We studied the effects of solvent preservation with and without gamma irradiation on the material properties and morphology of canine tendons. Twenty‐four paired tendons were harvested from both hind limbs of eight dogs. The tendons from the right legs were divided into three treatment groups of eight tendons each. In the first group, the tendons were subjected to solvent preservation for sterilization and drying (solvent group). In the second group, the tendons were treated in the same manner and then were sterlized by gamma irradiation (solvent/gamma group). The same treatments were applied to the tendons in the third group but in reverse order (gamma/solvent group). Tendons from the contralateral left legs were frozen immediately for use as controls for each corresponding treatment group. Histologically, the tendons treated with solvent, with or without gamma irradiation, had a more prominent wavy pattern in the collagen fibers than the control tendons. Mechanically, the tangent moduli for the solvent, solvent/gamma, and gamma/solvent groups were 58.53, and 99%, respectively, of each contralateral control. The respective tensile strengths were 85, 39, and 86% of that of the contralateral control. The tendons in the solvent/gamma group underwent the most severe changes in material properties: the tendons in the gamma/solvent group changed the least. This suggests that gamma irradiation followed by solvent drying is the procedure of choice for the preservation of tendon allografts.


Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are routinely used in African blood centres. We analysed data from two cross‐sectional studies representing 95 blood centres in 29 African countries. Standardized panels of sera containing varying concentrations of anti‐human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies (Ab), hepatitis B virus antigen (HBsAg) and antihepatitis C virus (HCV) Ab were screened using routine operational testing procedures at the centres. Sensitivity of detection using RDTs was high for HIV Ab‐positive samples, but low for intermediately HBsAg (51·5%) and HCV Ab (40·6%)‐positive samples. These findings suggest that current RDT use in Africa could pose a hazard to blood safety.


This paper reports the effect of a refractory crucible type on the microstructure of duplex stainless steel (DSS) cast with the addition of gadolinium using air-induction melting. Grade 4A DSSs with 1 wt% of gadolinium (Gd) were fabricated in various crucibles including alumina (Al2O3), magnesia (MgO), calcia (CaO) coated with yttria (Y2O3) and graphite. The standard free energies of the formation of calcium and yttrium oxide were lower than those of gadolinium oxide and other crucible elements based oxide. The yield of Gd in DSS using Al2O3, MgO, CaO-coated Y2O3 and graphite was 5, 19, 83 and 96%, respectively. As Gd yield increased,the amount of Gd-based inclusions increased, the size of the inclusions were reduced, and the inclusions became evenly distributed.


Data emerging from recent in vivo and in vitro studies are pointing to basement membrane and other extra cellular matrix (ECM) components as likely determinants of specific lymphocyte entry and positioning in lymphoid tissues. In this report, the relevance of this notion is investigated in T-cell deficient (B) rat recipients of cardiac allografts, using an anti-laminin (LN) antibody as the probe. The 6-hr migration patterns of 111In-labelled peripheral lymph node (PLN) cells were followed in groups of engrafted B hosts treated with rabbit anti-rat LN antibody or rabbit serum. The accumulation of adoptively transferred cells in PLN and cardiac allografts of recipients pretreated with anti-LN antibody was significantly decreased compared to controls (P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.001, respectively). The transferred cells also localized in slightly lower numbers in the spleens and lungs of anti-LN conditioned rats; no differences were seen in the clearance of lymphocytes from peripheral blood, or their sequestration in liver and kidney. These data provide the first in vivo evidence that an antibody against LN selectively affects lymphocyte traffic. The results reinforce the notion that basement membrane components could be critical in 'directing' lymphocyte migration in vivo.


This study presents new insight into the prediction of partitioning of organic compounds between a carbon surface (soot) and water, and it also sheds light on the sluggish desorption of interacting molecules from activated and nonactivated carbon surfaces. This paper provides details about the structure and interactions of benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and aromatic nitrocompounds with a carbon surface modeled by coronene using a density functional theory approach along with the M05-2X functional. The adsorption was studied in vacuum and from water solution. The molecules studied are physisorbed on the carbon surface. While the intermolecular interactions of benzene and hydrocarbons are governed by dispersion forces, nitrocompounds are adsorbed also due to quite strong electrostatic interactions with all types of carbon surfaces. On the basis of these results, we conclude that the method of prediction presented in this study allows one to approach the experimental level of accuracy in predicting thermodynamic parameters of adsorption on a carbon surface from the gas phase. The empirical modification of the polarized continuum model leads also to a quantitative agreement with the experimental data for the Gibbs free energy values of the adsorption from water solution.


Any PDE system can be effectively analyzed through consideration of its tree of nonlocally related systems. If a given PDE system has n local conservation laws, then each conservation law yields potential equations and a corresponding nonlocally related potential system. Moreover, from these n conservation laws, one can directly construct 2 − 1 independent nonlocally related systems by considering these potential systems individually (n singlets), in pairs (n(n − 1)/2 couplets),. . . , taken all together (one n-plet). In turn, any one of these 2 − 1 systems could lead to the discovery of new nonlocal symmetries and/or nonlocal conservation laws of the given PDE system. Moreover, such nonlocal conservation laws could yield further nonlocally related systems. A theorem is proved that simplifies this framework to find such extended trees by eliminating redundant systems. The planar gas dynamics equations and nonlinear telegraph equations are used as illustrative examples. Many new local and nonlocal conservation laws and nonlocal symmetries are found for these systems. In particular, our examples illustrate that a local symmetry of a k-plet is not always a local symmetry of its "completed" n-plet (k < n). A new analytical solution, arising as an invariant solution for a potential Lagrange system, is constructed for a generalized polytropic gas.


The liquid from rumen's cattle is expected to be used as nutrients in microalgae culture. This study aimed to examine the use of waste of rumen's cattle as a source of nutrients with different doses in the culture of Thalasiossira sp. The research design used was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 5 treatments with 3 replications of (A) 1 ml conwey/l of seawater, (B) 1 ml of waste/l of sea water, (C) 10 ml of waste/l of seawater, (D) 1 ml of waste + 0.4 gr NaN03/l of seawater, and (E) 10 ml of waste + 0.4 gr NaN03/l of seawater. The calculated parameter were the population density of Thalasiossira sp., diatom diameter, protein content and water quality. The results showed that the waste of rumen's cattle could be used as an alternative source of nutrients in the culture of Thalasiossira sp. and the peak of the population was reached on day 3. Measurement of protein content ranged from 9.9 to 11.8% and the diameter of the diatoms ranged from 5-10 m. The measurement of the water quality of the media was in the range of temperature 24-26 oC, pH value 7 and salinity 32-34 ppt.


High-capacity long-distance transmission lines, such as high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) lines, are vulnerable to extreme weather. Their failures may cause significant power loss and frequency drop in the receiving-end power systems, which should be considered in the power system scheduling. In this paper, the failure rates of transmission lines subject to extreme weather conditions are firstly modeled to obtain the probability of failure events. Then, a novel criterion defined by the integration of abnormal frequency during the primary and secondary frequency regulation process is proposed to measure frequency security. This criterion is capable to reflect the cumulative frequency deviation effect and distinguish the contributions of different frequency regulation reserve providers, e.g., generators and flexible loads. Moreover, the linearity of the criterion makes it easy to be incorporated into optimization problems. Finally, a two-stage stochastic frequency constrained unit commitment (FCUC) model is developed to optimally schedule generators and flexible loads while satisfying the frequency security constraints under transmission line failure events. The proposed FCUC model is efficiently solved by a regularized L-shape algorithm. The proposed model and techniques are validated based on the modified IEEE 118 and 300 bus systems with realistic meteorological data.


In water, ammonium chloride was found to promote palladium-catalyzed Ullmann coupling reactions of aryl bromides. In the presence of Pd/C, zinc, NH4Cl, and water, coupling of various aryl bromides was carried out smoothly to afford the corresponding homocoupling products in moderate yields.


Fish skin is first line of defence against attachment and penetration of pathogens. Crucian carp (Carassius auratus) is one of the major freshwater species and important food fish in China, yet its molecular mechanism of skin immune response remains unclear. In this study, a de novo transcriptome assembly of crucian carp skin was performed by using Illumina Hiseq 2000 platform. A total of 49,154,776 unigenes were assembled, among which 60,824 (25.16%) unigenes were annotated against the NCBI database. Gene ontology and KEGG mapping assigned the terms to 37,103 (39.15%), 9,337 (23.23%) unigenes, repectively. The best represented KEGG categories were immune system (8,871, 20.50%) and signal transduction (7,805, 18.04%), and several mucin proteins (MUC1, MUC2, MUC5B, MUC5AC, MUC18, etc.) as the main membrane-bound and secreted components of the mucosal layer, implying the differentiation of immune responses in the crucian carp skin. Moreover, the results revealed that potential 28,928 SSRs and 249,964 SNPs were detected in crucian carp. This is the first report on transcriptome analysis in the skin of C. auratus, which contribute to understanding the molecular mechanisms of mucous immunogenectics response and epidermal mucus secretion of the skin in fish.


