The satellite platforms allowed a very quick transition from local or regional Geodetic Reference Systems (GRSs) to the global ones. The evolution of methods also brought changes in the standards of precision and accuracy. Networks based on local Datums which had relative precision in the order of 1:100,000 to 1:150,000, like the classical networks in the Brazilian Geodetic System (BGS), could be easily replaced by networks constrained in geocentric Datums which reach relative precision of 1:10,000,000 or better and placed inside a concept of a Global Hierarchy. Besides the facilities for positioning, the modern satellite platforms of remote sensors are also applied for satellite altimetry, multi spectral imagery and on-board satellite gravimetry. This allows relevant geodetic information linked directly in global geocentric GRSs. Then, the modern orbital platforms changed completely the ability to capture, model and manage spatial data with strong implications in Geodesy and Cartography. The associated new data bases for Cartography have several new implications coming from the applied surveying methods and present paradigms of precision. Most of the implications come from the need of relating geometric and physical aspects. This happen due the necessary association of local measurements affected by the local gravity field to global oriented geocentric GRS. The modern Global Geopotential Models (GGMs) have a strong expectation for uses in the referred integration. In this paper are discussed the impacts of "spatial age" on the geodetic methods for surveying and mapping. The possible applications of GGMs for realizing fundamental geodetic networks, surveying and mapping are also discussed.


Common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) connecting two or more neighbouring plants are confirmed to transfer signals, whereas little information about CMNs effects on the signal substances production is known. In this study, a two-chambered rootbox separated by 37 µm nylon mesh was used to establish donor and receptor chambers. Two chambers both were planted with trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata) and then only donor chamber inoculated with Diversispora versiformis, Paraglomus occultum and Rhizoglomus intraradices. The roots of the donor and receptor plants both were mycorrhizated suggesting that CMNs were established between donor and receptor seedlings. Moreover, the AMF association dramatically increased plant height, stem diameter, leaf numbers, and shoot and root biomass in both the donor and receptor seedlings. The AMF inoculation in the donor plants and the subsequent mycorrhizal colonization by CMNs in the receptor plants significantly increased root calmodulin (CaM) and salicylic acid (SA) concentrations, while considerably decreased root nitric oxide (NO) and jasmonic acid (JA) concentrations. This was accompanied by down-regulated expression of three JA synthetic genes (PtLOX, PtAOS and PtAOC), regardless of donor and receptor seedlings. These results thus suggest that CMNs between trifoliate orange seedlings manifestly promote plant growth and affect the production of signal substances.


Estimating the result size of complex queries that involve selection on multiple attributes and the join of several relations is a difficult but fundamental task in database query processing. It arises in cost-based query optimization, query profiling, and approximate query answering. In this paper, we show how probabilistic graphical models can be effectively used for this task as an accurate and compact approximation of the joint frequency distribution of multiple attributes across multiple relations. Probabilistic Relational Models (PRMs) are a recent development that extends graphical statistical models such as Bayesian Networks to relational domains. They represent the statistical dependencies between attributes within a table, and between attributes across foreign-key joins. We provide an efficient algorithm for constructing a PRM front a database, and show how a PRM can be used to compute selectivity estimates for a broad class of queries. One of the major contributions of this work is a unified framework for the estimation of queries involving both select and foreign-key join operations. Furthermore, our approach is not limited to answering a small set of predetermined queries; a single model can be used to effectively estimate the sizes of a wide collection of potential queries across multiple tables. We present results for our approach on several real-world databases. For both single-table multi-attribute queries and a general class of select-join queries, our approach produces more accurate estimates than standard approaches to selectivity estimation, using comparable space and time.


In an intensively competitive market, it is difficult for retailers to take advantages from products, price, promotions and retailing network. Retail markets are increasingly competitive and retailers continuously look to differentiate their retail offerings. One way to differentiate is by providing a pleasant and exciting shopping ambience. Therefore, a store space becomes the place full of opportunities to differentiate itself from competitors in the market. Through improving the in- store environment, a store can create an effective consuming condition to stimulate consumers' immediate purchasing action. Retailers aim to provide customers a great experience across channels. In this paper we provide an overview of the existing literature on different atmospheric cues. This paper also presents the review of different theoretical models on consumer responses to atmospheric. The paper is based on exploratory research of the various experimental researches done in last 30 years on store atmospheric cues and its influence on consumer purchase.


In this paper, we investigate a sensory-motor architecture allowing a robot to learn to recognize postures. The learning is performed without a teaching signal that associates a specific posture with the robot's motor internal state. Our architecture assumes that the robot initially performs postures, then the human imitates them. An on-line learning scheme without an explicit reward or ad-hoc detection mechanism or a formatted teaching technique is proposed. Investigations on how a "naive" system can learn to imitate correctly another person's posture during a natural interaction motivate the current research work.


The study was conducted to investigate the conception rates of rabbit does fed Aspilia africana as forage using thirty (30) Dutch breed rabbit does of average age of 6 months which were randomly divided into three treatment groups with ten does per treatment. The treatment consisted of T1 - mixed forages (Ipomea batatas leaves, Centrosema pubescens, Musa sapientum leaves, Panicum maximum) without A. africana (control), T2 - fresh A. africana and T3 - wilted A. africana. Each treatment was replicated five times with two does per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The rabbits in all the treatment groups were fed 300 g of the same concentrate diet which contained 18.0% crude protein (CP) and 2620 kcal ME/kg throughout the study and 500 g of mixed forages which consisted of Ipomea batatas leaves, Centrosema pubescens, Musa sapientum leaves, and Panicum maximum from the commencement of the experiment until parturition. The test forage was introduced in treatments 2 and 3 following parturition. Does in the control group (T1) continued on the mixed forages fed during acclimatization. After weaning at four weeks, the does were remated two weeks later. Two weeks after remating, the does were palpated in the lower abdomen to confirm pregnancy. When no pregnancy was found, A. africana was suspended for three weeks. Three weeks later, the does were mated again. The study revealed no significant (P > 0.05) differences in daily feed intake of does among the various treatment groups throughout the study. Gestation length (29.10, 29.40, 29.20 for T1, T2 and T3 respectively), receptivity (3, 3, 2 for T1, T2 and T3 respectively) conception rates (96, 96, 99 for T1, T2 and T3 respectively) and ovarian weights (0.20, 0.22 and 0.20 for T1, T2 and T3 respectively) of the does in the various treatment groups showed no significant differences (P > 0.05) before the introduction of the test plants (A. africana). During the period of administration of the test plant, the treated groups T2 and T3 had significantly lower (P < 0.05) mean values for receptivity (T2 and T3 = 1) compared to T1 (3), conception rates for T2 and T3 were 0% and T1 was 100%. The gestation length for the control was 30.5 days while gestation was not recorded for T2 and T3 since they did not conceive at all. The ovarian weight of the control T1 (0.20 g) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than T2 and T3 both of which recorded 0.13 g for their ovarian weights. The study showed that the use of A. africana was deleterious to fertility in rabbits.


Violence against women is recognized as a violation of human rights and a threat to the achievement of gender  equality and development globally. Following suggested link between alcohol use and violence in previous studies,  this study investigates the role of alcohol use and violence in the reproduction of masculinity. Qualitative data from in-depth individual and group interviews with 413 men in 6 villages in Oron, Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria was used.  The data reveals that men use violence in various ways towards their spouses to curb attempts to spurn traditional gender roles. Underlying most of the incidences of male violence is heavy use of alcohol, which is a potent cultural symbol of masculinity. Heavy drinking is common in these communities and its role in the incidence of violence against women is established by the accounts of participants. The rationalization of male violence with reference to the use of alcohol makes it clear that both practices are mutually implicated in the reproduction of local images of masculinity. Policy on alcohol problems and gender-based violence needs to recognize the metonymic significance of drinking and violence in the definition of manhood. Key Words : Alcohol; Masculinity; Violence against Women; Nigeria


The role played by Hitler and Mussolini in Spain was played again in Guatemala last month by the Dulles brothers—John Foster at the State Department and Allen at the Central Intelligence Agency. The main difference is that Hitler and Mussolini were frankly fascists who reveled in the use of force and violence, while the Dulles brothers are devout Christians who never cease to proclaim their devotion to freedom, democracy, and peace. The performance is, if anything, more immoral and degrading for being shot through with hypocrisy.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


This work presents an efficient multi-banked architecture of the register file, and a low-power compiler support which reduces energy consumption in this device by more than a 78%. The key idea of this work is based on a quasi-deterministic interpretation of the register assignment task, and the use of the voltage scaling techniques.


This article shows the research results on the exhibitions devoted to Salvat-Papasseit and Raimon at Arts Santa Monica Creativity Centre, Barcelona. This article is part of a global research project on the presence of Catalonian museums in social media. The main goal of this research is to examine the dissemination and communication strategy used by Arts Santa Monica in social media platforms. Our methodology consisted in elaborating and applying quantitative and qualitative parameters and indicators for the analysis. Significant data were obtained using the tracking engine DigiDocSpider and were also provided by the centre itself. According to the results, Arts Santa Monica has a relevant presence on social networks and it is also very active on them. In addition, the centre has a very dynamic website and a significant number of visitors, both virtual and on-site. On the other hand, the results also show the necessity for using new generation tools and for information updates. We conclude this article by arguing for including the above-mentioned tools as a way to improve social participation in cultural life and social media, not only as a way to target audiences in exhibitions but also as actual tools of collective participation. We have used this research project to take a look at how literature is represented online, thus suggesting future research lines regarding both literature and digital technologies.


