The lack of trust amongst consumers and concerns about disclosing personal information are commonly seen as a major impediment to the growth of e-commerce. This is a consequence of several concerns, e.g. the lack of confidence in contemporary technologies for ensuring security, such as encryption and digital signatures, and distrust regarding the intentions of counterparts. This article describes the different aspects of security and privacy in the contemporary Internet and seeks means for improving both security and privacy. After identifying the fundamental components of Internet security and privacy, a novel software architecture aimed at enhancing these properties is presented. In order to evaluate the architecture, a two-dimensional model for expressing the extent of control in a network is introduced, and the security and privacy exhibited by the architecture is weighed against those in the conventional Internet. The consequences of increasing control in the Internet are also discussed. We conclude that although a new architecture encompassing greater control could be useful in certain areas of the Internet, a traditional uncontrolled area is essential to maintain unconstrained growth and the flexibility that has brought the Internet to where it is today.


Background: In Tanzania, the uptake of optimal doses (≥ 3) of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria (IPTp-SP) during pregnancy has remained below the recommended target of 80%. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the predictors for the uptake of optimal IPTp-SP among pregnant women in Tanzania.Methods: This study used data from the 2015-16 Tanzania demographic and health survey and malaria indicator survey (TDHS-MIS). The study had a total of 4,111 women aged 15 to 49 who had live births 2 years preceding the survey. The outcome variable was uptake of three or more doses of IPTp-SP and the independent variables were age, marital status, education level, place of residence, wealth index, occupation, geographic zone, parity, the timing of first antenatal care (ANC), number of ANC visits and type of the health facility for ANC visits. Predictors for the optimal uptake of IPTp-SP were assessed using univariate and multivariable logistic regression.Results: A total of 327 (8%) women had optimal uptake of IPTp-SP doses. Among the assessed predictors, the following were significantly associated with optimal uptake of IPTp-SP doses; education level [primary (AOR: 2.2, 95% CI 1.26–3.67, P = 0.005); secondary or higher education (AOR: 2.1, 95% CI 1.08–4.22, P = 0.029)], attended ANC at the first trimester (AOR: 2.4, 95% CI 1.20–4.96, P = 0.014), attended ≥ 4 ANC visits (AOR: 1.9, 95% CI 1.34–2.83, P <0.001), attended government health facilities (AOR: 1.5, 95% CI 1.07–1.97, P = 0.017) and geographic zone [Central (AOR: 5, 95% CI 2.08–11.95, P <0.001); Southern Highlands (AOR: 2.8, 95% CI 1.15–7.02, P = 0.023); Southwest Highlands (AOR: 2.7, 95% CI 1.03–7.29, P = 0.043); Lake (AOR: 3.5, 95% CI 1.51–8.14, P = 0.004); Eastern (AOR: 1.5, 95% CI 1.88–11.07, P = 0.001)].Conclusions: The uptake of optimal IPTp-SP doses is still low in Tanzania. The optimal uptake of IPTp-SP was associated with attending ANC in the first trimester, attending more than four ANC visit, attending government health facility for ANC, having primary, secondary or higher education level and geographic zone. Therefore, we recommend health education and behavior change interventions with the emphasis on the optimal use of IPTp-SP doses.


Sixty-eight Bordetella pertussis isolates (obtained between 1994 and 2004 from the province of Ontario in Canada) were compared by the following phenotypic and genetic analyses: serotyping; pulsed-field gel electrophoresis; and partial DNA sequence analysis of their pertactin, pertussis toxin, and fimbriae genes. Although temporal genetic variations were observed among the isolates, which is consistent with the current view that B. pertussis evolves over time, no specific antigenic or genetic type was detected in 48 isolates collected shortly after the introduction of the acellular pertussis vaccine. Further surveillance with clinical data and isolates collected periodically will be required to ensure that any genetic divergence that could affect vaccine efficacy will not be occurring.


OBJECTIVE
Fifteen-day praziquantel therapy for parenchymal neurocysticercosis has been shown to be effective. Plasma and cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of praziquantel peak two hours after administration. Maintenance of high concentrations of the drug for six hours may be an adequate therapy for the disease.

METHODS
Thirty patients with parenchymal neurocysticercosis were treated with three oral doses of praziquantel(25 mg/kg) at two-hour intervals. Intramuscular dexamethasone (10 mg/day) was administered for three days after the praziquantel treatment.

RESULTS
Cysts disappeared in 21 patients and showed a decrease in number of 30 to 60% in seven patients. Two patients remained without change. Considering the total number of cysts, this therapy showed a 70.7% eradication rate. Two patients had seizures, six reported headache, and nausea was frequently reported. Patients under antiepileptic treatment did not have seizures.

CONCLUSION
The cost and duration of treatment with praziquantel were significantly reduced and the inflammation that follow the destruction of the parasite was treated sequentially.


Relevance. The restoration of a high-quality anatomical and functional contact point of teeth plays an important role in preventing the development of localized forms of periodontal disease.Purpose. Development of recommendations for qualitative anatomical restoration of the contact point of teeth for the prevention of localized forms of periodontal diseases.Materials and methods. In our study, which consisted of pre-clinical and clinical stages, were analyzed 50 CT scan of the chewing group teeth calculated the ratio of approximal surfaces of molars and premolars to the width of their crowns and computer simulations of the results of restoration of contact point. We also conducted a comparative analysis of wedges of different material with different cross-sectional shapes. At the clinical stage, the restoration of the contact point of teeth in patients according to our recommendations was carried out.Results. On the basis of the data obtained during the study, a formula for calculating the height and size of the restored contact point was compiled. Recommendations for anatomical restoration of the contact point are formulated.Conclusion. The application of the recommendations developed by us allows anatomically qualitatively restore the contact point and prevent the development of localized periodontal diseases.


This paper examines the connections between Tolkien's writing of fiction and his work as a lexicographer on the Oxford English Dictionary. Some of Tolkien's most characteristic stylistic flourishes show the influence of the distinctive, charming defining style of the first edition of the O.E.D.


"As for my survival for the past twenty years in England, from when I was a little over twenty, dragging four cold and dripping babies with me and pregnant with the fifth one - that is a miracle. And if for any reason you do not believe in miracles, please start believing, because keeping my head above water in this indifferent society...is a miracle." Buchi Emecheta's autobiography spans the transition from a tribal childhood in the African bush to life in North London as an internationally acclaimed writer.


Artificial neural networks (ANNs) and computational neuroscience models have made tremendous progress, enabling us to achieve impressive results in artificial intelligence applications, such as image recognition, natural language processing, and autonomous driving. Despite this, biological neural systems consume orders of magnitude less energy than today's ANNs and are much more flexible and robust. This adaptivity and efficiency gap is partially explained by the computing substrate of biological neural processing systems that is fundamentally different from the way today?s computers are built. Biological systems use in-memory computing elements operating in a massively parallel way rather than time-multiplexed computing units that are reused in a sequential fashion. Moreover, the activity of biological neurons follows continuous-time dynamics in real, physical time instead of operating on discrete temporal cycles abstracted away from real time.


Abstract. This article addresses the power of popular geographical 'imaginations' and 'knowledges' to foreclose public debate and, in the process, to reinforce often contentious policies or practices. It argues that historically, a prominent example of such a powerful geographical knowledge has been that of ' overpopulation'. The concept of 'underpopulation', meanwhile, has been much less discussed, but in this article I argue that it, too, needs to be queried in much the same way that critics have examined claims of overpopulation. I make this case first at a generic level, describing some of the main situations in which notions of underpopulation are popularly invoked, before substantiating it in much greater detail in one specific context: that of the television economy in New Zealand, a country, it is frequently said, with 'too few people' to support a publicly funded broadcaster. I show that in this particular instance the underpopulation thesis is backed by flawed arguments, but that none the less it is widely accepted and seldom countered, hence serving to protect its protagonists from disclosing in public debate the real reasons for the television policies they pursue and which the idea of underpopulation actively allows.


We consider ratio estimators in simple random sampling under data anomalies. We specifically focus on the situations where the error term is not normally distributed, and exploit Tiku's modified maximum likelihood estimators in the ratio method of estimation. We derive the mean square errors of the proposed ratio estimators theoretically and obtain the conditions where the proposed ratio estimators have less mean square errors than the traditional ratio-type estimators. We support our theoretical results with two different real-life examples.


The fruitful contribution of Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BDS) to study hierarchical materials applied to batteries electrodes has been previously shown [1-5]. The results demonstrate that the broadband dielectric spectroscopy technique is very sensitive to the different scales of the electrode architecture involved in the electronic transport, from interatomic distances to macroscopic sizes, as well as to the morphology at these scales, coarse or fine distribution of the constituents. When the frequency increases, different kinds of polarizations appear from interatomic distances to macroscopic sizes (Fig. 1) and give rise to dielectric relaxations in the following order: (a) space-charge polarization (low-frequency range) due to the interface sample/current collector; (b) polarization of clusters of particles (micronic scale) and (c) polarization of particles due to the existence of resistive junctions between them; d) electron transfers (nanometric or interatomic scale).The BDS measurement was up to now ex situ measurement, on dry electrode. They provide a fundamental insight into the conduction properties at all scales of the materials before being integrated in a real battery. An innovative device (measurement cell) has been developed to make synchronized BDS measurements and electrochemical cycling. The frequency range is about 103 - 1010 Hz. In this work, data acquisitions were made on dry electrode (LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 / Carbon black / PVdF) and then on the same electrode wetted with an electrolyte. Short- and long-range motions of ions are evidenced in the low-frequency region. At higher frequencies, the study shows for the first time the influence of the ions of the electrolyte on the transfer of the electronic charges (holes) in LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2at the micronic scale.