Heidegger's The Origin of the Work of Art reevaluates how artworks are meaningful by offering a phenomenological description of the work of art as an historically situated event. This ontological interpretation of art not only rehabilitates our sense of the materiality and singularity of the artwork but it also enables us to think the conditions of the creation and genuine preservation of artworks. In this paper I develop the concept of ruination and argue that ruination is the essence of the artwork. My interpretation emphasizes Heidegger's insistence on the finitude of the artwork and reveals that Heidegger's example of the ruin of the ancient temple is exemplary precisely because the ruination of the artwork is an essential characteristic of its happening rather than something that befalls it from outside.


BACKGROUND
Malignant gliomas including glioblastomas are characterized by a striking cellular heterogeneity, which includes a subpopulation of glioma cells that becomes highly resistant by integration into tumor microtube (TM)-connected multicellular networks.

METHODS
A novel functional approach to detect, isolate and characterize glioma cell subpopulations with respect to in vivo network integration is established, combining a dye staining method with intravital two-photon microscopy, FACS sorting, molecular profiling, and gene reporter studies.

RESULTS
Glioblastoma cells that are part of the TM-connected tumor network show activated neurodevelopmental and glioma progression gene expression pathways. Importantly, many of them revealed profiles indicative of increased cellular stemness, including high expression of nestin. TM-connected glioblastoma cells also had a higher potential for re-initiation of brain tumor growth. Long-term tracking of tumor cell nestin expression in vivo revealed a stronger TM network integration and higher radioresistance of the nestin-high subpopulation. Glioblastoma cells that were both nestin-high and network-integrated were particularly able to adapt to radiotherapy with increased TM formation.

CONCLUSION
Multiple stem-like features are strongly enriched in a fraction of network-integrated glioma cells, explaining their particular resilience.


Excess charge stabilization of molecules in metallic environments is of particular impor-tance for fields such as molecular electronics and surface chemistry. We study the energetics of benzene and its anion between two metallic plates. We observe that orientational effects are important at small inter-plate separation. This leads to benzene oriented perpendicular to the gates being more stable than the parallel case due to induced dipole effects. We find that the benzene anion, known for being unstable in the gas-phase, is stabilized by the plates at zero bias and an inter-plate distance of 21 Å. We also observe the effect of benzene under a voltage bias generated by the plates; under a negative bias, the anion becomes destabilized. We use the electron localization function to analyze the changes in electron density due to the bias. These findings suggest that image effects such as those present in nanoscale devices, are able to stabilize excess charge and should be important to consider when modeling molecular transport junctions and charge-transfer effects.


The study was undertaken to determine the anthelmintic activity of eight medicinal plants against adult and larvae (L3) of Haemonchus contortus during July to November, 2013. In vitro adulticidal and larvicidal activity were screened by preparing aqueous and methanol extract of some plants at 1%, 5% and 10% concentration with respect to control by PBS. The results revealed that neem showed best effect within 3 hour at 5% concentration (100%) and 10% concentration (100%) with methanol extract on adult Haemonchus. Rest of the ingredient showed their efficacy after 3 hours. Methanol extracts showed better effect than aqueous extracts. In case of L3 stage larvae, the highest efficacy was observed at 10% concentration in neem (100%) and korolla fruits(100%), followed by korolla leaves (80%), sharna lata (80%), lazzabati (60%) less than 3 hours. It is concluded that neem, korolla, sharna lata and lazzabati extract give a better approach against Haemonchus contortus and can be used against the treatment of haemonchosis in goat as an alternative of patent drug. So, further studies are required to find out the active ingredient of pharmacological and toxicological assessment and determine the recommended doses in goat.


In this study, the concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Fe and Se in muscle, liver and gill tissues of S. guttatus were evaluated in Bushehr seaport during autumn 2016. S. guttatus samples were caught at random from Bushehr seaport (n=30). After biometric measurements the samples were taken from each tissues (muscles, liver and gills) and chemical digestion of the samples were carried out based on MOOPAM, then levels of heavy metals in tissues were measured by Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer 3030). Based on the results obtained the mean concentrations of heavy metals Cu, Fe and Se in muscles tissues of S. guttatus were 7.21, 3.07 and 0.094, in liver were 8.35, 3.02 and 0.107, and in gill were 9.87, 3.59 and 0.119 mg/kg dry weight respectively. Moreover, this results revealed that the Cu and Se concentration in muscles tissues of S. guttatus in Bushehr seaport were lower than the levels permitted within the standards of World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) (NHMRC), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries UK (MAFF), But Fe concentration was higher than the level permitted within the standard of Food and Drug Administration (FDA).


We demonstrate highly sensitive temperature and strain sensors based on an all-fiber Lyot filter structure, which is formed by concatenating two 45°-TFGs (tilted fiber gratings) with a PM fiber cavity. The experiment results show the all-fiber 45°-TFG Lyot filter has very high sensitivity to strain and temperature. The 45°-TFG Lyot filters of two different cavity lengths (18cm and 40 cm) have been evaluated for temperature sensing by heating a section of the cavity from 10°C to 50°C. The experiment results have shown remarkably high temperature sensitivities of 0.616nm/°C for 18cm and 0.31nm/°C for 40cm long cavity filter, respectively. The 18cm long cavity filter has been subjected to strain variations up to around 550με and the filter has exhibited strain sensitivities of 0.02499nm/με and 0.012nm/με for two straining situations, where its cavity middle section of 18cm and 9cm were stretched, respectively.


A paucity of data exists on the occurrence, distribution, and abundance of small mammal communities in southwestern Alaska. To add to the understanding of these commu- nities we conducted a comprehensive small mammal survey in southwestern Alaska. We trapped small mammals along the Goodnews River in Togiak National Wildlife Refuge from 26 June to 5 September 1996. Objectives of our study were to determine what small mammal spe- cies occur in the Goodnews River area, to determine species distribution in 4 representative habitats during 3 time periods, and to determine ideal time periods to trap small mammals in order to maximize the diversity of species encountered and the number of specimens captured. In 3600 trap-nights we captured 468 specimens including masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), pygmy shrew (S. hoyi), Alaska tiny shrew (S. yukonicus), tundra shrew (S. tundrensis), tundra vole (Mi- crotus oeconomus), red-backed vole (Clethrionomys rutilus), Greenland collared lemming (Dicros- tonyx groenlandicus), and brown lemming (Lemmus trimucronatus). The pygmy shrew, Alaska tiny shrew, Greenland collared lemming, and brown lemming are the 1st representatives of these species from the region to be placed in a museum collection. The willow habitat supported the greatest number of specimens captured (n = 170), while the wet tundra habitat yielded the greatest number of species captured (n = 4). The fall trap period (26 August to 5 September) yielded the greatest number of specimens captured (n = 229), while the spring (26 June to 6 July) and summer trap periods (26 July to 5 August) yielded greatest species diversity. Findings of rare and uncommon species illustrate the need to conduct additional surveys in the region.


During the last decades banks have progressively moved towards centralized and hierarchical organizational structures. Therefore, the investigation of the determinants of bank efficiency and relationships with the functional distance between the bank head-quarter and operational units have become increasingly important. This paper extends the literature on bank efficiency examining the impact of different bank business models on the efficiency of the Italian banks, distinguished by size and type over the period 2006-2009. Using a stochastic frontier approach, the intertemporal relationships between bank efficiency and some key variables, as distance and income diversification (used as proxies of different organizational banking models) are investigated. Results suggest that organizational structure significantly affects cost efficiency, being different between bank groups.


Boron aluminum hydride clusters are studied through a synergetic combination of anion photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory based calculations. Boron aluminum hydride cluster anions, BxAlyHz(-), were generated in a pulsed arc cluster ionization source and identified by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. After mass selection, their photoelectron spectra were measured by a magnetic bottle-type electron energy analyzer. The resultant photoelectron spectra as well as calculations on a selected series of stoichiometries reveal significant geometrical changes upon substitution of aluminum atoms by boron atoms.


Introduction:
 Rising drug costs have sparked interest in tying payments to outcomes to reduce payer risk of adopting low-value interventions. However, performance-linked reimbursement (PLR) plans are poorly understood. We modeled the effects of PLR plans on the distribution of therapy value obtained using sacubitril-valsartan as an illustrative case.

 Methods:
 We modeled PLR plans that issued refunds/discounts based on reductions in cardiovascular mortality or heart failure hospitalization. We used probabilistic sensitivity analyses from a published cost-effectiveness model of sacubitril-valsartan to model real-world uncertainty. We compared the distribution of value obtained (net monetary benefit [NMB]) with PLR plans and conventional payment across 10,000 paired simulations. Price premiums were set so average reimbursement was equal with both schemes. We varied plan structure and treatment/population uncertainty. With successful plans, payment would decrease in simulations with less benefit and increase with more benefit - decreasing the NMB standard deviation. We also calculated incremental NMBs as valuations of the change in NMB variability using a risk-averse utility curve.

 Results:
 A plan that adjusted drug reimbursement based on the ratio of observed to expected reduction of cardiovascular mortality reduced the standard deviation of NMB by 16.6% (Table 1). The incremental NMB - an estimate of per-patient value of implementing the PLR plan - was only $35, 3.3% of the NMB with conventional payment. Cardiovascular mortality plans were more successful than heart failure hospitalization plans. With rare outcomes, refunds based on cohort event rates were larger than refunds for individual adverse events. Plans improved with greater treatment effect uncertainty, larger refunds, and more payer risk-aversion. Their value decreased with more natural history uncertainty. Plans unraveled if the payer asymmetrically selected higher risk patients.

