Abstract Mathematical models to simulate railroad track settlements are reviewed and commented upon. There do not seem to be any generally accepted damage and settlement equations describing the long-term behaviour of the track. This also seems to be the case for the ballast material. Most descriptions of the settlement found in the literature are empirical; only different suggestions to describe the track settlement from a phenomenological point of view are available. The track settlement is mostly considered to be a function of number of loading cycles and/or a function of the magnitude of the loading. The settlement should also be a function of the properties of the ballast and subground materials, but very little has been found on this in the literature. By use of the finite element program LS-DYNA, a computer model (very simple) has been created to simulate the long-term behaviour of the track. The model consists of a rail, rigid sleepers, non-linear ballast springs (stiffnesses) and ballast damping. In a solid element beneath each ballast spring, track settlement can be accumulated. Settlement will occur if the stresses in that element exceed a yield limit of the element material. Also 'hanging sleepers' may be modelled and obtained as a result of the track settlement.


Cancer cells often display aberrant profiles of alternative splicing, leading to the production of isoforms that can stimulate cell proliferation and migration, increase resistance to apoptosis, or alter cell metabolism. Recently, recurrent somatic mutations in components of the splicing machinery have been identified in human tumors, raising a new interest in the field and suggesting that alterations in splicing factors are a new hallmark of cancer. Splicing factors elicit changes in splicing in a concentration-dependent manner. Thus, changes in the expression of these proteins, as reported in different types of cancers, can affect the splicing of multiple genes and are likely involved in splicing deregulation in cancer, even in the absence of mutations. We previously demonstrated that the splicing factor SRSF19formerly SF2/ASF9 is often upregulated in human breast cancers and can transform mammary epithelial cells in vivo and in vitro. SRSF1 is a prototypical member of the SR protein family, composed of 12 members sharing structural similarities. However, little is known about differences and redundancies in their splicing targets and thus in their specific biological functions. We are now investigating wherever additional splicing factors can promote mammary epithelial cell transformation by using models that mimic the correct biological context in which tumors arise. We have mined data from a large collection of human breast tumors and cancer cell lines to identify splicing factors overexpressed at the transcript and protein levels. We then compared the ability of 10 selected splicing factors to transform human mammary epithelial MCF-10A cells grown in organotypic 3-D culture. Under these conditions, the cells undergo a 16-day differentiation program, forming growth-arrested, hollow acinar structures with polarized architecture, similar to the terminal units of mammary ducts. Various oncogenes associated with breast cancer are known to disrupt acinar growth and/or architecture. We assessed how splicing-factor overexpression affects cell proliferation and apoptosis, as well as cell migration and invasion. Interestingly, only certain splicing factors are oncogenic in this context, suggesting functional differences. Furthermore, specific splicing factors increase cell migration and invasion but are unable to promote transformation. We have demonstrated specificity in splicing-factor mediated transformation, and we are now investigating what are the relevant splicing targets for transformation by several of these oncogenic splicing factors. Furthermore, we are investigating which splicing factors are necessary or sufficient to promote cell invasion and metastatic potential in human breast cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. Finally, we have identified splicing factors that cooperate specifically with the MYC oncogene and are significantly co-expressed with MYC in human breast tumors. By identifying oncogenic splicing factors that can promote breast cancer, and their downstream effectors, we hope to establish candidate targets for therapeutics development based on the modulation of oncogenic splicing events and their regulators. Citation Format: Olga Anczukow, Kuan-Ting Lin, Martin Akerman, Shipra Das, Senthil K. Muthuswamy, Adrian Krainer. Differential functions of splicing factors in breast-cancer initiation and metastasis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; Jan 20-23, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(3 Suppl):Abstract nr B53.


It is generally recognized that the theory of probability should no longer be treated as adjunct to a course in statistics or reliability but must be taught as a basic discipline, a prerequisite for several courses. In teaching the subject one must overcome an initial obstacle. In public schools and even in colleges, students learn that the universe evolves according to deterministic laws that specify completely its future, and a probabilistic description of its evolution is needed only because of our ignorance. This deep-rooted skepticism in the validity of probabilistic results can be overcome only by a proper interpretation of the meaning of probability. In this paper we attempt to present and analyze the various definitions and their role in a probability course.


Different treatment processes such as alkaline washing, bleaching, and slack-mercer ization are used to improve the sorption characteristics of cellulose fibers. The differences between the sorption properties of cellulose fibers are measured with tensiometry, and their sorption velocities are measured with liquids of different polarities. From those measurements, contact angles are determined using the Washburn equation. The surface free energy of the cellulose fibers is determined from contact angle data obtained with the Owens-Wendt-Rabel-Kaeble approximation. Results show that among these treatments, slack-mercerization produces the lowest contact angle and the highest surface free fiber energy, and has therefore the largest influence on sorption ability. Viscose fibers (raw and treated) have the lowest contact angle and the highest surface free energy, and are the most hydrophilic compared to lyocell and modal fibers. This is explained by their crystalline structure and the accessibility of their surface groups to polar liquids.


Room acoustic simulation tools based on geometrical acoustics fail to predict accurately the behaviour of rooms at low frequencies. This inaccuracy can lead to poor acoustic conditions especially in rooms of moderate volume, such as classrooms and meeting rooms. The present paper tackles this problem by introducing a simulation technique for room acoustics based on the Image Source Method and the Equivalent Source Method. These methods are implemented in the time domain to achieve efficient calculations with reliable results for low to medium frequencies. Given a source emitting a pulse signal in a room, image sources up to different orders are defined to determine early reflections. With the direct sound field from the original source and the contributions of the image sources, the remaining part of the sound field is solved by the Equivalent Source Method to account for late reflections and diffraction effects. The results of the test simulations carried out show that this combined Image-Equivalent Source Method is a suitable option for room acoustics.


More than 200 kg real waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) shredder residues from a German dismantling plant were treated at 650 °C in a demonstration scale thermochemical conversion plant. The focus within this work was the generation, purification, and analysis of pyrolysis oil. Subsequent filtration and fractional distillation were combined to yield basic chemicals in high purity. By means of fractional distillation, pure monocyclic aromatic fractions containing benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX aromatics) as well as styrene and α-methyl styrene were isolated for chemical recycling. Mass balances were determined, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) measurements provided data on the purity and halogen content of each fraction. This work shows that thermochemical conversion and the subsequent refining by fractional distillation is capable of recycling WEEE shredder residues, producing pure BTEX and other monocyclic aromatic fractions. A significant decrease of halogen content (up to 99%) was achieved with the applied methods.


Background : Various ironic portraits of the librarian profession are coupled by the low interest of young people in the librarian profession. However, librarians of Universitas Airlangga and Petra Christian University Surabaya have changed the attitude of the librarian for the better than before.
Objective  : The purpose of this study is to determine the attitude responses generated by library users in cognitive, affective, and conative aspects based on the services of the librarians in the reading room services.
Methods : This study used a descriptive research method with a survey approach of 100 respondents. Sampling was done by purposive sampling with the criteria of having visited the library in the last six months, having visited at least three times, and having interacted with librarians in the library services. The data were obtained through questionnaires and probing interviews.
Results : Based on the results of the research, cognitive aspects were good at a score of 2.27, affective aspects were also good at a score of 2.15, and conative aspects were also good at a score of 2.38. The cognitive response was good because the help of librarians was very useful and accurate. Then, the affective response was also good because the librarians always listened to complaints from users. Moreover, the conative response was also good because the librarians always offered help to the users.
Conclusion : The response of library users is overall satisfied with the services of librarians with indicators of three aspects: cognitive, affective, and conative. This makes the librarian's image as a proud profession in the view of the users.


The Web of Things (WoT) extends the Internet of Things to provide users with high-level features, involving physical objects connected through Web technologies and standards. Avatar-based infrastructures is one of the most promising solution for the WoT. Avatars are component-based software agents that extend physical objects and are able to reason about contextual information. A major challenge of the WoT is to allow applications to adapt to their environment. In this paper, we propose an approach to process multi-purpose adaptation in an avatar-based WoT infrastructure. Our approach relies on a context meta-model that offers accurate granularity levels of information required for the different types of adaptation involved in WoT applications. We show how avatar components pre-process data from different sources, handle an operational context model, and respond to adaptation requests. We evaluate the performance of our approach and compare the effects of our adaptation process in different experimental conditions.


We establish a log-majorization inequality, which relates the moduli of the eigenvalues of a block structured matrix with the tropical eigenvalues of the matrix obtained by replacing every block entry of the original matrix by its norm. This inequality involves combinatorial constants depending on the size and pattern of the matrix. Its proof relies on diagonal scalings, constructed from the optimal dual variables of a parametric optimal assignment problem.


Summary
We build our analysis upon previous work by Bloom et al. (Measuring the Effect of Political Uncertainty. Working Paper, Stanford University, 2012) and Baker et al. (Political Uncertainty: A New Indicator. CentrePiece 2012; 16(3): 21–23), who estimate the dynamic effects of a shock to a newly constructed surrogate measure of political uncertainty (PU) on the US economy. Comparable to their results we demonstrate that a shock to PU has pervasive effects on the dynamic evolution of the US economy. Using an estimated structural dynamic factor model we find that more globally integrated markets exhibit significantly more pronounced responses than other measures of real economic activity. Impulse responses reveal a small but statistically significant 'flight-to-safety' effect, depressing government bond yields across the entire term structure following a shock to PU. Forecast error variance decompositions are predominantly composed of supply, demand, and PU shocks over all horizons, with PU shocks contributing less and supply shocks contributing more to forecast errors at longer horizons. Technology shocks, by contrast, are found to affect forecast accuracy closer to impact with quickly decaying contributions over extended forecast horizons. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A trap-nesting program in northern Spain undertaken in cooperation with Dr. Enrique Asensio (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agrarias, Valladolid) over the past few years has resulted in numerous nests of megachilids. One of these represents a new species of Protosmia Ducke. It is described here in order to make the name available for the description of its nesting biology, and is named in honor of Dr. Asensio, in recognition of his considerable help in this trap-nesting study.


