Orientation: Organisations are confronted with the challenge of competency among its employees for productivity improvement. They implement strategies that improve employee skills proficiencies for higher productivity. These can also be achieved by implementing a training model that develops employee's skills and knowledge so that they become the specialists in their work areas. This sentiment underpins the concept of employee Training and Assessment Register (TAR). Purpose: This study evaluates the influence of TAR on productivity in automotive parts manufacturing organisation in South Africa. Motivation for the study: The South African manufacturing sector has a low level of productivity compared to its counterpart industries in the Asian and Western countries. The sector experiences the lack in short to medium term growth in productivity. Research design, approach and methods: The automotive parts manufacturing company that has used a TAR strategy for productivity improvement participated in the study. The study objectives were achieved by examining the production and related experiences in the company. The collection of data was carried out in two phases. This includes the collection of pre- and post-quarterly data for spoilage, overtime and customer complaints. The pre-TAR results were quarterly data reflecting the company's performance over the three-year period prior to the implementation of TAR. This company operates in the eThekwini District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Main findings: The results established that spoilage rate has a relationship with company productivity. Any decrease in spoilage rate would result to an increase in company productivity. However, the overtime and customer complaints do not statistically have a relationship with company productivity. Contribution: This article uncovers the strengths and weaknesses of TAR on productivity in the automotive parts manufacturing organisation in South Africa.


The efficiency of multi crystalline silicon solar cells is around 17% but the theoretical limit is 33,7 %. Impurities and dislocations are the main sources for degradation of the solar cell efficiency, especially the combination. Dislocations are also responsible for plastic deformation of materials. To improve the solar cell efficiency it is important to reduce the dislocation density in the raw material for solar cells. The nucleation and multiplication of dislocations in wafer can be suppressed by doping it with a method called solid solute strengthening. In solar cells, the minority carrier lifetime, internal quantum efficiency and the solar cell efficiency are also affected by germanium despite although it is, electrically inactive in the silicon lattice. In this thesis I have studied how all these factors are affected by germanium with different experimental methods. The main goal is to conclude if germanium could be a cost effective dopant in future solar cell production.


The maximum concentrations of phosphate that will remain soluble in a parenteral nutrient solution containing various concentrations of calcium chloride or calcium gluconate were determined. Various concentrations of sodium phosphate were mixed with FreAmine II (McGaw Laboratories), and the resulting solutions were mixed with 50% dextrose solutions containing various concentrations of calcium chloride or calcium gluconate. The final solutions were sealed and stored at 30 degrees C for 24 hours and then were inspected visually for precipitate formation. It was found that higher equivalent concentrations of phosphate are attainable when calcium gluconate, instead of calcium chloride, is used as the calcium source. Factors found to influence the concentrations of calcium and phosphate that are compatible in amino acid solutions are the calcium salt used, temperature and duration of storage, dextrose concentration, amino acid composition, pH, and other additives.


Statistical distributions of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images based on central limit theorem cannot reflect the statistical characteristics of sharp peak and heavy tail of high-resolution SAR images. By using the generalized central limit theorem, the heavy-tailed distributions (heavy-tailed Rayleigh distribution for amplitude image and heavy-tailed exponential distribution for intensity image) are obtained from the symmetric stable distributions of real and imaginary parts of echoes. Taking the heavy-tailed Rayleigh distribution as an example, the algebraic tails of heavy-tailed distributions are explained as well as the statistical properties of sharp peak and heavy tail. In order to model the high-resolution SAR images with the heavy-tailed distributions, based on second-kind statistical, Characteristics the log-cumulant estimator is proposed to efficiently estimate the parameters of the heavy-tailed distributions. Modeling experiments on real SAR images demonstrate that the heavy-tailed distributions based on the generalized central limit theorem can accurately describe the sharp-peaked and heavy-tailed statistical characteristics of high-resolution SAR images.


In recent years, the internet has led to an increase in computer-dependent; enterprises are facing the competition from the globalization of electronic and information technology; in other words, the development of e-strategy and security policy needed to be conducted for reducing the security threats. So, the adoption of ISO 27001 is a hot topic in recent days. Therefore, this study focuses on identifying the critical success factors for implementing ISMS for enterprises and examining the impact of the critical success factors on performance. In this study, we collect a total of 70 enterprises with adoption of ISO 27001 certification as valid samples to do statistical research. The results show that the adoption of ISO 27001 has a significant positive impact on performance, and the management dimension has the most influence of these four dimensions. But, external environment is relatively the smaller one. Also, enterprises with the implementation of ISO 27001 all have a positive impact on the BSC four perspectives of performance; it implies that the implementation of ISO 27001 has benefits on performance of the enterprise. Specifically, dimensions of critical factors all have positive impact on customers perspective. Secondly, management, technology dimensions have positive impact on financial perspective. Thirdly, management, technology and staff dimensions have positive impact on internal process perspective. Eventually, dimensions of critical factors all have positive impact on innovation and learning perspective.


The electromagnetic fields within a detailed model of the human eye and its surrounding bony orbit are calculated for two different frequencies of plane-wave irradiation: 750 MHz and 1.5 GHz. The computation is performed with a finite-difference algorithm for the time-dependent Maxwell's equations, carried out to the sinusoidal steady state. The heating potential, derived from the square of the electric field, is used to calculate the temperatures induced within the eyeball of the model. This computation is performed with the implicit alternating-direction (IAD) algorithm for the heat conduction equation. Using an order-of-magnitude estimate of the heat-sinking capacity of the retinal blood supply, it is determined that a hot spot exceeding 40.4/spl deg/C occurs at the center of the model eyeball at an incident power level of 100 mW/cm/sup 2/ at 1.5 GHz.


Microbes have been shown to adapt to extreme environments and to develop the ability to use various substrates. Here in collaboration with a local oil recycling company (Québec, Canada), we assessed the biodiversity of bacteria and studied their ability to metabolize used engine oil (UEO). The bacterial species identified (Paenibacillus, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Microbacterium, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus and Stenotrophomonas) were similar to those found elsewhere in the world, including countries with much warmer climate than Canada (like China, India, and Egypt to name a few). This suggests that UEO as main carbon source -and not climateis determinant for the biodiversity on UEO collection sites. Many bacterial strains identified here resisted to exposure to UEO at higher concentration (20% v/v) than reported earlier. As observed in earlier reports for many bacteria under various growth conditions, bacteria screened from this UEO source were also able to produce an intracellular biopolymer that was identified as a polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). We also identified an interesting consortium (composed of Stenotrophomonas and Rhodococcus) that metabolized UEO alkanes, and appeared suitable for two applications: bioremediation and biopolymer production. Under specific conditions, this same bacterial consortium secreted an elastomer-like biopolymer. The biopolymer formed at the surface of broth cultures where it was easily recovered. Based on FTIR analyses, the biopolymer was tentatively identified as ethylene propylene diene monomer (an EPDM rubber). To our knowledge, the conversion of UEO into an extracellular elastomer by bacteria has not been previously reported. Both species were found to be necessary for production of this biopolymer, suggesting a synergy among their respective metabolic machinery.


In this paper the optical parameters of Low Coherence Speckle Interferometry (LCSI) are analysed in order to optimise the technique and increase the probing depth. The contrast of the interference signal depends on the configuration of the optical setup and the optical properties of the material. Theoretical investigations and measurements for optimising the beam ratio, the coherence function and imaging parameters are presented. By optimising the interference signal the probing depth of the technique can be extended. This is demonstrated for a semi-transparent polymer material. Finally, measurements of the deformation of interfaces in a multi-layered material are presented.


ABSTRACT This research was aimed at knowing potential drug interactions on drug prescribing for treatment of hospitalized pediatric patients with respiratory tract infection. Research was carried out at a private hospital in Surakarta and data were collected from medical records of patients were hospitalized during January – December 2005. Potential drug interactions were determined theoretically using some literatures on drug interaction. From total 186 patients included in this research, 67.2% were 0-4 years old with common cold was the most diagnosed. There were 52.7% patients receiving 4-6 item of drugs and 76.9% patients were hospitalized during 1-3 days. Potential drug interactions were identified in 30.7% patients with 1.8% and 15.8% of them at level 1 and 2 clinical significance, respectively. Statistically, there was a relationship between potential drug interactions and length of hospitalization (p = 0.001). Some further investigations (prospectively) are needed to ensure results from this research. Key words : drug interaction, respiratory tract infection, pediatric


Renal fibrosis is the final common pathway of several nephropathies including chronic allograft failure. Most chronic renal diseases result in tissue fibrosis, and this is independent of their initial cause. Tissue fibrosis is an accumula- tion of extracellular matrix, and in animal models of renal fibrosis, mRNA levels for profibrogenic cytokines such as transforming growth factor � (TGF�) and extracellular matrix (ECM) molecular components are up regulated and they precede glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis. TGF� 1 plays a crucial role in renal fibrosis. In this review the main features of this important cytokine and existing previous therapeutic attempts to inhibit TGFexpression are briefly sum- marised.


The fast development of technology and the time-to-market constraints need well-adapted technical support and development processes to ease design space exploration and the reduction of the productivity gap. Model Based Engineering (MBE) overcomes the increasing complexity of system being highly heterogeneous and integrating concurrent sub-systems. Elsewhere, Models of Computation (MoC) help enforcing MBE with aspects related to the execution semantics of models. In a previous paper, we introduced a language called Cometa providing more expressiveness for these aspects. It allows the capture and analysis of several MoCs at high level of abstraction, highlighting communication and synchronization among parts of a heterogeneous system. The language was tooled in Rhapsody and tested on an industrial case. In this paper, we present the key concepts of the Cometa language and the tooling experiments of Cometa in an open source environment. The objective of this approach is being able to model heterogeneous systems, but also to broaden the scope of the language tooling, by taking benefits from an open source environment.


