, the serum of the subject with nesidioblastosis contained autoantibodies that stained brightly and selectively a population of islet cells whose distribution coincided with that expected of a cells. In summary, pancreatic islets in nesidioblastosis display β-cell functional abnormalities. Moreover, the finding of antibodies against islet cells is a common feature in the serum of nesidioblastotic subjects; nevertheless, their pathological significance warrants further investigation.


The concentrations of potassium in the erythrocytes of sheep increased by a mean value of 30.9 mEq/liter of cells during experimental anemias. The concentrations of sodium decreased slightly, but the ratio of potassium to sodium was greater during anemia. These changes were demonstrated in sheep with genetically inherited low concentrations of potassium in erythrocytes as well as in those with high concentrations. The reticulocytes were separated from mature erythrocytes by centrifugation, and they contained about 101–128 mEq K+/liter of cells. Their mean corpuscular hemoglobin was about 20 µµg and their mean corpuscular volume about 100 µ3. The frequency curve of distribution according to volume was bimodal during anemia. It is concluded that the changes observed during anemia were the result of the addition of these reticulocytes to the total population and that either these cells were immature forms which had not undergone the full series of mitotic divisions, or alternatively they could be fetal-type cells.


The reflexion about DEMO, a fusion demonstration reactor, has already been initiated in the framework of European tasks and the decision to build ITER at CEA Cadarache has even reinforced the interest for such studies. A key component of this fusion demonstration reactor is the superconducting magnetic system, which represents in ITER 30% of the investment cost. Which superconducting materials are adequate for DEMO and are the emerging HTc superconducting material a necessary technology which cannot be avoided? This crucial question will be examined and discussed, taking into account key parameters of the project such as: - the toroidal magnetic field Bt which plays a determining role in the fusion power and the amplification factor, in association with the major radius R of the machine which is a characteristics of the reactor size. - the operating temperature of the magnet system which can affect the global efficiency of the reactor. As a matter of fact the electrical power associated with the cryogenic refrigeration of the magnet will be estimated and discussed. Two temperatures will be considered: 5 K and 20K. The dimensions of the TF magnet system can be estimated, thanks to a simplified approach. These dimensions have an impact on the machine and enable to obtain a realistic integration of the superconducting magnet system with all aspects of the machine within a system approach.


This book divides naturally into three parts: the life of the tiger; its near extermination; and the rescue campaign the author inspired and led, which brought this noble animal 'back from the brink'. The first and longest section summarises the available information, including the results of the latest researches, on how tigers live, hunt, mate and rear their young. It discusses the different races, their distribution and their estimated numbers. Next there is an account of how the tiger, from being a numerous species that once dominated Asia, was, within a few decades, reduced to small scattered groups totalling perhaps 5000. Finally Mr Mountfort tells the story of how Operation Tiger was organised under the banner of IUCN and WWF, with the result that well-managed reserves today exist in a number of countries. This campaign was probably the most important of all those promoted by the author. Not only did it give new hopes for the survival of the tiger, but it necessarily led to the preservation of its habitat and thus of a wide spectrum of fauna and flora. Moreover, its success depended on the wholehearted co-operation of the governments concerned and demonstrated the growing commitment of'third world' countries to conservation. Not least, the success against all the odds of this daunting crusade gave encouragement to conservationists everywhere and emphasised the key importance of habitat protection which remains the critical factor in conservation. The 123 illustrations in colour and black and white match the quality of the writing, which is only what the author's previous books would lead one to expect, but it is a real achievement to have produced such variety in pictures embellishing a text devoted to a single species. G.T. CORLEY SMITH


Metronidazole is a main stay of modern multidrug therapies for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. Metronidazole resistance reduces the effectiveness of these combinations. Various methods have been used for the determination of the sensitivity of H. pylori to metronidazole with conflicting results. The aims of this study were: 1) to compare the E-Test and disk diffusion methods for determining the susceptibility of H. pylori to metronidazole; and 2) Metronidazole resistance in H. pylori has been found to be associated with mutations in rdxA. The role of this gene in metronidazole resistance in H. pylori was examined in this study. A total of 46 H. pylori strains from 223 consecutive patients were examined. The E-Test was performed according to the manufacturer's guidelines, and the disk diffusion according to standard procedure using 5-μg metronidazole disks. DNA was extracted from all H. pylori isolates by boiling & phenol-chloroform methods and then Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed.  Metronidazole resistance as determined by E-test and disk diffusion methods was 64.3% and 47.6% respectively. None of the resistant or sensitive samples possessed rdxA gene deletion. Disk diffusion method is not reliable in determining metronidazole resistance in H. pylori . An intact rdxA gene has also been reported in metronidazole-resistant H. pylori , suggesting that additional metronidazole resistance mechanisms exist in H. pylori and even molecular methods are not reliable for the detection of resistance.


Adoption of CA in smallholder farmers in Africa is (s)low partly due to poor spatial targeting. Mapping the crop yield from different CA systems across space and time can reveal their spatial recommendation domains. Integration of machine learning (ML) and free remotely sensed big data have opened huge opportunities for data-driven insights into complex problems in agriculture. The objective of this study was to estimate the spatial-temporal variations of maize grain yields from 13-year multi-location on-farm trials implemented across four countries in southern Africa. The agronomic data from the long-term CA trials is used together with gridded biophysical and socio-economic variables. A spatially explicit random forest (RF) algorithm was developed. Spatial variation of yield advantage or loss from CA practices was compared with conventional tillage practices (CP) during seasons with above and below-normal precipitation. The out-of-bag accuracy of the RF model was R2 = 0.63 and RMSE = 1.2 t ha-1. The variable importance analysis showed that the altitude, precipitation, temperature, and soil physical and nutrients conditions variables explained most of the variation in maize grain yield. Maps were generated to identify the locations where CA had a yield advantage over CP during seasons with below and above-average precipitation. The CA showed yield gains of up-to 1 t ha-1 during the season with drought compared to CP. In contrast, the CA returned yield losses of similar magnitude during the season with above-normal precipitation, except in Mozambique. The maps on yield advantage will support the spatial targeting of CA to suitable biophysical and socioeconomic contexts. Results demonstrates that multi-source remotely sensed data, coupled with advanced and efficient machine learning algorithms can provides accurate, cost-effective, and timely platform for predicting the optimal locations for the upscaling sustainable agricultural technologies.


Cell response to extracellular cues is often driven by gradients of morphogenetic and chemotactic proteins, and therefore descriptions of how such gradients arise are critical to understanding and manipulating these processes. Many of these proteins are secreted in matrix-binding form to be subsequently released proteolytically, and here we explore how this feature, along with small dynamic forces that are present in all tissues, can affect pericellular protein gradients. We demonstrate that 1), pericellular gradients of cell-secreted proteins can be greatly amplified when secreted by the cell in matrix-binding form as compared to a nonmatrix-interacting form; and 2), subtle flows can drive significant asymmetry in pericellular protein concentrations and create transcellular gradients that increase in the direction of flow. This study thus demonstrates how convection and matrix-binding, both physiological characteristics, combine to allow cells to create their own autologous chemotactic gradients that may drive, for example, tumor cells and immune cells into draining lymphatic capillaries.


Open radical nephroureterectomy (ORNU) with excision of the ipsilateral bladder cuff is a standard treatment for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC). However, over the past decade laparoscopic RNU (LRNU) has emerged as a minimally invasive surgical alternative. Data comparing the oncological efficacy of ORNU and LRNU have reported mixed results and the equivalence of these surgical techniques have not yet been established. We found that surgical approach was not independently associated with overall or disease‐specific survival; however, there was a trend toward an independent association between LRNU and poorer recurrence‐free survival (RFS). To our knowledge, this is the first large, multi‐institutional analysis to show a trend toward inferior RFS in patients with UTUC treated with LRNU.


Values of the effective thermal conductivity Ke for liquids in packed beds have been obtained from heat transfer studies in such beds. The method applied by Yagi and Kunii for gases is darified, their model is extended and is then applied to liquids. Experimental data for three different packings, glass, steel, and aluminum, with spheres of DP/DT ratio from 0.07 to 0.33 have been correlated. A brief comparison of the results from this analysis with previously published results from similar studies is presented.


Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to improve Air Force pilot training by providing actionable feedback to pilot trainees on the quality of their maneuvers and enabling instructor-less flying familiarization for early-stage trainees in low-cost simulators. Historically, AI challenges consisting of data, problem descriptions, and example code have been critical to fueling AI breakthroughs. The Department of the Air Force-Massachusetts Institute of Technology AI Accelerator (DAF-MIT AI Accelerator) developed such an AI challenge using real-world Air Force flight simulator data. The Maneuver ID challenge assembled thousands of virtual reality simulator flight recordings collected by actual Air Force student pilots at Pilot Training Next (PTN). This dataset has been publicly released at Maneuver-ID.mit.edu and represents the first of its kind public release of USAF flight training data. Using this dataset, we have applied a variety of AI methods to separate"good"vs"bad"simulator data and categorize and characterize maneuvers. These data, algorithms, and software are being released as baselines of model performance for others to build upon to enable the AI ecosystem for flight simulator training.


