Access to distributed and heterogeneous Internet resources is coming up as one of the major problem for future development of the next generation of Digital Libraries. Available data sources vary in terms of data representation and access interfaces, therefore a system for federating heterogeneous resources accessible via the Web is considered to be a crucial aspect in digital libraries research and development. Libraries as well as institutions and enterprises are struggling to find solutions that can offer the final user an easy and automatic way to rapidly find relevant needed resources among heterogeneous ones.

Our project starts from the recent results of Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and in particular from the Dublin Core Recommendations (DCMIR).

This paper reports our analysis of three different digital historical archives maintained by the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence and its mapping using a common Meta Resource Card based on Dublin Core Elements (DCMES). This situation requires careful consideration of interoperability issues related to uniform naming, metadata formats, document models and access protocols for the different data sources.

We also present our Porta Europa Portal (PEP) federated architecture that will support an XML Dublin Core implementation and in our aim should be easily open to RDF future support. The PEP pilot project specialised portal should provide high quality information, selected according to the criteria of originality, accuracy, credibility together with the cultural and political pluralism derived from the EUI's profile. The information in Porta Europa will be relevant, reliable, searchable and retrievable.


Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the breakdown behavior of solid–gas interfaces are important for the development, optimization, and coordination of insulation in practical high-voltage (HV) gas-insulated systems (GISs) that are widely used in the power and pulsed power industries. However, despite significant research efforts focused on the characterization of the breakdown parameters and properties of complex gas-filled HV systems, the basic mechanisms that underpin the development of discharges in such solid–gas topologies are not fully understood. This lack of knowledge is particularly noticeable in the case of solid–gas interfaces stressed with HV impulses. This study is aimed at the experimental investigation of the breakdown behavior of solid–gas interfaces, formed between solid dielectrics and common gases: dry air, N2, and CO2 at atmospheric pressure. Four different solid-dielectric materials, PTFE, HDPE, Delrin, and Macor, with relative permittivities in the range from 2.1 to 6.3, were used in this work. The solid–gas interfaces formed by these dielectric materials and the surrounding gases were stressed with positive and negative HV impulses. The breakdown voltage and time to breakdown were obtained for all combinations of solid–gas interfaces using both positive and negative impulses, with a nominal rise time of $\sim 1.9~\mu \text{s}$ . A digital camera operated in the open-shutter regime was used to obtain images of the breakdown spark channels that were classified according to their propagation paths. The results obtained in this study will help in further understanding of the breakdown behavior of solid–gas interfaces and can be used in the development and optimization of dielectric topologies for use in GISs.


The inverse of the Vandermonde and confluent Vandermonde matrices are presented. In the case of the Vandermonde matrix, we present a decomposition in three factors, one of them a diagonal matrix. The evaluation of such inverse matrices is a key point to find functions of a matrix, namely exponential functions (evolution operators)and logarithmic functions (entropies) in quantum mechanical topics.


Standard O.E.P. near point tests were run on 20 male students ranging in age from 24 to 29. Two conditions were tested; eyes directed toward the horizon and eyes depressed 25 degrees while head was held vertical. Testing in the depressed position was accomplished by tilting a Greens refractor 25 degrees. The magnitude of change was slight but differences were found significant by statistical evaluation for 13B, 14A O.D., 148 minus pre-set O.D., 16B recovery, 20 recovery (without compensating for vertex distance), and 21 blur out and recovery. Ranges in some instances were very high and this type of testing could be beneficial for those at the extremes of the range.


Neither the biological function nor a basic understanding of the enigmatic chromosome 1-encoded Mls locus of the mouse has yet been uncovered despite extensive investigations. The present report is a continuation of our genetic analyses of the Mls locus in an attempt to better define the system. Data presented here indicate that in contrast to cells of mice expressing either the Mlsa or Mlsc allele which respond in mixed leukocyte reactions to cells expressing the Mlsd allelic products, cells from (Mlsa X Mlsc)F1-hybrid mice do not. In addition, the nonresponder phenotype appears to segregate as a single autosomal genetic system in backcross animals. These findings fail to support two recently advanced hypotheses: first, that the Mls locus is nonpolymorphic, or second, that the Mls locus controls differential expression of Ia antigenic determinants. Although the mechanism by which a (responder X responder) converts to a nonresponder remains unknown, three models involving gene complementation are discussed.


OBJECTIVE
In the absence of formal breast screening services in Nepal, patients must self present upon developing symptoms relating to the breast. Clinical examination and diagnostic tests are then used to differentiate benign and malignant conditions. Referral / presentation patterns are not well studied and this paper aims to investigate this.

METHOD
Here we present the clinico-pathological diagnoses of patients presenting to Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital with breast related complaints within a six month period, and report upon their subsequent management.

RESULTS
727 patients presented with breast related complaints, of whom 34 were diagnosed with breast cancer. These tended to present at late stage and their subsequent management is discussed.

CONCLUSION
As the incidence of breast cancer in Nepal is likely to be under-reported and more than likely rising, patient awareness campaigns are underway in order to facilitate the earlier diagnosis of malignant disease and thus beneficially influence treatment outcomes. To this end the need for the development of dedicated breast services is highlighted.


This review focuses upon the use of nitroso Diels–Alder reactions as a structural complexity generating reaction that has been so far a quite scarcely treated topic, despite its potential. In particular, the use of N-acyl-1,2-dihydropyridines as a non-symmetrical diene component in nitroso Diels–Alder reactions encompasses an initial diversification of pathways giving rise to different cycloadducts (direct and inverse). Selective elaborations of these cycloadducts, basically using a reagent-based approach, deliver a discrete number of structurally diverse compounds, including some original heterobicyclic scaffolds and functionalized heterocycles. This forward synthetic planning allowed the individuation of a new biologically active compound based on a novel oxadiaza-bicyclic-[3.3.1]-nonene scaffold which is still under preclinical evaluation.


We reviewed the cases of twenty-four patients with solitary or multiple exostoses to correlate their radiographic, scintigraphic, and histological evaluations. We studied twenty-five excised lesions, two of them exostotic chondrosarcomas, from twenty-two patients. There were two patterns of bone-scan activity and there was a direct correlation between enchondral bone formation and radionuclide uptake in all patients, both skeletally immature and mature. So-called quiescent lesions--those with inactive scans--were those that lacked histological evidence of enchondral bone formation. Those with increased uptake--active exostoses--all demonstrated active formation of enchondral bone. Evidence of active exostotic growth could be demonstrated on bone scans well beyond the time of skeletal maturity. The bone scan did not qualitatively differentiate the benign active exostoses from the two lesions with malignant degeneration. Increased uptake related to enchondral bone formation was a feature of both. An inactive scan, however, seemed to exclude the possibility of malignant degeneration in the exostosis.


This paper addresses issues of user interface design, relating to ease of use, of handheld CSCW. In particular, we are concerned with the requirements that arise from situations in which a traditionally designed mobile computer with a small keyboard and screen, may not be easily used. This applies to many mobile use contexts, such as inspection work and engineering in the field. By examining two such settings, we assert that what is usually pointed to as severe shortcomings of mobile computing today, for example: awkward keyboard, small display and unreliable networks, are really implications from a conceptual HCI design that emphasise unstructured, unlimited input; a rich, continuous visual feedback channel and marginal use of sound. We introduce MOTILE, a small prototype that demonstrates some alternative ideas about HCI for mobile devices. We suggest that identifying complementing user interface paradigms for handheld CSCW may enhance our understanding not only of mobile computing or handheld CSCW, but the CSCW field as a whole.


The effects of rate and variability inflation on output growth variability has has been investigated in this paper. The paper concludes that there exists no significant relationship between inflation rate and/or its variability and output growth variability in most of the cases. The results more or less remains the same when we introduced the lagged dependent variable and also in the case of pooling the data possibily due to the similar socio-economic structure of the economies included in the sample.


Obesity contributes to an increased risk for chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and certain types of cancer. The prevalence of obesity has increased in Korea. We compared the clinical and dietary characteristics of obese adults (n = 30, 17 men and 13 women, mean age 29.9) to those with a normal weight (n = 15, 8 men and 7 women, mean age 26.5). We determined lipid profiles, fasting blood sugar (FBS), blood pressure, and serum free fatty acid (FFA). Dietary intake was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and a 3-day dietary record. Exercise patterns and average alcohol intake were determined. The average body mass index was 28.3 kg/m2 in the obese and 21.2 kg/m2 in the normal weight groups. The obese group had significantly higher levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides, lower levels of HDL cholesterol, and higher blood pressures compared to the normal weight group. FBS was not significantly different between the two groups. The obese group had significantly more subjects with metabolic syndrome (26.7%) compared to the normal weight group (0%). Serum FFA levels tended to be higher in the obese (P = 0.087). No significant difference in caloric intake was observed between the two groups. No differences in carbohydrate, protein, or fat intake between two groups were observed from the FFQ. However, results from the 3-day dietary record showed that the percentage of energy from fat was significantly higher in the obese group. The frequency and amount of exercise did not differ between the two groups. Alcohol consumed per drinking episode was significantly higher in the obese group. These results confirm that excessive weight is associated with disturbances in lipid metabolism in these fairly young and otherwise healthy adults. Dietary factors, including higher fat intake and alcohol consumption, seem to be contributing to the obesity of these subjects.


