Total mercury (THg) was analyzed in muscle tissue from the blue shark Prionace glauca and the swordfish Xiphias gladius, obtained from the South and Southeast coast of Brazil, to verify compliance with current limits for human consumption. Samples were obtained through the REVIZEE Program and a commercial fishery in Itajaí, Santa Catarina State. A total of 95 specimens were analyzed (48 X. gladius and 47 P. glauca), and correlations were checked between THg and fish length and weight. THg ranged from 0.13 to 2.26 microgg-1 (fresh weight), and there was no significant difference between the means for P. glauca, 0.76 +/- 0.48 microgg-1 (f.w.) and X. gladius, 0.62 +/- 0.31 (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.05). In 16 % of samples, THg was above the limits set by the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), namely 1 microgg-1, and 62% exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) limit of 0.5 microgg-1. The ingestion of 100 g/ day-1 of P. glauca or X. gladius would result in a daily THg intake of more than twice the WHO (1990) suggested limit.


Since the foundation of the Islamic Civilization, science and culture have been recognized as preconditions in almost every field, but have begun to gain awareness in every kind of scientific development social space in the developed civilizations of the period. Especially the translation activities of the eastern and western classics initiated during the Umayyad period brought the Renaissance to the Islamic society. This scholarly and cultural activities gained momentum with the Abbasid Arab societies have come to a different stage with his foot on the Iberian Peninsula and in this period has contributed to rid Europe from the darkness of the Middle Ages through the resulting madrasas and libraries. The Andalusian civilization brought together a variety of cultural and scientific accumulations, thus enabling the emergence of a unique style of intellectual structure. In addition, books and libraries, which are the biggest supporters of scientists, have enriched and have become one of the indispensables of the society. In this study, it is aimed to reveal the role of Andalusian libraries in the production of scientific knowledge. It also emphasizes the importance of the libraries that form the support column in the production of scientific information. At this point, Andalusian libraries, translation activities and scientific developments were examined on the basis of domestic and foreign literatüre. At the end of the study, it was seen that the translation activities carried out within the Andalusian civilization and the established libraries made important contributions in the scientific and cultural fields.


In this study; a sample building located in Malatya, which is used for both educational and office purposes, is selected. Consumption and the cost of annual energy and CO 2 emission caused by the building were investigated according to different architectural alternatives. As different architectural alternatives; different cases such as single glazing windows-thermal insulated wall, double glazing window-uninsulated wall, double glazing window-thermal insulated wall were determined. Using Hourly Analyses Program (HAP), energy simulations annually were performed. The simulations data was carried out for three different HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) systems (Fan-Coil Unit (FCU), Variable Air Volume (VAV) and Constant Air Volume (CAV)).


A simple method for synthesis of well dispersed cadmium sulphide nanoparticles embedded in a polyethylene glycol matrix (PEG 400) in thin film form is presented. The large blue shift of the band gap energy of the CdS nanoparticles compared to the bulk semiconductors is observed via UV-vis absorption spectra. Photoluminescence spectra of CdS nanocomposite films show that the emission peaks shift towards the longer wavelength with the increase of annealing temperature. Transmission electron microscopic images as well as Raman scattering studies confirm the CdS nanometer size particle formation within the polymer matrix. The particle size is about 8 nm. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) shows the cubic zinc blende polycrystalline rings. Third-order optical nonlinearity of the CdS nanoparticles embedded in polymer thin films is studied with the Z-scan technique under 1064 nm excitation. The results show that the CdS nanocomposite film exhibits negative nonlinear refraction index and positive absorption coefficient. The film shows large optical nonlinearity, and the magnitude of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of the film is calculated to be 1.73 × 10−9 esu. The corresponding mechanism is discussed.


ABSTRACT The current study examines the relationship between bilingual children's dual language experience (i.e. language input, language output and vocabulary proficiency), and their social-emotional and behavioral skills. Data were analysed from 805 Singaporean bilingual preschoolers (ages 4; 1–5; 8 years), who are learning English and either Mandarin (n = 551), Malay (n = 105), or Tamil, (n = 149). A parent questionnaire and standardized vocabulary tests were used to assess children's bilingual language environment and vocabulary knowledge. Children's social-emotional and behavioral skills were evaluated by teachers using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. A series of variables which might influence social-emotional and behavioral skills (e.g. gender, non-verbal IQ, SES, and emotion recognition) were controlled and mixed-effects models were used to conduct data analysis. Results demonstrated that children who had larger bilingual receptive vocabulary and had frequently spoken both languages for a longer time had better social-emotional and behavioral skills. Gender and emotion recognition ability were also found to be significantly related to children's social-emotional and behavioral skills. Such findings held true for children across different Mother Tongue language backgrounds. This suggests that a good language environment for bilingual children should be promoted not only for the sake of their early language development, but also because of the potential benefits to their social-emotional and behavioral skills.


The accessory spinal nerve or XI cranial nerve is essential for neck and shoulder movement, the intrinsic musculature of the larynx, and the sensitive afferences of the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid musculature. It can suffer an injury with daily movements or behaviors that exceed the elastic capacity of the nerve structure, such as excessive stretching or carrying heavyweights. These types of injuries are generally benign. The nerve may be seriously injured if the patient undergoes extensive tumor mass-removal surgery in the neck area, and there is a lack of blood nutrition or partial removal. When necessary, its removal becomes essential to compensate for a peripheral nerve lesion, transfer the cranial nerve where electrical activity is lacking, and efforts to restore limb function.


HIV disproportionately affects young black MSM and transgender women in the US. Increasing HIV testing rates among these populations is a critical public health goal. Although HIV self-tests are commercially available, there is a need to better understand access to and uptake of HIV self-testing among this population. Here, we report results of a qualitative study of 30 young black MSM and transgender women residing in the New York City area to understand facilitators of and barriers to a range of HIV testing approaches, including self-testing. Mean age was 23.7 years (SD = 3.4). Over half (54%) had some college or an associate's degree, yet 37% had an annual personal income of less than $10,000 per year. Most (64%) participants had tested in the past 6 months; venues included community health/free clinics, medical offices, mobile testing units, hospitals, emergency departments, and research sites. Just one participant reported ever using a commercially available HIV self-test. Facilitators of self-testing included convenience, control, and privacy, particularly as compared to venue-based testing. Barriers to self-testing included the cost of the test, anxiety regarding accessing the test, concerns around correct test operation, and lack of support if a test result is positive. Participants indicated that instruction in correct test operation and social support in the event of a positive test result may increase the likelihood that they would use the self-test. Alongside developing new approaches to HIV prevention, developing ways to increase HIV self-testing is a public health priority for young, black MSM, and transgender women.


In response to the extraordinarily diverse adult population in college today, a new structural equation model adapted from Cabrera et al. (1993) integrated model of student retention was identified with the addition of two variables: career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) and financial difficulty. The study examined the persistence/attrition decisions and behavior of 937 nontraditional students 24 years of age or older studying in two-year and four-year degree programs at an urban private research doctoral institution. Twenty-two variables were included (11 endogenous variables and 11 exogeneous) within a nonrecursive structural equation model. The 11 exogenous variables controlled for the background characteristics of the population of adult students. Of the eleven endogenous variables in the model, six of these--academic integration, cumulative GPA, goal commitment, institutional commitment, intent to persist, and persistence on the career self-efficacy expectations of adult students--were reported as significant. Implications that arise in explaining the decisions and behavior of adult students are explored to tap a less indeterminate future and seamless learning environments for higher education and its stakeholders alike. Contains approximately 75 references. (MKA) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ********************************************************************************


One of the main challenges for one phase anaerobic digestion processes is the high concentration of NH4 + and PO4 3- ions in the digested sludge supernatant. This project focuses on enhancing the removal of nutrients during the anaerobic digestion process through fixing both NH4 + and PO4 3- ions in the form of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate, MAP, MgNH4PO4.6H2O) within the anaerobic sludge. Batch anaerobic digestion tests showed that Mg 2+ concentration in the range 279 - 812 mg/L had insignificant effect on CGP but incurred a slight increase in COD removal. The reactor that had soluble Mg 2+ :NH4 + :PO4 3- at a molar ratio of 1.28:1:00:1:00 achieved the best performance enhancement of 8% increase in COD removal and 32% reduction in NH4 + in the reactor supernatant. Overall, the results show that there is a potential to optimise conventional anaerobic digestion such that supernatant lean in P and N, and sludge rich in nutrients are obtained. Keywords—Anaerobic Digestion, Nutrients, Struvite,


A new method to grow bulk quantities of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) by a catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process with the possibility of varying the pressure has been developed and is reported in this paper. Thermal decomposition of ferrocene provides both catalytic particles and carbon sources for SWCNT growth using Ar as a carrier gas. Upon an increase in the pressure, the mean diameter of the SWCNTs decreases. In fact, high abundances of SWCNT with diameters as small as 0.7 nm, which is the limit for stable caps with isolated pentagons, can be obtained. An additional advantage of this method is that as no external carbon sources are required, SWCNT synthesis can be achieved at temperatures as low as 650 degrees C.