This study describes rates and correlates of disease progression and survival among 194 female sex workers in northern Thailand who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1; 96% with subtype E). The median rate of CD4 T lymphocyte decline (3.9 cells/microL/month), median time from infection to <200 CD4 T lymphocytes/microL (6.9 years), and time to 25% mortality (6.0 years) were similar to those found in studies performed in Western countries before highly active antiretroviral therapy was available to populations infected with HIV-1 subtype B. Mortality rates among women with >100,000 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL were 15.4 times higher (95% confidence interval, 5.2-45.2) than among women with <10,000 copies. Initial CD4 T lymphocyte counts and serum virus load were independently strong predictors of survival. These results can help in assessing the effects of the epidemic in Thailand and in determining the prognoses for individual patients.


The concept of the fuel cell traces its roots all the way back to William Grove's famous experiments on water electrolysis in 1839, but the commercialization history of fuel cell technologies remains rather limited over 150 years later. Throughout the later part of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, attempts were made to develop fuel cells that could directly convert coal or some other carbon material into electricity, but these attempts were unsuccessful because scientific knowledge of material properties and electrochemistry was lacking. The first fuel cell capable of producing significant quantities of electricity was developed by Francis Bacon in 1932. This system used an alkaline electrolyte and nickel electrodes to produce electricity using hydrogen and oxygen. By 1952, Bacon had produced a 5kW system, and this provided much of the basis for further work on fuel cells in the 1950s and 1960s. Fuel cell development received a boost in the late 1950s, when the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) determined that fuel cell technology was the most promising option for producing electricity in space in a compact and safe fashion. Nuclear power was considered too dangerous, batteries were too heavy, and solar power was too cumbersome. NASA eventually funded over 200 research contracts for fuel cell technology, and used both alkaline and proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) in the Apollo, Gemini, and space shuttle programs. The Gemini program utilized 1 kW PEMFC units from 1965 to 1966, while 1.5 kW alkaline fuel cell (AFC) units were used in the Apollo program from 1968 to 1972. More recently, three 12kW AFC units have been used for at least 87 missions with 65 000 h flight time in the space shuttle Orbiter.[1] Altogether more than 100 manned space flights have been made by the US, totaling over 90 000 h of operating time, and all of these have used fuel cell systems developed by the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) of Windsor, CT. The experience of UTC and its International Fuel Cells (IFC) unit with fuel cells for the space program led to the development of the first truly commercial fuel cell system, the PC25 phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) product. This stationary fuel cell generating system, now in its third generation design, produces electricity from natural gas that is reformed into a hydrogen-rich gas stream before being supplied to the fuel cell stack. PC25s were first manufactured by IFC's ONSI division in 1991, and approximately 200 of these 200kW fuel cell systems have now been purchased and deployed throughout the US and in other countries. Many of these systems were either procured under a US Department of Defense (DOD) fuel cell purchase program, where about 30 units were purchased and operated at US DOD facilities, or through a $1000kW−1 fuel cell purchase subsidy program also administered through the US DOD.[2] For motor vehicle applications, General Motors has the longest history among major automakers, having experimented with fuel cell technology in the 1960s and having demonstrated the world's first drivable fuel cell passenger vehicle in 1966. General Motors designed this vehicle, called the "Electrovan†, with liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks, and it achieved a range of 150 miles and a top speed of 70 miles h−1. The Electrovan program demonstrated General Motors' early interest in developing fuel cell vehicles for commercial use, but it also uncovered the several obstacles that then became the focus of research and development. These included the needs for improved electronics, breakthroughs in electrochemistry, and new fuel cell stack and system materials.[3] During the decade of the 1990s, fuel cells experienced an intense phase of research and development that led to the formation of many new companies and the establishment of new divisions within established companies, and a complex series of corporate mergers and re-organizations. Many different companies are now planning to commercialize several different fuel cell technologies for a wide range of markets. These fuel cell technologies include the PEMFC, AFC, and PAFC technologies mentioned above, but also higher temperature solid-oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) types. A variation of the PEMFC can also use methanol directly, without first reforming it into hydrogen; it is known as a direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC). There also is an interesting class of metal/air fuel cells that could also be considered "mechanically recharged†batteries, and that may be attractive for certain niche applications. Fuel cells are currently being developed for the following applications: • power for portable electronic devices (5–50W) • power for remote telecommunications applications (100W–1 kW) • power for construction and outdoor recreational uses (1–3 kW) • auxiliary power units for cars and trucks, and motive power for scooters (3–5 kW) • stationary power generation (1 kW–50MW) • electric passenger car, utility vehicle, and bus power systems (20kW–250 kW). Some fuel cell companies are focusing on a single fuel cell type and application combination, while other companies are investigating more than one fuel cell technology and various potential applications. The following sections of this chapter briefly describe the current state of fuel cell industries for the stationary power and transportation markets, some of the commercialization plans for these two sectors, and additional thoughts about prospects for market commercialization of fuel cell technology. We do not discuss in detail the prospects for fuel cell for portable electronic devices, since this application is rather distinct and still at a relatively early stage of development.


Tourism Marketing Strategy Through Instagram (Case Study of Blitar Chocolate Village). This type of research uses primary data and secondary data using qualitative research. The number of informants in this study amounted to 13 people (managers, employees, parking attendants, traders and visitors). Data collection techniques were carried out by means of interviews (interviews), and observations (observations), directly from respondents who were selected as samples. Based on the results obtained using qualitative analysis, it can be concluded in this study that the reasons why currently switching ways from conventional methods to Instagram marketing are, firstly because of technological advances, consumers are more inclined to use Instagram social media, secondly by using social media marketing in particular. Instagram can reduce prices in marketing financing, thirdly by utilizing influencers to further improve marketing on Instagram, and have a positive impact on the progress of Chocolate Village, lastly, the role of the variable place in the marketing mix can make visitors come back to Chocolate Village because Chocolate Village provides and presents an attractive place atmosphere for consumers and the price is also in accordance with the consumer's pocket. With advances in technology and promotional strategies can immediately move the hearts of consumers.


A differential between the corporate income tax rate and the personal income tax rates applied to non-corporate income can play an important role in a firm's choice of organizational form. The impact and interdependency of income tax incentives are crucial factors in the design of efficient tax policies. In this paper I exploit the variation in income taxes across U.S. states in the early 20th century to estimate these sensitivities. The potential endogeneity of state taxes is addressed using an instrumental variables approach. The results demonstrate that the relative taxation of corporate to personal income has a significant impact on the corporate share of economic activities. On average, a ten percentage point increase in the corporate tax rate is associated with a 0.2 to 0.3 percent decrease in the corporate share of economic activities, while a ten percentage point increase in the personal income tax rates applied to non-corporate income raises the corporate share of economic activities by 0.5 to 0.6 percent.


Alveolar Macrophages (AMs) are unique innate immune cells that reside in the alveolar space and accommodate the ever-changing needs of the lungs against internal and external challenges. During homeostasis, AMs maintain themselves through self-renewal without input from adult hematopoietic stem cells. Currently, little is known regarding the influence of aging on AM dynamics, heterogeneity and transcriptional profiles. Here, we identified CBFβ as an indispensable transcription factor that ensures AM self-renewal. Deficiency in CBFβ led to decreased proliferation and self-renewal ability of AMs. Moreover, with single cell RNA sequencing analysis of AMs from young and aged mice, we discovered that despite similarities in the transcriptome of proliferating cells, AMs from the aged mice exhibited reduced embryotic stem cell-like features. Aged AMs also showed diminished capacity for DNA repair, potentially contributing to impaired cell cycle progression and elevation of senescence markers. In accordance with the analysis, we observed reduced number of AMs in aged mice, which had defective self-renewal ability and were more sensitive to the reduction of GM-CSF. Interestingly, decreased CBFβ was observed in the cytosol of AMs from aged mice. A similar senescence-like phenotype was also found in human AMs. Taken together, we conclude that AMs in the aged host harbor a senescence-like phenotype, potentially mediated by the activity of CBFβ. Highlights scRNAseq revealed Alveolar Macrophage (AM) heterogeneity and self-renewal CBFβ is associated with AM cell cycle and facilitate AM self-renewal AMs displayed a senescence-like phenotype during physiological Aging Aging impairs CBFβ expression in mouse and human AMs


The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis of the involvement of type II fibres in the V.O (2) slow component phenomenon by using two prior fatiguing protocols on the knee extensor muscles. Nine subjects performed three constant-load cycling exercises at a work rate corresponding to 80 % of their V.O (2) max: (i) preceded by a 20-min fatiguing protocol using electromyostimulation (EMS), (ii) preceded by a 20-min fatiguing protocol using voluntary contractions (VOL), and (iii) without fatiguing protocol (NFP). Voluntary and evoked neuromuscular properties of the knee extensor muscles were tested before (PRE) and after (POST) the two fatiguing protocols. Results show a significant reduction in voluntary force after both fatiguing protocols (-19.9 % and -11.8 %, in EMS and VOL, respectively p<0.01). After EMS, this decrease was greater than after VOL (p<0.05) and was combined with a slackening of muscle contractile properties which was absent after VOL (p<0.05). Regarding the effects on oxygen uptake kinetics, the appearance of the slow component was delayed after EMS and its amplitude was lower than those obtained in VOL and NFP conditions (0.48+/-0.07 vs. 0.75+/-0.09 and 0.69+/-0.08 L . min (-1), respectively; p<0.05). It can thus be concluded that exercises dedicated to preferentially fatiguing type II fibres may alter V.O (2) kinetics.