• Respondents were well-informed about key COVID-19 symptoms and protective behaviours. • Most respondents had access to water, soap, and masks to prevent contraction of COVID-19. • Most households reported experiencing increased food prices, job loss, business closure, or increases in prices of business or farm inputs between March and July 2020. Respondents also reported difficulties in accessing food. During this same time, food prices were elevated and monthly food and cash rations had been decreased. • Most respondents who needed to access health facilities were able to access them. However, some of the respondents noted challenges such lack of supplies in health facilities and lack of money to afford services or drugs. • Most households reported being food insecure in July 2020. However, respondents who received USD 1000 unconditional cash transfer prior to the lockdown had marginally stronger food security than households who were randomly chosen to receive their transfers later and have not yet received them. • Respondents who received USD 1000 unconditional cash transfer prior to the lockdown had higher psychological wellbeing compared to yet-to-receive households. However, most respondents expressed feelings of sadness and fear. These feelings were associated with a lack of resources to provide for their households and fear of contracting COVID-19. Cash transfers and COVID-19: Experiences from Kiryandongo, Uganda


A complex number z is a number of the form a + bi where a and b are real numbers. A complex number z in complex plane can be represented by Cartesian co-ordinates, its real and imaginary parts, but equally useful is the representation of z by polar co-ordinates. Generally, students cannot easily visualize them by Cartesian coordinates and that makes the subject difficult to be understood for them. The aim of this study is to evaluate quantitatively and qualitatively the students' opinions about GeoGebra and to contribute to Turkish GeoGebra Library. First we have translated "Polar Grapher" (created by Jerel L. Welker) into Turkish and developed a new worksheet with GeoGebra about "Visualizing Complex Numbers on Cartesian Co-ordinates". After presenting material to 4th grade students from high schools located in Istanbul and Sakarya cities (Turkey) respectively, a questionnaire has been conducted. The data collected through questionnaires have been analyzed and the views of students and their teacher's on the use of GeoGebra have been reported.


Abstract Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a prevalent condition that affects the lives of individuals around the world. Despite its medical and social significance, little research has been done on the living conditions of individuals diagnosed with autism in Turkey, the challenges that they and their families experience in social life. To fill this gap in the literature, this study examines how the mainstream Turkish print media cover and frame autism-related stories, through a qualitative framing analysis of 541 news reports published in widely circulated national newspapers in Turkey. Key findings include that autism is positively represented in the news media as a social fact by the support of the society and non-governmental organizations. In terms of source frame, journalists constitute the most frequently cited source in the news reports under review. We have noted that the autism-related news stories often feature nutrition and genetic/congenital factors as causes of autism. This study highlights the impact that media representations of autism have on people's understanding of this disorder and its social implications.


Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) is a broad class of time series models, and it has been achieved using the statistical differencing approach. It is normally being performed using the computational method. Thus, it is useful to choose the suitable model from a possibly large selection of the available ARIMA formulations. The ARIMA approach was then analysed with the presence of stationary behaviour in a nonstationary data. For the purpose of the random data analysis, a nonstationary data that exhibiting a random behaviour was used. This random data was measured in the unit of microstrain on the lower suspension arm or a car travelling on a country road surface. With this engineering unit, hence, the data is known as a variable amplitude fatigue loading. Experimentally, the data was collected for 225 seconds at the sampling rate of 200 Hz, which gave 45,000 discrete data points. Using the computational analysis by means of statistical software package, the ARIMA parameters were estimated by the application of the data smoothing technique in order to reduce the random variation of the fatigue data. Therefore, the significant ARIMA parameters were established and being applied in the study of the variation in nonstationary data. For this paper, finally, it is suggested that the ARIMA method provided a good platform to analyse fatigue random data, especially in the scope of the durability research.


In contrast with more common dementing conditions that typically develop over years, rapidly progressive dementias can develop subacutely over months, weeks, or even days and be quickly fatal. Because many rapidly progressive dementias are treatable, it is paramount to evaluate and diagnose these patients quickly. This review summarizes recent advances in the understanding of the major categories of RPD and outlines efficient approaches to the diagnosis of the various neurodegenerative, toxic‐metabolic, infectious, autoimmune, neoplastic, and other conditions that may progress rapidly. Ann Neurol 2008;64:97–108


Offshore construction and supply projects involve complex contractual arrangements regulating the relationships of operators, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. Although every effort is made to prevent the occurrence of disputes when parties enter into contract, it is a fact of life that disputes do arise. This paper explains the role of engineers in the dispute resolution process. It highlights the features of disputes which arise out of the offshore construction and supply industry by way of inclusion of a description of: the life cycle of a typical offshore development; a typical engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning project; the engineer's involvement in the contractual process; types of frequently occurring disputes; and the role of engineers in dispute avoidance. By way of introducing the various methods of disputes resolution, including litigation, arbitration, adjudication, expert determination, mediation, the engineers' functions in these processes are hig...


It is well known that the order of the variables and equations of a large, sparse linear system innuences the performance of classical iterative methods. In particular if, after a symmetric permutation, the blocks in the diagonal have more nonzeros, classical block methods have a faster asymptotic rate of convergence. In this paper, diierent ordering and partitioning algorithms for sparse matrices are presented. They are modiications of PABLO SIAM J. Sci. Stat. Computing 11 (1990) 811{823]. In the new algorithms, in addition to the location of the nonzeros, the values of the entries are taken into account. The matrix resulting after the symmetric permutation has dense blocks along the diagonal, and small entries in the oo-diagonal blocks. Parameters can be easily adjusted to obtain, for example, denser blocks, or blocks with elements of larger magnitude. In particular, when the matrices represent Markov chains, the permuted matrices are well suited for block iterative methods that nd the corresponding probability distribution. Applications to three types of methods are explored: (1) Classical block methods, such as Block Gauss Seidel. (2) Preconditioned GMRES, where a block diagonal preconditioner is used. (3) Iterative aggregation method (also called aggregation/disaggregation) where the partition obtained from the ordering algorithm with certain parameters is used as an aggregation scheme. In all three cases, experiments are presented which illustrate the performance of the methods with the new orderings. The complexity of the new algorithms is linear in the number of nonzeros and the order of of the matrix, and thus adding little computational eeort to the overall solution.


Studies that examine medical dispute cases (MDC) due to clinical reasoning (CR) are scarce in Taiwan. A retrospective analysis was undertaken to review MDC filed at four hospitals in Taiwan between 2011 and 2015. Cases were examined for the healthcare professionals involved, their relevance to CR errors, clinical specialties, and seniority. Seventy-eight MDC were identified and 57.7% of which were determined to be related to CR errors (n = 45). Among the 45 cases associated with CR errors, 82.2% (37) and 22.2% (10) were knowledge- and skill-related errors, respectively. The healthcare professionals with the most MDC were obstetrician-gynecologists (10/90, 11.1%), surgeons (8/90, 8.9%), and emergency physicians (7/90, 7.8%). The seniority of less than 5 years or lower had the highest number of attending physicians to be associated with MDC. In contrast, the highest seniority (>25 years) in the physician group and year 6 in the resident group are both shown with zero MDC. In our study, the larger hospitals had a significantly higher incidence of MDC compared to the smaller hospitals (Pearson Correlation Coefficient = 0.984, p = 0.016). An examination of MDC reveals the frequency and nature of medical errors in Taiwanese hospitals. Having identified that CR errors contributed a substantial fraction to the overall MDC, strategies to promote reasoning skills and hence reduce medico-legal issues help safeguard both patients and healthcare professionals.


"This dissertation explores attitudes toward literary form in fourteenth-century London's trilingual culture and what it means to package science, politics, and social upheaval as literature. John Gower, the author of substantial poems in the three languages of his day treating topics as varied as clerical greed, aristocratic vice, rebellion, astronomy, and alchemy, writes at the intersection of literature, history, and science. Though called a historian and a compiler, Gower was foremost a poet whose political, cultural, and scientific writings grew out of his sense of poetry as a whole built from smaller pieces. Division was a force Gower feared, yet exploited. Though Gower critiques the broken political body, most famously in his treatment of the 1381 Rebellion but also throughout his many writings on politics, division could also signify marvelous design. To Gower, the music of the mythical harper Arion is not pure magic but a technical product of "mesure," a word signifying notes organized in a pattern. Similarly, the stars of the zodiac are divided into signs, and alchemy, though it transforms diverse metals, requires divided elements before it can unite them through an elaborate process of refinement. Gower examines the sciences' negotiation between division and harmony as a way of articulating his own poetic project. Division is a theme throughout his corpus, physically rendered by the metaphor of the body--be it zodiacal, alchemical, political, bestial, incestuous, or verbal--and thus the body's valences are multiplied by examining its parts as well as its whole structure. Division is not always something to be feared; it can be a way to know an object more fully by examining its detailed composition. Broadly speaking, the chapters investigate Gower's poetic experiment with parts and wholes. Chapters One and Two explore the parts and wholes of language. Meaningful play in rhyme words can underscore words within words and differences in words that appear the same. Syllabic play, meanwhile, allows a poet to build words from pieces. Chapter Three investigates Gower's attitude toward alchemy, the process of converting base metals to gold, or multiplicity to singularity. While Gower lauds this science, he is aware of language's limitations in engaging in this process; words generate more words, and translations lose the secrets of older texts composed in other languages. In Chapter Two I discussed the bodies of the 1381 rebels, allegorized as beasts with hybrid forms, while Chapter Four explores processes of change in composite bodies, including the zodiac man, Nebuchadnezzar's Statue of Precious Metals, and the Greek pantheon as an anatomical man. Chapter Five contrasts Chaucer's and Gower's literary presentation of astronomy; Chaucer's "House of Fame" seeks authority in literature, while Gower's praise of science is for its own sake. Gower's treatise is given a literary spin in the manner in which Gower writes of the constellations as objects that operate as couplets, both of which engage in meaningful repetition and productive duality. Chapter Six treats linguistic composite bodies through the theme of incest in riddles as developed in Gower's "Mirour de l'Omme" and "Confessio Amantis."