This paper investigates the divergence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings based on data from six prominent ESG rating agencies: KLD, Sustainalytics, Moody's ESG (Vigeo-Eiris), S&P Global (RobecoSAM), Refinitiv (Asset4), and MSCI. We document the rating divergence and map the different methodologies onto a common taxonomy of categories. Using this taxonomy, we decompose the divergence into contributions of scope, measurement, and weight. Measurement contributes 56% of the divergence, scope 38%, and weight 6%. Further analyzing the reasons for measurement divergence, we detect a rater effect where a rater's overall view of a firm influences the measurement of specific categories. The results call for greater attention to how the data underlying ESG ratings are generated.


Natural language generation (NLG) is an essential component of task-oriented dialog systems. Despite the recent success of neural approaches for NLG, they are typically developed in an offline manner for particular domains. To better fit real-life applications where new data come in a stream, we study NLG in a "continual learning" setting to expand its knowledge to new domains or functionalities incrementally. The major challenge towards this goal is catastrophic forgetting, meaning that a continually trained model tends to forget the knowledge it has learned before. To this end, we propose a method called ARPER (Adaptively Regularized Prioritized Exemplar Replay) by replaying prioritized historical exemplars, together with an adaptive regularization technique based on Elastic Weight Consolidation. Extensive experiments to continually learn new domains and intents are conducted on MultiWoZ-2.0 to benchmark ARPER with a wide range of techniques. Empirical results demonstrate that ARPER significantly outperforms other methods by effectively mitigating the detrimental catastrophic forgetting issue.


To anybody interested in sports and marketing, the concept of celebrity endorsement is not a new concept. In recent decades, sport marketing has emerged as an independent area where companies separate themselves from their competitors by developing associations with the sporting heroes. In this study, the dynamics as have emerged in the recent past will be analyzed and implications for both sports and marketing evaluated. This study is an exploratory study and for this study data from 127 university students was collected. Data was collected with the help of surveys and was further analyzed with the help of a) descriptive statistics b) Confirmatory factor analysis c) Regression Analysis. The study focuses on the university students and limited geographical region of Pakistan for the purpose of data collection. The research concludes that celebrity endorsements could have an impact on the attitude towards the brand but it does not necessarily create motivations to purchase. This study provides deep insights for the marketers in terms of celebrity endorsements for their brands. The research will be a valuable addition in proliferation of knowledge on the subject area.


Wireless power transfer (WPT) is a kind of technology by transferring the electrical energy from a power source to an electrical load without the use of wire or conductor. Nowadays, electricity power is very important in our daily life. People use portable electronic devices to improve their routine work. The portable electronic devices are connected to power socket for their power supply. However, it is not convenient to people due to the length of the wire and they are unable to move far from the power socket. Therefore, the main objective of this project is to investigate a wireless power transfer technology using resonant technique. The proposed model was designed and pre-tested by Multisim. An efficient and compact wireless power transfer using resonant technique was proposed and a wireless power supply system for low power electronic devices was developed. The design of the system is to transfer the low power for electronic devices from transmitter to receiver coils. The input DC power is 12 V and the magnetic field passes through resonator and causes the energy to build up. As the result, the voltage and current of LED (acts as load) are 0.668 V and 0.01 mA respectively with the distance of 5 cm. In order to smoothen the peak voltages, a capacitor and a diode were used as a filter and rectifier respectively in the circuit. Resonance inductive coupling is widely used for mid-range transmission distance due to its simplicity in system design. The optimum distance for harvesting the highest voltage is 3.5 cm apart. The efficiency of power transmitted was 41.6 %. The transmission of power is only affected by the metal made component which is placed near to it. Wireless power transfer is convenient, reliable, low cost, safer and environmentally sound. In conclusion, the wireless power transfer using resonance induction coupling is more efficient if compared with inductive coupling and electromagnetic wave. The power can transfer with a longer distance and safely by using this technique.


This paper examines the causal impact of later retirement on doctor visits among the French elderly. This question is of interest since spillover effects may arise if later retirement increases healthcare expenditure. I exploit the 1993 French pension reform in a two-stage least square to deal with the endogeneity of retirement. This reform leads to a progressive increase in claiming age, cohort by cohort from 1934 to 1943. I use a two-part model to disentangle between extensive and intensive margin. I use the administrative data HYGIE to observe both healthcare consumption between 2005 and 2015 and past careers. I find that an increase in retirement by four months decreases significantly the probability to have at least one doctor visit per year by 0.815 percentage point and decreases the number of doctor visits by 1.14% between ages 67 and 75. This effect is driven by the consumption of generalist doctor visits, and tends to be stronger for the first ages of consumption observed.


Timing analysis for checking satisfaction of constraints is a crucial problem in real-time system design. In some current approaches, the delay of software modules is precalculated by a software performance estimation method, which is not accurate enough for hard real-time systems and complicated designs. In this paper we present an approach to integrate a clock-cycle-accurate instruction set simulator (ISS) with a fast event-based system simulator. By using the ISS, the delay of events can be measured instead of estimated. An interprocess communication architecture and a simple protocol are designed to meet the requirement of robustness and flexibility. A cached refinement scheme is presented to improve the performance at the expense of accuracy. The scheme is especially effective for applications in which the delay of basic blocks is approximately data-independent. We also discuss the implementation issues by using the Ptolemy simulation environment and the ST20 simulator as an example.


A computer code oriented to S.I. engine control and powertrain simulation is presented. The model, developed in Matlab-Simulink® environment, predicts engine and driveline states, taking into account the dynamics of air and fuel flows into the intake manifold and the transient response of crankshaft, transmission gearing and vehicle. The model, derived from the code O.D.E.C.S. for the optimal design of engine control strategies now in use at Magneti Marelli, is suitable both for simulation analysis and to achieve optimal engine control strategies for minimum consumption with constraints on exhaust emissions and driveability via mathematical programming techniques. The model is structured as an object oriented modular framework and has been tested for simulating powertrain system and control performance with respect to any given transient and control strategy. The adoption of a hierarchical structure based on different classes of models, ranging from black-box Neural Network to grey-box mean value dynamic models, allows a satisfactory accuracy with limited computational demand which makes it suitable for the optimization of engine control strategies. In the paper the whole model framework is described together with simulation results obtained for different transient manouevres and control strategies.


Image denoising is often empowered by accurate prior information. In recent years, data-driven neural network priors have shown promising performance for RGB natural image denoising. Compared to classic handcrafted priors (e.g., sparsity and total variation), the "deep priors" are learned using a large number of training samples, which can accurately model the complex image generating process. However, data-driven priors are hard to acquire for hyperspectral images (HSIs) due to the lack of training data. A remedy is to use the so-called unsupervised deep image prior (DIP). Under the unsupervised DIP framework, it is hypothesized and empirically demonstrated that proper neural network structures are reasonable priors of certain types of images, and the network weights can be learned without training data. Nonetheless, the most effective unsupervised DIP structures were proposed for natural images instead of HSIs. The performance of unsupervised DIP-based HSI denoising is limited by a couple of serious challenges, namely network structure design and network complexity. This work puts forth an unsupervised DIP framework that is based on the classic spatiospectral decomposition of HSIs. Utilizing the so-called linear mixture model of HSIs, two types of unsupervised DIPs, that is, U-Net-like network and fully connected networks, are employed to model the abundance maps and endmembers contained in the HSIs, respectively. This way, empirically validated unsupervised DIP structures for natural images can be easily incorporated for HSI denoising. Besides, the decomposition also substantially reduces network complexity. An efficient alternating optimization algorithm is proposed to handle the formulated denoising problem. Simulated and real data experiments are employed to showcase the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


On the basis of the arguments in chapter 4, and the progressive revisions to the English school's three pillars, I can now return to the pluralist–solidarist debate. In chapter 2, I argued that pluralism and solidarism should be understood not as mutually exclusive positions, but as positions on a spectrum representing, respectively, thin and thick sets of shared norms, rules and institutions. The basic differentiation between thin and thick was qualified by some discussion about the nature of the values shared, with pluralism associated with rules about coexistence, and solidarism potentially extending much beyond that. I used Bull's ideas about rules of cooperation and the centrality of positive international law to question the reasons behind his pluralism, arguing that these can be seen also as a powerful key to an understanding of solidarism wider than the one Bull himself employed. I argued against basing solidarism on cosmopolitanism, because that approach confines its meaning to a narrow band largely occupied by human rights and therefore excludes much that is of great empirical and theoretical significance to the concept. I also argued for allowing solidarism to be a feature of interstate societies, and not using it as a vehicle to imply some necessary conflation between international and world society. In this chapter, I want to pick up these arguments and examine them in more detail.


Delivering information from the transducers to the base station is one of the main challenges in current guided wave-based structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. In recent years, novel solutions started to be investigated, which are based on guided ultrasonic waves (GWs). These waves experience mild power dissipation, hence being capable to travel comparatively long distances. The key idea is to exploit GWs as a means to transmit digital information (e.g. a damage indicator) directly over the mechanical waveguide. The advantage is that conventional radio-frequency communication is not needed and this is of the uttermost importance in harsh environments.
 Among the very different modulation techniques, a Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)–based modulation strategy is specifically employed in this work and numerical results are presented. More in detail, finite element simulations based on frequency steerable acoustic transducers (FSAT) are performed showing spatial multiplexing capabilities as widely used in modern 5G data communication systems.