ABSTRACT Escherichia coli K-12 utilizes 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)propionate (3HPP) as a sole carbon and energy source. Among the genes in its catabolic cluster in the genome, mhpT was proposed to encode a hypothetical transporter. Since no transporter for 3HPP uptake has been identified, we investigated whether MhpT is responsible for 3HPP uptake. MhpT fused with green fluorescent protein was found to be located at the periphery of cells by confocal microscopy, consistent with localization to the cytoplasmic membrane. Gene knockout and complementation studies clearly indicated that mhpT is essential for 3HPP catabolism in E. coli K-12 W3110 at pH 8.2. Uptake assays with 14C-labeled substrates demonstrated that strain W3110 and strain W3110ΔmhpT containing recombinant MhpT specifically transported 3HPP but not benzoate, 3-hydroxybenzoate, or gentisate into cells. Energy dependence assays suggested that MhpT-mediated 3HPP transport was driven by the proton motive force. The change of Ala-272 of MhpT to a histidine, surprisingly, resulted in enhanced transport activity, and strain W3110ΔmhpT containing the MhpT A272H mutation had a slightly higher growth rate than the wild-type strain at pH 8.2. Hence, we demonstrated that MhpT is a specific 3HPP transporter and vital for E. coli K-12 W3110 growth on this substrate under basic conditions.


In an odd isotope with nuclear spin I not=O of an atom, the sublevels usually degenerate at certain points in energy ordinate which they call crossings. In alkaline-earth atoms, there is a series of crossings and it is determined only by the hyperfine splitting of the first ionisation limit ms 2S12/. A formula which is used to calculate the crossings has been derived. By using this formula, the framework of the sublevels and the experimental profile can be anticipated without knowing any detailed information about the odd isotope except for the hyperfine splitting of the first ionisation limit ms 2S12/.


Catalytic incineration of ethylbenzene has been investigated over metal oxide catalysts coated on monolith supports. Co3O4, Cr2O3 and a mixed form of these were prepared and tested. Studies were carried out at 1 atm pressure in a fixed-bed reactor with 865% excess air. Prior experiments were conducted without catalyst from which it was found that 46% of ethylbenzene was converted at the maximum temperature tested, i.e. 400°C. All the catalysts produced higher conversion rates than that of the homogeneous experiments; nevertheless, with none of these was complete combustion of ethylbenzene achieved. The maximum conversions obtained were 76% over Cr2O3 and 74% over Co3O4 at 400°C. The adsorption of hydrocarbons and other products on the catalysts was investigated. Both Cr2O3 and Co3O4 catalysts were analysed by infrared spectroscopy, both before and after the catalyst testing experiments.


A service learning model was used in a science methods course for elementary teachers as the context for integrating key pedagogical strategies necessary to attain current national and state standards. This innovation provided a real-world problem-solving experience and introduced learners to service-learning through personally relevant environmental issues. Designed as an inquiry, this experiential course, engaged learners in "doing science" and constructing knowledge of science, technology, and societal interaction content on a need to know basis. The intervention taught future teachers to engage their communities in addressing local issues. It also mitigated preservice teachers' science anxiety and enabled preservice teachers to understand and appreciate current national and state standards. Included are the methods course structure, the model used for service-learning, an extensive scenario illustrating classroom interactive inquiry strategies, and excerpts from students' journals revealing attitudinal changes during the course.


This paper shows a proposal for Type-reduction of an Interval Type-2 fuzzy set composed from α-cuts done over its primary membership functions. The definition of available Type-reduction methods for Interval Type-2 fuzzy sets are based on an homogeneous subdivision of the universe of discourse, so we propose an approximation algorithm for Type-reduction of an Interval type-2 fuzzy set through its primary α-cuts. Some definitions about the α-cut of a Type-2 fuzzy set are provided and used for computing the centroid of an Interval Type-2 fuzzy set through a mapping of its membership function, instead of its universe of discourse.


The release frequency of software projects has increased in recent years. Adopters of so-called rapid release cycles claim that they can deliver addressed issues (i.e., bugs, enhancements, and new features) to users more quickly. However, there is little empirical evidence to support these claims. In fact, in our prior work, we found that code integration phases may introduce delays in rapidly releasing software - 98% of addressed issues in the rapidly releasing Firefox project had their integration delayed by at least one release. To better understand the impact that rapid release cycles have on the integration delay of addressed issues, we perform a comparative study of traditional and rapid release cycles. Through an empirical study of 72,114 issue reports from the Firefox system, we observe that, surprisingly, addressed issues take a median of 50 days longer to be integrated in rapid Firefox releases than the traditional ones. To investigate the factors that are related to integration delay in traditional and rapid release cycles, we train regression models that explain if an addressed issue will have its integration delayed or not. Our explanatory models achieve good discrimination (ROC areas of 0.81-0.83) and calibration scores (Brier scores of 0.05-0.16). Deeper analysis of our explanatory models indicates that traditional releases prioritize the integration of backlog issues, while rapid releases prioritize issues that were addressed during the current release cycle. Our results suggest that rapid release cycles may not be a silver bullet for the rapid delivery of addressed issues to users.


AIM
To analyze the characteristics of suicidal behavior, which was the reason of urgent admission to the psychiatric hospital, in adolescents.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Clinical and psychopathological analysis was performed for 143 adolescents, 55 boys and 88 girls, aged 15-17 years, admitted to a Moscow psychiatric hospital due to suicidal behavior.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Among all hospitalized on medical emergencies suicidal behavior was identified in 42%, repeated suicidal attempts were in 27% of boys and in 47% of girls. Mental disorders on admission and in the past history were found in 75%; 25% of the patients received psychiatric examination and treatment. Personality disorders and adaptation disorders were most prevalent; schizophrenia spectrum disorders made up 13%. Common features of suicidal behavior in adolescents were: the use of low fatal methods, mild expression of antivital feelings, short duration of pre-suicidal stage, suddenness of commitment of suicidal actions, an additional stressful event (conflict situation) for the development of suicidal behavior. Significant differences in the methods of realization of suicidal intentions, preferable character of suicidal behavior (blackmailing/demonstrative in girls, brutal and compulsive in boys) and typology of psychopathological symptoms were established.


Democratic elections pose an immense challenge to any government during an emergency crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. More so for a country like India, with close to 18% of the world's population comprising an equally daunting and eager voter base of around 911 million in the time of a raging virus, both in the urban and rural areas of the nation. The first democratic large-scale election during the pandemic was successfully held in the state of Bihar in North India with more than 90 million voters, which was an astonishing feat by itself. The model followed by South Korea with the highest voter turnout provided an insight to the Indian authorities on conducting the elections. The Indian Election Commission, an independent statutory body which is entrusted with the task of conducting free and fair elections, allowed for the virtual mode of campaigning, and specific guidelines for polling were recommended. The rule changes have profound implications in significantly reducing crowded campaigns, which was synonymous with Indian democracy. The traditional lens through which the administration of elections was perceived has undergone a paradigm shift during the pandemic. New insights might surface if the electoral administration is reviewed in this study on an argumentative basis against the background of the big steps taken by the Indian election machinery. The aspects on which the research debates include: (i) the pros and cons of the action taken by the regulators; (ii) positive and negative responses from the political parties; and (iii) health and safety of the voters. The study concludes by affirming with data on the success of the Bihar Election and the wise choice of the Indian government in seizing the opportunity by taking the cues from South Korea.


In Indonesia there now exist a lot of children who are forced work before their legal age allows so. With the number increasing, these children are mainly employed in the informal sector, which is not well-organized. It is estimated that there are some 2 to 4 million 14 – year-old children who are forced and moral condition. Child labour is almost always associated with poverty that widely prevails. Social welfare system devised by the government has not yet fully met the existing challenges. Protection towards children, which constitutes an important element of social welfare, is actually ensured by both the national and international labour law. The United Nations Organizations dealing with labour is the International Labour Organization, which-since its birt-has aimed to solve child labour problems. The problems identified are as follows, how is the legal protection towards children who forced to work, what is the employer's responsibility towards child labour to ensure their work safety and health, and how is the supervition and control  condacted by Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child labour in the attempt to improve their safety and health. Legal protection provided by the government and employer towards children working at the Cibaduyut-based shoe-making industry is lacking, and children's parents or poroxiest can not do anything to ensure that the children's rights are fulfilled. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. The provision of working hours and wages does not conform to the existing labour law. As far as work break is concerned, some employers grand it to the child labour, while some others don't. While the child labour are at work, the labour law states that day should be supervised by their parents or proxies, but in reality they are only watched by the employer. Supervision and control from the Office of Manpower and Transmigration towards child is apparently inadequate.