Automated seismic event location procedures are very important tasks in almost all seismological applications, including seismic monitoring of volcano activity. The large datasets produced during these operations pushed the development of new automated location methods. Seismic waveforms recorded in volcanic environments are often characterized by low signal-to-noise ratio, thus a successful data analysis requires noise robust automated location procedures. Standard automated location methods based on automated picking of the main seismic phases (generally only P and S first onsets) are prone to fail with noisy data, limiting the location performance. In this work we apply the waveform stacking location method developed by Grigoli et al. (2013, 2014) to volcanic environments. This is a noise robust and picking free location method that exploits the full waveform information content of seismic recordings. Starting from raw seismograms, the first step of the location process consists in the computation of a P-phase and a S-phase stacking functions. For the P phase we use the STA/LTA of the vertical energy trace, whereas for the S we use the STA/LTA of a trace obtained using the principal eigenvalue of the instantaneous covariance matrix (Vidale 1991). For a given source location, we sum both P and S stacking functions along the theoretical travel times corre-sponding to the selected hypocenter. To locate a seismic event we iterate this procedure for all samples of the recorded traces and for all possible source locations within a predetermined seismogenic volume. In this way we retrieve a multidimensional coherence matrix whose absolute maximum corresponds to the spatio-temporal coordinates of the seismic event. Here we present an application to a sample dataset for the 2011 unrest at Kirishima volcano, Japan. We show that this automated location method is particularly suitable for volcano monitoring applications, where large datasets are produced and need to be processed fastly.


A calculation model for simply supported box beam is established in the paper, and its natural frequency and vibration mode are analyzed through theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The influence of elastic support to the beam frequency is also discussed, which showed that the elastic has great effect on beam frequency. Lastly, it can be concluded that the beam frequency can satisfied technical requirement by comparing the calculation values with the values commended in relevant code.


This review integrates diverse characterizations of creativity from a sociological perspective with the goal of reinvigorating discussion of the sociology of creativity. We start by exploring relevant works of classical social theory to uncover key assumptions and principles, which are used as a theoretical basis for our proposed definition of creativity: an intentional configuration of cultural and material elements that is unexpected for a given audience. Our argument is enriched by locating creativity vis-à-vis related concepts—such as originality, knowledge, innovation, atypicality, and consecration—and across neighboring disciplines. Underlying the discussion are antecedents (structure, institutions, and context) and consequences (audiences, perception, and evaluation), which are treated separately. We end our review by speculating on ways in which sociologists can take the discussion of creativity forward.


This study is aimed to evaluate and enhance the albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX) in multistage vector (MSV) for liver metastasis treatment using in silico modeling based on in vitro data, and verified via in vivo study. The resulting model will help for therapy optimization in the clinical setting. Clinically, breast cancer liver metastases can be observed as hypoattenuated in MRI and CT images caused by low penetration of drugs or contrast agents into the lesions along with a high washout rate, which correlates to poor chemotherapeutic response. Nab-PTX is clinically used for treatment of advanced breast tumors, but not for liver metastasis. We designed MSV-nab-PTX, a new nab-PTX delivery system for specifically homing to tumor associated macrophages in the liver. MSV-nab-PTX consists of nab-PTX loaded in porous silicon multistage nanovectors which were previously shown to be efficient in delivering siRNA and other therapeutics. MSV-nab-PTX was evaluated in in vitro, in vivo and in silico models of liver metastasis. Co-culture of breast cancer tumor cells (3D-spheroids) and macrophages was developed and utilized to evaluate the drug efficacy and to study the mechanism of nab-PTX transport. Addition of macrophages in the 3D model significantly increased the efficacy of MSV-nab-PTX, but not nab-PTX, revealing the major role of macrophages in the drug transport into the lesion. Primary mouse and human macrophages were shown to uptake up to 10 ng of PTX/cell in MSV-nab-PTX with no significant effects on their viability, and later release the PTX over 24h. Treatment with MSV-nab-PTX increased chemokine production by tumor cells when compared to nab-PTX, increasing macrophage migration into the tumor sphere by more than 2-fold. Based on these data, we implemented a mathematical model linking drug release and retention from macrophages to project MSV-nAb-PTX efficacy based on the presence of macrophages in tumor biopsies. Simulation of repeat treatment every 3 days showed a significant reduction of tumor size, and was verified by the in vivo data. MSV-nab-PTX as compared to nab-PTX enhanced PTX concentration in the target lesions, increased apoptosis rate and reduced cancer cells proliferation rate, ultimately reducing the tumor size and prolonging the survival of treated mice. This showed that MSV association with macrophages can increase drug efficacy compared to bolus injection, and that it is feasible to reach sustained lesion regression with the macromolecule-bound formulation. The in silico simulations also revealed that the timing interval is crucial for the treatment strategy, and the effect depends on the size and vascularization stage of the lesion. We conclude that an integrated in vitro, in vivo, and in silico framework may be of use to assess response to albumin bound paclitaxel targeted to breast cancer liver metastasis via tumor associated macrophages. Citation Format: Fransisca Leonard, Curtis T. Louis, Pooja Yesantharao, Tomonori Tanei, Jenolyn F. Alexander, Liu Xuewu, Ferrari Mauro, Kenji Yokoi, Hermann B. Frieboes, Biana Godin. Enhancing therapeutic efficacy of albumin bound paclitaxel in breast cancer liver metastasis by homing to tumor associated macrophages: I n vitro , in vivo and in silico studies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1324.


Clinical Practice Guidelines for Hypovolemic Shock. It has been defined as the persistence of tissue hypoperfusion, usually associated to blood hypotension as the result of body fluids loss. This document includes a description of the concept and different stages of the disease, aetiological classification and comments about the main elements related with diagnosis and treatment, stressing volemic restoration. It includes assessment guidelines focused on the most important aspects to be accomplished.


The similarities between multivariate multiple regression and canonical correlation analysis have been inconsistently acknowledged in the literature. The present article shows that, although the stated objectives of these two analyses seem different, aspects of the analyses themselves are mathematically equivalent. A multivariate multiple regression analysis that incorporates discriminant analysis as part of its post hoc investigation will produce identically the same results as a canonical correlation analysis in terms of omnibus significance testing, variable weighting schemes, and dimension reduction analysis. A numerical example is provided.


This paper investigates iterative PLDA adaptation for cross-show speaker diarization applied to small collections of French TV archives based on an i-vector framework. Using the target collection itself for unsupervised adaptation, PLDA parameters are iteratively tuned while score normalization is applied for convergence. Performances are compared, using combinations of target and external data for training and adaptation. The experiments on two distinct target corpora show that the proposed framework can gradually improve an existing system trained on external annotated data. Such results indicate that performing speaker diarization on small collections of unlabeled audio archives should only rely on the availability of a sufficient boot-strap system, which can be incrementally adapted to every target collection. The proposed framework also widens the range of acceptable speaker clustering thresholds for a given performance objective.


Environmental responsibility mechanism in the public sector of the economy has an important sense in UN Sustainability Development Goals achievement, as well as in ensuring the competitiveness of the state-owned companies and the state as a whole. Sustainability concept, concept of "smart cities and smart communities" and the implementation of public administration reform, the necessity to increase the transparency of state-owned companies and the responsibility of municipalities to communities determine the reasonability and urgency in environmental responsibility mechanism development. Systematization and comparative analysis of world and national experience of environmental responsibility mechanism development in the public sector of the economy were made. The author's approach to the structuring of the mechanism of environmental responsibility in the public sector was developed. Public policy peculiarities implementation in the field of environmental responsibility were investigated considering the levels of regulation of such liability: in state-owned companies as models for other sectors of the economy; in public authorities and municipalities.


INTRODUCTION
Heart transplant recipients are at risk for developing left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. While traditional echocardiographic parameters have limitations, speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a novel technique shown to be more sensitive and accurate in adult studies for evaluating ventricular systolic and diastolic function.

DESIGN
Pediatric heart transplant recipients undergoing routine cardiac catheterization were included. Ratio of mitral early diastolic velocity-to-strain rate during early LV filling (E/SR(E)) and global longitudinal peak systolic strain (GLPSS) was measured by STE imaging. These were compared with wedge pressures by catheterization and traditional echocardiographic parameters.

RESULTS
A total of 50 subjects (46% males) were included. Mean age of the subjects was 13.0 ± 6.3 years and time since transplant was 4.1 years (range 0.2-17.1 years). While peak mitral inflow to late diastolic velocity (E/A ratio) was the only traditional diastolic function parameter having significant correlation with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) (r = 0.3; P = .3), STE-derived E/SR(E) had modest correlation with PCWP (r = 0.55; P < .01). Also, while most traditional systolic function parameters were normal, 12 subjects (24%) had GLPSS > -18%. Interestingly, subjects with coronary artery disease (n = 6) had significantly higher E/SR(E) (71.9 ± 28.4) compared to subjects without (45.2 ± 10.8; P < .001).

CONCLUSION
Diastolic function parameters by STE imaging correlate better with gold standard PCWP measurement than traditional echocardiographic parameters. Also, utilizing STE, abnormalities of longitudinal LV systolic function may be more common than previously thought in pediatric heart transplant recipients without acute graft rejection, despite "normal" systolic function by traditional echocardiogram.


