This research will improve Accounting Education Department's student self learning for Tax Accounting lesson by problem based learning method The classroom action research involved IIIa class Accounting Education Department in the year 2007/2008 who study Tax Accounting (36 students). Flow method design research from Kemmis and Taggart by cycle model. Data collection by observation and interview technique. Analysis procedure by using interactive analysis model from Milles & Huberman. Based on the result in reflection-evaluation, can be concluded that: 1) by using the constructive procedure of problem based learning method the self learning of Accounting Education Department's student for Tax Accounting lesson ; 2) teacher as facilitator, motivator, and learning source not as dictator of learning; 3) class situation become more active-creative; 4) student can be active in learning, able to do scheduled learning, have a high self confident, be critic in learning and have self inforcement. This method will be more effective to improve students self learning if they are explained about problem based learning, case study task to be solved in class, and reflection-evaluation in the end of session must be provided by the teacher.


The Wasatch Plateau, northernmost of the High Plateaus of Utah, was occupied by Pleistocene glaciers. The plateau is a high, rugged mass, deeply dissected. In the glaciated areas the bedrock formations are sandstone, shale, and limestone of late Cretaceous and early Tertiary age. Here, in general, the rocks lie nearly flat, but they are cut by systems of normal faults among which graben are prominent. The drainage system evolved in this bedrock setting gave rise to a geomorphic foundation on which a somewhat unusual group of glacial phenomena developed. The largest group of glaciers issued eastward from deep canyons in the main western body of the plateau into a north-south graben valley, where they coalesced to form large, sheetlike compound moraines. The cirques and other erosional evidences of the glaciation are similar to those usual in the Cordilleran region excepting peculiarities of outline produced by the flat-lying, slightly resistant sedimentary rocks of the plateau, as contrasted with the usual mountain assemblage of strongly disturbed hard rocks. The glaciers were localized, in part independently of altitude, probably in large part because of snow distribution similar to that of today. The glaciation was clearly later than most of the faulting in the plateau, but in the central and southern parts some faulting has occurred since. All moraines so far recognized are unmistakably Wisconsin in age. There is no evidence of older glaciation comparable to that in the nearby Wasatch and Uinta Mountains, where pre-Wisconsin ice was more extensive than the Wisconsin; this raises questions that are only partly answered.


Stacked shoreline sandstones near the base of the Mesaverde Group are well exposed along the southern flank of Rangely dome, northwestern Colorado. Overlying these marine deposits is a thick sequence of carbonaceous siltstones that encase elongate lenticular sandstones. This sequence records the evolution from estuarine to fluvial channels formed along the western margin of the Cretaceous Western Interior seaway. Sections 180 to 250 m (590 to 820 ft) long, were measured along a trend perpendicular to paleoshoreline. Several individual sandstones were studied in detail to develop depositional models. Data from over 300 well logs provided information regarding regional distribution and stratigraphic relationships of the systems. Two major stratigraphic successions were reco nized. Thin (0.5 to 2 m, 20 in. to 6.6 ft) bioturbated and root-mottled fine sandstones, interbedded with pervasive siltstones occur immediately over the marine shoreline deposits in both sequences. The sandstones are interpreted as storm washover deposits. At Gillam Draw in the eastern portion of the outcrop study area, the washover sandstones are overlain by 50 to 60 m (165 to 195 ft) of bioturbated shales and siltstones. Ripplestratified, upward-fining, fine to very fine sandstone lenses occur in this interval. These lenses are 4 to 8 m (13 to 26 ft) thick, have erosional bases, and have well-developed lateral-accretion bounding surfaces. Ophiomorpha and other trace fossils suggest an estuarine influence. The sandstone lenses are point bar deposits formed along meandering tidal creeks. Si tstones, coals, and 8 to 12 m (26 to 39 ft) thick lenticular sandstones overlie the tidally influenced interval. The sandstone lenses change significantly in geometry, bounding surface relationships, and textural trends within this succession. Stratigraphically lower sandstones form broad (100 to 200 m, 330 to 660 ft wide) belts. Individual sandstone bodies within the lenses have erosional bases and prominent lateral-accretion surfaces. Trough cross-bedding near the base is overlain by ripple stratification. These broad, lenticular sandstones represent fluvial meander-belt deposits. Sandstone lenses become narrower and lack accretionary surfaces higher in the section. These younger sandstones are multi-storied, rather than multilateral, channel deposits and are flanked by extensive crevasse splay facies. They are interpreted as confined anastomosing fluvial channels. West of Gillam Draw, the anastomosing fluvial system directly overlies shoreface and storm washover deposits. The multistoried lenticular sandstones are thicker (20 to 30 m, 66 to 100 ft). Sedimentation kept pace with subsidence in the eastern, basinward sections. Lower reaches of streams were tidally influenced even though the area was not inundated by marine waters. The western succession represents aggraded fluvial systems formed inland from the coast. Both sequences are characteristic of areas of rapid subsidence. End_of_Article - Last_Page 525------------


The fragmentation pathways of protonated peptides are reviewed in the present paper paying special attention to classification of the known fragmentation channels into a simple hierarchy defined according to the chemistry involved. It is shown that the 'mobile proton' model of peptide fragmentation can be used to understand the MS/MS spectra of protonated peptides only in a qualitative manner rationalizing differences observed for low-energy collision induced dissociation of peptide ions having or lacking a mobile proton. To overcome this limitation, a deeper understanding of the dissociation chemistry of protonated peptides is needed. To this end use of the 'pathways in competition' (PIC) model that involves a detailed energetic and kinetic characterization of the major peptide fragmentation pathways (PFPs) is proposed. The known PFPs are described in detail including all the pre-dissociation, dissociation, and post-dissociation events. It is our hope that studies to further extend PIC will lead to semi-quantative understanding of the MS/MS spectra of protonated peptides which could be used to develop refined bioinformatics algorithms for MS/MS based proteomics. Experimental and computational data on the fragmentation of protonated peptides are reevaluated from the point of view of the PIC model considering the mechanism, energetics, and kinetics of the major PFPs. Evidence proving semi-quantitative predictability of some of the ion intensity relationships (IIRs) of the MS/MS spectra of protonated peptides is presented.


Pattern recognition is the assignment of some sort of label to a given input value

or instance, according to some specific learning algorithm. The recognition

performance is directly linked with the quality and size of the training data.

However, in many real pattern recognition implementations, it is difficult or not so

convenient to collect as many samples as possible for training up the classifier,

such as face recognition or Chinese character recognition.

In view of the shortage of training samples, the main object of our research is to

investigate the generation and use of artificial samples for improving the

recognition performance. Besides enhancing the learning, artificial samples are

also used in a novel way such that a conventional Chinese character recognizer

can read half or combined Chinese character segments. It greatly simplifies the

segmentation procedure as well as reduces the error introduced by segmentation.

Two novel generation models have been developed to evaluate the effectiveness

of supplementing artificial samples in the training. One model generates artificial

faces with various facial expressions or lighting conditions by morphing and

warping two given sample faces. We tested our face generation model in three

popular 2D face databases, which contain both gray scale and color images.

Experiments show the generated faces look quite natural and they improve the

recognition rates by a large margin.

The other model uses stroke and radical information to build new Chinese

characters. Artificial Chinese characters are produced by Bezier curves passing

through some specified points. This model is more flexible in generating artificial

handwritten characters than merely distorting the genuine real samples, with both

stroke level and radical level variations. Another feature of this character

generation model is that it does not require any real handwritten character sample

at hand. In other words, we can train the conventional character classifier and

perform character recognition tasks without collecting handwritten samples.

Experiment results have validated its possibility and the recognition rate is still

acceptable.

Besides tackling the small sample size problem in face recognition and isolated

character recognition, we improve the performance of bank check legal amount

recognizer by proposing character segments recognition and applying Hidden

Markov Model (HMM).

It is hoped that this thesis can provide some insights for future researches in

artificial sample generation, face morphing, Chinese character segmentation and

text recognition or some other related issues.


ABSTRACT Introduction For implementation of the value-based health-care (VBHC) concept, use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), and clinical outcomes is crucial. The aim of this study was to summarize published studies on implemented PROMs, PREMs, and clinical-outcomes sets in health-care practice. Areas covered A scoping review was conducted by using PubMed and Embase. Our study focused on implementation examples of patient-reported outcome sets in Western countries' hospitals. Included papers were analyzed on content, in particular concerning PROMs, PREMs, and clinical outcomes. We also assessed differences between diseases, categorized as patient-reported outcomes in curative, chronic, and palliative treatments in the hospital. Expert opinion A total of 20 studies were found that presented VBHC implementation examples. Results illustrate the disconnection between the development of PROMs and PREMs and the implementation phase, with implementation still in infancy. Hospital organizations should enhance organization for the implementation of VBHC. It is crucial that leading examples of successful VBHC serve as blueprints for implementation, with the participation of all relevant stakeholders. Affordability and sustainability of health care can be enhanced by scaling up successful VBHC-interventions on population levels.


The germanium crystals used for the fabrication of nuclear radiation detectors are required to have a purity and crystalline perfection which is unsurpassed by any other solid material. These crystals should not have a net electrically active impurity concentration greater than 10/sup 10/cm/sup -3/ and be essentially free of charge trapping defects. Such perfect crystals of germanium can be grown only because of the highly favorable chemical and physical properties of this element. However, ten years of laboratory scale and commercial experience has still not made the production of such crystals routine. The origin and control of many impurities and electrically active defect complexes is now fairly well understood but regular production is often interrupted for long periods due to the difficulty of achieving the required high purity or to charge trapping in detectors made from crystals seemingly grown under the required conditions. The compromises involved in the selection of zone refining and crystal grower parts and ambients is discussed and the difficulty in controlling the purity of key elements in the process is emphasized. The consequences of growing in a hydrogen ambient are discussed in detail and it is shown how complexes of neutral defects produce electrically active centers.