The paper summarizes the main conclusions and recommendations from the report of Committee III.2 Fatigue and Fracture to the International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress (ISSC) 2006. The report reviewed more than 200 recent publications on the subject and summarized the main findings and trends, mainly within the areas of; Current Design Practice, Practical Use and Implementation of Fatigue Results, Fabrication, Inspection and Fitness for Service, Application of Non-Traditional Materials and Fabrication and Design Alternatives. The report also made recommendations for future work. For the whole report it is referred to the ISSC 2006 proceedings.Copyright © 2007 by ASME


The spin-torque (ST) effect on the thermally excited magnetization fluctuation noise (thermal mag-noise) in tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) read heads is investigated in the GHz range using noise spectra. The strong noise spectral peak around 3.1 GHz is attributed to thermal mag-noise originating from the free layer. The peak intensity and linewidth strongly depend on both the external magnetic field and current density. These features demonstrate that the ST effect significantly influences the thermal mag-noise as the current density increases up to the critical current density. Additionally, it is speculated that the non-thermal fluctuation noise originating from ST in the TMR heads as well as in current perpendicular to plane giant magnetoresistive (CPP-GMR) heads is generated above a critical current of approximately 2.5×1011 A/m2.


Little is known about the personal life of John B. Watson, and this interview aims at capturing the personality of the founder of American behaviorism through the eyes of his son, James B. Watson. Today, psychologists and other social scientists increasingly realize that there is an intimate link between the biography of a psychologist and the kind of psychology he or she founds. Thus biographical information about a founding psychologist can help researchers make explicit this essential link.


Background:Syria has entered its ninth year of crisis which left millions of Syrians suffering from humanitarian crises. This study evaluates the mental health of Syrians living in Syria and who left the country due to war and living in different ten countries as evaluating their condition needs further study, particularly with Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19).Methods:Online questionnaires included SPTSS, K10, MSPSS, demographic, war- and COVID-19-related questions. This study included participants from 10 different countries and they were matched with Syrians according to age and gender as other variables could not be matched due to different standards between countries.Results:This study included 472 participants, of which 214 (45.3%) were males with a mean age of 29.1 ± 7.5). More participants from Syria suffered from reduced ability to earn money (P=0.007), and worried about being unable to provide food from COVID-19 (P=0.007) although they worried less about them getting infected (P=0.041). Participants from Syria declared higher PTSD scores than Syrians living in other countries (P=0.045), mainly among doctors. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in social support, days unable to work from distress in the past 4 weeks, and mental distress (K10) between Syrians living in Syria and other countries (P>0.05). Conclusions:Syrians in Syria suffered more than Syrians living in other countries. Providing food and reduced ability to earn were the major stress. They also had more PTSD symptoms and stress than Syrians and others in other countries.


Cognitive load is a significant challenge to users for being deliberative. Interface design has been used to mitigate this cognitive state. This paper surveys literature on the anchoring effect, partitioning effect and point-of-choice effect, based on which we propose three interface nudges, namely, the word-count anchor, partitioning text fields, and reply choice prompt. We then conducted a 2×2×2 factorial experiment with 80 participants (10 for each condition), testing how these nudges affect deliberativeness. The results showed a significant positive impact of the word-count anchor. There was also a significant positive impact of the partitioning text fields on the word count of response. The reply choice prompt showed a surprisingly negative affect on the quantity of response, hinting at the possibility that the reply choice prompt induces a fear of evaluation, which could in turn dampen the willingness to reply.


ABSTRACT The maintenance of latent Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) genomes is mediated in cis by their terminal repeats (TR). A KSHV genome can have 16 to 50 copies of the 801-bp TR, each of which harbors a 71-bp-long minimal replicator element (MRE). A single MRE can support replication in transient assays, and the presence of as few as two TRs appears to support establishment of KSHV-derived plasmids. Why then does KSHV have such redundancy and heterogeneity in the number of TRs? By determining the abilities of KSHV-derived plasmids containing various numbers of the TRs and MREs to be established and maintained in the long term, we have found that plasmids with fewer than 16 TRs or those with tandem repeats of the MREs are maintained inefficiently, as shown by both their decreased abilities to support formation of colonies and their instability, resulting in frequent rearrangements yielding larger plasmids during and after establishment. These defects often can be overcome by adding the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) partitioning element, FR (i.e., family of repeats), in cis to these plasmids. In addition we have found that the spacing between MREs is important for their functions, too. Thus, two properties of KSHV's origin of latent replication essential for the efficient establishment and maintenance of viral plasmids stably are (i) the presence of approximately 16 copies of the TR, which are needed for efficient partitioning, and (ii) the presence of at least 2 MRE units separated by 801 bp of center-to-center spacing, which are required for efficient synthesis. IMPORTANCE KSHV is a human tumor virus that maintains its genome as a plasmid in lymphoid tumor cells. Each plasmid DNA molecule encodes many origins of synthesis. Here we show that these many origins provide an essential advantage to KSHV, allowing the DNAs to be maintained without rearrangement. We find also that the correct spacing between KSHV's origins of DNA synthesis is required for them to support synthesis efficiently. The identification of these properties illuminates plasmid replication in mammalian cells and should lead to the development of rational means to inhibit these tumorigenic replicons.


A presentation of preliminary results of an ongoing study of fossils deposited in the Frenchman Formation near Eastend, Saskatchewan and the Wapiti Formation in westcentral Alberta, Canada, is given in this thesis. Specifically, those of a tyrannosaur and a hadrosaur from the Frenchman and Wapiti Formations, respectively, are studied and compared to others from these formations. The bulk of the analysis is done using Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence data collected at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatchewan, Canada. Several methods to facilitate both qualitative and quantitative analysis of this data are used and developed. In particular, a method for replacing a polychromatic X-ray spectrum with an effective set of monochromatic beams is explored. Using these methods, the depositional and diagenetic conditions are analyzed. A clear difference can be drawn between the sample locations, offering an explanation for the exceptional preservation of a three dimensional skin fossil in the latter locality.


This paper, based on a relativistic electron-beam accelerator with inductive energy accumulation, investigates the layer structure, plasma jet, and thermal dynamics of Cu target under the irradiation of pulsed electron beam (~350 kV, ~4 kA, ~300 ns). A description of a relativistic electron beam source with a carbon fiber cathode is presented. After the electron-beam irradiation at ~13 J/cm 2 energy density, microcraters with 0.5–1 µm diameter appeared on the target surface, and the target cross section is characterized by multilayer structures with a ~20 µm thickness melting layer and a cellular layer. Further, it was found that the carbon content increased significantly not only on the target surface but also on the cross section. The gas liberation per pulse induced by electron beam is analyzed. A good agreement between the experimental and calculated perveances was observed, with the exception at the end of the accelerating pulse possibly due to the participation of ion flow from the anode target. In the pulsed emission, there existed material transfer from anode to cathode, which is observed by the identification of elemental compositions on cathode surface. As the beam energy is deposited on target surface, the anode plasma jet is generated, and expands toward the cathode at a velocity of ~3 cm/μs. By solving the one-dimensional heat equation, 10 9 K/s heating rate and 10 7 K/m temperature gradient can be obtained. After the heating of pulsed electron beam, the thermal conduction is dominant, with a cooling rate on the order of 10 7  K/s. The relativistic electron beam sources may provide a potential development for target experiments and high energy density physics.


In recent years, the relationship of hyperuricemia and gout with a high risk of cardiovascular disease has been widely discussed. Therefore, it is important to systematically examine patients in order to diagnose comorbidities, among which cardiovascular disease and its complications occupy a leading place and consider mandatory treatment of patients with hyperuricemia and gout with high cardiovascular risk with lowering drugs, which fully reflects the provisions of the latest European recommendations for the management and treatment of patients with gout.


Neurological disorders are known as high global burden disorders due to their chronic evolution, associated incapacity and high demanding resources. Some of them have a high prevalence in the general population and deleterious impact in the citizens quality of life. The urgent need to improve the efficiency of resources via adequate use of telematic technologies is the focus of the ENN project. The European Neurological Network (ENN) is a multimedia telematic network encompassing units located in different countries and giving support to experts and general practitioners (GPs) in the medical areas of sleep, headache and epilepsy. This is accomplishedthrough a set of diverse and coherent end products, namely: tutorials for education of GPs on the indicated health problems; expert systems on sleep and headaches, to bring immediate help for general practice of GPs and experts; signal processing and remote monitoring systems for home monitoring of sleep disturbances. The obtained experience, with its achievements, solutions, results, costs, drawbacks and difficulties is the focus of this book.


Micelles assembled from amphiphilic poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(-caprolactone) (PEG/PCL) copolymers are promised as safe and effective drug delivery systems. They offer the potential to achieve high solubility of hydrophobic drugs, long blood circulation time and effective delivery to target organs. These advantages contribute to their application as vehicles of a broad variation of therapeutic compounds. In this review, we discussed the safety of the copolymers, release behavior of PEG/PCL micelles in vitro, and pharmacokinetic profiles referring to the optimized fate in vascular system and targeting biodistribution.


On laboratory animals we investigate endothelio- and cardioprotective effects of enalapril, lozartan and amlodipine at modeling hyperhomocystein induced endothelial dysfunction. It is established that use of ACE inhibitors, blockers of ATI of receptors and calcium channels blockers at the general, expressed endothelio-and cardioprotective action, allows to correct only a number of indicators of functioning an vascular endothelium and cardiovascular system as a whole.