For "Science", in the overall title, read "Mathematics"; for it is only the philosophy that is essentially scientific—the techniques are mathematical ones. Indeed, although the major part of the four-book series is devoted to statistical procedures, simple graph theory, topological transformations, geometrical formulae, proportionality and even areal coordinates all squeeze in as well. The series is actually aimed at the sixth form geography teacher, to update him or her on the fashionable quantitative geography now creeping in to A Level syllabi. However, the material could equally well be read with profit by teachers of mathematics at any level to give insight into contemporary applications. Its uses range from enabling realistic problems to be set to the second form when they first encounter networks, to keeping the upper sixth form quiet trying to derive the formula 1 l(2Vp) quoted as giving the expected distance between a town and its nearest neighbour if townships are randomly distributed with density p per unit area. Indeed, many such fascinating problems are posed; for instance, how do you define an index of 'long-and-thin-ness' for the shape of a county, and does this affect the connectedness of its transportation networks? Plenty of 'real' data is quoted, gathered from pupil projects as well as economic and geographical reference books, and situations could often be adapted to local environmental conditions. Teachers of statistics, who often at school level find a considerable proportion of their students are also studying geography, may be interested to note that geographers appear to favour non-parametric rather than classical methods. They would almost certainly appreciate the clear descriptions of the use of the Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon and run tests, and of Kendall's and Spearman's (but not Pearson's) correlation coefficients. The series is pleasant to read and attractively produced, four slim volumes appearing far less daunting than a single tome. In fact, if one were pushed, one could afford to omit the first which acts rather as a preview; the meat is mainly in the third and fourth books. It is always a temptation for a mathematician to criticise the way mathematics is used by writers from other disciplines. These books are certainly not free from misconceptions but most of them are not important in practice (they may be more so in theory, but this is after all a book addressed to potential users). It would certainly be churlish to be too pedantic when this material has so many ideas to offer to those who teach mathematics or statistics at school or as a service subject in further or higher education.


The $k$-Nearest Neighbor Search ($k$-NNS) is the backbone of several cloud-based services such as recommender systems, face recognition, and database search on text and images. In these services, the client sends the query to the cloud server and receives the response in which case the query and response are revealed to the service provider. Such data disclosures are unacceptable in several scenarios due to the sensitivity of data and/or privacy laws.
In this paper, we introduce SANNS, a system for secure $k$-NNS that keeps client's query and the search result confidential. SANNS comprises two protocols: an optimized linear scan and a protocol based on a novel sublinear time clustering-based algorithm. We prove the security of both protocols in the standard semi-honest model. The protocols are built upon several state-of-the-art cryptographic primitives such as lattice-based additively homomorphic encryption, distributed oblivious RAM, and garbled circuits. We provide several contributions to each of these primitives which are applicable to other secure computation tasks. Both of our protocols rely on a new circuit for the approximate top-$k$ selection from $n$ numbers that is built from $O(n + k^2)$ comparators.
We have implemented our proposed system and performed extensive experimental results on four datasets in two different computation environments, demonstrating more than $18-31\times$ faster response time compared to optimally implemented protocols from the prior work. Moreover, SANNS is the first work that scales to the database of 10 million entries, pushing the limit by more than two orders of magnitude.


Abstract Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) are one of the most developed and used nanomaterials in biotechnology and microbiology. These particles have unique physicochemical properties, which make them unique among nanomaterials. Therefore, many experiments have been conducted to develop facile synthesis methods for these particles and to make them biocompatible. Various effects of IONs on microorganisms have been reported. Depending on the microbial strain and nanoparticle (NP) concentration, IONs can stimulate or inhibit microbial growth. Due to the superparamagnetic properties of IONs, these NPs have used as nano sources of heat for hyperthermia in infected tissues. Antibiotic-loaded IONs are used for targeted delivery of chemical therapy direct to the infected organ and IONs have been used as a dirigible carrier for more potent antimicrobial nanomaterials such as silver nanoparticles. Magnetic NPs have been used for specific separation of pathogen and non-pathogen bacterial strains. Very recently, IONs were used as a novel tool for magnetic immobilization of microbial cells and process intensification in a biotechnological process. This review provides an overview of application of IONs in different microbial processes. Recommendations are also given for areas of future research.


Background Rapid molecular diagnostic testing has the potential to improve the early recognition of meningococcal disease (MD). The aim of this study was to report on the diagnostic test accuracy of point-of-care loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in the diagnosis of MD. Design Data were collected prospectively from three UK emergency departments (ED) between November 2017 and June 2019. Consecutive children under 18 years of age attending the ED with features of MD were eligible for inclusion. The meningococcal LAMP test (index test) was performed on a dry swab of the child's oropharynx. Reference standard testing was the confirmation of invasive MD defined as positive N. meningitidis culture or PCR result from a sterile body site (blood or cerebrospinal fluid). Results There were 260 children included in the final analysis. The median age was 2 years 11 months and 169 (65%) children were aged 5 years or younger. The LAMP test was negative in 246 children and positive in 14 children. Of the 14 children with positive LAMP tests, there were five cases of invasive MD. Of the 246 children with negative LAMP tests, there were no cases of invasive MD. The sensitivity of LAMP testing was 1.00 and the specificity was 0.97. The negative and positive predictive values were 1.00 and 0.36, respectively. The positive likelihood ratio was 28.3. Discussion Non-invasive LAMP testing using oropharyngeal swabs provided an accurate fast and minimally invasive mechanism for predicting invasive MD in this study. Trial registration number NCT03378258.


This paper is reproduced from Publ. Astron. Soc. Pac., Vol. 37, p. 307 -318 (1925) to celebrate the centenary of the Publications. See also 004.048.


Antibiotics resistance is a rapidly emerging issue through the misuse of antibiotics to treat human and animalrelated infections. The use of beta-lactams has increased considerably since its discovery so also resistant genes leading to Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBL) mediated by the presence of blaCTX-M , blaTEM and blaSHV genes present in most Gram-negative bacteria. This study aimed to detect the widespread distribution of ESBL genes from fomites, healthcare workers, and patients suffering from urinary tract infection in two hospitals in  Lagos state, Nigeria. A total of 150 swab samples were collected from fomites, health care workers, and cathetersof patients suffering from urinary tract infection (UTI). Antibiotics susceptibility test was performed by Kirby- Bauer technique according to CLSI guidelines. Organisms that tested positive phenotypically for ESBL were subjected to PCR for molecular analysis. ESBL prevalence rate of 21.8% and a carbapenemase-resistance rate of 16.7% were recorded. The ESBL producing isolates showed the highest resistance to ceftriaxone (82.4%) and the least resistance to tigecycline (5.9%). The existence of blaCTX-M and blaTEM was detected in 76.5% and 17.6% of the isolates respectively, while bla encoding gene was not detected in this study. The distribution of blaSHV genes detected in this study is of great concern which necessitates strict control measures in the usage of antibiotics especially the third-generation cephalosporin. In summary, the presence and distribution of ESBL encoding genes within two hospitals in Lagos were tested and the highest occurrence was recorded in blaCTX-M gene  reducing and limiting the available treatment option for infections.


Antibacterial resistance is one of the 2019 World Health Organization's top ten threats to public health worldwide. Hence, the emergence of β-lactam and colistin resistance among Gram-negative bacteria has become a serious concern. The reservoirs for such bacteria are increasing not only in hospital settings but in several other sources, including vegetables and fruit. In recent years, fresh produce gained important attention due to its consumption in healthy diets combined with a low energy density. However, since fresh produce is often consumed raw, it may also be a source of foodborne disease and a reservoir for antibiotic resistant Gram-negative bacteria including those producing extended-spectrum β-lactamase, cephalosporinase and carbapenemase enzymes, as well as those harboring the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance (mcr) gene. This review aims to provide an overview of the currently available scientific literature on the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases, cephalosporinase, carbapenemase and mcr genes in Gram-negative bacteria in vegetables and fruit with a focus on the possible contamination pathways in fresh produce.


The CFC supports SCRIMAD, a family-owned business in Madagascar which aggregates and processes organic fruit and spices from local farming cooperatives for export to international markets. The company was created in 1993, and initially focused on livestock, and later, on lychees. Over the years, the company has diversified their offering to include a wider range of fruits and spices as well as fruit purees and juices. SCRIMAD has also invested in changes to gain organic, Fairtrade, Global GAP, HACCP, Agriculture Biologique, Kosher, and Halal certifications. These improvements and innovations have resulted in increased incomes for the farmers they work with.


Large granular lymphocytes that strongly express CD56 (CD56++ LGL) constitute a major population of leukocytes in the secretory endometrium and pregnancy decidua and are considered to be involved in reproductive immunity and in maintaining the pregnancy. The present study aimed to reveal the relationship between the characteristic changes of CD56++ LGL and altered hormonal environment and/or trophoblast invasion in the endometrium. Cell surface markers of CD56++ LGL obtained from the endometrium during the menstrual cycle and early pregnancy were analysed using flow cytometry. The percentages of both CD56++ LGL that express activation antigens (CD69, HLA-DR) and those that express lymphocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) (CD11a/CD18) were highest in the proliferative phase and decreased gradually throughout the menstrual cycle. Expression of these antigens was further suppressed in the late secretory phase, as well as in the early stage of pregnancy. However, the percentage of CD56++ LGL that express these antigens was significantly higher in spontaneous abortions than in normal pregnancies. On the other hand, the percentage of CD56++ LGL that express CD45RA was lower during normal pregnancy than during the menstrual cycle. The present results suggest that characteristics alterations of CD56++ LGL are regulated by altered hormonal environment and by trophoblast invasion.