Adolescence is marked by profound psychosocial and physiological changes. Although investigations into the interactions between these forces have begun to shed light on the neural correlates of affective processing during the transition to adolescence, relatively little is known about the relationship between pubertal development and emotion perception at the neural level. In the current longitudinal study, 45 neurotypical participants were shown affective facial displays while undergoing fMRI, at ages 10 and 13. Neural responses to emotional expressions at both time points were then correlated with a self-report measure of pubertal development, revealing positive associations with activity in amygdala, thalamus and visual cortical areas at age 10 that increased in magnitude and extent by age 13. At the latter time point, pubertal development was additionally correlated with enhanced responses to faces in temporal pole, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and dorsomedial PFC. Longitudinal comparisons revealed that the relationships between pubertal development and activity in the amygdala, hippocampus and temporal pole were significantly stronger during early adolescence than late childhood. These results suggest that pubertal development per se is linked to neural processing of socioemotional stimuli, particularly with respect to the integration of complex perceptual input and higher order cortical processing of affective content.


This paper discusses a grid-type sensor network with reconfigurable PSoCs as sensor nodes, and details the middleware routines that support the high-level model for distributed programming. The advantages of using reconfigurable PSoCs over other architectures, like MICA2 motes, are also discussed. The paper refers to a case study to illustrate the capabilities of the proposed network concept.


Human-Following robots are being actively researched for their immense potential to carry out mundane tasks like load carrying and monitoring of target individual through interaction and collaboration. The recent advancements in vision and sensor technologies have helped in creating more user-friendly robots that are able to coexist with humans by leveraging the sensors for human detection, human movement estimation, collision avoidance, and obstacle avoidance. But most of these sensors are suitable only for Line of Sight following of human. In the case of loss of sight of the target, most of them fail to re-acquire their target. In this paper, we are proposing a novel method to develop a human following robot using Bluetooth and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) on Smartphones which can work under high interference environment and can reacquire the target when lost. The proposed method leverages IMU sensors on the smartphone to estimate the direction of human movement while estimating the distance traveled from the RSSI of the Bluetooth. Thus, the Follow Me robot which estimates the position of target human and direction of heading and effectively track the person was implemented using Smartphone on a differential drive robot.


This volume examines themes that complicate the conventional economist's view of the world and thereby provide for a notably more complex, and humane, subject of study than the traditional Homo economicus. Written by economists and philosophers, these essays attempt to place neoclassical economic theory, especially conventional textbook micro-economic theory, in the broader context of other social sciences and modern economics. In doing so, the book aims to find the boundaries of economics and to define more sharply its relationship to other kinds of inquiry. Though the widespread use of textbook microtheory in business, economic, and political analysis is a clear testament to its power, the restrictions and artificialities of neoclassical assumptions give cause for worry even to many economists. This book examines the extent to which the economist's paradigm - that man is characterized chiefly by self-interested goals and rational choice of means - is useful in studying traditional noneconomic fields such as philosophy, political theory, and rhetoric. It also looks at how insights from other disciplines are changing - and perhaps improving - the current practice of economics.


It leaves some with broken limbs, some with swollen eyes and some with unforgettable memories. It knows no gender, age, race and time. It is perpetrated by a physically stronger member of the family over other members. It is perpetrated in order to control the other partner or in other cases it is done out of jealous. It can be seen as a set of behaviours abusers deliberately use to maintain power and control over them and the relationship. Family harmony is crucial and people should treat each other with respect and care. Healthy relationships should not include abusive behavior, such as name-calling or physical injuries. The victims of domestic violence can be male, female, children or a domestic worker. This paper is confined to cases of domestic violence in Zimbabwe. The paper highlights the effects of domestic violence. The paper will also conclude by giving some recommendations on how to reduce cases of domestic violence.


Reliability is one of the key performance factors in data centres. The out-of-scale energy costs of these facilities lead data centre operators to increase the ambient temperature of the data room to decrease cooling costs. However, increasing ambient temperature reduces the safety margins and can result in a higher number of anomalous events. Anomalies in the data centre need to be detected as soon as possible to optimize cooling efficiency and mitigate the harmful effects over servers. This article proposes the usage of clustering-based outlier detection techniques coupled with a trust and reputation system engine to detect anomalies in data centres. We show how self-organizing maps or growing neural gas can be applied to detect cooling and workload anomalies, respectively, in a real data centre scenario with very good detection and isolation rates, in a way that is robust to the malfunction of the sensors that gather server and environmental information.


This report is devoted to a new approach to wide band non-stationary noise reduction and corrupted speech signal enhancement. The objective is to provide processed speech intelligibility and quality while maintaining computation simplicity. We present a new (non-subtractive) noise suppression method called multi-band Automatic Gain Control (AGC). The proposed method is based on the introduction of a non-subtractive noise suppression model and multi band filter gain control. This model provides less residual noise and better speech quality over the Spectral Subtraction Method (SSM). Modification of multi-band AGC gain function allows easy introduce new useful feature called Spectral Contrasting. The report contains the discussion of AGC control parameters values. Experiments show that the proposed algorithms are effective in non-stationary noisy background for Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) up to –6dB.


This paper measured the evapotranspiration (ET) rate of a winter wheat field on the Loess Plateau tableland by using large-scale weighing lysimeter, and analyzed the effects of wheat leaf area index (LAI) , soil water content, air temperature, and rainfall on the ET at the time scales of growth stage, month, day, and hour. The results showed that the mean daily ET rate in different growth stages was in the order of booting-heading > flowering > erecting > jointing > filling > reviving > ripening > overwintering. Air temperature had a larger effect in initial stage, LAI was in mid stage, and soil water content was in last stage in the experimental year. The mean daily ET rate was markedly decreased from 6.25 mmn x d(-1) at booting-heading stage to 2.66 mm x d(-1) at grain-filling stage due to soil water deficit. The monthly ET rate in April, May and June was higher than that in other months, and the ET amount of the three months accounted for 80% of the total during the experimental period. The apices of daily ET curve mainly reflected the effects of rainfall, and the hourly ET process basically reflected the ET changes with weather conditions.


Keyphrase extraction models are usually evaluated under different, not directly comparable, experimental setups. As a result, it remains unclear how well proposed models actually perform, and how they compare to each other. In this work, we address this issue by presenting a systematic large-scale analysis of state-of-the-art keyphrase extraction models involving multiple benchmark datasets from various sources and domains. Our main results reveal that state-of-the-art models are in fact still challenged by simple baselines on some datasets. We also present new insights about the impact of using author- or reader-assigned keyphrases as a proxy for gold standard, and give recommendations for strong baselines and reliable benchmark datasets.


Hippocampal synaptic plasticity, particularly in the Schaffer collateral (SC) to CA1 pyramidal excitatory transmission, is considered as the cellular mechanism underlying learning. The CA1 pyramidal neurons are embedded in an intricate local circuitry that contains a variety of interneurons. The roles these interneurons play in the regulation of the excitatory synaptic plasticity remains largely understudied. Our recent experiments showed that repeated cholinergic activation of α7 nACh receptors expressed in oriens-lacunosum-moleculare (OLMα2) interneurons could induce LTP in SC-CA1 synapses, likely through disinhibition by inhibiting stratum radiatum (s.r.) interneurons that provide feedforward inhibition onto CA1 pyramidal neurons, revealing a potential mechanism for local interneurons to regulate SC-CA1 synaptic plasticity. Here, we pair in vitro studies with biophysically-based modeling to uncover the mechanisms through which cholinergic-activated GABAergic interneurons can disinhibit CA1 pyramidal cells, and how repeated disinhibition modulates hippocampal plasticity at the excitatory synapses. We found that α7 nAChR activation increases OLM activity. OLM neurons, in turn inhibit the fast-spiking interneurons that provide feedforward inhibition onto CA1 pyramidal neurons. This disinhibition, paired with tightly timed SC stimulation, can induce potentiation at the excitatory synapses of CA1 pyramidal neurons. Our work further describes the pairing of disinhibition with SC stimulation as a general mechanism for the induction of hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Disinhibition of the excitatory synapses, paired with SC stimulation, leads to increased NMDAR activation and intracellular calcium concentration sufficient to upregulate AMPAR permeability and potentiate the synapse. Repeated paired disinhibition of the excitatory synapse leads to larger and longer lasting increases of the AMPAR permeability. Our study thus provides a novel mechanism for inhibitory interneurons to directly modify glutamatergic synaptic plasticity. In particular, we show how cholinergic action on OLM interneurons can down-regulate the GABAergic signaling onto CA1 pyramidal cells, and how this shapes local plasticity rules. We identify paired disinhibition with SC stimulation as a general mechanism for the induction of hippocampal synaptic plasticity.