Brownian motion has become one of the fundamental building blocks of modern quantitative finance. The mathematical theory of Brownian motion has been applied in contexts ranging far beyond the movement of particles in fluids. Until recently, stock market researchers have confronted the same problem. While they can chart the path of the market on a minute by minute basis it is very hard for them to observe who buys, who sells and how demand and supply affects price fluctuations. There exist many researchers about how the behavior of different investors makes the option price movement in a stock market. The purpose of this paper is to construct the black Scholes option pricing model in the stock markets by using of Brownian motion approach. The main ambition of this study is fourfold: 1) First we begin our approach to construction of Brownian motion from the simple symmetric random walk. 2) Next we introduce the Black – Scholes option pricing model with stock price movement by using of Geometric Brownian motion. 3) Then we extent this Brownian motion approach in the stock market and 4) Finally we construct the model for the generalization based on the deformation of the standard Brownian motion and Black Scholes pricing formula. And this paper will end with conclusion.


The Hopf bifurcation theorem gives a method of predicting oscillations which appear in a nonlinear system when a parameter is varied. There are many different ways of proving the theorem and of using its results, but the way which is probably the most useful, to control and system theorists, uses Nyquist loci in much the same way as the describing function method does. The main advantages of this method are dimensionality reduction, which eases the calculation, and the ability to cope with higher-order approximations than are used in the original Hopf theorem. This paper shows how such an approach to the Hopf bifurcation follows naturally and easily from Volterra series methods. Such use of Volterra series in nonlinear oscillations appears to be new. In many problems, the calculations involved are simplified when the Volterra series approach is taken, so the approach has practical merits as well as theoretical ones.


This Senate report reviews new amendments to taxation laws and recommends that they be passed. The Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 8) Bill 2011 and the Pay As You Go Withholding Non-compliance Tax Bill 2011 were introduced by the Government into the House of Representatives on 13 October 2011. On 3 November 2011, the Senate referred the provisions of the Bills to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 8 February 2012. The Bills amend various taxation laws to: provide the Commissioner of Taxation with discretion to disregard certain events that would otherwise trigger the assessment of certain income for a primary production trust; clarify that the taxing point for the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) is when a product reaches its final form, rather than when its chemical composition first meets the definition of a marketable petroleum commodity; extend the director penalty regime to make directors personally liable for their company's unpaid superannuation guarantee amounts (schedule 3 to TLAB 8 and the PAYG(W) Bill); and make minor consequential amendments to the taxation arrangements for gaseous fuels.


We calculate the tunnelling conductance spectra of a ferromagnetic metal/insulator/triplet-superconductor junction from the reflection amplitudes using the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk formula. For the triplet superconductor, we assume one special p-wave order parameter, having line nodes, and two two-dimensional f-wave order parameters with line nodes, breaking the time-reversal symmetry. Also we examine nodeless pairing potentials. The evolution of the spectra with the exchange potential depends solely on the topology of the gap. The weak Andreev reflection within the ferromagnet results in the suppression of the tunnelling conductance and eliminates the resonances due to the anisotropy of the pairing potential. The tunnelling spectrum splits asymmetrically with respect to E = 0 under the influence of an external magnetic field. The results can be used to distinguish between the possible candidate pairing states of the superconductor Sr2RuO4.


This study seeks to examine the performance of legislation (lawmaking function) as the realization of human rights instruments. Scrutiny on the program period 2010-2014 national legislation, to determine the validity of the assuredness and values, human rights principles in the Law that were born in that period. The study was conducted by banging the process of formation of the Law, institutionalization are born by the state's responsibility for human rights. The methods and approaches used in the study are in the type of normative or doctrinal study which aims to provide a systematic explanation of the rules, then analyzed the relationship between legislation and the realization of human rights as a state responsibility. Several approaches are used, among others, the statutory approach, the conceptual approach and the approach of the case. The relation between the lawmaking function with the realization of human rights, are in the state's responsibility to look out of the politics of law. To parse each stage process that impact on the formal level, further analysis of the Law to include legal issues, regulatory patterns, models of responsibility of the state and its institutionalization. Proceeding from it, reflect on the process of legislation discover improper application of the limitation of the right, the context of government intervention and the application of the law. Collapsed it required for rights-based approach within the framework of law making function.


In this research we are particularly interested in extending the robustness of multigrid solvers to encounter complex systems related to subsurface reservoir applications for flow problems in porous media. In many cases, the step for solving the pressure filed in subsurface flow simulation becomes a bottleneck for the performance of the simulator. For solving large sparse linear system arising from MPFA discretization, we choose multigrid methods as the linear solver. The possible difficulties and issues will be addressed and the corresponding remedies will be studied. As the multigrid methods are used as the linear solver, the simulator can be parallelized (although not trivial) and the high-resolution simulation become feasible, the ultimately goal which we desire to achieve.


Metastatic melanoma is among the most intractable cancers to treat; patients show resistance to therapy and limited survival time. A critical step in the development of metastatic melanoma is the acquisition of invasion and transition from thin to thick tumors on the skin, followed by invasion to lymph nodes. Prior studies have shown that metastatic melanoma is associated with dysregulation of RhoA and enhanced expression of a protein named "mediator of RhoA-dependent invasion (MRDI)". Importantly, MRDI is a "moonlighting" enzyme, with two distinct functions in melanoma cells. First, MRDI acts as a methylthioribose-1-phosphate (MTR-1-P) isomerase, catalyzing a critical step in methionine salvage. Second, MRDI promotes and is necessary for melanoma cell invasion, independent of its catalytic activity. This paper demonstrates that MtnA, a bacterial MTR-1-P isomerase, rescues the methionine salvage function of MRDI, but is unable to rescue its role in invasion. The crystal structure of MRDI was solved to a resolution of 2.5 Å to identify structural elements important for its invasion activity. This structure and its comparison with other MTR-1-P isomerases are presented, and mutations within a region separate from the MTR-1-P binding site, which interfere with invasion, are identified. Thus, structural elements in MRDI distal from the MTR-1-P catalytic site are responsible for the invasion phenotype.


Obliviousness is a security feature to protect sensitive information from an algorithm's observable behaviours. For better run-time performance, many oblivious algorithms published recently are probabilistic instead of deterministic, but this also brings difficulties to reason about them. We introduce some challenges, works and further ideas in this paper, including the concrete contribution of extending PSL for verifying one of the random oblivious algorithms. We also present my further PhD research plan on this topic.


Abstract Many climatological locations report only maximum and minimum temperatures. However, in certain applications, such as estimation of design temperatures, the frequency distribution of hourly temperatures is required. For this reason, a method is developed for estimating the mathematical form of the upper half of the cumulative probability distribution function (CDF) for hourly temperatures from the CDF for daily maximum temperatures for the summer months of June, July and August. In this method, an exponential function is fitted to the daily maximum CDF. A procedure for estimating the hourly CDF from the daily CDF is presented. This method is used to estimate summer design temperatures for a number of stations in New Mexico.


It is the aim of this study to investigate the abortifacient potential of Moringa oleifera leaves indicated by weight changes on pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats. In a bid to achieved this objective, fifteen adult albino rats (5 males and 10 females) were obtained from the animal holding of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. Female rats (M1 – M5) served as the experimental group while female rats (C1 and C5) served as the control group. Each rat in both groups was given 20g of normal rat chow and water ad libitum throughout the experiment. After the confirmation of pregnancy, 3g of M. oileifera was added to 17g of normal rat chow to form the experimental diet for M1 – M5 from the 5 th day to 15 th day. Our results showed progressive body weight gain in the control from the 6 th day to 21 st day. On the other hand, the test group (fed M. oleifera leaves) showed a reduction in body weight after mating to about the 7 th day and started gaining weight from the 8 th day to the end of the 3 rd trimester. At the end of the 23 rd day, only the control produces litters while the test did not produced any litter. This finding revealed that M. oleifera leaves may be abortifacient and it abortifacient potential occur in the 1 st trimester of pregnancy.


Abstract European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) is one of the most important broadleaved tree species in Europe both ecologically and economically. Nowadays, in the Czech Republic, beech is underrepresented in forest tree species composition, and there are tendencies to increase its proportion. When reintroducing beech, genetic variability, along with other factors, play a key role. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of ten selected indigenous beech populations across the Czech Republic. Two hundred and fifty individuals were genotyped on 21 polymorphic nuclear microsatellite markers, which were amplified using two newly assembled multiplexes. According to the results, observed heterozygosity (Ho) among populations ranged from 0.595 to 0.654 and expected heterozygosity (He) from 0.650 to 0.678. That is comparable with the findings in other European studies. The high discriminatory power of the assembled multiplexes was confirmed by calculating the Probability of Identity among both unrelated and related individuals. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) based on Nei's genetic distances revealed that there are genetic differences among populations resulting in three approximate clusters (geographically north, south-east, and south-west). Nevertheless, the results implicate that on a geographical scale of the Czech Republic, the distance is unlikely to be the primary driver of genetic differentiation.