AbstractA model of the marine atmospheric boundary layer is developed for ocean-only modeling in order to better represent air–sea exchanges. This model computes the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer temperature and humidity using a prescribed wind field. These quantities react to the underlying ocean through turbulent and radiative fluxes. With two examples, the authors illustrate that this formulation is accurate for regional and global modeling purposes and that turbulent fluxes are well reproduced in test cases when compared to reanalysis products. The model builds upon and is an extension of Seager et al.


In this paper, we show that the asymptotic probability density function (pdf) of the maxima of n independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) sums of independent non-identically (i.n.i.d.) distributed gamma random variables (RVs) is a Gumbel pdf using Extreme Value Theory (EVT). We will also show that the asymptotic pdf of the maxima of n i.i.d. sums of correlated gamma RVs is a Gumbel pdf. Some applications in wireless communication are discussed where the maxima of n i.i.d. sums of correlated gamma RVs and maxima of n i.i.d. sums of i.n.i.d. gamma RVs arise. We discuss the utility of our results in the context of these applications.


Nepali newspapers manage to include disaster-related incidents with priority. A huge number of stories about calamities have got space on the front pages based on their gravity and worthiness. However, it is debatable whether they are fulfilling their social responsibility. A reply to this question can make a huge commitment to overseeing tough spots connected with disasters. Journalism is expected to make it easier to deal with issues that arise before and after disasters. This necessitates that journalists comprehend the various tangents (distribution, causes, effects, ramifications, and possibilities) of disasters. In like manner, the debacle ought to be consolidated in news coverage and schooling so our reporting practice could contribute to that.


Numerous analyses of accident injury data have tried to assess safety belt benefits, but they have not been able to reflect a consensus on the degree of these benefits. This paper examines seventeen safety belt studies to identify the possible causes for the disparate assessments. Factors that contribute to this disparity include differences in injury scale values, inaccuracies in reporting occupants' belt status, and variations in sampling criteria.


Distributed topology control mechanisms for 3-dimensional settings are of considerable interest for automated network configuration in diverse applications including structural monitoring networks and underwater networks. The 3-D CBTC technique proposed by Bahramgiri et al. [7] has a complexity of O (d 3 log d), where d represents the average number of neighbors per node. We present two efficient alternatives. The first is a heuristic based on 2-D orthographic projections that provides excellent performance in practice, but is theoretically not guaranteed to produce a connected network. The second is a more rigorous approach based on spherical Delaunay triangulation (SDT). Both have significantly better running times that scale as O (d log d). Our simulation results indicate that network topologies generated based on the SDT algorithm have substantially lower average node degree and average transmission power level compared to the original network for random deployments.


This article tries to show that there are alternative approaches to the economic theory, besides the well-known economic schools, Classicism, Neoclassicism and Keynesianism. The neoclassical principles allow a formalization – widely accepted by experts – that provide effective tools for measuring the effects of the economic activity. The economic science pays a special attention to the study of the economic agents' behaviors, and to the economic results obtained by them through economic activity. Any human science uses principles and works with assumptions, and the neoclassical assumptions have generated efficient tools for quantifying the economic outcomes, and for accounting the economic growth. But these hypothesis, such as the assumption of economic agents' rationality, allow a very limited understanding of the behaviors of economic agents within the markets. The recent invention of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance device, allowed the emrgence of a new scientific paradigm, the development of neurosciences. Researchers can observe at a high level of graphic detail various types of activities that occur in the human brain, and some economists have introduced in the study of the economic theory, for example, the assumption that the consumer is driven by emotions when purchasing quantities of goods and services. So, economists may look for additional theories to explain the behavior of the economic agents. An increasingly importance is given to the theoretical contributions built on the work of the economist Joseph Alois Schumpeter, who has an original economic approach based on his own principles. It is proposed to focus the attention on a mesoeconomic vision about the industry, to understand how resources are being allocated and reallocated between companies, and to study the economic processes of evolution, which are influenced by the emergence and dissemination of the innovations. It is supposed that the price is allocating the resources in the economy, but the companies' behavior is generated by a competition and cooperation for innovation.


Rigidizable-Inflatable (RI) materials offer the possibility of de- ployable large space structures (C.H.M. Jenkins (ed.), Gossamer Spacecraft: Membrane and Inflatable Structures Technology for Space Applications, Pro- gress in Aeronautics and Astronautics, 191, AIAA Pubs., 2001) and so are of interest in applications where large optical or RF apertures are needed. In particular, in recent years there has been renewed interest in inflatable- rigidizable truss-structures because of the efficiency theyoffer in packaging during boost-to-orbit. However, much research is still needed to better under- stand dynamic response characteristics, including inherent damping, of truss structures fabricated with these advanced material systems. One of the most important characteristics of such space systems is their response to changing thermal loads, as they move in and out of the Earth's shadow. We study a model for the thermoelastic behavior of a basic truss componentconsisting of two RI beams connected through a joint subject to solar heating. Axial and transverse motions as well as thermal response of the beams with thermoelas- tic damping are taking into account. The model results in a couple PDE-ODE system. Well-posedness and stability results are shown and analyzed.


William Faulkner's letters to his publisher Horace Liveright, his agent Ben Wasson, and others, several versions of an introduction composed in 1933, and the explanatory appendix (composed in the autumn of 1945) may be used to reconstruct the conditions under which The Sound and the Fury was written and shed light on the author's psychological state at the time. Letters that Faulkner wrote to Liveright between October 1927 and March 1928 demonstrate an initial sense of hope, even euphoria, in having completed his third novel Sartoris. In his 16 October 1927 letter to Liveright, Faulkner says, "I have written THE book, of which those other things were but foals" (208) and in the same letter encloses instructions for the printer and asserts control over the title and jacket, for which he has already painted a conception. His euphoria was followed by frustration and despair at having his hopes dashed upon his third novel's rejection by his trusted publisher, to which Faulkner responded 30 November 1927 in a hurt and resigned mood: "I still believe it is the book that will make my name for me as a writer" (209). Though he now speaks of continuing to write intermittently, it is the very different tone, particularly the stillness and solemnity of this letter, that is striking. It was within this mood of isolation and rejection--the victim of a "crowd" of New York publishers and critics--that Faulkner protested that he would never again publish. (1) Within three months, in mid or late February 1928, Faulkner in utter disgust writes to Liveright: "I have a belly full of writing, now, since you folks in the publishing business claim that a book like that last one I sent you is blah" (209), suggesting that he may have quit writing altogether. When he later responds to Liveright in early March, Faulkner's description of his current writing is quite tentative, saying of a novel that he hopes to finish that spring, "Maybe it'll please you" (210). In a letter probably of spring 1928 to Mrs. Walter McLean, his beloved "Aunt Bama," Faulkner speaks of his weariness in revising the manuscript of Flags in the Dust, stating that "every day or so I burn some of it up and rewrite it, and at present it is almost incoherent" (211). On 18 February 1929, Faulkner writes to Alfred Harcourt concerning the manuscript of The Sound and the Fury that Harcourt has briskly rejected: "That is all right. I did not believe that anyone would publish it; I had no definite plan to submit it to anyone" (212). If the rejection of Sartoris and his hopelessness concerning further publication were reason enough for despair, Faulkner's anxiety regarding his mounting family responsibilities and the inimical relation of these new responsibilities to his future as a writer were other sources of worry. The awareness that he had, permanently he believed, failed in his attempt to gain a national audience for his fiction struck Faulkner at precisely the worst moment--just as he had undertaken a financial and an emotional commitment to Estelle Oldham and her two children, and would soon assume the support (as he must already have been more than vaguely aware) of an extended family and growing household. Separated from her husband Cornell Franklin, Estelle had returned to Oxford in January 1927. During the next two and a half years, Faulkner resumed the role of the "romantic swain," with their relationship purportedly arriving at "some sort of crisis" (Blotner 212) during the spring of 1928 while Faulkner was working on The Sound and the Fury. Amid local gossip over their intimate attachment, Faulkner felt compelled to marry Estelle despite his inability to support a family. That support eventually involved more than a dozen persons other than himself. Accompanying the immediate burden of his commitment to Estelle was a related stratum of family trauma that may have played an even greater part in Faulkner's bewilderment, as it must have aggravated his sense of injustice at his rapid transformation from bohemian independence to patriarchal obligation. …


A novel solution to the reliable multicast problem is the "digital fountain" approach, in which data is encoded with an erasure protection code before transmission, and receivers can recover the original data after receiving enough distinct encoded data. This solution, however, is not desirable for streaming media schemes in which it is preferable for parts of a movie to be available for consumption before the entire movie is received. Earlier work has proposed the use of Unequal Error Protection (UEP) codes, which permit some parts of the movie to be recovered before others. Unfortunately, a straightforward implementation of this solution can incur prohibitive coding complexity.
 We outline an on-demand media streaming scheme involving a combination of segmentation and rateless encoding. Our solution reduces the coding complexity to feasible levels, while guaranteeing the least bandwidth consumption for a given playout delay and number of segments. We propose an efficient algorithm to find the optimal segmentation for single-layered and multi-layered transmissions, and analyze its performance under network packet loss. Through analysis, numerical examples, and simulations, we demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed scheme.