Ten-eleven translocation (TET) enzymes catalyze the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC), 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxylcytosine, which result in genomic DNA demethylation. It was reported that 5-hmC levels were decreased in a variety of cancers and could be regarded as an epigenetic hallmark of cancer. In the present study, 5-hmC levels were detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in 173 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues and 91 corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues; DNA dot blot assays were used to detect the 5-hmC level in another 50 pairs of ESCC tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues. In addition, the mRNA level of TET1, TET2 and TET3 in these 50 pairs of ESCC tissues was detected by real-time PCR. The IHC and DNA dot blot results showed that 5-hmC levels were significantly lower in ESCC tissues compared with corresponding adjacent non-tumor tissues (P = 0.029). TET2 and TET3 expression was also significantly decreased in tumor tissues compared with paired non-tumor tissues (TET2, P < 0.0001; TET3, P = 0.009), and the decrease in 5-hmC was significantly associated with the downregulation of TET2 expression (r = 0.405, P = 0.004). Moreover, the loss of 5-hmC in ESCC tissues was significantly associated with poor overall survival among patients with ESCC (P = 0.043); multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that the loss of 5-hmC in ESCC tissues was an independent unfavorable prognostic indicator for patients with ESCC (HR = 1.569, P = 0.029). In conclusion, 5-hmC levels were decreased in ESCC tissues, and the loss of 5-hmC in tumor tissues was an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for patients with ESCC.


Clouds of impurity atoms near line defects are believed to affect the plastic deformation of alloys. Three-dimensional atom probe techniques were used to image these so-called Cottrell atmospheres directly. Ordered iron-aluminum alloys (40 atomic percent aluminum) doped with boron (400 atomic parts per million) were investigated on an atomic scale along the <001> direction. A boron enrichment was observed in the vicinity of an <001> edge dislocation. The enriched region appeared as a three-dimensional pipe 5 nanometers in diameter, tangent to the dislocation line. The dislocation was found to be boron-enriched by a factor of 50 (2 atomic percent) relative to the bulk. The local boron enrichment is accompanied by a strong aluminum depletion of 20 atomic percent.


This paper describes a high-level control mechanism for a dextrous hand. It overviews a distributed environment for robot control currently under development. A simple flexible set of grasps for a dextrous hand is then suggested and their implementation discussed. Finally the paper speculates about the role the grasp can play in obstacle avoidance and vice-versa.


This CGIAR-CPWF Project was designed and conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in partnership with international and national partners, to address the relative neglect of livestock water needs of crop-livestock farming systems. The primary objective of this project was to optimize the productive use of water in the crop-livestock farming systems of semi-arid areas to enhance livelihoods, reduce poverty, contribute to gender equity, and protect the environment. This was addressed through an integrated approach led by a multi-disciplinary team across three States of the Ganga Basin.


An approach that consists of a molecular mechanics method based on the second generation reactive empirical bond order (REBO) potential and the more accurate semiempirical method PM3 (Parametric Method No. 3) was proposed to predict the energetically favored isomers of the fullerenes from C90 to C140 at the semiempirical level. All the 578,701 isolated-pentagon-rule isomers of fullerenes from C90 to C140 were enumerated from topological structures and systematically searched using an energy minimization method to select the best 100 low-energy isomers based on the REBO potential for each fullerene. Then these candidate isomers were further optimized by PM3 and ranked again to determine the top low-energy isomers. This approach was applied to calculate the energetically favored isomers of C90-C140. The results of C90-C120 are in good agreement with the published results by quantum-chemical methods. Furthermore, the top five low-energy isomers of C90-C120, as well as C122-C140 which have scarcely been systematically studied before, are also predicted with the approach. The analysis of the structures showed that the hexagon-neighbor rule is an important factor to the stability of C90-C140. The time cost for the systematical search based on the REBO potential was also discussed. It indicates that the approach proposed is efficient for predicting the energetically favored isomers of large fullerenes at the semiempirical level.


Background
Post-operative hypoparathyroidism is the most frequent complication after total thyroidectomy. It represents one of the main causes of prolonged hospital-stay and is associated with a significant increase in health costs. The identification of patients with higher risk of suffering this complication allows early treatment, reduces clinical complications and adequate the use of health resources. Throughout history, several predictors have been used to stratify patients at risk. In recent years the use of parathormone parathyroid hormone (PTH) has taken particular interest.

Objective
To review the existing literature on the use of PTH as a predictor of hypocalcemia after thyroidectomy.

Method
A medline search was performed. We reviewed the existing evidence on efficacy of PTH as a predictor of post-operative hypocalcemia, economic impact, optimal time for sampling and implementation mode.

Conclusion
The use of PTH predicts with adequate sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive value the risk for the patients to suffer post-operative hypocalcemia. Cut-off values and sampling number and time vary among authors; as a result, more data is needed to reach a conclusion about the standardization of use after a total thyroidectomy procedure. It use could be beneficial not only for patients but also for care providers as health cost might be diminished.


The white rot fungus Pleurotus pulmonarius exhibited metabolism of atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) in liquid culture, producing the dealkylated metabolites desethylatrazine, desisopropylatrazine, and desethyl-desisopropylatrazine. A fourth, unknown metabolite was also produced. It was isolated and was identified as 2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-(1-hydroxyisopropyl)amino-1,3,5-triazine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The structure of this metabolite was confirmed by chemical synthesis of the compound and comparison with the fungally produced metabolite.


relativism, Jacques specifies broad criteria for assessing competing claims in public discourse (p. 150). He says little about institutional design, but given the powerful interests at stake, Jacques suggests that civil disobedience and 'popular seizures of ecological spaces' might help create spaces for civil discourse (p. 167). As Jacques acknowledges, the book does not (with a few exceptions) address 'the empirical validity of skeptical claims' (p. 79). This is unfortunate, because as the recent 'climategate' episode suggests, environmentalists may have something to learn from thoughtful sceptics. Nonetheless, for those interested in the big questions of our time, Environmental Skepticism offers useful insights on crucial issues.


This paper investigates how group membership and competition among trustors interact with trust and trustworthiness in a laboratory one-shot trust game. To analyze these effects, we apply a 2x2 design. We induce group membership by letting subjects play coordination games with clear focal points, leading to higher investments and trustworthiness. Introducing competition leads to a decrease in trustworthiness, especially among partners. We argue that once competition comes into play, trustees perceive trustors' investments as the outcomes of a competitive bidding process rather than good intentions, which reduces reciprocity.


Abstract As part of a survey of parasites of elasmobranchs of Malaysian Borneo, the cestode fauna of the dasyatid stingray Himantura uarnacoides was examined for the first time. Among other cestodes, this stingray was found to host 5 species of Acanthobothrium van Beneden, 1849 new to science. Based on the criteria of Ghoshroy and Caira (2001), these consisted of the 4 category 1 species (<15 mm total length, <50 proglottids, <80 testes, with a symmetrical ovary) Acanthobothrium foulki n. sp., Acanthobothrium gnomus n. sp., Acanthobothrium larsoni n. sp., and Acanthobothrium lepidum n. sp., and 1 category 2 species (<15 mm total length, <50 proglottids, <80 testes, with an asymmetrical ovary), Acanthobothrium tetabuanense n. sp. Acanthobothrium foulki and A. larsoni differ from all of the ∼150 known species of Acanthobothrium except Acanthobothrium southwelli Subhapradha, 1955 and Acanthobothrium saliki Fyler and Caira, 2006 in their possession of testes posterior to the ovarian bridge. However, A. foulki and A. larsoni are smaller and possess fewer testes than A. southwelli. Acanthobothrium larsoni possesses a greater number of postovarian testes than A. saliki and A. foulki. Acanthobothrium foulki differs from A. saliki in the configuration of its hooks and bothridia. Acanthobothrium gnomus is readily distinguished from all of its congeners except Acanthobothrium asnihae Fyler and Caira, 2006 in its possession of a horizontal band of musculature, not represented externally as a costa, subdividing the posterior loculus; it possesses fewer proglottids than the latter species. Acanthobothrium lepidum is unique among all of its congeners in its possession of a posterior loculus that is abruptly and conspicuously reduced in width relative to the anterior and medial loculi. Acanthobothrium tetabuanense possesses fewer testes, a greater number of proglottids, and/or conspicuously larger vitelline follicles, than all of the other category 2 species except Acanthobothrium masnihae Fyler and Caira, 2006. It differs from A. masnihae in locular ratio. Three of the 5 new species most closely resemble species parasitizing a congeneric stingray species also from Borneo; however, examination of the cestode faunas of additional Himantura species in this geographic region is needed before conclusions about the significance of these resemblances can be drawn. A key to the 5 new species of Acanthobothrium parasitizing H. uarnacoides is provided.