Human tissue consists of cells suspended in an aqueous medium. As a consequence, the electrical conductivity of a tissue is inhomogeneous on a microscopic scale. On a macroscopic scale the conductivity of a tissue can be considered to be homogeneous, and this conductivity is called the effective conductivity. In this paper a theory is presented to estimate this effective conductivity. On a cellular scale, the tissue will be modelled as a suspension of ellipsoidal cells. On a somewhat larger scale, it will be modelled as a layered structure, as most tissues can be described by layers that differ in conductivity. For both scales, upper and lower bounds for the effective conductivity will be estimated. The more information on the shape, orientation, conductivities, and distribution of the cells or layers is available, the more strict these limits are. The effective conductivity will be evaluated for several tissues, such as the cerebral cortex, the liver, and blood.


The IVBSS program is a four-year, two-phase project to design and evaluate an integrated crash warning system for forward collision, lateral drift, lane-change merge, and curve speed warnings for both light vehicles and heavy trucks. This report, covering human factors research and DVI development in the first two years of the program, describes five laboratory studies, four driving simulator studies, and two onroad pilot tests conducted to assess a variety of river-interface concepts related to the development of integrated warning systems. Selected major findings are as follows: 1) For the vehicles selected, warning sounds should be at least 80 dB(A) in the 1 to 5 KHz range. 2) Auditory warning durations should be less than the expected mean response time. 3) No approaches to warning combination (single, dual-simple, dual-hybrid, or multiple warnings) led to noticeably better driver responses, though drivers favored the multiple warning approach least, and for a variety of reasons a dual-warning approach is recommended for IVBSS. 4) Delays between 150 and 300 ms are acceptable for the LDW algorithm. 5) No single prioritization scheme for warnings (simultaneous, priority interrupt, or delayed presentation) is recommended based on the findings from a simulator study. Extended pilot testing is likely to suggest minor refinements to the DVIs developed here. In the pilot tests that have been conducted, all of the warning systems operated as planned, with some changes required to reduce false alarm rates. Overall, drivers reported IVBSS to be intuitive and easy to use. Most drivers stated warnings were received with about the right frequency, and in general the warnings were not distracting. Results from the laboratory and simulator experiments, in particular, are likely to assist future developers of driver-vehicle interfaces for integrated crash warning systems.


Subtle structural details of siliceous zeolites are probed by using two-bond scalar (J) coupling constants to characterize covalently bonded 29Si-O-29Si site pairs and local framework order. Solid-state two-dimensional (2D) 29Si{29Si} NMR measurements and first-principles calculations of 2J(29Si-O-29Si) couplings shed insights on both the local structures of siliceous zeolites Sigma-2 and ZSM-12, as well as the sensitivity of J couplings for detailed characterization analyses. DFT calculations on a model linear silicate dimer show that 2J(Si-O-Si) couplings have complicated multiple angular dependencies that make semi-empirical treatments impractical, but which are amenable to cluster approaches for accurate J-coupling calculations in zeolites. DFT calculations of 2J(29Si-O-29Si) couplings of the siliceous zeolite Sigma-2, whose framework structure is known to high accuracy from single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies, yield excellent agreement between calculated and experimentally measured 2J(Si-O-Si) couplings. For the siliceous zeolite ZSM-12, calculated 2J(29Si-O-29Si) couplings based on less-certain powder X-ray diffraction analyses deviate significantly from experimental values, while a refined structure based on 29Si chemical-shift-tensor analyses shows substantially improved agreement. 29Si J-coupling interactions can be used as sensitive probes of local structures of zeolitic frameworks and offer new opportunities for refining and solving complicated structures, in combination with complementary scattering, modeling, and other nuclear spin interactions.


Groundwater serving as a drinking water resource usually contains manganese ions (Mn2+) that exceed drinking standards. Based on the Mn biogeochemical cycle at the hydrosphere scale, bioprocesses consisting of aeration, biofiltration, and disinfection are well known as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly ecotechnology for removing Mn2+. The design of aeration and biofiltration units, which are critical components, is significantly influenced by coexisting iron and ammonia in groundwater; however, there is no unified standard for optimizing bioprocess operation. In addition to the groundwater purification, it was also found that manganese-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB)-derived biogenic Mn oxides (bioMnOx), a by-product, have a low crystallinity and a relatively high specific surface area; the MnOB supplied with Mn2+ can be developed for contaminated water remediation. As a result, according to previous studies, this paper summarized and provided operational suggestions for the removal of Mn2+ from groundwater. This review also anticipated challenges and future concerns, as well as opportunities for bioMnOx applications. These could improve our understanding of the MnOB group and its practical applications.


The Woodbend group of Upper Devonian age in central Alberta is a reef complex characterized by large-scale facies changes. The reefs, which grew in a subsiding basin and were initiated in restricted areas of suitable depth, are surrounded by the calcareous shales and argillaceous limestones of the Duvernay and Ireton formations. Isopach maps indicate relative movements of the basin during deposition. Very fine carbonate clastics derived from the reefs were spread throughout the basin during Duvernay and lower Ireton time. The distribution of these carbonates was detected by mapping the average apparent resistivity of a stratigraphic interval from borehole measurements. The pore volume of these rocks decreases with increasing depth and carbonate content, and resistivity increases correspondingly. The straight-line relation of carbonate content and porosity suggests that reduction of porosity is directly proportional to the volume of calcite grains present. Other factors affecting porosity aside from carbonate content and depth of burial are small by comparison. Internal redeposition of calcium carbonate has been unimportant. Resistivity mapping in the subsurface shows promise of being a useful exploration tool for determining the relative amount of coarser grains in shale. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1101------------


Semantically-enhanced graphics are annotated with formal underpinnings in order to augment them with the semantics of what they depict. Among their many potential uses they provide means for more efficient accessibility of graphical data going beyond the traditional use of textual alternative descriptions, such as natural language interfaces. However, no efficient way of authoring these graphics currently exists. This paper aims to bridge the gap between authoring graphics and enhancing them with semantic formal structures in the form of ontologies by introducing Semantic Annotator for Inkscape (SAI), an authoring tool that allows for seamless addition of semantics to an SVG file supported by a given upper ontology in RDF format. The traditional disjointed approach of authoring a vector image and editing its supporting ontology using independent software tools has thus been unified into a single workspace, improving the efficiency of authoring semantically-enhanced graphics. Evaluation of SAI has shown greatly improved annotation times of semantically-enhanced graphics that can be later used for efficient non-visual natural-language-based content retrieval.


The complex, deformable, and dynamic cardiovascular system makes precise control of flexible medical instruments a challenging task. An innovative robot-assisted catheterization system (RACS) based on braided sleeves was thus developed to aid interventionalists during cardiovascular procedures. The RACS allows navigating instruments through the vasculature with continuous uninterrupted motion. The complete design and characterization of the developed RACS are presented and experimentally evaluated. The RACS' capability to track dynamic motion is demonstrated. Hereto, heart motion is estimated and fed into a dedicated motion controller. It is further demonstrated that tissue tracking performance can be improved by compensating for hysteresis present along the instrument's length and incorporating a rate-dependent Bouc-Wen model in the motion control strategy. Here, a practical method based on multi-core FBG-inscribed fiber technology is presented for continuous instrument pose tracking. A velocity controller is cascaded with a force control loop to enable instrument tip contact force tracking. An experimental comparison between three different force control strategies was carried out on a benchtop laboratory setup resembling a dynamically moving heart wall. Results confirmed the superior performance of the cascaded force-velocity controller with Bouc-Wen hysteresis compensation. Finally, the RACS system was validated through in-vivo experiments on a living swine which demonstrated its ability to successfully navigate instruments toward the heart.


Subtle social information is available in text such as a speaker's emotional state, intentions, and attitude, but current information extraction systems are unable to extract this information at the level that humans can. We describe a methodology for creating databases of messages annotated with social information based on interactive games between humans trying to generate and interpret messages for a number of different social information types. We then present some classification results achieved by using a small-scale database created with this methodology.


Bladder cancer (BC) is the tenth most frequent cancer worldwide. Due to the need for recurrent cystoscopies and the lack of non-invasive biomarkers, BC is associated with a high management burden. In this respect, small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs) have been investigated in urine as possible biomarkers for BC, but in plasma their potential has not yet been defined. The expression levels of sncRNAs contained in plasma extracellular vesicles (EVs) from 47 men with BC and 46 healthy controls were assessed by next-generation sequencing. The sncRNA profiles were compared with urinary profiles from the same subjects. miR-4508 resulted downregulated in plasma EVs of muscle-invasive BC patients, compared to controls (adj-p = 0.04). In World Health Organization (WHO) grade 3 (G3) BC, miR-126-3p was upregulated both in plasma EVs and urine, when compared to controls (for both, adj-p < 0.05). Interestingly, two sncRNAs were associated with the risk class: miR-4508 with a downward trend going from controls to high risk BC, and piR-hsa-5936 with an upward trend (adj-p = 0.04 and adj-p = 0.05, respectively). Additionally, BC cases with low expression of miR-185-5p and miR-106a-5p or high expression of miR-10b-5p showed shorter survival (adj-p = 0.0013, adj-p = 0.039 and adj-p = 0.047, respectively). SncRNAs from plasma EVs could be diagnostic biomarkers for BC, especially in advanced grade.