 Conclusion:
 PLR plans require outcomes tightly associated with treatment value and minimally influenced by unrelated uncertainty. Both sides must agree on a predictable population and limit asymmetric selection. For rare outcomes, plans should evaluate population event rates or surrogate measures that consistently reflect the clinical benefit.


Many researchers studying online communities seek to make them better. However, beyond a small set of widely-held values, such as combating misinformation and abuse, determining what 'better' means can be challenging, as community members may disagree, values may be in conflict, and different communities may have differing preferences as a whole. In this work, we present the first study that elicits values directly from members across a diverse set of communities. We survey 212 members of 627 unique subreddits and ask them to describe their values for their communities in their own words. Through iterative categorization of 1,481 responses, we develop and validate a comprehensive taxonomy of community values, consisting of 29 subcategories within nine top-level categories, enabling principled, quantitative study of community values by researchers. Using our taxonomy, we reframe existing research problems, such as managing influxes of new members, as tensions between different values, and we identify understudied values, such as those regarding content quality and community size. We call for greater attention to vulnerable community members' values, and we make our codebook public for use in future research.


Abstract The present study pertains to the influence of variation of FRP (Fiber Reinforced Polymer) proportion in tension reinforcement on the flexural behavior of RC beams with FRP and steel reinforcing bars. A total of 25 beams, including FRP-, steel- and hybrid FRP-steel reinforced ones, were tested to failure under four-point bending. Two types of FRP bars, GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) and BFRP (Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer), were used and both over- and under-reinforced beams were tested. The beams in each group were designed to have close flexural capacities to fully reveal the effect of FRP proportion in the tension zone on beam ductility for a fixed bending capacity. A new analytical model was developed for estimating the bending capacities of beams. Different deformation and curvature ductility definitions were adopted and an energy-based definition, revealing the expected tendency in beam ductility, was determined. The test results revealed that the presence of even a single FRP bar in the tension zone results in reductions up to 40% in beam ductility as compared to the beam with full steel reinforcement. Each additional replacement of a steel bar with FRP was found to cause a further decrease up to 20% in beam ductility.


Abstract A reduction of total mean turbulent pressure due to the presence of magnetic fields was previously shown to be a measurable effect in direct numerical simulations. However, in the studied parameter regime the formation of large-scale structures, as anticipated from earlier mean-field simulations, was not found. An analysis of the relevant mean-field parameter dependency and the parameter domain of interest is conducted in order to clarify this apparent discrepancy.


This paper proposes and presents a method for the estimation of approval probabilities of new drug or product. The proposed method assumes that three evaluation communities are used to assess and evaluate the quality of a new drug or product and that the evaluation is done by the committees in three period phased clinical trials of the drug or product using matched samples of subjects at each phase. Estimates of absolute and conditional approval probabilities by various combination evaluation committees at each phase of clinical trials are provided. Test statistics are also developed testing desired hypothesis at each of the phased clinical trials. The proposed method is illustrated with some sample data. It is shown in terms of estimated probability that it is more difficult for all three evaluation committees to be in complex agreement to approve or not approve a new drug or product than for fewer evaluation committees to grant approval.


In the study of cancer as a complicated disease caused by many combinations of various factors, it may be of importance to consider also any possible changes of the water structure in the environment of the malignant cells. The occurrence of such changes has been established experimentally, for example, by a study of the magnetic properties of water by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. It has been found that the protons in the water surrounding malignant cells have a much longer spin-lattice relaxation time than the protons in the water around normal cells. This indicates that the water molecules in tumor cells are less structured and able to move more freely than in normal tissues, where, due to the effect of hydrogen bonding, water occurs mainly as five- or six-membered rings. This prolongation of the proton spin-lattice time may be an important factor in cancer, but further studies are necessary before one can decide with certainty whether it would be possible to use this effect to diagnose malignant transformations at an early stage. It is suggested that changes in the magnetic properties of water in a malignant tumor during chemotherapy and other treatments be monitored as control tools.


A simple polymer shrinkage model has been successfully applied to the stereolithography process. The shrinkage model, which computes specific volume changes from the degree of conversion of monomer to polymer, incorporates a lag between conversion and shrinkage. An overall process model used to simulate the stereolithography process was modified by inclusion of the shrinkage model. Use of the modified stereolithography process model allows prediction of the shrinkage that might be expected to occur when fabricating a strand of plastic. By varying the lag between conversion and shrinkage it is shown that faster shrinking resins should exhibit lower overall shrinkage than slower shrinking resins. This is a direct result of the fact that less shrinkage occurs after the strand has been scanned for the faster shrinking resins.


The problem of moral decline and behavioral changes of students both in social and psychological settings is the reason for this research. Children's lack of attention to religious norms often occurs in the global society. At the same time, technological advances have not only brought positive impacts but also negative impacts where parents often forget the moral messages that must be carried out in religious life. Law enforcement for the sake of child discipline has the same tendency between personal matters and religious interests. As a result, children often become victims of violence in the family and forget the responsibility of forming children with Islamic personalities. Part of the problem is the lack of understanding of the content of the hadith regarding the obligation of parents to educate their children to pray. How is the model of punishment contained in the hadith about the command to pray. How to review the sociology and psychology of Islamic education about the punishment model contained in the hadith about the command to pray


As the title indicates, this work has two related objectives. The first is to determine whether the literary conventions of the pesher genre deprive the "historical allusions" of any significance. In other words, do the allusions refer to real events and characters, or are they simply symbols or allegories. The second objective follows closely upon the first. Once the historical nature of the allusions is demonstrated, we proceed to investigate the consequences of that demonstration in one specific area: the identification of the three principal characters: the Wicked Priest, the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar. This work is divided into three parts: Part One: Literary Genre. This section is devoted to the first objective: to determine whether the pesher allusions are in any way historical. Part Two: Information in the Pesharim. Here we list and interpret the references to the Wicked Priest, the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar found in the commentaries. Part Three: Identification of the Characters. This final section is dedicated to the identification of the three principal characters. The information collected from the pesharim is arranged and compared to what we know about possible candidates from outside contemporary sources. Part One consists of two chapters. The first (The Problems of History in the Pesharim) spells out the problems involved in historical research based on the pesher allusions: has history been subordinated to literary device, and if so, is it possible to determine the extent of this subordination; are the characters individuals, or are they categories, types or titles. There follows upon this exposition of the question, a brief review of the various theories of identification which have been proposed for the Wicked Priest, the Teacher and the Liar. The second chapter (The Effect of Literary Genre on the Pesharim) answers the questions raised in the previous chapter. After analyzing the content, conventions and finality of the pesharim, we conclude that the allusions must refer to known events and characters. The allusions are too fragmentary and basically uninformative to have any meaning or power to convince, if they did not call to mind people and occasions that were well known to the readers. The fact that the readers necessarily had to be well acquainted with the events involved, if they were to make sense of these allusions, does not allow the author to tamper excessively with the historical narrative. Moreover, the very purpose of the whole exercise would be defeated if the author could both re-interpret the texts and falsify the history. He did not tailor 'history to fit prophecy, but rather strained the meaning of the prophet's words to fit the events of the sect's history. The second part begins with a brief introduction which explains the method we shall follow to work out the identity of the principal characters. We then gather all the passages in the pesharim which name them (principally IQpHab, 4QpPssa, and 4QpNah.) We consider as well those places in the Damascus Document where the Teacher of Righteousness and the Liar are mentioned. The third part is divided into three chapters. Chapter Five examines the background of the documents: archaeology, paleography, the identity of the Kittim and the Qumran Community, and finally the single, apparently chronological indication to be found in the scrolls: the three hundred and ninety years in the Damascus Document. We then examine the pesher allusions to the Wicked Priest (Chapter Six) and distinguish between those statements which refer to verifiable facts, and those that merely express the hostility and disapproval of the author. By comparing these statements to information in external contemporary sources (Josephus and the Books of Maccabees) we reach the conclusion that the most likely individual to fit the scroll description of the Wicked Priest is Jonathan Maccabaeus. The texts referring to the Liar are subjected to the same scrutiny, but the results are less satisfying. There is, however, a strong possibility, but only a possibility, that the Liar and the Wicked Priest are the same individual. In that case, Liar would be another name for Jonathan Maccabaeus. Finally we analyze the pesher allusions to the Teacher of Righteousness and compare them to what we know from non-Qumran sources (Chapter Seven.) Although there is abundant information about the Teacher's role in the community, his peculiar teaching, and the esteem in which his followers held him, there is little that points towards his personal identity. Similarly, there is too little information in external sources about those individuals who might be the Teacher of Righteousness to allow us more than random guesses. We can only go so far along truly evidential lines: we can determine a certain period, discover a likely candidate for the Wicked Priest and possibly the Liar, and make certain definite exclusions. Anything beyond this enters the realm of pure conjecture.