The problems of the high-precision and automated control are actual for all branches of modern mechanical engineering. The main control problems in mechanical engineering can be effectively solved only with the use of computer laser measuring systems with two optical the turned channels (LMS TOTC). The following issues are described in the article: the developed program-algorithmic solutions for multi channel precision measuring systems automation (which can be integrated into operating automated control systems of technological processes); software of supervision, gathering, record and storage of the measuring information, and also automated data processing and objects visualization means and controlling methods are considered.


The causal relationships among developing behaviors can take many forms. At one extreme, two behaviors may emerge independently of one another and, at the other extreme, the emergence of one behavior may depend on the prior emergence of the other. Whether the two behaviors in the latter case should be designated as developmentally homologous is explored in this essay by reviewing differing approaches to conceptualizing the development of sleep. It is argued that whereas the concept of developmental homology may offer little new to the understanding of sleep development, the conventional notion of evolutionary homology remains to be fully exploited. Identifying homologous sleep processes will benefit from the adoption of a developmental comparative approach that emphasizes real-time sleep dynamics and individual sleep components. Because evolution occurs through the modification of developmental processes, a new commitment to a developmental comparative approach to sleep is a necessary next step toward a better understanding of its evolution.


It is found that for SF6—hydrocarbon (deuterocarbon) mixtures having a composition typical for nonchain HF(DF) lasers, the electric field strength reduced to the partial pressure of SF6 (pSF6) in the quasistationary phase of a volume self-sustained discharge (E/pSF6)st=92 V m-1 Pa-1 is close to the known critical value (E/p)cr=89 V m-1 Pa-1, which is specified by the condition that the electron-impact ionisation rate of SF6 is equal to the rate of electron attachment to SF6 molecules. This testifies to the decisive role of these two processes and allows the use of the known approximations of the effective ionisation coefficient and the electron drift velocity for pure SF6 when calculating the discharge characteristics. The oscilloscope traces of voltage and current calculated in this approximation for lasers with apertures ranging from 4 to 27 cm deviated from the experimental data by no more than 10%.


OBJECTIVE
To establish a model of pancreatic cancer in Spragu-Dawely (SD) rats, and to examine the expression level of KiSS-1mRNA in pancreatic cancer and non-cancerous pancreatic tissues in SD rats.

METHODS
Dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) was directly implanted into the parenchyma of pancreas in SD rats (Group A), and DMBA combined with trichostatin (TSA) was implanted in the intervention group (Group B). The carcinogenesis of rats executed within 3 - 5 months in Group A and Group B were observed by HE staining and macrography. Meanwhile, the rats in the control (Group C) were executed in 5 months. The expression of KiSS-1mRNA was assayed by in situ hybridization.

RESULTS
(1) The incidence of pancreatic cancer in Group A within 3 - 5 months was 48.7% (18/37), including 17 cases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and 1 case of fibrosarcoma. The incidence of pancreatic cancer in Group B was 33.3% (12/36), including 11 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and 1 fibrosarcoma. The maxial diameter of tumor mass in Group A was higher than that in Group B (P<0.05). (2) The positive rates of KiSS-1 mRNA in pancreatic cancer in Group A and Group B were significantly lower than those in non cancerous pancreatic tissues in Group A and Group B (P<0.01). The positive rates of KiSS-1mRNA in Group A or Group B with ductal adenocarcinoma were significantly lower than those in Group A or Group B without ductal adenocarcinoma (P<0.01). The middle or severely atypical ductal hyperplasia was observed in non-cancerous pancreatic tissues with the negative KiSS-1mRNA.

CONCLUSION
DMBA directly implanted into the parenchyma of pancreas can obtain an ideal pancreatic cancer model with high incidence in a short time. TSA may have an inhibitive effect on the carcinogenesis and the growth of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in rats, and KiSS-1 may play an important role in inhibiting the invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer.


Programmed cell death is a physiological process in mammalian development by which specific types of cells are eliminated, and, hence, is of fundamental importance in normal human embryogenesis. A patient is described with multiple congenital anomalies that may be explained by a disturbance of programmed cell death. Anomalies included macrocephaly, hypoplastic lacrimal ducts, narrow external ear canals, pharyngeal mucous membrane fold, unilateral cryptorchidism, cord-like vasa deferentia, and complete cutaneous syndactyly of the hands and feet.


Protest events present portraits of social problems—people, through collective action, send a message to society through their performance of opposition. The purpose of this study is to examine the distribution and diversity of specific activities taking place at protest events in the United States from 2006 to 2009. We empirically examine these activities by drawing on preliminary data from a sample of nearly 2,500 protest events reported in the Los Angeles Times and New York Times. To more clearly understand our contentious repertoire, we build upon coding protocol developed by the Dynamics of Collective Action Project and examine over 60 specific activities utilized by activists. What we show—in addition to the fact that protester actions, while sometimes confrontational, are overwhelmingly nonviolent—is that the majority of all protester activity at protest events during the period under study involves literally symbolic, aesthetic, and sensory qualities. In this article, we present a typology of six broad activity categories and propose directions for future research.


Visual field defects (VFDs) can be caused by numerous diseases, some of which (e.g., glaucoma) are the main causes of blindness in humans. The present perimetry, which is defined as the measurement of visual field function, has high requirements for patients such as long-term fixation and reliable interaction with the system. In this pilot study, we combined the videos and eye-tracking techniques in a free-watching task and explored the different eye movement behaviors of people with several types of artificial VFDs, such as hemianopia, altitudinal VFDs, and tunnel vision. We carried out the task in a gaze-contingent modality where 38 participants with normal vision were recruited to watch a group of videos monocularly. The eye gaze data were recorded by the tracker during the task. We hypothesized that people with simulated VFDs will produce a more active eye movement coping mechanism to compensate for their visual field disadvantage. A new measurement called eye movement amount (MA) was proposed to describe the amount of eye movement toward a specific direction. Statistically significant differences caused by artificial VFDs were observed by comparing the MA values between the VFD groups and the control group. In addition, we found artificial hemianopia and inferior VFDs lead participants to produced increased MA in the horizontal and vertical directions respectively. Artificial tunnel vision, on the contrary, induces a decreased MAs in both horizontal and vertical directions. The proposed metrics can be used as potential biomarkers for distinguishing VFDs in a free-watching task.


Cloud Computing is an environment for providing information and resources that are delivered as a service to end-users over the Internet on demand. Thus cloud enables users to access their data from any geographical locations at any time and also has brought benefits in the form of online storage services. Cloud storage service avoids the cost expensive on software, personnel maintenance and provides better performance, less storage cost and scalability. But the maintenance of stored data in a secure manner is not an easy task in cloud environment and especially that stored data may not be completely trustworthy. Cloud delivers services through internet which increases their exposure to storage security vulnerabilities. However security is one of the major drawbacks that preventing several large organizations to enter into cloud computing environment. This work surveyed on several existing cloud storage frameworks, techniques and their advantages, drawbacks and also discusses the challenges that are required to implement secure cloud data storage. This survey results help to identify the future research areas and methods for improving the existing drawbacks.


The purpose of this thesis was to examine the effects of time delay on a visual servoing system. We analyse the effect of time delays on a linear model of a robotic arm joint, as well as an ABB irb2400 robotic arm with 6 degrees of freedom. This master thesis is consequently divided into two separate parts. The first concern of the project is to deal with the design of the visual servoing system. In this part we explain how the image processing works and which are the things we have to pay intention. We speak also about the design of the process (controller, dynamic of the robot, etc). This is the preliminaries for experiments but also important to have a good simulation environment, with a model as close as possible of a true robot system. In the second part we analyse the effects of time delay on the system. We start with the simple model of one joint to have a base to work and after we repeat the analysis using the full model of the robot to see if the behaviour is the same. The real time behaviour is simulated using the TrueTime, which simulates a real time kernel with complex models of the timing of the controller. All this experiments have been simulated for an easier installation of the experiment protocol (no hardware problems). Another reason is that we had a robot simulator already implemented. (Less)


Four new donor–acceptor (donor) [D–A(D)], PBDT-PTQ, PBDT-PTTQ, PBDT-TQ, and PBDT-TTQ, bearing the same backbone of alternative benzodithiophene (BDT) and quinoxaline units but with phenylene thienyl, phenylene di-thienyl, thienyl and di-thienyl groups (other donors), respectively, at the acceptor quinoxaline units, were designed and synthesized to investigate the impacts of the conjugated side chains at the acceptor units on the photovoltaic properties of polymers. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of the polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on PBDT-TQ:[6,6]-phenyl-C-70-butyric acid methyl ester (PC70BM) and PBDT-PTQ:PC70BM reach to 4.39 and 3.58%, respectively, which are 43 and 17% higher, respectively, than that of a reported alkylphenyl substituted polymer with the same main chain. However, the PCEs based on PBDT-TTQ and PBDT-PTTQ, in which an additional thiophene is added at a side chain of PBDT-TQ and PBDT-PTQ, respectively, decline. The mechanism how the conjugated side chains affect the performance of the PSCs is also discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013