Background: From 1970 to 1990 increasing rates of asthma and allergic sensitisation were observed in several countries. The aim of this study was to investigate time trends in the prevalence of asthma and allergic sensitisation among school children in Germany between 1992 and 2001. Methods: Parental reports of asthma, hay fever, and wheezing and measurements of specific serum IgE antibodies were investigated in six serial cross sectional surveys of 9–11 year old school children in three study areas in south west Germany. Results: A total of 6762 school children of mean age 10 years (mean participation rate 77.9%) took part in the investigation in the three study areas. Over the 9 year study period no increase in the prevalence of current wheezing and asthma was observed. In addition, the prevalence of atopic sensitisation remained unchanged during the observation period. Conclusions: These data, using parental reports and objective measures of allergy, suggest that there has been no further increase in the prevalence of asthma and atopy since 1992. The epidemic may thus have reached a plateau.


This study evaluates taxpayer morale through the perception of accounting professionals, specifically whether there is an impact from i) penalties, ii) tax audit probability, iii) rewards, and iv) tax amnesties. A perception survey with accountants is more reliable than with the taxpayers because they tend to report accurate perceptions, knowing close the degree of tax morale of their clients. Based on the literature, it is observed that taxpayer behavior has been analyzed by the rational economic model and the so-called crime paradigm, which relied on the idea that taxpayers would be potential offenders, aiming only at advantages. With a multidisciplinary approach with a sociological and psychological perspective, tax morale was measured through a self-applied questionnaire, showing higher or lower accountants' perception on tax morale of taxpayers concerning the incentives analyzed captured from 344 Brazilian accountants. The research findings indicate that the application of punishments and penalties are the most potent instruments for raising tax compliance, along with the perceived likelihood of an audit. In contrast, the successive application of tax amnesty programs erodes tax morale. This research is relevant because it deepens the understanding of what legislators and tax administration can do or not do to encourage greater tax morale.


The objective of this paper is to analyze the behavior of embarked vibro systems considering the existence of epistemic uncertainties in the systems parameters. Two different systems were studied. The first one is composed by a cart whose motion is excited by a DC motor and the second, a pendulum is added into this cart and can have a relative motion with respect to the cart. The electrical motor is modeled as a limited source of power and, its influence in the dynamic behavior of the two systems are considered. The coupling between the motor and the cart is made by a mechanism called scotch yoke, so that the motor rotational motion is transformed in horizontal cart motion. The influence of the pendulum embarked in the cart was investigated and it is presented an analysis of the coupling force. In the stochastic analysis, an uncertain parameter is modeled as random variable and, the Maximum Entropy Principle is used to construct its probability model. Monte Carlo simulations are employed to compute the mean and the 90% confidence interval of the displacements of the pendulum, of the cart and of the angular speed of the motor shaft. Mecánica Computacional Vol XXXI, págs. 2709-2733 (artículo completo) Alberto Cardona, Paul H. Kohan, Ricardo D. Quinteros, Mario A. Storti (Eds.) Salta, Argentina, 13-16 Noviembre 2012 Copyright © 2012 Asociación Argentina de Mecánica Computacional http://www.amcaonline.org.ar


BACKGROUND
Early differential diagnosis of acute lung injury (ALI) vs cardiogenic pulmonary edema (CPE) is important for selecting the most appropriate therapy, but the prognostic implications of this distinction have not been studied. Accurate prognostic information is essential for providing appropriate informed consent prior to initiation of mechanical ventilation.

METHODS
This is a long-term follow-up study of a previously established population-based cohort of critically ill adult patients with acute pulmonary edema admitted at a tertiary-care center during 2006 to 2009, in which post hoc expert review had established ALI vs CPE diagnosis. Using logistic and Cox regression, hospital mortality and long-term survival were compared in patients with ALI vs patients with CPE.

RESULTS
Of 328 patients (ALI = 155, CPE = 173), 240 patients (73%) died during a median follow-up of 160 days. After adjusting for confounders, patients with ALI were significantly more likely to die in the hospital (OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 2.3-7.8, n = 325, P < .001), but among hospital survivors the risk of death during follow-up was the same in both groups (hazard ratio = 1.13, 95% CI = 0.79-1.62, n = 229, P = .50). Independent predictors of mortality included age and APACHE (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation) III score. Results were similar when restricting patients with ALI to the subset with ARDS (Berlin definition). In post hoc analyses, the mortality rate in hospital survivors compared with the general US population was significantly higher during the first 2 years but essentially converged by year five.

CONCLUSIONS
Although hospital mortality is higher in patients with ALI/ARDS compared with patients with CPE, long-term survival is similar in hospital survivors from both groups.


Architecture exists in time. This statement may appear to be a truism but this is not the way in which architecture is typically conceived. It is not acceptable to conceive of architecture within the abstract context of stasis, nor to consider the architectural project 'finished' upon the completion of construction. Praxis must engage deeply with the dynamic conception of architecture within an evolving context, throughout the life of a building in time, and as animated through occupation and constructive perception. This paper provides a theoretical overview of time as it relates to architecture and philosophy. An architecture of time designs the conditions for interaction between user and environment, resists the crutch of formal autonomy, and finds novelty through engagement and the faith in the ability of the user to appropriate the space in unexpected and serendipitous ways. In this way architecture becomes a medium for the creative agency of time.


The model for thermal denaturation of proteins involving consecutive reversible and irreversible steps (Lumry and Eyring model) has been analyzed. The most general case, when equilibrium in the first step is established slowly in comparison with the rate of the second step and the heat effect value for the second step is either greater than or less than zero, has been considered. The theoretical dependences of excess heat capacity on temperature have been constructed. The variation of the shape of the theoretical curves with varied values of the enthalpy change for the second step, Arrhenius equation parameters for both steps, and the scanning rate has been studied.


Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) represents the next step of laparoscopic surgery and a major advancement towards scarless surgery. LESS radical nephrectomy is an evolving technique based on technological advancement of laparoscopic instruments as well as the refinement of existing techniques.The current report describes LESS nephrectomy technique, presents the experience with the technique in a series of 42 patients and reviews current literature in the field of LESS nephrectomy.


The quality of early cost estimates is critical to the feasibility analysis and budget allocation decisions for public capital projects. Various research have been attempted to develop cost prediction models in the early stage of a construction lifecycle. However, existing studies are limited on its applicability to actual projects because they focus primarily on a specific phase as well as utilize restricted information while the amount of information collectable differs from one another along with the project stages. This research aims to develop two-staged cost estimation model for the schematic planning and preliminary design process of a construction projects, considering the available information of each phase. In the schematic planning stage where outlined information of a project is only available, the case-based reasoning model is used for easy and rapid elicitation of a project cost based on the extensive database of more than 90 actual highway construction projects. Then, the representing quantity-based model is proposed for the preliminary design stage where more information on the quantities and unit costs are collectable based on the alternative routes and cross-sections of a highway project. Real case studies are used to demonstrate and validate the benefits of the proposed approach. Through the two-stage cost estimation system, users are able to hold a timely prospect to presume the final cost within the budge such that feasibility study as well as budget allocation decisions are made on effectively and competitively.


Recent economic and financial liberalization policies have increased the internationalization of emerging markets. A daring strategy undertaken by Mexico constituted the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); in addition to increased trade and investments, it should have led to stronger links among the equity markets from Canada, United States and Mexico. This study tests a ?first generation? financial integration among those markets, applying Johansen?s cointegration technique. It also examines integration between the NAFTA markets and the world capital market. Results evidence a time-varying integration process among NAFTA equity markets. Integration of the NAFTA capital markets to the world capital market evidences a mild segmentation and a time-varying integration as well.


Signcryption is a cryptographic technique that provides both confidentiality and authenticity of data during public transmission in many modern applications like Internet -of -Things (IoT), Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) etc. The functionalities of encryption and Signature can achieve simultaneously through the signcryption with lower computational cost and communication overheads than those of traditional sign-then-encrypt approach. Many signcryption schemes have been constructed by various researchers in different cryptographic frameworks. Certificateless cryptography is one of the recent public key cryptography which eliminates the key escrow problem and complex certificate management problemsin identity based cryptography and traditional public key cryptography respectively. Providing the security and efficiency in many modern applications including IoT and WSNs is a crucial task. In this paper, we proposed new signcryption scheme in certificateless cryptography. This scheme supports the property of public verifiability and is secure against various types of adversaries in the random oracle model with the assumption that the Computational Diffie-Hellman Problem (CDHP) and the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithmic Problems (ECDLP) are hard. Due to pairing-free environment the proposed scheme is computationally more efficient than the existing public verifiable signcryption schemes.