Background: Human adult c-kit+ cardiac stem cells (CSCs) alleviates post-myocardial infarction left ventricle dysfunction in animal models and a Phase I clinical study. The regenerative capacity of CSCs in the very young patients with non-ischemic congenital heart defects has not been explored, even in the most surgically challenging Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) patients. We hypothesized that isolated neonatal-derived ckit+ CSCs have higher regenerative abilities than adult-derived CSCs and might address the anatomical deficiency of HLHS myocardium.

Methods and Results: Human specimens were obtained during routine cardiac surgical procedures from right atrial appendage tissue discarded from 2 age groups: neonates and adults patients. We developed a reproducible isolation method that generated c-kit+ cells using immune-activated magnetic bead selection, regardless of the initial weight or age. More than 85% ckit+ cells were isolated from both groups and these cells were negative for tryptase, collagen, CD45, CD34 and CD31. Single cell proliferation assay showed neonatal ckit+ cells are significantly more proliferative compare to adult ckit+ cells. Neonatal c-kit+ cells showed significantly higher telomere length (p=0.0286) compare to Adult. The neonatal-derived c-kit+ cells secreted higher levels of VEGF-A, ANG, and SDF-1α when compared to adult-derived c-kit+ cells. When transplanted into infarcted myocardium, neonatal-derived c-kit+ cells had a significantly higher ability to preserve myocardial function, prevent adverse remodeling, and enhance blood vessel preservation when compared to adult-derived c-kit+ CSCs. . Treatment with Neonatal-derived ckit+ cells also augmented the preservation/formation of neovessels (isolectin B4) and arterioles (α-SMA) compared to adult-derived ckit+ cells

Conclusions: Neonatal-derived c-kit+ cells have a strong regenerative ability when compared with adult-derived c-kit+ cells that may depend on angiogenic cytokines. This has important implications in the potential use of CSCs in future HLHS clinical trials.


Dermatan sulphate-containing proteoglycans (DS-PGs) are widely distributed in the extracellular matrix of skin, sclera, tendon, cartilage and a variety of other connective tissues. Two species of dermatan sulphate proteoglycans, called DS-PGI and DS-PGII, have recently been isolated from mature bovine articular cartilages. In their monomeric forms, both DS-PGI and DS-PGII are polydisperse, have relative molecular masses (Mr) ranging from 80K to 140K, and possess protein cores with apparent Mr values of approximately 45K. DS-PGI readily self-associates whereas DS-PGII does not. Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies against DS-PGII do not react with DS-PGI. DS-PGI and DS-PGII appear to possess different core proteins and represent two different species of dermatan sulphate proteoglycans. DS-PGs have dramatic effects on the biological functions of cells. For example, they inhibit the capacity of fibroblasts to adhere to a fibronectin substratum. BALB/c 3T3 cells were labelled with [3H]thymidine and plated onto dishes coated with plasma fibronectin, plasma fibronectin plus chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan (CS-PG, cartilage-specific proteoglycan monomer), or plasma fibronectin plus DS-PGs. In the absence of proteoglycan, approximately 55% of the cells were attached at 1 h. In the presence of CS-PG, cell attachment was slightly decreased. In the presence of DS-PGs, the adhesion of the fibroblasts to fibronectin was essentially abolished. Similar results were obtained if a plasma fibronectin substratum was preadsorbed with the DS-PGs and the DS-PGs were left in the attachment medium.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of audit judgment, professional skepticism, audit situation, and audit scope on the accuracy of the audit opinion. The object of this research is Principal State Financial Audit IV (AKN IV) on The Audit Board of The Republic of Indonesia. This research was conducted using a sample of as many as 80 respondents. Determinants of the sample using a purposive sampling method. The design of this research a causal relationship. Therefore, the analysis of the data used is structural equation modeling using partial least squares. The result of this research suggests that the culture of the organization and the audit judgment professional skepticism, situation audit not significant impact on the implementation of the audit opinion. While the audit scope has some positive effects significantly on the implementation of the audit opinion. This is evidenced by the results of the partial test (t-test) demonstrated the significant value of one independent variable that supports the hypothesis.


Recent development of reverse time migration allows us to produce surface-offset gathers (SOGs) and opens the opportunity for amplitude-verse-offset analysis with a wave-equation-based migration method instead of traditional ray-based migration. We formulate an image-domain least-squares migration for surface-offset gathers to correct for limited acquisition aperture, geometric spreading, and velocity complexity. To approximate the Hessian, we start with a distribution of point scatterers in the model space, generate synthetic diffraction data with Born modelling, and migrate the data to produce corresponding point-spread functions in the form of surface-offset gathers. An image-domain inversion is then performed with these point-spread functions, as an approximate to the Hessian inverse. Numerical examples of the 3D synthetic elastic data are shown to illustrate the benefits of our method. After inversion, the SOGs clearly show consistent amplitudes to further offsets and better resolutions after compensating for acquisition aperture, geometric spreading, and velocity complexity.


The LLC resonant converter employing a center-tap rectifier can suffer from a high voltage oscillation across rectifier diodes owing to a leakage inductance of a transformer secondary. The amplitude of this voltage oscillation is varied according to design parameters, parasitic components, and operation regions, i.e., below-resonant region and above-resonant region. To reduce the diode voltage stress, this paper analyzes the voltage oscillation mechanism and presents the design consideration.


Five cases of scleroderma en coup de sabre are reported, along with a brief review of the literature [3, 10, 11]. Surgical management was tailored to the defects. Involved discolored skin was excised and the resultant wound repaired by direct closure (forehead, lower lip) or with full-thickness skin grafts. Soft tissues were augmented with dermal or dermal-fat grafts. Bony defects were corrected with prefabricated silicone implants (forehead) or autogenous bone (mandible).


Foetal macrosomia is arbitrarily defined as an excessive weight for the gestational age, was found to be present in 36 p. 100 of 43 diabetic pregnancies. This finding may indicate incomplete normalization of maternal metabolic control despite the use of new forms of insulin delivery systems, such as insulin pumps. However, in our series the macrosomia was usually moderate and without consequences on the foetal outcome. The levels of insulin, but not those of the insulin-like growth factor (IgF1), were increased in the umbilical cord blood of macrosomic newborns of diabetic mothers. Cardiac septum hypertrophy correlated with maternal glycosylated haemoglobin levels better than with macrosomia. We therefore suggest that in all diabetic pregnancies the cardiac septum thickness should be measured in utero by sonocardiography.


The directly measured magnetic field fluctuates even at low‐Mach number shocks. Separation of the essential shock profile from features superimposed onto it is one of the basic problems of shock physics. The essential structure is one which affects the ion motion and is shaped by the produced ion distributions: the macroscopic fields which are built self‐consistently and together with the ion dynamics. The advanced test particle analysis is used to derive the magnetic profile which is consistent with the collisionless ion motion in the macroscopic fields of the shock front. The downstream side of the derived profile is in good agreement with the observed profile of a low‐Mach number interplanetary shock. The analysis allows us to improve the determination of the Mach number and provides an approximate value of the cross‐shock potential, which is not measured. It is shown that α‐particles cause nonperiodicity of the downstream magnetic oscillations. The performed hybrid simulations support the conclusion that the macroscopic fields of the shock play the main role in the formation of downstream ion distributions. The role of fluctuations is to enhance smoothing of the distributions and speed up relaxation to gyrotropy. The measured ion distributions well agree with the theoretically predicted onset of the anisotropy at the shock crossing and its persistence well into the downstream region.


Numerical simulations of a prototype conventional magnetron capable of an RF output power exceeding 1.3 MW at peak efficiency greater than 87% for relatively low diode voltages of ~ 40 kV are presented. Virtual prototyping of the magnetron design is carried out on massively parallel architecture utilizing the 3-D improved concurrent electromagnetic particle-in-cell code. Simulations demonstrate that the magnetron is capable of stable and robust oscillations in the π mode at saturation with negligible mode competition at 912 MHz over a range of magnetic fields extending from B = 0.18 T to B = 0.275 T and voltages ranging from 37-56 kV. RF Output power ranged from 400 kW-1.5 MW over these voltages with efficiencies typically above 85%. Oscillations in the π mode follow the Buneman-Hartree resonance curve for all magnetic fields sampled with a window of π-mode oscillations typically extending over 6 kV. Electron back bombardment of the cathode as well as collisions with the slow wave structure acted as major loss mechanisms.


The increasing use of SUDS for stormwater management raises some concerns about the fate of ubiquitous runoff contaminants in soils and their potential threat to groundwater. A reactive transport model may be a valuable tool to assess their long-term behaviour in these systems and derive guidelines about the conception and maintenance of such devices, but so far, very few modelling studies have been undertaken in this particular context. This paper presents several modelling options and corresponding hypotheses, and discusses their application to a theoretical " source control " technique. The inter-event variability of a pollutant's mean concentration in runoff affects the sorbed concentration in the first centimetres of soil, and slightly influences its global migration dynamics. The shape of the sorption isotherm (linear, Langmuir of Freundlich models) induces noticeable differences in the predicted contamination profiles. Given the typical time constants of sorption processes, taking into account rate-limited mechanisms causes differences in solute concentrations lower than 4% of the concentration in runoff, and this difference decreases with increasing inflow rate and dispersivity of the soil. The latter parameter was found to have a significant effect on both contaminant profiles and fluxes, but experimental studies show that it may vary within more than two orders of magnitude, and that laboratory-scale measurements tend to underestimate the in-situ values. The uncertainty in the contamination patterns caused by a biased estimation of the dispersion parameter is likely to be larger than the accuracy gained with a more complex modelling framework.


