The history of chronic myeloid leukemia has marked one of the most remarkable and exciting success of modern medicine, transforming an almost always fatal cancer in a chronic conditions that can be medically controlled, and opening space and hope for a cure in an increasing number of patients.1–6 The discovery of the molecular bases of CML and of a class of agents, the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), targeting the molecule that causes the leukemic transformation of hemopoietic stem cells, has provided a strongly positive support to the concept that cancer treatment must be based on the knowledge of cancer biologic characteristics and on the development of agents targeting specifically these characteristics. Until this concept remained a chimera, for many years, the treatment of cancer was necessarily based on cancer destruction exploiting the subtle differences in sensitivity among normal and cancer cells. This policy, a policy of "last cell kill", gave positive results in many cancers. Examples, in hematology, are lymphomas, particularly Hodgkin's lymphoma, and acute leukemia, particularly acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children. TKIs in CML as well as transretinoic acid in acute promyelocytic leukemia have at last shown that the concept of cancer-specific treatment is no longer a chimera and can be applied to clinical practice, in an increasing number of hematologic and non-hematologic malignancies.

The way was neither easy nor rapid. CML was described in the 19th century and was managed with radiation and chemotherapy until the end of the 20th century, until the introduction and the wide application of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) and of recombinant Interferon-alfa (rIFN ).1–6 SCT was in a sense the sublimation of the last cell kill theory, based on stem cell kill by radiation and alkylating agents and on residual stem cell control by the transplanted immune system. SCT is still the most important curative treatment of CML, but in spite of progress, the mortality and the morbidity are still important and limiting the application.6–8 As a matter of fact, SCT does not fit the concept of cancer specific treatment. rIFN was a great success, and an unexpected one, but also the benefit of rIFN was limited, because less than 50% of patients had a significant response, and side-effects were remarkable.1,5,6,9 Again, rIFN was not specifically directed against Ph+ cells, and it is intriguing to admit that after many years its mechanism of action is poorly known. After radiation and conventional chemotherapy, after allogeneic SCT, after rIFN, the true breakthrough was made by imatinib, the first of a class of small molecules inhibiting the TK.10 Soon after imatinib, other TKIs were rapidly developed and tested, and other four TKIs are now available, though not yet in all countries, and with different indications, dasatinib, nilotinib, bosutinib, and ponatinib.11–15 These compounds are similar and inhibit very effectively the kinase activity of BCR-ABL1, with a good therapeutic response, but are not identical. There are differences, in metabolism, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics, there are differences in the ability of inhibiting BCR-ABL1 and particularly the mutated forms of BCR-ABL1, and there are differences in the inhibition of other different TK, leading to some differences in efficacy and to some differences in safety and side-effects. The major effect of the availability of more TKIs has been the relief of patients from dependence on only one drug, a condition that left too many patients at risk of dying of leukemia, and that was a cause of fear also in the responding patients. No more than 10 years ago, the big question was how long will the response last, how long will survival be.1 The early recognition of the development of TKIs-resistant mutations was a cause of fear and anxiety.1,16 We now know that with imatinib the responses are durable, that the risk of developing mutations decreases with time, that the majority of the patients who fail imatinib or are intolerant of imatinib can be rescue with other TKIs, and that a stable and deep response to imatinib may herald a treatment-free remission, a kind of clinical cure.4,6,17,18 However, the area of TKI and CML is still marked by a strong competition among drugs and companies, a competition that has comprehensible commercial bases, but has sound medical, ethical, and social consequences.19 Overall, the availability of more TKIs provides an unprecedented opportunity of designing the treatment according to disease and patient, that is to say of optimizing treatment, a goal that has not yet been reached because we must still learn how to do the best and proper use of these drugs. Many current treatment recommendations are based on efficacy, and the evaluation of efficacy is based sometimes too much on the so-called early surrogate markers of the outcome and sometimes too few on the outcomes, that are progression-free survival, overall survival, and treatment-free survival.6 Since the efficacy is high, it is necessary to take into consideration more and more also the safety and the tolerability, that affects so much the quality of life, and also the compliance, that in turn is important for the efficacy.20–22 It is true that the TKIs are targeted against BCR-ABL1 and are much less toxic and much better tolerated than most antileukemic and anticancer agents. But even TKIs are not completely specific, can cause important, and even life-threatening, clinical complications, as well as minor chronic side-effects that in the long term can become hard to tolerate.20–26 A careful monitoring of efficacy is necessary, based primarily on quantitative molecular testing and in case of failure also on mutational analysis, but also on cytogenetics, whenever molecular monitoring is not available or is not standardized according to the international scale.6,27,28 Monitoring is expensive, but the cost of careful monitoring is only a small fraction of the cost of treatment, and allows to make a proper use of any drug, from the clinical and also the financial point of view. However, monitoring the efficacy is not sufficient. Monitoring must be coupled with a careful attention to the patient, the comorbidities, the age, the complaints, the style of life, and ultimately the will of the patient.20,26–29 There is still a long and dedicated way to success. This issue of the Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Disease covers some of the most important topics on the treatment of CML, to help health care professionals to walk along this way and to improve the management of CML patients.