Efficient detection methods must be developed for 1,4-dioxane due to its suspected status as a human carcinogen, which is highly mobile in food and environmental resources. In this regard, this experiment has been conducted to develop reliable and selective detection and measurement methods by using static headspace (SH) isolation, followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A new method was developed for determining the spiked 1,4-dioxane contents in a polyethylene glycol 600 (PEG 600). The optimal condition for SH-GC-MS was discussed. The representative ions of 1,4-dioxane and 1,4-dioxane-d8 in the SIM mode of MS are 88 and 96, respectively, and the peaks of the SIM mode were separated and confirmed. The linear range for the method covers 0.25 to 100 mg/L with a coefficient of determination (R2)  ≥  0.999. The method applicability was demonstrated by spike recovery across a variety of food additives (i.e., chlorine bitartrate, choline chloride, polysorbate 20 and 60, and PEG 1000). All spike recovery from the tested samples was in the range of 89.50–102.68% with a precision of 0.44–11.22%. These findings suggest a new analytical method for food safety inspection, and could be applicable for ensuring the safety of foods and environmental and public health on a broad scale.


AIMS
To identify the different types of fractures of the forearm caused by mountain bike accidents, and to assess the physical and social consequences of these injuries.

METHODS
All the forearm fractures recorded in the Wellington Hospital fracture logs between July 1992 and July 1994 were reviewed in December 1994. Mountain bike accidents were identified in 37 patients. 11 patients could not be contacted and one patient declined participation, leaving 25 patients who participated in the study. Those who took part each completed a questionnaire and were examined. The radiographs of each patient were also reviewed.

RESULTS
Nine of the fractures occurred in the proximal third of the forearm and 16 occurred in the distal third. The most common fracture was that of the radial head (9). When functionally assessed 15 patients were graded excellent, 5 satisfactory, 4 unsatisfactory, and 1 patient was graded as poor. The average time off work was 28 days, with no change of occupation being necessitated in any of the patients. Eight patients had to make changes to their recreational activities.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of the study suggest that mountain bike accidents can result in significant injury. With adequate medical attention it appears that the majority of cases recover well, and experience only minimal discomfort without significant long term physical and social consequences.


Background and objective: A prospective crossover randomized trial was conducted to compare the performance of three commonly used anaesthetic facemasks: a clear plastic 'Anaesthetic Facemask' with pre‐inflated air cushion, no inflation valve, and for single use (Intersurgical Limited, Wokingham, UK), a clear plastic 'Air Cushion Mask' with inflatable air cushion and inflation valve, and for single use (Proact Medical Limited, Kettering, UK), and a black antistatic reusable rubber facemask with pre‐inflated air cushion, and no inflation valve (Datex Ohmeda Limited, Hatfield, UK). Methods: After local Ethics Committee approval, written consent was taken from 60 ASA 1 or 2 patients undergoing elective ENT procedures. Following routine intravenous anaesthetic induction and muscle relaxation, a Guedel's oropharyngeal airway was inserted and each of the facemasks tried in a crossover fashion. The degree of chest expansion, the feel on the reservoir bag, the degree of leak around the mask and the overall satisfaction of the anaesthetist were graded and recorded for each facemask. Results: Both the plastic facemasks performed similarly in all the four criteria. The antistatic rubber facemask performed significantly better than the plastic facemasks in these criteria (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study has shown that the antistatic rubber facemask outperformed the two plastic facemasks during routine induction of general anaesthesia. We hope this will encourage manufacturers to improve disposable facemask design to simulate the antistatic rubber facemask.


This poster presents an application of ContactTree, a new egocentered visualization design, to charactering the collaborative activities of selected InfoVis researchers in terms of their publications as listed in DBLP. The ContactTree visualization, based on a botanical tree metaphor, is designed for studying individuals and comparing their social behavior and relationships with others based on data with rich attributes. As shown, the resulting trees give each of the selected researchers a distinct look, and many interesting patterns reveal themselves. In social science research, the study of people's social contacts and activities is of high interest. ContactTree visualization well complements conventional network visualization, which is better for showing relations among people and activities in a global context.


The discovery of new treatments for cancer is imperative. Recently, we showed in a proof-of-concept study that SYnergistic IMmuno PHOtothermal NanotherapY (SYMPHONY) is a powerful treatment for metastatic bladder cancer and brain tumor in mouse models. Our work has recently demonstrated that combining immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitors and gold nanostar (AuNS) photothermal therapy (PTT) is more effective in killing primary tumors and activating the immune system to eradicate tumors at distant sites, than each individual treatment alone. When the tumor is being ablated via PTT in mice models, using low intensity heat from a near infrared laser, the dying tumor releases proteins that trigger the immune system to destroy remaining tumor cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors prevent the tumor cells from hiding from the immune system's mechanisms; thus, the immune system becomes capable of attacking distant secondary tumors, after the primary tumor has been eradicated using AuNS mediated PTT. The data shows that after the cured mice were rechallenged with bladder cancer cells, no tumor formation was observed after 60 days; hence these results indicate that the SYMPHONY treatment can function as a cancer vaccine and lead to long-lasting immunity.


The Electromyography (EMG) signal is the electrical activity produced by cells of skeletal muscles in order to provide a movement. The non-invasive prosthetic hand works with several electrodes, placed on the stump of an amputee, that record this signal. In order to favour the control of prosthesis, the EMG signal is analyzed with algorithms based on machine learning theory to decide the movement that the subject is going to do. In order to obtain a significant control of the prosthesis and avoid mismatch between desired and performed movements, a long training period is needed when we use the traditional algorithm of machine learning (i.e. Support Vector Machines). An actual challenge in this field concerns the reduction of the time necessary for an amputee to learn how to use the prosthesis. Recently, several algorithms that exploit a form of prior knowledge have been proposed. In general, we refer to prior knowledge as a past experience available in the form of models. In our case an amputee, that attempts to perform some movements with the prosthesis, could use experience from different subjects that are already able to perform those movements. The aim of this work is to verify, with a computational investigation, if for an amputee this kind of previous experience is useful in order to reduce the training time and boost the prosthetic control. Furthermore, we want to understand if and how the final results change when the previous knowledge of intact or amputated subjects is used for a new amputee. Our experiments indicate that: (1) the use of experience, from other subjects already trained to perform a task, makes us able to reduce the training time of about an order of magnitude; (2) it seems that an amputee that tries to learn to use the prosthesis doesn't reach different results when he/she exploits previous experience of amputees or intact.


The paper studies the features of the erosive burning of complex configurations of solid propellant grains and their influence on the performance of a solid rocket motor. The mathematical treatment of erosive combustion covers the spectrum of eddy sizes, the spectrum of eddy lengths, the effect of configuration on eddy spectrum and frequencies, and the total kinetic energy. The essential features of the Levich model, the Higbie model, and the Danckwests model for mass transfer calculations are compared. The wagon-wheel pattern is chosen as an example. Heat and mass transfer results for a six-pointed wagon wheel are presented.


The aim of this study was to describe the replantation of a maxillary second right molar, which had been removed for surgical reasons in order to remove a dentigerous cyst associated with the adjacent third molar, and the case's 12-month follow-up. A 51-year-old man presented swelling in the right maxillary area. Radiographic examination showed a large radiolucency in close proximity to the third molar, suggesting a follicular cyst. The third molar was extracted and the cyst underwent curettage. The second molar had to be extracted to enable complete removal of the cyst and to achieve primary closure of the wound, which would have been impossible without repositioning the molar. With this objective, extraoral endodontic treatment was performed, the root-end was resected and prepared with ultrasonic retrotips, and root-end filling was accomplished with MTA before the molar was replanted. At the 12-month follow-up, the tooth showed no clinical signs or symptoms, probing depth was no greater than 3 mm and radiographic examination showed no evidence of root resorption or periapical lesion. Key words:Replantation, maxillary molar, follicular cyst, dentigerous cyst.


In the industrial coal boiler, cyclone is used to separate the silica sands (as fluidizing medium) from the furnace combution gas. A gas-solid separation system with turbulent swirling flow that occurs in the cyclone will cause erosion on the cyclone wall. The erosion will cause a decrease in the cyclone performance and increase the maintenance cost. CFD simulation was conducted to predict this erosion using industrial cyclone in the coal boiler industry on its actual dimensions. The dimensions were 5120 mm in diameter and 13970 mm in height. It was performed using the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) for turbulence flow in the gas phase and the Oka erosion model. The erosion rate on the cyclone wall was investigated at various gas inlet velocity and solid rate. The inlet velocities ranged from 6 to 8 m/s and the solid rates ranged from 30 to 40 kg/s with silica sands as solid particles (0.075 and 1.5 mm in diameter). At the selected local area, the results showed that the higher gas inlet velocity for the same solid rate would increase the erosion rate (about 25%). However, the higher solid rate for the same velocity will also increase the erosion rate on the cyclone wall (about 18%). These results indicate that cyclone wall errosion are significantly affected by inlet gas velocity.