Introduction: Suicide rates have risen in Hispanic communities since 2015, and poverty rates among Hispanics often exceed the national average. Suicidality is a complex phenomenon. Mental illness may not alone explain whether suicidal thoughts or behaviors will occur; it remains uncertain how poverty affects suicidality among Hispanic persons with known mental health conditions. Our objective was to examine whether poverty was associated with suicidal ideation among Hispanic mental healthcare patients from 2016 to 2019. Methods: We used de-identified electronic health record (EHR) data from Holmusk, captured using the MindLinc EHR system. Our analytic sample included 4,718 Hispanic patient-year observations from 13 states. Holmusk uses deep-learning natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to quantify free-text patient assessment data and poverty for mental health patients. We conducted a pooled cross-sectional analysis and estimated logistic regression models. Results: Hispanic mental health patients who experienced poverty had 1.55 greater odds of having suicidal thoughts in a given year than patients who did not experience poverty. Conclusion: Poverty may put Hispanic patients at greater risk for suicidal thoughts even when they are already receiving treatment for psychiatric conditions. NLP appears to be a promising approach for categorizing free-text information on social circumstances affecting suicidality in clinical settings.


The field of microbial ecology has just entered a new era of rapid technological development and generation of big data. The highthroughput sequencing techniques presently available provide an opportunity to extensively inventorize the blueprints of life. Now, millions of microbes of natural microbial communities can be studied simultaneously without prior cultivation. New species and new functions (genes) can be discovered just by mining sequencing data. However, there is still a tremendous number of microorganisms not yet examined, nor are the ecosystem functions these carry out. The modern genomic technologies can contribute to solve environmental problems and help us understand ecosystems, but to most efficiently do so, methods need to be continuously optimised. During my Ph. D. studies, I developed a method to survey eukaryotic microbial diversity with a higher accuracy, and applied various sequencing-based approaches in an attempt to answer questions of importance in environmental research and ecology. In PAPER-I, we developed a set of 18S rRNA gene PCR primers with high taxonomic coverage, meeting the requirements of currently popular sequencing technologies and matching the richness of 18S rRNA reference sequences accumulated so far. In PAPER-II, we conducted the first sequencingbased spatial survey on the combined eukaryotic and bacterial planktonic community in the Baltic Sea to uncover the relationship of microbial diversity and environmental conditions. Here, the 18S primers designed in PAPER-I and a pair of broad-coverage 16S primers were employed to target the rRNA genes of protists and bacterioplankton for amplicon sequencing. In PAPER-III, we integrated metagenomic, metabarcoding, and metatranscriptomic data in an effort to scrutinise the protein synthesis potential (i.e., activity) of microbes in the sediment at a depth of 460 m in the Baltic Sea and, thus, disclosing microbial diversity and their possible ecological functions within such an extreme environment. Lastly, in PAPER-IV, we compared the performance of E. coli culturing, high-


The authors'surgical experience on 14 patients with ovarian cancer recurrences in paraortic lymph nodes --infrarenal and suprarenal-celiac and triad, were presented. Complete cytoreduction was achivied in all recurrent patients (no visible tumor). The median time to recurrence was 16,5 months (from 10 to 36 months). The median operating time was 90 min (range from 30 to 120 min). The median blood loss was 200 ml (from 100 to 300 ml.). No intra- or postoperative complications were noted. The median postoperative period was 5 days (from 4 to 6 days).


The field of human behaviour simulation is vast and includes intelligent behaviour of platforms as well as humanoids capable of a spoken dialogue. Implementations of human behaviour range from complex models trying to replicate perception processes, biological and cognitive functions, emotions, memory etc to simple rule based algorithms. Since the different approaches to human behaviour simulation is so different, there has been little standardization efforts in this area. A first approach to start standardization in the field of human behaviour could be to look at a human being as a black box and try to define the communication interfaces, i.e. the verbal and nonverbal communication. The interface could then be divided in three main areas: speech, visual appearance and body motion including gestures and mimic. The speech area could be compared to the simulation of radio communication in DIS and HLA RPR-FOM. In the same way as the characteristics of a radio transmitter is defined in a Transmitter PDU, we need to define the characteristics of a voice, such as whether it's a male or female voice, the pitch and speed of the voice, accents, emotional characteristics, having a cold etc. For these purposes there are a number more or less standardised protocols for voice rating, for example GRBAS (Ishiki et al, 1969) or SVEA (Hammarberg, 2000) developed for slightly different purposes by the speech therapist community. The content of the speech could be transmitted in a similar way as the Signal PDU. There are currently several standards developed for speech based man-machine communication such as VoiceXML, SALT. These standards include both speech recognition grammar and speech synthesis specifications. In computer games visual appearance is defined using Open Flight files or similar standards. However, if two human CGF's need to interact, an ontology and representation of clothing is needed in a more linguistic way. Using this representation a visualization could map this data onto an applicable Open Flight representations. Regarding body movement, there are a number of different standards. As an example, the MPEG-4 standard defines 64 points in a human face which may be altered. The representation probably needs to be at a higher level, for instance representing different emotions. Finally, the different modalities, speech, visual appearance and body motion have to be studied and described in relation to each other. Several attempts have been made for describing and standardizing human multimodal interaction. For instance, Bernsen (1997) has proposed a taxonomy for output modalities. Martin et al (2004) presented a long list of projects, initiatives and organisations that have addressed the issue of multimodal communication. This paper studies different applicable standards, which may be used to define ontology and representation for human interaction and how they could be mapped onto a Human Interaction FOM or BOMs. By doing this, interaction between different human behaviour models and humans will be simplified.


The institutionalised children are the most vulnerable group in our society and they show many problems.To
improve institutionalized children's protection there is an urgent need to understand the various issues faced
by them and find out remedial measures.To ensure the care and protection of institutionalised children,the
Kerala state government has launched foster care scheme under the department of women and child
development.This study is based on the group discussion by researcher with the institutionalised children
who are experiencing foster care.
The objective of the study is to understand the foster care experience of institutionalised children and
also understand their happiness and wellbeing during the period of foster caring.The researcher selected
focus group discussion method for collecting data.Researcher made two focus group discussion with
institutionalised children who are experiencing foster care.The group include six girls and another group
contain seven boys. Hence the total respondents were thirteen in number
Result and Conclusion:The experience of foster care children from foster families are very positive.They
are satisfied with the care,love and facilities which are provided by their foster parents and sibilings.The
children can transform their lives during the foster care period.Many children have the wish to return their
foster family.


We have adapted a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method to detect nascent RNA molecules of the imprinted SNRPN gene at the initial transcription sites in nuclei of human HL60 and WI38 cells. Simultaneous detection of RNA and DNA of SNRPN by FISH using the cosmid probe confirmed its monoallelic expression in these cell lines. Treatment of both cells by inhibitors of DNA methylation and histone deacetylation resulted in time-dependent increase of the cell population with the biallelic expression of SNRPN.


We consider interacting electrons in a one-dimensional lattice with an incommensurate Aubry-André potential in the regime when the single-particle eigenstates are localized. We rigorously establish the persistence of ground state localization in the presence of weak many-body interaction, for almost all the chemical potentials. The proof uses a quantum many-body extension of methods adopted for the stability of tori of nearly integrable Hamiltonian systems and relies on number-theoretic properties of the potential incommensurate frequency.


Many popular volcano books have appeared over the last few years; for example, Vulcan's Fury by A. Scarth, Melting the Earth by H. Sigurdsson, and Volcanoes in Human History by J.Z. deBoer and D.T.Sanders. All of these books have their own qualities. Duffield's Chasing Lava: A Geologist's Adventures at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory stands apart from that crowded field and is comparable to Out of the Crater by R.V Fisher. The book presents a very personal view of volcanology, erupting volcanoes, and what it means to be part of a team that investigates them. The author mixes scientific observations with accounts of the grandeur of Hawaii, musings about his own personal life 30 years ago, and the pleasure that one derives from working in an organization like the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) on a gorgeous tropical island.


Clock synchronization protocols in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) provide a uniform notion of time which is required by both system as well as application level programs of WSNs. Since nodes have limited energy, it is required that the energy consumed by the clock synchronization protocols is as minimum as possible. Synchronous clock synchronization protocols execute their clock synchronization process at each node, roughly during the same real-time interval, called synchronization phase. The energy consumed by these protocols depends on the duration of the synchronization phase and how frequently the synchronization phase is executed. Hence, to minimize the energy consumption by each node, the duration of synchronization phase should be as small as possible, and the interval between consecutive synchronization phases as large as possible. Due to different drift rates of the clocks, the synchronization phases at different nodes drift apart and special techniques are required to keep them in sync. Keeping synchronization phases at neighbouring nodes in sync helps to reduce the synchronization phase. In this paper, we propose a novel technique using TDMA-based MAC protocol to keep the synchronization phases at neighbouring nodes in sync much more tightly than the existing techniques. We have applied the technique in the improved weighted-average based clock synchronization (IWICS) protocol to reduce the synchronization phase considerably and the modified TDMA-based IWICS protocol is named TIWICS protocol. This reduction in energy consumption is achieved without reducing the synchronization accuracy. Simulation results obtained using Castalia network simulator and the experimental results obtained using a test bed of WSN consisting of a few TELUS motes confirm the effectiveness of the approach.


This study was designed to evaluate thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormones Concentrations. Setting of the present study was performed in Teaching Hospital in Erbil city Iraq from 1 st of October 2017 to 1 st of March 2018. A total of 433 female were participated for blood tests to estimate thyroid function. Only 323 (74.6%) cases showed overall variation in hormonal level and 110 (25.4%) cases were normal. According to educational statue most of cases were with Bachelor level (67%). Generally 291(90%) of cases were married. 52% of the cases were 41 to 45 age group and 14.2 % cases was in both 26 to 30 and 31-35 age groups. About 59 (18.3%) cases had high TSH level only 13 (4%) case is considered as hypothyroidism when examined by consultation and collaboration with senior physician, while 54 (16.7%) cases had low TSH level but 41(12.7%) cases were considered hyperthyroidism. The result shows that 4 (1.7%) case have high T3 level and 52 (16.09%) case have low T3 level. While 26(8.04%) case have high T4 level and 61 (18.9%) case have low T4 level. In conclusion, we believe that thyroid diseases are more prevalent in women in Erbil and hyperthyroidism patient was more than hypothyroidism.