"The idea of measuring the progress of millions of individual students by subjecting them to standardized tests is absurd. This does not measure the progress made by the student; it measures the progress made by the system. Our schools are really factories of mass production where the object isn't to educate and inform, but to produce a homogenous culture of non-thinking conformists and consumers. The finished product is like a fast food hamburger from McDonald's. It's uniformly the same no matter where you buy it from." -Charles Sullivan The Roots of A More Activist Anthropology During the last century anthropological research challenged racial, gender, ethnic, and class discrimination in American society. Among anthropology's most significant activist contributions to 20th century American public policy are its arguments against uniformist visions linking race and ethnicity with intelligence. Given anthropology's past role in challenging the determinative applications of standardized I.Q., it is surprising to find most anthropologists sitting on the sidelines as America prepares for a standardized testing revival-a revival whose outcome stands to be as discriminatory and punitive as the I.Q.-linked immigration or placement schemes of the past century.1 In the early 1900s anthropologists like Franz Boas criticized the biased nature of intelligence tests, and challenged the uses of standardized test results by educational, immigration and law enforcement officials (see Boas 1912 & Wax 2000). Otto Klineberg's critiques of biased I.Q. tests established the social dangers of assigning significant meaning to tests that measured cultural participation more than they measured "innate intelligence" (Klineberg 1935 & 1963). Gene Weltfish suffered the ire of Senator Joseph McCarthy for publishing The Races of Mankind (co-authored with Ruth Benedict) and claiming that "Northern Negroes" had higher I.Q. scores than "Southern Whites" (Price 2004).2 A host of popular anthropologists such as Ashley Montagu, Margaret Mead and Marvin Harris wrote popular articles, essays and books to educate the general public on the dangers of relying on standardized I.Q. tests to sort individuals in any meaningful way. And anthropological critiques of Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray's 1996 best-seller, The Bell Curve, clarified how economic and social stratification continues to overlay measurements of intelligence and other realms of competency (i.e., Alland 1996; Brace 1996). At the heart of anthropological critiques of I.Q. tests is the observation that these tests do not objectively measure some quantity of "intelligence;" instead these measures are themselves biased tools used to justify the maintenance or creation of systems of stratification. Measurements of human mental capacities are seldom "just measurements," they are themselves social statements: statements of power, desire, hierarchy and ultimately statements of control. These measurements transpire within preexisting political economies and their use tends to reify rather than challenge extant hierarchies. Methodological critiques of standardized tests have historically been met with vicious renunciations by social conservatives. Anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists critiquing the use of culturally-biased tests to sort conscripts during the First World War were attacked as unpatriotic dupes, while critics of racist abuses of IQ tests were frequently labeled "Communists" in the mid-twentieth century (Herman 1995; Price 2004). Today neoconservatives similarly dismiss those who oppose standardized testing regimes as being welfare-state-devotees fearing the loss of their dependent constituencies once they get hooked on phonics and shake their dependency on government cheese.3 But while such reactionary grousing strikes a cord with some Americans, the tilted logic supporting the drive for excessive high stakes testing should be critiqued Current commitments to improving educational standards through an increased reliance on high stakes standardized tests are historically linked to American social engineers' attraction to standardized I. …


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate racial and/or ethnic and sex disparities in allogeneic and autologous red blood cell (RBC) transfusions in cardiac surgery.

DESIGN
A retrospective observational study.

SETTING
2007 to 2018 data from FL, MD, KY, WA, NY, and CA from the State Inpatient Databases (SID), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

PARTICIPANTS
A total of 710,296 inpatients who underwent elective or emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), cardiac valve surgery,or combination CABG and/or valve surgery.

INTERVENTIONS
None.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Patients were cohorted by race and/or ethnicity and sex, as defined by SID-HCUP. Demographic characteristics and comorbidities were compared. Rates and risk-adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were calculated for allogeneic and autologous RBC transfusion (primary outcomes). Additional secondary analyses were conducted for in-hospital mortality, 30-day readmission, 90-day readmission, hospital length of stay, and total charges to examine the effect of RBC transfusion status. Effect modification between race and sex was assessed. When controlling for patient demographics, comorbidities, and hospital characteristics, non-White patients were more likely to receive an allogeneic RBC transfusion during cardiac surgery than White patients (Black: aOR 1.17, 99% CI 1.13-1.20, p < 0.001, Hispanic: aOR 1.22, 99% CI 1.19-1.22, p < 0.001). Women were more likely to receive allogeneic RBC than men (aOR 1.69, 99% CI 1.66-1.72, p < 0.001). In interaction models, non-White women had the highest odds of allogeneic blood transfusion as compared to White men (reference category; Black women: aOR 2.04, 99% CI 1.91-2.17, p < 0.001, Hispanic women: aOR 2.03, 99% CI 1.90-2.16, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
These findings highlighted the differences in the rates of allogeneic RBC transfusion for non-White and female patients undergoing cardiac surgery, which is a well-established marker of poorer outcomes.


The article brings together observations and insights on the emerging phenomenon of training the trainers, also known as joker training in the Theatre of the Oppressed (TO). The concerns raised in this article are twofold: first, how does the modularised, workshop format of joker training affect the core principles of TO? Second, what are the implications of professionalising the work of the joker? These questions relate to the critique of 'creative industries' and debates around precarisation that profoundly impact arts and humanities education in contemporary Europe. They also serve as a call to interrogate concepts central to TO, such as participation, empowerment and community, in terms of how these concepts are appropriated and made docile in the increasingly neoliberal environment of European cultural and educational policies. The article proposes that a training in TO must view the dissemination of techniques and methods of joker practice as inseparable from a deep commitment to a 'conscientised' understanding of the complex social problems that the theatre seeks to address. The focus on a technical training alone bears the danger of reinforcing Freire's 'banking method' of pedagogy, which is counterproductive to the political objectives of TO. The article observes that professional jokers work in precarious conditions far removed from the promises of the economic rewards of creative enterprise. The proliferation of project-based freelance work creates a situation where jokers tend to become de-territorialised and alienated from actual problems, thus propagating biographic and short-term approaches to systemic contradictions. The study aims to problematise these issues and contribute to a debate that might lead to politically and professionally viable paths for the future of TO.


A distinctive aspect of the current era is the ferocious amount of data that is generated and processed in a daily basis. There is no wonder that this epoch is generally characterized as the "Era of Big Data". Thus, many enterprises and research initiatives strive to find a way to effectively and efficiently collect, store and analyze Big Data in order to improve their services and make efficient decisions. Those approaches refer to several domains such as healthcare, transportation, governance, or insurance. Towards this direction, in this paper we contribute into the selection of the most appropriate database for efficiently storing and retrieving Big Data. More specifically, taking into account the nature of Big Data and the main categories of databases that currently exist, three (3) NoSQL document-based databases were considered for this comparative study, namely the ArangoDB, the MongoDB and the CouchDB. The performance of these databases was measured based on specific metrics and criteria, including the total execution time for the same CRUD operations and their corresponding demands for resources, concluding to the most suitable database for storing Big Data.


The Yulong porphyry Cu (Au) deposit occurs on the eastern margin of the Tibetan plateau and is one of the largest porphyry Cu (Au) deposits in China, containing more than 6 million tons of Cu metal. Similar to other porphyry Cu deposits in the world, the Yulong porphyry is highly oxidized. Sulfate is the dominant sulfur species in fluid inclusions hosted by magmatic quartz phenocrysts, and no sulfide is observed, indicating an oxygen fugacity above the SSO buffer during magmatic processes. The sulfur species changed from sulfate dominant during magmatic processes to sulfide dominant during the main mineralization processes, with sulfate and sulfide mineral assemblages observed in fluid inclusions in mineralized quartz veinlets and only sulfides in the orebodies, corresponding to a decrease in redox potential from the porphyry to the hydrothermal fluid. Magnetite crystallization was coincident with the onset of major sulfate reduction, indicating that magnetite isolated trivalent iron, reducing sulfate, and consequently leading to the formation of porphyry Cu-Au mineralization. Most porphyry Cu-Au ore deposits are spatially associated with, and genetically related to, oxidized felsic magmas. Our results indicate that sulfate reduction promoted by magnetite crystallization is essential for the final precipitation of Cu-Au–bearing sulfides, i.e., decreasing redox potential of the fluid is the key to, and direct cause of, ore formation in Yulong. Initial high redox potential is a prerequisite for and may be an indirect indicator of most mineralization of this kind, because it enables efficient transportation of Cu-Au. Redox potential fluctuations can be well preserved in zircon, a resistant accessory mineral commonly found in porphyries, which might be developed as a handy and reliable exploration tool for porphyry Cu deposits associated with magnetite.


Stanford Dependencies (SD) represent nowadays a de facto standard as far as dependency annotation is concerned. The goal of this paper is to explore pros and cons of different strategies for generating SD annotated Italian texts to enrich the existing Italian Stanford Dependency Treebank (ISDT). This is done by comparing the performance of a statistical parser (DeSR) trained on a simpler resource (the augmented version of the Merged Italian Dependency Treebank or MIDT+) and whose output was automatically converted to SD, with the results of the parser directly trained on ISDT. Experiments carried out to test reliability and effectiveness of the two strategies show that the performance of a parser trained on the reduced dependencies repertoire, whose output can be easily converted to SD, is slightly higher than the performance of a parser directly trained on ISDT. A non-negligible advantage of the first strategy for generating SD annotated texts is that semi-automatic extensions of the training resource are more easily and consistently carried out with respect to a reduced dependency tag set. Preliminary experiments carried out for generating the collapsed and propagated SD representation are also reported.


The effect of 48 h of hypersaline exposure (25, 50 and 75% SW) on haemocyanin oxygenation properties in the euryhaline crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus was investigated in vitro and in vivo. In vitro significant increases in affinity and cooperativity were measured, although the magnitude of the Bohr shift was unaffected. In vitro dialysis of haemolymph against physiological salines of variable ionic composition proved that these changes were only partly attributable to altered levels of haemolymph ions, implicating the existence of modulators other than H + and inorganic ions, the possible identities of which are discussed. Significant depressions of both pre- and postbranchial oxygen tensions (P v , O v , O2 and P a , O a , O2 ) were observed, but O 2 delivery was maintained by utilization of the venous reserve and by an increase in haemocyanin O 2 affinity. This occurred despite a concomitant acidosis whose effect on O 2 affinity was directly opposed by the 'salt' effect. Under hypersaline conditions, haemocyanin played an increasingly important role in O 2 delivery in vivo . Despite a reduction in the concentration of combined O2 at complete saturation of the pigment (C max HCyO HCyO2 ). indicating lowered haemocyanin concentration, compensatory changes in O 2 -binding and cardiac output precluded an impairment to O 2 transfer. Equilibration at the tissues (E t,O t,O2 ) in FW was less effective than at the gills (E b,O b,O2 but progressively improved with hypersaline exposure reversing this trend. Although effects of increased salinity on O 2 equilibrium characteristics were qualitatively similar in vivo and in vitro , some interesting quantitative differences are discussed.