Background Musculoskeletal injuries occur frequently in elite athletes. Understanding what professionals who work with patients with sports injuries think about prevention has been suggested as an important aspect to improve the effectiveness of programs to prevent sports injuries. Objectives To describe and characterize the opinions of physical therapists, physicians and trainers on 'risk factors' and 'prevention of injury' in elite athletes. Method This is a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with members of the medical and technical department of the Brazilian delegation who participated in the Pan American Games of Guadalajara 2011. The interview was conducted using two questions: 1) "What do you think can cause injuries in athletes participating in your sport?" 2) "What do you do to prevent injuries in your sport?" The interviews were analyzed in two stages, the identification of thematic units, followed by the categorization and grouping of thematic units. Results We interviewed a total of 30 professionals. Regarding question 1, the main factors attributed as responsible for injury were over-training and incorrect sports techniques. Regarding question 2, the main reported strategies used to prevent injuries were muscle strengthening, nutritional counseling and guidance. Conclusions The main factors affecting the appearance of lesions were over-training, incorrect sports technique, inadequate nutrition and factors related to the athlete's behavior. The main injury prevention strategies were muscle strengthening, nutritional counseling and guidance.


Clonal selection is the preferred breeding method used in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.). However this selection procedure is only efficient for more advanced generations and shows no good results when applied in the seedling up to the second clonal generation. This study assessed the feasibility of selection in early generations of full-sib potato families and compares the selection method among and within families with the combined selection under different selection intensities. Six experiments were conducted from the first (C1) until the third clonal generation (C3). In C1 a randomized complete block design with four replications of 25 plants was used. In the remaining generations RCB was employed with three replications of 10 plants. Genetic variances were lower between families than within families, for all traits, but the heritabilities between families were almost always larger. The expected gains from selection between and within families were superior to gains from the combined selection in any intensity of selection. The selection of families should have weaker intensity than selection among clones within families. The selection of families was more efficient when based on the average of environments.


OBJECTIVE
Review of the etiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment of dry eye disease (DED).

DATA SOURCES
Articles indexed in PubMed (National Library of Medicine), Iowa Drug Information Service (IDIS), and the Cochrane Reviews and Trials in the last 10 years using the key words "dry eye disease," "dry eye syndrome," "dry eye and treatment." Primary sources were used to locate additional resources.

STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION
Sixty-eight publications were reviewed, and criteria supporting the primary objective were used to identify useful resources.

DATA SYNTHESIS
The literature included practice guidelines, book chapters, review articles, original research articles, and product prescribing information for the etiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment of DED.

CONCLUSION
DED is one of the most common ophthalmic disorders. Signs and symptoms of DED vary by patient, but may include ocular irritation, redness, itching, photosensitivity, visual blurring, mucous discharge, and decreased tear meniscus or break-up time. Symptoms improve with treatment, but the condition is not completely curable. Treatment includes reducing environmental causes, discontinuing medications that cause or worsen dry eye, and managing contributing ocular or systemic conditions. Most patients use nonprescription tear substitutes, and if these are not sufficient, other treatment is prescribed. These treatments include the ophthalmic anti-inflammatory agent cyclosporine, punctal occlusion, eye side shields, systemic cholinergic agents, and autologous serum tears. This article reviews the etiology, symptoms, and current therapy for DED.


Background and Context: Over the past year, large language models (LLMs) have taken the world by storm. In computing education, like in other walks of life, many opportunities and threats have emerged as a consequence. Objectives: In this article, we explore such opportunities and threats in a specific area: responding to student programmers' help requests. More specifically, we assess how good LLMs are at identifying issues in problematic code that students request help on. Method: We collected a sample of help requests and code from an online programming course. We then prompted two different LLMs (OpenAI Codex and GPT-3.5) to identify and explain the issues in the students' code and assessed the LLM-generated answers both quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings: GPT-3.5 outperforms Codex in most respects. Both LLMs frequently find at least one actual issue in each student program (GPT-3.5 in 90% of the cases). Neither LLM excels at finding all the issues (GPT-3.5 finding them 57% of the time). False positives are common (40% chance for GPT-3.5). The advice that the LLMs provide on the issues is often sensible. The LLMs perform better on issues involving program logic rather than on output formatting. Model solutions are frequently provided even when the LLM is prompted not to. LLM responses to prompts in a non-English language are only slightly worse than responses to English prompts. Implications: Our results continue to highlight the utility of LLMs in programming education. At the same time, the results highlight the unreliability of LLMs: LLMs make some of the same mistakes that students do, perhaps especially when formatting output as required by automated assessment systems. Our study informs teachers interested in using LLMs as well as future efforts to customize LLMs for the needs of programming education.


Cerebral sparganosis is caused by migrating larvae of Spirometra mansonoides. This condition is rare. The presenting symptoms include headache, seizures and focal neurological deficit, which are due to a parasitic granulomatous space-occupying lesion. The authors report a case of intracerebral hematoma, which has never been reported as a presenting symptom of cerebral sparganosis. The surgical treatment of this complicated condition yielded poor results when compared to previous reports of the uncomplicated condition.


Many nasal symptoms can be caused by normal variation in nasal structure or functioning. External nasal deformity necessitates further examinations only when remarkable or causing nasal blockage. Septal deformities are often seen also in patients without any symptoms. The size of nasal turbinates and the number or size of paranasal sinuses may vary causing sometimes problems in the interpretation of radiological imaging. Abnormal radiological findings can be detected also in asymptomatic patients, most commonly mucosal thickening and cysts of paranasal sinuses. Meticulous clinical examination including decongestation of nasal mucosa is a key for sorting out meaningful connection between symptoms and findings.


Citizenship education in compulsory schooling plays a critical role in the level of engagement and abilities of young people to assume basic civic roles. Both internationally and nationally, there are increasing calls to reconsider the dominant approaches to citizenship education in order to address the pressing needs of the interdependent and interconnected 21st century global world. This paper analyzes citizenship education in the context of Morocco, considering whether, how and to what extent citizenship education in Morocco's primary school social studies curriculum addresses themes of human rights; democracy and civic participation; and national and global citizenship. Qualitative data is generated from a sample of 4th, 5th and 6th grade social studies textbooks targeting students aged 9-12. The results indicate that citizenship education offers rather limited content and activities for students to improve their competencies for global learning, political literacy, respect for diversity, and critical thinking, suggesting the challenge in (re)imagining the construction of the predominant responsible, national Moroccan citizen.

Keywords: Social studies textbooks, Education for citizenship, Human rights, Global citizenship, Morocco.


On automotive vehicles, the cowl box is a volume located at the bottom of the windshield, under the cowl top grille. It provides external fresh air to the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning) unit and it is used to collect water coming from the windshield under rain conditions. This box is designed as a tranquillisation chamber to segregate water from air and avoid the ingress of rainwater into the HVAC unit. However, as the area is awkward to access with measuring devices, our knowledge about the physics of flow in the cowl box is limited.The present work aims to advance our knowledge through experimental work on the air/water flow in a simplified cowl box in order to optimize the box size and improve numerical models. This paper will focus on the analysis of the bathtub vortex, which is potentially responsible for insufficient draining of the water collected in the cowl box.The experimental set-up consists of a Plexiglas parallelepiped representing a simplified cowl box with top cowl grille, HVAC inlet and drain. A blower generates airflow through the HVAC inlet. A water sheet, with controlled flow rate, is created on an inclined plane representing the windshield. Velocity measurements of all components are obtained by PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) in the liquid phase and the surface level is recorded by a capacitance probe near the drain. Moreover, contour detection of the vortex core is achieved using a high-speed camera. Results show a relationship between the pressure loss generated by the airflow in the cowl box, the water level and the vortex structure. The modification of the vortex structure as well as the modification of velocity components near the air core are visible only in transient stages. These experimental results give us today some insight to understand the physical phenomena occurring in the cowl box.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Background: Evidence informing the choice between endarterectomy and stenting for acutely symptomatic carotid stenosis ("hot carotid") is dated, and uncertainties remain regarding the optimal imaging modality. We sought to explore the thoughts of stroke physicians regarding the perioperative management of patients with acute symptomatic carotid stenosis. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews regarding "hot carotid" management with purposive sampling of 20 stroke physicians from 14 centres in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. We identified key themes using conventional qualitative content analysis. Results: Timely imaging availability, breadth of information gained, and surgeon/interventionalist preference emerged as important themes informing the choice of imaging modality. Multidisciplinary decision making, operating room/angiography suite availability, and implications of patient age and infarct size were important themes related to the choice of revascularization. Areas of uncertainty included utility of carotid plaque imaging, timing of revascularization, and the role of intervention with borderline stenosis or intraluminal thrombus. Conclusions: Our qualitative analysis revealed themes that were important to stroke experts. Teams designing international trials will have to accommodate identified variations in practice patterns and take into consideration areas of uncertainty, such as timing of revascularization, imaging of carotid plaque and non-stenotic features of carotid disease (intraluminal thrombus, plaque morphology).