: Evaluation of more than 1500 cases has shown that real foetal weight can be calculated on the basis of mean thorax diameter, if linear ultrasonic measures are used. Addition of more parameters will render calculation more sophisticated and complex, though gain in accuracy will be unimportant. Accuracy depends not only on biological variation but even more on precise measurement by the examiner. An aid for more convenient calculation is described.


This study explores, in 3 steps, how the 3 main library classification systems, the Library of Congress Classification, the Dewey Decimal Classification, and the Universal Decimal Classification, cover human knowledge. First, we mapped the knowledge covered by the 3 systems. We used the "10 Pillars of Knowledge: Map of Human Knowledge," which comprises 10 pillars, as an evaluative model. We mapped all the subject-based classes and subclasses that are part of the first 2 levels of the 3 hierarchical structures. Then, we zoomed into each of the 10 pillars and analyzed how the three systems cover the 10 knowledge domains. Finally, we focused on the 3 library systems. Based on the way each one of them covers the 10 knowledge domains, it is evident that they failed to adequately and systematically present contemporary human knowledge. They are unsystematic and biased, and, at the top 2 levels of the hierarchical structures, they are incomplete. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


The goal of this study is to determine which imaging location on phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC MRI) best correlates with echocardiography to enable the severity of aortic regurgitation to be accurately evaluated by using PC MRI. The subjects were 34 patients with aortic regurgitation confirmed by echocardiography and cardiac MRI. Two velocity distribution images were obtained by positioning image planes above and below the aortic valve in the PC MRI. Using the acquired images, regurgitation fractions were calculated by calculating the average forward and reverse blood flows. The severity of aortic regurgitation was then evaluated and compared with the severity as determined by using echocardiography. When image planes were positioned above the aortic valve, the regurgitation fraction obtained by using PC MRI was 44.5 ± 18.7%, and when planes were positioned below the valve, the regurgitation fraction was 34.8 ± 15.9%. Regarding agreement with echocardiographic findings, concurrence was shown to be 50% when image planes sections were positioned above the valve and 85.3% when they were positioned below the valve. The present study shows that if image planes are positioned below the valve rather than above the valve, provides as accurate evaluation of the severity of aortic regurgitation.


Background:The optimal strategy for screening and diagnosis of Gestational DiabetesMellitus (GDM) is still elusive. There is possibility of difference infetaland maternaloutcome depending on the diagnostic method used. This study highlights on the efficacy of two tests 100-gram oral glucose tolerance test with Carpenter Coustan Criteria and Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Group India and to find the prevalence of GDM using DIPSI criteria and to compare the screening outcomes between DIPSI and ACOG guidelines. Methods: This study is a prospective cohort study done at tertiary care center 200 patientswhere enrolled in study between 12-16 weeks of gestation. exclusion criteria were History of GDM in previous pregnancy, known case of GDM and history of macrosomic baby. Women between 12-16 weeks of gestational age were subjected to screening for GDM by DIPSI criteria. Values more than 140 mg/dl were labelled as DIPSI positive. Positive cases were further subjected to 100gm of oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) by Carpenter Coustan criteria at 12-16 weeks of gestation. All OGTT (Carpenter Coustan criteria) negative patients underwent repeat OGTT at 24-28 weeks of gestation. All DIPSI negative cases also underwent repeat DIPSI test at 24-28 weeks of gestation.OGTT (Carpenter-Coustan) positive cases were diagnosed as GDM and will be subjected to appropriate management. Results: The prevalence of GDM by the DIPSI test was 16% and by the Carpenter and Coustan test was 12.5%. Maximum no. cases of GDM 20 i.e. 80 % where in age group of 21-25 . 76%-19 cases of GDM where having BMI of 18.5 to 24.99 kg/m2. 14 i.e 56% GDM cases where multigravida and 11(44%) were primigravida.The sensitivity ,specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 1005,96%78.12% and100% respectively. Conclusion: DIPSI offers feasibility, convenience, simplicity and repeatability, while economizing universal screening and diagnosis of GDM .


The frequency dependence of the in-plane angular change of the antiferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) field of KCuF3 is systematically measured at frequencies ranging from 3.8 to 10.6 GHz at 4.2 K. The effect of inequivalent g-tensors is found to gradually diminish with decreasing the frequency, and completely vanish when the frequency is decreased to the lower-frequency branch of C-band, while the effect of the effective anisotropy field is significantly enhanced with decreasing the frequency. The calculated AFMR field Hres based on the eight-sublattice model proposed by Yamada and Kato [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 63 (1994) 289] is in good agreement with the experimental data.


This paper focuses on the issue of non-financial corporate reporting by the Czech chemical companies. Based on the content analysis of the websites and disclosures, it analyses, compares and evaluates the level of web communication of the economic, environmental and social issues of corporate social responsibility of these companies. At first, it presents results of the research comparing the extent of non-financial web communication of selected Czech chemical companies with the Czech leaders in the Czech TOP 100 rankings. These results are then complemented by results of the quantitative research on environmental instruments used by all Czech chemical production companies, that use websites for communication of their activities. The number of companies in the Czech Republic processing non-financial reports is significantly lower than abroad, but it is still growing. Large enterprises pay more attention to non-financial reporting. Rather than including this information in a disclosure, a business website is used as a tool for this communication. The paper brings sectoral perspective into non-financial reporting literature, as attention is paid to the chemical production sector and also complements the knowledge of communication of companies that do not belong to the group of 100 most important companies within the country.


Shanghai urban tourism has become a new pillar industry, the economic development of Shanghai in recent years and the development of experience economy givenew direction to urban tourism industry.In the experience economy era , the tourists of the present strengthen the trend of personalized tourism consumption, gradually improve participation degree and hopes to personally attend to the tourism activities of a certain area, forming a lasting impression. Shanghai as the first to put forward the concept of "urban tourism" in China, urban tourism in the era of experience economy should have some new changes. This article through analyzed the Shanghai abundant tourism resources, summarized the development of the urban tourism in Shanghai. Based on the theory of experience economy and the experiential development idea, the system analyzes the development situation of Shanghai urban tourism, the development of new direction.


Purpose: The study was conducted to verify how sports confidence affects the continuation of exercise for high school student breaking athletes participating in the national-scale Taekwondo breaking competition. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was conducted on 364 high school student breaking athletes who have participated in a national Taekwondo breaking contest and analyzed the collected data. Method: In the study, the data collected through the questionnaire were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and a Frequency analysis was performed to find out the general characteristics of the study participants. Correlation analysis was conducted to determine the influence relationship between the variables of the measurement tool. In addition, Multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyze the effect of sports confidence on the continuation of exercise. All statistical significance levels were set to .05. Results: First, as a result of verifying the difference between sports confidence and exercise continuation according to the gender of high school breaking athletes who participated in the Taekwondo breaking contest, there were statistically significant differences in coach leadership of sports confidence, physical and mental preparation factor, and exercise friend factor in exercise continuation. Second, as a result of verifying the difference between sports confidence and exercise continuation according to grades of high school breaking athletes participating in the Taekwondo breaking contest, statistically significant differences were found in the factors of exercise interest in exercise continuation. On the contrary, there was no statistically significant difference in all factors of sports confidence. Third, as a result of verifying the difference between sports confidence and exercise persistence according to the winning experience of high school breaking athletes participating in the Taekwondo breaking contest, there were no statistically significant differences in all factors of sports confidence and exercise persistence. Conclusion: as a result of the study, the recent increase in the sports confidence of Taekwondo-breaking players was identified and the conclusion that the sports confidence of high-school Taekwondo-breaking players could have an effect on the continuation of the exercise was drawn. Based on this, if Taekwondo practitioners of various age groups, from adults to adolescents and adolescents to youths, participate in the breaking contest and find a way to continue their Taekwondo training, it is thought that it could be a meaningful study not only for the Taekwondo demonstration field but also for the overall development of Taekwondo. [Keywords] Taekwondo Demonstration, High School Student, Taekwondo Technical Breaking Athletes, Sports Confidence, Exercise Continuity


The impression section of a radiology report summarizes the most prominent observation from the findings section and is the most important section for radiologists to communicate to physicians. Summarizing findings is time-consuming and can be prone to error for inexperienced radiologists, and thus automatic impression generation has attracted substantial attention. With the encoder-decoder framework, most previous studies explore incorporating extra knowledge (e.g., static pre-defined clinical ontologies or extra background information). Yet, they encode such knowledge by a separate encoder to treat it as an extra input to their models, which is limited in leveraging their relations with the original findings. To address the limitation, we propose a unified framework for exploiting both extra knowledge and the original findings in an integrated way so that the critical information (i.e., key words and their relations) can be extracted in an appropriate way to facilitate impression generation. In detail, for each input findings, it is encoded by a text encoder and a graph is constructed through its entities and dependency tree. Then, a graph encoder (e.g., graph neural networks (GNNs)) is adopted to model relation information in the constructed graph. Finally, to emphasize the key words in the findings, contrastive learning is introduced to map positive samples (constructed by masking non-key words) closer and push apart negative ones (constructed by masking key words). The experimental results on two datasets, OpenI and MIMIC-CXR, confirm the effectiveness of our proposed method, where the state-of-the-art results are achieved.