The use of next-generation sequencing technology has enabled phylogenetic studies with hundreds of thousands of taxa. Such large-scale phylogenies have become a critical component in genomic epidemiology in pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A virus. However, detailed phenotypic characterization of pathogens or generating a computationally tractable dataset for detailed phylogenetic analyses requires bias free subsampling of taxa. To address this need, we propose parnas, an objective and flexible algorithm to sample and select taxa that best represent observed diversity by solving a generalized k-medoids problem on a phylogenetic tree. parnas solves this problem efficiently and exactly by novel optimizations and adapting algorithms from operations research. For more nuanced selections, taxa can be weighted with metadata or genetic sequence parameters, and the pool of potential representatives can be user-constrained. Motivated by influenza A virus genomic surveillance and vaccine design, parnas can be applied to identify representative taxa that optimally cover the diversity in a phylogeny within a specified distance radius. We demonstrated that parnas is more efficient and flexible than current approaches, and applied it to select representative influenza A virus in swine genes derived from over 5 years of genomic surveillance data. Our objective selection of 4 to 6 strains selected every two years from the 16 distinct genetic clades were sufficient to cover 80% of diversity circulating in US swine. We suggest that this method, through the objective selection of representatives in a phylogeny, provides criteria for rational multivalent vaccine design and for quantifying diversity. PARNAS is available at https://github.com/flu-crew/parnas.


This paper discusses the implications from research and for research of a dimensional model of classification. Literature is discussed with respect to face validity, utility and descriptive validity, the empirical support for the DSM-III-R categorical distinctions, reliability and concurrent validity, and taxometric analyses. The conclusion of the review is that researchers should use more quantitative (dimensional) assessments, at least in addition to the DSM-III-R categorical diagnoses. Research concerned with the etiology, pathology, prognosis, and treatment of the personality disorders will be more powerful and informative if personality disorders are assessed as continuous rather than as discrete variables.


ABSTRACT This paper applies the concept "blind spots" to describe partial approaches to "race" and gender equality agendas in sport organizations in the UK, drawing on semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Equality and Coach Development Leaders. Using the specific context of sport coaching, our qualitative approach is underpinned by critical race theory and the work of black feminism and intersectionality scholarship. Three key themes are identified: The marginality of "race" in the equalities agenda; Patterns of (in)visibility; and Whitening Equality. We argue that there is an urgent need for "race" conscious intersectional critiques of sport coaching. This is to examine the multiplicity and complexities of inclusion and exclusion for coaches and the different levels at which social divisions are constructed and interconnected. The paper provides a theoretical contribution to develop "race" equality research and outlines implications for policy-makers and practitioners to help challenge notions of meritocracy.


Synoptic maps of the geostrophic current structure of the mesoscale field can be constructed from the three-dimensional density field provided by ocean acoustic tomography with unidirectional acoustic transmissions. Reciprocal acoustic transmissions can extend the technique by permitting one to directly measure the current field, including the barotropic component. A preliminary reciprocal acoustic transmission experiment at long range (300 km) and low frequency (400 Hz) is planned for autumn 1982.


The method for measuring changes in the lengths of the three arms for the LISA gravitational-wave detector is described. Accurate phase measurements are required on signals with Doppler shifts of about 1 MHz for the two main arms of the interferometer, and up to 15 MHz for the third arm. This is accomplished by shifting the signal frequencies down to near 100 kHz, filtering and then timing zero crossings of the signals. The basic methods for correcting for the laser phase noise and for phase noise in the ultra-stable oscillators used to derive various radio frequencies are described briefly. The corrections are made on the spacecraft, before the data are telemetred to the ground.


Large single crystals of Mn5+:Ba3(VO4)2 up to 45mm in maximum diameter and 50mm long were grown by the Czozhralski method. Characterization of crystal grown and morphology were described.The main imperfections included in the crystals were the micro inclusions located about the central portion of the crystals. An effective way of growing high quality single crystals of Mn5+:Ba3(VO4)2 was put forward.Absorption and luminescence spectra were also presented.


Abstract. A procedure to generate rainfall input for the EUROpean Soil Model is presented. To develop such a procedure, first of all the influence of rainfall event amount, rainfall event duration, and time to peak intensity of event rainfall on soil losses, calculated with EUROSEM, has been tested for several rainfall stations. Results revealed that every tested rainfall parameter had highly significant influence on computed soil loss. Therefore, distributions for each station of the dataset and for each of these rainfall parameters were calculated. To simulate rainfall event amounts, a mixed exponential distribution was applied. After transformation of rainfall event durations, their distribution could be simulated using a normal distribution. The location of the peak intensity was estimated using a kernel estimator, because no specific distribution characteristics could be identified. According to the respective distribution functions, parameter values for each of the tested rainfall event characteristic were then generated. These values were used to select rainfall events with identical parameter values out of the rainfall station-specific dataset. Computed soil losses for events selected this way were compared with soil losses calculated with available station specific rainfall event data. Comparisons for the respective means and medians generally revealed good agreement. A comparison of 75 % quartiles resulted in less good agreement, especially for test conditions with high soil losses. In general, the applied procedure was capable of simulation station-specific soil losses and of reflecting different environment conditions for the respective stations. Therefore, it seems possible to produce site specific appropriate rainfall input for EUROSEM, only with the knowledge of distributions for the investigated basic rainfall parameters. These are normally easier to obtain than long term rainfall information with high temporal resolution which would otherwise be necessary. In order to improve the procedure and make it practically useful, it will be necessary to account for seasonal changes of distributions of basic rainfall event parameters.


Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted positron emission tomography (PET) is increasingly being used worldwide as part of the clinical workup for men with prostate cancer. With high overall accuracy for the detection of prostate cancer, PSMA-targeted PET has an increasingly established role in the setting of biochemical failure after primary therapy and an evolving role in the setting of initial disease staging; its utility for guiding management in the setting of metastatic disease is less clear. Although the specificity is high, familiarization with potential pitfalls in the interpretation of PSMA-targeted PET, including knowledge of the causes for false positive and negative examinations, is critical. The aim of this article is to provide an illustrative discussion of the current and evolving clinical indications for PSMA-targeted PET, as well as a review of physiologic radiopharmaceutical biodistribution and potential imaging pitfalls.


This paper gave an account on a study of students' and teachers' perceptions of learning activities useful for fostering creativity. The participants were composed of 153 fourth graders (age: M = 9.6 years, SD = .8 year), 124 fifth graders (age: M = 10.9 years, SD = .4 year), 112 sixth graders (age: M = 11.9 years, SD = .3 year), 106 pre-service teachers (age: 20-30 years), and 95 in-service teachers (age: 20-50 years). On a 5-point Likert scale the participants rated the degree of usefulness of learning activities for fostering creativity. Cluster and multivariate analyses were employed to find out if the teacher perception was compatible to the student perception. Findings from the study suggested that there were differences between students' and teachers' views of activities useful for fostering creativity. To narrow the gap between students' and teachers' perceptions, the study alerted us of the importance to cultivate an interactive student-teacher learning culture in the classroom.


Key performance indicators such as high EPS and revenue growth are frequently used to evaluate high quality securities from successful companies. Characterized as "growth" stock, these stocks are accompanied by high PE and PB ratios, indicating compelling potential for future capital appreciation. However, relentless stress on high growth alone has its disadvantages, and research has clearly shown that growth by itself is not a sufficient condition for long-term sustainable value. Stakeholders driving company value also expect a strong underlying framework of accountability, transparency and fairness. Concepts of socially responsible investing add societal expectations of commitment to employees, consumers and the environment. This study explores the relationship between growth, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility as a possible basis for explaining long-term value. Initial results indicate that these growth companies tend to have robust financial metrics but with higher risk, as indicated by financial metrics and a lower score in governance policies, but display insignificant variances on social responsibility factors.


In its present form, for a fixed plant model GPC (generalized predictive control) guarantees stability only for two specific choices of horizons in the cost function. In one instance, GPC has been shown to result in a deadbeat control law while in the other, the control law has been shown to converge to that given by the solution of the corresponding algebraic Riccati equation. However a lower bound on the costing horizon that results in a stabilizing controller is not known a priori. This paper presents sufficient conditions for stability of closed loop systems that result from implementing solutions of the finite horizon LQ problem for arbitrary fixed costing horizons. On this basis, a class of predictive control laws that ensures frozen-time stability of the closed loop system is proposed. When the plant is required to track a known reference signal that is bounded, the sufficient conditions for frozen-time stability of the closed loop are used to derive a controller structure that guarantees the tracking error to be bounded.


This paper presents a survey conducted at a sexual abuse service center for children and adolescents in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The data was collected from the files pertaining to five years of service. The variables observed were: victim's gender and age, referral agency, and region of origin. From January 2002 to December 2006, 4294 cases of victims or suspected victims of sexual violence were seen, with an annual average of 858 cases. The victims were predominantly girls (75%), and they were between 5 and 12 years of age. The cases were referred by many segments of the educational, health, and child protection services. In relation to the location where the cases were originated, the majority came from Porto Alegre, the state capital. It is important to highlight the need to know the population of public health users in order to adjust treatment procedures, and to better integrate services involved in different segments of the protection network.