Many firms choose to refinance their debt. We investigate the long run effects of this extended practice on credit ratings and credit spreads. We find that debt refinancing generates systematic rating downgrades unless a minimum firm value growth is observed. Deviations from this growth path imply asymmetric results. A lower firm value growth generates downgrades and a higher firm value growth generates upgrades, as expected. However, downgrades tend to be higher in absolute terms. We also find that the inverse relation between credit spreads and risk free rate that structural models usually predict still holds in this setting, but only in the short run. This negative relation will turn to be null in the medium run and positive in the long run. © 2009 Asociacion Espa ˜


This paper presents a method to analyze the steady-state coefficient fluctuation of a second order IIR adaptive notch filter, whose coefficients are estimated by the sign algorithm. The adaptive detection of a sinusoid with additive white Gaussian noise has been investigated. The analytical expressions are derived for the mean-square of coefficients fluctuation at the steady-state. The values of step sizes for the gradient and sign algorithms have been shown such that each algorithm produced the same mean-square error at convergence. Finally, the results of computer simulations are shown which confirm the theoretical predictions.


The classical Kolakoski sequence K = (Kn) ∞ n=1 is the unique sequence on the alphabet {1, 2} de ned as the sequence of its own symbols' run lengths starting with a 1. The classical Kolakoski sequence was rst studied in a work by Oldenburger [1], where it appears as the unique solution to the problem of a trajectory on the alphabet {1, 2} which is identical to its exponent trajectory. The name of the Kolakoski sequence, however, originates from [2, 3]. In the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences [4], the Kolakoski sequence has entry number A000002. The rst letters of K are K = 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 . . . | / \ / \ | | / \ | K = 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 . . . (1)


A nickel half-sandwich complex supported by our original NHC ligand was developed as a robust precatalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling. The addition of PPh3 was a crucial element in the suppression of side reactions and in accelerating the cross-coupling reaction. By employing the optimal conditions, aryl-aryl, heteroaryl-aryl, and heteroaryl-heteroaryl couplings were achieved.


The historical development of the insurance industry's role in efforts to prevent industrial accidents and occupational disease will be discussed. The various approaches that have evolved include fire insurance, casuality insurance, and compensation for occupational diseases. The basic approach used in insurance programs involved with occupational disease is to identify the toxic material to which employees are exposed, recommend engineering controls to reduce the exposure, and suggest a medical surveillance program. The insurance industry's efforts in industrial hygiene are also described.


The diagnosis of cancer during the course of pregnancy is a challenging clinical situation both for the patient and the treating physicians. Given its relative rarity, evidence remains scarce as it is practically impossible to perform large prospective clinical trials. Another critical issue is the potential conflict between maternal and fetal wellbeing: this could result in undertreating pregnant women for fear of fetal toxicity, or in offering therapy that could result in fetal morbidity and mortality. While there are some general guidelines that can be applied for all tumor types, each disease has specific features that should be considered. In this review, we will consider the available evidence for managing pregnant women with cancer to provide some guidance for physicians dealing with these patients.


Massive school district consolidation is driven by the presumption among education professionals that there are economies of scale in education (lower costs or greater value provided per student for larger numbers of students). But while educators have argued for economies of school district size, often resulting in the creation of massive school districts in search of promised efficiencies, they have not demonstrated those efficiencies in practice. In fact, the accumulated evidence points to the clear conclusion that, except for consolidations of very small districts, there are no economies of scale to local education.


The intake noise, a major source of the vehicle noise, was studied to reduce the level for many years. Traditionally, the intake noise has been analyzed and improved by the experiments, namely, the trial and error approach. Recently, in spite of various techniques that have been proposed to analyze, the optimum design technique for the low-noise intake system has not been satisfied. The optimum design process that considers the engine performance, the space constraints and the intake noise level simultaneously is proposed by this study. Two optimum specification of the intake system are proposed and verified by a theoretical method. And, the improvement of sound quality for the optimum design is verified by the speaker excitation system.


The rotational symmetry of point spread function (PSF) is common for many imaging systems such as optical microscopes, cameras, astigmatism corrected electron microscopes, and etc. In 2-D deconvolution problem, we showed that an exact PSF estimation from a single measured image on a flat background is possible by exploiting the circular symmetry. This paper extends the idea to 3-D blind deconvolution problem. More specifically, we show that the exact recovery of 3-D PSF is possible from a single set of z-stack images if the PSF of the microscope has a cylindrical symmetry and there exists enough working distance to cover the volumetric sample from top to bottom. The resulting algorithm allows an accurate computational optical sectioning of biological specimen from z-stack images using brightfield or fluorescence microscopes without separate PSF measurements. Experimental results confirm our theory.


Purpose: Companies survive in saturated markets trying to be more productive and more efficient. In this context, it becomes critical for companies to manage the entire supply network to optimize overall performance.  Hence, the supply strategy plays an important role because it influences the way in which production and logistics network has to be configured and managed. This paper explores the benefits obtained configuring different supply strategies adapted to customer needs. Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose a case research from a Tier 2 point of view of the supply chain has been conducted. Findings and Originality/value: The case research demonstrates that a higher service level, less holding costs and increase turnovers can be obtained implementing the adequate supply strategy. Originality/value: There is a scarcity of research specifically focused on applied Supply Chain Principles within network configuration processes. Moreover, there are few empirical studies of global Tier 2 with multiple decoupling points into its supply chain network.


Gyrotron oscillators are millimeter wave sources, capable of reaching megawatt power levels. Such high RF power is required for electron cyclotron resonance heating and current drive systems for current and future nuclear fusion facilities. With total heating system powers in the range up to about 100 MW, these installations call for unit powers above 1 M W, to reduce cost and complexity of the complete heating system. In this paper, a mode selection process for a 4-MW 170-GHz coaxial-cavity gyrotron is presented and stable operating parameters are elaborated. The employed formalism, based on normalized variables, suggests one mode, namely the TE-52,31, which is sufficiently separated from its competitors and supports an advanced two-beam quasi-optical mode converter . Through the utilization of time-dependent and self-consistent approaches, a coaxial cavity is optimized and stable single-mode operation at 4.35 MW of generated output power with an interaction efficiency of 33% is predicted. This paper discusses the mode selection process under consideration of realistic technical limitations, optimization of the cavity for stable operation with a pure output mode, and finally thermo-mechanical calculations on cavity cooling and surface temperature.


Introduction The overall prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) is high in men of aged >40 years and increases greatly in the elderly. In particular, severity and prevalence both increase with aging. ED is associated with deleterious changes in the overall vasculature and is recognised as an indicator of higher risk for future cardiovascular events. In men aged <60 years and in men with diabetes or hypertension, ED can be a critical warning sign for existing or impending cardiovascular disease (CVD). Endothelial dysfunction, vascular smooth muscle changes and increased fibrosis are indicated as major players in both ED and CVD. ED is associated with smoking, physical inactivity, dyslipidemia, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and so on. Obesity is now regarded as one of the most important risk factors for some diseases such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertention, diabetes and ED. The metabolic syndrome (MetS) consists of a myriad of abnormalities, including central obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. Body mass index (BMI) is widely used to describe the risk factors for MetS as an important parameter of obesity. This study is designed to evaluate the link between ED and CVD in southern China patients with MetS. Objectives To assess the link between ED and CVD in the patients with MetS. Methods Results The prevalence of CVD in normal, overweight and obesity patients were reported by 6.48% (7/108), 20.31% (13/64), and 44.74% (17/38), respectively. The subjects with high BMI (BMI>or = 24 kg/m/m) showed a significant increased risk for CVD compared with those with normal BMI (p<0.001). IIEF-5 scores in high BMI group were found significantly lower than the control group (p<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences in IIEF-5 scores between overweight and normal BMI groups (p=0.12). Conclusions Men with MetS, especially obesity, have more prevalence of CVD and ED. These findings suggest that they have some common risk factors for both pathogenetic conditions which link between CVD and ED. MetS patients presenting with ED should be considered at high risk for CVD events.


This study assessed the relevance and adequacy of the performance indicators to the strategic goals and evaluation report of one private school in Sharjah, UAE. It employs one case study framed after the PDSA model. Coding was used as a technique to content analyze texts from the school's BSC and further supported by a review of the minutes of the meeting and interview of the selected school leaders who have a hand in the performance monitoring. Research revealed that the performance indicators mapped out in the BSC are relevant, however, there are missing indicators for some educational factors identified in the school evaluation report. These are SOD learning achievement, lesson delivery, and planning, participation of the governing body, and performance monitoring by the school subject leaders. When these factors are not monitored, it will affect learning equity, internal locus of control, strategic leadership, and accountability. School leaders need to supply these factors with relevant indicators, make the entire community aware of the performance measures and allow other school leaders to create their unique indicators being monitored regularly to support the organization's success.


We have previously demonstrated that expression of the human apolipoprotein (apo) E gene is controlled by multiple regulatory elements in the promoter [Paik et al. (1988) J. Biol. Chem. 263, 13340-13349; Chang et al. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 9496-9504]. To extend these studies, we have characterized an element in the apoE gene promoter that spans nucleotides -101 to -89, upstream regulatory element 3 (URE3). Transcription of promoter/marker gene constructs in vitro showed that URE3 modulates gene expression. Gel mobility shift assays of URE3 using human placental nuclear extracts detected a specific binding protein whose activity can be modulated by micromolar amounts of divalent copper and zinc. Competitive binding and gel shift assays with mutant oligonucleotides revealed critical nucleotides within URE3 required for its specific nuclear protein-binding activity. Gel filtration and oligonucleotide affinity chromatography were employed to isolate a URE3-binding protein (URE3BP) from human placental nuclear extracts. Purified URE3BP appears to be a M(r) = 300,000 protein that is composed of four equally-sized basic subunits of M(r) = 67,000. These studies indicate that URE3 is an active regulatory component of the apoE gene.