It is important to identify and prevent disease risk as early as possible through regular physical examinations. We formulate the disease risk prediction into a multilabel classification problem. A novel Ensemble Label Power-set Pruned datasets Joint Decomposition (ELPPJD) method is proposed in this work. First, we transform the multilabel classification into a multiclass classification. Then, we propose the pruned datasets and joint decomposition methods to deal with the imbalance learning problem. Two strategies size balanced (SB) and label similarity (LS) are designed to decompose the training dataset. In the experiments, the dataset is from the real physical examination records. We contrast the performance of the ELPPJD method with two different decomposition strategies. Moreover, the comparison between ELPPJD and the classic multilabel classification methods RAkEL and HOMER is carried out. The experimental results show that the ELPPJD method with label similarity strategy has outstanding performance.


Introduction With only seven transplant centres currently commissioned in the UK, many patients travel long distances for specialist care. A hepatology network was established with the support of King's College Hospital in the South West Peninsula 13 years ago. Over time a devolved model of assessment and care for liver transplant patients, involving a large regional centre and referring hospitals, has been developed with post-transplant care delivered close to the patients' home. Our aim is to establish whether patients receiving care at the South West Liver Unit have similar outcomes to current transplant centres. Method We retrospectively analysed data of all potential liver transplant patients cared for at the South West Liver Unit between 2000–2015. We created a patient database by reviewing clinical documents, which included all 361 patients formally assessed for liver transplant at the South West Liver Unit, and 174 patients who have undergone transplantation to date. Of the cases transplanted since the network was established, 21 received a transplant since 1stMarch 2014 and 153 over 1 year ago. Where a patient was re-transplanted the most recent transplant date was used. We undertook a survival analysis using a Kaplan-Meier survival plot on SPSS V.20 to determine percentage survival at 1, 3, and 5 years post-transplantation. Results The median survival time post-transplantation in our patient group was 12.6 years (95% confidence intervals 11.6–13.5). In total, 23 of the 174 patients died during follow up. Survival analysis (Figure 1)demonstrated non-risk adjusted survival rates of 93.4%, 92.7%, and 85.4% at 1, 3, and 5 years, respectively. These results are concordant with those currently reported by the seven transplant units within the UK. Conclusion The 1, 3, and 5 year survival outcomes for liver transplant recipients whose post-transplant care was provided by a non-transplanting centre and its network, are good and comparable to those of all current transplant centres. With increasing numbers of patients being transplanted and surviving, provision of accessible specialist care is becoming increasingly important. This data provides reassurance that devolution of care of liver transplant recipients, to appropriately staffed and trained regional centres, is a viable model for service delivery. Centres demonstrating good post-transplant outcomes will be well placed to develop into transplant units in the future.Abstract PTH-124 Figure 1 Kaplan-Meier survival plot for all patients undergoing liver transplantation (1stJanuary 2000–21stFebruary 2015) and subsequently cared for by the South West Liver Unit Disclosure of interest None Declared.


Ghrelin (Grln) is a peptide hormone that is predominantly produced in the stomach and stimulates appetite and induces growth hormone (GH) release. We have previously reported that ghrelin is also expressed in T cells and exerts prothymic and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the biologic relevance of T cell-derived ghrelin remains to be determined. Here, we report that acylated-bioactive ghrelin is expressed in human T cells and preferentially segregates within the lipid raft domains upon TCR ligation. The RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated down-regulation of ghrelin in primary human T cells activates IkB, and increases Th1 cytokines and IL-17 secretion. Ghrelin expression declines with increasing age in spleen and T cells and exogenous ghrelin administration in old mice reduces proinflammatory cytokines. These findings demonstrate that ghrelin functions in an autocrine and paracrine capacity to regulate proinflammatory cytokine expression in human and murine T cells and may contribute in regulating "inflamm-aging."


Owing to the separate structure, low coupling coefficient and limited power factor of the contactless power system of AUV(Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), it is necessary to apply compensation circuits for maximizing power factor and increasing the efficiency of power transmission. In deep sea, the magnetic core of this system would deviate with the impact of water flow, on which condition the coupling coefficient may change, power factor of system decreases and power transmission is affected. This paper discusses the impacts of water flow to various compensation circuits, and proposes the common method of designing the compensation circuit for contactless underwater power system of AUV.


We report the successful heteroepitaxial growth of perfectly oriented hybrid MOF thin films. By employing step-by-step liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE), [Zn(2)(ndc)(2)(dabco)](n) was grown on [Cu(2)(ndc)(2)(dabco)](n), thus demonstrating that the MOF-on-MOF deposition scheme developed for powdered microcrystalline MOF materials can also be applied in connection with LPE for MOF thin films or multilayers. The deposition was monitored by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy, the resulting MOF heterostructures were characterized using IR spectroscopy and different types of X-ray diffraction (XRD)-based techniques. The results suggest that the LPE method is a promising way to fabricate and grow MOF heterostructures, and also demonstrates the potential of [Cu(2)(ndc)(2)(dabco)](n) MOF thin films as substrates for the LPE-based growth of different MOFs on top.


A key factor in determining the future of agricultural extension efforts is ensuring that the voices of those who need to be heard are represented at all stages of the decision-making process. As agricultural extension becomes increasingly globalized, it is critical that the diversity of voices represented within capacity assessments likewise increases. Using two distinct approaches, the present study attempts to address a current gap within the extension literature specifically related to extension assessment respondent groups. First, 97 extension related assessment manuscripts were identified during a literature review and analyzed for respondent group. The results indicated most studies included only one respondent group. Among these assessments Clientele and Beneficiaries and Formal Power Roles were the respondent group categories most frequently examined. Next, a primary study was conducted to identify which respondent groups should be represented in capacity assessment according to agricultural extension experts. The panelists had the highest level of agreement regarding the inclusion of extension clientele and beneficiaries within capacity assessments. However, panelists agreed that representation from outside influences and formal power roles were also important to include in the capacity assessment process. The results indicate extension networks should purposively include a diverse set of respondents when conducting assessments to ensure a comprehensive perspective is represented.


The current technological advancement has enabled glass-based building facades with doubleor triple-glazed transparent panels. However, the conventional glazing technologies cannot effectively reduce building thermal energy loss especially for large area transparent building skin. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Energy, building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) accounted for 14.0 % of primary energy consumption in the United States. Heat loss through windows in cold weather consumes about 3.9 quads, which is estimated to encompass 28.7 % of total HVAC energy consumption. [1] We have developed a novel concept of Optical Thermal Insulation (OTI) without any intervening medium (Fig. 1). Instead of applying a thermal insulator, a transparent photothermal (PT) film can selectively absorb photons near the UV and NIR regions and efficiently convert them to heat, therefore raising the window surface temperature (via free energy). As the inner surface temperature is raised relative to room temperature, the heat transfer at the window inner surface can be effectively reduced via the so-called OTI, especially in winter. It must be noted that the PT films are spectral selective with high absorptions near UV and IR, while allowing high visible transmittance, therefore transparent and ideal for façade engineering. Based on this concept, a so-called "Green Window" has been designed for single-pane applications that meet the U-factor specifications of Department of Energy for colder regions of the United Sates. The "Green Window" is composed of chlorophyll (Chl) retrieved from natural greens (by which the name "Green Window" is derived). [2] A thin film window coating of naturally occurring chlorophyll exhibits strong near UV and NIR absorptions and pronounced photothermal effect, while remaining highly transparent (Fig. 2). Upon collecting solar light, considerable heat is created, effectively raising the window surface temperature, leading to a reduced U-factor less than 1.7 W m-2 K-1, even below the values of double-panes. Based on these experimental results, we demonstrate of a new concept of "optical thermal insulation" that lifts the dependence on insulating materials making single-pane window highly possible. Fig. 2 shows the change in temperature (ΔTg) induced by simulated solar light as a function of time for the multilayer samples of chlorophyll. Consistently, thicker films (each layer is ~ 2 mm) gave greater ΔTg as expected. Conversely, the thicker films exhibit lower visible transmittance (VT). As shown in this figure, the temperature plateaus can be observed after 2 min.-irradiation by solar simulator. Fig. 2b shows ΔTg,max vs. VT for thin films of different layers (a maximum of 6 layers). ΔTg,max vs. VT displays a linear relationship extending to the point where no Chl film was applied (highest VT).


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of two methods of motor practice and computer games on motor skills in children with Down syndrome disorder. For this purpose, 30 students who were studying in exceptional schools in Mazandaran were selected with available sampling method. After homogenizing the scores in the pretest, participants were divided into three groups of 10 people including two experimental groups (motor practice and computer game groups) and one control group. Experimental groups participated in selective games for 8 weeks, three 45-minute sessions a week. The control group did not received any treatment and lived their daily life. At the end of the training interventions, a post-test was conducted. Bruininks Oseretsky test was selected to evaluate motor activity. Dependent t-test, Covariance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test were used for data analysis at P≤0.05 level. The results showed that there is a significant difference between computer games and control groups as well as the training program and control group (P =0.013 and P = 0.001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference between the groups of computer games and the training program (P = 0.479). Therefore, it seems that despite some ideas that make computer games ineffective in improving motor development, its proper use is to improve the motor development of children with Down syndrome as well as training program can also perform important role in improving their motor skills.