A case of severe sodium valproate overdose is presented in which medicinal management failed to reverse coma of the patient. High-flux hemodialysis was then used to eliminate sodium valproate. This case demonstrated the effectiveness of hemodialysis in not only decreasing valproate levels very rapidly but also as an effective anti-coma management.


The condensation of aldehydes with BODIPY (boron dipyrrin) luminophores was investigated. Formaldehyde can be used to connect two BODIPYs at each of the three pyrrolic C positions (α-, β-, and β'-positions) in a quick and highly selective manner, yielding new DYEmers (di- and oligomeric BODIPY derivatives) with varied photophysical properties. Benzaldehydes form DYEmers only at the β- and the β'-positions. For aliphatic aldehydes the DYEmer formation competes with the elimination of water from a proposed alcohol intermediate, leading to the formation of α- and β-alkenyl-BODIPYs. 2-Phenylacetaldehyde and similar precursors exclusively yield elimination products. These acid-mediated transformations are valuable alternatives to the well-established, base-promoted Knoevenagel condensation protocol that is typically employed in the preparation of BODIPYs with near infrared (NIR)-shifted absorptions.


We give the motivation for scoring clustering algorithms and a metric $M : A \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ from the set of clustering algorithms to the natural numbers which we realize as \begin{equation} M(A) = \sum_i \alpha_i |f_i - \beta_i|^{w_i} \end{equation} where $\alpha_i,\beta_i,w_i$ are parameters used for scoring the feature $f_i$, which is computed empirically.. We give a method by which one can score features such as stability, noise sensitivity, etc and derive the necessary parameters. We conclude by giving a sample set of scores.


In this paper, we analyze the diagnosability properties of labeled Petri nets. We consider the standard notion of diagnosability of languages, requiring that every occurrence of an unobservable fault event be eventually detected, as well as the stronger notion of diagnosability in K steps, where the detection must occur within a fixed bound of K event occurrences after the fault. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for these two notions of diagnosability for both bounded and unbounded Petri nets and then present an algorithmic technique for testing the conditions based on linear programming. Our approach is novel and based on the analysis of the reachability/coverability graph of a special Petri net, called Verifier Net, that is built from the Petri net model of the given system. In the case of systems that are diagnosable in K steps, we give a procedure to compute the bound K. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that necessary and sufficient conditions for diagnosability and diagnosability in K steps of labeled unbounded Petri nets are presented.


DYRK1A and Wiedemann–Steiner syndromes (WSS) are two genetic conditions associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Although their clinical phenotype has been described, their behavioral phenotype has not systematically been studied using standardized assessment tools. To characterize the latter, we conducted a retrospective study, collecting data on developmental history, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), adaptive functioning, behavioral assessments, and sensory processing of individuals with these syndromes (n = 14;21). In addition, we analyzed information collected from families (n = 20;20) using the GenIDA database, an international patient‐driven data collection aiming to better characterize natural history of genetic forms of NDDs. In the retrospective study, individuals with DYRK1A syndrome showed lower adaptive behavior scores compared to those with WSS, whose scores showed greater heterogeneity. An ASD diagnosis was established for 57% (8/14) of individuals with DYRK1A syndrome and 24% (5/21) of those with WSS. Language and communication were severely impaired in individuals with DYRK1A syndrome, which was also evident from GenIDA data, whereas in WSS patients, exploration of behavioral phenotypes revealed the importance of anxiety symptomatology and ADHD signs, also flagged in GenIDA. This study, describing the behavioral and sensorial profiles of individuals with WSS and DYRK1A syndrome, highlighted some specificities important to be considered for patients' management.


Paleozoic outcrops in Mexico containing echinoderms are located to the north, center and south of the country, mainly in the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Puebla, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas. These rocks correspond to marine carbonates deposited in warm shallow environments, with an approximate age of 541 to 251 Ma. Also containing a varied and diverse biota made up of phylloid algae, foraminifera (fusulinids), coralline sponges, corals, bryozoans, brachiopods, mollusks, trilobites and echinoderms. In order to know the diversity of Crinozoa from the Paleozoic of Mexico, an analysis of the species documented for the country was carried out, with the objective of contributing to the knowledge of the biostratigraphy and paleogeography of Mexico. The methodology consisted of a detailed analysis of bibliographic sources with information on echinoderms from the Paleozoic of Mexico. Cambrian eocrinoids (Gogia, and Ubaghsicystis) are distributed mainly in Sonora. Crinoid plates from the Carboniferous and Permian, particularly morphospecies of the genera Cyclocaudex, Cyclocrista, Heterostelechus, Lamprosterigma, Mooreanteris, Pentagonopternix, Preptopremnum, and Pentaridica, are widely distributed throughout the country. Analysis of the Mississippian-Permian biota indicates that the cosmopolitan distribution of the fauna studied in this work is due to the connections between the seas of western North America and eastern Asia. The Late Permian benthic fauna of Sonora was widely dispersed in the Tethyan realm, which stretched from western North America to North Africa and Asia. The comprehensive study of Paleozoic marine stratigraphic successions and their biotic content provided information on faunal migrations regarding the Paleozoic carbonate facies. It also contributed to reconstructing the geographical, climatological, and ecological characteristics of the Paleozoic of Mexico.


Szemerédi's theorem states that a set of integers with positive upper density contains arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions. Bergelson and Leibman generalized this, showing that sets of integers with positive upper density contain arbitrarily long polynomial configurations; Szemerédi's theorem corresponds to the linear case of the polynomial theorem. We focus on the case farthest from the linear case, that of rationally independent polynomials. We derive results in ergodic theory and in combinatorics for rationally independent polynomials, showing that their behavior differs sharply from the general situation.


For the first time in Russian history, on the basis of archival documents, the article examines the proposals of the regional chief Nikolai Ivanovich Myagkov on the arrangement of the transboundary region in the east of the Russian Empire ‒ the Udsky Territory of the Yakutsk Oblast (1827), which was adjacent to the Chinese possessions. The border position of the territory gave a special status, the region was characterized by a specific community. The relevance of the topic is due to modern issues of cross-border regionalization and, in general, a poor degree of knowledge of the history of the Udsky region of the pre-revolutionary period. The research is based on the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity, as well as historical-systemic and historical-comparative methods. The prerequisites and problems of reforming the region are analyzed, the role of N. I. Myagkov and an official for special assignments A. Y. Uvarovsky in the preparation of the project. The earlier submitted proposals of the Irkutsk authorities (1825) on the development of the Udsky region and the project of the Yakut manager (1827) in a comparative aspect are considered. We note that the project of the latter was characterized by a detailed understanding of the particular problems of the remote region. The mechanism of multilevel discussion of the project is highlighted, which is associated with the complexity of the management structure of the Yakutsk region. The author notes that the transformation of the region took place in the context of the implementation of M. M. Speransky's Siberian reforms of 1822, in particular with the aim of increasing government revenues, where the main focus was on limiting the abuse of local ministers and policies towards the aboriginal population. Given the special situation in the region, the project attached great importance to Russian-Manchu trade and economic relations. The Siberian Committee was engaged in strict regulation of the observance of the principles of the reform of 1822, in particular, the provisions of the "Charter on the management of indigenous peoples". Strengthening personal supervision is seen as one of the main methods of the regional chief in solving problems of the local region. In conclusion, the prospects for further study of the presented topic are determined. Keywords: regional chief, N. I. Myagkov, project, arrangement, Udsky Ostrog, outskirts of the Russian Empire, Yakutsk Oblast


Abstract: Continuous monitoring of extreme environments, such as the European Alps, is hampered by the sparse and/or irregular distribution of meteorological stations, the difficulties in performing ground surveys and the complexity of interpolating existing station data. Remotely sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) is therefore of major interest for a variety of environmental and ecological applications. But while MODIS LST data from the Terra and Aqua satellites are aimed at closing the gap between data demand and availability, clouds and other atmospheric disturbances often obscure parts or even the entirety of these satellite images. A novel algorithm is presented in this paper, which is able to reconstruct incomplete MODIS LST maps. All nine years of the available daily LST data (2000–2008) have been processed, allowing the original LST map resolution of 1,000 m to be improved to 200 m, which means the resulting LST maps can be applied at a regional level. Extracted time series and aggregated data are shown as examples and are compared to meteorological station time series as an indication of the quality obtained.


In this paper we describe the facile and straightforward covalent functionalization of commercially available dendritic poly(propylenimine) and hyperbranched poly(ethylenimine) with P-containing functional groups. The P-functionalized macromolecules have been applied as multivalent ligands in the Pd-catalyzed allylic substitution reactions (batch and continuous process) using either morpholine or thiophenol as nucleophile. Palladium complexes of all described molecules are active in allylic substitution reactions. The PEI functionalized polymers appear more sensitive to small changes in the P/Pd ratio than the PPI analogues, but form catalysts that are more active. When used in a continuous flow process the macromolecules are completely retained by the nanofiltration membrane, while the catalytic activity decreases with time because of palladium depletion. This is more severe for the allylic thiolation, probably because of the stronger affinity of sulfur for palladium, facilitating palladium leaching.