Inflammatory bowel disease is a disease that is still somewhat unknown where we find important nutritional and metabolic implications. Nutritional due to the degree of malnutrition that it entails in the same way because the hypothesis that good nutrition could be the primary treatment of the disease. Methodology: Nutrition should be considered an integral component in the management of patients with IBD: A search was carried out in the most frequented databases such as Dialmet and Pubmed. Also, searches have been made in the Virtual Health Library (VHL), finding no results in it. Results: we have obtained from three studies different characteristics of IBD, where we have been able to obtain results from each one of them separately to be able to finalize the conclusions. Discussion / Conclusions: Nutrition should be considered an essential component in the management of IBD. This statement is contrasted with the studies reviewed in this work. Nutritional assessment is the first link in the chain in nutrition management. Other evidence found in our review is that there is no specific food that is harmful for IBD. It cannot be demonstrated that there is a component of the diet that is associated with the risk, triggering or worsening of inflammatory activity. However, outbreak patients should only avoid foods that their body consistently does not tolerate adequately and may increase or worsen outbreak symptoms.


Blue carbon, the carbon fixed by vegetated coastal ecosystems including seagrasses, is reported to have a large potential to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide. Planting, expanding or protecting seagrass meadows has, accordingly, been proposed as a form of geoengineering. Seagrasses are reported to account for up to 18% of the carbon burial in the world's oceans, which is on the same order of magnitude as other proposed geoengineering techniques, including iron fertilization. International protocols have been developed to quantify carbon sequestration in seagrass meadows, with a view to awarding carbon credits under the Verified Carbon Standard. Unfortunately, because these protocols do not adequately account for post-depositional processes in marine sediment, they significantly overestimate carbon capture by seagrass beds and give an incorrect view of its distribution. Specifically, neglecting biomixing and remineralization of carbon in surface sediments biases burial rates high, while using sediment carbon inventory (soil carbon stock) over the top 1 m as a proxy for burial rate incorrectly identifies areas of high carbon burial. Seagrass beds likely provide a limited setting for geoengineering, because they generally comprise slowly-accumulating, fine to medium sand, which captures organic carbon less efficiently than fine-grained sediments or rapidly-accumulating delta deposits. While there is no question that seagrass meadows provide valuable habitat, nor that they are disappearing rapidly, their contribution to the global burial of carbon has not yet been established. The danger of geoengineering with seagrasses before reliable assessment methods have been established is that overestimated carbon offsets could lead to a net increase in emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.


The main purpose of this research is to investigate a novel implementation method for a surface acoustic wave type (SAWT) electrode-area-weighted (EAW) wavelet inverse-transform processor (WITP). The method of EAW is that the electrode areas of the input and output interdigital transducers (IDTs) are proportional to the envelope areas of the wavelet function (i.e. the two IDTs are identical). By this method, the SAWT EAW WITP is fabricated on X-112°Y LiTaO3 substrate material. In the study, the diffraction problem and phase difference as two key problems are presented and the solution to two problems are implemented.


A general method for Pd-catalyzed sulfonamidation of aryl nonafluorobutanesulfonates (aryl nonaflates) is described. A biaryl phosphine ligand, t-BuXPhos, formed the most active catalyst, and K(3)PO(4) in tert-amyl alcohol was found to be the optimal base-solvent combination for the reaction. The reaction conditions were tolerant of various functional groups such as cyano, nitro, ester, aldehyde, ketone, chloride, carbamate, and phenol. Heterocyclic aryl nonaflates were found to be suitable coupling partners. High yields of the coupled products were obtained from the reactions between inherently disfavored substrates such as electron-rich nonaflates and electron-poor sulfonamides. Kinetic data suggest reductive elimination to be the rate-limiting step for the reaction. The only limitation of this methodology that we have identified is the inability of 2,6-disubstituted aryl nonaflates to efficiently participate in the reaction.


With an increasing number of machine-type communication devices (MTCDs), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications have attracted great attentions from both academia and industry. Different from traditional communication networks, the data connections with M2M communications are typically small-sized but with high frequency, necessitating the efficiency optimization of both energy consumption and computation. In this paper, we introduce mobile edge computing (MEC) into virtualized cellular networks with M2M communications, to decrease the energy consumption and optimize the computing resource allocation as well as improve computing capability. Moreover, based on different functions and quality of service (QoS) requirements, the physical network can be virtualized into several virtual networks, and then each MTCD selects the corresponding virtual network to access through the embedded-SIM (eSIM) technology. Meanwhile, the random access process of MTCDs is formulated as a partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) to minimize the system cost, which consists of both the energy consumption and execution time of computing tasks. Furthermore, to facilitate the network architecture integration, software-defined networking (SDN) is introduced to deal with the diverse protocols and standards in the networks. Extensive simulation results with different system parameters reveal that the proposed scheme could significantly improve the system performance compared to the existing schemes.


The present report describes an unusual complication after surgical treatment of a femoral fracture. Metal particles, produced by mechanical damage to an intramedullary rod by the insertion of screws perpendicular to the rod, were found to have initiated a tumor-like change in the soft tissues 4 years after removal of the metal implants. Conventional X-ray, angiography and CT-scan showed adjacent to the healed fracture a large tumor mass, which was interpreted as a soft tissue sarcoma. However, histopathological assessment revealed extensive necrotic changes around scattered metal particles in the biceps femoris muscle, which may be assumed to have been induced either chemically or bacterially.


Max-stable processes are the natural extension of the classical extreme-value distributions to the functional setting, and they are increasingly widely used to estimate probabilities of complex extreme events. In this paper we broaden them from the usual situation in which dependence varies according to functions of Euclidean distance to situations in which extreme river discharges at two locations on a river network may be dependent because the locations are flow-connected or because of common meteorological events. In the former case dependence depends on river distance, and in the second it depends on the hydrological distance between the locations, either of which may be very different from their Euclidean distance. Inference for the model parameters is performed using a multivariate threshold likelihood, which is shown by simulation to work well. The ideas are illustrated with data from the upper Danube basin.


Wet-tissue has been used for baby wipe, cleansing pads, industrial wipes, pain relief, personal hygiene, pet care, and healthcare at home, care facilities, restaurant, and hospital. Raw materials of wet-tissue are mainly natural fibers and synthetic fibers such as cotton, rayon, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and so on. In this study, electrolytic water of NaCl solution was used as fluid in wet-tissue, and the effect of raw materials on antibacterial rate of wet-tissue was investigated. Rayon (100%) showed an excellent antibacterial rate compared with cotton (100%) and rayon:PET (50:50). Antibacterial rate increased as Cl concentration of electrolytic water increased. Absorption of rayon:PET (50:50) was uneven and antibacterial rate of wet-tissue slightly increased by increase of Cl concentration. Antibacterial rate of wet-tissue was 100% under the conditions of more than 1.5 mL of electrolytic water dosage, and dropped under 50% after storage period of 48 hours.


Aims: To determine the knowledge and practices regarding healthcare-associated infection among healthcare workers and to make recommendations based on results to prevent healthcare-associated infection. Methodology: A descriptive correctional study was conducted in Burn and Trauma Center Peshawar, Pakistan. Data were collected from 162 healthcare workers through a questionnaire. Data was collected through a universal sampling technique. This study was permitted by the Ethical Review Board of Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, Pakistan. This study was also granted by the Institute of Management Sciences (IM Sciences) Institutional Ethical Review Board (IRB) in Peshawar Pakistan. Knowledge and inflectional control practices regarding healthcare-associated infection were determined through frequency and percentage methods. To calculate the association between knowledge and profession, gender and knowledge, and profession and knowledge Chi-Square test was applied. Data were analyzed through SPSS 26 version. Result: The age of the participants was divided into three groups from 20-30 years 117 participants, 31-40 39 participants, and 41-50 are 6 participants. The majority of the participants are Female 101(62.3%) and 61 males (37.7%). The majority are Nurses 83(51.2%) Doctors 39(24.1%) Paramedics 40(24.7%). The knowledge of doctors was good regarding healthcare-associated infection as compared to Nurses and Paramedics, but the practices of overall healthcare workers were good. The results of the study show that Doctors have good knowledge compared to Nurses, and Nurses have good knowledge compared to Paramedics regarding HealthCare-associated infection. Conclusion: The finding of the study showed that doctors have good knowledge than Nurses and Paramedics. The practices of overall healthcare workers were good. Keywords: Healthcare-associated infection, Healthcare worker, Knowledge, Practices


The argument illustrated in the thesis outlines Zbigniew Brzezinski's ability to manipulate himself and his agenda to top priority as the national security advisor to President Carter. It further argues that Brzezinski deserves more blame for the failure of American foreign policy towards Iran; not President Carter. The sources include primary sources such as Zbigniew Brzezinski and President Jimmy Carter's memoirs as well as information from President Carter's library in Atlanta, Georgia. Secondary sources include historians who focus on both presidential policy and President Carter and his staff. The thesis is organized as follows: the introduction of Brzezinski, then the focus turns to his time in the White House, Iran, then what he is doing today.