Abstract This study presents the results of 90 seismic ambient noise measurements in Palermo, the main city of Sicily (Italy). The dataset has been processed using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVNSR) technique and interpreted in terms of local geology, which is characterized by the presence of alluvial sediments of two riverbeds masked by urbanization since the seventeenth century. HVNSRs show significant variations in the study area: when the transition stiff to soft is crossed, a typical spectral peak appears in the HVNSRs, mostly in the frequency band 1–2 Hz, and exceeding a factor of 3 in amplitude. Using available information on subsurface geological structure, we compute theoretical 1D and 2D transfer functions. The resonance frequencies of soft soils obtained by HVNSR are well reproduced by the fundamental frequencies from numerical modeling. The distribution of frequency peaks of HVNSR and their amplitudes are also compared with the local damage caused by historical earthquakes. Previous studies demonstrated that damage variations in Palermo were controlled more by near-surface geology than building vulnerability. A uniform vulnerability is an ideal condition to test statistical methods and their capability in seeking correlation between HVNSR and potential damage due to local geological conditions. We apply two well-established multivariate statistical methodologies (factor analysis and canonical correlation) to the HVNSR dataset and macroseismic data (damage grades of the European macroseismic scale). Through these analyses we quantify the significance of the correlation between the HVNSR peak in the low-medium frequency range (0.5–3 Hz) and the occurrence of the highest damage grades. This approach allows us (1) to estimate the threshold value in the resulting linear combination of the HVNSR amplitudes, which separates zones of light damage from zones of significant damage, and therefore (2)  to improve the spatial definition of potentially high hazard zones through a denser grid of microtremor measurements.


This study assesses the effectiveness of current strategies employed on stock theft prevention and relationship maintenance within rural communities of Giyani Policing Area (GPA) of Limpopo province by using stock theft prevention as a framework. Specifically, the objective to the study was to assess the effectiveness of current strategies employed by the Giyani South African Police Service Stock Theft Unit (Giyani SAPS STU) in response to stock theft in Giyani communities. The study population consisted of 64 participants from various relevant stakeholders involved in preventing and combating of stock theft in the GPA. The main findings of the study show that a cloud of no confidence exists toward the police amongst the affected livestock farmers and community members, as stock theft is increasing, in the absence of an adequate deterrent (combating) strategy, or a preventative approach. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2148


Denote by {Fn} and {Ln} the Fibonacci numbers and Lucas numbers, respectively. Let Fn = Fn × Ln and Ln = Fn + Ln. Denote by {Pn} and {Qn} the Pell numbers and Pell-Lucas numbers, respectively. Let Pn = Pn × Qn and Qn = Pn + Qn. In this paper, we give some determinants and permanent representations of Pn, Qn, Fn and Ln. Also, complex factorization formulas for those numbers are presented. Key–Words: Fibonacci number; Lucas number; Pell numbers; Pell-Lucas number; matrix.


Schumann's method for determination of the orientation of the C-axis of uniaxial minerals using an ordinary petrographic microscope, described nearly thirty years ago, apparently has been generally overlooked in this country. It is simple, faster, and in certain cases more accurate than determinations using a universal stage.As an additional determination, since in dolomite the pole to the twin plane lies at to the C-axis, the orientation of the twin plane can be found if the attitude of the C-axis and the 'strike' of the twin lamella when the thin section is in a reference position are known. The method is not successful with calcite because is only 26°, leading to ambiguous answers for most orientations.


Nowadays images on social networking websites (e.g., Flickr) are mostly accompanied with user-contributed tags, which help cast a new light on the conventional content-based image analysis tasks such as image classification and retrieval. In order to establish a scalable social image analysis system, two issues need to be considered: 1) Supervised learning is a futile task in modeling the enormous number of concepts in the world, whereas unsupervised approaches overcome this hurdle; 2) Algorithms are required to be both spatially and temporally efficient to handle large-scale datasets. In this paper, we propose a cross-view feature learning (CVFL) framework to handle the problem of social image analysis effectively and efficiently. Through explicitly modeling the relevance between image content and tags (which is empirically shown to be visually and semantically meaningful), CVFL yields more promising results than existing methods in the experiments. More importantly, being general and descriptive, CVFL and its variants can be readily applied to other large-scale multi-view tasks in unsupervised setting.


This paper uses a closed voting rule to explain how gradual changes in the socio-economic structure of developed societies shift political coalitions and lead to rapid expansions of transfer programs. Equilibria in a lifecycle economy with three homogeneous groups of voters (retirees, skilled young workers, unskilled young workers) have three properties. One, if income inequality is sufficiently high, unskilled workers and retirees will form a dominant coalition which raises both intragenerational and intergenerational transfers. Two, when capital is abundant relative to labor, government transfers will be strictly intergenerational. Three, all transfers increase when the voting franchise is extended to less affluent individuals.


Following 70% hepatectomy, male Sprague-Dawley strain rats were given purified human plasma fibronectin and/or aprotinin intraperitoneally after hepatectomy and were divided into 4 groups: Group FA (40 mg/kg of FN and 25,000 KIU/kg of aprotinin), Group F (40 mg/kg of fibronectin), Group A (25,000 KIU/kg of aprotinin), and Group C which served as a control. The liver regeneration rate 72 hours after hepatectomy in Groups FA and F, and the plasma FN levels at 24 and 72 hours following hepatectomy in groups with FN, were significantly higher than that of the control group. The incorporation of 3H-thymidine into DNA and the phagocytic index of the reticuloendothelial system at 24 hours in Groups FA and F, and the mitotic index at 72 hours after hepatectomy in Group FA were significantly increased as compared to the control. But the supplementation of 20 mg/kg of indomethacin to the 4 groups resulted in significant suppression of 3H-thymidine uptake 24 hours after hepatectomy. Moreover, plasma fibronectin levels in rats correlated well with the phagocytic index and DNA synthesis 24 hours following partial hepatectomy. These results suggest that fibronectin may act as an activator of the reticuloendothelial system, related to prostaglandins, in the process of liver regeneration.


This paper describes the research plans in the SuperAssist projehct, introducing personal assistants in the care of diabetes patients, assisting the patients themselves, the medical specialists looking after the patients' healthcare, and the technical specialists responsible for maintaining the health of the devices involved. The paper discusses the issues of trust and cooperation as the critical success factors within this multi-user multi-agent (MUMA) project and within the future of agent-based healthcare attempting to increase the self-help abilities of individual patients.


Previous studies have found evidence of a connection between stress and the appearance of psoriasis symptoms. It was therefore hypothesized that stress management techniques such as biofeedback and relaxation could be effective in ameliorating the severity of the symptoms. Thirty-two psoriatics were randomly divided into three groups, one trained in biofeedback and relaxation techniques, one in relaxation alone and the third receiving no treatment. The subjects' condition was evaluated by a physician at the start and end of the 3-month study. Additionally, at the end of the study, the subjects were asked to assess the degree to which their symptoms had improved relative to the start of the study and relative to the same season of the previous year. The results indicated that, in comparison to the waiting list group, the biofeedback and relaxation group reported considerable improvement in their condition relative to the same season of the previous year. No significant differences were found between the groups regarding the degree of improvement relative to the start of the study. It is suggested that the fact that psoriasis is subject to seasonal variations may account for the differential findings.


Many applications of stem cell technologies require a large quantity of cells for which scalable processes of cell expansion and differentiation are essential. Multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs) are adult stem cells isolated from the bone marrow with extensive self‐renewal and broad differentiation capabilities. MAPCs are typically cultured surface adherent (2D) and at low cell density, making the large surface required for cell expansion a hindrance for many applications. This study demonstrates that MAPCs can be cultivated as aggregates in an undifferentiated state for at least 16 days, as levels of a number of transcripts, including Oct4, remained similar, Oct4 protein was unchanged, and differentiation to neural progenitor, endothelial cell and hepatocyte like cells was retained. Cultivation of these aggregates in stirred bioreactor lead to a 70‐fold expansion in 6 days with final cell densities of close to 106/mL. Importantly, the MAPC aggregates recovered from stirred bioreactors could be differentiated to hepatocyte‐like cells that expressed albumin, alpha‐1‐antitrypsin (AAT), and tyrosine amino transferase (TAT) transcripts and also secreted albumin and urea. This method of scalable expansion combined with differentiation of MAPCs can potentially be used for generating large numbers of MAPC and MAPC‐derived differentiated cells. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011;108: 364–375. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Background: NOD2 single nucleotide polymorphisms have been associated with increased risk of ileal Crohn's disease (CD). This exploratory study was conducted to compare ileal mucosal gene expression in CD patients with and without NOD2 risk alleles. Methods: Ileal samples were prospectively collected from 18 nonsmoking CD patients not treated with anti‐TNF‐&agr; biologics and 9 nonsmoking control patients without inflammatory bowel disease undergoing initial resection and genotyped for the 3 major NOD2 risk alleles (Arg702Trp, Gly908Arg, Leu1007fs). Microarray analysis was performed in samples from 4 NOD2R (at least 1 risk allele) CD patients, 4 NOD2NR (no risk alleles) CD patients, and 4 NOD2NR controls. Candidate genes selected by significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) assays of all the samples. Results: SAM detected upregulation of 18 genes in affected ileum in NOD2R compared to NOD2NR CD patients, including genes related to lymphocyte activation. SAM also detected altered ileal gene expression in unaffected NOD2NR ileal mucosal CD samples compared to NOD2NR control samples. qRT‐PCR conducted on all the samples confirmed that increased CD3D expression in affected samples was associated with NOD2R status, and that increased MUC1, DUOX2, DMBT1 and decreased C4orf7 expression in unaffected samples was associated with CD, independent of NOD2 status. Conclusions: The results support the concept that NOD2 risk alleles contribute to impaired regulation of inflammation in the ileum. Furthermore, altered ileal gene expression, independent of NOD2 status, is detected in the unaffected proximal margin of resected ileum from CD patients. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010)


Abstract The revision of the asset and liability definitions is at the core of the International Accounting Standards Board's (IASB) efforts to reflect more truthfully the economic substance of the underlying business transactions. In the IASB's revised Conceptual Framework (CF) from 2018, the board redefined assets and liabilities in terms of rights and obligations, thereby explicitly abstaining from a notion of indivisible balance sheet items. This alteration lays the conceptual foundation for carving out pieces of an item in accounting standards, enabling the removal of arbitrary bright line tests, and, eventually seeks to tackle regulatory arbitrage. Drawing upon 18 expert interviews as well as a document analysis, this study sheds light on the process that led to the anchoring of the rights and obligations model in the IASB's CF. Using literature on ambiguities in accounting as a theoretical frame, this study goes on to show that removing ambiguities in the asset and liability definitions creates new ambiguities and additional discretionary leeway in turn. The paper argues that the perpetual cycle of ambiguity reduction and creation in accounting (Davie, 2000) also includes ambiguity shifting between the conceptual basis of financial reporting and accounting standards. By comparing the previous International Accounting Standard (IAS) 17: Leases, which followed a physicalist, ownership-based notion of assets, with the revised International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 16, the paper demonstrates that the explicit anchoring of the rights and obligations approach does not fully solve the issue of regulatory arbitrage. Instead, it shifts the playing field for structuring activities from the evasion of precise rules to the bending of interpretations.