Abstract Objective: Treatment-resistant hypertension (TRH) has regained attention with development of new methods for treatment. However, the prevalence of TRH varies considerably from primary to secondary and tertiary care. We aimed to assess the prevalence of true TRH in a population of patients with apparent TRH in a university hospital setting of tertiary work-up and also investigate reasons for poor BP control and evaluate how work-up can be performed in general practice and secondary care. Methods: In this cohort study, we characterize a study population from Oslo Renal Denervation (RDN) Study. Patients (n = 83) were referred for RDN from secondary care. All patients underwent thorough medical investigation and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurements (24ABPM) after directly observed therapy (DOT). We then assessed reasons for lack of BP control. Results: Fifty-three of 83 patients did not have true TRH. Main reasons for non-TRH were poor drug adherence (32%), secondary hypertension (30%) and white coat hypertension (15%). Forty-seven percent achieved blood pressure control after DOT with subsequent 24ABPM. There were otherwise no statistically significant differences in patient characteristics between the true TRH and the non-TRH group. Conclusion: Despite being a highly selected cohort referred for tertiary work-up of apparent TRH, BP control was achieved or secondary causes were identified in almost two thirds of the patients. Thorough investigation according to guidelines and DOT with subsequent 24ABPM is needed in work-up of apparent TRH.


In the article essential requirements grease intended to apply in the modern military land technique should fulfil which were discussed. A scope of research works and findings were also presented for new multifunctional grease code of the G-421 NATO and requiring in the biodegradation.


To study the chemotactic response of sperm to an egg and to characterize sperm motility, an annular laser trap based on axicons is designed, simulated with the ray-tracing tool, and implemented. The diameter of the trapping ring can be adjusted dynamically for a range of over 400 microm by simply translating one axicon along the optical axis. Trapping experiments with microspheres and dog sperm demonstrate the feasibility of the system, and the power requirement agrees with theoretical expectation. This new type of laser trapping could provide a prototype of a parallel, objective, and quantitative tool for animal fertility and biotropism study.


SUMMARY This paper presents an approach to simultaneously update the velocity and density parameters through full waveform inversion (FWI) in the time domain. A least-square objective function is employed so that both amplitude and phase information are used in the simultaneous inversion. It is well known that the two parameters tend to be highly correlated which results in crosstalk in the inversion. In order to mitigate the crosstalk and balance the updates, the velocity and density gradients are pre-conditioned. A test with the Marmousi II model demonstrates that the simultaneous inversion can reasonably reconstruct the two parameters. The test of a 3D field data indicates that density should be included to reconstruct a reliable velocity model for the improvement of depth migration. Otherwise, the assumption of constant density causes artifacts in the inverted velocity since any seismic data is interpreted in terms of velocity only.


IT IS RELATIVELY seldom that the physician has an opportunity to witness an attack of cluster headache (Horton's syndrome). Consequently, the diagnosis generally is based on anamnestic data supplied by the patient. A definite method for provoking an attack would therefore be of value, from both the diagnostic-therapeutic and the pathophysiological aspects, to establish the mechanism of the actual headache. Horton 1-3 showed that subcutaneous injection of histamine can elicit an attack, and reported positive results in 69% of his cases. The corresponding incidence in Peters' series was 75%. 4 Several authors have, however, doubted the value of the histamine test. Thus, Gardner et al 5 found that a typical attack could be precipitated only in the occasional case, and Friedman and Mikropoulos 6 were not convinced of the specificity or value of the test. Although nitroglycerin has been mentioned as a provocative agent in connection with Horton's syndrome,


Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are novel materials with antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities over a wide range. This study aimed to prepare polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) electrospinning composites with uniformly distributed AgNPs. In this study, starch-capped ~2 nm primary AgNPs were first synthesized using Atmospheric pressure Pulsed Discharge Plasma (APDP) at AC 10 kV and 10 kHz. Then, 0.6 wt.% AgNPs were mixed into a 10 wt.% PVP ethanol-based polymer solution and coiled through an Ultrasonic-assisted Electrospinning device (US-ES) with a 50 W and 50 kHz ultrasonic generator. At 12 kV and a distance of 10 cm, this work successfully fabricated AgNPs-PVP electrospun fibers. The electrospun products were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), High-Resolution TEM (HR-TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric (TG), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) methods.


The channel-lobe transition zone (CLTZ) is an important, but commonly overlooked, element of many deep-water turbidite systems. Recognizing this zone is difficult in both modern and ancient environments and depends largely on the quality and resolution of the data obtained. In this article, three case studies of modern CLTZs are presented, largely based on high-resolution side-scan sonar imagery. These data are then compared to other well-defined CLTZs, both modern and ancient, and the common characteristics identified. CLTZs occur at canyon/channel mouths and are commonly associated with a break of slope. Most sediment bypasses this zone, and consequently only coarse sands and gravels are deposited, although these are commonly patchily distributed and extensively reworked. The CLTZ is characterized by abundant erosional features, including isolated spoon- and chevron-shaped scours up to 20 m deep, 2 km wide, and 2.5 km long. In areas of more widespread erosion, these merge to form amalgamated scours several kilometers across. Depositional bed forms include sediment waves with wavelengths of 1-2 km and wave heights up to 4 m. The presence or absence of a CLTZ has important implications for hydrocarbon exploration and development, especially in terms of the connectivity between sandy channel-fill and lobe facies.


This text presents a broad range of aspects of Austrian law and legal culture for the purpose of comparison with other legal systems. In its second revised and enlarged edition it treats the following subjects: political history, the constitution, sources and interpretation of law, the political system, Austria and the European Union, legal education and legal professions, the courts, administrative adjudication, constitutional review, fundamental rights, criminal procedure, civil procedure, the Austrian civil code, private law, labour law, and the civil law tradition. These characteristic features have been selected in order to acquaint the foreign observer with some of the defining elements of Austrian law and legal development. Austrian students and practitioners, too, may find this approach helpful when it comes to explaining their law to others.


Bilateral control, a remote-control technique, is used to work at a distance. However, many existing bilateral control systems have two common problems: 1) it is difficult to create a system like a human hand, that has multiple degrees of freedom and 2) if the mechanism becomes too complicated, operators feel restrained and experience discomfort. Because, for these reasons, the bilateral control of fingers has not been accomplished to date, we aimed to overcome this by applying functional electrical stimulation (FES). In our experiments, through an adhesive electrode pad, electrical stimulation was delivered to the muscles that flex and expand the metacarpophalangeal joints of the thumb and middle finger. Position-symmetrical bilateral control was implemented so that the deviation of the master's and slave's positions relative to each other was zero degrees. A sliding mode controller was used as a position controller. We found it possible to control multiple degrees of freedom; however, we found areas where the number of tracking errors was large. We speculated that the middle finger did not bend, because the arm rotates as the thumb was abduction, therefore the position of the motor point of the middle finger deviates from the position of the pad.


In submammalian vertebrates the optic tectum, a structure homologous with the mammalian superior colliculus, is the primary way-station of the fibers of the optic tract. As such, it is assumed to be of central significance in the coordination of visually-guided behavior (Huber and Crosby, '33; Ariens Kappers, Huber and Crosby, '36) . Ascending the evolutionary scale, the superior colliculus of mammals receives fewer and fewer fibers from the optic tract, as an increasing proportion of these fibers terminate in the lateral geniculate nucleus (Polyak, '57). In spite of this apparent comparative decline, the size and complexity of the mammalian superior colliculus (Huber and Crosby, '43) suggests that it is by no means a vestigial structure of little functional importance. The fiber projections of the superior colliculus have been investigated by means of several staining techniques (e.g., Golgi, Weigert, Marchi) in a variety of mammalian species, including man (Tsai, '25, in opossum; Held, 1890, 1892, 1893, Papez and Freeman, '30, in rat; Szent6gothai-Schimert, '41, in mouse; Cajal, 1896, Muenzer and Wiener, '02, Lewandowsky, '04, De Lange, '10, Nishikawa, '23, in rabbit; Held, 1890, 1892, 1893, Bechterew, 1897, Tschermak, 1898, Redlich, 1899, Probst, 1900, Collier and Buzzard, '01, Crosby and Henderson, '48, in monkey; and Held, 1890, 1892, 1893, Bechterew, 1897, Collier and Buzzard, '01, Tsuchida, '06, in man). Most of these investigators were concerned largely, or exclusively, with the descending fiber projections of the superior colliculus, and their data indicate numerous discrepancies. The present study was undertaken in an attempt to determine both the descending and ascending projections of the superior colliculus in the cat by means of the Nauta-Gygax technique, following localized stereotaxic lesions in the superior colliculus.


Abstract. Approach road is an important structure of a bridge. Serviceability of a bridge is affected by the settlement of approach road, especially that on soft soil. One method that is usually applied for minimizing effect of settlement of approach road is to replace soft soil by hill soil. This method however may increase cost of projects in Mekong Delta area with a larger depth of soft soil. In this paper, soft soil strengthened by mixing it to cement and fly ash at different mix proportions was investigated. Test results from unconfined compression test and direct shear test of strengthened soft soil are compared to those of hill soil to determine the optimal mix proportion. Results showed that mixing 25kg cement and 75kg or 100kg fly ash to 1m soft soil increased its unconfined compressive strength and shear strength and are higher compared to those of hill soil. Strengthening in situ soft soil by using fly ash, industrial waste from thermal power plant, reduces cost of project and at the same time contributes to solving environmental problems.