Objectives. This study aims to determine the diagnostic yield and safety of sputum induction with hypertonic saline in the microbiologic confirmation of childhood tuberculosis (TB) in a tertiary hospital in the Philippines.
Methods. This is a randomized controlled trial with an interrupted time series in the control group. One hundred twelve (112) pediatric patients (4-18 years old) with clinical findings suggestive of TB were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized into two groups composed of 56 patients each. Group A patients underwent sputum induction. Group B patients underwent spontaneous expectoration followed by sputum induction. The microbiologic yield for acid-fast bacilli and TB culture were determined and analyzed.
Results. Among the patients randomized to Group A, microbiologic confirmation for TB was 8/56 patients (14.3%) after sputum induction. For patients randomized to Group B, microbiologic yield was 4/56 patients (7.1%) from spontaneous expectoration; after sputum induction, the microbiologic yield increased to 5/56 patients (8.9%). There is insufficient evidence of statistical significance in microbiologic yield on parallel analysis of the two separate groups (p=0.22). Furthermore, for patients randomized to Group B, the increase in microbiologic yield after sputum induction compared to spontaneous expectoration did not reach statistical significance (p=1.000). The procedure was well-tolerated among children; no serious adverse events were observed.
Conclusion. Sputum induction is a feasible and safe method of specimen collection for microbiologic diagnosis of TB among children. While the microbiologic yield increased after sputum induction compared to spontaneous expectoration, the additional yield does not seem to be significant.


UT of all the Indo-4merican themes. the role of the United States Government in India's freedom has attracted the greatect attention in recent ycars. Not only his torians but also diplomats and journalists ha\e joined the discussion to evaluate the contributions of the Roosevelt and the Trunian administrations to the developments which resulted in the transfer of power to rcprecentatives of the Indian people. Jauhri's work is the latest in the series of such works. He has used for his investigation American as well as Indian official documents, newspapers, and private papers of distinguished personalities involved. As a result, he has gi\en u s a more dcfiniti\c account of the American official interest in the events and developments which culminated in India's freedom. Jauhri's monograph is a valuable contribution in the sense that i t has a t tempted to correct the imbalance in some of the earlier writings and views which emphasised that the American diplomatic manoeukrcs were guided by America's time-honoured love for liberty and freedom. Convincingly and rightly Jauhri has shown that President Roosevelt's objectives were more limited, more concerned as he was with winning the war than helping the suffering millions of India to attain their birthright. I t is clear from Jauhri's accounts that after the conclusion of the hostilities, the interest of the American Government in India's freedom remained confined to maintaining h i w n with the British Government and issuing statements favouring the British plans. Perhaps Jauhri would have been more helpful to hi \ readers had he attempted to analyse the practicability of different suggestions made by the American Government to solve the constitutional problems in India. Unfortunately, he has simply summarised the different plans. How practical, for instance, was Johnson's plan which he had forwarded to the President in May 1942 is not clear from the account. It is also not clear whether President Roosevelt's comparison between the \ituations prevailing on the eve of America's independence and those prevailing i n India during the second world war was realistic. From the vantage point of hindsight and with the appreciation of the Indian situations which Jauhri undoubtedly possesses, he could hake scrutinised the American suggestions much more clearly. Lacking in this kind of approach, the book is more of a description of events than a historical analysis. Inclusion of avoidable details of well known developments relating to the Indian independence movement and the British plans 10 settle the Indian question have also marred the value of the book. Perhaps Jauhri has tried to ca t e r to the American readers much more than to his Indian colleagues. I am also not s u r e whether in a small monograph it was really necessary to devote about one fourth of the space dealing with the interest of American public before the period 1939. Forcible and clear style of writing and proper organization of materials, however, have partly made up for these minor blemishes. On the whole, Jauhri has given US a good book on a topic of great interest. Vora, Bombay. 1970. xi, 160p. Rs I!.


The dynamic behaviour of the railway catenary system is of great importance as the speed of the train increases. The aim for this study was to make a numerical model of the catenary system in three dimensions to be able to investigate what should be done with existing catenary systems in Norway to increase the train speed. In Norway there is a high ratio of curves with small radius, thus it is very important to include three dimensions. Abaqus has been used to obtain the numerical model. Both static and dynamic analyses have been done on this model. The results from the analyses have been compared with measurements, and this has shown that the model is able to describe the dynamic behaviour of the catenary system with sufficient accuracy. In future work it is recommended to look especially into how the contact interaction between the contact wire and the pantograph is modelled.


Psychological Contract is the the unwritten contract between employer and employee, representing mutual expectations, beliefs, and obligations. The concept is popular among the HR managers as it is based on managing employment relationships. In order to best align the requirements of the organization and employee, the Human Resource manager has to be cognizant of this unwritten "contract". Like all relationships, it is important to shape and understand it starting from recruitment, through talent management and finally the employee exit. High volume campus recruitment still forms a key strategy among companies in growing markets, segments. Hence the understanding of this employment relationship begins with prospective employees who are the final year students. This study talks about the employment beliefs, & future employment relationships of final year students as an "anticipatory psychological contract" and includes promises that the future employee wants to make to their employer, along with the obligations they expect in return. Additionally, the long-term Career expectations of students, in conjunction with their Work values was also explored, to understand their interrelationship with the anticipatory psychological contract. This interrelationship has gained importance in organizational psychology, organizational behavior, and HRM where there is an opportunity for practical application. In this study, the respondents' expectations were measured through the collection of inputs on pre-employment beliefs from final year postgraduate students soon to be part of their respective industry's workforce. The independent variables identified from the review of literature were career strategy and work values. As part of the study, these variables were tested for correlation, and multiple regression was done to understand the impact of career strategy and work values on anticipatory psychological contract. The results proved that a significant relationship exists between the dependent variable (anticipatory psychological contract ) and independent variables( career strategy and work values). Managing psychological contract is an advantage for employees and employers whereby, both can understand the expectations of the other to prevent breach or violation of the contract. Maintaining a positive contract ensures job satisfaction, commitment and talent retention. This study is significant as the expectations during the pre-employment stage affect the psychological contract even after organizational entry. Understanding contributions to the organization and what employees receive in return are also about managing the psychological contract. This study is also aimed at employers in redesigning their recruitment & talent management strategies. The outcomes of strong HRM strategy based on psychological contract are high employee motivation, productivity, and controlled attrition rates. The study also explores the formation and transition of psychological contract from university to workplace. Lastly, the study aims in exposing the expectations of the younger generation, future workforce. The absence of a longitudinal study is a limitation which would provide the longer term view of the concept


Mid-water trawl surveys were conducted from late August to late September in 1999 and 2004 in order to investigate the distribution pattern, hatch date, and growth of juvenile Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis in the Sea of Japan. Juveniles were collected at the stations where ambient water temperature (mean water temperature from surface to 30 m deep, WT0−30) was 23.4–25.9°C, and most of them were found in waters where WT0−30 was higher than 24°C. Sampled juveniles ranged 108–280 mm fork length. Based on otolith analysis, they were estimated to grow to approximately 180 and 250 mm at 60 and 90 days old, respectively, and showed similar growth to that of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Mediterrannean Sea. The back-calculated hatch date of the samples was mostly in July and most juveniles spawned in the Sea of Japan.


Humans who explain a task to a robot, or to another human, use chunks of actions that are often complex procedures for robots. An instructible robot needs to be able to map such chunks to existing preprogrammed primitives. We investigate the nature of these chunks in an urban visual navigation context and describe the implementation of one of the primitives: "take the n/sup th/ turn right/left". This implementation requires the use of a "short-lived" internal map updated as the robot moves along. The recognition and localisation of intersections is done using task-guided template matching. This approach takes advantage of the content of human instructions to save computation time and improve robustness.


A complete description of the deformation classes of real ruled manifolds is given. In particular, we prove that once the complex deformation class is fixed, the real deformation class is prescribed by the topology of the real structure.


The thesis presents an account on the physiological response of green
mussel, Perna viridis (Linnaeus) to the temporal and spatial variations in
the environmental parameters of the mussel beds. Condition index, a nonspecific
biomarker which integrates physiological responses of mussels to
multiple stressors is evaluated as the intrinsic response to the variable
environment. The cytological response in the mussels is also elucidated
with reference to the trace metal and organochlorine concentrations of the
shellfish waters. Baseline information on the sanitary quality of the
coastal waters and the extent of faecal contamination of the mussel beds
is also presented.
• The study area covers the mussel beds off Someshwara and Surathkal of
Dakshina Kannada District, Kamataka, where green mussel, P. viridis
contributes to a significant fishery of commercial importance.
• The variations in water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH
and the qualitative and quantitative variations in seston of the mussel beds
were studied to evaluate their temporal and site-specific differences
between the two mussel beds.
• With the onset of monsoon a sharp decline in the water temperature,
salinity and pH of the mussel beds was noticed. Bottom water
temperature at Someshwara mussel beds varied between 2S.20°C in
August and 31.1S0C in April. At Surathkal mussel beds, water
temperature ranged between 26. 10°C in August and 31.4SoC in May. The
mean water temperature of the mussel beds varied significantly (p


This study offers an explanatory model for variation in electoral results for 'populist radical right' parties in Europe over time and across countries. We build on and fuse previous explanations to offer a theoretical model that combines supply- and demand-side explanations. We argue that such parties succeed when they are able to avoid the stigma of extremism by initially catering to an unsatiated demand of right-wing voters on a 'less controversial', highly salient issue. With their relatively minor place in the party system confirmed and equipped with a 'reputation shield' that extremist parties do not enjoy, they are able to refocus on more controversial, other highly salient issues, typically immigration, potentially leading to greater potential mobilisation. We use the case of the Spanish party Vox, as well as the erstwhile, anomalous lack of success for similar parties across Portugal and Spain, to test our framework. We show that both the historic lack of populist radical right party success across Iberia, the relative greater success in the rest of western Europe and the recent rise of Vox can be explained neatly by this framework of salience, stigma and supply.