Variable stiffness joints are a kind of compliant mechanisms which can improve the safety of physical human-robot interaction which has attracted much attention in recent years. Elastic elements are used in the internal kinematic structures of variable stiffness joints. In this paper, Elastomers with magneto-rheological fluids (MRFs) properties have great potential application for variable stiffness joints (VSJs) and implantable bioelectronics devices by allowing actuators to rapidly and reversibly changed from a "fluid" to a "solid-like" state and precisely controlled within a very short time and over a wide range under a magnetic field. A new adjustable stiffness composites (ASCs) that combine an outside liner (PDMS) with a chamber (MRFs) is introduced. When improving the magnetic field intensity, the MRFs hardens and the stiffness increases by as much as 4–5 orders of magnitude. In order to solve the bi-material nested cantilever beam subjected to a concentrated tangential force at the free end of the beam, a theoretical approach is proposed by means of the Airy stress function method together with the stress function test solution. By comparing the results obtained from the theoretical and experimental measurements, a very good agreement is found, showing the accuracy and feasibility of the theoretical results. This solution will be useful in analyzing cantilever beam with arbitrary variations of bi-material nested and it can serve as a basis for establishing stiffness and stress theories. Due to the highly deformable of the ASCs, it has great potentially for our future soft robot design and manufacture work.


Big Data has been attracted a lot of attentions in many fields for analyzing research issues based on a large number of maternal data. Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) is one of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) applications in Taiwan, used to record starting point, end point, distance and travel time of vehicle on the national freeway. This study, taking advantage of ETC big data, combined with urban planning theory, attempts to explore various phenomena of inter-city transportation activities. ETC, one of government's open data, is numerous, complete and quick-update. One may recall that living area has been delimited with location, population, area and subjective consciousness. However, these factors cannot appropriately reflect what people's movement path is in daily life. In this study, the concept of "Living Area" is replaced by "Influence Range" to show dynamic and variation with time and purposes of activities. This study uses data mining with Python and Excel, and visualizes the number of trips with GIS to explore influence range of Tainan city and the purpose of trips, and discuss living area delimited in current. It dialogues between the concepts of "Central Place Theory" and "Living Area", presents the new point of view, integrates the application of big data, urban planning and transportation. The finding will be valuable for resource allocation and land apportionment of spatial planning. Keywords—Big Data, ITS, influence range, living area, central place theory, visualization.


The authors describe a heuristic for dynamically scheduling time-constrained tasks in a distributed environment. When a task is submitted to a node, the scheduling software tries to schedule the task locally so as to meet its deadline. If that is not feasible, it tries to locate another node where this could be done with a high probability of success. Nodes in the system inform each other about their state (vis-a-vis the availability of free cycles) using a combination of broadcasting and gossiping. The performance of the proposed protocol is evaluated both analytically and via simulation. Based on these findings, they argue that keeping a diverse availability profile and using passive bidding (through gossiping) are both advantageous to distributed scheduling for real-time systems.<<ETX>>


Objective Allostatic load (AL) reflects the deteriorating influences of stress on the body and comprises a selection of biological markers. AL is associated with negative life events, stress, and negative affect (NA), as well as poor health outcomes. However, whether AL is also associated with positive affect (PA) is not clear. The present study therefore explores the association between PA and AL, accounting for age, sex, NA, and health behaviors. Methods Data of 45,225 individuals from the first wave of the multidisciplinary prospective population-based cohort study Lifelines were used. AL was operationalized as the sum of 12 inflammatory, cardiovascular, and metabolic markers. The association between PA and AL was tested in a cross-sectional study design using multiple linear regression analysis, adjusting for NA, confounders, and health behaviors. In addition, we explored whether the relation was moderated by age, sex, and NA. Results The AL profile was inversely associated with PA (B = −0.083, p < .001) when adjusted for NA, age, and sex. The association between AL and PA remained significant after adjusting for health behaviors (B = −0.076, p < .001). A significant moderating effect was found for sex (PA by sex: B = 0.046, p = .001), indicating that the association between PA and AL was stronger in women than in men. Conclusions PA was associated with a more favorable AL profile, especially in women. These results add to the evidence that PA might be of relevance to the etiology of disease.


We fabricated organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) containing multiple quantum wells (MQW) structures in the active layer. MQWs consist of TPD (N, N'-bis(3-methilphenyl)-N.N-diphenyl benzidine) and DCM (4-(Dicyanomethilane)-2-methil-6-(p-dimethilamino-styryl)-4H-pyran). Electroluminescence (EL) measurements revealed that EL spectra of these samples presented double peaks. According to the numerical calculation of subband energies under the envelope function approximation, the double peaks in the observed EL spectra can be attributed to the radiative recombination from the ground and first excited states, respectively. The effective mass of the electrons is also estimated to be about 0.5 m0.


Summary. Eighteen women with a premature menopause underwent assessment of serial serum oestradiol (E2) and progesterone levels and endometrial histology and function. Patients received continuous transdermal E2, and progesterone either orally or vaginally for 14 days. Physiological levels of E2 were attained. Significantly higher levels of progesterone were achieved with vaginal progesterone (P<0.01). Endometrial biopsies obtained during E2 replacement demonstrated normal proliferative features. Expression of an oestrogen related antigen (ER‐Ag) was localized in the cytoplasm of the epithelium. After 3 days of progesterone replacement the endometrium showed normal secretory features and expression of ER‐Ag in the stroma as well as in the glands. After 7 days of progesterone supplementation, vaginal administration produced a more consistent physiological appearance than oral administration. Thus transdermal E2 combined with vaginal progesterone is a highly satisfactory combination for establishing a physiological endometrium in women with premature ovarian failure.


Abstract The aim of this research is to study the effect of clothing manufacturing parameters, that is, stitch type, stitch density, sewing thread type and washing type on the dimensional stability of single jersey knitted garment. Single jersey bleached fabric, made from Ne 32 cotton combed ring spun yarn, was used to make 32 medium size crew neck T-shirts selecting two levels of stitch type, stitch density, sewing thread type and wash type according to the experimental design. After constructing the garments, four critical measurements of each garment, that is, body length, body width, across shoulder and sleeve length were measured. The constructed garments were divided into two equal groups. One group was washed with water and the other group was washed using a detergent. After washing, drying and tumbling, the same critical measurements of each garment were taken and the percent shrinkage was calculated. Analysis of data was done on responses of output variables against the input variables using MINITAB. The results showed that three input variables: stitch type, stitch density and garment wash type have significant effect on all the output variables.


We study a control architecture for linear time-invariant plants with random disturbances and where a network is placed between the controller output and the plant input. The network imposes a constraint on the expected bit-rate and is affected by random independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) dropouts. Dropout-rates and acknowledgments of receipt are not available at the controller side. To achieve robustness with respect to i.i.d. dropouts, the controller transmits data packets containing quantized plant input predictions. These are provided by an appropriate optimal entropy coded dithered lattice vector quantizer. Within this context, we derive stochastic stability results and provide a noise-shaping model of the closed loop system. This model is employed for performance analysis by using rate-distortion theory.


This article intends to describe a collaborative experience between a nongovernment development organization (NGDO) and a university in the area of development education. The experience has included the design, following an action research methodology, of a system of quality criteria for experiences promoted by the Network of Educators for Global Citizenship. The network comprises a wide range of people from Spain and is supported by the NGDO Intermón Oxfam. The experience has enabled stakeholders to acquire valuable knowledge, primarily in understanding educational practices and about how to tackle their analysis.


Purchasing Power Parity is an important approach to explain relationship between exchange rate and price level. In this case, if purchasing power parity is valid, change in price level between countries offsets equal change in nominal exchange rate. Hence, real exchange rate is mean reversion. For this, test for purchasing power parity, unit root properties of real exchange rate is examined. In this study, real exchange rate series investigates with standard and multiple break unit root tests for Turkey as a time series; with panel unit root test under crosssectionally dependence assumption for AB-27, AB-15, OECD and G-8 countries. Our findings show that purchasing power parity is not valid for Turkey but is valid for AB-27, AB-15, OECD and G-8 countries.