In September 2016, a marine fish farm operator in Selangor, Malaysia, reported a disease outbreak affecting juvenile hybrid groupers (Camouflage Grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion × Tiger Grouper E. fuscoguttatus). The average daily mortality was 120 fish, resulting in a cumulative mortality rate of 29% within 10 d. The affected hybrid groupers displayed lethargy, excessive mucus production, rotten fins, congestion of livers and kidneys, and enlargement of spleens. Microscopically, general congestion of the brains and internal organs was evident. Vibrio harveyi and V. alginolyticus were successfully isolated from the diseased fish. The isolated pathogens were found to be sensitive to oxytetracycline and tetracycline, but resistant towards ampicillin and vancomycin. Experimental infections using the isolated V. harveyi (108  CFU/mL), V. alginolyticus (108  CFU/mL), and concurrent infection by V. harveyi (108  CFU/mL) and V. alginolyticus (108  CFU/mL) in juvenile Asian Seabass Lates calcarifer resulted in 60, 100, and 100% mortality, respectively, within 240 h postinfection. The experimentally infected Asian Seabass demonstrated similar clinical signs and histopathological changes as the naturally infected hybrid groupers. However, concurrently infected fish demonstrated severe clinical signs and histopathological changes compared with single infections. These results suggest that both isolates of Vibrio are pathogenic to fish and responsible for the disease outbreak. However, concurrent infection involving V. alginolyticus and V. harveyi leads to a more devastating impact to the cultured fish. This is the first report of concurrent Vibrio infection in cultured marine fish in Malaysia.


Based on the review of ten years progress of ecomaterials' research and development, a barrier free processing is proposed as a next step of ecomaterials. In the first place, the development of ecomaterial is reviewed. The concept of ecomaterial has been widely spread in the design of materials as life-cycle thinking and has been realized in the various area as a form of consumer material, commodity material and energy-transmission material with the keyword of "hazardous substance free", "green environmental profile", "higher recyclability" and "higher materials efficiency". The importance of the connection of the ecomaterial with DfE (design for the environment) is emphasized as the next step. The existence of the barrier in the material processing technology between ecomaterial-selection and DfE is pointed out. The barrier on the input-flow of the process makes it difficult to use of environmental friendly raw materials. The barrier on the output-flow of the process prevents it from the flexible formability to give the shape to realize DfE. In order to solve those problems, a new research project, named as "Study on the Barrier-Free Processing of Materials for Life-Cycle Design for Environment", has been launched.


"Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises"—Samuel Butler

The French paradox is the observation of low coronary heart disease (CHD) death rates despite high intake of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat.1,2 The French paradox concept was formulated by French epidemiologists3 in the 1980s. France is actually a country with low CHD incidence and mortality (table 1). The mean energy supplied by fat was 38% in Belfast and 36% in Toulouse in 1985–86.4 More recently, in 1995–97, the percentage of energy from fat was 39% in Toulouse according to a representative population survey.

View this table:

 Table 1
Age standardised coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and event rate in selected European regions (men, aged 35–64 years)

The first source of error could come from an underestimated CHD mortality. According to this hypothesis, French physicians may not declare all the CHD deaths as CHD. If standardised data—for example those provided by the MONICA (monitoring of trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease) project—are used, the results concerning CHD attack and mortality rates show that France is at a low risk for CHD (table 1). Under certification of CHD deaths in France is a possible bias, but after correction, it remains a low bias. Thus, validated data on CHD mortality and incidence show that France is characterised by CHD risk, corroborating the first part of the French paradox definition.

In correlation studies, measures that represent characteristics of an entire population (consumption of animal fat, daily milk, and alcohol) are used to describe disease (CHD mortality). Limitations of correlational studies are the inability to link exposure with disease in particular individuals, the lack of ability to control the effects of potential confounding factors, and the use of average exposure levels rather than actual individual values. Numerous correlation studies have been carried out …


Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks are the bane of public-facing network deployments. Algorithmic complexity attacks (ACAs) are a class of DoS attacks where an attacker uses a small amount of adversarial traffic to induce a large amount of work in the target system, pushing the system into overload and causing it to drop packets from innocent users. ACAs are particularly dangerous because, unlike volumetric DoS attacks, ACAs don't require a significant network bandwidth investment from the attacker Today, network functions (NFs) on the Internet must be designed and engineered on a case-by-case basis to mitigate the debilitating impact of ACAs. Further, the resulting designs tend to be overly conservative in their attack mitigation strategy, limiting the innocent traffic that the NF can serve under common-case operation. In this work, we propose a more general framework to make NFs resilient to ACAs. Our framework, SurgeProtector, uses the NF's scheduler to mitigate the impact of ACAs using a very traditional scheduling algorithm: Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF). To evaluate SurgeProtector, we propose a new metric of vulnerability called the Displacement Factor (DF), which quantifies the 'harm per unit effort' that an adversary can inflict on the system. We provide novel, adversarial analysis of WSJF and show that any system using this policy has a worst-case DF of only a small constant, where traditional schedulers place no upper bound on the DF. Illustrating that SurgeProtector is not only theoretically, but practically robust, we integrate SurgeProtector into an open source intrusion detection system (IDS). Under simulated attack, the SurgeProtector-augmented IDS suffers 90--99% lower innocent traffic loss than the original system.


Person-centred care involves respecting patients' experiences, preferences, and needs, as well as sharing information with them and involving them in care planning. Scant research has been conducted on how it influences patients to have direct access to their care planning when it has been established through the use of standardised care plans or pathways. In the orthopaedic ward in which this study was conducted, a standardised nursing care plan for total hip replacement patients (THR), which was originally written in professional language, was rewritten in lay language and used as peri-operative teaching material for this patient group.

 To explore the meaning THR patients ascribe to the lived experience of reading and retaining their standardised nursing care plan in lay language during their hospital stay.

 The data collection and analysis followed a method adapted by the Vancouver School of Doing Phenomenology. Data were collected through 12 in-depth interviews with six THR patients.

 The main finding was that the participants acquired knowledge from the text of the care plan that was understandable and meaningful, as evidenced by the empowering impact it had on them. This impact included improved psychological wellbeing, more open communication, and the provision of a tool to keep track of care. Some revisions of the care plan were recommended.

 The study suggests that a patient version of standardised care plans can act as an important educational tool for THR patients that can empower them to manage their health situations.


Integrating electrospray into microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and microfluidic systems supports applications in diverse fields from biotechnology to aerospace. Electrospray also functions as a production tool, allowing for novel methods of MEMS fabrication. This review covers the three most significant applications of electrospray in MEMS and microfluidic systems technology: 1) as an integral part of a microfluidic device, most notably electrospray emitters for coupling a microfluidic chip to a mass spectrometer; 2) as a method for fabricating and manufacturing MEMS; and 3) for micropropulsion in aerospace applications using MEMS-based emitters. Perspectives on future research directions and opportunities are provided.


Abstract Background The main indications for surgery for old thoracolumbar fractures are pain, progressive deformity, neurological damage, or increasing neurological deficit. These fractures have been one of the greatest therapeutic challenges in spinal surgery. Anterior, posterior, or combined anterior and posterior procedures have been successful to some extent. As far as we know, there is no report in the literature of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) for old thoracolumbar fracture and dislocation. Methods Case report. Results A 26-year-old man with old fracture and dislocation of T12/L1 was treated with TLIF. At 12 months' follow-up, multi-slice computed tomography (CT) scans showed that solid fusion had been achieved between T12 and L1. Back pain had resolved completely at 2-year follow-up. Conclusions We performed TLIF for in a man with old fracture and dislocation of T12/L1, with good clinical outcome. TLIF might be an option in the treatment of old thoracolumbar fracture.


The coal chemical industry's high-water consumption has become the bottleneck for its sustainable development. Therefore, the efficient utilization of water and minimization of wastewater discharge is required. The stringent environmental regulations, as well as the escalating cost of freshwater and wastewater treatment has motivated the process and manufacturing industries to have emphasis on fresh water and waste minimization in their daily operations. In particular, optimal design and retrofit of industrial water systems provide a systematic approach for freshwater conservation. Conventional water system optimization often only considers flowrate of fresh water, but ignores flowrates of desalted water, steam and condensate water. The relationship between those types of water is lack of analysis. The minimum freshwater flowrate for the whole water system cannot be determined in one step via the conventional water system optimization model. In order to overcome such a limitation, this paper proposed a general model of a water-using process including more water types, and presented a general superstructure of water system optimization for a coalbased chemical complex. The material balance equations that relate all types of water are integrated in the model. The commercial software, GAMS, is used for modelling and solving a water system for a certain large coal-based chemical plant. A case study shows that the freshwater flowrate for the whole coal chemical plant can be calculated effectively via the proposed optimization model and it demonstrates the applicability of the model.


The construction of pH responsive silica-polymer hybrid nano capsules is demonstrated here. Eleven to 12 nm sized gold nano particles (GNPs) were used as template to build the nanoshell. GNPs were coated with a layer of silica and over that a polymer coating was done using free radical polymerization of methacrylic acid. The gold core of the nano particle was leached out using the cyanide chemistry to form hybrid nano shells. The different stages of the formation of the silica layer, polymer layer, and the etching away of the gold core were followed by UV-Visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A model compound Rhodamine B isothiocyanate was loaded into the shells to demonstrate the ability of the shells to modulate the release in response to external pH. At pH 1.98, the shells nearly stopped the release of the drug while at pH 7.0, 90% of the cargo was released. We monitored the stability of the guest loaded shells at pH 1.98 and found that even after several weeks the shells were intact. Our results show that the smart hybrid nano shells possess the ability to protect the entrapped molecules from the hostile pH of stomach and are suitable vehicles for the delivery of delicate drugs such as peptides through oral routes.