The index of heat injury and leaf anatomical structure under the scanning electron microscope of six Primula species were measured to study the responsive mechanism of Primula to the high temperature and to select the heat-resistant Primula species.The results showed that Primula forrestii and P.malacoides franch had higher heat-resistance than that of P.obconica,P.veris,P.saxatilis,P.denticulatess.,P.sinodenticulata with lowest heat-resistance.Leaf anatomical structures of Primula associated with heat-resistance included leaf thickness,tightness of mesophyll cell arrangement,the number of open stomata,the number of epidermal hair and powders of leaves.


Wafer-scale single-crystal graphene film directly grown on insulating substrates via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method is desired for building high-performance graphene-based devices. In comparison with the well-studied mechanism of graphene growth on transition metal substrates, the lack of understanding on the mechanism of graphene growth on insulating surfaces greatly hinders the progress. Here, by using first-principles calculation, we systematically explored the absorption of various carbon species CHx (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) on three typical insulating substrates [h-BN, sapphire, and quartz] and reveal that graphene growth on an insulating surface is dominated by the reaction of active carbon species with the hydrogen-passivated graphene edges and thus is less sensitive to the type of the substrate. The dominating gas phase precursor, CH3, plays two key roles in graphene CVD growth on an insulating substrate: (i) to feed the graphene growth and (ii) to remove excessive hydrogen atoms from the edge of graphene. The threshold reaction barriers for the growth of graphene armchair (AC) and zigzag (ZZ) edges were calculated as 3.00 and 1.94 eV, respectively; thus the ZZ edge grows faster than the AC one. Our theory successfully explained why the circumference of a graphene island grown on insulating substrates is generally dominated by AC edges, which is a long-standing puzzle of graphene growth. In addition, the very slow graphene growth rate on an insulating substrate is calculated and agrees well with existing experimental observations. The comprehensive insights on the graphene growth on insulating surfaces at the atomic scale provide guidance on the experimental design for high-quality graphene growth on insulating substrates.


Social Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap, by Richard Rothstein. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University; Washington, DC: Economic Policy Institute, 2004, 210 pp. $17.95, paperback. In Social Class and Schools, Rothstein sets out to explain the persistence of the Black-White achievement gap despite 50 years of school desegregation and reform since Brown v. Board of Education (1954). In his view, the achievement gap results not from failed policies, poor school quality, or ineffective schools, but from social class disparities between Black and White students, which impact every aspect of their lives. A research associate at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and former education columnist for the New York Times, Rothstein has written extensively on student achievement and school reform. The book stems from lectures he gave in 2003-2004 at Teachers College, Columbia University, although some of the chapters expand on work previously done at EPI or published elsewhere. Chapter 1 examines the mechanisms through which social class influences academic performance. For Rothstein, the Black-White achievement gap arises from class-based differences in socialization, health status, housing, wealth, and learning outside schools. In his view, middleclass students outperform their lower-class counterparts because middle-class parents often read to and use complex language with their children; enforce behavioral norms consistent with those of schools; provide effective homework assistance; promote future orientations; and as role models, attest to the payoff that investments in education have for the middle class. Rothstein argues that, in comparison to their middle-class peers, lower-class children are more likely to suffer nutrition, vision, hearing, and other health problems that undermine their ability to learn. Likewise, they may lack access to stable, high-quality housing and experience considerable geographic mobility, which fragments their school experience. Due to lack of wealth, lower-class children may be exposed to parental unemployment, economic, and food insecurity, and poverty spells that seriously hamper their learning, especially during the early years. Lastly, unlike some lower-class families, some middle-class ones may provide meaningful learning experiences prior to kindergarten and during after-school and summer hours, which strengthen school readiness and performance, and prevent the summer learning loss typically observed in lower-class children. Rothstein recognizes that improving the quality of schools may help diminish the BlackWhite achievement gap. But, in his view, school reform alone is insufficient since it leaves classbased disparities untouched. Chapter 2 reviews initiatives purporting to have eliminated racial disparities in achievement. For Rothstein, these claims are unfounded: in some instances, proposals owe their success to the selective students served, who typically perform better than lower-class students; in other instances, improved achievement scores are due to health interventions rather than to educational changes; and in still others, claims are based on a selective reading on test scores or lead to unrealistic policy goals. Two chapters in Social Class and Schools are devoted to the important question of what we actually know about the achievement gap. In Chapter 3, Rothstein contends that school reform efforts cannot be evaluated because of limitations of existing standardized tests, and their misuse in response to political pressures of the current accountability environment. Chapter 4 examines the gap in non-cognitive skills, that is, "character traits like perseverance, self-confidence, selfdiscipline, punctuality, communication skills, social responsibility, and the ability to work with others and resolve conflicts." For Rothstein, these skills ought to represent key goals of public education since they have stronger impact than cognitive skills on future employment and earnings. …


Traumatic hip joint dislocations account for 2-5% of total joint dislocations. Bilateral asymmetric hip joint dislocation with anteriorly and posteriorly dislocation is an even more rare case because it was according to G. Loupasis reported in 11 cases only since 1879. We want to report 2 cases of bilateral asymmetric hip joint dislocation with unilateral acatabulum fracture which happened in our hospital. Bilateral asymmetric dislocation of hip joint accompanied by unilateral fracture of acetabulum is a very rare case so statistical verification cannot be done. However, close examinations are required at early treatment and follow-up because the patterns of dislocation and fracture of hip joint are variable and an orthopedic emergent condition and several complications may occur at both hip joints.


When making decisions to acquire used products or components (cores), a remanufacturer faces limited information on the quality or proportional yield of cores during the recovery process. In this paper, we propose and analyse a robust optimisation model for studying the remanufacturing decision problem with partial random yield information, that is, when the quality information of cores is partly unknown in a remanufacturing system. Regarding the impacts of unknown yield information, we only require the support and mean of the proportional yield rather than the true distributions. The closed-form solutions of acquisition quantities are derived based on the minimax regret approach. In addition, to validate the effectiveness of the analytical results, particularly the acquisition of yield information, numerical experiments are designed and implemented using (1) the support and mean of the proportional yield based on the manufacturer's knowledge and (2) a sampling inspection to evaluate the performance of the robust optimisation approach, the benchmark, and the naïve approach. We observe that the minimax regret approach slightly underperforms compared to the benchmark but performs much better than the naïve approach. As an acceptable choice, this approach is less complicated and extremely easy to implement to meet the needs of practical situations based on its robust closed-form solutions.


Painting provides better attraction and protection to the building. It is  used for preventing the chemical attack, ultra virus light, protecting from extreme solar and moisture even it able protect from germs  There are different types of brands are also playing the predominant role in the field of painting. Even the non-skid protective paint coatings are also used by the modern house to prevent slipping, while some exterior paints are used as attractive in the eyes of people. In general, the paints are protecting the building as well as attracting the people to have a positive opinion on the house. At this juncture, the research in this field is adding some extra feather to this painting industry. The present study is focused on to analyze the various factors which are influencing the consumer's influence on purchase decision. At this juncture, the paint manufacturing companies are putting all efforts to hold the greater market share, it is very important to analyze the brand perception of consumers and their final purchase.


Reactive diluent with quaternary ammonium salts (RDQ) for UV-curable antistatic coating was synthesized by reacting glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and piperazin with dropping the methansulfonic acid. In order to compare the curing behavior of RDQ with commercial monomers, the photopolymerization of RDQ, 1,6-hexandiol diacrylate (HDDA) and 1,6-hexandiol dimethacrylate (HDDMA) were studied by using real-time IR spectroscopy. Surface properties such as surface resistance, pencil hardness, and solvent resistance of the cured films containing RDQ were investigated. When used as a reactive diluent in the UV-curable coating formulation, the RDQ imparted excellent antistatic properties to the final material. The results of an Fourier transform infrared/attenuated total reflectance (FTIR/ATR) depth profile analysis show that RDQ molecules are more concentrated near the surface within a micrometer-thick layer, indicating that existence of the ionic components in the surface layer is responsible for antistatic property. Film cured from the formulation containing 12 wt % of RDQ showed the best mechanical properties with reasonable surface properties. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 132–137, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10273


As a consequence of lagging dry matter intake and increased energy demands, nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) is released into the bloodstream from adipose tissue to be used as a source of energy in dairy cows in early lactation. Nonesterified fatty acid is used for milk fat synthesis, ketone production (e.g., -hydroxybutyrate; BHBA) and liver triglyceride accumulation. Nonesterified fatty acid and BHBA can be used as markers of negative energy balance (NEB) and elevated concentrations in the transition period have been associated with an increased risk of developing disease.
The multiple pathways available for NEFA may result in a non-linear relationship between NEFA and BHBA concentrations. Additionally, the ratio between these two metabolites may differ in sub populations, e.g., subclinically ketotic (SCK) cows, and cows with elevated NEFA. Hence, the ratio of these metabolites may be a useful parameter for further understanding the biological mechanisms of adaption or maladaptation to NEB. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the R2 coefficient of determination between NEFA and BHBA in apparently healthy cows three to 14 DIM, and to estimate the association between the ratio of NEFA to BHBA and the subsequent development of displaced abomasum (DA), clinical ketosis (CK), or metritis (MET).


As eGovernment is gaining popularity in administrations, business and with citizen, issues about the course of its evolution take center stage. This evolution is generally seen as a four-step process: presence phase, interaction phase, transaction phase and transformation phase. To date few countries have made a significant progress in the last transformation phase whose goal is to integrate several internal services at the vertical and horizontal levels, into a one-stop, whole-of-government with innovative services operating seamlessly across departments, agencies and programmes. In this paper, we give our opinion on the application of the emerging technologies like Web services and semantic Web currently used in the transformation phase. As an illustration, we present two systems proposed to the government of Quebec, Canada: the address change service and the investment assistance programme service.