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Epithelial ovarian carcinoma remains the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. While initial response to first-line therapy (consisting of surgical cytoreduction and combination platinum/taxane therapy) is usually effective, the majority of patients will ultimately recur with chemotherapy-resistant cancer and succumb to disease. Biomarkers that predict patient's responsiveness to chemotherapy might assist the development of better therapeutic strategies for aggressive cancers, such as ovarian cancer. Here, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of collagen type XI alpha 1 (COL11A1) in chemo-resistance of ovarian cancer. We analyzed the expression profiles of 60 epithelial ovarian cancer tissue samples obtained at first cytoreductive surgery to identify genes linked with chemotherapy response. Among the 47 selected genes, collagen type XI alpha 1 (COL11A1) was the most highly elevated in chemo-resistance tumors. Small interference RNA-mediated specific reduction in COL11A1 protein levels increased the sensitivity to cisplatin and taxol in ovarian cancer cells. A combination of experimental approaches, including real-time RT-PCR, western blotting, luciferase assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, showed that COL11A1 knockdown attenuated Twist1 expression and suppressed binding of NF-κB to its putative Twist1 promoter binding site, suggesting that the NF-κB/Twist1 axis is upregulated by COL11A1. Cisplatin and taxol treatment triggers the activation of IGF-1R/PI3K signaling cascades, leading to activation of COL11A1 and Twist1. Pharmacological inhibition of PI3K abrogated the cisplatin and taxol-triggered, COL11A1-dependent chemo-resistance. Furthermore, the c/EBPβ binding site on the COL11A1 promoter was identified as the major determinant of cisplatin and taxol-dependent COL11A1 activation. Analysis of 88 ovarian cancer patients indicated that high COL11A1 mRNA levels are significantly associated with high Twist1 mRNA levels and poor clinical outcome. We conclude that activation of COL11A1 by anti-cancer drugs through IGF-1R/PI3K pathway confers chemo-resistance in ovarian cancer cells via activating NF-κB-mediated Twist1 expression.

Citation Format: Yi-Hui Wu, Yu-Fang Huang, Cheng-Yang Chou. Activation of COL11A1 by anticancer drugs through IGF-1R/PI3K pathway confers chemoresistance in ovarian cancer via activating NF-κB-mediated Twist1 expression. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 958. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-958


It has become apparent to researchers that traditional approaches are not sufficient to foster trust for today's pervasive online businesses. Individuals and businesses are adopting e-commerce as means of resources, improvements and generating revenue. As online transaction increase, it is important to understand why users still reserved on conducting business online. This research aims to overcome this situation, by developing a better understanding of online customers' trust perceptions in United Arab Emirates. This research paper identifies and discusses the factors that foster trust in online business in United Arab Emirates. Corrective actions that could generate trust in e-commerce systems will be discussed to assist the online businesses who endeavor to serve online users.


To assess immune responses to malaria-induced thrombocytopenia, an haematologic and immunologic study was performed on 25 patients with imported malaria upon admission and 8 days after treatment. Thrombocytopenia (150 x 10(9)/litre) was detected in 19 cases (P. falciparum: 11 cases, P. ovale: 6 cases, P. vivax: 2 cases). No laboratory evidence of disseminated intravascular coagulation impairment was found in any of the patients. Bone marrow examination performed in 9 cases showed no abnormality in the megakaryocyte series. Platelet count was independent of circulating parasite levels (r = 0.27) and inversely related to the number of antibody binding sites (ABS) on platelets (r = -0.6, p. less than 0.01). The indirect Coombs test (r = -0.54; p less than 0.01) and IgG and IgE levels (p less than 0.02) gave similar findings. A statistical correlation was observed between the level of circulating immune complex and the number of ABS (r = 0.525, p less than 0.01). Thus malaria-induced thrombocytopenia seems to mainly involve IgG type antiplatelet antibody activity. Although they may be implicated in the binding of antibodies to platelets, circulating immune complexes do not appear to mediate thrombocytopenia.


Based on measurements from a near-field scanner and far-field measurements obtained in a semi-anechoic chamber, a statistical relationship is established between a magnetic field in the near field and an electric field in the far field. The relationship makes it possible to transform a radiated-emission regulatory limit from the far-field to the near-field zone. The transformed near-field limit can allow efficient prediction of radiated-emission compliance for high-speed printed circuit boards. The presented results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method for a quick radiated-emission precompliance check without heavy equipment investment.


Electrophoretic karyotypes from two clinical isolates of Penicillium marneffei were derived using contoured-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) gel electrophoresis. Five chromosome-sized DNA fragments were resolved from each isolate. Chromosomal length polymorphisms were evident among the three largest molecules. Based upon these electrophoretic separation patterns, individual chromosomes were estimated to range in size from 2.0 to > or = 6.3 Mbp with a total genome size of 20.6 to > or = 21.6 Mbp. However, Southern blot analysis using a telomeric probe suggests that P. marneffei may possess as many as seven chromosomes, including two pairs of molecules that co-migrate under the CHEF separation conditions employed in this study. Hence, the total genome size of P. marneffei may be as large as 25.7 to > or = 26.7 Mbp. Further hybridization analysis mapped four chitin synthase homologues to specific chromosomes as well as genes for chitinase, malate synthase, isocitrate lyase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, 5.8S rRNA, and 23S rRNA. The mapping analyses also suggested the existence of multiple chitinase gene homologues in P. marneffei. The collective results of this investigation provide additional foundations for facilitating the genetic characterization of P. marneffei and the molecular epidemiology of penicilliosis due to this fungus.


Background Mobile health (mHealth) interventions, a more cost-effective approach compared with traditional methods of delivering lifestyle coaching in person, have been shown to improve physical parameters and lifestyle behavior among overweight populations. In Japan, the Specific Health Checkups and Specific Health Guidance (SHG) started in 2008 to treat obesity and abdominal obesity. However, the effectiveness of SHG is limited owing to its in-person counseling. The effect of mHealth on SHG has yet to be demonstrated. Objective This study aims to determine whether a mobile self-management app (DialBeticsLite) could make the SHG more beneficial among patients with abdominal obesity to achieve a reduction in visceral fat area (VFA). Methods This study was an open-label, 2-arm, parallel-design randomized controlled trial. We recruited 122 people in September 2017 and randomly assigned them into either the intervention or control group. All participants attended an educational group session that delivered information regarding diet and exercise. In addition, participants in the intervention group were asked to use DialBeticsLite for 3 months. DialBeticsLite facilitated the daily recording of several physical parameters and lifestyle behavior and provided feedback to encourage an improvement in behavior. The primary outcome was the change in VFA from baseline to the 3-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included changes in both physical and metabolic parameters from baseline to the 3-month follow-up. The Welch 2-tailed t test was conducted to analyze the effects of DialBeticsLite on both the primary and secondary outcomes. Results Of the 122 participants recruited, 75 (61.5%) were analyzed because 47 (38.5%) were excluded: 37 (30.3%) because of ineligibility and 10 (8.2%) because of withdrawal of consent. The mean age was 49.3 (SD 6.1) years in the intervention group (41/75, 55%) and 48.5 (SD 5.3) years in the control group (34/75, 45%), and all participants were men, although unintentionally. The baseline characteristics did not differ significantly between the intervention and control groups, except for VFA. The average change of VFA was −23.5 (SD 20.6) cm2 in the intervention group and +1.9 (SD 16.2) cm2 in the control group (P<.001). Statistically significant differences were also found for the change of body weight, BMI, and waist circumference. These findings did not change after adjusting for VFA at the baseline. The intervention had no significant effect on any of the metabolic parameters. An exploratory analysis showed significant associations between the change in VFA and steps per day and between the change in VFA and calorie intake per day within the intervention group. Conclusions Our findings indicate that an mHealth intervention facilitating the daily monitoring of several physical parameters and lifestyle behavior can be highly effective in inducing visceral fat loss and weight loss among adults eligible for SHG. Trial Registration UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000042045; https://tinyurl.com/4vat3v53


BACKGROUND
Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) is a useful therapeutic option in patients with locally advanced melanoma of the extremities. Because HILP allows very high doses of cytotoxic agents to be administered without systemic leakage, the theoretical risk of a secondary malignant neoplasm is real, particularly in the treated limb. Such an event has never been reported to our knowledge, however, possibly in part because survival in these patients is often too short to permit the development of chemo-induced cancers.

OBSERVATIONS
We describe 2 cases of secondary rare cancers in 2 elderly women: 1 fatal pleomorphic sarcoma and 1 Merkel cell carcinoma, which developed on the same limb 16 years after HILP for melanoma. The first patient had an exceptional prolonged complete response after HILP for unresectable regional metastases, while the second had been overtreated with HILP and dacarbazine in an adjuvant setting for an early-stage melanoma.

CONCLUSIONS
Because long-term survivors of regionally advanced melanoma, although rare, do exist, candidates for HILP should be warned of the risk of long-term development of nonmelanoma secondary cancers. The risk-benefit balance of high-dose local chemotherapy should be carefully evaluated in the light of these findings, especially in patients with early-stage melanoma or other non-life-threatening medical conditions.


In this paper we propose a novel salient object detection algorithm based on segments, named SODS (Salient Object Detection based on Segments). We first segment an input image, and then extract a set of features including multi-scale contrast, center-surround histogram, and color spatial distribution based on segments to describe a salient object locally, regionally, and globally. These three features are then combined linearly to get a saliency map to represent the salient object. We validate our approach on two public datasets. Experimental results prove that our method is much faster, more robust and accurate than existing salient object detection methods.


In previous work, the notions of Open, Interactive and Dynamic CSP have been independently defined. Open constraint satisfaction is a new model where values are incrementally gathered during problem solving. Domains are assumed unbounded. Interactive constraint satisfaction also deals with partially known domains, assuming implicitly that domains are finite. Dynamic constraint satisfaction deals with problems of dynamic nature (as configuration design or model composition) where variables, domains and constraints are subject to frequent changes. In this paper, we study the relationship between these three models, showing that Interactive CSP can be seen as a particular case of Open and Dynamic. We have applied two algorithms, FOCSP (developed for Open) and LC (developed for Dynamic) to solve Interactive CSP. We provide experimental results of this evaluation.