We present a review of magneto-optical experiments and theoretical calculations which have been used to examine the influences of dimensionality and many electron effects on electron-optic-phonon coupling in low dimensional structures of GaAs-(Ga,Al)As.


This is the first record of intersexuality to have been found within the Cephalopoda. Seven out of 16 sexually mature Ancistrocheirus lesueurii males from southern African waters had nidamental glands in the mantle cavity in addition to a normally developed male reproductive system (spermatophoric complex, testis and hectocotylus). The frequency of occurrence suggests that feminization in male A. lesueurii is not a rare phenomenon in the south-eastern Atlantic. Normal A. lesueurii shows sexual size dimorphism, with females growing larger than males. The intersexual males formed a distinct size group intermediate between normal males and females, and their testis mass and spermatophore length were significantly larger than in normal males. The absence of oocytes and oviducts in intersexual males indicates that feminization represents pseudohermaphroditism. Intersexuality does not seem to affect male functionality and is apparently advantageous in that larger body size is accompanied by larger testis and spermatophores.


Advances in nanotechnology enable scientists for the first time to study biological processes on a nanoscale molecule-by-molecule basis. A surprising discovery from recent nanoscale single-molecule biophysics experiments is that biological reactions involving enzymes behave fundamentally differently from what classical theory predicts. In this article we introduce a stochastic network model to explain the experimental puzzles (by modeling enzymatic reactions as a stochastic network connected by different enzyme conformations). Detailed analyses of the model, including analyses of the first-passage-time distributions and goodness of fit, show that the stochastic network model is capable of explaining the experimental surprises. The model is analytically tractable and closely fits experimental data. The biological/chemical meaning of the model is discussed.


The variational expectation maximization (VEM) algorithm has recently been increasingly used to replace the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm in Gaussian mixture model (GMM) based statistical image segmentation. However, the VEM algorithm, similar to its traditional counterpart, suffers from the sensitiveness to initializations, and hence is prone to be trapped into local minima. In this paper, we introduce the differential evolution (DE), which is a population-based global optimization approach, to the variational Bayes inference of posterior distributions, and thus propose the DE-VEM algorithm for the segmentation of gray matter, white matter, and cerebrospinal fluid in brain PET-CT images. By combining the advantages of both variational inference and evolutionary computing, this algorithm has the ability to avoid over-fitting and local convergence. To use the prior anatomical knowledge available for brain images, we also incorporate the spatial constraints derived from the probabilistic brain atlas into the segmentation process. We compare our algorithm to the VEM algorithm and the segmentation routine used in the statistical parametric mapping package in 27 clinical PET-CT studies. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can segment brain PET-CT images more accurately.


This Best Practices session described the issues involved in making the transition from a traditional face-to-face teaching format to e-learning. Many educators believe that e-learning is incapable of meeting the needs of today's students. Others fear the use of new technology. Still others prefer the personal interaction afforded by the traditional classroom experience. The allure of face-to-face interaction remains strong, biasing some educators against attempting to teach electronically. The presenter described his personal and professional reactions to making this switch and addressed several topics relevant to instructors new to e-learning including: learning the Blackboard platform; properly organizing your course; instructor's time; interaction with students; the importance of timely and in-depth feedback; and the benefits of e-learning to students and instructors.


Innovation adoption is of utmost importance for company survival. That is why it is important to develop a thorough understanding of this research domain and the themes it encapsulates. Since the early work of Everett Rogers, the adoption of innovation literature has attracted considerable attention and has continued to grow rapidly, resulting in a large but fragmented body of literature. The goal of this study is to provide a coherent overview of the theoretical cornerstones as well as recent research trends in the innovation adoption literature. To this end, we conducted a bibliometric review and performed bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis. First, based on co-citation analysis, we illustrate that innovation adoption research is built on four theoretical cornerstones including: institutional theory; theory of reasoned action; theory concerning the determinants of adoption, and; diffusion theory. Second, bibliographic coupling was used to assess the current research trends. This review is the first to identify thematic areas in an exhaustive manner revealing five clusters of thematic related publications or "research trends": determinants of IT adoption; adoption of technological standards; organizational rationales associated with adoption; modelling diffusion, and; adoption of agricultural innovations. We conclude this review with the limitations and future research orientations in the field of innovation adoption. 10.Van Oorschot, J.A.W.H., Hofman, E., & Halman, J.I.M. (2018). A bibliometric review of the innovation adoption literature. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 134, 1-21. The dataset necessary to reproduce the reported results is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.04.032.


The study of microbial sulfide oxidation and oxidation rates of tailings requires the use of sterile control samples in laboratory experiments for comparison purposes. The need for sterile tailings sand is also apparent in the study of microbial communities and processes. This study compares six different methods with regard to sterilisation efficiency and investigates chemical and mineralogical changes in the samples as the result of sample treatment. In addition, the effect of sterilisation on mineral weathering rates is also studied. The efficiency of the different methods with regard to sterility is estimated by most probable numbers (MPN) of both sulfur and iron oxidising bacteria. The sterilisation methods that were compared are: washing with sterile water, washing with ethanol, applying antibiotics, repeated heating to 70°C, autoclaving, and γ-irradiation. There are several possible drawbacks with the different methods, including the risk of an applied chemical acting as a substrate for micro-organisms in the system, and the risk of altering the tailings. The results show a substantial difference in sterilisation efficiency between the treatments. For example, autoclaving, repeated heating, ethanol and irradiation efficiently kill micro-organisms, rendering an undetectable amount of bacteria after one month of incubation, whilst washing with water exhibits virtually no microbiological effect, with a bacterial content comparable to the control. The use of antibiotics for sterilisation ranks intermediate: the lag-phase was twice as long in the antibiotics treatment compared with the controls. X-ray diffraction, optical and electron microscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and mineral magnetism indicate no significant change in the bulk mineralogical composition. However, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses show that with some of the treatments, sulfides are partially oxidised, as indicated by the formation of sulfate and partially – oxidised sulfur species at the tailings surfaces. Aerated batch weathering experiments performed on sterilised tailings samples and untreated controls indicated that while the initial rates of element (S, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mg, Na, K, Ca) release may differ between the samples, over the course of ~100 days of experiment at pH 2 and room temperature, the rates declined toward a similar value for all samples. To conclude, there does not appear to be one perfect method for tailings sterilisation. Autoclaving and heating damage the mineral grain structure and oxidise the sulfide surfaces. Ethanol, antibiotics and rinsing greatly alter the pore water chemistry through the washing procedure. In addition, ethanol and denatured antibiotics might serve as a substrate and also, in the case of antibiotics, adhere to mineral surfaces thus obstructing chemical reactions. Irradiation seems to be the preferable method on an overall basis, although the formation of surface Fe3+ was suggested by Mossbauer spectroscopy.


ABSTRACT Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) has a significant impact on women's lives, especially among young women who miss school and work due to painful periods. Experiences and how women manage PD have been explored to some extent, but the evidence has not been systematically collated and reviewed to allow health professionals to better understand women's experiences of and perceptions about PD. Hence, we aim to synthesize the qualitative evidence related to women's experiences of PD and associated symptoms. For this purpose, seven databases (Ovid MEDLINE®, PubMed, Embase, APA PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL and OpenGrey) were searched for relevant papers published in English, Spanish, Greek and Chinese between January 1997 and May 2021. All studies investigating women's experiences with PD were included; besides, The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tool for qualitative studies was used to critically appraise the papers. A data extraction form was developed using JBI template and findings from the papers were analyzed and synthesized using meta-aggregation. Sixteen articles were included and during the analysis five themes were identified: Experiencing pain and associated symptoms, the psychological dimension of PD, knowledge and support, day-to-day living with PD, and coping strategies. We concluded taboos and deeply rooted beliefs around menstruation can potentially lead to gender inequalities; hence, women's common concerns and their experiences with PD need to be considered. Training and treatment protocols for health practitioners are needed. Future research should focus on development and testing of protocols for diagnosis, pharmacological and non-pharmacological management and men's perceptions of menstruation of their lovers.


This study investigated the anti-obesity activity and underlying mechanism of a 70% ethanol extract from Allium fistulosum L. (AFE) in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. AFE was orally administered to mice with the high-fat diet at a dose of 400 mg/kg/day for 6.5 weeks. AFE treatment significantly reduced body weight and white adipose tissue (subcutaneous, epididymal and retroperitoneal) weight as well as adipocyte size compared to high-fat diet-induced control mice. AFE also significantly decreased triglyceride, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol and leptin concentrations in the serum of the mice, whereas it increased adiponectin levels. Furthermore, AFE suppressed the mRNA expression of transcription factors, such as sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ, as well as fatty acid synthase in the subcutaneous adipose tissue. These results suggest that AFE inhibited the adipose size, fat accumulation and serum lipid concentrations by down-regulation of the expression of genes involved in lipogenesis in the adipose tissue of high-fat diet-induced obese mice.