In this paper we investigate the irregular degree of finite not ramified local field extantions with respect to a polynomial formal group and in the multiplicative case. There was found necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of primitive roots of ps power from 1 and (endomorphism [ps]Fm) in L-th unramified extension of the local field K (for all positive integer s). These conditions depend only on the ramification index of the maximal abelian subextension of the field K Ka/Qp.


Quality has a cost and this fact cannot be denied. In the same time, it is true that non-quality is more expensive. Quality is considered as being expensive because no one tries to calculate non-quality costs. Out of the final cost of a product, non-quality stands for 20% up to 35%. According to this idea all the economic sectors contain error costs caused by the mistakes made during the production process. To have a real consummation situation, it is necessary to know the cost quantum. The final quality cost is the result of the following costs: prevention costs, necessary to preclude errors; evaluation costs, as results of a final product evaluation, and failure costs, generated by the non – attainment of product's purpose. The gross of these costs stand for the total quality costs. Nowadays, the problem inheres in how much this quality cost represents out of the final cost.


A general dental practitioner should be familiar with certain rare odontogenic entities like fibrodentinosarcoma, which can occur with unerupted or impacted teeth. The knowledge of such rare pathologies usually associated with unerupted/ impacted teeth aids in the early recognition and correct management of these entities, which are often asymptomatic. One such rare, diverse tumor is ameloblastic fibrodentinosarcoma (AFDS), characterized only by sporadic case reports in the literature. It is important to describe the features of this odontogenic entity to general dental practitioners for successful management and to reduce patient morbidity. This report presents a case of AFDS in a 17-year-old woman who reported to our department with a swelling of the right mandible that was associated with an unerupted tooth. The clinical, radiographic, and histologic findings of AFDS are presented, providing the details necessary to assist the primary dental clinical team in management of AFDS.


Nonphysician providers (NPPs) place in medicine continues to evolve regardless of controversy. NPPs presence in academic and private practices continues to grow in all fields. Despite their growth, there remains Contention and debate about the capability, safety, efficiency, and aptitude of NPP's abilities for proper image ordering, image interpretation, and performing radiology-related tasks. NNPs role in healthcare across the United States continues to grow in all facets of healthcare, including radiology and radiologist related procedures. The claims submitted by NPPs involving radiology have significantly increased. However, current research suggests that the current scope of practice maintains the levels of capability, safety, efficiency and aptitude of a physician. It is imperative to note that there remains no evidence comparing diagnostic accuracy/errors between NPPs and radiologists. Despite the increased radiology services rendered by NPPs, the output of NPPs is still fractional compared to radiologists but it is mostly fluoroscopy and radiography. As with medical student education, the education for NPPs has continued to grow to encompass more aspects of medicine, including radiology. Evidence-based programs for NPP radiology training offers potential to encourage proper radiology service rendering. 10,15 NPPs are skilled in their ability to provide care for specific common conditions and potential greater ability to follow protocol. All of these factors promote the opportunity to take tedious tasks and/or cases from overworked radiologists to pursue greater generation of profit and work-life balance.


This study aimed at investigating the effect of using web-site games on the route and the rate of Saudi pupils' reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and motivation quantitatively and qualitatively. The sample of the study consisted of forty male pupils from Madinah Directorate of Education. Anwar AL-Faihaa' School was randomly chosen from the total number of basic schools in that directorate in the first semester of the academic year 2011-2012. In that school, there were two sixth grade classes:  Section (A) consisted of 20 students and it was assigned as an experimental group, while the other was decided to be a controlling group. It was also consisted of 20 students. Data were collected with twelve weeks via a pre-posttest design for equivalent group. The results of the study indicated that students who were taught using web-site games had better results than those who were taught using the traditional method. The researcher concluded that web-site games could facilitate pupils' reading comprehension and vocabulary acquisition since they motivate students and make them involved in the teaching process. Accordingly, the Ministry of Education represented by the Directorate of Curricula should accompany the main English textbooks with links to web-site games that do not harm or contradict with our traditions and our culture. Additionally, there is a need for more computerized games to teach other language components and skills. Moreover, the educational philosophies, methodologies, and curricula should be rearranged to design other web-sites of educational games as integral strategies to meet the needs of the new age since they contribute to the development of students'  language skills and mental growth. Keywords: Web-Site Games, Motivation, Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary Acquisition, Saudi Pupils.


Electron-doped infinite-layer Sr$_{1-x}$Eu$_{x}$CuO$_{2+y}$ films over a wide doping range have been prepared epitaxially on SrTiO$_3$(001) using reactive molecular beam epitaxy. In-plane transport measurements of the single crystalline samples reveal a dome-shaped nodeless superconducting phase centered at $x$ $\sim$ 0.15, a Fermi-liquid behavior and pronounced upturn in low temperature resistivity. We show that the resistivity upturn follows square-root temperature dependence, suggesting the emergence of superconductivity via a three-dimensional percolation process. The percolative superconductivity is corroborated spectroscopically by imaging the electronic phase separation between superconducting and metallic phases with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. Furthermore, we visualize interstitial and apical oxygen anions that rapidly increase in number as $x>$ 0.12, and elucidate their impacts on the superconductivity and normal-state resistivity.


Thirty eight genotypes of Indian mustard along with check Giriraj were evaluated in Randomized block design with three replications during Rabi 2016-17. The ANOVA suggested the existence of sufficient variability between genotypes and mean indicated that seed yield per plot showed highest performance followed by number of siliqua per plant and plant height. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for days to 50% flowering, number of siliqua/ plant, siliqua length, seeds/ siliqua, 1000-seed weight, seed yield/ plant, seed yield/plot, biological yield and seed yield (q/ha) suggesting presence of additive gene action for these traits hence direct selection for these traits may prove to be rewarding. Higher genotypic coefficient of variation coupled with higher phenotypic coefficient of variation was recorded for seeds/ siliqua. At genotypic level seed yield was positively correlated with plant height, number of secondary branches, number of siliqua/ plant, siliqua length, main raceme length, number of siliqua on main raceme, test weight, seed yield/plant, seed yield/ plot and biological yield therefore these traits can be considered for direct selection At phenotypic level, path coefficient analysis revealed positive direct effect on seed yield (q/ha) for plant height, number of primary branches/ plant, number of secondary branches/ plant, siliqua length, seeds/ siliqua, main raceme length, number of siliqua on main raceme and number of siliqua/ plant. Since seed yield per plot and biological yield showed high heritability, high genetic advance and positive correlation with the seed yield (q/ha) which was supported by the path analysis, therefore, we can use these two traits as selection criteria in breeding programmes. RVM-2 (17.3 q/ha), RGN-73 (16.4 q/ha), JD-6 (16.2 q/ha), RGN-298 (15.9 q/ha) and RGN-48 (15.8 q/ha) were found better than Giriraj for seed yield.


The present protocol primarily aims at presenting the results of a pilot randomized field trial to assess the effectiveness of an intervention aimed at increasing maternal well-being and self-efficacy, as well as to reduce the stress level of Italian women in the first six months after childbirth.
Women with a gestational age and APGAR scores normal will be recruited. The participants will be randomly divided in three groups: collective intervention, individual intervention and control group. The intervention aims to engage and empower new mothers by strengthening their mindfulness in their parenting skills. The duration of the intervention is 3 hours. The first step is characterized by listening and understanding the critical points from the new mother. The second is to analyze the situation considering the sources of discomfort and emotional distress. The operator will evaluate the strategies implemented by the new mother to face problems and difficulties and apply the theory of the self-efficacy. Finally the summary of the topics discussed and analyzed will be done.
Three previously validated questionnaires will be used to monitor the effect of the intervention, namely: the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale, the Parental Stress Scale, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Online administration will be used to collect the data. The questionnaire will be filled in four times, the first before the intervention and the second three times immediately after the intervention, then after three and six months.


Policy-based chameleon hash is a useful primitive for blockchain rewriting. It allows a party to create a transaction associated with an access policy, while another party who possesses enough rewriting privileges satisfying the access policy can rewrite the transaction. However, it lacks accountability. The chameleon trapdoor holder may abuse his/her rewriting privilege and maliciously rewrite the hashed object in the transaction without being identified. In this paper, we introduce policy-based chameleon hash with black-box accountability (PCHBA). Black-box accountability allows an attribute authority to link modified transactions to responsible transaction modifiers in case of dispute, in which any public user identifies those transaction modifiers from interacting with an access device/blackbox. We first present a generic framework of PCHBA. Then, we present a practical instantiation, showing its practicality through implementation and evaluation analysis.


An eight-month-old girl with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, who underwent a modified Norwood operation at the age of two days, and a Hemifontan operation at five months of age, had severely impaired ventricular function and new electrocardiographic changes. Coronary angiography demonstrated a small adherent thrombus in the non-coronary sinus of Valsalva of the native aortic root, which may be the cause of unexplained ventricular dysfunction.