This paper proposes an application of neural network (NN) for aggregate bandwidth allocation of heterogeneous sources in ATM networks. The proposed method allocates bandwidth to guarantee the Quality of Service (QoS) for different service classes. The previous training algorithm, adaptive learning rate, was not efficient enough to recognize the relationship between traffic source parameters and their corresponding bandwidth. Thus, the Levenberg-Marquardt Algorithm is employed for training the neural network. The results show that neural network method trained by the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm is a promising and effective method to accurately and immediately allocate the bandwidth requirement leading to higher resource utilization and fast response.


Methods are used in every stage of dictionary-making and in every scientific analysis which is carried out in the field of dictionary research. This article presents some general considerations on methods in philosophy of science, gives an overview of many methods used in linguistics, in lexicography, dictionary research as well as of the areas these methods are applied in. Keywords: scientific methods; lexicographical methods; theory; metalexicography; dictionary research; practical lexicography; lexicographical process; systematic dictionary research; critical dictionary research; historical dictionary research; research on dictionary use


Precipitation phase determination is a known source of uncertainty in surface-based hydrological, ecological, safety, and climate models. This is primarily due to the surface precipitation phase being a result of cloud and atmospheric properties not measured at surface meteorological or hydrological stations. Adding to the uncertainty, many conceptual hydrological models use a 24-h average air temperature to determine the precipitation phase. However, meteorological changes to atmospheric properties that control the precipitation phase often substantially change at sub-daily timescales. Model uncertainty (precipitation phase error) using air temperature (AT), dew-point temperature (DP), and wet-bulb temperature (WB) thresholds were compared using averaged and time of observation readings at 1-, 3-, 6-, 12-, and 24-h periods. Precipitation phase uncertainty grew 35–65% from the use of 1–24 h data. Within a sub-dataset of observations occurring between AT −6 and 6 °C representing 57% of annual precipitation, misclassified precipitation was 7.9% 1 h and 11.8% 24 h. Of note, there was also little difference between 1 and 3 h uncertainty, typical time steps for surface meteorological observations.


5 Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have shaken the financial services industry to its deeply entrenched roots. Gone are the days of traditional banking, insurance, and brokerage transactions. In their wake is a global market of business opportunities with ICTs enabling the convergence of an expansive array of integrative financial services and new strategic directions for the seasoned players, as well as for a swelling crop of new participants. In just the past two years, new technologies, including general-packet radio services, component-based banking frameworks, XML-based messaging, and Web services, have spurred the creation of innovative financial implementations and transaction options. This month's special section spotlights these advances, presenting some of the dynamic new architectures and state-of-the-art examples of ICTs for financial services. Guest editors Kuldeep Kumar and Jos van Hillegersberg have pooled a select group of industry and academic leaders from three continents who offer unique perspectives on related business, technology, and work processes. In proposing this section, Kumar and van Hillegersberg noted the immeasurable value these technical advancements afford the financial community and the importance of embracing them. " Firms should not only have the requisite vision and strategy, they should also be nimble in creating and operating the business model and the associated enabling technology infrastructure. Strategy is easily formulated; agility and strength of execution distinguishes the winners. " Also in this issue, Devaraj and Babu offer a comprehensive model for measuring the effectiveness of technical training programs and how they translate to employee job performance. And a study by Xia and Lee illustrates why it is essential to fully understand the complexity of an IS development project before diving in. Chiang and Mookerjee argue that proper process design is crucial to team productivity. And Zhang et al. explore the recent advances in e-learning technology and practice, presenting experimental results comparing their effectiveness with conventional classroom learning. Finally, read how ACM stands for innovation and the free flow of information. In " Viewpoint, " ACM's Office of Public Policy Director Jeff Grove explains the Association's recent stand opposing legislative proposals seeking to expand U.S. intellectual property protec-tions governing access to and use of data collections. And on page 80 meet the candidates running ACM's 2004 General Election who introduce their credentials and address their plans—and stands—for the Association.


OBJECTIVES
The current study aimed to investigate extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) fecal carriage in children with different cancers admitted in the pediatric oncology unit of Beni-Messous Hospital (Algiers, Algeria).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Rectal swabs from children with cancer were sampled from February 2012 to May 2013 within 48 hours following their admission. After species identification and detection of ESBL production by double-disk synergy test (DD test), antibiotic susceptibility was determined by the standard disk diffusion method. Antibiotic resistance genes, including bla genes and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes, were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The phylogenetic grouping of Escherichia coli strains was determined by PCR.

RESULTS
Of the 171 children studied, 93 (54%) were ESBL carriers. An antibiotic treatment for the last 3 months before admission (p = 0.01), hematological malignancies (p = 0.003), and death (p = 0.0003) were more frequent in the ESBL-E group than in the non-ESBL group. Multivariate analysis showed that hematological malignancies (odds ratio [OR]: 3.9; confidence interval [CI]: 1.1-14.1; p = 0.04) and ESBL-E carriage (OR: 6.2; CI: 1.7-22.00; p = 0.005) were two independent factors associated with increased risk of death. A total of 103 ESBL-E isolates were obtained. Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli isolates were the most frequently isolated. PCR amplification showed that all the isolates produced a CTX-M ESBL (CTX-M-15, CTX-M-14, and CTX-M-3). The PMQR genes detected were qnrB, qnrS, and aac(6')-Ib-cr. E. coli isolates were assigned to four major extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli phylogroups, including B2 and D.

CONCLUSION
This study provides, for the first time, insight into epidemiology of the ESBL-E fecal carriage among children with cancer in Algeria.


ABSTRACT Hydrous ferric oxide (HFO)-impregnated agarose beads were prepared as an adsorbent to reduce As(III) concentration in the pharmaceutical wastewater effluent generated from the manufacturing process of an arsenic-containing chemotherapeutic drug. The adsorbent was prepared by immersing wet agarose beads into FeCl3 (aq), followed by another immersion into NaOH (aq), resulting in HFO precipitation directly within the agarose beads. The As(III) adsorption rate of HFO-impregnated agarose beads was determined to be external diffusion-limited, and having a Langmuir maximum adsorption capacity of 76.1 mg As(III)/g. Passing 6 L of the pharmaceutical wastewater through a packed column filled with the adsorbent in an upflow mode of 50 mL/min repeatedly for five times resulted in the reduction of As(III) concentration from 250 to 10 μg of As(III)/L of H2O. Column desorption was performed by passing 0.6 L of 0.1 M NaOH (aq) through the column in an upflow mode of 50 mL/min repeatedly for five times to regenerate the As(III)-adsorbed HFO-impregnated agarose beads. Chemical characterizations revealed that the As(III) species were adsorbed on HFO by the "inner-sphere" bidentate complexation via ligand exchange or "outer-sphere" association via electrostatic interaction, while the "outer-sphere"-associated As(III) species were most likely desorbed.


Playlist recommendation involves producing a set of songs that a user might enjoy. We investigate this problem in three cold-start scenarios: (i) cold playlists, where we recommend songs to form new personalised playlists for an existing user; (ii) cold users, where we recommend songs to form new playlists for a new user; and (iii) cold songs, where we recommend newly released songs to extend users' existing playlists. We propose a flexible multitask learning method to deal with all three settings. The method learns from user-curated playlists, and encourages songs in a playlist to be ranked higher than those that are not by minimising a bipartite ranking loss. Inspired by an equivalence between bipartite ranking and binary classification, we show how one can efficiently approximate an optimal solution of the multitask learning objective by minimising a classification loss. Empirical results on two real playlist datasets show the proposed approach has good performance for cold-start playlist recommendation.


This paper presents a new simple two-dimensional frame finite element able to accurately estimate the load-carrying capacity of reinforced concrete beams flexurally strengthened externally bonded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) strips and plates. The proposed analysis model considers distributed plasticity with layer-discretization of the cross-sections and the bond-slip behavior of epoxy layer. The proposed model is used to predict the load-carrying capacity and the applied load-midspan deflection response of RC beams subjected to bending loading. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements are compared based on numerous tests available in the literature and published by different authors. The numerically simulated response agree remarkably well with the corresponding experimental results. Thus, the proposed model is suitable for efficient and accurate modeling and analysis of flexural strengthening of RC beams with externally bonded FRP sheets/plates and for practical use in design-oriented parametric studies.


Background Positive psychosocial factors can play an important role in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Among them, psychological resilience (PR) is defined as the capacity of responding positively to stressful events. Our aim was to assess whether PR is associated with CVD or metabolic disturbances through a systematic review. Methods We gathered articles from PubMed, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar up to October 28, 2021. We included articles that were in English, were observational, and had PR examined as exposure. The CVD outcomes were either clinical or metabolic outcomes (i.e., dyslipidemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and diabetes). Results Our literature search identified 3,800 studies, of which 17 met the inclusion criteria. Of them, seven were longitudinal and 10 cross-sectional, and 13 were on adults and four on children. The exposure assessment was heterogeneous, i.e., 12 studies used different kinds of self-administered questionnaires and five used interviews with a psychologist. Regarding outcomes, five studies investigated CVD, seven obesity, one metabolic syndrome, two hypertension, four dyslipidemia, and four diabetes. In longitudinal studies, PR was found to have an inverse association with included outcomes in five studies from the Swedish military conscription cohort but had no association with CVD in a study on African-American women and was associated with slower progression of diabetes in a general population. The cross-sectional studies showed that the prevalence of disease was not associated with PR in many cases but the progression of disease was associated with PR. Conclusion PR seems to have a possibly favorable association with CVD and metabolic disturbances that differs according to the type of outcome and population. Our study limitations are given by the small number of studies available and the heterogeneity in PR measurement. Systematic Review Registration [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=237109], identifier [CRD42021237109].