Background— Endothelial dysfunction promotes atherosclerosis and precedes acute cardiovascular events. We investigated whether in vivo magnetic resonance imaging with the use of an albumin-binding contrast agent, gadofosveset, could detect endothelial damage associated with atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E–deficient (ApoE−/−) mice. Furthermore, we tested whether magnetic resonance imaging could noninvasively assess endothelial function by measuring the endothelial-dependent vasodilation in response to acetylcholine. Methods and Results— ApoE−/− mice were imaged at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after commencement of a high-fat diet. Statin-treated ApoE−/− mice were scanned after 12 weeks of a high-fat diet. Wild-type mice were imaged before and 48 hours after injection of Russell's viper venom, an endothelial toxin. Delayed enhancement magnetic resonance imaging and T1 mapping of the brachiocephalic artery, 30 minutes after injection of gadofosveset, showed increased vessel wall enhancement and relaxation rate (R1) with progression of atherosclerosis in ApoE−/−(R1 [s−1]: R4 weeks 2.42±0.35, R8 weeks 3.45±0.54, R12 weeks 3.83±0.52) and Russell's viper venom–injected wild-type mice (R1=4.57±0.86). Conversely, wild-type (R1=2.15±0.34) and statin-treated ApoE−/− (R1=3.0±0.65) mice showed less enhancement. Uptake of gadofosveset correlated with Evans blue staining, morphological changes of endothelial cells, and widening of the cell-cell junctions, suggesting that uptake occurs in regions of increased vascular permeability. Endothelial-dependent vasomotor responses showed vasoconstriction of the arteries of the ApoE−/− (−22.22±7.95%) and Russell's viper venom–injected (−10.37±17.60%) mice compared with wild-type mice (32.45±12.35%). Statin treatment improved endothelium morphology and function (−8.12±8.22%). Conclusions— We demonstrate the noninvasive assessment of endothelial permeability and function with the use of an albumin-binding magnetic resonance contrast agent. Blood albumin leakage could be a surrogate marker for the in vivo evaluation of interventions that aim to restore the endothelium.


Accelerated sediment production by mass failures and other erosion processes is an important link between management of forest resources and fish resources. Dominant processes and the rates of sediment production vary greatly throughout the Pacific Northwest in response to geologic and climatic factors. The complex sediment routing systems characteristic of the area involve numerous processes that move soil down hillslopes and sediment through channels. Sediment routing models and sediment budgets offer conceptual and quantitative descriptions of movement and storage of soil and sediment in drainage basins. Temporal and spatial patterns of sediment production and routing through basins have many direct and indirect effects on fish. In addition to their role as dominant mechanisms of sediment production in many parts of the region, mass failures also affect the geometry and disturbance regimes of channels and streamside areas. Earth flows locally control the vegetation structure and composition of riparian zones through influences on valley floor width, gradient of side slopes and channels, and frequency of streamside debris slides. Debris flows can have long-term effects on channels and streamside landforms and vegetation. It is important to consider sediment production and the effects of mass failures on channels and riparian zones in the context of an entire drainage basin, because effects vary with location in a basin. Forestry practices can increase production of sediment. Results of experimental manipulations of vegetation on small drainage basins and studies of individual erosion processes indicate that debris slides and road surfaces are commonly dominant sources of accelerated sediment production. Some techniques are available for locating sites susceptible to accelerated erosion, for predicting change in sediment production, for evaluating the biological consequences of accelerated erosion, and for designing mitigation measures, but clearly more work is needed in each of these areas. Two major links between forestry and fisheries management are sediment delivery to streams by a variety of erosion processes and the dramatic effects of debris slides and flows on valley floor geomorphology and stream ecosystems. Recognition of these links over the past two


The flaws of current methods of assessing disease severity in patients with COPD and emphysema are increasingly recognised, and new methods of assessing disease activity are urgently required. Although many potential biomarkers have been suggested to fulfil this role, few have been effectively validated, and furthermore any biomarker should be based on our current understanding of the pathophysiology the disease process. This is poorly understood, however it is apparent that neutrophil proteases (particularly neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase 3 (Pr3)) may represent a final common pathway leading to tissue destruction. The current thesis describes the development and validation of a new marker of NE activity (Aα-Val360), and the identification of a marker of Pr3 activity, as potential biomarkers of COPD and emphysema disease activity.

Methods
Following in vitro validation, the performance of Aα-Val360 was assessed in a series of patient populations. Mass spectrometry was used to identify a specific marker of Pr3 activity.

Results and Conclusion
Aα-Val360 demonstrated acceptable in vitro and in vivo variability; related to physiological, radiological and patient reported outcomes in subjects with (or at risk of developing) COPD and emphysema (both with and without A1AT deficiency); increased during acute exacerbations; decreased in response to treatment; and partly related to disease progression in some populations. Also, a Pr3 specific cleavage product was identified which could be used to develop a new specific assay of Pr3 activity. These potential biomarkers of disease activity may be important in the assessment of patients with COPD and emphysema (or who are at risk of developing these conditions), particularly in early phase clinical trials.


The advantage of DMPs is that they can be used to define target criteria that are legally binding and thus allow for the control of core issues of our health care system. Legal security is to be established by evidence-based guidelines. At present, however, DMPs are still being dominated by economic aspects. From the point of view of the associations of statutory health insurance physicians, further criticism relates both to the transferral of highly sensitive data to health insurance funds and the remuneration for medical services in respect of DMPs. At least, extra-budgetary allotments are claimed after a transitional phase. And finally, the considerable administrative efforts involved are pointed out.


Background: The commercially available training phantoms being expensive, homemade models are popular surrogates for training. We intended to study how comparable our indigenously developed ultrasound phantom (IDUP) was with the commercially available model for ultrasound-guided vascular access (USGVA) training. We also assessed the change in confidence among trainees using a 21-h standardized program. Methods: A prospective randomized double-blinded, parallel design study, with sequential allocation, was done after a standardized point of care ultrasound training course. Over three consecutive courses, 48 trainees volunteered to take part in the study. The models (IDUP and commercial phantom) were allocated as model A and model B. In each course, participants were also allotted sequentially to either perform in-plane or out of plane approach first, at the testing stations. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare pretest with posttest scores. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between IDUP and commercial phantom with respect to the resemblance to human tissue on tactile feedback and ease to perform the procedure. However, both models did not show a statistically significant difference in terms of ease of use, visual resemblance to human tissue, needle visualization, and artifacts on ultrasonography display. A significant change in the confidence levels of participants was seen postcourse. Conclusion: IDUP was a comparable alternative to the commercial model for USGVA training in a resource-limited setting. A 21-h standardized training program improved the trainee's confidence in performing and teaching USGVA.


This study aimed to assess the antistress effects of "Ginseng" in cases of chronic restraint stress by studying the structural and ultrastructural changes of the liver cells. Fifteen adult male albino rats were used. They were divided equally into 3 groups: control, stress and stress/Ginseng groups. Restraint stress was applied to both stress and stress/Ginseng groups 4 hours every other day for 4 weeks.15 mg Ginseng/kg/ was given to stress /Ginseng group every other day for 4weeks. Examination of liver specimens processed for both light and electron microscopic study revealed that chronic restraint stress causes fatty degeneration which may proceed to necrosis of the liver cells. A hepatoprotectective effect of ginseng was observed.


Spanish theatre professionals were responsible for the integration of foreign theatre in Spanish stages in Francoist Spain. The role of theatre translators, or of Spanish playwrights-translators, has been seldom tackled, and the hundreds of versions of American or British plays are yet to be fully studied. This paper focuses on Spanish author Jose Lopez Rubio, whose production, both originally written in Spanish and translated, has been thoroughly catalogued, using censorship archives as the main source of documentation. While compiling the catalogue it became clear that the number of translations signed by Lopez Rubio is higher than that of original plays. This catalogue is analyzed and a specific case study is presented: the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha. This production saw its second world premiere in Madrid, with the aid of the authorities in charge of the Theatre and Cinema General Directorate, in the Ministry for Information and Tourism, who favoured a positive image of the regime abroad.


With rapid development of technology in biomedical image processing, classification of tissues of human body is very challenging task as it requires very accurate results without any misclassification. By making use of this technology along with neural network; a hybrid technique has been proposed for classification of Brain CT-Scan images. This technique is not limited to medical field; it is also applicable to classification of natural images. Database consists of CT-Scan images and Brodatz texture. The methodology adopted in this paper consists of two stages: firstly, features are extracted from given images using feature extraction algorithms PCA and Wavelet Transform. They are further fed as an input to train the K-NN classifier to classify between normal and abnormal images. For Brain CT-Scan images; features extracted by PCA gives 100% classification accuracy with execution time of 0.6133 seconds whereas for Brodatz texture images; features by Wavelet transform gives classification accuracy of 100% with execution time of 0.1912 seconds. Code is developed by using MATLAB 2011a.


In 1962 a series of reversed seismic-refraction profiles was established over a line 454 km long between Eureka, Nevada, and Boise, Idaho; and additional recordings of nuclear events at the Nevada Test Site were made along the profile to southern Idaho. Shot points for the reversed profiles were located near Eureka, Elko, and Mountain City, Nevada, and near Bruneau and Boise, Idaho. Interpretation of the refracted and reflected P events indicates: (1) The crust in the northern Basin and Range province consists of a 6.0-km/sec layer 19–24 km thick above a 6.7-km/sec layer 10–12 km thick. (2) Both the crust as a whole and the 6.7-km/ sec layer thicken abruptly at the boundary between the northern Basin and Range province and the western Snake River Plain. The 6.0-km/sec layer thins across this boundary and may be absent under the Snake River Plain. (3) The crust in the western Snake River Plain consists of a 5.2-km/sec layer 8–10 km thick over a 6.7-km/sec layer 33–38 km thick. (4) The upper mantle under both the northern Basin and Range province and the western Snake River Plain has a P velocity of about 7.9 km/ sec. Amplitudes of P n decrease with the inverse third power of distance and indicate that the upper mantle consists of highly absorptive material or contains a low-velocity layer immediately below the M discontinuity.