Abstract : The United States has had a stated goal of promoting democracy abroad for over one hundred years. We have stated this goal in our National Security Strategy, but our actions have not always demonstrated this goal. This paper will define democracy and review recent administrations' ideology and national security strategies in respect to the promotion of democracy. Each administration has its own strategy that is based on their ideological viewpoint. Every administration has subverted its stated ideology when faced with a %Great Evil" that threatens our security or national interests. This subversion of our stated goal causes confusion and distrust of our intentions around the world. The long term approach of the promotion of democracy would foster a new confidence in the United States and eventually provide a safer and better world community. The current Bush Administration has developed a new approach to the promotion of democracy. This approach is regionally focused and links rewards for a state that is achieving success while providing an example for other states in the region to emulate. The greatest challenge is found in Islamic countries, but could prove to be very helpful in our fight against global terrorism. This paper will examine the question of democracy in Islamic cultures, and make recommendations on protecting our national security and interests without subverting our democratic ideals. The U.S. - Middle East Partnership Initiative is an inclusive program that is focused on the long term objective of fostering democracy in the Middle East. This model could be followed in the future to benefit other countries and establish the foundation needed to curb the appeal of terrorism. The global promotion of democracy is more important today and is the key to the security of the United States and the world.


Skin integrity is essential for sustaining life and it is important to understand the processes involved in its maintenance and repair. There are several key stages involved in wound healing that rely on the complex communication through gap junctions and their connexins to ensure the resolution of the wound. Gap junctions are expressed in all cells linked with tissue repair and provide a regulated pathway linking the cytoplasm of neighbouring cells and allowing signals to pass freely between the two. In the skin there are three key connexins (Connexins 26, 30 and 43) that undergo dynamic changes and regulate the stages of wound closure. To date, extensive research has shown that inhibiting Cx43 expression can achieve significant improvements in wound repair. Synthetic connexin mimetic peptide Gap27 which possess a conserved homology to the second extracellular loop of Cx43 is now being considered as a candidate to improve the rate of wound repair. At low concentrations Gap27 has been shown to block hemichannels but can target gap junctional intercellular communication at higher concentrations and for longer incubation periods. By using Gap27 as a tool, this thesis explores the importance of connexins, hemichannels and gap junctions in tissue injury and repair. I have dissected out the relative contributions of connexins and their involvement with hemichannels and gap junctions in wound repair while investigating if and how Gap27 reduces other connexins. Further work using in vitro wound healing models has shown how Gap27 can enhance the rate of wound healing in early stages. In the second half of this thesis I continue to use Gap27 to investigate the connexin based communication involved in the spread of cell death and damage during ischemia reperfusion injury in vitro and in vivo. The potential therapeutic implications of the wound healing properties of Gap27 are exciting, novel and promising.


It is desired to reduce the time required to produce metrology data for calibration of Optical Proximity Correction (OPC) models and also maintain or improve the quality of the data collected with regard to how well that data represents the types of patterns that occur in real circuit designs. Previous work based on clustering in geometry and/or image parameter space has shown some benefit over strictly manual or intuitive selection, but leads to arbitrary pattern exclusion or selection which may not be the best representation of the product. Forming the pattern selection as an optimization problem, which co-optimizes a number of objective functions reflecting modelers' insight and expertise, has shown to produce models with equivalent quality to the traditional plan of record (POR) set but in a less time.


Müller cells are the principal glial cells of the retina. Their end-feet form the limits of the retina at the outer and inner limiting membranes (ILM), and in conjunction with astrocytes, pericytes and endothelial cells they establish the blood-retinal barrier (BRB). BRB limits material transport between the bloodstream and the retina while the ILM acts as a basement membrane that defines histologically the border between the retina and the vitreous cavity. Labeling Müller cells is particularly relevant to study the physical state of the retinal barriers, as these cells are an integral part of the BRB and ILM. Both BRB and ILM are frequently altered in retinal disease and are responsible for disease symptoms. There are several well-established methods to study the integrity of the BRB, such as the Evans blue assay or fluorescein angiography. However these methods do not provide information on the extent of BRB permeability to larger molecules, in nanometer range. Furthermore, they do not provide information on the state of other retinal barriers such as the ILM. To study BRB permeability alongside retinal ILM, we used an AAV based method that provides information on permeability of BRB to larger molecules while indicating the state of the ILM and extracellular matrix proteins in disease states. Two AAV variants are useful for such study: AAV5 and ShH10. AAV5 has a natural tropism for photoreceptors but it cannot get across to the outer retina when administered into the vitreous when the ILM is intact (i.e., in wild-type retinas). ShH10 has a strong tropism towards glial cells and will selectively label Müller glia in both healthy and diseased retinas. ShH10 provides more efficient gene delivery in retinas where ILM is compromised. These viral tools coupled with immunohistochemistry and blood-DNA analysis shed light onto the state of retinal barriers in disease.


Multi-objective optimization (MOO) aims at finding a set of optimal configurations for a given set of objectives. A recent line of work applies MOO methods to the typical Machine Learning (ML) setting, which becomes multi-objective if a model should optimize more than one objective, for instance in fair machine learning. These works also use Multi-Task Learning (MTL) problems to benchmark MOO algorithms treating each task as independent objective. In this work we show that MTL problems do not resemble the characteristics of MOO problems. In particular, MTL losses are not competing in case of a sufficiently expressive single model. As a consequence, a single model can perform just as well as optimizing all objectives with independent models, rendering MOO inapplicable. We provide evidence with extensive experiments on the widely used Multi-Fashion-MNIST datasets. Our results call for new benchmarks to evaluate MOO algorithms for ML. Our code is available at: https://github.com/ruchtem/moo-mtl.


In Australia, a common conceptual framework for general purpose financial reporting has been adopted for use by both the private and public sectors. This framework is based on a 'user needs' model and emphasises the provision of information for users who are dependent on general purpose financial reports for the purpose of decision making. Critics of the framework, as it applies to the public sector, claim that it lacks empirical substantiation and ignores the complexity and diversity of public sector institutions. This paper addresses the identity of the users of local government annual reports by examining the distribution lists of authorities within Queensland. The study confirms the existence of the user groups that are defined in the conceptual framework but also finds additional users groups not identified. Further, the study provides evidence that the distribution patterns of local government authorities differ significantly depending on the type of local government (urban or rural) and their size. The results of this research raise important questions for public sector regulators regarding the appropriateness of assuming that there exists a homogeneous set of users for all public sector entity types and provides support for consideration of a differential reporting model within local government.


We have tried to summarize some of the important findings of the last years with regard to PVR pathogenesis. Some other factors, e.g. collagens, fibrinogen, and mucopolysaccharides have not been discussed. The numerous studies on the pathogenesis of PVR have been prompted by the impression that a merely surgical approach to the treatment of PVR with traction retinal detachment may not be the optimal solution for this important clinical problem. Experimental studies as well as the analysis of clinical specimens can reveal essential features of PVR that may be amenable for an adjunctive pharmacologic treatment. Currently, the anthracycline antibiotic daunomycin, applied as an intra-operative infusion, seems to improve the general outcome of vitrectomy in patients suffering from posttraumatic PVR. This drug has been shown to be a potent inhibitor of both fibroblast and pigment epithelium proliferation in vitro (Wiedemann et al. 1985a; Weller et al. 1987). This drug does affect early events such as chemotaxis (Verdoorn et al. 1986), but serves mainly as an antimitogenic agent. Therefore, we additionally use steroids to suppress the initial macrophage-mediated inflammation in traumatic PVR (Wiedemann et al. 1987). As the contraction of cellular periretinal membranes is a devastating step in the disease process, drugs interfering with microtubule assembling e.g. colchicine may prove to be a valuable addition to the above mentioned agents. Encouraging results in an experimental study using oral colchicine have recently been presented (Lemor et al. 1986). We would suggest, however, that a very early pharmacologic intervention would be preferable and hypothesize that an interference with the local initial macrophage activation could efficiently reduce subsequent cell migration and proliferation without imposing any danger to the function of the retina which tends to be a problem with the common antiinflammatory and antiproliferative agents.


Since Nick Griffin's appointment as chairman of the far-right British National Party (BNP) in 1999, the party has undergone a drastic makeover in terms of the language it employs in the public domain, adopting a moderate discourse of unobjectionable 'motherhood and apple pie' concepts, whilst privately maintaining its core ideology of racial prejudice. This article continues the work previously done examining BNP literature in order to ascertain what discursive techniques the BNP is adopting and how their language is changing to appeal to a wider electoral base. Using Corpus Analysis as a base, and drawing upon aspects of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), this study compares the 2005 and 2010 BNP manifestos. Its focus is the way in which 'in-group' categories such as nationhood are invoked to imply inclusivity, yet on closer inspection are racially defined. The project of disguising BNP racism in seemingly moderate discourse is continuing apace.


Bolivia's "Patriotic Agenda 2025" sets targets for social and economic development propelled by state-led industrialization under a five-year development plan (2016–2020). Large-scale public investment has aimed to fill infrastructure gaps and raise productivity to ensure sustained medium-term growth. Pursuit of these goals in a period of lower hydrocarbon revenues has, however, contributed to widening fiscal and external current account deficits. The paper uses a structural model to outline different scenarios for the level of public investment in the face of declining hydrocarbon revenues. It finds that if public investment is sustained at current levels as a share of GDP while hydrocarbon revenues continue to decline, the sustainability of the public debt could be called into question.


In this paper we report two n-type polymeric acceptors P1 and P2 based on imide/amide-derivatives (PDI, NDI and DPP). P1 and P2 exhibit very different optical properties which may be related to the different molecular configuration and polymeric crystallinity. All polymer solar cells were fabricated with conventional configuration based on polymeric donor PBDTTT-C-T and P1/P2. Results reveal that devices based on P1 show the best performance with a PCE of 2.01%, a V-OC of 0.68 V, a J(SC) of 7.06 mA cm 2 and a FF of 41.78%, which is attributed to the appropriate energy levels, relatively high electron mobility and preferable micro-phase separation. The poor performance for P2 ( PCE = 0.30%) was mainly ascribed to its extremely low J(SC) which was probably caused by the small HOMO energy level difference between donor and P2.