The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is an ever-present factor and often irritant in the lives of clinicians. Although physicians view ICD codes as necessary for reimbursement claims, in fact they are also used for developing mortality data, influencing the development of health care policy, pointing directions for basic and applied research, and assisting in the decisions regarding allocation of resources for research and development. The ICD further serves as a classification system for causes of death and includes rules for coding causes of death, standardization of definitions such as ''underlying cause of death,'' tabulation lists that recommend the cause-of-death groupings used to present mortality data that can be compared among countries, formatting of the medical certification of death that is part of every death certificate in the United States, and the compilation and publication of statistics on diseases and causes of death. It is our impression that the average physician spends considerable time battling with the choice of appropriate codes that poorly correspond to current disease concepts. Physicians in general, however, have no idea how these codes were developed and spend very little time pondering the process by which the ICD has been developed. The primary sponsor of the ICD is the World Health Organization in collaboration with approximately 10 centers, primarily from Europe. The ICD was introduced in the late 19th century. The 9th revision of the ICD (ICD-9), used in the United States from 1979 until 1998 (the 10th revision (ICD-10) is currently being implemented), has proven woefully inadequate for appropriately identifying high blood pressure and hypertensive heart disease. A personal favorite is 401.1, ''benign hypertension with heart failure.'' Many of us have had considerable difficulty in considering hypertension as ''benign,'' and are not sure what ''malignant'' hypertension indicates as an isolated entity. Is this the presence of metastatic vascular hypertrophy? Table compares existing ICD-9 codes with the ICD-10 codes that are currently being implemented. Unfortunately, beginning with the title of the table, ie, ''Essential Hypertension,'' the coding still leaves much to be desired. Attempts have been made for years to expunge the archaic concept of ''essential'' when describing this greatest of cardiovascular health problems, and yet in remains in IDC-10. On a very practical note for the hypertension specialist, the ICD code will influence reimbursement. Now that the National Uniforms Claims Commission has granted the hypertension specialist a taxonomy code, medical billing will include this code along with level of service and applicable current procedural codes. Resistant hypertension has been designated as 997.91 in the ICD-9 codes. Unfortunately, there is no designation for ''resistant hypertension'' in the ICD-10 despite the increasing recognition of resistant hypertension as a major clinical entity, which, by definition, should indicate a more complex level of service. At this time, resistant hypertension must be dealt with by adding complexity of illness codes, ie, by definition resistant hypertension is a highly complex illness. At least there is now an understanding that hypertension is a disease and that blood pressure is a biomarker. Thus, the white-coat effect can be coded with the designation R03.0, ''elevated blood pressure without hypertension.'' This gives hope that the definition of hypertension written by the American Society of Hypertension Writing Group that describes hypertension in stages defined not only by blood pressure, but importantly by the presence of associated cardiovascular risk factors and target organ damage, will eventually be adopted by future ICD codes. Matching the ICD-10 codes with the different current procedural terminology codes will require some negotiating. However, this is a welcome problem considering the difficulties hypertension specialists have had in claiming reimbursement in the past. As an example of this, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services currently reimburses ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) only if performed in conjunction with ICD-9 code 796.2 (ICD-10 R03.0). It has been reported that when patients with diagnoses of resistant hypertension are evaluated with ABPM, as many as one third are actually found to be controlled, yet there is currently no ICD-10 designation and no approved reimbursement for ABPM. We believe that when a hypertension specialist orders an ABPM, thirdparty payers should reimburse for this service since the procedure is clearly cost-effective in the evaluation of the white-coat effect and resistant hypertension, as well as improving the care of patients. In fact, the current National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines published in the United Kingdom suggests ABPM for all patients being treated for hypertension. Now is a good time for the American Society of Hypertension to convene a group to look to future ICDs. It takes about 10 years for changes to be made; now is not too early to begin. Appropriate coding is essential not only for patient care but for planning future research needs. This is much too important a task to leave for someone else to do. From the Heart and Vascular Institute, Tulane University School of Medicine, Metarie, LA


So far few African countries have accepted genetically modified (GM) crops, despite their high potential for increasing food production. The opinion of African consumers is missing in the debate, especially in rural areas, so a survey was conducted among rural consumers in the major maize growing areas of Kenya to gauge their acceptance of GM food. A third of respondents were aware of GM crops, mainly from the radio in rural areas. Most respondents would buy GM maize meal at the same price as conventional maize, and even pay a premium. The rural population of Kenya lacks access to the relevant information to make informed decision and contribute to the debate on the use of GM crops in Africa. A concerted, public policy effort is therefore needed, where the wider use of radio to reach the rural population should be explored. Provided with balanced information, rural consumers show a high degree of acceptability of GM maize.


Providing voice and data communications to people away from their wireline telephones has become a major communication frontier. This frontier is being penetrated by evolving approaches to portable communications, e.g., cordless telephones, mobile radiotelephone, and radio paging. However, these approaches have many limitations; none can provide universal portable communications services. This paper discusses limitations of the evolving approaches and considers objectives and approaches for providing more universal digital portable communications as an integrated part of telephone exchange networks. These more universal communications could be accomplished by using demand-assigned radio links for the last thousand feet or so of telephone loops and sharing the remainder of the fixed distribution facilities. Fixed radio ports as integrated parts of telephone distribution networks could be placed throughout service regions. Efficient use of the radio spectrum could be insured by the planned reuse of radio frequencies throughout the regions. The severe multipath radio propagation environment within and around buildings that strongly influences the design of portable communications systems is described in the paper. System configurations and radio link techniques, that can provide reliable communications in the multipath environment, are discussed. Radio system calculations are illustrated for radio ports with 30-ft-high antennas in residential areas. The calculations indicate that radio link availability would be greater than 99 percent for 2000-ft port separations and 5-mW portable transmitters. Reuse of frequencies would require dividing the allocated frequency band into segments for use at adjacent ports. Calculations suggest that link availability in the cochannel interference environment would be greater than 99 percent, if 25 to 35 segments were used in residential areas.


PURPOSE
Proton SBRT (stereotactic body radiation therapy) can be an effective modality for treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, but limited in practice due to sensitivity with respect to variation in the RPL (radiological path length). Small, intrafractional shifts in patient anatomy can lead to significant changes in the dose distribution. This study describes a tool designed to visualize uncertainties in radiological depth in patient CT's and aid in treatment plan design.

METHODS
This project utilizes the Shadie toolkit, a GPU-based framework that allows for real-time interactive calculations for volume visualization. Current SBRT simulation practice consists of a serial CT acquisition for the assessment of inter- and intra-fractional motion utilizing patient specific immobilization systems. Shadie was used to visualize potential uncertainties, including RPL variance and changes in gastric content. Input for this procedure consisted of two patient CT sets, contours of the desired organ, and a pre-calculated dose. In this study, we performed rigid registrations between sets of 4DCT's obtained from a patient with varying setup conditions. Custom visualizations are written by the user in Shadie, permitting one to create color-coded displays derived from a calculation along each ray.

RESULTS
Serial CT data acquired on subsequent days was analyzed for variation in RPB and gastric content. Specific shaders were created to visualize clinically relevant features, including RPL (radiological path length) integrated up to organs of interest. Using pre-calculated dose distributions and utilizing segmentation masks as additional input allowed us to further refine the display output from Shadie and create tools suitable for clinical usage.

CONCLUSION
We have demonstrated a method to visualize potential uncertainty for intrafractional proton radiotherapy. We believe this software could prove a useful tool to guide those looking to design treatment plans least insensitive to motion for patients undergoing proton SBRT in the GI tract.


DNA topological stress impedes normal DNA replication. If topological stress is allowed to build up in front of the replication fork, the fork rotates to overcome the stress, leading to formation of DNA pre-catenanes. The formation of DNA pre-catenanes is therefore a marker of DNA topological stress. In this study, I have examined how transcription linked DNA topological stress impacts on fork rotation and on endogenous DNA damage. Transcription, similar to replication, affects the topology of the DNA; and collision between the two machineries is likely to lead to high levels of DNA topological stress. I found that the frequency of fork rotation during DNA replication, increases with the number of genes present on a plasmid. Interestingly, I also found that this increase in pre-catenation is dependent on the cohesin complex. Cohesin and transcription are known to be linked, as transcription leads to the translocation of cohesin along budding yeast DNA away from its loading sites. Cohesin plays a major role in establishing chromosomal structure, influencing gene expression and genetic inheritance. In this work, I have analysed the relationship between cohesin and the generation of topological stress and found that topological stress associated with cohesin can lead to DNA replication stress and DNA damage.


The protective effects of two probiotic mixtures was studied using the fingerprints of the bacterial community of Litopenaeus vannamei juveniles exposed to probiotics and challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus CAIM 170. Fingerprints were constructed using 16S rRNA gene and the PCR-SSCP (Single strand conformation polymorphism) technique, and the probiotics used were an experimental Bacillus mixture (Bacillus tequilensis YC5-2 + B. endophyticus C2-2 and YC3-B) and the commercial probiotic Alibio. The DNA for PCR-SSCP analyses was extracted directly from the guts of shrimps treated for 20 days with the probiotics and injected with 2.5×10 5 CFU g -1 of V. parahaemolyticus one week after suspension of the probiotic treatment. Untreated shrimps served as positive (injected with V. parahaemolyticus) and negative (not injected) controls Analysis of the bacterial community carried out after inoculation and 12 and 48 h later confirmed that V. parahaemolyticus was present in shrimps of the positive control , but not in the negative control or treated with the probiotic mixtures. A significant difference in the diversity of the bacterial community was observed between times after infection. The band patterns in 0-12 h were clustered into a different group from that determined after 48 h, and suggested that during bacterial infection the guts of whiteleg shrimp were dominated by gamma proteobacteria represented by Vibrio sp. and Photobacterium sp. Our results indicate that the experimental and the commercial mixtures are suitable to modulate the bacterial community of L. vannamei and could be used as a probiotic to control vibriosis in juvenile shrimp.