In response to our study (Miranda et al. 2007), in which we found an association between age of housing, water treatment practices, and blood lead levels, Weintraub concludes that

a more prudent approach to prevent lead exposure via drinking water is that municipalities ensure careful corrosion control and remove lead service lines and distribution pipes, regardless of the method of residual disinfectant used.

Unfortunately, this approach has fallen notably short as evidenced by tests of residential tap water in Washington, DC (Edwards and Dudi 2004), Greenville, North Carolina (Renner 2005), and in 2006, in Durham, North Carolina (Biesecker 2006). Each of these cities had increased levels of lead in tap water following a change in water treatment practices necessitated by a switch to chloramines for disinfection.

We stand by our hypothesis that the effect of chloramines on blood lead levels would be less important in newer housing stock. Weintraub cites a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet (U.S. EPA 1993) as evidence that older buildings would pose less, not more, of a lead risk because of the protective effect of mineral deposits coating the inside of the pipe. However, as the U.S. EPA noted, lead levels decrease as a building ages only "if the water is not corrosive." An increase in the corrosivity of treated water after a switch to chloramines may expose lead that was shielded by mineral deposits (Schock 1990). This supports our reasoning that newer housing without lead service lines or lead solder and low-lead fixtures would pose less exposure risk.

We did not use an ecologic study design in our analysis. Our outcome variable was an individual measure of blood lead level, and our explanatory variables were either individual or census-level measures. We did not attempt to infer an individual-level association of variables from an association demonstrated only for aggregated variables.

We coined the phrase "Wayne Water Systems" to represent the collection of water systems in Wayne County, North Carolina, that do not use chloramines. "Wayne Water Systems" includes the five water systems that make up the Wayne Water Districts, as well as the five other active community water systems (Fremont, Fork, Pikeville, Mt. Olive, and Southern Wayne) in the county. We should have noted this in the text.

With respect to the categorical analysis, stratifying housing age by 25-year categories did not lead to misclassification of the housing, in spite of grouping together houses built before and after the ban of lead solder in 1986. We performed model iterations with several different age categories of housing and presented the best-performing model. We did run a model with housing built after 1986 as a referent group, but we found the variable of 1976–1986 statistically insignificant.

We based our finding that 15.6% of the housing stock in Wayne County was built before 1925 on tax parcel data, which we consider to more accurately represent housing age than homeowner responses to age-of-housing questions posed by the U.S. Census. We would have preferred to include all blood lead records, but it was not possible because we could not geocode incomplete addresses. However, when we compared the blood lead levels of children from geocoded and nongeocoded addresses, we did not find a significant difference. Records of children from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base were included in the analysis.

In July 2006, the U.S. EPA proposed changes to the Lead and Copper Rule that would require water systems to notify, and obtain approval from, state regulatory agencies before changing a water treatment process (U.S. EPA 2006). As the U.S. EPA noted, if a water system notifies the state after changes have already been made, there may be little or no opportunity to minimize any corrosion problems to prevent lead from leaching from plumbing components. We suggest the use of housing age as a simple metric for states to use in designing a water monitoring program, and expanding blood lead screening in advance of changes in water treatment practices.

Weintraub states that our recommendations "to exclude certain children" based on water disinfection practices could have "substantial unintended impacts." This is a misrepresentation of our recommendations. Based on the Wayne County results (and those in Washington, Greenville, and Durham), we recommended that local health departments expand their scope of targeted screening in the years following the introduction of chloramines as a supplement to, not a replacement of, existing programs that are in place to provide blood lead screening services to children at risk of lead exposure. We also suggested that health departments might target more intensive outreach and education to residents of older housing, a strategy that would help focus limited resources on residences where additional lead sources may also be present.

Our recommendations are consistent with the U.S. EPA's rationale for revising the Lead and Copper Rule to require advance notification of water treatment changes, and with recommendations by water chemistry experts to closely monitor water lead levels after changing to chloramines for disinfection.


Zimbabwe introduced the National Occupational Safety and Health Policy (ZNOSHP) in August 2014 with the vision and mission to eliminate occupational accidents, injuries, diseases, and fatalities and to promote Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). This study was therefore aimed at exploring the individual- and organizational-level determinants of ZNOSHP's implementation. Data were collected from 309 workers in the Willowvale industrial area in Harare, Zimbabwe. Negative binomial regression models were used to explore the determinants of ZNOSHP's implementation. After adjustment, participant's knowledge of ZNOSHP (Incidence Rate Ratio, IRR = 1.32; 95% Confidence Interval, CI: 1.19–1.46; p ≤ 0.001), production department (IRR = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.03–1.26; p ≤ 0.05), company years of operation (IRR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.21–1.46; p ≤ 0.001), participants who identified several implementation barriers (IRR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.01–1.25; p ≤ 0.001), and agricultural industry were associated with higher rates of ZNOSHP's implementation. In conclusion, individual- and organizational-level determinants of implementation of OSH standards were explored, and positive associations were found. Policy implementation, enforcement, and follow up strategies need to be developed in order to ensure adherence to safety measures. This study should be extended to other parts of Zimbabwe in order to develop evidence-based policy.


Ancient bone remains are widely utilized when investigating vertebrate biodiversity of past animal populations but are often so highly fragmented that the majority of specimens cannot be identified to any meaningful taxonomic level. Recently, high‐throughput methods for objective species identification using collagen peptide mass fingerprinting have been created to overcome this with the added indication that they could also offer a means of relative ageing through decay measurement. Here we explore both species identification and decay measurements for the Pin Hole Cave 'microfaunal' assemblage, the site that has been designated as a representative for Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 in Britain in terms of its suite of mammalian fauna. We explore the technique's potential to corroborate the faunal diversity established previously by macroscopic studies and evaluate the decay measurements across the species boundary. The results support that the analysis of fragmentary remains by collagen fingerprinting can yield a more diverse set of fauna, and offer additional information relating to taphonomy, than the analysis of morphologically intact bones on their own. However, although useful for identifying likely contaminations of an assemblage, there was an unexpected decrease in the decay measurements observed for some megafauna compared with much younger microfauna, indicating that other factors need to be carefully monitored before it could be used as a relative ageing technique in Quaternary deposits.


Conventional CA modulators are operated exclu- sively in the nonchaotic regime in which the internal integrators are stable. Theoretical interest in chaotic CA modulators recently arose, mainly because the circuits are simple and strongly nonlin- ear systems with rich behavior, not unlike Chua's circuit (l), (2). It has since been recognized that the application of conventional CA modulators to A/D and D/A conversion may be haunted by spurious "tones" in the output, and it has been proposed to use chaotic modulators to overcome that problem. This paper employs a semi-analytical technique to solve the design problem for general chaotic double-loop modulators with constant inputs. Using the results, optimized scaling factors are easily found for given integrator pole locations, such that an approximate performance measure is maximized subject to bounds on internal state variables. The clarification of this explicit tradeoff between tone rejection through chaos, system stability, and practical per- formance may help to overcome some understandable skepticism in the community of CA designers.


The paper discusses the issue of views in the Web context. We introduce a set of languages for managing and restructuring data coming from the World Wide Web. We present a specific data model, called the ARANEUS Data Model, inspired to the structures typically present in Web sites. The model allows us to describe the scheme of a Web hypertext, in the spirit of databases. Based on the data model, we develop two languages to support a sophisticate view definition process: the first, called ULIXES, is used to build database views of the Web, which can then be analyzed and integrated using database techniques; the second, called PENELOPE, allows the definition of derived Web hypertexts from relational views. This can be used to generate hypertextual views over the Web.


Background: Dengue is a serious illness which takes toll on human health every year. The best way to prevent it is by increasing awareness among common people. This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding dengue fever in people urban heath training centre in Pune, Maharashtra. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients attending OPD of Urban heath training centre of department of community medicine, Pune situated in Ajmera, Pimpri, Pune. Through convenience sampling, a questionnaire was administered to patients after taking their informed consent. Results: A total of 100 patients were interviewed. Among knowledge 83% had heard about dengue and the most common source of information was TV & radio (72.3%) Most of them were aware regarding mosquito bite being the mode of dengue transmission (80.7%). 22% were unaware regarding biting time of mosquito while 22% said night is the biting time of dengue mosquito. 62.7% were using coils for mosquito bite prevention followed by mosquito net (43.4%) and spray (31.3%.). Conclusion: This study revealed that most of the study population is aware of dengue illness and increasing education level is having positive attitude on dengue illness.