The purpose of this paper is to present to creative manner of designing and implementing the backend and frontend of the interface for a complex learning system in architectural management, using advanced technologies: ASP.NET, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, C#, AJAX and JASON. The resulting platform can be used as general template for creating tools in virtual learning and can be extended to any other study domain.
The information processing techniques are of two different types, according to the type of the user who accesses the page. For example, an average user can access all the pages on the website, but the only action he can perform to the sheets is viewing them, while a registered user, with the according privileges, has the right to edit and add new sheets. The goal of the paper is to present the conception and implementing of the visual interface, along with the functionalities behind its components and the classes which help in the process of data manipulation and database connections. The administration & user interface was created, along with the necessary bonds needed for integrating the database and the map, to separate the functions for a fluid workflow.
The process of integrating the two modules (database & map) within the interface is presented. The integration of the database and the communication with it was possible with the help of link classes, written in C# and based on the Three Layer Architecture. The map was added to the interface by means of two links referral, one of them being locally hosted and edited for optimizing and adding new functionalities. The presentation layer was built in ASP.NET with the help of HTML and CSS elements. The code behind was written in C# and JavaScript, the relationship between these two languages being in close link relationship.
The main part of the developing process is to create the backend and the frontend. These two entities have a strong bondage between them and refer to certain components of the software. Generally speaking, the frontend represent the components which collect and present the data to the user and the backend represent the components which validate process and manipulate that data.
In other words, the frontend represent the part which the users visualize and interact with (buttons, menus and textboxes) realized with the means of technologies like ASP.NET, HTML for interface, CSS for styling and JavaScript to make it interactive. The backend represents all that happens in the code behind, starting from the database until the data reaches the browser, specifically everything that happens on the server-side.
In the backend, the most consistent part is represented by the database link and data process classes, organized and created based on the Three Layer Architecture. The components belonging to the frontend or the components running on the client-side are presented. The order of their presentation is the same order as the functional classes attached to them, previously described in the backend, which is actually the logical order of traversing the website: Start page, Advanced search, and Map page.
The most important aspect of this platform is its complex and unified nature, which required the inventively carry out the design and implementation of the proposed solutions. In conclusion, one can say that the paper presents a complex project that provides a real help for specialists in the field of architecture able to approach a wide and complex range of specifications and standards that should be followed in the application.


The eXtreme Multi-label text Classification (XMC) problem concerns finding most relevant labels for an input text instance from a large label set. However, the XMC setup faces two challenges: (1) it is not generalizable to predict unseen labels in dynamic environments, and (2) it requires a large amount of supervised (instance, label) pairs, which can be difficult to obtain for emerging domains. In this paper, we consider a more practical scenario called Extreme Zero-Shot XMC (EZ-XMC), in which no supervision is needed and merely raw text of instances and labels are accessible. Few-Shot XMC (FS-XMC), an extension to EZ-XMC with limited supervision is also investigated. To learn the semantic embeddings of instances and labels with raw text, we propose to pre-train Transformer-based encoders with self-supervised contrastive losses. Specifically, we develop a pre-training method \textbf{MACLR}, which thoroughly leverages the raw text with techniques including \textbf{M}ulti-scale \textbf{A}daptive \textbf{C}lustering, \textbf{L}abel \textbf{R}egularization, and self-training with pseudo positive pairs. Experimental results on four public EZ-XMC datasets demonstrate that MACLR achieves superior performance compared to all other leading baseline methods, in particular with approximately 5-10% improvement in precision and recall on average. Moreover, we show that our pre-trained encoder can be further improved on FS-XMC when there are a limited number of ground-truth positive pairs in training. Our code is available at https://github.com/amzn/pecos/tree/mainline/examples/MACLR.


Accurate diagnosis of neurotoxic disease requires a fundamental knowledge of the principles of neurology, epidemiology, and toxicology. The cardinal features of the office evaluation of this condition are the detailed history and meticulous clinical examination of an individual; the examination focuses on detecting naturally occurring disease that may account for or mask the principal signs and symptoms. Specialized diagnostic tests can provide an important complement to the office evaluation but are often nonspecific for neurotoxic disease. Field assessment, in contrast, rarely utilizes detailed examinations and depends heavily on quantitative screening tools, such as questionaires, tremor analysis, computer-assisted neurobehavioral tests, and quantitative sensory tests. Field studies generally have two goals: the identification of population cohort differences and the detection of individual members of a group that differ from a population or the expected norm. No single procedure is optimal for all field studies; rather, the methods and analyses should be tailored for the population and toxin under study.


We have implemented an integrated and configurable file system called the Pegasus fie-systems (PFS) and a trace-driven file-system simulator called Patsy. Patsy is used for off-line analysis of file-system algorithms, PFS is used for on-line file-system data storage. Algorithms are first analyzed in Patsy and when we are satisfied with the performance results, migrated into PFS for on-line usage. Since Patsy and PFS are derived from a common cut-and-paste filesystem framework, this migration proceeds smoothly.

We have found this integration quite useful: algorithm bottlenecks have been found through Patsy that could have led to performance degradations in PFS. Off-line simulators are simpler to analyze compared to on-line file-systems because a work load can repeatedly be replayed on the same off-line simulator. This is almost impossible in on-line filesystems since it is hard to provide similar conditions for each experiment run. Since simulator and file-system are integrated (hence, use the same code), experiment results from the simulator have relevance in the real system.

This paper describes the cut-and-paste framework, the instantiation of the framework to PFS and Patsy and finally, some of the experiments we conducted in Patsy.


The decline of top carnivores has released large herbivore populations around the world, incurring socioeconomic costs such as increased animal–vehicle collisions. Attempts to control overabundant deer in the Eastern United States have largely failed, and deer–vehicle collisions (DVCs) continue to rise at alarming rates. We present the first valuation of an ecosystem service provided by large carnivore recolonization, using DVC reduction by cougars as a case study. Our coupled deer population models and socioeconomic valuations revealed that cougars could reduce deer densities and DVCs by 22% in the Eastern United States, preventing 21,400 human injuries, 155 fatalities, and $2.13 billion in avoided costs within 30 years of establishment. Recently established cougars in South Dakota prevent $1.1 million in collision costs annually. Large carnivore restoration could provide valuable ecosystem services through such socio‐ecological cascades, and these benefits could offset the societal costs of coexistence.


Let $I(G)^{[k]}$ denote the $k$th squarefree power of the edge ideal of $G$. When $G$ is a forest, we provide a sharp upper bound for the regularity of $I(G)^{[k]}$ in terms of the $k$-admissable matching number of $G$. For any positive integer $k$, we classify all forests $G$ such that $I(G)^{[k]}$ has linear resolution. We also give a combinatorial formula for the regularity of $I(G)^{[2]}$ for any forest $G$.


We present the first results from a minute cadence survey of a three square degree field obtained with the Dark Energy Camera. We imaged part of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey area over eight half-nights. We use the stacked images to identify 111 high proper motion white dwarf candidates with g $\leq24.5$ mag and search for eclipse-like events and other sources of variability. We find a new g = 20.64 mag pulsating ZZ Ceti star with pulsation periods of 11-13 min. However, we do not find any transiting planetary companions in the habitable zone of our target white dwarfs. Given the probability of eclipses of 1% and our observing window from the ground, the non-detection of such companions in this first field is not surprising. Minute cadence DECam observations of additional fields will provide stringent constraints on the frequency of planets in the white dwarf habitable zone.


In recent years, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been used for High Performance Computing (HPC). Because there is a significantly difference between configuration speed of FPGA and execution speed of Central Processing Unit (CPU), the difference causes performance degradation. To resolve of this problem, we proposed MPLD as a new Programmable Logic Device (PLD) architecture with high speed reconfiguration. The merits of the MPLD in HPC are high speed configuration and easy partial configuration.This is achieved by the configuration method which is same as write memory access of conventional parallel memory. In this paper, we describe the problems of FPGA on using it in HPC, and present the MPLD architecture which solves the problems. Some evaluation results of the prototype MPLD chip which implemented by using five metal layers ROHM 0.18¿m CMOS technology are also presented. As results, memory capacity of the prototype MPLD was 49152bit, and the core area was 1767.54 × 1690.96¿m2 and the number of metal layers used for wiring was three. The achieved configuration time is about 6.6¿sec for whole prototype MPLD. The configuration speed of the prototype MPLD is about 11.7 times higher than AS configuration used for Altera FPGAs.


© Copyright 2000 CRC Press–All rights reserved. curity specialist. However, the author's insights will prove to be extremely helpful, despite the nature of any limitations that may have to be resolved. Of particular interest are the notes on pages 47 and 88 about the problem that may be presented by the false positive identifications of intrusion attempts, the discussion on pages 70 and 71 of the reduction and analysis of the high volume of data that can be generated by intrus ion detect ion mechanisms, and the continuing proactive intelligence gathering endeavors described in Chapter 8. The discussion in Chapter 1 of the Kenneth Mitnick incident is supplemented in "Introduction to [Computer] Hacking" in Chapter 9. Of special interest is the discussion on pages 153–158 of such things as how the hackers secure their tools, the way in which they are trained and mentored, and the role that such things as so-called untraceable currency and anonymous communication play in their activities. [The computer hackers who engage in the activities that are discussed in this book are much more serious about what they are doing and much better organized in doing it than most politicians and law enforcement officials seem to recognize.]