Portfolio is an investment management concept different from individual asset management. This consideration leads to an interesting result, that is, investors should buy a variety of securities at the same time instead of one kind of securities for diversified investment. Aiming at the limitations of BPNN (BP neural network) in traditional artificial neural network and its shortcomings such as many iterations, low convergence accuracy, and poor generalization, a portfolio method based on GA_BPNN (Genetic Optimization Neural Network) was proposed. The setting of GA (genetic algorithm) parameters and BPNN parameters are discussed in detail, and the implementation steps of genetic BP algorithm are described. The results show that the evaluation indexes of GA_BPNN prediction model are obviously better than those of the comparison prediction model, with the coincidence rate of 77.96% and the average absolute error of 12.451. The combination of GA and BPNN can effectively solve this problem. The simulation results of optimizing securities portfolio show that its optimization scheme is better than quadratic programming method, and this method is more correct, efficient, and practical.


♦ note that early detection is important for the health of the mother and baby Maternal mental health (MMH) disorders, like postpartum depression, are the most common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, affecting on average, 1 in 5 mothers.1 Rates are higher among those facing economic challenges and among certain racial groups. For example, rates of maternal depression are more than doubled for Black than White mothers.2 When left untreated, these disorders can cause devastating consequences for the mother, the baby, family, and society. Many people, including health care providers, are not familiar with the signs and symptoms of these disorders, to easily recognize an MMH disorder. With the incidence of MMH disorders on the rise, it is even more critical that these disorders are detected and treated.3 The use of research-validated screening tools (questionnaires) to identify those who may be suffering, are now universally recommended. However, because of several complicating factors, screening has not been universally implemented.4 ISSUE BRIEF


"Aesthetic experience" corresponds to the inner state of a person exposed to the form and content of artistic objects. Quantifying and interpreting the aesthetic experience of people in various contexts contribute towards a) creating context, and b) better understanding people's affective reactions to aesthetic stimuli. Focusing on different types of artistic content, such as movie, music, literature, urban art, ancient artwork, and modern interactive technology, the 4th international workshop on Multimodal Affect and Aesthetic Experience (MAAE) aims to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers from affective computing, aesthetics, human-robot/computer interaction, digital archaeology and art, culture, ethics, and addictive games.


A renewable obligation combined with tradable renewable energy certificates is a market-based instrument used to promote the production of electricity from renewable energy sources. A renewable obligation is an alternative for subsidies. A renewable obligation will only be an efficient instrument if certificate markets are efficient. This requires that there is no market power and no anti-competitive behaviour on the certificate market. If the current developments in Dutch renewable energy production continue, market power on a future renewable certificate market in the Netherlands will probably not be an issue, even if the RO should only rest on the retail market instead of on the whole electricity market. A renewable obligation will raise the retail price for consumers, thereby reducing consumer surplus. Simulations show that the retail electricity price increases with € 30 per MWh to a level of € 104 per MWh in case of a 30% renewable target. Consumer surplus is reduced with 19% compared to the baseline scenario. In contrast, a subsidy such as the Dutch SDE which is financed from the state budget has the effect to (slightly) lower the retail electricity price, thereby increasing consumer surplus. It should however be realised that the costs of the subsidy will indirectly affect electricity consumers through their tax payments.


Extracting patient information from unstructured text is a critical task in health decision-support and clinical research. Large language models (LLMs) have shown the potential to accelerate clinical curation via few-shot in-context learning, in contrast to supervised learning which requires much more costly human annotations. However, despite drastic advances in modern LLMs such as GPT-4, they still struggle with issues regarding accuracy and interpretability, especially in mission-critical domains such as health. Here, we explore a general mitigation framework using self-verification, which leverages the LLM to provide provenance for its own extraction and check its own outputs. This is made possible by the asymmetry between verification and generation, where the latter is often much easier than the former. Experimental results show that our method consistently improves accuracy for various LLMs in standard clinical information extraction tasks. Additionally, self-verification yields interpretations in the form of a short text span corresponding to each output, which makes it very efficient for human experts to audit the results, paving the way towards trustworthy extraction of clinical information in resource-constrained scenarios. To facilitate future research in this direction, we release our code and prompts.


Abstract Strong winds above the sea lead to large amounts of spray in the lowest part of the boundary layer. Through their evaporation, spray droplets influence the exchange of sensible and latent heat between sea and air. In this study, the impact of spray on the atmosphere is investigated using the numerical weather prediction high-resolution limited-area model HiRLAM. The effect of spray is taken into account via modified surface heat fluxes. The impact on forecasts is then investigated in two case studies of intense midlatitude storms. A general consequence of spray is a significantly cooler and moister surface layer. Indirect effects are reported as well, such as enhanced precipitation, and associated midlevel latent heat release. The second case study, which deals with a rapidly deepening depression, indicates that including spray leads to a marginal intensification of the depression.