This paper summarizes the experiences of a tourism geography seminar taught at California State University, Northridge, in the fall 2004 semester. Students in this course were divided into two groups, choosing their locations and engaging in field research where they were responsible for all of the steps in undertaking such a project. They began with the selection of a research site, then raised funds, chose a topic and research questions, prepared the survey instrument, undertook the research, analyzed the results, and finally presented at a professional conference. This paper provides an overview of the pedagogy and logistics of the course and assignment, along with a summary of each


Patient selection Parenteral nutrition should be considered for all patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition and have a non-functioning or inaccessible gastrointestinal (GI) tract, preventing enteral feeding. [1] There is much evidence to support enteral over parenteral feeding in inpatients with functioning GI tracts. [2, 3] Access Peripheral lines may be used to deliver short-term nutritional support, but central access is necessary for parenteral feeding of more than two weeks' duration. Lines should be dedicated to feeding and must not be used for drug administration or blood sampling:


Intracluster (IC) populations are expected to be a natural result of the hierarchical assembly of clusters, yet their low space densities make them difficult to detect and study. We present the first definitive kinematic detection of an IC population of globular clusters (GCs) in the Virgo cluster, around the central galaxy M87. This study focuses on the Virgo core, for which the combination of Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey photometry and follow-up spectroscopy allows us to reject foreground star contamination and explore GC kinematics over the full Virgo dynamical range. The GC kinematics changes gradually with galactocentric distance, decreasing in mean velocity and increasing in velocity dispersion, eventually becoming indistinguishable from the kinematics of Virgo dwarf galaxies at R > 320 kpc. By kinematically tagging M87 halo and intracluster GCs, we find that (1) the M87 halo has a smaller fraction (52 ± 3%) of blue clusters with respect to the IC counterpart (77 ± 10%), (2) the (g′−r′)0 versus (i′−z′)0 color–color diagrams reveal a galaxy population that is redder than the IC population, which may be due to a different composition in chemical abundance and progenitor mass, and (3) the ICGC distribution is shallower and more extended than the M87 GCs, yet still centrally concentrated. The ICGC specific frequency, SN,ICL = 10.2 ± 4.8, is consistent with what is observed for the population of quenched, low-mass galaxies within 1 Mpc from the cluster's center. The IC population at Virgo's center is thus consistent with being an accreted component from low-mass galaxies tidally stripped or disrupted through interactions, with a total mass of .


Implement advanced WAN optimization, application acceleration, and branch virtualization with Cisco WAAS 4.1 This book brings together all the information you need to design and deploy scalable, transparent application acceleration, WAN optimization, and branch virtualization solutions with dramatically improved Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) 4.1 products from Cisco. Cisco WAAS insiders Joel Christner, Zach Seils, and Nancy Jin systematically cover new WAAS software enhancements that enable far better performance, simplified workflow, and improved manageability. They introduce powerful new solution components including application-specific acceleration techniques, hardware form factors, and virtualization. They also thoroughly explain recent architectural improvements that provide a solid foundation for future WAAS solutions. The authors begin by reviewing the underlying technologies that comprise todays Cisco WAAS solution. Next, drawing on extensive personal experience, they walk through collecting requirements, designing effective solutions, integrating WAAS into existing networks, and configuring WAAS 4.1 software. This book is replete with real-world implementation examples and case studies including extensive coverage of network, branch office, and data center integration. One step at a time, youll learn how to deploy Cisco WAAS in a scalable, transparent, and seamless fashion: one that addresses both your business and technical challenges. Thoroughly understand WAAS 4.1s capabilities, and learn how to use and manage it effectively Understand both the Cisco WAAS appliance and router-integrated network module hardware family Quickly deploy WAAS in lab or production pilot environments to quantify its potential benefits Size, design, and deploy Cisco WAAS for maximum performance and value in your enterprise network Compare and select design options for branch office and data center network integration Deploy the WAAS Central Manager and accelerator WAAS devices Implement centralized authentication, authorization, alarm management, monitoring, and reporting Configure WAN optimization with the Application Traffic Policy Manager Configure, verify, and manage application acceleration Leverage WAAS 4.1s powerful new branch office virtualization capabilities Quickly troubleshoot WAAS problems using Ciscos own best practices This book is part of the Networking Technology Series from Cisco Press, which offers networking professionals valuable information for constructing efficient networks, understanding new technologies, and building successful careers.


Background: There is uncertainty regarding the effect of oral hormonal contraceptives (OC) on multiple sclerosis (MS) course. Objective: To evaluate the hypothesis that OC use is associated with decreased risk of relapses in an observational study of women of childbearing age with new-onset MS starting a first-line injectable disease-modifying therapy (DMT). Methods: From our CLIMB longitudinal observational study, we identified 162 women with MS or CIS with known OC use who initiated injectable DMT within two years of symptom onset, and categorized OC use at DMT onset as past, ever or never. Our primary analysis was comparison of annualized relapse rate from baseline DMT start across the three OC use categories using a negative binomial regression model. Results: In this cohort of 162 women, 81 were treated with interferon therapy and 81 with glatiramer acetate. Mean ages for current-, past-, and never-OC users were 31.4 (n = 46), 40.3 (n = 66), and 37.9 (n = 50) years, respectively (p < 0.05); mean disease duration (1.0 years) and median baseline EDSS (1.0) did not differ between groups. Prior OC users had significantly lower relapse rates than never-users (p = 0.031); the lower annualized relapse rate in current-users relative to never-users was not significant (p = 0.91). Annualized relapse rate was not significantly different across the OC groups (p = 0.057, three-group comparison). Results: These observations provide reassurance for women newly diagnosed that OC use, past or current, does not appear to be associated with greater risk of relapses.


Background and Objectives: Metronomic chemotherapy is a treatment regimen which involves the administration of low-dose chemotherapy frequently with shorter drug-free intervals. In India, a majority of the patients diagnosed with cancer present to the health-care providers at an advanced stage. Moreover, they are often from the lower socioeconomic strata with limited access to health care. Metronomic chemotherapy is a convenient, minimally toxic, and economically viable treatment option whose potential should be explored. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of 100 patients diagnosed with cancer who received metronomic chemotherapy in a tertiary cancer care center. The records of all the patients who visited the cancer care center between September 2015 and February 2017 were reviewed. Data on age, sex, address, diagnosis with staging, sequence of prior treatment received, and duration of metronomic chemotherapy, reasons for discontinuing metronomic chemotherapy, response, toxicity profile, and outcome were collected and analyzed. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS statistics software, version 23.0. The survival analysis was done using the Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Results: The mean age of patients was 53.75 years (32–92 years). About 60% were in Stage 4. With therapy, 79% improved, 16% deteriorated, and 5% were stable in their symptom profile. The mean disease progression-free survival was 232 days, while the overall survival was 310 days. Interpretation and Conclusion: Metronomic therapy is a feasible option in the palliative care setting. It does not require stringent monitoring, as it has a well-tolerated side effect profile when compared to conventional chemotherapy. Its utility in patients being treated with curative intent and the criteria for response assessment with low-cost imaging has to be explored.


Perception, evaluation and representation of the
environment have been the subject of many disciplines including
psychology, geography and architecture. In environmental and social
psychology literature there are several evidences which suggest that
cognitive representations about a place consisted of not only
geographic items but also social and cultural. Mental representations
of residence area or a country are influenced and determined by
social-demographics, the physical and social context. Thus, all
mental representations of a given place are also social
representations. Cognitive maps are the main and common
instruments that are used to identify spatial images and the difference
between physical and subjective environments. The aim of the
current study is investigating the mental and social representations of
Turkey in university students' minds. Data was collected from 249
university students from different departments (i.e. psychology,
geography, history, tourism departments) of Ege University.
Participants were requested to reflect Turkey in their mind onto the
paper drawing sketch maps. According to the results, cognitive maps
showed geographic aspects of Turkey as well as the context of
symbolic, cultural and political reality of Turkey. That is to say, these
maps had many symbolic and verbal items related to critics on social
and cultural problems, ongoing ethnic and political conflicts, and
actual political agenda of Turkey. Additionally, one of main
differentiations in these representations appeared in terms of the East
and West side of the Turkey, and the representations of the East and
West was varied correspondingly participants' cultural background,
their ethnic values, and where they have born. The results of the
study were discussed in environmental and social psychological
perspective considering cultural and social values of Turkey and
current political circumstances of the country.


This article describes and analyzes the first comprehensive case study of the application of the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support by Medicos del Mundo-Spain after the August 2007 earthquake in Peru. The methodology and core principles of the intervention are briefly summarized. The article explains strategies and key messages that were transmitted at each level. It proposes a multilevel approach that combines lobbying, sensitization, and training with key decision makers and grass roots work with leaders and community organizations. The experience in Peru provides important lessons for future implementation of the guidelines in other disasters.


During the intervals of February 1993 to January 1994 and November 1994 to February 1995, in the southern Sao Paulo state, we studied the breeding activity of Scinax rizibilis (Bokermann, 1964), the only known hylid species with oviposition in foam nests. The foam nests were constructed by female jumps, during the oviposition. The clutches contained 850-1250 eggs, which were almost black, except for the small clear vegetative pole. The construction of foam nest in S. rizibilis is unique among the other species with this characteristic. The complexity of a foam nest is intermediate, and egg development was faster when eggs were surrounded by foam. It is possible to recognize a progression from less developed structures, represented by the bubble nests of some microhylid frogs, to more complex examples, such as the foam nests of Leptodactylidae or Leiuperidae.