This paper aim is to develop a Wi-Fi based wireless Datalogger through which we can measure any physical or environmental parameters like temperature, pressure, current, water level, soil moisture, rainfall, wind speed and direction, pulse signals etc, and store the data for a period of time. Data loggers can record a wide variety of energy and environmental measurements including temperature, relative humidity, AC/DC current and voltage, differential pressure, light intensity, water level, soil moisture, rainfall, wind speed and direction, pulse signals etc. During configuration the datalogger is physically connected to the PC and search for an existing wireless network so that it can be placed anywhere within range of the network. Our developed system measures different physical parameters and retain them for a period of time using datalogger shield which is connected to PC through wireless with the aid of Wi-Fi shield. The Wi-Fi shield used here is Tinysine Wi-Fi shield and it's based on roving networks RN-XV module. It provides the bridge between TTL serial port and IEEE802.11b wireless communication network, which helps to connect the entire setup wirelessly to the PC. This system is portable and easy to handle for recording all the physical or environmental parameters and storing it for a period of time.


This article describes a method of adapting workstations for workers with motion disability using computer simulation and virtual reality (VR) techniques. A workstation for grinding spring faces was used as an example. It was adjusted for two people with a disabled right upper extremity. The study had two stages. In the first, a computer human model with a visualization of maximal arm reach and preferred workspace was used to develop a preliminary modification of a virtual workstation. In the second stage, an immersive VR environment was used to assess the virtual workstation and to add further modifications. All modifications were assessed by measuring the efficiency of work and the number of movements involved. The results of the study showed that a computer simulation could be used to determine whether a worker with a disability could access all important areas of a workstation and to propose necessary modifications.


The study examined the influence of social support on stress among adolescents in Ekiti State. Specifically, the study examined the level of stress among adolescent; the social supports that are available to the adolescent; the relationship between social support and stress among adolescent; the influence of social support on stress among male and female adolescent; and the influence of social support on stress among Christian and Muslim adolescent. The research design used in this study was a descriptive survey type. The population of this study comprised of all the senior secondary school students in Ado local government area of Ekiti state. The sample for this study comprised of one hundred and sixty (160) students. Simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used. The instrument used for data collection was self-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire was validated by experts of Tests and Measurement to check whether the instrument accurately represented the variables under study. The reliability of the instrument was ensured through test re-test method which yielded a reliability co-efficient value of 0.718. The data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings of the study revealed that stress among adolescent in Ekiti State was high. In addition, girls are more likely to use coping strategies that involved relationship, such as seeking social support than boys who tend to use others such as distraction. It was recommended among others that parents, community leaders and Government should give adolescents the necessary support to cope with stress around them.


Toluene has been directly zincated by reaction with the heteroleptic sodium zincate [(tmeda)Na(tBu)(tmp)Zn(tBu)] (1) to afford a statistical mixture of the meta and para regioisomers of [(tmeda)Na(C(6)H(4)Me)(tmp)Zn(tBu)] (2) (TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine, TMP = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidide). Interestingly, the methyl group of toluene has been left untouched by the mixed-metal base. The crystal structures of both regioisomers have been elucidated by using X-ray crystallography, which revealed a common motif, in which zinc lies in the same plane as the tolyl ring and binds strongly to the carbon that has experienced the deprotonation, leading to a covalent sigma bond; whereas sodium adopts a perpendicular disposition, pi-engaging with the aromatic ring. DFT studies of the reaction of 1 with toluene showed that of the four possible regioisomers, the experimentally observed meta and para ones are the most thermodynamically preferred products due to a large extent to the combined (synergic) effect of the zinc and sodium and the different way in which each metal binds to the tolyl anion. In contrast, the more straightforward benzyl-based zincate [(tmeda)(2)Na(CH(2)Ph)Zn(tBu)(2)] (3) is obtained through an indirect route, in which toluene is first laterally metallated by monometallic butylsodium to afford benzylsodium, which then forms a mixed-metal compound by co-complexation with tBu(2)Zn. Zincate 3 has been characterised by X-ray crystallography in the solid state and by NMR spectroscopy in deuterated THF solution.


An electrical mark is one of the crucial morphological findings on the body of a person who received a fatal electric shock and it is often the only evidence of contact between the body and electricity. In cases where the electrical mark on the skin is absent, the cause of death is often established by exclusion of other possible causes and supported by circumstantial evidence. In our study, the data were obtained from autopsy reports of all persons whose cause of death was electrocution and whose post mortem examination was performed at the Department of Forensic Medicine and Criminology in Zagreb between 1991 and 2010. We collected the data on victim demographics and incident circumstances including sex, age, manner of death, alcohol concentration, place and time of death, and presence and site of the electric mark. A total of 89 electrocution cases were identified. An electrical mark was detected in 79% of the cases, whereas no detectable changes on the skin were in the remaining 21% of the cases. The entry wound was present in 43% of the cases, both entry and exit wounds were found in 20%, while in 16% of the cases with extensive burns neither entry nor exit point could be detected. Most victims of fatal electrocution were men aged between 20 and 50. Most cases were accidents (83%) and the rest were suicides (14%) or the manner of death was undetermined. Although inconsistently present on the victims' body, the electrical mark is of great diagnostic value as confirmative evidence in cases of suspected electrocution.


Article history: Received February 25, 2016 Received in revised format: March 28, 2016 Accepted August 22, 2016 Available online August 23 2016 Knowledge management strategies are considered as the foundation of learning organizations. One of the problems of Iranian organizations is the assessment of knowledge management processes. The purpose of the present study is to present an applied organized model for the assessment of knowledge management performance in six dimensions, i.e., the financial dimension, stakeholders, local processes, growth and learning, employee satisfaction, and environment and community; identifying and investigating the correlation among the criteria; mapping network relations; weighing the indices using DEMATEL Technique; ranking assessment dimensions of knowledge management using ORESTE Technique; drawing strategic map; and designing Balanced Scorecard for improved performance of knowledge management. The population and sample of the study included 25 petrochemical Tehran managers and senior experts in information technology section. The results of this study provides a comprehensive view for the decision makers of Iran Petrochemical Industries for an improved performance in knowledge management. Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Growing 7 © 201


The growing importance of post-silicon validation in ensuring functional correctness of high-end designs increases the need for synergy between the pre-silicon verification and post-silicon validation. We propose a unified functional verification methodology for the pre- and post-silicon domains. This methodology is based on a common verification plan and similar languages for test-templates and coverage models. Implementation of the methodology requires a user-directable stimuli generation tool for the post-silicon domain. We analyze the requirements for such a tool and the differences between it and its pre-silicon counterpart. Based on these requirements, we implemented a tool called Threadmill and used it in the verification of the IBM POWER7 processor chip with encouraging results.


One of the most important benefits of public cloud storage is outsourcing of management and maintenance with easy accessibility and retrievability over the internet. However, outsourcing data on the cloud brings new challenges such as integrity verification and privacy of data. More concretely, once the users outsource their data on the cloud they have no longer physical control over the data and this leads to the integrity protection issue. Hence, it is crucial to guarantee proof of data storage and integrity of the outsourced data. Several pairing-based auditing solutions have been proposed utilizing the Boneh-Lynn-Shacham (BLS) short signatures. They basically provide a desirable and efficient property of non-repudiation protocols. In this work, we propose the first ID-based privacy-preserving public auditing scheme with message recoverable signatures. Because of message recoverable auditing scheme, the message itself is implicitly included during the verification step that was not possible in previously proposed auditing schemes. Furthermore, we point out that the algorithm suites of existing schemes is either insecure or very inefficient due to the choice of the underlying bilinear map and its baseline parameter selections. We show that our scheme is more efficient than the recently proposed auditing schemes based on BLS like short signatures.


Harnessing the fire data revolution, i.e., the abundance of information from satellites, government records, social media, and human health sources, now requires complex and challenging data integration approaches. Defining fire events is key to that effort. In order to understand the spatial and temporal characteristics of fire, or the classic fire regime concept, we need to critically define fire events from remote sensing data. Events, fundamentally a geographic concept with delineated spatial and temporal boundaries around a specific phenomenon that is homogenous in some property, are key to understanding fire regimes and more importantly how they are changing. Here, we describe Fire Events Delineation (FIRED), an event-delineation algorithm, that has been used to derive fire events (N = 51,871) from the MODIS MCD64 burned area product for the coterminous US (CONUS) from January 2001 to May 2019. The optimized spatial and temporal parameters to cluster burned area pixels into events were an 11-day window and a 5-pixel (2315 m) distance, when optimized against 13,741 wildfire perimeters in the CONUS from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity record. The linear relationship between the size of individual FIRED and Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS) events for the CONUS was strong (R2 = 0.92 for all events). Importantly, this algorithm is open-source and flexible, allowing the end user to modify the spatio-temporal threshold or even the underlying algorithm approach as they see fit. We expect the optimized criteria to vary across regions, based on regional distributions of fire event size and rate of spread. We describe the derived metrics provided in a new national database and how they can be used to better understand US fire regimes. The open, flexible FIRED algorithm could be utilized to derive events in any satellite product. We hope that this open science effort will help catalyze a community-driven, data-integration effort (termed OneFire) to build a more complete picture of fire.