(1) The beat of the velar cilia of the Nudibranch veliger is intermittent and appears to be under the control of the organism. (2) Fibres lying between the cells which bear the velar cilia are described. They end near the outer surface of these cells in fibrils which resemble those of the muscle-plate in structure. They stain with specific nerve-stains and were shown to be in all probability continuous with nerves lying deeper in the tissues. It is concluded that these are nerve-fibrils. (3) Within the ciliated cell at the level of the terminal fibrils of these fibres there is a layer of granules which stain with methylene blue. (4) The cilia of cells which have been separated from the tissues beat actively but the beat is continuous and not intermittent. (5) In the presence of various narcotics the intermissions are inhibited more quickly than the beat of the cilia is affected and at a lower concentration of the drug. (6) Some drugs which are not known to act as narcotics were used and with certain exceptions, which are discussed, did not have this effect. (7) In an acid medium the beat is slower but the intermissions continue so long as the cilia beat. (8) In an alkaline medium the intermissions are inhibited before the beat is affected. This is discussed and it is suggested that it is in accordance with recent work on the effect of changes in the reaction of the medium on nerve-tissue. (9) It is concluded that the nerve-endings found among these cells are regulatory and are concerned in the causation of the intermissions. The beat of the cilia is therefore under the control of the nervous system of the animal.


Kirkpatrick's contribution is evaluated in the context of historical developments and persistent crisis in the psychology of religion. The field has been characterized by the lack of a unifying theory, as well as by some literature being driven by religious apologetics. Kirkpatrick's approach has been truly theory-driven, always seeking a general psychological framework for analyzing religion and religiosity. His personal odyssey led him to embrace Bowlby's attachment theory, which has had a unique impact of research in academic psychology. But then Kirkpatrick demonstrates his honesty and courage in realizing that the attachment framework was less than adequate for the task of unifying the field. Instead, he invites us to join him in embracing the broader framework of cognitive-evolutionary theory, which should serve as the unifying framework for the field. I concur with his judgment.


This study aims to determine the effect of red kidney bean sprout milk yogurt (Rides-Yo) on abdominal circumference, blood pressure, and body mass index of metabolic syndrome women. Red kidney bean sprouts milk added with 10% sucrose and 10% skim milk pasteurized at 70 ° C for 10 minutes, then cooled to 45oC. Inoculated with lactic acid bacteria 2% of the total volume of red bean milk, incubated at 27-35oC for 24 hours. As many as 30 women, 40-65 years aged, central obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, live in the Baturraden subdistrict, Banyumas Regency, and are willing to sign informed consent. Subjects were randomly divided into 3 groups; the first group was given Rides-Yo; the second group was given a placebo; and group 3 took medicine from a doctor. A total of 200 mL/day of Rides-Yo or placebo was given to the subjects for 2 months. Before and after the intervention, subjects were measured for abdominal circumference, blood pressure, weight and height. There was a decrease in abdominal circumference (P=0,018), systole and diastolic blood pressure (P <0.038 and P=0,032), and BMI (P=0,039) in the group receiving Rides-Yo, compared to placebo and control groups. Thus, Rides-Yo is able to improve the health status of women with metabolic syndrome.


The antioxidant capacity of Indigofera stachyodes Lindl. root (ISR) extract had been determined by using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis (3-ethyl-benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity using 96-microplate-based method test in vitro. Extracts of EtOAC (ISREA) and n-BuOH (ISRBU) were studied on protective effects of alloxan-induced diabetic rats in vivo. The results showed that ISREA and ISRBU had good total antioxidant activity in vitro, ISREA had the highest antioxidant activity (DPPH: IC50 = 7.82 μg/ml, ABTS: IC50 = 2.37 μg/ml and FRAP = 2270.80±8.48 μmol TE/g, respectively). Extracts of ISR showed higher α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. ISRBU (IC50 = 7.01 μg/ml) had the highest α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Compared with diabetic control mice, oral administration of ISREA and ISRBU could decrease fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose without statistical significance. Administration of ISRBU (400 mg/kg) could significantly increase liver glycogen content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels, and significantly decrease serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in diabetic rats.

 Key words: Indigofera stachyodes Lindl. root, antioxidant activity; α-glycosidase inhibition activity, diabetes.


The vitamin K-dependent gamma-glutamyl carboxylase catalyzes the posttranslational modification of select glutamate residues of its vitamin K-dependent substrates to gamma-carboxyglutamate. In this report, we describe a new fluorescence assay that is sensitive and specific for the propeptide binding site of active carboxylase. We employed the assay to make three important observations: (1) A tight binding fluorescein-labeled consensus propeptide can be used to quantify the active fraction of the enzyme. (2) The off-rate for a fluorescein-labeled factor IX propeptide was 3000-fold slower than the rate of carboxylation, a difference that may explain how carboxylase can carry out multiple carboxylations of a substrate during the same binding event. (3) We show evidence that substrate binding to the active site modifies the propeptide binding site of carboxylase. The significant (9-fold) differences in off-rates for the propeptide in the presence and absence of its co-substrates may represent a release mechanism for macromolecular substrates from the enzyme. Additionally, sedimentation velocity and equilibrium experiments indicate a monomeric association of enzyme with propeptide. Furthermore, the carboxylase preparation is monodisperse in the buffer used for our studies.


Objective: In the last ten years evidence of frequent stroke cases in premature and term newborns has been appearing. This problem is very relevant in medicine, because of the stroke after-effects: morbidity, neurological and cognitive deficits. In newborns most frequent form of the stroke is hemorrhagic stroke (HS). The mechanisms and causes of such disease are poorly understood, however, many authors noted an important role of stress in this process. It is also obvious, that changes in blood pressure make significant contribution to the development of the HS, but the available data in this area are extremely contradictory. Design and method: To induce HS in term newborn (n = 22) rats were underwent harmful effect of sound stress (120 dB, 17 Hz). The control group included intact newborn (n = 22) rats. The development of brain hemorrhage in newborn rats confirmed using histological method. Measurement of mean arterial pressure (MAP) was carried out using the isoflurane anesthesia and the PowerLab / 400 (ADInstruments Ltd., Australia), for this catheter (diameter of 0,33 mm) was implanted in the left carotid artery in newborn rats. The pathological changes in the brain were studied on the day after stressing, using optical coherent tomography and photoacoustic imaging. Results: Using Doppler optical coherent tomography, we found higher stress-reactivity of sagittal sinus (major cerebral vein) vs. arteries to the deleterious effects of stress in newborn rats. HS was accompanied by progressive sagittal vein dilatation in newborn animals. Newborn rats with brain hemorrhage showed a significant increase in MAP by 36,6% compared with control group (p < 0.05) (29,65 vs. 21,7 mmHg). Also newborn rats with stroke showed increased vascular permeability to erythrocytes (diapedetic hemorrhage). Conclusions: Stress leads to MAP increasing and develop venous insufficiency in newborn rats, which leads to increased permeability of pathologically dilated cerebral veins and passing of erythrocytes in the brain tissue to form diapedetic hemorrhage in cerebral cortex.


Preferred crystallographic orientation in polycrystalline films is desirable for efficient charge carrier transport in metal halide perovskites and semiconductors. However, the mechanisms that determine the preferred orientation of halide perovskites are still not well understood. In this work, we investigate crystallographic orientation in lead bromide perovskites. We show that the solvent of the precursor solution and organic A-site cation strongly affect the preferred orientation of the deposited perovskite thin films. Specifically, we show that the solvent, dimethylsulfoxide, influences the early stages of crystallization and induces preferred orientation in the deposited films by preventing colloidal particle interactions. Additionally, the methylammonium A-site cation induces a higher degree of preferred orientation than the formamidinium counterpart. We use density functional theory to show that the lower surface energy of the (100) plane facets in methylammonium-based perovskites, compared to the (110) planes, is the reason for the higher degree of preferred orientation. In contrast, the surface energy of the (100) and (110) facets is similar for formamidinium-based perovskites, leading to lower degree of preferred orientation. Furthermore, we show that different A-site cations do not significantly affect ion diffusion in bromine-based perovskite solar cells but impact ion density and accumulation, leading to increased hysteresis. Our work highlights the interplay between the solvent and organic A-site cation which determine crystallographic orientation and plays a critical role in the electronic properties and ionic migration of solar cells.


This article explores an alternative logic of imprudence at work in Machiavelli's The Prince, a text seemingly defined by its prudence. Arguing that crucial engagements with The Prince by Eugene Garver and Robert Hariman operate as "prudent" readings, I note that the text offers durable resources for radical political and rhetorical imagination. Such resources are recoverable, however, only in and through an alternative, imprudent, reading strategy. Following the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, I read The Prince—particularly in its aesthetic and rhetorical articulation of "the people"—neither as a manual for princes or realpolitik but as both irreducible plurality and differential network, reflecting a political imagination at work in the text beyond modern calculation. Reading The Prince imprudently, I explore the necessary interconnection between rhetorical reading and political thinking—and the subsequent importance of understanding political theory as an aesthetic and textual practice.