The continuous advances in today's digital universe and integration of computing into virtually every facet of human life are no doubt making the concept of Big Data a ubiquitous paradigm for deploying novel technologies/applications hitherto not practicable by conventional methods. Big Data, a general term for the massive amount of digital data being generated from different sources, extremely large, structured/unstructured too complex for analysis through conventional relational database techniques. It is estimated that 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is added each day of which approximately 90% is unstructured. This Big Data offers new opportunities for discovery, value creation, and rich business intelligence for decision support in any organization. Nigeria as a country is steadily moving towards digitizing some of the government departments, scheme and services in Federal, State and Local government levels. Due to increase in digital literacy of the people and availability of data intensive network access that is emerging, the need for use of E-governance applications is on the increase. Interestingly, gathering and processing of vast amounts of data is not new to humanity. What is new is the speed at which one can process a complex data and extracting actionable business intelligence or big insight from data. Volume, Variety and Velocity are characteristics nature of big data that need careful choice of relevant technology and framework to handle. Big Data is therefore redefining the landscape of data management, from extract,transform, and load, or ETL processes to new technologies (such as Hadoop) for cleansing and organizing unstructured data in Big-Data applications, bringing up challenges of complexity, security, and risks as well as a need for new technology skills for analytics. In this paper, the model that illustrates how analytics of Big Data can result in the transformation of the government by increased efficiency and effectiveness in the e-governance service with citizen engagement in decision-making will be discussed.


Between 1993 and 1994, 129 specimens of Basilichthys australis from Lake Rinihue (39 degrees 50 minutes S; 72 degrees 20 minutes W) in the south of Chile were examined, in order to determine the prevalence and mean intensity of infections by Diplostomum mordax and Tylodelphys destructor metacercariae in the brain of fishes. Prevalence and mean intensity of D. mordax and mean intensity of T. destructor not showed seasonal significant differences. Prevalence of T. destructor was higher in summer than in winter, spring and autumn. No association between intensity of infection by D. mordax and T. destructor and body condition of the host was observed.


The need for well-defined, persistent descriptions of taxa that can be accurately interpreted by computers is becoming increasingly clear. The goal of this work is to develop named descriptions of Fungi that enable automated reasoning by computers. We encode these descriptions using the Web Ontology Language (OWL). The initial target audience is field mycologists using the Mushroom Observer website, who range from professional scientists to beginning mushroom enthusiasts. We describe our mycology ontology and propose developing a transparent, community-based ontology evolution process. The ontology was designed to focus on properties that can be observed in the field, but the framework is proving to be suitable for microscopic, chemical, and genomic properties as well. Concrete examples are provided where field mycologists need names for groups of similar-looking Fungi that are known to belong to different species, and where our approach can significantly increase the precision of information recorded by the observer. Such a system is important for enabling the field mycologist to make more meaningful contributions to the modern scientific literature. In addition, the resulting ontology and descriptions provides a foundation for consistent, unambiguous, computational representations of Fungi. Finally, we expect that such a system will enable more people to become active field mycologists by providing a more robust way to document field observations and connect those observations with information about similar fungi.


Twelve ITER-like plasma-facing units made of tungsten were exposed in the WEST tokamak divertor, with three plasma-facing units (PFUs) significantly overexposed to plasma heat flux: one sharp-edged PFU (vertical misalignment h = 0.8 mm) and two chamfered PFUs (h =0.6 mm and 0.3 mm, respectively). This paper describes the first temperature analysis obtained with a very high spatial resolution infrared camera (pixel size ∼ 0.1 mm) on the misaligned PFU edges and shows the consistency obtained on the parallel heat flux derived from these measurements. The analysis is focused on the hottest areas of the PFU misaligned leading edges, since the temperature detection threshold of the VHR camera is high (Tthreshold,BB ≈ 370 °C). The heat flux parallel to the magnetic field lines is assessed by matching the toroidal temperature profile in the vicinity of the leading edge with 3D finite element modelling. The tungsten emissivity assumed in this study is 0.6, which is consistent with laboratory measurements for damaged PFUs. For the three PFUs studied (with different vertical misalignments, incident angles, geometries), the derived parallel heat flux is similar, and consistent with independent measurements by a Fiber Bragg grating embedded in a graphite PFU at another toroidal location, giving confidence in future experiments using the same settings.


In a non-obstetric population, the optimization of cardiac output (CO) had been shown to improve survival and to reduce postoperative complications, organ failure and the length of stay 1 . CO monitoring might be very useful in the obstetric population as well, as physiologic changes of CO during pregnancy are mandatory for a normal outcome. An uncomplicated pregnancy is associated with a 50% increase in maternal CO, which is mediated by plasma volume expansion and a decrease in peripheral resistance 2 . An aberrant change of this maternal CO might influence pregnancy outcome: pregnancies complicated with foetal growth restriction and/or preeclampsia are characterized by increased total vascular resistance and reduced systolic function (i.e. lower CO and stroke volume (SV)) 3 – 5 .


OBJECTIVES
Renal risk score (RRS) and chronicity score (CS) are both newly proposed tools to predict end stage renal disease (ESRD) which could be applicable in antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated renal vasculitis patients. Their predictive value has not been fully studied and compared.

METHODS
252 patients with newly biopsy-proven ANCA-associated renal vasculitis were retrospectively studied at the Department of Nephrology, Ruijin Hospital, China. Patients were evaluated with RRS and CS for clinical factors, pathological lesions and outcome. Their predictive value of renal survival was also compared.

RESULTS
The median RRS score point at diagnosis was 6 (interquartile range [IQR] 0-9) and CS score point was 4 (IQR 3-7). In accordance with severity of RRS category and CS grade, percentage of hypertensive patients, dialysis dependency, and level of proteinuria increased accordingly. Significant differences were found regarding dialysis dependency within RRS and CS groups (p<0.001 and p<0.01 respectively). The addition of RRS or CS scoring scheme to the base model of dialysis dependency significantly improved discrimination. The C statistic, integrated discrimination improvement and net reclassification improvement were significantly increased by adding either RRS/CS or both. Furthermore, RRS had better ROC.

CONCLUSIONS
Among ANCA associated renal vasculitis patients, RRS and CS achieved similar discrimination, but the discrimination of RRS was superior.


Archetypal scenarios for change detection generally consider two images acquired through sensors of the same modality. However, in some specific cases such as emergency situations, the only images available may be those acquired through different kinds of sensors. More precisely, this paper addresses the problem of detecting changes between two multiband optical images characterized by different spatial and spectral resolutions. This sensor dissimilarity introduces additional issues in the context of operational change detection. To alleviate these issues, classical change detection methods are applied after independent preprocessing steps (e.g., resampling) used to get the same spatial and spectral resolutions for the pair of observed images. Nevertheless, these preprocessing steps tend to throw away relevant information. Conversely, in this paper, we propose a method that more effectively uses the available information by modeling the two observed images as spatial and spectral versions of two (unobserved) latent images characterized by the same high spatial and high spectral resolutions. As they cover the same scene, these latent images are expected to be globally similar except for possible changes in sparse spatial locations. Thus, the change detection task is envisioned through a robust multiband image fusion method, which enforces the differences between the estimated latent images to be spatially sparse. This robust fusion problem is formulated as an inverse problem, which is iteratively solved using an efficient block-coordinate descent algorithm. The proposed method is applied to real panchromatic, multispectral, and hyperspectral images with simulated realistic and real changes. A comparison with state-of-the-art change detection methods evidences the accuracy of the proposed strategy.


An Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed research facility (ISABELLE) to be built at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is presented. It was prepared by the Department of Energy (DOE) following guidelines issued for such analyses. In keeping with DOE policy, this statement presents a concise and issues-oriented analysis of the significant environmental effects associated with the proposed action. ISABELLE is a proposed physics research facility where beams of protons collide providing opportunities to study high energy interactions. The facility would provide two interlaced storage ring proton accelerators, each with an energy up to 400 GeV intersecting in six experimental areas. The rings are contained in a tunnel with a circumference of 3.8 km (2.3 mi). The facility will occupy 250 ha (625 acres) in the NW corner of the existing BNL site. A draft Environmental Impact Statement for this proposed facility was issued for public review and comment by DOE on February 21, 1978. The principal areas of concern expressed were in the areas of radiological impacts and preservation of cultural values. After consideration of these comments, appropriate actions were taken and the text of the statement has been amended to reflect the comments. The text was annotated to indicatemore » the origin of the comment. The Appendices contain a glossary of terms and listings of metric prefixes and conversions and symbols and abbreviations.« less


In this work, we investigate a block Jacobi-Davidson (J-D) variant suitable for sparse symmetric eigenproblems where a substantial number of extremal eigenvalues are desired (e.g., ground-state real-space quantum chemistry). Most J-D algorithm variations tend to slow down as the number of desired eigenpairs increases due to frequent orthogonalization against a growing list of solved eigenvectors. In our specification of block J-D, all of the steps of the algorithm are performed in clusters, including the linear solves, which allows us to greatly reduce computational effort with blocked matrix-vector multiplies. In addition, we move orthogonalization against locked eigenvectors and working eigenvectors outside of the inner loop but retain the single Ritz vector projection corresponding to the index of the correction vector. Furthermore, we minimize the computational effort by constraining the working subspace to the current vectors being updated and the latest set of corresponding correction vectors. Finally, we incorporate accuracy thresholds based on the precision required by the Fermi-Dirac distribution. The net result is a significant reduction in the computational effort against most previous block J-D implementations, especially as the number of wanted eigenpairs grows. We compare our approach with another robust implementation of block J-D (JDQMR) and the state-of-the-art Chebyshev filter subspace (CheFSI) method for various real-space density functional theory systems. Versus CheFSI, for first-row elements, our method yields competitive timings for valence-only systems and 4-6× speedups for all-electron systems with up to 10× reduced matrix-vector multiplies. For all-electron calculations on larger elements (e.g., gold) where the wanted spectrum is quite narrow compared to the full spectrum, we observe 60× speedup with 200× fewer matrix-vector multiples vs. CheFSI.