Background The risk of low back pain (LBP) increases steeply during adolescence, and adolescents with LBP are more likely to have low back pain in their adult years. This study aimed to investigate the dose-response relationship between daily screen time and the risk of low back pain among children and adolescents. Methods PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to collect relevant studies on daily screen time and the risk of low back pain from the establishment of the database up to December 2022. Two investigators independently screened the literature, extracted data, and evaluated the risk of bias in the included studies. Stata16.0 was used to perform a dose-response meta-analysis and the methodological quality evaluation of the included studies. Results The results of the meta-analysis showed that there is a positive correlation between daily computer time (OR = 1.32, 1.05–1.60), daily mobile phone time (OR = 1.32, 1.00–1.64), daily TV watching (OR = 1.07, 1.04–1.09) and the risk of low back pain, separately. The dose–response meta-analysis showed that there is a linear relationship between daily computer use and low back pain. The risk of low back pain increased by 8.2% for each 1-hour of daily computer use. Conclusions Screen time is related to the risk of low back pain, and there is a linear relationship between daily computer use and the risk of low back pain. A number of strategic measures should be taken to prevent adolescents from developing severe low back pain.


Title of Document: DIGITAL (IN)HUMANITIES: RE-READING DIGITAL ARCHIVES AS A FORM OF CULTURAL EXPRESSION Aaron P. Dinin, Master of Arts, 2009 Directed By: Professor, Martha Nell Smith, Department of English A 2007 PMLA article discussing the Walt Whitman Archive juxtaposed narrative and database as competing forms of cultural expression. This article incited a flurry of responses which continued to use the database and narrative comparison. Dinin, in his article "Digital (In)Humanities," reassesses the terms of the digital archive debate, arguing that the terms "narrative" and "database" are both constricting and misleading. The juxtaposition shouldn't be database versus narrative to see which one becomes the dominant form of cultural expression because narrative, he argues, is a form of database. The more proper juxtaposition, as presented by the paper, is one that places "digital archive" alongside "narrative" because both are products of database and both are forms of cultural expression. Dinin, in his article, then goes on to explore the potential of digital archives as a form of cultural expression. DIGITAL (IN)HUMANITIES: RE-READING DIGITAL ARCHIVES AS A FORM OF CULTURAL EXPRESSION.


Suspensions of plant particles are very common products or by-products in many industries such as food, paper and biofuel. An improved understanding of the complex relationship between microstructure and rheology of these plant systems might help design, control and predict their structural and material properties. This thesis focuses on plant suspensions for application in food products structured mainly with comminuted plant material such as soups, drinks and sauces. Carrot, broccoli and tomato were selected as model plant materials due to the fact that they form a significant part of the Western diet and to their high content in specific micronutrients. The main objective of this work was to generate plant particle suspensions by physical treatments and to evaluate the relationship between the microstructure and the rheology of such systems, always considering the possible implications for nutrients bioaccessibility. It was shown that plant tissues can be disrupted into different particle morphologies, depending on the plant origin, by using mechanical and thermal processes including high pressure homogenisation as an intense shear treatment. While carrot and broccoli break in a stepwise fashion from clusters of cells to single cells and cell fragments with compact cell walls; tomato was more easily disrupted into fragments with an open wall structure. Suspensions, with potential to structure food products, were generated and characterised by techniques such as confocal scanning laser microscopy, cryo-scanning electron microscopy and rheology. The dependency of the yield stress and elastic modulus G' on particle dry mass fraction was found to be approximately a power-law, independently of the plant origin and particle morphology. Furthermore our results gave evidence that the viscoelasticity is dominated by both attractive forces and elastic interactions acting together. As an example of commercially available food products, 5% olive oil was added to the suspensions generating stable plant based emulsions which displayed a range of rheologies and microstructures with specific in vitro bioaccessibility of carotenes. The findings in this thesis might help in the selection of plant raw materials for specific textural applications and to design food products structured mainly using plant material, while reducing the amount of other texturisers and stabilisers. Furthermore optimisation of the textural and nutritional quality of these types of products could help to achieve the recommended levels of fruit and vegetables consumption, which may reduce the risk for different types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.


Increasing popularity of cloud-based services has led to the emergence of cloud marketplaces where services from different providers are offered, usually in the form of a catalog. The customers' decision about buying offered services is based on idiosyncratic preferences regarding non-functional service attributes, e.g., price, provider reputation, and quality of service. Customer preferences are typically unknown to providers at the time the service portfolio (i.e. quality and price choices) is specified. Thus, from a microeconomic perspective, we have to deal with information asymmetry in markets, which complicates the challenge of finding the profit maximizing service portfolio. This paper presents a generic economic framework based on customer self-selection to address the above-mentioned optimization for a cloud service provider. The contribution is twofold: We characterize a multi-attributive customer preference function for cloud services based on a continuum of potential customers. Thereby each infinitesimal demand of a customer is characterized by a vector of minimum quality values for each of the different attributes and a maximum willingness to pay. The demand framework addresses the phenomenon of product cannibalization. We then formulate the service providers' optimal service portfolio design. This grants the provider maximal profit through optimal combination of potential values of the chosen attributes.


Starting with a personal definition of "myth", this paper seeks to substantiate the claim that every myth is essentially etiological, in the sense that myths somehow express a cosmogony or an eschatology, whether particular or universal. In order to do that, this study reassesses Classical and Judeo-Christian mythologies to revisit and contrast the narratives of origin—of the cosmos, of the gods and of men—found in ancient polytheism and in Judeo-Christian monotheism. Taking into consideration how these general and particular cosmogonies convey a specific understanding of the passage of time, this article does not merely recount the cosmogonies, theogonies, and anthropogonies found in the Bible and in the works of authors from Classical Antiquity, but it also incorporates a critical commentary on pieces of art and literature that have reinterpreted such mythical tales in more recent times. The result of the research is the disclosure of a sort of universal etiology that may be found in mythology which, as argued, explains the origins of the world, of the gods, and of men so as to satisfy humankind's ambition to unveil the mysteries of the cosmos. Myth thus functions in these cases as a vehicle that makes it possible for man to return the fullness of a primordial age, abandoning the fleeting time that entraps him and entering a time still absolute.


A fibrin-sealing system consisting of symmetrical flap and graft procedures versus silk sutures in a split-mouth clinical trial was tested in 51 patients. Clinical parameters and operative times were recorded and compared. In clinical use, the fibrin glue provided quick hemostasis and adequate tissue adhesion on the whole inner surface of grafts or flaps. Its use saved remarkable amounts of time and made it easier to fix tissues in difficult areas. The time saved ranged from 3 to 19.5 minutes per procedure, and 1 to 8.5 minutes per tooth. The convenience of the fibrin glue was especially appreciated in pedicle flap procedures.


There has been plenty of scholarship on science fiction over the decades, but it has left one crucial aspect of the genre all but unanalysed: the visual. Ambitious and original, Landscape and the Science Fiction Imaginary corrects that oversight, making a powerful argument for science fiction as a visual cultural discourse. Taking influential historical works of visual art as starting points, along with illustrations, movie matte paintings, documentaries, artist's impressions and digital environments, John Timberlake focuses on the notion of science fiction as an 'imaginary topos', one that draws principally on the intersection between landscape and historical/prehistorical time. Richly illustrated, this book will appeal to scholars, students, and fans of science fiction and the remarkable visual culture that surrounds it.


This paper presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the governance of co-operative and mutual organisations. The theoretical literature on the governance of co-operatives is relatively undeveloped in comparison with that on corporate governance. The paper briefly reviews some of the main theoretical perspectives on corporate governance and discusses how they can be usefully extended to throw light on the governance of co-operatives and mutuals. However, taken individually these different theories are rather one dimensional, only illuminating a particular aspect of the board's role. This has lead to calls for a new conceptual framework that can help integrate the insights of these different theories. The paper argues that a paradox perspective offers a promising way forward. Contrasting the different theoretical perspectives highlights some of the important paradoxes, ambiguities and tensions that boards face. Copyright CIRIEC, 2004.


Persistence of the underlying malignancy remains the major obstacle limiting the success of high-dose chemoradiotherapy with allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) for lymphomas and multiple myeloma. We used the C3H 38C13 murine B-cell lymphoma, which expresses and secretes clonally derived Ig, the idiotype of which can serve as a tumor-specific antigen, to test the principle of transfer of tumor idiotype-specific immunity with BM. BALB/c marrow donors were twice immunized with 38C13-derived Ig, or with an isotype-matched control Ig, conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Lethally irradiated C3H recipients reconstituted with marrow from idiotype immune, but not nonspecifically immune, donors demonstrated protection against subsequent lethal tumor challenge. The immunoprotective effect of immune allogeneic marrow was abrogated by T-cell depletion of the marrow graft before infusion. Low levels of serum anti-idiotypic antibody remained unaltered in recipients of T-cell-depleted immune marrow, consistent with a primary role for T-cell immunity in the cellular mechanism of this phenomenon. A modest therapeutic effect of immune allogeneic marrow was observed against 10 day, 1 cm established subcutaneous tumors, but only in combination with a booster immunization of the recipient post-BMT. These results provide the rationale for a novel strategy for enhancing the specific antitumor effect of allogeneic marrow grafts.