Abstract. The Amundsen Sea is one of the regions with the highest primary productivity in the Antarctic. To better understand the role of the Southern Ocean in the global carbon cycle and in climate regulation, a better understanding of the variations in and environmental controls of primary productivity is needed. Using cluster analysis, the Amundsen Sea was divided into nine bioregions. The biophysical differences among bioregions enhanced confidence to identify priorities and regions to study the temporal and spatial variations in primary productivity. Four nearshore bioregions with high net primary productivity or rapidly increasing rates were selected to analyze temporal and spatial variations in primary productivity in the Amundsen Sea. Due to changes in net solar radiation and sea ice, primary production had significant seasonal variation in these four bioregions. The phenology had changed at two bioregions (3 and 5), which has the third and fourth highest primary production, due to changes in the dissolved iron, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations. Annual primary production showed increasing trends in these four bioregions. The variation in primary production in the bioregion (9), which has the highest primary production, was mainly affected by variations in sea surface temperatures. In the bioregion, which has the second-highest primary production (8), the primary production was significantly positively correlated with sea surface temperature and significantly negatively correlated with sea ice thickness. The long-term changes of primary productivity in bioregions 3 and 5 were thought to be related to changes in the dissolved iron, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate concentrations, and dissolved iron was the limiting factor in these two bioregions. Bioregionalization not only disentangle multiple factors that control the spatial differences, but also disentangle limiting factors that affect the phenology, decadal and long-term changes in primary productivity.


Short rate models are formulated in terms of a stochastic differential equation for the instantaneous interest rate, so called short rate. The interest rates with other maturities, forming the term structure of interest rates, are then determined by bond prices which are solutions to the partial differential equation. We study the Chan-Karolyi-Longstaff-Sanders model and estimate the dependence of volatility on the short rate using the observed term structures together with estimating the unobservable short rate process. Starting with minimizing the sum of squares of erros, we make two approximations of this original optimization problem: Firstly, we relax the constraints regarding zero short rates and allow only positive vales. Secondly, the partial differential equation for the bond prices has a closed form solution only in special cases, so we use an analytical approximation formula in a convenient form. Finally, we apply the proposed algorithm to real data.


The traditional view of cities as monocentric conglomerates of people clustered around an employment center, driving economic growth in cities that subsequently trickles down to the hinterland, is increasingly being challenged. In particular, the role of space, technological leadership, human capital, increasing returns to scale and industrial clustering as well as hierarchical organization principles have been emphasized in the more recent literature. This paper utilizes exploratory and spatial econometric data analysis techniques to investigate these issues for US counties using data from 1969 through 2003. Ultimately, contiguous and hierarchical organization and interaction patterns are captured using an endogenous growth model allowing for spatial effects, inspired by earlier work on human capital and technology gaps. We investigate a neoclassical growth model and compare it to a spatial version of an endogenous growth model allowing for "domestic" investment in human capital and catch-up to the technology leader, and find that human capital strongly contributes to growth in a neoclassical setting, but much less so in an endogenous setting. In the endogenous model the catch-up term dominates in comparison to "domestic" human capital effects.


In this paper, we consider a scenario where 3D scenes are modeled through a View+Depth representation. This representation is to be used at the rendering side to generate synthetic views for free viewpoint video. The encoding of both type of data (view and depth) is carried out using two H.264/AVC encoders. In this scenario we address the reduction of the encoding complexity of depth data. Firstly, an analysis of the Mode Decision and Motion Estimation processes has been conducted for both view and depth sequences, in order to capture the correlation between them. Taking advantage of this correlation, we propose a fast mode decision and motion estimation algorithm for the depth encoding. Results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the computational burden with a negligible loss in terms of quality of the rendered synthetic views. Quality measurements have been conducted using the Video Quality Metric.


Today there are a number of open source programming and affordable hardware platforms that can be used to implement low cost and interactive programs to promote innovation with various age groups. Arudino is an open-source microcontroller used in electronic prototyping. Arudino hardware and its components shall be looked at. Software and the Environment that Arudino runs on are both looked at too. Some applications will be taken as examples that can help to use Arudino in more interesting fields i.e. 3D Printing Technology. 3D printing is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is also considered distinct from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting or drilling. A materials printer usually performs 3D printing using digital technology. The 3D printing technology is used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing with applications in architecture, construction, industrial design, automotive, aerospace, military, engineering, civil engineering, dental and medical industries, biotech, fashion, footwear, jewellery, eyewear, education, geographic information systems, food, and many other fields. Open source 3D printing could become a mass market item because domestic 3D printers can offset their capital costs by enabling consumers to avoid costs associated with purchasing common household objects. The proposed system aims to be an affordable alternative to the household user, where currently 3D printing technology is still out of reach for the majority of the population.


The LFI radiometers use a pseudo-correlation design where the signal from the sky is continuously compared with a stable reference signal, provided by a cryogenic reference load system. The reference unit is composed by small pyramidal horns, one for each radiometer, 22 in total, facing small absorbing targets, made of a commercial resin ECCOSORB CRTM, cooled to ~ 4.5 K. Horns and targets are separated by a small gap to allow thermal decoupling. Target and horn design is optimized for each of the LFI bands, centered at 70, 44 and 30 GHz. Pyramidal horns are either machined inside the radiometer 20K module or connected via external electro-formed bended waveguides. The requirement of high stability of the reference signal imposed a careful design for the radiometric and thermal properties of the loads. Materials used for the manufacturing have been characterized for thermal, RF and mechanical properties. We describe in this paper the design and the performance of the reference system.


Abstract: A pressure vessel is designed for operation at room temperature and given design pressure. The paper analyzes the limit states of such a pressure vessel for a possible change of operational conditions. In the first case, plastic deformation of the pressure vessel is analyzed, while the second case deals with creep at elevated temperatures. Both global and local stress analyses were carried out.


Therapeutic hypothermia is currently recommended neuroprotective therapeutic measure for comatose patients after cardiac arrest. Hypothermia has been proven not only to affect the neurological outcomes but also the survival of patients after cardiac arrest. This communication summarizes the issue of early infectious complications in patients after cardiac arrest undergoing therapeutic hypothermia. Diagnosis of infectious events is complicated in patients after cardiac arrest not only by the physiological effects of therapeutic hypothermia but also by the consequences of reperfusion injury and development of postresuscitation disease associated with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Furthermore, there are discussed limited diagnostic options of infectious complications. The significance of the usual symptoms of infections is reduced, as well as the value of laboratory markers such as procalcitonin and C-reactive protein. Finally, the possibility of antibiotic treatment and eventual antibiotic prophylaxis during therapeutic hypothermia in patients after cardiac arrest outside hospitals is mentioned.


Recent advancements in the biological sciences have created new problems for computational biology. One such problem is determining the sequence of DNA. One of the options for speeding up this process is to exploit the parallel nature of a 'sequencing by hybridisation' experiment to obtain the information from the physical structure of DNA. Various methods have been proposed to reconstruct DNA sequences from SBH data, including hybrid genetic algorithms. We describe a genetic algorithm which is more robust than previous methods, and gives results with a similar level of accuracy to alternative methods. The performance of the genetic algorithm is compared to alternative hybrid genetic algorithms, and improvements in the time the algorithm takes to return a result are recorded. We conclude by arguing that robust genetic methods may offer techniques to further improve on current methods.


The paper is an attempt to offer textual readings of two works by Pakistani writers: Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Musharaf Ali Farooqi's Between Clay and Dust. It offers readings of these texts from the perspective of neoliberalism, especially with an accent on epistemological factors. It explains how as a zeitgeist of our times, neoliberalism controls, dominates and trespasses personal domains, favours the moneyed class and necessitates an epistemology that governs relationships within a human society, whether it is the first world i.e. the US or a South Asian city. Educational and cultural institutions, whether in the US or in Pakistan, the paper argues, are meaningful, according to the neoliberal epistemology, as long as they have their monetary or exchange value.


The work was performed with the aim of knowing the rainfall of the city of Quevedo in Ecuador, to improve the calendars of short-cycle crops, since this information is commonly required by farmers in the area and agricultural professionals who work as technical advisers. Processing a series of recordings of rainfall of 35 years belonging to the Pichilingue Weather Station of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology located on the premises of the National Agricultural Research Institute, the methodology applied was focuses on the determination of statisticians as the average, Standard Deviation, Variance, coefficient of variation, skewness and kurtosis coefficient; then based on the average are determined wet and dry periods the frequency and the intensity with which they occur. That also was detected in this town from 1980 to 2014 there were 10 dry periods and nine wet periods, which are presented with a frequency of 3,8 and 3,6 years respectively. Based on the results, the wet season is defined between the months of December to May and the dry season from June to November. The foil available average rain accumulated determined for the wet and dry periods has the following values: 953,3 mm, 2924,2 mm and an average of 2216,3 mm. Short-cycle crops of the area should be planted since the month of December to be exploited all the rain of the wet season.