A descriptor is constructed to predict the composition of ABO3 perovskites that do not contain transition metals and have a high level of ionic conductivity (). The descriptor consists of two parts: the ratio of ionic radii, RA/RB and the ratio of ionization potentials, VB/VA for A- and B- cations. Parameters for 100 perovskite compounds were considered to find the correlation dependences between the descriptor and the magnitude of. Correlation selection approach is proposed to reveal a suitable correlation series. This approach allows determining the composition of perovskites that has a desirable ionic conductivity. Copyright © 2016 VBRI Press.


The aim of this study is to analyze the difference between the generations of middle-aged women and female college students by comparing their consumption characteristics of green tea. A total of 350 samples were collected for questionnaire survey. The major results of this study can be summarized as follows: First, between the generations, green tea consumption behavior revealed differences in the type of green tea drunk, the amount of green tea drunk, the time when the green tea is drunk during a day, the company with whom they drink their green tea, the place where they purchased their green tea, and factors that influenced their choice of green tea. Second, convenience of green tea consumption showed difference in such areas as personal relationships, promotion of learning, and psychological stability between the generations, with the generation of middle-aged women pursuing convenience more than the generation of female college students. Third, both the generation of middle-aged women and the generation of female college students revealed differences in the convenience of green tea consumption depending on the degree of green tea drinking.


— In structures, stress concentration is a factor of fatigue fracture. Basically, the stress concentration is a phenomenon that should be avoided. However, it is difficult to avoid the stress concentration. Therefore, relaxation of the stress concentration is important. The stress concentration arises from notches and circular holes. There is a relaxation method that a composite patch covers a notch and a circular hole. This relaxation method is used to repair aerial wings, but it is not systematized. Composites are more expensive than single materials. Accordingly, we propose the relaxation method that a single material patch covers a notch and a circular hole, and aim to systematize this relaxation method. We performed FEA (Finite Element Analysis) about an object by using a three-dimensional FEA model. The object was that a patch adheres to a plate with a circular hole. And, a uniaxial tensile load acts on the patched plate with a circular hole. In the three-dimensional FEA model, it is not easy to model the adhesion layer. Basically, the yield stress of the adhesive is smaller than that of adherents. Accordingly, the adhesion layer gets to plastic deformation earlier than the adherents under the yield load of adherents. Therefore, we propose the three-dimensional FEA model which is applied a nonlinear elastic region to the adhesion layer. The nonlinear elastic region was calculated by a bilinear approximation. We compared the analysis results with the tensile test results to confirm whether the analysis model has usefulness. As a result, the analysis results agreed with the tensile test results. And, we confirmed that the analysis model has usefulness. As a result that the three-dimensional FEA model was used to the analysis, it was confirmed that an out-of-plane deformation occurred to the patched plate with a circular hole. The out-of-plane deformation causes stress increase of the patched plate with a circular hole. Therefore, we investigated that the out-of-plane deformation affects relaxation of the stress concentration in the plate with a circular hole on this relaxation method. As a result, it was confirmed that the out-of-plane deformation inhibits relaxation of the stress concentration on the plate with a circular hole.


We present a three-dimensional (3-D) optical coherence tomography (OCT) system based on a dual axis microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror. The MEMS mirror provides high-speed, high resolution 2-axis scanning while occupying a very small volume with extremely low power consumption. The dimensions of the mirror are 600/spl times/600 /spl mu/m, and both axes are capable of scanning up to 30 degree angles at frequencies greater than 3 kHz with good linearity. A 3-D image set is acquired when the MEMS mirror is integrated with the fiber-based OCT system. Via 2-axis lateral scanning, combined with an axial scan, a volume (2/spl times/2/spl times/1.4 mm) image of tissue, including a cancerous region, from a hamster cheek pouch was obtained. Using a signal processing technique, image data is normally presented by 3-volume showing views at arbitrary angles and locations. The objective of this work is to show the capabilities of a 3-D OCT system utilizing a MEMS scanner as this technology can readily by applied to realize OCT beam delivery systems such as hand held scanners and endoscopic probes. A MEMS based 3-D OCT system employing a high speed, small volume scanner may have the potential to expand the application area of OCT and revolutionize areas of clinical medicine as well as medical research.


The development of modern pharmacology cannot be imagined without the use of genetic engineering methods (recombinant DNA technology). The success of medicine is increasingly based on the active use of protein preparations obtained using the technology of transferring hereditary information (genes) from one organism to another. The emergence of the ability to express foreign genes in the cells of various organisms (both eukaryotes and prokaryotes) has become one of the revolutionary events in the science of the last two decades of the 20th century and laid the foundations of modern biotechnology.


The article presents some personal thoughts about Boyer's scholarship of teaching concept. It considers how the existing literature informs the notion of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and how it intersects with ideas of teaching excellence and expertise.


The capacity for and the pattern of growth in vitro of human aortic smooth muscle from normal intima and media and from plaque intima was studied. For media tissue outgrowth occurred but decreased with age and was virtually absent for media from patients more than 60 years of age. Intima did not show a similar age-related decrease which indicates a role of the intimal smooth muscle as a tissue reserve independent of age. Some of the intima outgrowths reverted spontaneously after 8-9 weeks suggesting a state of tissue senescence. The growth patterns of non-atherosclerotic tissue and atherosclerotic were grossly similar; the outgrowth from lipidrich atherosclerotic tissue contained, in addition, one large and one very small variety of "foam" cell.


We present a literary review regarding heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and we report two cases. The first case regards a female patient with a suspect pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. Low platelet count was observed already during sub-cutaneous heparin therapy but was aggravated by subsequent intra-venous treatment. The second patient developed thrombocytopenia only after intra-venous heparin infusion while previous sub-cutaneous heparin prophylaxis had not caused low platelet count. In both patients platelet counts normalized rapidly only a few hours after withdrawal of heparin treatment. We therefore point out the importance of the correct monitoring of platelet counts for a timely detection and prevention of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, and possible consequent paradoxical thrombosis.


Recently measured light scattering spectra for CaKNO3 exhibit a cross over of the dynamics from that typical for a moderately supercooled liquid to one characteristic for a strongly supercooled state. It can be described by formulae derived within the mode coupling theory of dense liquids for the asymptotic behaviour of correlation functions near a glass transition singularity.


Objective: To study the diagnosis and surgical treatment of primary hyperparathroidism. Methods: 19 patients with hyperparathroidism who were treated in our hospital from 1981 to 1998 were analysed retrospectively. Results: The main clinical manifestation was symmetrical pain of the supporting bones and joins, hypercalcemia, hypercalnuria, hypophosphatemia and hyperalkaline phosphatasemia, and increase of PTH in peripheral blood. X-ray examination showed ostroporosis and decalcification, accopanied with multiple fracture. The accuracy of parathyroid tumor localization was above 89% by B ultrasound CT scan and 99 mTc examination preoperation. thymo-thyroid ligment was used as guide and injectied methylene blue into the artery during opeation to search parathyroid tumor. Conclusion: The key procedure of the operation was to search for tumor of parathyroid. If one abnormal parathyroid gland and a normal gland are found on the first side of the neck, the second side shoud not be explored.


The research output of India in human computer interaction (HCI) research during 1987-2011 is analyzed in this paper on several parameters including total research output, its growth, rank and global publication share, citation impact. It also analyses the characteristics of most productive institutions, authors and high-cited papers. India is at 16 th position in the world in HCI research publications with 2656 papers by 3691 Indian authors from 693 institutions of India. The Transformative activity index suggests that India′s research activity in the field of HCI is improved greatly in the last 5 years. Although highest number papers are contributed by Indian Statistical Institute, about half of publications are contributed by engineering colleges. All the papers published by Indian researchers have appeared in journals with impact factors between 0.090 and 5.211 with an average impact factor of 1.455. Indian authors preferred to publish in journals originated from United Kingdom, the Netherlands, USA and Germany. Citation analysis for Indian publications gives 9.8 citations/paper.


Animals preexposed to stress developed manifest hyperglycemia in the first 2 days of influenza infection, which was replaced by prolonged hypoglycemia. The status of carbohydrate metabolism normalized no sooner than 3 to 4 weeks after the disease onset, although the acute phase of infection was over by the end of week 2. The changes were evident in the pattern of "sugar curve" after glucose loading. Glucose utilization failed to normalize even 2 h after the loading in animals with stress, influenza infection, or stress-associated complications of this infection.


We consider a harmonic charging field as an energy charger for the quantum battery, which consists of an ensemble of two-level atoms. The charging of noninteracting atoms is completely fulfilled, which exhibits a substantial improvement over previous static charging fields. Involving the repulsive interactions of atoms, the fully charging is achieved with shorter charged period over the noninteracting case, yielding an advantage for the charging. Excluding the charging field, a quantum phase transition is induced by the attractive atom-atom interactions, and the interacting atoms become degenerate in the ground state. We find that the degenerate states play a negative role in the charging due to the gapless energies. The atoms with strong attractive interactions can not be charged completely, which is accompanied by a drop of the maximum stored energy.


This paper presents a hybrid fingerprint matching algorithm for user authentication based on the fusion of heterogeneous schemes, and designed to run on programmable smart cards. The approach is based on the well known texture vector and minutiae based techniques, where image processing and feature extraction occur on the host, while the card device performs the final match against the onboard template, which is never revealed to the outside world. This increases the security of the template itself and of the applications using it.