Abstract The Hurunui section of the Hope Fault is a newly defined, 42 km long geomorphic fault section which extends from Harper Pass to the Hope‐Boyle River confluence. Reconnaissance mapping along the Hurunui section from Hope Shelter to Harper Pass provided new data on its location, geomorphology, displacement, and slip rate. More than 200 previously published field observations of dextrally and vertically displaced landforms along the fault provide data on the distribution of displacement along the fault trace. Five radiocarbon dates found in association with offset geomorphic features are presented and two new measures of dextral slip rate are calculated. At McKenzie Stream, a late Holocene fan complex is cut by the Hope Fault. Young abandoned and active channels on this surface show dextral offsets of up to 22 ± 2 m along a south‐facing scarp with a height of up to 5 m. Woody litter from a unit in this complex has yielded a radiocarbon age of 2331 ±55 yr BP and a corresponding minimum horizontal slip rate of 8.1–11.0 mm/yr. At Macs Knob, large dextral deflections of stream catchments are linked to episodes of glacial resetting of the landscape. Correlation of the offset of "Macs stream" (166 ± 17 m) with a post‐Aranuian age peat (10 782 ± 60 yr BP) yields a maximum horizontal slip rate of 13.0 ± 1.5 mm/yr. The single‐event dextral displacement, based on offset stream channels at McKenzie fan, is 3.2–3.8 m (av. c. 3.4 m). The ratio of dextral to vertical slip is c. 7 ± 2:1, indicating that the Hope Fault has a dominantly strike‐slip sense of motion. The average recurrence interval for the last 5–7 events (i.e., to produce 19–24 m slip at McKenzie fan) is 310–490 yr. The age of the most recent surface‐rupturing earthquake at this site is not known, though felt effects, fault scaling, and landscape arguments indicate it was not the AD 1888 North Canterbury earthquake.


The paper will present an approach for an incremental solution development that is based on the usage of the currently developed Internet based FIspace business collaboration platform. Key element is the clear segmentation of infrastructures that are either internal or external to the collaborating business entity in the food network. On the one hand, the approach enables to differentiate between specific centralised as well as decentralised ways for data storage and hosting of IT based functionalities. The selection of specific data exchange protocols and data models is facilitated. On the other hand, the supported solution design and subsequent development is focusing on reusable "software Apps" that can be used on their own and are incorporating a clear added value for the business actors. It will be outlined on how to push the development and introduction of Apps that do not require basic changes of the existing infrastructure. The paper will present an example that is based on the development of a set of Apps for the exchange of product quality related information in food networks, specifically addressing fresh fruits and vegetables. It combines workflow support for data exchange from farm to retail as well as to provide quality feedback information to facilitate the business process improvement. Finally, the latest status of the FIspace platform development will be outlined. Key features and potential ways for "real users and software developers" in using the FIspace platform that is initiated by science and industry will be outlined.


Banana beer would be called Musa. The name came from the banana plant family Musacae. Like the common beer in the market, banana beer is yellow- brownish in color, has the aroma of banana, and would be made available in a 330ml bottle with crown capping to ensure that no liquid leaks. The product contents are water, banana, sugar, yeast, and hops. Musaceae Corporation, which would be situated in Laguna Technopark 1 in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, would market the Banana Beer to four different areas of Laguna, namely, Sta. Rosa, Cabuyao, Calamba, and Los Banos. The project would be profitable for it would supplement the unsatisfied demand of 18,456,219. The project would cost Php 67,000,000.00 for the first three months of operation including the acquisition of property and equipment, manufacturing costs, selling and administrative expenses, and the contingency cost of 10.12%. The business which would have a 3.54 years payback period would generate a profit of Php 165,127,201.00 on the first 5 years of operation and an internal rate of return of 20.74%, thus making the project feasible.


This work proposes a new method for describing the hysteresis non-linearity of a piezoelectric actuator. The hysteresis behaviour of piezoelectric actuators, including the minor loop trajectory, are modeled by geometrical relationship between a reference major loop and its minor loops. This hysteresis model is transformed into inverse hysteresis model in order to output compensated voltage with regard to the given input displacement. A feedforward neural network, which is trained by a feedback PID control module, is incorporated to the inverse hysteresis model to compensate unknown dynamics of the piezoelectric system. To show the feasibility of the proposed feedforward-feedback controller, some experiments have been carried out and the tracking performance was compared to that of simple PID controller.


The bacterial quality of eight types of fresh produce obtained from selected markets in Abeokuta was determined. Two hundred forty (240) samples of fresh vegetables were examined for aerobic plate counts, coliform counts, and presence of Escherichia coli, toxigenic Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp and Listeria spp. The aerobic plate counts ranged from 2.80 log10 cfu/g to 15.60 log10 cfu/g with the inner parts of cut- water melons having the highest value. Total coliform counts ranged from 0.0 to 11.80 log10 cfu/g. Pathogenic bacteria isolated were Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp, Listeria spp, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus spp. These pathogens were mostly found at the outer leaves/ parts of the vegetables and render unsafe for human consumption. This study shows that the outer parts/ leaves of fresh produce are heavily contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and the fresh produce should be pre- treated thoroughly, so as to reduce the risk of food- borne outbreaks. Keywords · Pathogenic bacteria · Bacterial quality · Coliform counts


Multi-choice Machine Reading Comprehension (MRC) requires model to decide the correct answer from a set of answer options when given a passage and a question. Thus in addition to a powerful pre-trained Language Model as encoder, multi-choice MRC especially relies on a matching network design which is supposed to effectively capture the relationship among the triplet of passage, question and answers. While the latest pre-trained Language Models have shown powerful enough even without the support from a matching network, and the latest matching network has been complicated enough, we thus propose a novel going-back-to-the-basic solution which straightforwardly models the MRC relationship as attention mechanism inside network. The proposed DUal Multi-head Co-Attention (DUMA) has been shown simple but effective and is capable of generally promoting pre-trained Language Models. Our proposed method is evaluated on two benchmark multi-choice MRC tasks, DREAM and RACE, showing that in terms of strong Language Models, DUMA may still boost the model to reach new state-of-the-art performance.


Abstract Objective: To lay out the argument that exercise impacts neurobiological targets common to both mood and cognitive functioning, and thus more research should be conducted on its use as an alternative or adjunctive treatment for cognitive impairment in late-life depression (LLD). Method: This narrative review summarizes the literature on cognitive impairment in LLD, describes the structural and functional brain changes and neurochemical changes that are linked to both cognitive impairment and mood disruption, and explains how exercise targets these same neurobiological changes and can thus provide an alternative or adjunctive treatment for cognitive impairment in LLD. Results: Cognitive impairment is common in LLD and predicts recurrence of depression, poor response to antidepressant treatment, and overall disability. Traditional depression treatment with medication, psychotherapy, or both, is not effective in fully reversing cognitive impairment for most depressed older adults. Physical exercise is an ideal treatment candidate based on evidence that it 1) is an effective treatment for depression, 2) enhances cognitive functioning in normal aging and in other patient populations, and 3) targets many of the neurobiological mechanisms that underlie mood and cognitive functioning. Results of the limited existing clinical trials of exercise for cognitive impairment in depression are mixed but overall support this contention. Conclusions: Although limited, existing evidence suggests exercise may be a viable alternative or adjunctive treatment to address cognitive impairment in LLD, and thus more research in this area is warranted. Moving forward, additional research is needed in large, diverse samples to translate the growing research findings into clinical practice.


Sickle cell disease poses a public health problem in Senegal. It mainly affects children and adolescents. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological, clinical and hematological profiles of homozygous (SS) sickle cell disease in a cohort of children followed-up at the Peace Hospital in Ziguinchor. We conducted a retrospective study of the medical records from children with sickle cell disease. All patients aged between 2 months and 21 years with sickle cell disease SS during the intercritical period, hospitalized during the study period from 1st January 2015 to 31 August 2017 were included in our study. Compound heterozygous patients (SC, S Beta Thalassemia) were not included. We collected 46 medical records of patients with sickle cell disease SS (20 girls and 26 boys). The average age of children was 8,0 years [11 months-21 years]. Approximately 1/3 of children (39.1%) had an age less than or equal to 5 years. There was an ethnic diversity showing a predominance of the Diola (30.2%) followed by the Mandinga (27.9%) and the Poular (25.6%). The average age of children with first crisis was 35,5 months [7-192 months]. More than 1/3 of children (41.3%) had had first crisis before their second anniversary. In the child, first crisis was dominated by vaso-occlusive crisis (32.6%) followed by hand-foot syndrome (30.4%). Clinical signs during the intercritical period were pallor 95.6%), jaundice (36.9%) and splenomegaly (21.7%). Mean white blood cell count was 12465 leucocytes/mm3 [5340-26900]. Hyperleukocytosis greater than 10 000 leucocytes/mm3was found in 34 patients (73.9%). All patients had anemia with an average hemoglobin of 08,6 g/dl [05,7-11,8]. Hemoglobin S rate ranged between 54.6 and 98.4%. Diagnosis and medical management of sickle cell disease SS are delayed in Ziguinchor. Neonatal screening may lead to improve early management of patients in the region.