The ineffectiveness of N2 as a secondary diluent in CW combustion-driven supersonic HF diffusion lasers is investigated experimentally, measuring the rotational temperatures of the DF molecules spectroscopically via the first-overtone emission and comparing the results of N2 and He systems. The results are presented graphically, plotting temperature versus the molar ratio of N2 or He to available F2. It is shown that increasing the ratio of He produces a significant drop in temperature, but increasing the N2 ratio has none. The drop in laser power and specific power (per total mass flow) with increasing N2 ratio reported by Spencer et al. (1972) and by Voignier and Regnier (1980) is confirmed. This effect can now be attributed to the inability of N2, because of its slow diffusion and low conductivity, to absorb the heat of the laser reaction.


Efficient narrow linewidth Er/sup 3+/-doped fibre ring lasers using a single fibre Bragg grating incorporated by a fibre optical circulator or a fibre coupler are investigated. Tunability of the fibre lasers is obtained by compressing the fibre grating in a specially designed unit. Tunabilities of 18 and 12 nm are achieved for fibre ring lasers with an optical circulator and fibre coupler, respectively. >


The deoxyadenosine-resistant mouse leukemia L1210 cell line (Y8) has previously been shown to have phenotypic differences that appear to be unrelated to the altered properties observed at the level of ribonucleotide reductase (RR). One of these changes is that the Y8 cells do not express p53. In response to DNA damaging agents, x-irradiation and doxorubicin, both the parental wild-type L1210 (WT) and Y8 cells undergo G2/M arrest, which is consistent with cells lacking wild-type p53 function. However, Y8 cells are much more sensitive to apoptosis induced by these agents than WT cells. Previous studies have also shown that expression of certain genes involved in cell cycle regulation is different between WT and Y8 cells. Recent evidence suggests that a serine/threonine kinase is involved in the divergent cellular responses of these cells. In the present study, the effects of roscovitine, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, were examined on the WT and Y8 cells. The WT cells blocked in G2/M, whereas Y8 cells became apoptotic. Apoptosis induced by roscovitine in the Y8 cells was mediated by a caspase-3-like activity. NF kappa B was activated to a much greater extent by roscovitine in the WT cells than in Y8 cells. The data also indicate that cyclin B1/cdc2 plays a role in the divergent p53-independent G2/M block and apoptotic responses of the WT and Y8 cells, respectively. Several key factors such as cathepsin B, caspase-1, release of cytochrome c into the cytosol, TNF-alpha signaling, FasL/Fas signaling, c-myc overexpression, and E2F-1 overexpression and induction were shown not to be involved in the apoptotic pathway(s) in the Y8 cells.


A new method based on best achievable flexibility change is presented in this study for structural damage localization. The algorithm makes use of an existing finite element model of the "healthy" structure and a subset of experimentally measured modal parameters of the "damaged" structure. Central to the damage localization approach is the computation of the Euclidean distances between the measured flexibility change and the best achievable flexibility changes. The location of damage can be identified by searching for a value that is considerably smaller than others in these distances. A numerical example of a spring-mass system is used to demonstrate the efficiency of the method. The illustrative example shows the good efficiency and stability of the numerical model on the localization of structural damage. It has been shown that the presented methodology may be a promising tool to be used by research groups working on experimental damage localization.


This paper focuses on the role of Sister Connection organization in improving the living conditions of Burundian widows. Specifically, it shows how received assistance has contributed to improving the living conditions of widows. It also shows different constraints that Sister Connection is facing in its effort of supporting widows. It further allowed us to know the suggestions that widows and the management of Sister Connection have. We opted for qualitative approaches with the use of the interview guide, and quantitative approaches with the use of a questionnaire administrated indirectly to the widows sponsored by Sister Connection. 96 widows have been selected using Bouchard's technique. An interview protocol was conducted by the National Director and a questionnaire was administered to the 96 widows. Data findings were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The "family systems theory" was chosen and it allowed us to understand how the solidarity that naturally characterizes Burundian families is broken at the death of a spouse and how other family members react to widows in Burundian society. Results showed that living conditions have been improved by the financial and spiritual assistance that the widows received from Sister Connection. Furthermore, the majority of widows have benefited shelter from Sister Connection. Despite all this effort, a significant number of widows assisted by Sister Connection are illiterate, and this presents a challenge to communicate with them whether it's through written communications or simply explaining certain things or communicating ideas. Training or teaching them becomes a challenge as they don't easily pick up on things or understand as fast as they could. Widows live far from each other. In fact, some live in isolated areas which make it difficult to reach them and know their needs on a regular basis.


Context: Studies have revealed high morbidity and mortality among agate stone workers of Shakarpur due to silicosis. Besides the fatal disease, the workers also suffer from debilitating co-morbidities especially tuberculosis and under nutrition. Aims: The present study describes few co-morbidities and their influence in mortality in cases of silicosis that were followed for 30 months at Shakarpur. Settings and Design: Shakarpur, Khambhat of Gujarat. Materials and Methods: Spirometry for lung function, chest X-ray, anthropometry, body fat % measurement, record of tuberculosis status and ILO classification of pneumoconiosis were done among 53 chest symptomatic patients above 15 years of age who were followed for 30 months. Results: Out of 53 participants (35 men), with an average duration of exposure to free silica of 16.8 years, more than half of the male workers were underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2) at enrollment. Thirteen participants died in less than 3 years of follow up. While 11 of them were silicosis positive out of which 10 had tuberculosis. The odds ratio for association between silicosis and tuberculosis was 2.75. A majority (81.1%) of the 37 silicosis positive cases showed a mixed pattern in spirometry suggesting co-existence of restrictive and obstructive pathology. On regression analysis, TB and nutritional status were found to have strong influence on mortality. Conclusions: Screening for early diagnosis of silicosis as well as co-morbid conditions and managing them would go a long way in prolonging the lives of the agate stone workers who are prone to die early due to silicosis.


Power management is one of the main challenges to continued development of large-scale integrated circuits. In particular, the offstate, or standby leakage, is becoming a significant fraction of total power consumption as gate dimensions continue to shrink. A review of the literature identified many possible solutions in the application of threshold-switching devices. This data has apparently never been summarized in one place, suggesting a need for this article. This article discusses the capabilities of classical amorphous semiconductor switches, and more recent advances in silicon, III-V materials, and organic semiconductors that all exhibit threshold-switching properties. Applications and future prospects for the development of more energy-efficient devices are discussed. The long-term vision is that conductors themselves can be engineered to dynamically sense and adapt their conductivity to active or passive states as required.


The authors have searched for precursors to air showers using a 0.64 m2 scintillation detector system located under a thick layer of absorber inside a multiplate cloud chamber. They find no evidence for a finite flux of tachyon-like particles in an operating time of 3621 hours compared with the observation of six events in 40 hours with a 2.1 m2 detector as reported by Ashton et al. (1977).


A crystalline silicon active-matrix 2048 × 2048- pixel light-valve array chip has been designed and fabricated as part of the development of a reflective liquid crystal technology for projection displays. The small feature processing and higher circuit performance available with crystalline silicon technology were exploited for the design and fabrication of the active-matrix chip. A 10-V CMOS process was developed to satisfy active-matrix pixel-cell requirements. Row-selection circuits were integrated which incorporate redundant data paths. Adjacent-line demultiplexing circuitry was integrated to minimize the number of external data drivers, to minimize the number of connections, and to maximize chip yield. The pixel, row-driver, and data-driver demultiplexing circuit designs and performance are discussed. The testing methods are presented, The chip is 64 mm on a side and is used in a prototype rear-projection color display system. Companion papers describe the system and its additional components incorporated in the prototype display system.


To investigate freeze–thaw cycle effects on the energy dissipation and strength characteristics of cement soils under impact loading, impact compression tests were carried out using a split Hopkinson pressure bar on cement soils under various freeze–thaw cycles (0, 1, 3, 6 and 10 times). The Zhu–Wang–Tang (ZWT) model was modified to predict the relationship between deformation and strength in cement soils under various test conditions. The obtained test results revealed that the freeze–thaw cycle number and impact pressure had significant effects on the fractal dimension, strength and absorbed energy of cement soils and there existed a critical freeze–thaw cycle number. It was found that the increase of the freeze–thaw cycle number gradually decreased strength and absorbed energy and increased the fractal dimension. When freeze–thaw cycle number was between 0–6, strength, fractal dimension and absorbed energy were significantly changed. For freeze–thaw cycle numbers greater than 6, the effects of the above factors were gradually alleviated. A modified constitutive model was able to accurately describe cement soil mechanical responses under high strain rate conditions, and the relative error between the predicted and experimental results was in the range of ±7%.


Abstract. Sabbioneta is a small town situated in the province of Mantova, in northern Italy. Founded by Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna in the XVI century, it constituted the capital of the Sabbioneta Ducat. His specific historical background and renaissance urban fabric made it enter into the UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2008. Other than the economic and political consequences of this event, it shows the architectural importance of Sabbioneta and its great potential for future developments. Palazzo Ducale (Figure 1) was one of the first constructions of the new town. Acting as a ducal residence in its beginnings, its function has evolved over time until the current situation: an exposition space.