The cosmic triangle is introduced as a way of representing the past, present, and future status of the universe. Our current location within the cosmic triangle is determined by the answers to three questions: How much matter is in the universe? Is the expansion rate slowing down or speeding up? And, is the universe flat? A review of recent observations suggests a universe that is lightweight (matter density about one-third the critical value), is accelerating, and is flat. The acceleration implies the existence of cosmic dark energy that overcomes the gravitational self-attraction of matter and


Governments, when designing support for venture capital financing, face a choice to either sponsor existing private VC funds or organize and manage their own public VC funds. There is emerging evidence that syndicated financing by private and publicly sponsored VC funds is correlated with better exit performance. At the same time little research has been done into the effectiveness of publicly managed VC funds. We show that syndicated financing by private and publicly managed VC funds leads to a 5.1 p.p smaller chance of a successful exit compared to purely private financing. This finding is robust to reputation and culture/distance effects.


Sixty cases of Class II Division 1 malocclusion were studied; 30 of them had been retained after the completion of orthodontic treatment, the other 30 had not and acted as a control group. Using measurements from lateral skull radiographs and statistical analysis, the two groups were compared in respect of skeletal pattern, soft tissue, overjet, overbite and interincisal angle. Both the retained and the non-retained group showed a tendency to relapse after the completion of active treatment; a tendency to relapse even while in retention was observed. The relapse in overjet was found to be more significant than the relapse in overbite. In both groups the relapse in overjet was found to be associated with the size of the original overjet, the overbite at the end of active treatment and the interincisal angle at the end of active treatment. In both groups the relapse in overbite was found to be associated with the size of the original overbite, the change in maxillary-mandibular planes angle and the interincisal angle at the end of active treatment.


Benefits of developing telecommunications infrastructure are beyond questioning; however, challenges stand at small rural communities, which in Mexico encompass ~15% of the population, living in townships with less than ~800 residents. Previous research indicates that technology concepts like the Internet of Things (IoT) can create economic value in local economies. Thus, this paper presents a model to estimate wireless access demand in such communities. Estimated projections of IoT product adoption are built for a representative scenario, considering publicly available statistical information (accounting for variables like the number of residents, households, cars, commercial establishments, or local economic indicators). A basket of highly probable products, like payment terminals, is constructed and characterized. Then the adoption process for each considered product estimated with an S-curve, to integrate the corresponding broadband/Internet access demand. Telecommunications industry is experiencing exciting times, yet careful analysis is crucial to support well informed strategic planning processes.


Financial institutions require sophisticated tools for risk management. For companywide risk management, both sides of the balance sheet should be considered, resulting in an integrated asset-liability management approach. Stochastic programming models suit these needs well and have already been applied in the field of asset-liability management to improve financial operations and risk management. The dynamic aspect of the financial planning problems inevitably leads to multiple decision stages trading dates in the stochastic program and results in an explosion of dimensionality. In this paper we show that dedicated model generation, specialized solution techniques based on decomposition and high-performance computing, are the essential elements to tackle these large-scale financial planning problems. It turns out that memory management is a major bottleneck when solving very large problems, given an efficient solution approach and a parallel computing facility. We report on the solution of an asset-liability management model for an actual Dutch pension fund with 4,826,809 scenarios; 12,469,250 constraints; and 24,938,502 variables; which is the largest stochastic linear program ever solved. A closer look at the optimal decisions reveals that the initial asset mix is more stable for larger models, demonstrating the potential benefits of the high-performance computing approach for ALM.


Iron (Fe) films with a thickness ranging from 1.0 nm to 80.0 nm are deposited on silicone oil surfaces by a vapor phase deposition method. The films with a thickness of d < 2.0 nm do not exhibit planar morphology but ramified aggregates instead. Magnetic force microscopy studies for the Fe films (10.0 nm ≤ d ≤ 80.0 nm) show that the domain wall structure is widespread and irregularly shaped and the oscillation phase shift Δθ, which records as the magnetic force image, changes from 0.29° to 0.81°. Correspondingly, the magnetic force gradient varies from 1.4 × 10−3 to 4.0 × 10−3 N/m, respectively. In our measurement, the characteristic domain walls, such as Bloch walls, Néel walls and cross-tie walls, are not observed in the film system clearly.


"Spintronics" refers to the understanding of the physics of electron spin-related phenomena. While most of the significant advancements in this field has been driven primarily by memory, recent research has demonstrated that various facets of the underlying physics of spin transport and manipulation can directly mimic the functionalities of the computational primitives in neuromorphic computation, i.e., the neurons and synapses. Given the potential of these spintronic devices to implement bio-mimetic computations at very low terminal voltages, several spin-device structures have been proposed as the core building blocks of neuromorphic circuits and systems to implement brain-inspired computing. Such an approach is expected to play a key role in circumventing the problems of ever-increasing power dissipation and hardware requirements for implementing neuro-inspired algorithms in conventional digital CMOS technology. Perspectives on spin-enabled neuromorphic computing, its status, and challenges and future prospects are outlined in this review article.


Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown promising behavior for adsorption cooling applications. Using organic ligands with 1, 2, and 3 phenylene rings, we construct moisture-stable Ni-MOF-74 members with adjustable pore apertures, which exhibit excellent sorption capabilities toward water and fluorocarbon R134a. To our knowledge, this is the first report of adsorption isotherms of fluorocarbon R134a in MOFs. The adsorption patterns for these materials differ significantly and are attributed to variances in their hydrophobic/hydrophilic pore character associated with differences in pore size.


Forty-nine of 498 (10%) blood cultures taken in a 14-month period in a geriatric department were positive. These cultures were taken from 295 patients. Respiratory infections, recent onset of confusion, non-specific malaise and suspected sub-acute bacterial endocarditis were the most common clinical indications for the test. Twenty-seven of the 49 positive cultures were considered significant, the remainder being regarded as due to skin contaminants. This yield was found to be of clinical value, particularly in chest infection when the responsible organism often could not be cultured from the sputum.


This paper proposes a motion-planning method for a wrapping-with-fabric task. To wrap, robots require not only offhand paths (which represent the movement of a grasping point on fabric) but also actual robot motion. When a robot handles fabric, it must consider the range of motion and collisions. To overcome such limitations, the robot must pass fabric inter- and intra-hand. The proposition is based on the reliability of its movements. The method may be used to plan a combination of inter- and intra-hand passing motions to generate the basic movements for wrapping along an offhand path. Experiments show how, by using the proposed planning method, a dual-arm robot can wrap an L-shaped pipe.


In this paper, we address the problem of vehicle localization in urban environments. We rely on visual odometry, calculating the incremental motion, to track the position of the vehicle and on place recognition to correct the accumulated drift of visual odometry, whenever a location is recognized. The algorithm used as a place recognition module is SeqSLAM, addressing challenging environments and achieving quite remarkable results. Specifically, we perform the long-term navigation of a vehicle based on the fusion of visual odometry and SeqSLAM. The template library for this latter is created online using navigation information from the visual odometry module. That is, when a location is recognized, the corresponding information is used as an observation of the filter. The fusion is done using the EKF and the UKF, the well-known nonlinear state estimation methods, to assess the superior alternative. The algorithm is evaluated using the KITTI dataset and the results show the reduction of the navigation errors by loop-closure detection. The overall position error of visual odometery with SeqSLAM is 0.22% of the trajectory, which is much smaller than the navigation errors of visual odometery alone 0.45%. In addition, despite the superiority of the UKF in a variety of estimation problems, our results indicate that the UKF performs as efficiently as the EKF at the expense of an additional computational overhead. This leads to the conclusion that the EKF is a better choice for fusing visual odometry and SeqSlam in a long-term navigation context.


The Norte de Monagas trend is located in the Eastern Venezuelan Basin and is characterized by high temperature, high initial pressure and production rates, variable PVT properties, GORs, and asphaltene content, and the presence of a tar mat at the base of the oil column. These reservoirs were petrophysically characterized through the integration of core and log data. Productive sands are composed of very coarse- to medium-grained sands deposited primarily in deltaic to shallow marine environments. These sands are quartz-rich, with clay matrix averaging 3% in the Oligocene and 6% in the Cretaceous. The main difference is the presence of up to 30% feldspars in the Cretaceous. Clay mineralogy is dominated by illitic material in the Cretaceous and by kaolinite in the Oligocene. Post-depositional changes dominated by cementation, mechanical compaction and subsequent dissolution processes have resulted in marked improvement or degradation of the productive characteristics of these reservoirs. Rocks were divided into four petrophysical. categories based on grain size, pore throat radius, porosity and permeability. Mercury saturation vs. mercury saturation over capillary pressure plots show the dominant interconnected pore system which controls flow rates is best defined by 50% saturation. Plots constructed using R50 pore aperture correlation indicate the poremore » throats to be macro to mega porous. Average log calculated water saturation is 14% compared with estimated from capillary pressure data of 12% at 1200{prime} above free water level, and 15% from relative permeability data. Relative permeability data indicate the rocks behave preferably as water-wet.« less


This work focuses on preference of Public Library users on information and communication technology (ICT) facilities that matches user social activities in the library. It also proffers means of integrating such factors in social interaction spaces of proposed Public library Gwagwalada, Abuja to enhance user experience and meet the digital age. Libraries began incorporating ICT facilities since the advent of technology but without considering the facilities that matches user activity in such spaces. The analysis is based on data collected through observation and questionnaire survey addressed to users and staff of three public libraries and analyzed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel analytical software. The results show that Group Creative Collaborative space is more preferred by users while very few users prefer Small Group Collaborative space. Responses indicate that users prefer group studies to interact. Also "Between Individual and Individual spaces", majority of public library users prefer Internet Facilities which appears to have mean of (3.8371) while very few prefer Video Conferencing with mean of (2.8708).  It also reveals that, in "Between Group and Group space" majority of public library users prefer Mailing List with mean of (3.7247) while very few users prefer Video Conferencing with mean of (3.0955) and "Between Group and Object space" majority of the users prefer Digitalized Library Structure with mean 0f (3.6180) while very few users prefer interactive floor (iFloor) with mean of (3.1292).In conclusion ICT has high potential for encouraging social interaction, in public spaces, thus connecting the society and provides access points to information and supports education. The study revealed the current situation on the issues investigated which can be relied on in future studies or decision making. Essentially, the study produced findings that researchers can apply or validate subsequent similar researches.