Objective: To examine the impact of a healthy lifestyle on stroke risk in men at higher risk of stroke because of other cardiovascular diseases or conditions. Methods: Our study population comprised 11,450 men in the Cohort of Swedish Men who had a history of hypertension, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation. Participants had completed a questionnaire about diet and lifestyle and were free from stroke and ischemic heart disease at baseline (January 1, 1998). We defined a healthy lifestyle as a low-risk diet (≥5 servings/d of fruits and vegetables and <30 g/d of processed meat), not smoking, ≥150 min/wk of physical activity, body mass index of 18.5 to 25 kg/m2, and low to moderate alcohol consumption (>0 to ≤30 g/d). Ascertainment of stroke cases was accomplished through linkage with the National Inpatient Register and the Swedish Cause of Death Register. Results: During a mean follow-up of 9.8 years, we ascertained 1,062 incident stroke cases. The risk of total stroke and stroke types decreased with increasing number of healthy lifestyle factors. The multivariable relative risk of total stroke for men who achieved all 5 healthy lifestyle factors compared with men who achieved 0 or 1 factor was 0.28 (95% confidence interval 0.14–0.55). The corresponding relative risks (95% confidence interval) were 0.31 (0.15–0.66) for ischemic stroke and 0.32 (0.04–2.51) for hemorrhagic stroke. Conclusions: A healthy lifestyle is associated with a substantially reduced risk of stroke in men at higher risk of stroke.


Ceruminous glands are modified sweat glands, confined to the skin lining of the cartilaginous part of the external auditory meatus. Tumours arising from these glands are extremely rare. Confusion exists regarding the nomenclature 'ceruminoma' and controversies prevail on the standard way of management. Treatment often involves a multidisciplinary approach, requiring reconstruction after extensive surgical resection. A case report of adenoid cystic carcinoma of ceruminous glands is presented along with discussion of the various pathological types and a review of management.


Arithmetic coding completely bypasses the traditional coding paradigm that replaces an input symbol by a specific code. Arithmetic coding represents a stream of input symbols by a single codeword. The modelling paradigm is a key aspect in effective data compression. We present an adaptive higher order arithmetic coding scheme using the prediction by partial match (PPM) algorithm as well as a framework for the comparison of the different compression techniques. Simulation study conducted with this framework shows that compressive effectiveness and implementing complexity increases as the order increases but above a certain order there is no gain in compression with increasing costs.


Bandy was no stranger to entrepreneurship and the problems brought about by success. Having honed his programming skills in the 1980s, he had already founded a database company that had seen great success—and then had been squeezed out by investors. He spent a few years after that working for a computing firm in Richmond until a chance remark by his young son spurred him to become an entrepreneur again. In 2005, he founded BandyWorks, a computing services consulting firm. Excerpt UVA-ENT-0182 Feb. 10, 2012 Bandyworks (B): Tom Bandy—Growing, Letting Go Tom Bandy, founder and CEO of the Virginia software firm BandyWorks, closed his Skype window and lowered his head to his desk. He tapped his forehead twice on the mouse pad. As he did so, he said to himself, "That was a head-banger of a meeting." One of his office windows faced south in the 160-year-old farmhouse he had purchased in 2008 to house his business efforts. It was 8:00 a.m. in Petersburg, Virginia, and the sun was streaming in. Staff members were beginning to arrive. He could smell the coffee someone had started brewing downstairs. Bandy did not feel the refreshed sense of a new dawn; he was tired. He already had been on a video conference for an hour with Balavikram Balavenkataraman (Vikram), his head of product development in Bangalore, India. There was a big problem that needed a solution yesterday. Instead, Bandy was being told to wait. "Success should not be this hard," he thought. BandyWorks, Second Time Around . . .


Title A randomised controlled crossover trial to assess the effectiveness of, preference for and length of structured reply letters when communicating with referring practitioners Statement "I have made this letter longer than usual as I lack the time to make it short" (Blasie Pascal 1623-1662) Objectives To identify whether : 1. Structured reply letters from consultants were more effective at communicating with and/ or preferred by practitioners when compared to consultants' standard reply letters. 2. There were differences in the length of the two formats. Null Hypothesis No significant difference exists between practitioner's awareness of key patient information when receiving either the structured consultant reply letter or the standard consultant reply letter. No significant difference exists between the word counts of the two letter formats. Design Randomised controlled crossover trial. Setting Liverpool University Dental Hospital (LUDH). Participants and methods Participants were recruited from practitioners referring orthodontic patients to LUDH. Seventy five practitioners were stratified by consultant and randomised in blocks to receive either the structured or standard letter first, followed by the alternative format six weeks later. For both groups, the word count was recorded by the secretaries. 'Knowledge and satisfaction' questionnaires were dispatched with the letters, completed by practitioners and returned to the department. Outcome measures The primary outcome measure was the practitioners' awareness of the key information contained within the letter. The secondary outcome measure was the secretarial typing times for the letters. Results The response rate was 87%. There was a statistically significant improvement in practitioners' awareness of their patient's status (odds ratio 8.84 95% CI 1.08, 72.52) and the action required (odds ratio 4.13 95% CI 1.10, 15.45) after receiving the structured letter. Practitioners showed a strong preference (p


ABSTRACT Aerial photography was conducted in the high Arctic Ocean during a Chinese research expedition in summer 2010. By partitioning the images into three distinct surface categories (sea ice/snow, water and melt ponds), the areal fraction of each category, ice concentration and the size and geometry of individual melt ponds, are determined with high-spatial resolution. The ice concentration and melt pond coverage have large spatial deviations between flights and even between images from the marginal ice zone to the pack ice zone in the central Arctic. Ice concentration and pond coverage over high Arctic (from 84°N to north) was ~75% and ~6.8%, respectively, providing 'ground truth' for the unusual transpolar reduction strip of ice indicated concurrently by AMSR-E data and for the regions (north of 88°N) where no passive microwave sensors can cover. Melt pond size and shape distributions are examined in terms of pond area (S), perimeter (P), mean caliper dimension (MCD) (L), roundness (R), convex degree (C), the ratio of P/S and fractal dimension (D). Power-law relationships are developed between pond size and number. Some general trends in geometric metrics are identified as a function of pond area including R, C, P/S and D. The scale separation of pond complexity is demonstrated by analyzing area-perimeter data. The results will potentially help the modelling of melt pond evolution and the determination of heterogeneity of under-ice transmitted light fields.


A critical aspect of software process education in general and software process improvement (SPI) education in particular is to give students the chance to experience processes and issues associated with process at first hand. This is, however, often difficult in an educational setting since providing a meaningful project in which to apply a process can take away time and focus from the intended learning objectives. Instead, miniatures and simulations can be used to create an environment in which students can interact with processes directly without taking up large parts of the curriculum. In this paper, we report on our experience of using Lego Scrum simulations in an SPI course at the Bachelor level. The simulations are used both to introduce a baseline for the students to let them experience process issues directly, create an improvement plan that addresses observed issues, and to apply and evaluate the plan in a second simulation. This allows students to engage with SPI methods practically, instead of purely theoretically, and allows the teacher to refer to the shared experience throughout the course. The collected data shows that the approach is suitable, but that students struggle with the demand of putting an improvement plan into practice. We show which issues commonly occur in the simulations and thus allow teachers who adopt the practice to scaffold it and react accordingly, in particular to empower the students to take on responsibility for the improvement of the process.


UNLABELLED
Present cross-sectional clinical study was aimed at the evaluation the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in Type 2-diabetics suffering from different clinical manifestations of diabetic foot lesions due to peripheral vascular disease and/or diabetic neuropathy. 1025 non-insulin-dependent (Type 2) diabetics (NIDDM) of both sexes were investigated. Patients were classified in Type II diabetes without peripheral vascular disease and foot lesions (group 0, controls), with macroangiopathic related foot lesions (group 2), with neuropathic foot lesions (group 3), and with mixed neuropathic-ischemic foot lesions (group 4). Apart from urinary albumin excretion rate (UAE), the following micro- and macroangiopathic risk factors and diseases were taken into account: Hypertension, degree of metabolic control (HbA1c), lipid concentrations, duration of diabetes, retinopathy, clinical nephropathy.

RESULTS
In the total population the UAE was significantly (p < 0.01) correlated with duration of diabetes, serum creatinine, hypertension, age, lipid concentrations, HbA1c and insulin requirement. In comparison to Type II diabetic patients without peripheral vascular disease (group 0) and with neuropathic foot lesions (group 3), subjects with ischemic (group 2) and mixed neuropathic-ischemic foot lesions demonstrated an increased prevalence of pathological UAE, which was associated with a higher frequency of clinical nephropathy, retinopathy, an older age and longer duration of diabetes. It is concluded that microalbuminuria in Type 2 diabetes reflects both the existence of diabetic nephropathy and peripheral vascular disease which is often associated with the insulin resistance syndrome.