In a problem on the realization of digital filters, initiated by Gersho and Gopinath, we extend and complete a remarkable result of Benvenuti, Farina and Anderson on decomposing the transfer function t(z) of an arbitrary linear, asymptotically stable, discrete, time-invariant single-input-single-output system as a difference t(z)=t1(z)-t2(z) of two positive, asymptotically stable linear systems. We give an easy-to-compute algorithm to handle the general problem, in particular, also the case of transfer functions t(z) with multiple poles, which was left open in a previous paper. One of the appearing positive, asymptotically stable systems is always one-dimensional, while the other has dimension depending on the order and, in the case of nonreal poles, also on the location of the poles of t(z). The appearing dimension is seen to be minimal in some cases and it can always be calculated before carrying out the realization


As more and more databases are published on the internet nowadays, it is increasingly important to maintain the security of published databases. In this paper, we propose a distortion-free scheme for embedding and verifying integrity information for relational databases. The proposed scheme does not require any additional storage to store the integrity verification information, nor does it introduce any distortion to the original data. Meanwhile, the tampered area can be localized precisely at a block level. Experimental results indicate that our scheme has adequate performance to allow for its use in real world applications.


the wrong (but natural) way in each new situation while the narrator's increasing vexation reaches comic proportions. Reynolds' zesty art builds both tension and slapstick humor as the child (dressed as a proper explorer with hat, multi-pocketed vest, and binoculars) sheds drops of sweat and runs in open-mouthed (but hilarious) terror and the ponderous, irritated, and sometimes hungry animals stir up clouds of dust or splashes of water in their ill-tempered pursuit. Reading this aloud will be a delight for reader and audience, and readers-aloud who aren't afraid of a little boisterous fun may want to get the kids to act this one out. JH


A xylanase gene xynZT-1 from Alteromonas macleodii HY35 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli). The sequencing results showed that the ORF of xynZT-1 was 831 bp. The xylanase DNA sequence encoded a 29 amino acids (aa) signal peptide and a 247-aa mature peptide. The XynZT-1 has been a calculated molecular weight (MW) of 27.93 kDa, isoelectric point (pI) of 5.11 and the formula C1266H1829N327O384S5. The amino acid sequence of the xynZT-1 had a high similarity with that of glycosyl hydrolase family 11 (GHF11) reported from other microorganisms. The DNA sequence encoding mature peptide was subcloned into pET-28a(+) expression vector. The resulted plasmid pET-28a-xynZT-1 was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3), and the recombinant strain BL21(DE3)/xynZT-1 was obtained. The optimum temperature and pH of the recombinant XynZT-1 were 45 ℃ and 5.0, respectively.


The T17 v-myc oncogene was transduced by feline leukemia virus in a spontaneous feline T-cell lymphosarcoma. Molecular cloning and sequencing of the v-myc gene revealed several unique mutations, including a large deletion affecting amino acids 49 to 124 and a 3-bp insertion within the basic DNA binding domain which converts Leu-362 to Phe-Arg. The T17 lymphoma cell line was found to express a truncated 50-kDa Myc protein at exceptionally high levels, while the endogenous c-myc gene was not detectably expressed. These observations suggest that the mutant Myc product expresses an oncogenic function in T cells. Further evidence that the T17 mutant gene retains oncogenic potential was provided by its detection in clonally integrated proviruses in secondary tumors induced by feline leukemia virus T17, where no reversion mutations were found in any of three tumors examined. However, the mutant T17 v-myc gene did not induce transformation in a chicken embryo fibroblast assay, in contrast to wild-type feline c-myc, which conferred higher growth rates on the chicken fibroblasts, along with altered morphology and the ability to form foci in soft agar. Chicken cells over-expressing feline c-myc died by apoptosis when cultured with low serum concentrations, while the T17 mutant had no discernible effect. These results suggest that the leukemogenic potential of Myc can be uncoupled from its ability to cause transformation in fibroblasts. A possible explanation for this apparent paradox is that developing T cells are acutely sensitive to a subset of Myc functions which are insufficient for fibroblast transformation.


At low incident neutron energies nuclear reaction cross sections exhibit a distinct resonance structure which cannot properly be described by (semi-)microscopic models. Usually R-matrix theory is applied which provides a su ciently accurate but phenomenological description of the resonance region. However, standard R-matrix theory is only suited for two-particle channels. Threeand many-particle channels which may occur in light nuclear systems even at rather low incident energies are usually treated in an approximative or e↵ective way. In this contribution a novel R-matrix formalism for three-body channels and its application to nuclear systems will be presented. It is a generalized and significantly modified form of a proposal by W. Glöckle based on the Faddeev equations.


Isoelectric focusing on immobilized pH gradients dissociates most complexes between fatty acids and serum albumin from whole plasma. Most albumin thus migrates to a pI of 5.8, very close to the theoretical value of 6.0 as calculated with the Linderstrøm‐Lang equation. The phenomenon was elucidated through saturation experiments and time‐course monitoring of the protein pattern upon focusing.


Insulin resistance is clearly associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in diabetics. Insulin resistance may also be present in normoglycemic individuals, and some of these patients can be diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome (MS) according to various definitions. However, the relationship between hyperinsulinemia and CAD is obscure in normoglycemic individuals, especially in patients who do not meet the criteria for MS.


We used VIMOS on VLT to perform $V$ and $I$ band imaging of the outermost halo of NGC 5128 / Centaurus A ($(m-M)_0=27.91\pm0.08$), 65 kpc from the galaxy's center and along the major axis. The stellar population has been resolved to $I_0 \approx 27$ with a $50\%$ completeness limit of $I_0 = 24.7$, well below the tip of the red-giant branch (TRGB), which is seen at $I_0 \approx 23.9$. The surface density of NGC 5128 halo stars in our fields was sufficiently low that dim, unresolved background galaxies were a major contaminant in the source counts. We isolated a clean sample of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars extending to $\approx 0.8$ mag below the TRGB through conservative magnitude and color cuts, to remove the (predominantly blue) unresolved background galaxies. We derived stellar metallicities from colors of the stars via isochrones and measured the density falloff of the halo as a function of metallicity by combining our observations with HST imaging taken of NGC 5128 halo fields closer to the galaxy center. We found both metal-rich and metal-poor stellar populations and found that the falloff of the two follows the same de Vaucouleurs' law profiles from $\approx 8$ kpc out to $\approx$ 70 kpc. The metallicity distribution function (MDF) and the density falloff agree with the results of two recent studies of similar outermost halo fields in NGC 5128. We found no evidence of a "transition" in the radial profile of the halo, in which the metal-rich halo density would drop rapidly, leaving the underlying metal-poor halo to dominate by default out to greater radial extent, as has been seen in the outer halo of two other large galaxies. If NGC 5128 has such a transition, it must lie at larger galactocentric distances.


In this reply we address comments by Cloninger (this issue) related to our report (Farmer & Goldberg, this issue) on the psychometric properties of the revised Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-R) and a short inventory derivative, the TCI-140. Even though Cloninger's psychobiological model has undergone substantial theoretical modifications, the relevance of these changes for the evaluation and use of the TCI-R remains unclear. Aspects of TCI-R assessment also appear to be theoretically and empirically incongruent with Cloninger's assertion that TCI-R personality domains are non-linear and dynamic in nature. Several other core assumptions from the psychobiological model, including this most recent iteration, are non-falsifiable, inconsistently supported, or have no apparent empirical basis. Although researchers using the TCI and TCI-R have frequently accepted the temperament/character distinction and associated theoretical ramifications, for example, we find little overall support for the differentiation of TCI-R domains into these two basic categories. The implications of these observations for TCI-R assessment are briefly discussed.


Internet of Things (IoT) is considered as a trend nowadays. Devices connected to the internet interact with surrounding; this poses strong challenges in handling big data with a certain level of security. In this paper IoT devices will be divided in to two categories high vulnerability devices and low vulnerability devices. The classification depends on the ease of attacks. In order to ensure the security of IoT devices, an agile approach is used to secure high vulnerability devices as first step and then low vulnerability devices by applying encryption algorithms.


When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013, it took the lives of over 6,300 people. Many of those who died were men who did not evacuate in order to protect their homes. As a result, widowhood was a significant and devastating consequence of Haiyan, but widowed women were also one of the most neglected and underserved vulnerable populations in the aftermath of the disaster. The data used in this study were drawn from 15 semi-structured interviews and three focus group discussions with widowed women in three areas in the province of Leyte that were heavily affected by Haiyan: Tacloban City, Palo, and Tanauan. Our fieldwork uncovered that while the delivery of humanitarian assistance provided a modicum of human security to the survivors, the ability for widows to achieve human security was severely reduced and constrained. Thus, the main research question of this paper is: "What undermined the widows from attaining human security after Haiyan?" and we argue that there were four main factors: (1) the lack of equal access to economic opportunities; (2) the occurrence of new risks in the resettlement sites; (3) the inability of institutions to respond and adapt to change; and (4) the absence of survivor-centered decision making venues. To overcome these barriers to human security in the future, we make two key policy recommendations on how local government units, being the primary organizations that deliver prevention and response services, need to do. These are: (1) prioritize the elimination of existing economic and social vulnerabilities in the relocation sites, and (2) prepare the widows and their families for future climate shocks.


Objective Parents of children with any chronic illness may experience increased anxiety and reduced health-related quality of life (QoL). Our objective was to evaluate the change in parental QoL before vs after tonsillectomy. Our hypothesis was that pediatric tonsil surgery with or without adenoidectomy would improve parental QoL. Study Design A prospective cohort study. Setting An otolaryngology department in a tertiary academic center. Methods We enrolled parents of 79 children <5 years old. Adenotonsillectomy due to an obstructive airway indication was performed in 45 children. A group of 34 parents to healthy children served as a control group. Initially, we validated a modified version of the PAR-ENT-QoL questionnaire; then, we analyzed QoL parameters among parents of children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing before and after surgical treatment. Results We found significant differences between the QoL score before and after surgery (P = .003). The QoL score after surgery significantly improved and was even lower than that of the control group (P < .001). Conclusions These results highlight the importance of timely diagnosis and treatment of children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing, as this condition may affect not only the children themselves but also their caregivers.