Abstract The clinical empiricism of Thomas Sydenham (1624–1689) and his definition of especie morbosae represented a substantial turn in the medicine of his time. This turn supposed the shift towards an ontological conception of diseases, from a qualitative to quantitative interpretation. Sydenham's clinical proposal had a great influence on empiricism philosophical thinking, particularly in John Locke and his delimitation of knowledge. The dialogue between medicine and philosophy, set out by Sydenham-Locke, reactivates the problem of the clinical and theoretical foundations of medical thought, as well as the limits of scientific knowledge. Similar to problem exposed in the Hippocratic treatise On ancient medicine, seventeenth-century medicine seeks its epistemological foundations and the solution to its difficulties in clinical experience, probability and analogy. The aim of this work is to show the Sydenham's contribution to one of the great controversies between medicine and philosophy.


Aim: To study the in vitro and in vivo effects of cleistanthin A and cleistanthin B on the cholinergic receptors and the motor function using mouse as an animal model. Materials and Methods: The cleistanthin A and cleistanthin B were isolated from the leaves of Cleistanthus collinus using column chromatography and purified. The effect of cleistanthins A and B on locomotor activity, motor co-ordination and grip strength in mice were evaluated using actophotometer, rota-rod apparatus and grip strength test respectively (in vivo). The effect of cleistanthins A and B on nicotinic acetylcholine receptor was studied using a mouse esophagus preparation (in vitro) and the concentration-response curves of carbachol and cleistanthins A and B were recorded using a data acquisition system (Biopac Inc. USA) through a variable transducer (500 g). Results: Cleistanthins A and B did not have any significant effect on locomotor activity, motor co-ordination and grip strength when they were used upto 400 mg/kg BW. Cleistanthins A and B did not show any significant inhibitory effect on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in isolated mouse esophagus tissue preparation at 1, 3, and 10 μg doses. Conclusion: Cleistanthins A and B do not have significant activity on the motor system when used upto 400 mg/kg in mice and also they did not have any effect on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors when used upto 10 μg in the isolated mouse esophagus preparation.


Abstract. Inter-tropical regions are nowadays faced to major land-use changes in data-sparse context leading to difficulties to assess hydrological signatures and their evolution. This work is part of the theme Panta Rhei of the IAHS, and aims to develop a combined approach of data acquisition and a new semi-distributed model taking into account land-use changes to reconstruct and predict annual runoff on an urban catchment. Applications were conducted on the Mefou catchment at Nsimalen (421 km2; Yaoundé, Cameroon) under rapid increase in urbanization since 1960. The data acquisition step combines an historical data processing and a short-term spatially-dense dedicated instrumentation (2017–2018), leading to 12 donor catchments, 6 from historical studies and 6 from the instrumentation presenting various topographic, soil and land-use characteristics. We developed an annual rainfall-runoff model based on mathematical relationships similar to the SCS model. The model needs the definition of a hydrological index I which is time variable and enables to take into account land-use changes and non-stationary relationships between rainfall and runoff. The index I is an empirical indicator defined as a combination of several components such as topography, soil, and land-use. The rules for the construction of I are obtained from data analysis on donor catchments. Then, the model was calibrated on donor catchments. Finally, two applications were conducted on eight target catchments composing the Mefou in order: (i) to study the spatial hydrological functioning and calculate the water balance during the short instrumentation period; (ii) to reconstruct the hydrograph at the Mefou and to simulate the impact of future scenarios of land-use and urbanization. Results show that that the Mfoundi catchment, integrating the three more urbanized sub-catchments, contributes near to 40 % of the Mefou despite covering only 23 % of the basin. The most urbanized sub-catchments present annual runoff coefficient about 0.86 against 0.24 for the most natural sub-catchments. The second result is the reconstruction of historical annual runoff from 1930–2017 with r2 = 0.68, RMSE = 99 mm and a mean absolute normalized error Ē = 14.5 % over the 29 observed years. The reconstruction of the annual runoff at Nsimalen confirms the moderate impact of urbanization on annual runoff before 1980. However, a decrease of about 50 % of the forest cover and an increase from 10 % to 35 % of the urban area between 1980 and 2017 are associated with an increase of 53 % of annual runoff coefficient for the Mefou at Nsimalen (0.44 against 0.29). Application for a fictive plausible scenario of urbanization in 2030 leads to an increase of more than 85 % of the annual runoff in comparison of the values observed in 1980. The coupled experimental-modelling approach proposed herein opens promising perspectives regarding the evaluation of the annual runoff in catchments under changes.


This article is published as part of the ONS Measuring National Well-being Programme. The programme aims to produce accepted and trusted measures of the well-being of the nation - how the UK as a whole is doing. This article focuses on one aspect of well-being, the economy, and is part of a series which aims to explore in more detail the different domains that have been considered as important for the measurement of national well-being. The article describes how economic well-being has evolved over the last decade and focuses on the period beginning with the 2008 recession.


In the present report we describe a recently proposed technique for the enumeration of T lymphocyte subpopulations. The study was performed on peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of 21 patients with primary immunodeficiencies and 10 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). With this methodology, sheep rosettes are evaluated before and after preincubation with theophylline. Previous reports have shown that cells rosetting after the preincubation (T-res) contain most of the percentages of the helper activity, whereas sensitive cells (T-sens) exert suppression. T-res and T-sens cells were compared to several clinical and immunological parameters, including the detection of lymphocytes with Fc IgM and IgG receptors. We demonstrated a significant positive correlation between T-res and and EAox IgM cells and between T-sens and EAox IgG cells. In addition, patients with Ig defects demonstrated heterogeneity regarding alterations in the proportions of T-res and T-sens cells. On the contrary, in 8 patients with SLE, there was a markedly reduced proportion of T-sens cells. Variations in the balance of subpopulations were observed after treatment with thymic hormones and levamisole. We may conclude that theophylline rosettes represent an easy technique that can be profitably used in the evaluation of T cell subpopulations in immunological diseases.


Focuses on three interrelated aspects: the impact of evolving international and regional dynamics on national development strategies; the rethinking of national and regional development models after the crisis; and the analysis of the socio-economic transformations produced in East Asian countries during the period of accelerated economic growth and the long-term socio-economic implication of the crisis.


In this article, we develop a model for explaining spatial patterns in the distribution of households across metropolitan regions in the United States. First, we use housing consumption and residential mobility theories to construct a hypothetical probability distribution function for the consumption of housing services across three phases of household life span. We then hypothesize a second probability distribution function for the offering of housing services based on the distance from city center(s) at the metropolitan scale. Intersecting the two hypothetical probability functions, we develop a phase-based model for the distribution of households in US metropolitan regions. We argue that phase one households (young adults) are more likely to reside in central city locations, whereas phase two and three households are more likely to select suburban locations, due to their respective housing consumption behaviors. We provide empirical validation of our theoretical model with the data from the 2010 US Census for 35 large metropolitan regions.


Given the association between lymphadenectomy and survival after esophagectomy, and the ongoing development of effective adjuvant protocols for identified residual disease, we determined factors contributing to lymph node yield and effects on postoperative morbidity following esophagectomy by thoracic surgeons. Using the Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database, all patients who underwent esophagectomy for primary esophageal cancer with gastric conduit reconstruction from 2012 to 2016 were identified. Patient demographics, technical factors, and tumor characteristics associated with lymph node yield were determined using a multivariable multilevel mixed-effects regression model. Associations between lymph node yield and perioperative morbidity and mortality were similarly assessed. A total of 8480 patients were included. The median number of nodes harvested was 16 [Interquartile Range 11-22]. Factors associated with fewer nodes included female gender (b=-0.53, P=0.032), body mass index <18.5 (b=-1.46, P=0.012), prior cardiothoracic surgery (b=-0.73, P=0.015), intraoperative blood transfusion (b=-1.43, P<0.001), squamous cell histology (b=-0.86, P=0.006), and neoadjuvant treatment (b=-1.41, P<0.001). Operative approach significantly affected lymph node yield, with minimally invasive approaches demonstrating higher lymph node counts, and open transhiatal esophagectomy recovering the fewest nodes. Findings were independent of clinical center. There was no association of higher lymph node yield with 30-day mortality, with only slightly increased risk for chyle leak (odds ratio [OR] 1.02, P=0.012). In conclusion, several patient and tumor factors affect lymph node recovery with esophagectomy, independent of hospital center. Technical aspects, specifically minimally invasive approach, play a significant role in quantified lymph node yield. Higher operative lymph node yield was associated with minimal increased morbidity.


Based on sampling of specimens and field observations on jellyfish fisheries in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Myanmar, six trade types of edible jellyfish were identified and the proper scientific names were applied to them with synopses of their taxonomy. An identification key for the Suborder Daktyliophorae, allowing identification of edible species, is provided. Jellyfish fishing activities at various locations in Southeast Asia are reported.