CONTENTSNotationIntroduction § 1. The essence of the method. First applications § 2. The probabilistic interpretation of the 'large sieve' § 3. Composite moduli. Application to binary additive problems § 4. The non-vanishing of L-functions near the line σ = 1 § 5. A distribution theorem for the number of classes of primitive quadratic forms with negative determinant § 6. ΣR-equidistribution of prime numbers. Application to A. Selberg' s sieve § 7. The central limit theorem for additive arithmetic functions, given on the set of values of a polynomial for a ΣR-equidistributed sequence § 8. The order of the mean values of multiplicative functions on the set of values of a polynomial for a ΣR-equidistributed sequenceReferences


An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantitation of Rubisco was developed. The amount of Rubisco in the primary leaves of ten different barley varieties was determined. It varied from 15 to 50 per cent of the total soluble protein and from 2-5 to 10 mg g1 fresh weight. The carboxylase and oxygenase activities of the extracts were consistent with the results of the immunoenzymatic assay. The variability of the Rubisco content among varieties suggests genetic determination.


A mediation service for monitoring terms of service can facilitate collaboration in virtual organizations (VO) by ensuring secure, private access to service resources. The author envisions a VO requiring a mediation service for monitoring and enforcing terms and conditions as well as a QoS-monitoring service. One or more trusted third parties (TTPs) could provide these two services. Indeed, legal regulatory requirements might explicitly state that third parties must provide such services.


Abstract In this paper, we challenge one of the criticisms against the idea of a universal basic income (UBI), namely, that people will waste the support on high-end consumption. We rely on the literature from various disciplines from which we developed high- and low-UBI scenarios for respondents to decide what they would do if the state were to provide an unconditional stipend. We analyzed the multiple-choice responses, using an ordered probit, and the written explanations of the respondents' choices, using content analysis. The results suggest that while a higher UBI would increase consumption, it would likely be done responsibly. People with low incomes showed restraint in all categories. The qualitative analysis captures some of the complexities of people's socioeconomic circumstances that support the notion of responsible consumption. The policy implication is that a UBI could be introduced at a low level and gradually increased to a level that maximizes societal benefits.


Abstract Aspergillus (Trichocomaceae, Eurotiales, and Ascomycota) is a genus of well-defined asexual spore-forming fungi that produce valuable compounds such as secondary metabolites and enzymes; however, some species are also responsible for diseases in plants and animals, including humans. To date, 26 Aspergillus species have been reported in Korea, with most species located in terrestrial environments. In our study, Aspergillus species were isolated from mudflats and sea sand along the western and southern coasts of Korea. A total of 84 strains were isolated and identified as 17 Aspergillus species in 11 sections on the basis of both morphological characteristics and sequence analysis of the calmodulin gene (CaM) locus. Commonly isolated species were A. fumigatus (26 strains), A. sydowii (14 strains), and A. terreus (10 strains). The diversity of Aspergillus species isolated from mudflats (13 species) was higher than the diversity of those from sea sand (five species). Four identified species— A. caesiellus, A. montenegroi, A. rhizopodus, and A. tabacinus—are in the first records in Korea. Here, we provide detailed descriptions of the morphological characteristics of these four species.


We present the repeated clinical, histologic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural observations on a cutaneous myofibromatous tumor over a 20-month period. A 6-day-old Japanese female had a solitary tumor on her left wrist at birth. A biopsy was first performed at 16 days of age, when the tumor was likely fully developed. Thereafter, the tumor gradually regressed. A second biopsy was performed at 58 days of age, when the tumor was already in a phase of early regression. Finally, the tumor was resected at 20 months of age, when it was in a phase of late regression. Our study demonstrated that undifferentiated immature histiocytic cells predominated over spindle cells in the first biopsy specimen, but thereafter the former cells decreased or disappeared in parallel with the increase in the latter cells, which showed characteristics similar to myofibroblasts, in regressing lesions. This evidence suggests that the undifferentiated immature histiocytic cells are precursors of the spindle cells. Spindle cells in the phase of early regression also showed many vacuoles and lipid-like droplets in the cytoplasm, even though they actively produced massive amounts of glycogen. These findings also suggest that tumor regression results from cytoplasmic vacuolation and disruption of spindle cells. Our results are considered to demonstrate, for the first time, the clinical and histologic features of the different developmental or regressive phases of infantile myofibromatosis.


PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to conduct basic research on the possibility of using cartilage tissue for hard-tissue reconstruction and to observe morphological changes in the transition of the cartilage to bone.

METHODS
A 4-mm diameter bone defect was created in the right mandibular angle of rats. Cartilage, autologous bone, and artificial bone were grafted into the defect. Computed tomography (CT) was performed to measure the increase in bone volume. Further histological evaluation of the grafted site was performed.

RESULTS
At 12 weeks, CT show that bone formation in the costal cartilage group was comparable to that in the autogenous bone group. Histologically, in the artificial bone group, a clear boundary was observed between the existing bone and defect, whereas in the costal cartilage and autologous bone groups, laminar plate bone repair of the defect was observed.

CONCLUSION
The findings in this study suggest that bone reconstruction achieved with cartilage grafting is almost equivalent to that with autogenous bone grafting and that bone reconstruction using cartilage is clinically feasible. In future, if regenerated cartilage is successfully applied clinically, bone reconstruction using regenerated cartilage may be feasible.


This paper addresses a relatively little explored area of Turkish literary translation history and sets out to contextualize a series of alternative translation practices previously expressed as "marginal" forms of translation. These practices are instances of textual production that can be classified neither as translation proper nor as indigenous creation: they are mainly concealed translation and pseudotranslations. The study argues that marginal forms of translation offer information regarding the literary habitus of readers in Turkey, and suggests that the second half of the twentieth century saw a transformation in this habitus which can be traced through the shifts in the use and presentation of concealed translations and pseudotranslations. After providing a historical overview of the use of such translations as a cultural and commercial tool by Turkish writers and publishers, the paper discusses two recent cases which defy established perceptions about pseudotranslations.


Objectives Patient-derived tumor cell lines are a powerful tool to analyze the sensitivity of individual tumors to specific therapies in mice. An essential prerequisite for such an approach are reliable quantitative techniques to monitor tumor progression in vivo. Methods We have employed HROC24 cells, grown heterotopically in NMRI Foxn1nu mice, as a model of microsatellite instable colorectal cancer to investigate the therapeutic efficiencies of 5'-fluorouracil (5'-FU) and the mutant BRAF inhibitor PLX4720, a vemurafenib analogue, by three independent methods: external measurement by caliper, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with 2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG). Results Repeated measure ANOVA by a general linear model revealed that time-dependent changes of anatomic tumor volumes measured by MRI differed significantly from those of anatomic volumes assessed by caliper and metabolic volumes determined by PET/CT. Over the investigation period of three weeks, neither 5'-FU, PLX4720 nor a combination of both drugs affected the tumor volumes. Also, there was no drug effect on the apparent diffusion constant (ADC) value as detected by MRI. Interestingly, however, PET/CT imaging showed that PLX4720-containing therapies transiently reduced the standardized uptake value (SUV), indicating a temporary response to treatment. Conclusions 5'-FU and PLX4720 were largely ineffective with respect to HROC24 tumor growth. Tumoral uptake of 18F-FDG, as expressed by the SUV, proved as a sensitive indicator of small therapeutic effects. Metabolic imaging by 18F-FDG PET/CT is a suitable approach to detect effects of tumor-directed therapies early and even in the absence of morphological changes.


Accurate torque control of interior permanent magnet (IPM) synchronous machines across the full speed range is the main control goal for EV/HEV traction applications. In this paper, the leading causes for torque inaccuracy in massproduced IPM drive systems are thoroughly analyzed. Both parameter inconsistency and sensor errors in mass-produced IPMs can lead to errors in Field-Oriented Control (FOC). These FOC-related errors eventually result in the deterioration of high-speed performance. The general relation of torque and output voltage to current angle is deduced mathematically. Then it is used to develop a compensation strategy to achieve the required torque accuracy while maintaining the motor's efficiency in the high-speed region, even under imperfect motor and inverter parameters in the actual commercial products. The method's effectiveness is validated on a 200 kW/15000 rpm industry-grade traction IPM e-drive product.


OBJECTIVE
The Russian-speaking population is among the largest European-born in the U.S., yet Russian-American cross-cultural research is scarce. Two studies compared neuropsychological test performance in Russian and American urban adults. However, rural populations of the two nations have never been compared. Cross-cultural neuropsychological differences in rural populations might present differently than in urban dwellers. The present study provides a cross-sectional comparison of neuropsychological test performance in Russian and American rural adults.

METHODS
Neuropsychological test performance of 51 American (67% female) and 52 Russian (60% female) healthy rural adults age 18-89 was compared using t-test with Bonferroni correction for education-adjusted z-scores for the following tests: Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Trail Making Test A and B (TMT A&B), Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test, Benton Judgment of Line Orientation Test (JLO), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), Color Trails Test 1 and 2 (CTT 1&2), WMS-IV Logical Memory Test (LMT), WAIS-IV Digit Span Forward (DSF) and Backward Test (DSB), and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT).

RESULTS
Age and sex distribution did not differ in the two groups, but the Russian group was more highly educated. The American group outperformed the Russian group on TMT B, CTT 2, recognition trials of RCFT, BVMT-R, LMT, and on DSF.

CONCLUSIONS
Cultural differences in attitudes to timed activities, experience with timed tests and multiple-choice format, attention to details, and length of digit-words that put differential demand on short-term memory in Russian and in English may mediate observed between-group differences.