This presentation will highlight the 'nuts and bolts' of peer transition programs that have been underway for some time at two universities. James Cook University first offered Kickstart in 1998 with an underlying philosophy of allowing experienced student mentors to design, develop and facilitate a short course that introduces first year students to the culture and environment of university life. The University of Newcastle developed Uni-start in 2006 along the same lines, and both institutions have continued to evaluate and refine their respective transition programs. Participants at this session will hear how the two institutions have collaborated, how these types of programs could be initiated in other universities and they will hear first-hand from some of the student facilitators and participants in the programs. The session will also briefly touch on the literature of peer involvement in the first year transition process as well as discuss the challenges of institutional implementation.


This paper attempts to give a comprehensive picture of the concept and therapeutic functions of the real relationship in clinical psychoanalysis. After introducing this theme, the author presents an extensive review of the literature, citing not only the major recent contributors to the concept but also many contributions from the past. A third part summarizes Freud's development of the analytic relationship and then quotes from Freud's patients' written accounts of their analyses in order to illustrate how Freud's actual analytic style contained many elements of a real relationship. The fourth part presents the author's own formulation of the therapeutic contributions of the real relationship to psychoanalysis and offers a clinical vignette as an illustration of its therapeutic role in the termination phase of an analysis.


ABSTRACT FNR-dependent activation of the Escherichia coli K-12 nrf promoter is downregulated by the nitric oxide-sensitive NsrR protein together with the nucleoid-associated protein IHF, which bind to overlapping targets adjacent to the DNA site for FNR. The NsrR target is inactivated by mutation at the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium nrf promoter.


Resource -constrained distributed systems such as the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing and fog computing are deployed for real-time monitoring and evaluation. Current security solutions are problematic when there is a centralized controlling entity. The blockchain provides decentralized security architectures using proof-of-work (PoW). Proof-of-work is an expensive process for IoT and edge computing due to the deployment of resource-constrained devices. This paper presents a novel consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Authentication (PoAh) to replace Proof-of-Work and introduce authentication in such environments to make the blockchain application-specific. This paper implemented the Proof-of-Authentication system to evaluate its sustainability and applicability for the IoT and edge computing. The evaluation process is conducted in both simulation and real-time testbeds to evaluate performance. Finally, the process of Proof-of-Authentication and its integration with blockchain in resource-constrained distributed systems is discussed. Our proposed PoAh, while running in limited computer resources (e.g. single-board computing devices like the Raspberry Pi) has a latency in the order of 3 secs.


ABSTRACT This article investigates the relationship between health status and time allocation decisions of individuals. Although many studies address impacts of health on labour supply, few studies explore associations of health status with non-market work activities. Using a nationally representative sample from a recent Turkish Time Use Survey, this article employs Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) framework to estimate multiple equations of various time use categories. Consistent with literature, empirical results indicate that higher levels of self-reported health status (SRHS) are associated with more time spent in market work. However, better health level is negatively correlated with time spent in leisure and sleep. There is mixed evidence between self-reported health status (SRHS) and time spent on non-market work. There is a negative weak association between health and time devoted to personal care. Finally, demographics such as gender, age, education and marital status display correlations with time allocation of Turkish individuals.


Sulfur is among the most promising cathodes for next-generation high energy storage systems. However, its practical applications have been hindered by its insulating nature (i.e., S and its discharge product Li2S), substantial volume changes, and detrimental shuttle effect (polysulfide intermediates). Nanostructured hosts with high conductivity and strong polysulfide entrapment are the prerequisites for high-capacity and long-cycle life Li–S batteries. Here, we report a carbonaceous host based on N, S co-doped carbon nanowall decorated graphene (NSCNW-G) via a supramolecular strategy, which simultaneously achieves abundant voids for sulfur species accommodation and fast redox kinetics of polysulfides. As a result, NSCNW-G/S delivers a high capacity of 1246 mA h g−1 at 0.02C, superb cycling stability with an ultralow decay rate of 0.021% per cycle for as long as 800 cycles at 0.5C, and a stable coulombic efficiency of up to 98% with a high mass loading of approximately 80 wt%. Even with a high areal loading of 3.2 mg cm−2, a capacity of 510 mA h g−1 is still retained after 300 cycles at 0.5C. Our present supramolecular strategy demonstrates a feasible pathway to the rational design of advanced carbonaceous materials for Li–S batteries and other electrochemical applications.


【In Korea, oysters are used as an ingredient of Kimchi (Korean pickled cabbage) in early winter. Although viral contamination of oysters, including contamination by norovirus, can provoke gastroenteric illness, little is known of the epidemiological relationship to outbreaks. We postulated that Kimchi ripening can reduce the infectivity of norovirus, in order to test this hypothesis, we carried out a model experiment. Since norovirus is currently regarded as non-culturable, feline calicivirus (FCV) was used as a surrogate to examine the activation of norovirus with Kimchi ripening. In commercial well-prepared Kimchi, the infectivity ( $TCID_{50}$ ) of FCV decreased by 2 log every 12 hours and reached the limit of detection after 48 hours during over-aging at $25^{\circ}C$ . During storage at $4^{\circ}C$ , the infectivity ( $TCID_{50}$ ) of FCV decreased slowly and reached 5.00 $TCID_{50}$ after 48 hours. The low pH appears to affect the infectivity of FCV directly via organic acids produced by ripening during over-aging and storage. In neutralized lab-prepared Kimchi (pH 7.0), the infectivity ( $TCID_{50}$ ) of FCV also decreased and reached the limit of detection after 72 hours at $4^{\circ}C$ . This indicates that there are substances beside organic acids in Kimchi that originate from the raw materials and are produced during ripening. Among the raw materials, salt-fermented anchovies and garlic showed high direct antiviral activity. The main factor decreasing the infectivity of FCV in Kimchi was the high acidity caused by organic acids, regardless of the type, produced by ripening. Furthermore, unknown secondary products of microorganisms associated with Kimchi ripening and antiviral materials originating from raw material might contribute to the decreased infectivity of FCV, the surrogate of norovirus.】


This study aims to find out the religious moderation oriented on local wisdom in the local community, the function of local wisdom in establishing a religious moderation climate, and local wisdom development strategies that contain elements of religious moderation that can be implemented in the policy. This study used descriptive research to explore the local wisdom in the developing community which interrelated with religious moderation. The study was conducted in Tana Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi Province. The data were collected through in-depth interviews with informants, document study, and field observations. The data collected then analyzed in the writing stage and were analyzed when being reduced, then were presented in the form of a description. The results of this study indicated as follows: (1) the religious moderation oriented local wisdom contained in the local community are Aluk Tondolo and the Tongkonan traditional house as parts of the culture and local wisdom of Tana Toraja, (2) The Tongkonan traditional house is a symbol of harmony and kinship which contains some local wisdom, including the Rambu Solo, Rambu Tuka and Karapasan ceremonies, in which the Karapasan Culture is believed by its adherents or the Toraja tribe to be a path towards peace, (3) The moderation of life with ambiance of harmony between religious communities has gone very well since the Toraja people know harmonious life between 2 (two) or more different religions.


Seismic full-waveform inversion (FWI) techniques aim to find a high-resolution subsurface geophysical model provided with waveform data. Some recent effort in data-driven FWI has shown some encouraging results in obtaining 2-D velocity maps. However, due to high computational complexity and large memory consumption, the reconstruction of 3-D high-resolution velocity maps via deep networks is still a great challenge. In this article, we present InversionNet3D (InvNet3D), an efficient and scalable encoder–decoder network for 3-D FWI. The proposed method employs group convolution in the encoder to establish an effective hierarchy for learning information from multiple sources while cutting down unnecessary parameters and operations at the same time. The introduction of invertible layers further reduces the memory consumption of intermediate features during training and, thus, enables the development of deeper networks with more layers and higher capacity as required by different application scenarios. Experiments on the 3-D Kimberlina dataset demonstrate that InvNet3D achieves state-of-the-art reconstruction performance with lower computational cost and lower memory footprint compared to the baseline.


This paper presents a real-time haptic rendering method for a realistic force feedback in a remote environment with varying communication time-delay. The remote environment is assumed as a virtual environment based on a computer graphics, for example, on-line shopping mall, internet game and cyber-education. The properties of a virtual object such as stiffness and viscosity are assumed to be unknown because they are changed according to the contact position and/or a penetrated depth into the object. The DARMAX model based output estimator is proposed to trace the correct impedance of the virtual object in real-time. The output estimator is developed on the input-output relationship. It can trace the varying impedance in real-time by virtue of P-matrix resetting algorithm. And the estimator can trace the correct impedance by using a white noise that prevents the biased input-output information. Realistic output forces are generated in real-time, by using the inputs and the estimated impedance, even though the communication time delay and the impedance of the virtual object are unknown and changed. The generated forces trace the analytical forces computed from the virtual model of the remote environment. Performance is demonstrated by experiments with a 1-dof haptic device and a spring-damper-based virtual model.