2771 Telomerase is required for cell immortality, a hallmark of cancer, and is expressed in essentially all cancer types, but not in most normal adult tissues. Therefore, inhibition of telomerase is a promising anti-cancer treatment strategy. GRN163L, a lipidated oligonucleotide with potent telomerase inhibitory activity, is currently in Phase I/II clinical trials in solid tumors and hematological cancers. However, monitoring target effects during clinical trials is challenging due to the fact that target tissues, especially solid tumors, are not easily accessible for sampling. Our goal is to identify a surrogate tissue that can be used to monitor target inhibition by GRN163L in patients. Various surrogate tissues, including peripheral blood monocytes (PBMC), buccal scrapings, and plucked hair follicles, were tested for this purpose. We found that plucked human hair follicles contained robust telomerase activity, readily detectable in a single hair follicle using an acrylamide gel-based TRAP assay. Eighty to ninety percent of randomly plucked hair follicles from healthy donors showed a significant amount of telomerase activity. We further employed DAPI staining to exclude hair follicles in telogen phase (a growth-arrested state, during which telomerase activity is very low or undetectable) from the assay. This allowed for a more accurate assessment of telomerase inhibition by allowing for pre-selection of a higher percentage of telomerase-positive follicles. Using this optimized method, GRN163L was shown to inhibit hair follicle telomerase activity ex vivo in a dose-dependent manner, with an IC 50 that is similar to those measured in various cancer cell lines in vitro . We extended our studies to rodents and showed that follicle telomerase activity can be inhibited by GRN163L in an in vivo mouse model (see abstract, "Pharmacodynamic measurements of telomerase inhibition by GRN163L, a potent telomerase inhibitor, in mouse and rat vibrissa follicles," E. Bassett, M.A. Genzer, C. Harley, R. Tressler, and N. F. Go) . Due to the ease of accessibility and high levels of endogenous telomerase activity, human hair follicles are a suitable surrogate tissue to monitor telomerase inhibitor pharmacodynamics in the clinic.


This special issue reviews patterns of policy stability and change at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the Great Recession and attempts to explain their causes. The contributors show that the crisis ignited a reassessment regarding how the IMF would position itself as a pivotal player in global economic governance. Some new ideas and evidence definitely found their way into IMF decision making, but this process was often tempered by the nature of the institution and the powerful interests that control its governing structure. Where change did occur, its causal generators could be found in some combination between IMF staff politics, a string of innovations coming from academic and IMF economists, and the emerging economic powers' creative leveraging of institutional fora both within and inside the Fund.


SUMMARY
Bisulfite sequencing (BS-seq) remains the gold standard technique to detect DNA methylation profiles at single-nucleotide resolution. The DNA methylation status of CpG sites on the same fragment represents a discrete methylation haplotype (mHap). The mHap-level metrics were demonstrated to be promising cancer biomarkers and explain more gene expression variation than average methylation. However, most existing tools focus on average methylation and neglect mHap patterns. Here, we present mhapTk, a comprehensive python toolkit for the analysis of DNA methylation haplotypes. It calculates eight mHap-level summary statistics in predefined regions or across individual CpG in a genome-wide manner. It identifies methylation haplotype blocks (MHBs), in which methylations of pairwise CpGs is tightly correlated. Furthermore, mHap patterns can be visualized with the built-in functions in mHapTk or external tools such as IGV and deepTools.

AVAILABILITY
https://jiantaoshi.github.io/mhaptk/index.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


Background Galaxy is rapidly becoming the de facto standard among workflow managers for bioinformatics. A rich feature set, its overall flexibility, and a thriving community of enthusiastic users are among the main factors contributing to the popularity of Galaxy and Galaxy based applications. One of the main advantages of Galaxy consists in providing access to sophisticated analysis pipelines, e.g., involving numerous steps and large data sets, even to users lacking computer proficiency, while at the same time improving reproducibility and facilitating teamwork and data sharing among researchers. Although several Galaxy public services are currently available, these resources are often overloaded with a large number of jobs and offer little or no customization options to end users. Moreover, there are scenarios where a private Galaxy instance still constitutes a more viable alternative, including, but not limited to, heavy workloads, data privacy concerns or particular needs of customization. In such cases, a cloud-based virtual Galaxy instance can represent a solution that overcomes the typical burdens of managing the local hardware and software infrastructure needed to run and maintain a production-grade Galaxy service. Results Here we present Laniakea, a robust and feature-rich software suite which can be deployed on any scientific or commercial Cloud infrastructure in order to provide a "Galaxy on demand" Platform as a Service (PaaS). Laying its foundations on the INDIGO-DataCloud middleware, which has been developed to accommodate the needs of a large number of scientific communities, Laniakea can be deployed and provisioned over multiple architectures by private or public e-infrastructures. The end user interacts with Laniakea through a front-end that allows a general setup of the Galaxy instance, then Laniakea takes charge of the deployment both of the virtual hardware and all the software components. At the end of the process the user has access to a private, production-grade, yet fully customizable, Galaxy virtual instance. Laniakea's supports the deployment of plain or cluster backed Galaxy instances, shared reference data volumes, encrypted data volumes and rapid development of novel Galaxy flavours, that is Galaxy configurations tailored for specific tasks. As a proof of concept, we provide a demo Laniakea instance hosted at an ELIXIR-IT Cloud facility. Conclusions The migration of scientific computational services towards virtualization and e-infrastructures is one of the most visible trends of our times. Laniakea provides Cloud administrators with a ready-to-use software suite that enables them to offer Galaxy, a popular workflow manager for bioinformatics, as an on-demand PaaS to their users. We believe that Laniakea can concur in making the many advantages of using Galaxy more accessible to a broader user base by removing most of the burdens involved in running a private instance. Finally, Laniakea's design is sufficiently general and modular that could be easily adapted to support different services and platforms beyond Galaxy.


Abstract The relationship of certain meteorological parameters to the extratropical storm surge is investigated empirically. Multiple regression equations are determined which relate the onshore wind components, along-shore wind components, and atmospheric pressure distribution with various time lags to the storm surge. The alongshore component of wind is found to be more important than the onshore component in the generation of extratropical storm surges. Calculations using as predictors the components of both wind speed and wind speed squared show both systems to be about equally satisfactory for practical predictions. Comparison is made between a one-station model which uses weather parameters at Atlantic City, and a three-station model which includes information from Nantucket and Norfolk as well as Atlantic City. A practical forecast equation which contains five predictors is presented for possible operational use.


. This paper presents our application of a visualization tool and optimization model based on mixed-integer linear programming to solve a workforce staffing and scheduling problem at Sabena Technics, a major aircraft maintenance company in Belgium. We used the software to generate many alternative, cost-efficient schedules and to analyze multiple scenarios. In several management meetings, stakeholders evaluated the schedules and raised concerns. We subsequently changed the model to successfully address their concerns. The model has resulted in considerable savings and a more efficient use of human resources.


The article summarizes the literature on perceived threat from legal and illegal immigration in the USA showing an increasing gap between immigration policies and opinions of the native populations. The threat to cultural and national identity is discussed, and a labor competition model advanced. Economic frustration plays a role in the hardening of attitudes. The isolation of immigrants in ghettos bodes ill for the future of integration of immigrants into society. The reemergence of nationalistic movements have coincided with large-scale immigration and poses a perceived threat to the native population from cultural heterogeneity. Individual attitudinal differences derive from relative rightwing authoritarianism and the desire for social dominance. Conflict resolution is dependent on the frames used of the immigrant as a lawbreaker or victim of exploitation. Solutions from the political right emphasize control and economic benefits of cheap labor. Solutions from the left promote economic development in source countries, and the human rights of economic and political refugees.


BACKGROUND Current research has identified several risk factors for refractory benign esophageal strictures (RBES), but research is scarce on the prediction of RBES in benign esophageal strictures patients. Meanwhile, the long-term outcomes of RBES remain unclear. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a model to determine the progression of RBES in patients with benign esophageal strictures. And we also explored the long-term outcomes and safety in patients with RBES. AIM To develop and validate a model to determine the progression of RBES in patients with benign esophageal strictures, based on the demographic data and endoscopic findings. METHODS A total of 507 benign esophageal stricture patients treated by dilation alone or in combination with stenting were retrospectively enrolled between January 2009 and February 2018. The primary outcome was to establish a risk-scoring model predicting RBES in benign esophageal strictures. The secondary outcome was to explore the clinical effectiveness and adverse events in patients with RBES. RESULTS In the study, age, etiology, and number and length of strictures were the independent risk factors for the refractory performance of benign esophageal strictures. According to risk factors of benign esophageal strictures, a risk-scoring model for predicting RBES in benign esophageal strictures was established: The risk score ranged from 0 to 8 points, and the risk scores were divided into low risk (0-2 points), intermediate risk (3-5 points), and high risk (6-8 points). The proportions of RBES in the corresponding risk categories were 1.0%, 12.2%, and 76.0%, respectively. Among 507 patients, 57 had RBES (39 males; median age, 60 years). The success rate of dilation treatment (51.2%, 21/41) was higher than that of stent placement (37.5%, 6/16). CONCLUSION In this study, 11.3% (57/507) patients had RBES at our hospital. The risk-scoring model predicting RBES in benign esophageal strictures could predict the long-term outcome of patients with strictures ahead.


Translation and Global Asia: Relocating Cultural Production Network is a collection of conference papers from The Fourth Asian Translation Traditions Conference held in Hong Kong in 2010. The aim of the conference was to explore the richness and diversity of non-Western discourses and practices of translation, focusing on translational exchanges among non-Western languages and the changes and continuity in Asian translation traditions. The eleven papers selected from the sixty papers presented at the conference, then edited and revised, give insights into the translation traditions of various Asian countries. They cover topics such as literary translation, translation history, and translation and colonialism.