OBJECTIVE - To determine and report the extent to which the term vertebral subluxation complex is applied as a working diagnosis by contemporary chiropractic students in a clinical education environment and the extent to which student interns diagnose and manage patients' health beyond simple mechanical joint dysfunction. METHODS - All 39 final year students in the RMIT chiropractic program self-selected then reviewed and summarised the health records of any 10 patients they had seen as a new patient within the University Chiropractic Teaching Clinics during the previous 6 months. The resulting 400 reports were then reviewed by the authors and the diagnostic categories identified and collapsed into themes. RESULTS - there were 355 patients with a spinal complaint for whom a working diagnosis of vertebral subluxation complex could have been appropriate, however this diagnostic term was used in only 13 cases. The more common diagnostic term was biomechanical joint dysfunction. In the vast majority of cases students diagnosed and managed patients attending the clinic with regard to mechanical joint pain and dysfunction only, and in the majority of cases did not address any health issues in patients beyond this clinical descriptor. DISCUSSION - Despite being provided with an extensive variety of diagnostic and management tools that enable them to assess and manage patients' health issues beyond the reductionist diagnosis of mechanical joint pain, the greater majority of students within the RMIT teaching clinics do not appear to function beyond a limited, mechanical paradigm. It is argued that diagnostic reductionism to mechanical descriptors is counter-productive to the holistic attribute of chiropractic practice. One possible explanation for this disconnection may be the manner in which students are assessed in the clinical environment. CONCLUSION - This apparent disconnection between the foundation clinical decision making skills taught in the classroom and the application of those skills in the clinical education environment is a cause of concern to chiropractic educators and deserves further investigation.


Introduction The introduction of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) has improved the outlook for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR+ mutations. However, most patients develop resistance, with the result that median progression-free survival (PFS) iŝ12 months. Combining EGFR-TKIs with other agents, such as bevacizumab, is a promising approach to prolonging remission. This systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) were undertaken to assess available evidence regarding the benefits of first-line combination therapy involving EGFR-TKIs in patients with advanced NSCLC. Methods Literature searches were performed using relevant search terms. Study-level pseudo-individual patient-level data (IPD) were recreated from digitized Kaplan–Meier curve data, using a published algorithm. Study IPD were analyzed using both the proportional hazards and the acceleration failure time (AFT) survival models, and it was concluded that the AFT model was most appropriate. An NMA was performed based on acceleration factors (AFs) using a Bayesian framework to compare EGFR-TKIs and chemotherapy. Results Nine randomized controlled trials were identified that provided data for EGFR-TKI therapy in patients with EGFR+ tumors. These included studies of afatinib (n=3), erlotinib (n=3), erlotinib plus bevacizumab (n=1) and gefitinib (n=2). Erlotinib plus bevacizumab produced the greatest increase in PFS compared with chemotherapy, with 1/AF being 0.24 (95% credible interval [CrI] 0.17, 0.34). This combination also produced greater increases in PFS compared with EGFR-TKI monotherapy: 1/AF versus afatinib, 0.51 (95% CrI 0.35, 0.73); versus erlotinib, 0.53 (95% CrI 0.39, 0.72) and versus gefitinib, 0.46 (95% CrI 0.32, 0.66). All three EGFR-TKI monotherapies prolonged PFS compared with chemotherapy; estimates of treatment effect ranged from 1/AF 0.53 (95% CrI 0.48, 0.60) for gefitinib to 1/AF 0.46 (95% CrI 0.40, 0.53) for erlotinib. There was no evidence for differences between EGFR-TKI monotherapies, as all 95% CrIs included the null value. Conclusion Although data for erlotinib plus bevacizumab came from a single Phase 2 study, the results of the NMA suggest that adding bevacizumab to erlotinib may be a promising approach to improving the outcomes achieved with EGFR-TKI monotherapy in patients with advanced EGFR+ NSCLC.


Even though the thermochemical treatment is thought as a typical domain of ferrous alloys, there exist a series of technically important processes in the case of nonferrous metals. Thermochemical heat treatment proce sses can be divided to two main groups to the manufacture of wear resistant layers and the corrosion protection , mainly against the high-temperature corrosion. This paper summarizes current knowledge in this field and desc ribes the realization of the processes and examples of practi al applications.


An additional case of adrenal cortical hyperfunction occurring in a boy aged 3 8/12 years is reported. The clinical features included bulimia, obesity, hypertension, hirsutism, personality change, osteoporosis and intermittent neurologic manifestations. The urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroids and corticoids was increased. There was no genital dystrophy or impairment of glucose tolerance. Marked temporary improvement followed partial bilateral resection of the enlarged adrenals. The patient died 10 months after operation, following exposure to epidemic parotitis, as a result of massive hemorrhage from ulceration of the esophagus. Necropsy showed bilateral nodular adrenal cortical hyperplasia limited to the fascicular and reticular zones. Bilateral rests of adrenocortical cells were found in the rete testis. No Crooke9s changes or adenomata were found in the basophile cells of the anterior pituitary.


The purpose of this study was to develop and test the Verran and Snyder-Halpern (VSH) Sleep Scale, an instrument to subjectively measure sleep characteristics. Four major sleep factors and their associated characteristics were proposed for the Sleep Scale. Subjects completed three randomly ordered sleep questionnaires on three consecutive weekday mornings within the first two hours after arising. Scales included the VSH Sleep Scale, a sleep questionnaire and a sleep log. The VSH Sleep Scale had a reliability coefficient of .82 (theta). Construct validity was examined by factor analysis and correlations between Sleep Scale items and corresponding items on the two other study instruments. Scale validity also was assessed by the known groups method. Beginning support for the validity of the VSH Sleep Scale is provided.


Moringa oleifera fondly called "The miracle tree" is currently drawing global attention as a multi-utility plant. The products of this miracle plant (also called a life saver) have been reported to be useful to nutritionists, animal scientists, pathologists, entomologists, environmentalists, practitioners of natural medicine, etc. Though the Moringa tree is widespread throughout the tropics, around farms and compounds and often used as fence especially in Northern Nigeria, not much has been done to enhance its large scale production to ensure sustained availability. The Federal University of Technology, Owerri has keyed into the Moringa oleifera initiative through its Centre for Agricultural Research. About 2 hectares of this plant have been successfully established in the University farm sourced from different locations (Ilorin, and Lafiagi in Kwara State and Mokwa in Niger State), all in Nigeria. So far, some nursery practices have been developed for this crop including the avoidance of heavy shades and seed dressing with Apron Star 42 WS ® (20% Thiamethoxam + 20% Metalaxyl-M + 2% Difenoconazol). Field trials are currently going on to monitor the performance of the seedlings in the field.


Some infected with human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which causes adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), develop the neuroinflammatory disease HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM). Suffering from progressive spinal cord paralysis, HAM patients experience a low quality of life with high unmet needs. Since the prognosis for HAM patients is extremely poor, there is a strong demand for a novel therapeutic strategy. Therefore, we established a national patient registration system (HAM-net) in collaboration with patient groups to gather data from and distribute information to patients on a nation-wide scale. By establishing a registration system for HAM patients, we have learned more about the variation in the rate of HAM progression that enables to divide patients into groups based on progression speed and compare attributes between groups. In addition, we recently showed that HTLV-1 mainly infects CCR4+ T-cells and causes functional abnormalities that are believed to drive HAM pathogenesis. We next demonstrated that anti-CCR4 antibody is effective at reducing the proviral load and inflammatory response in PBMCs from patients with HAM. Given the overwhelming evidence to support the idea that anti-CCR4 antibody could benefit HAM patients, we began an Investigator-led clinical trial. The phase 1/2a trial of the anti-CCR4 antibodies proceeded smoothly; in January 2016, the clinical studies were completed, and a proof of concept of the safety and efficacy of the treatment was obtained (N Engl J Med, 2018).


procedure and the rare requirement of radical neck dissection). The transpalatal approach of C. P. Wilson should have been discussed, with the purpose of surgical excision for suitable cases and inspection of tumours to be treated by radiotherapy. An important clinical entity is carcinoma of the base of the tongue involving the glosso-epiglottic ligament and epiglottis, which fails to respond to radiotherapy. Of undoubted value in this condition is the operation of glosso-laryngopharyngectomy, which conserves the anterior two-thirds of the tongue with full movements. I looked in vain for an account of this procedure in the relevant chapter. Such criticisms are offered in a helpful spirit so that the next edition can be even better than the present one, which is so valuable. How many lives can be saved, for instance, by knowing when to institute a temporary tracheostomy in major operations ? Nor should we forget the needs of patients with advanced cancer in the head and neck; often their suffering is great and their courage even greater, but we must diminish their number by preventing the disease, learning to manage it better, and discovering new treatrnent. The splendid international reputation of M. D. Anderson Hospital is enhanced by this book written by its staff. RONALD W. RAVEN.


We consider optimal control problems for a class of hybrid systems with switches dependent on an external event process. In the case where all event times in this process are fully known, the solution to such problems was obtained in prior work. When event times are uncertain or unknown, we propose a receding horizon (RH) control scheme in which only some future event information is available within a time window of length T. Analyzing sample paths obtained under this scheme and comparing them to those obtained under optimal control, we derive several properties of the RH controller, including the fact that the error due to lack of future event information is monotonically decreasing under certain conditions and may be zero for segments of the sample path, depending on the window length T.


Visitor interaction with e-commerce websites generates large amounts of clickstream data stored in web access logs. From a business standpoint, clickstream data can be used as a means of finding information on user interest. In this paper, the authors propose a method to find user interest in products offered on e-commerce websites based on web usage mining of clickstream data. In this study, user interest was investigated using the PIE approach coupled with clustering and classification techniques. The experimental results showed that the method is able to assist in analyzing visitor behavior and user interest in e-commerce products by identifying those products that prompt visitor interest.