Attribute Based Access Control can define permissions based on just about any security relevant characteristics of requestors, actions, resources, and environment, known as attributes. XACML is an access control OASIS standard compliant to this approach. Although XACML seems to allow the specification and enforcement of any access control policy, current tools can require modifying the source code of the authorization decision system when policy includes non-standard information. In this article, we present an XACML authorization web service that can be extended when needed. It is composed of a core element implementing OASIS standard and additional modules for new security information. We apply this approach to dynamic web sites access control management.


Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) contributes to 25% of maternal deaths worldwide. Abnormal placentation is a well-known culprit of PPH. Although controversial, iliac artery balloon occlusion has been used in patients to decrease bleeding. The use of antifibrinolytic agents, such as tranexamic acid (TXA), have gained popularity in the management of PPH. We present a 35-year-old parturient with placenta percreta that was managed with internal iliac artery balloon occlusion with concomitant use of TXA during urgent cesarean hysterectomy with subsequent aortoiliac thrombosis formation. The role of both TXA and arterial balloons in PPH, along with their respective limitations, are discussed.


We study Einstein gravity minimally coupled to a scalar field in a static, spherically symmetric space–time in four dimensions. Black hole solutions are shown to exist for a phantom scalar field whose kinetic energy is negative. These "scalar black holes" have an infinite horizon area and zero Hawking temperature and are termed "cold black holes" (CBHs). The relevant explicit solutions are well known in the massless case (the so-called anti-Fisher solution), and we have found a particular example of a CBH with a nonzero potential V(ϕ). All CBHs with V(ϕ) ≢ 0 are shown to behave near the horizon, quite similarly to those with a massless field. The above solutions can be converted by a conformal transformation to Jordan frames of a general class of scalar–tensor theories of gravity, but CBH horizons in one frame are in many cases converted to singularities in the other, which gives rise to a new type of conformal continuation.


Objective To examine the total non-accidental mortality burden attributable to ambient temperatures and assess the effect modification of the burden by specific causes of death and individual characteristics in a high plateau area in southwest China. Methods Using daily mortality and meteorological data from 2009 to 2016, we applied a quasi-Poisson model combined with a distributed lag non-linear model to estimate the temperature–mortality association with the assessment of attributable fraction and number. We calculated attributable fractions and deaths with 95% empirical CIs (eCIs), that were due to cold and heat, defined as temperatures below and above the median temperature, and for mild and extreme temperatures, defined by cut-offs at the 2.5th and 97.5th temperature percentiles. Results We analysed 89 467 non-accidental deaths; 4131 were attributable to overall temperatures, with an attributable fraction of 4.75% (95% eCI 2.33% to 6.79%). Most of the mortality burden was caused by cold (4.08%; 0.86% to 7.12%), whereas the burden due to heat was low and non-significant (0.67%; −2.44% to 3.64%). Extreme cold (1.17%; 0.58% to 1.69%) was responsible for 24.6% (ie, 1.17% divided by 4.75%) of the total death burden. In the stratification analyses, attributable risk due to cold was higher for cardiovascular than respiratory disease (6.18% vs 3.50%). We found a trend of risk of increased death due to ambient temperatures with increasing age, with attributable fractions of 1.83%, 2.27% and 6.87% for age ≤64, 65–74 and ≥75 years old, respectively. The cold-related burden was slightly greater for females, farmers, ethnic minorities and non-married individuals than their corresponding categories. Conclusions Most of the burden of death was attributable to cold, and specific causes and individual characteristics might modify the mortality burden attributable to ambient temperatures. The results may help make preventive measures to confront climate change for susceptible population in this region.


The policies and practices of American Electric Power (AEP) encompass a number of paradoxes in the domain of sustainability. AEP is a large electric power provider with a predominantly coal‐fired power generation portfolio, which puts the company squarely in the center of national debates about global climate change and national air quality. At the same time, AEP is also a leader on several social and environmental fronts: integrated reporting, stakeholder engagement, technology innovation, and policy solutions for climate change. In this article, the authors describe AEP's rationale for providing leadership in these areas and then explore how the company tries to balance stakeholder interests and financial, environmental, and social concerns in its capital investment decisions. Using these examples, the authors expand on and discuss the limitations of Michael Jensen's theory of "enlightened value maximization."


Energy transfer is a promising strategy to improve the visible light emitting efficiency of phosphors. A series of Ce3+, Tb3+, Dy3+ and/or Eu3+ doped Na3Y(BO3)2(NYB) were prepared by solid-state reaction and their photoluminescence properties were studied in detail. The excitation and emission spectra of NYB:Ce3+,Tb3+ and NYB:Ce3+,Dy3+ revealed that an efficient energy transfer process from Ce3+ to Tb3+ or Dy3+ occurred upon excitation Ce3+ into 5d level. The dependence of the decay times of Ce3+ 5d level on Tb3+ or Dy3+ concentration indicated that the energy transfer efficiency increased with increasing Tb3+ or Dy3+ content. So the UV excitation light could be converted into green or near-white emission. However, there was no obvious evidence of the existence of energy transfer from Ce3+ to Eu3+ in NYB.


Economic growth has led to tremendous environmental changes including resulted pollution, overexploitation of natural resources (biodiversity), converted land/sea (reclamation) and increasing carbon emissions. How developing countries have ability to manage climate change impacts as committed in international climate agreement such as the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), UNFCCC, COP 21 and so on, is important to be analyzed. As middle income countries, most developing countries (such as Indonesia) have already dealed with other various issues – political, economic, social, etc – in which most government put their priorities and allocate most of their resources to solve those challenges. It is critical to provide policy framework on adaptation and mitigation of climate change impact to strengthen national resilience. As conceptual paper this study aims to analyse the policy governance that integrate the perspective of social and economic issues to address the impacts of climate change on particular case. By exploring global issues of multi level perspectives, this paper provides several propositions for policy makers to strengthen the key strategic policy in national and local contexts of climate change challenges.


The article provides with different approaches to the assessment of pharmaceutical manufacturers' innovation activity. The peculiarities of pharmaceutical industry product that can be characterized as innovative are taken into consideration. Special attention has been given to the pharmaceutical industry peculiarities originating from differentiation of original drug products and generics in the structure of pharmaceutical industry production. Based on these findings the classification of Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers in accordance with their innovation activity extent evaluated by their activity in clinical trials conducting was developed. The classification is based upon k-means clustering algorithm with 5 clusters specified.The small amount of manufacturers involved in clinical trials conducting and some optimistic insights about the original products share were concluded hereafter.


Tourism industry can be claimed as one of the important sectors in the modern Malaysian economic development. It has been identified as second largest foreign exchange earning sector and had strengthen up the performance of Malaysia Gross Domestic Product and trade balance. Numbers of studies have been done in order to attempt the theory that there is a link between trade and tourism and most of them showed that it is positively correlated. This paper specifies tourism demand models in Malaysia and estimates demand equations using tourist inflow data for the period 1997-2008. Researchers identified that bilateral trade, population, income, tourism price and geographical distance between Malaysia and the Asian countries are the main determinants of tourism. It clearly shows that tourism demands relates significantly with the trades. With more proactive action taken by the policymaker in understanding the dynamic of this industry, Malaysia will able to increase the quality of tourism industry in order to be the main center for tourism Asia region and the world beyond 21 century. st


We report the design, characterization and fabrication of GaAs/AlGaAs quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) to achieve intersubband transitions at expected long wavelengths. With eight-band k·p model, we calculated the E2-E1 transition energies of GaAs/Al0.25Ga0.75As QWs with the different well widths. According to the calculation, we designed a QWIP with the estimated detection wavelength around 9 μm. The actual device structure parameters, such as well width and Al composition, were confirmed by the XRD measurements. The absorption peak at 9.46 μm and the peak responsivity at 8.7 μm are obtained, which are very close to the simulation results.


Background: Intrathecal drug delivery is known to be effective in alleviating cancer pain in patients for whom the conventional World Health Organization approach has proved insufficient. A multidisciplinary interventional cancer pain service was established in the West of Scotland in 2008 with the aim of providing a safe and effective intrathecal drug delivery service for patients with difficult-to-control cancer pain. Aim: The aim of the intrathecal drug delivery service is to improve pain scores as evaluated by pain scores before and after insertion of an intrathecal drug delivery device. Design: Pain is monitored before and after intrathecal drug delivery implantation using the Brief Pain Inventory. Following implantation, pumps are refilled fortnightly and repeat Brief Pain Inventory assessments are undertaken. This prospective case series analyses change in Brief Pain Inventory domains for patients who had an intrathecal drug delivery implanted using a paired sample t-test. Results: Data are presented from 2008–2013 for 22 patients receiving an intrathecal drug delivery system who experienced an immediate improvement in their pain that was both clinically and statistically significant. One week after insertion, the average pain score on the Brief Pain Inventory fell from 6.8 (pre–intrathecal drug delivery) to 3.0 (post–intrathecal drug delivery). Improvement in pain scores was sustained over a 6-month period. Conclusion: Evaluation of results of this case series shows that with the appropriate use of intrathecal drug delivery systems, patients with difficult-to-control cancer pain can benefit from effective pain relief for many months.