The phenomena of natural and acquired resistance to transplanted chicken tumors strikingly resemble those observed in the case of transplanted mammalian growths; and no more than those do they suggest that the tumors have an extrinsic cause. That there may exist in fowls implanted with a chicken tumor a resistance directed against the tumor-causing agent distinct from the resistance manifested against the alien tumor cells has been shown in a previous article. Both sorts of resistance are present in a fowl in which a tumor has retrogressed, the resistance in such an instance being acquired. That directed against the agent is largely specific, giving little if any protection against the agents causing other tumors. There is some evidence that the conditions upon which a fowl's natural resistance depends are the same for the agents causing different chicken tumors. It has proved impossible to protect chickens against the agent causing the simple sarcoma by injecting them with dried tumor material in which this agent has been attenuated by heat. The transfer of blood from resistant fowls to fowls with growing tumors is in our experience void of effect on the tumors.


Sensorimotor control simultaneously engages multiple cognitive processes, like decision making, intention, processing, and the integration of multisensory signals. The reciprocal relationship of cognition and sensorimotor learning is well documented. However, little is known if the status of cognitive skills relates to immediate sensorimotor performance of performing a novel skill. Thus, we aim to explore whether cognitive skills in general and executive functions (EFs) in particular may relate to novel sensorimotor performance and adaptive skills. Therefore, 23 male participants engaged in a novel driving simulation for 2 days. On the first day, they accustomed to the F1 simulation until meeting a preset threshold (adaption). On the second day, they aimed to drive as fast as possible (performance). In addition, we measured EFs and global cognition. We found meaningful relationships between response inhibition (Stroop Color and Word Test), the driving performance (r = 0.48, p = 0.013), and the adaptive ability (r = 0.34, p = 0.012). All other tests of executive functioning and global cognition remained non-significant. Our results illustrate an association of driving performance and adaptive abilities and the EF selective attention/inhibition in a novel F1 simulation. Given the novelty of the task, the ability to adjust sensorimotor behavior to keep the car on the track seems to be the primary necessary skill to navigate the lap and achieve fast times.


Background and aims Breast surgery often requires post-operative opioid analgesia, which has been associated with treatment-resistant chronic pain syndromes, and been suggested as having cancer-spreading potential. Erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a novel approach to thoracic and abdominal pain management which has previously been described as successfully implemented perioperatively in various breast interventions. We hereby present our experience in the management of a quadrantectomy patient. Methods An otherwise healthy 66-year old woman presented for right-lower quadrantectomy of the right breast with sentinel lymph node excision. An anaesthetic management plan consisting of combined general anaesthesia with right-sided ESP block was devised. Ultrasonography-guided injection of 20cc of 0,75% ropivacaine along the erector spinae fascial plane at the T5 spinal level was performed preoperatively. General anaesthesia was induced with fentanyl (100mcg) and propofol (120 mg). After supraglottic device placement, maintenance was ensured with sevoflurane. Additional intravenous analgesia was provided with paracetamol (1 g) and ketorolac (30 mg). Results Haemodynamic stability was noted throughout surgery, with no response to skin incision or tissue dissection. The patient reported no significant pain upon waking or discharge, 24h later. No rescue analgesia was needed during that period and skin numbness representing no significant discomfort subsided over the next day. Conclusions Our report of a successful implementation of nearly opioid-free anaesthesia in a quadrantectomy patient, by using the novel potential of the ESP-block, suggests that this might be an invaluably safe and effective strategy, not only for pain control, but also as an opioid and anaesthetic-sparing approach, plausibly increasingly useful in debilitated and physiologically fragile patients.


Via a systematic literature review, this article draws attention to the alarming scarcity of experimental studies and the ensuing shortness of evidence for causality in the field of expatriate management. Only 17 articles could be identified, published over more than 20 years, which utilize randomized experiments or quasi-experiments on topics of expatriation. Moreover, these articles show specific patterns, such as dealing exclusively with pre-departure and on-assignment issues, or, in their majority, sampling individuals who interact with expatriates rather than expatriates themselves. This lack of experimental studies is problematic, as it is difficult to establish causality between different variables without conducting experimental studies. Yet many critical issues in expatriation are precisely questions of causality. Hence, in this article, we provide resources to help move the expatriation field toward a more balanced use of different research methodologies and, thus, a greater understanding of the many relationships uncovered in past research. First, we identify four main challenges unique to conducting experimental research in the context of expatriation: Challenging data access, global sample dispersion, restricted manipulability of variables, and cultural boundedness of constructs and interpretations. Second, we provide strategies to overcome these challenges, based on studies included in the review as well as taking ideas from neighboring fields such as cross-cultural psychology. The article concludes with a discussion of how experimental research can take the field of expatriation forward and improve the decision-making process of practitioners managing international assignees.


ABSTRACT: Paulisentis missouriensis is a common acanthocephalan parasite of creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) in the streams of 2 drainages (South Fork and Turkey Creek) in the Big Nemaha River system in southeastern Nebraska, U.S.A., but is absent from streams in the remaining 2 drainages (Muddy Creek and North Fork). The present investigation tested whether intrinsic host-related factors are responsible for the distributional limit of P. missouriensis in this system. Copepods and creek chub were collected from streams where the worm is absent and exposed to infective stages of P. missouriensis under laboratory conditions. In addition, creek chub from areas lacking the worm were maintained in cages in a stream where the worm is abundant. Both creek chub and copepods from streams lacking the worm became infected under laboratory and field conditions. These results reject the possibility that the cause of the abrupt distributional limit of P. missouriensis in the Big Nemaha River system is due to intrinsic host-related phenomena. Other hypotheses that could account for the distributional limit include differing transmission conditions among drainages, environmental limits on completing development, and long-term spatiotemporal factors.


Generative deep learning algorithms have progressed to a point where it is difficult to tell the difference between what is real and what is fake. In 2018, it was discovered how easy it is to use this technology for unethical and malicious applications, such as the spread of misinformation, impersonation of political leaders, and the defamation of innocent individuals. Since then, these "deepfakes" have advanced significantly. In this article, we explore the creation and detection of deepfakes and provide an in-depth view as to how these architectures work. The purpose of this survey is to provide the reader with a deeper understanding of (1) how deepfakes are created and detected, (2) the current trends and advancements in this domain, (3) the shortcomings of the current defense solutions, and (4) the areas that require further research and attention.


Summary Derivatives of cyclic nucleotides were evaluated for their ability to inhibit platelet aggregation and the release reaction. Derivatives substituted in position 8 (mainly 8-Br-cyclic GMP) were more active than 3'-5' cyclic AMP, and their relative potency in inhibiting platelet aggregation and 14C-serotonin release was comparable to that of N62-0'-dibutyryl-cyclic AMP. Compounds substituted in position 6 or 2'-0 were not effective. The active compounds, which were also tested for their ability to stimulate platelet adenylate cyclase or to inhibit cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, did not modify the intracellular levels of cyclic AMP. Since previous animal experiments have shown that these derivatives cause less side effects than cyclic AMP and its dibutyryl derivative in animals, it is suggested that modification of the cyclophosphate molecule might make it possible to find compounds active only on platelet function without interfering with other biological systems.


Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is the problem of constructing a 3D map while simultaneously keeping track of an agent location within the map. In recent years, work has focused on systems that use a single moving camera as the only sensing mechanism (monocular-SLAM). This choice was motivated because nowadays, it is possible to find inexpensive commercial cameras, smaller and lighter than other sensors previously used and, they provide visual environmental information that can be exploited to create complex 3D maps while camera poses can be simultaneously estimated. Unfortunately, previous monocular-SLAM systems are based on optimization techniques that limits the performance for real-time embedded applications. To solve this problem, in this work, we propose a new monocular SLAM formulation based on the hypothesis that it is possible to reach high efficiency for embedded applications, increasing the density of the point cloud map (and therefore, the 3D map density and the overall positioning and mapping) by reformulating the feature-tracking/feature-matching process to achieve high performance for embedded hardware architectures, such as FPGA or CUDA. In order to increase the point cloud map density, we propose new feature-tracking/feature-matching and depthfrom-motion algorithms that consists of extensions of the stereo matching problem. Then, two different hardware architectures (based on FPGA and CUDA, respectively) fully compliant for real-time embedded applications are presented. Experimental results show that it is possible to obtain accurate camera pose estimations. Compared to previous monocular systems, we are ranked as the 5th place in the KITTI benchmark suite, with a higher processing speed (we are the fastest algorithm in the benchmark) and more than ×10 the density of the point cloud from previous approaches.


BACKGROUND
Remarkable progress has been made in immunotherapy, specifically antibodies for programmed death 1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), for treating advanced cancers. In this study, we explored whether circulating immune cells can be used as biomarkers of the efficacy of such therapy.

METHODS
We enrolled patients who received nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 antibody, for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in clinical trials and who consented to the collection of their peripheral blood. Using flow cytometry, we analyzed lymphocyte subclasses and the PD-1 or PD-L1 positivity of immune cells. These results were compared between patients with disease control (complete response, partial response, or stable disease) and those with disease progression.

RESULTS
This study included 16 patients. The objective response rate was 19%, and the disease control rate was 75%. The hemogram results and the percentage of total αβ T cells or CD4 T cells did not significantly change after nivolumab treatment; moreover, they were not associated with treatment outcomes. The number of CD8 T cells significantly increased after 4 weeks (p = .016); however, this change was not associated with treatment outcomes. Patients with disease control exhibited peripheral B cells with significantly lower pretreatment PD-1 positivity than did patients with disease progression (p = .042). Patients with disease progression were more likely to exhibit monocytes with increased PD-L1 positivity after 28 (p = .020) or 42 (p = .008) days of treatment.

CONCLUSION
The low pretreatment PD-1 positivity of peripheral B cells and the constant posttreatment PD-L1 positivity of monocytes were associated with disease control after nivolumab treatment for advanced HCC.