Several new amides and anilides of alpha-aziridinyl-beta-/p-chlorobenzoyl/-propionic acid were synthetized. The beta-/p-chlorobenzoyl/-acrylic acid 2 was used as the substrate. This compound was converted by reaction with appropriate amine into amides and anilides of beta-/p-chlorobenzoyl/-acrylic acid (3-10). These compounds react with ethylenoimine giving appropriate amides and anilides of alpha-aziridinyl-beta-/p-chlorobenzoyl/-propionic acid (11-18). When pharmacologically analyzed, they appeared to possess marked immunotropic activity. The derivatives in question modulated both humoral as well as cellular immune response, the effect being related to the type of substitutent in the amide group.


Due to a dramatic reduction in defense procurement, the benchmark for developing new defense systems today is performance at an affordable cost. In an attempt to encircle a more holistic perspective of value, lifecycle value has evolved as a concept within the Lean Aerospace Initiative, LAI. The implication of this is development of products incorporating lifecycle and long-term focus instead of a shortsighted cost cutting focus. The interest to reduce total cost of ownership while still improving performance, availability, and sustainability, other dimensions taken into account within the lifecycle value approach, falls well within this context. Several factors prevent enterprises from having a holistic perspective during product development. Some important aspects are increased complexity of the products and significant technological uncertainty. The combination of complexity in system design and the limits of individual human comprehension typically prevent a best value solution to be envisioned. The purpose of this research was to examine relative contributions in product development and determine factors that significantly promote abilities to consider and achieve lifecycle value. This paper contributes a maturity matrix based on important practices and lessons learned through extensive interview based case studies of three tactical aircraft programs, including experiences from more than 100 interviews.


BACKGROUND
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a strong risk factor of cardiovascular disease. To date, the impact of DM on outcomes after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Taiwan is undetermined. The aim of this study was to compare five-year outcomes after AMI in patients with and without diabetes in Taiwan.

METHODS
A nationwide cohort of 25,028 diabetic and 56,028 non-diabetic patients who were first hospitalized with AMI between 1996 and 2005 was enrolled through linkage with the Taiwan National Health Insurance research database. Patient mortality rates within 30 days after AMI, and 1, 3, and 5 years thereafter were compared.

RESULTS
Length of hospital stay (8.9 ± 8.7 vs. 8.2 ± 8.0 days, p < 0.01) and medical cost during admission (in Taiwan dollars: $129,123 ± $158,073 vs. $121,631 ± $157,018, p < 0.01) were significantly higher in diabetic patients. The difference in mortality rate within 30 days was insignificant between diabetic and non-diabetic patients (18.1% vs. 17.6%, p = 0.06). Mortalities within 1 year (31.0% vs. 26.8%, p < 0.01), 3 years (42.4% vs. 34.7%, p < 0.01), and 5 years (50.6% vs. 41.1%, p < 0.01) were significantly higher in diabetic patients. In patients with AMI who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during index admission, the mortality rate within 30 days was insignificant (6.3% vs. 6.4%, p = 0.70) but mortalities within 1 year (15.2% vs. 11.6%, p < 0.01), 3 years (24.1% vs. 17.2%, p < 0.01), and 5 years (32.2% vs. 22.6%, p < 0.01) were significantly higher in diabetic patients.

CONCLUSIONS
The average patient length of hospital stay and medical cost during admission were significantly higher in diabetic patients. Additionally, the difference in mortality rate within 30 days after AMI was insignificant between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Also, long-term mortality after AMI was significantly higher in diabetic patients.

KEY WORDS
Acute myocardial infarction; Diabetes mellitus; Length of hospital stay; Medical cost; Mortality; National health insurance.


While the popularity of online social network (OSN) apps continues to grow, little attention has been drawn to the increasing cases of Social Network Addictions (SNAs). In this paper, we argue that by mining OSN data in support of online intervention treatment, data scientists may assist mental healthcare professionals to alleviate the symptoms of users with SNA in early stages. Our idea, based on behavioral therapy, is to incrementally substitute highly addictive newsfeeds with safer, less addictive, and more supportive newsfeeds. To realize this idea, we propose a novel framework, called Newsfeed Substituting and Supporting System (N3S), for newsfeed filtering and dissemination in support of SNA interventions. New research challenges arise in 1) measuring the addictive degree of a newsfeed to an SNA patient, and 2) properly substituting addictive newsfeeds with safe ones based on psychological theories. To address these issues, we first propose the Additive Degree Model (ADM) to measure the addictive degrees of newsfeeds to different users. We then formulate a new optimization problem aiming to maximize the efficacy of behavioral therapy without sacrificing user preferences. Accordingly, we design a randomized algorithm with a theoretical bound. A user study with 716 Facebook users and 11 mental healthcare professionals around the world manifests that the addictive scores can be reduced by more than 30%. Moreover, experiments show that the correlation between the SNA scores and the addictive degrees quantified by the proposed model is much greater than that of state-of-the-art preference based models.


We fabricated Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) films by using the spray pyrolysis and the post-sulfurization methods. CZTS films were sprayed with different Cu-ratio precursors (Cu-ratio: 1.6, 2.0, 2.4) and substrate temperatures (Ts: 400, 430, 460 °C). In this substrate temperature ranges, the Curatio was found to have a more apparent effect on the growth of CZTS films than the substrate temperature. A higher Cu-ratio resulted in better crystallinity of the as-sprayed films, which was confirmed by using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. In order to improve the crystallinity of the CZTS films, we carried out post-sulfurization, where the annealing temperature was increased to 568°C. After post-sulfurization, the crystallinity was improved for all CZTS films, which was also confirmed by using X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. CZTS films with higher Cu-ratios showed better crystallinity even in the post-sulfurized CZTS films.


[Purpose] Although the potential use of mobile devices as new e-learning tools has been reported in various educational fields, there are not enough e-learning resources for mobile devices in physical or occupational therapy education. This article describes the results of development and students' use of a resource for physical and occupational therapy education. [Methods] We developed an e-learning resource for mobile devices as part of a kinesiology course. It was designed to help students acquire knowledge of the musculoskeletal system. The e-learning resource was provided to second-year physical and occupational therapy undergraduate students (n = 41) for 6 weeks of a 15-week course in kinesiology. After 6 weeks, the situation of use, students' levels of satisfaction, and comments were surveyed by questionnaire. [Results] The e-learning resource was text-based, and had many quizzes and tests. Approximately 70% of the students who had mobile devices used the resource on these devices at least once. Of these students, more than 80% were satisfied with it. The students used the resource on mobile devices at various locations. [Conclusion] Our e-learning resource for mobile devices could be used as a support tool to provide knowledge about the musculoskeletal system.


Wound infection is a global problem and approximately 13,000 patients with burns required treatment in hospitals in England and Wales every year. Diagnosis of burn infection is problematic and currently diagnosed by clinical observation and judgement. Standard microbiological culture to identify causative pathogens usually take several days. If pathogens present, this will causes tissue damage by further colonization, extensive infection and formation of difficult-to-treat wound biofilm in wounds which inevitably require aggressive antibiotic treatments. Early indication of infection at point-of-care and ability to rapidly distinguish between infected and non-infected states of wound will help in clinical decision making, prevent over-management by inappropriate use of antibiotics, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs of treatment. Here we have develop an intelligent wound dressing that can detect the infection in wounds. The dressing is made of a hydrated agarose film in which the fluorescent dye containing vesicles were mixed with agarose and dispersed within the hydrogel matrix. The release of dye is triggered by interaction of vesicles with virulence factors, secreted in population-density-dependent fashion via quorum sensing, from pathogenic bacteria. Efficacy of dressing was tested with developed static wound biofilm model using clinical strains of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. The dressing indicated a clear response when in contact with biofilms produced only by pathogenic strains of bacteria. Colorimetric detection on wound biofilms of prevalent pathogens (S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. faecalis) is also demonstrated using an ex-vivo porcine skin model of burn wound infection.


Within Australia's 3-tier federal system the need to better address the challenges of new spatial settlement patterns has been highlighted (Brown and Bellamy, 2008; Gurren et al. 2006; McQuirk and Argent, 2011; Searle & Bunker, 2010; Spearitt, 2009; Stilwell and Troy, 2000). Whilst recent urban policy has focused strategic metropolitan attention around urban consolidation and the compact city, the on-going growth and increasingly contiguous nature of the mega-city continues to re-define contemporary urban Australia (Forster, 2010; Newton, 2008; O'Connor, 2005). The largest of these occur along the Australian coastline and include the areas from Melbourne-Geelong, Sydney-Newcastle and South-East Queensland (SEQ) which links the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast with the capital city of Brisbane. The latter has been coined the 200km city or Noosangatta (Noosa-Coolangatta) by Spearritt (2009, 2010) who highlights that the unplanned nature of growth in SEQ poses significant challenges for local and state governments. It has been argued that the growth of the mega-city region represents the "most significant transition in Australia since the auto city transition in the mid 20 century" (Newton, 2008, p.173).