Media and human modes of existence are always already intertwined and interdependent. The notion of the anthropocene has further stimulated a new examination of ideas about human agency and responsibility. Various approaches all emphasize relational concepts and the situatedness and embodiment of human-and also non-human-existences and experiences. Their common interest has shifted from any so-called 'human nature' to the multitude of cultural, topographical, technical, historical, social, discursive, and media formats with which human existences are entangled.
 This volume brings together a range of thinkers from international backgrounds and puts these important reflections and ideas in the spotlight. More specifically, the volume explores the concept of "anthropomedial entanglements." It fosters an understanding of human bodies, experiences, and media as being immanently entangled and mutually constituting, prior to any possible distinction between them. The different contributions thus open up a dialogue between empirical case studies and media-historical research on the one hand and the conceptual work of media and cultural philosophies and aesthetics on the other hand.


"City diseases" have become the main contradiction and bottleneck for Beijing's economic and social development at present. On the basis of analyzing the current situation of population, resources and environment of Beijing, this paper posed the prominent problems existing in Beijing's city management, and posed relevant opinions and suggestions from the aspects of population mitigation, environmental management and monitoring system, aiming at correctly mastering Beijing's condition and development characteristics, effectively relieving the prominent contradictions of Beijing's population, resources and environment, and accelerating the harmonious development of population, resources and environment.


Cardiac mitochondrial chloride channels are involved in the regulation of mitochondrial membrane potential, with impact on the sarcolemma action potential. Despite their importance, they still lack molecular identity. So far, the most probable hypothesis is that they are part of the CLIC channel family. Here, we report a detailed profile of these channels under different conditions. We find this characterization essential for their identification and comparison with other chloride channels. The presence of many unresolved closed events at higher acquisition rate and extremely long closings were detected, which was consistent with the power-law distribution. On the other hand, the channel openings were described by a single-exponential function. We compare the results with ion channels of similar dwell time distribution and discuss the possible connections to other chloride channels and channel families, including the CLIC family. Moreover, the described kinetic features call for theoretical interpretation and proper single-channel analysis.


The classification accuracy of pattern recognition is determined by the extracted features and the utilized classifiers. Many efforts have been conducted to obtain the best features either by introducing a new feature or proposing a new projection method to increase class separability. Recently, spectral regression extreme learning machine (SRELM) has been introduced to improve the class separability of the features. However, the evaluation of SRELM was only focused on the myoelectric or electromyography pattern recognition from many EMG channels. In practical application, the user is more convenient with less number of channels. Then, the problem is whether the SRELM would be able to work efficiently for less EMG channels. The objective of this paper is to examine the performance of SRELM for bio-signal pattern recognition using two EMG channels. The EMG electrodes were located on flexor policies lounges and flexor digitorium superficial muscles of ten healthy subjects. Various time domain features were involved with various sizes. SRELM will project these features to more recognize features before being feed to multiple classifiers.  Those classifiers are randomized Variable Translation Wavelet Neural Networks (RVT-WNN), extreme learning machine(ELM), support vector machine (SVM), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The performance of SREM was compared to other feature methods, such as LDA, uncorrelated LDA (ULDA), orthogonal fuzzy neighborhood dimensionality reduction (OFNDA), and spectral regression discriminant analysis (SRDA). The experimental results show that SRELM performed well when dealing with different class numbers by classification accuracy of around 95.67% for ten class movements and performed better than SRDA.


This case study presents results of the treatment of patellofemoral dysfunction in a dancer. The patient, a 29-year-old female, came to the authors' clinic with patellofemoral pain. Isokinetic objective data was used to determine strength deficits. From the objective data, isokinetic protocols were adjusted specifically to reach the goal of 80% peak torque to body weight at 60 degrees /sec and 70% or lower for total work flexion/extension ratio at 180 degrees /sec. Once these goals were met, the patient was asymptomatic and able to return to normal dance activities. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1989;10(7):270-273.


Many natural, engineered and social systems can be represented using the framework of a layered network, where each layer captures a different type of interaction between the same set of nodes. The study of such multiplex networks is a vibrant area of research. Yet, understanding how to quantify the correlations present between pairs of layers, and more so present in their co-evolution, is lacking. Such methods would enable us to address fundamental questions involving issues such as function, redundancy, and potential disruptions. Here, we show first how the edge set of a multiplex network can be used to construct an estimator of a joint probability distribution describing edge existence over all layers. We then adapt an information-theoretic measure of general correlation called the conditional mutual information, which uses the estimated joint probability distribution, to quantify the pairwise correlations present between layers. The pairwise comparisons can also be temporal, allowing us to identify if knowledge of a certain layer can provide additional information about the evolution of another layer. We analyse datasets from three distinct domains—economic, political, and airline networks—to demonstrate how pairwise correlation in structure and dynamical evolution between layers can be identified and show that anomalies can serve as potential indicators of major events such as shocks.


The key role of international agricultural research is to develop technologies that wi l l have wider impacts in certain niche
ecoregions that often cross national boundaries. When the potential for inter-regional transfer of research results is high, it is
often economical to develop more centralized research programs catering to the needs of the ecoregion. This is also the case
when the national programs are small and lack the requisite capacity to develop viable research programs. There are three types
of spillovers - inter-regional, cross-commodity and price spillovers. This assessment focuses on inter-regional spillovers -
external benefits from research investments undertaken beyond the state (inter-state spillovers) and national (international
spillovers) boundaries. Several studies have shown that spillovers make important contributions to agriculture; hence impact
assessments that ignore such effects will underestimate R&D benefits.
This study is a first step towards providing a broader assessment and synthesis of inter-state and international technology
transfers derived from ICRISAT's research. It brings together the available body of evidence and knowledge on technology
spillovers from the major research areas - crop improvement, Natural Resources Management (NRM) and socioeconomics and
policy. It provides a list of varieties and other innovations developed in one region that have been adapted in other regions or
countries. Despite its limitations, the assessment identifies several instances of technology spillovers within Africa and Asia as
well as a two-way transfer of germplasm and improved cultivars across the continents. Wi th selected examples, the study tries
to provide useful insights on the preferred characteristics of the technologies, the extent of spillovers, the enabling processes and
constraints that limit wider adaptation.
Given its wider scope and interest to 'set the scene' (based on available information) for more in-depth future studies, a
deliberate attempt has been made to focus on broader issues rather than details on specific innovations. This makes it difficult to
draw very robust conclusions. However, the following generic lessons and recommendations can be made. The potential for
future spillover of sorghum and millet technologies from Asia to Africa is limited. This implies the need to further strengthen
sorghum and millet improvement work in WCA and ESA. Given the good potential for legume intensification in Africa, a
stronger pigeonpea and chickpea improvement program is needed initially in the ESA region. A regional approach to breeding
and genetic enhancement of groundnuts in Africa and Asia needs further analysis. The need for crop improvement research in all
regions to account for changing market conditions, shifting consumer demand and farmer requirements may limit the potential
for inter-regional spillovers. In addition to continuing the challenge of focusing NRM and socioeconomic and policy research on
priority strategic areas that generate wider benefits, careful priority setting will be needed to exploit the existing opportunities
from inter- and intra-regional transfer of technologies in all areas of research.


This paper considers how significance is given and denied to material remains from the past. It explores this issue by means of an ethnoarchaeological study conducted in and around the Castillian villages of Solosancho and Villaviciosa in the Amblés valley, Spain, between 1997 and 1999. It analyses the Iron Age and medieval symbolism used in a coat of arms produced in 1998, and argues that this object partially reflects a local narrative reasserting a sense of identity for Solosancho and its satellite village, Villaviciosa. This was done at a time when those two communities perceived themselves to be under social and economic threat. By concentrating on the performative, corporeal nature of the villagers' interaction with their material culture in the present, the paper seeks to demonstrate how an ethnoarchaeological approach may help to illuminate the ways that memory and material culture may have been manipulated in the past, in the absence of large-scale, state-directed, structural intervention.


Dr Derek Connolly speaks to Adam Price-Evans, Commissioning Editor of Future Cardiology: Derek Leslie Connolly is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Birmingham City Hospital (UK). He qualified from the University of Edinburgh (UK) summa cum laude in Pharmacology in 1985 and in Medicine in 1988 where he was the Brunton Medalist. As a Carnegie scholar at the University of California, San Diego (CA, USA) he saw the early promise of angioplasty and changed his career plan from cardiac surgery to coronary intervention. He then spent a decade training in Cardiology in Cambridge (UK) where he held a British Heart Foundation PhD Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. His main clinical and research interest is the detection and treatment of atherosclerosis. He was appointed to his current role in 2000 and has been integral to the early development of both primary angioplasty and cardiac CT programs. He was UK Chief Investigator for the FOURIER trial.


That hernia may be safely cured by surgical intervention is now recognized as one of the special triumphs of modern aseptic surgery. It is scarcely more than a decade since the profession in general discountenanced operation except under very restricted limitations, and the records of all our general hospitals are replete with long series of cases followed by dire disaster, owing to delay in operation for the relief of strangulated intestines in which now a speedy cure would ensue by prompt surgical intervention. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the history of modern operations or the various methods of prominent surgeons, but rather that we may eliminate the non-essentials and emphasize the really important factors which must pertain in order to effect a cure. All forms of hernia except that of the inguinal in the male may be dismissed with the simple statement that they consist