Metabolomics is a powerful approach for discovering biomarkers and metabolic quantitative trait loci. While untargeted profiling methods can measure up to thousands of metabolite signals in a single experiment, many signals cannot be readily identified as known metabolites or compared across datasets, making it difficult to infer biology and to conduct well-powered meta-analyses across studies. To deal with these challenges, we developed a suite of computational methods, PAIRUP-MS, to match metabolite signals across mass spectrometry-based profiling datasets using an imputation-based approach and to generate pathway annotations for these signals. We performed meta and pathway analyses for both known and unknown signals in multiple datasets and then validated the results using genetic associations. Finally, we applied the methods to detect metabolite signals and pathways associated with body mass index, demonstrating that our framework is useful for analyzing unknown signals in a robust and biologically meaningful manner and for improving the power of untargeted metabolomics studies.


This dissertation details the research of elastography applied speci cally to the human fingertip. Vibrations are induced on the surface of the fingertip and resulting wave propagation
is measured to recreate mechanical properties such as shear modulus. In particular, three
methods were used to measure wave propagation, Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometry (SLDV),
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). All methods
used Geometric Focused (GF) waves. GF waves use an annular ring actuator on the surface
to produce converging waves to a focus point. Previous lab work used analytical equations to
approximate the shear modulus. However, throughout the project, it was determined that the
analytical solution proved to be invalid and a new post processing method to determine shear
modulus was developed using Finite Element Analysis (FEA).


The research on voter turnout in America is impressive in quantity and quality, but it lacks breadth. National and state elections have received most of the attention, while the myriad of other elections, from municipal contests to policy referenda, have often been ignored. As a result, we know a great deal about turnout in state and national elections, and much less about turnout in other races. The temptation is to generalize the state and national conclusions to other elections, but this is risky. For example, in a recent aggregate-level study of small town elections in Iowa, Rice and Schlueter (2004) report a relationship that runs contrary to virtually all of the state and national literature: education and turnout are negatively correlated; that is, the citizens in better-educated communities vote in local elections at lower rates than the citizens in less-educated communities. This finding exposes the limitations in our understanding of voter turnout. If all we want is to speak with assurance about turnout in state and national elections, then the current literature is very helpful. If, however, we want to be able to speak more generally about turnout (and speak more specifically about turnout in elections other than state and national contests), then we need to study more types of elections.For a copy of the data, contact Professor Tom W. Rice, department of political science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52241 (firstname.lastname@example.com).


In Hungary the use of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor enalapril has emerged as one of the most important drugs in the treatment of hypertension. The aim of our study was to evaluate the antihypertensive effect of enalapril of Hungarian production in combination therapy and alone, according to sexes, to the body mass index, among smokers and non smokers as well as non diabetic and in patients with diabetes (IDDM and NIDDM). The diurnal blood pressure values were registered by a 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitor. During the 6 weeks of the enalapril therapy (n = 28) both the daytime (141/84 vs. 135/80 mmHg) and the night-time (130/78 vs. 124/72 mmHg) blood pressure values decreased; the increase of diurnal indices during the therapy (SI/DI 6/8% vs. 8/10) reflect the 24 hour long lasting effect of the drug. The body mass index had no influence on the efficacy of treatment. Our results indicate that enalapril manufactured in Hungary is an effective antihypertensive drug both in monotherapy and in combination, in both sexes (especially in men), irrespective of the body weight, in non-smokers and especially in smokers, in insulin dependent and in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus alike.


We predict the possibility of spin based electronic transport in edge fluorinated armchair boron nitride nanoribbons (ABNNRs). The structural stability, electronic and magnetic properties of these edge fluorinated ABNNRs have been systematically analyzed by means of first-principles calculations within the local spin-density approximation (LSDA). Regardless of their width, ABNNRs with F-passivation at only the edge-B atoms are found to be thermodynamically stable and half-metallic in nature. The spin polarized states are found to be ∼0.4 eV more stable than that of spin compensated states. Further, upto 100% spin polarization is expected in ABNNRs with F-passivation at only the edge-B atoms as indicated by the giant splitting of spin states which is observed in the corresponding band structures, DOS and transmission spectrum. The existence of half-metallicity is attributed to the localization of electronic charge at unpassivated edge-N atoms as revealed from the analysis of Bloch states and projected density of states (PDOS). Importantly, present stability analysis suggests that the possibility of experimental realization of spin polarized transport in ABNNRs is more promising via F-passivation of ribbon edges than that of H-passivation. The observed half-metallic nature and large difference in the energies (∼0.4 eV) of spin polarized and spin compensated states projects these half-metallic ABNNRs as potential candidates for inorganic spintronic applications.


This paper reports on the design and development of a magnetoresistive sensor using a high Tc ceramic superconducting film. We have fabricated a meander-shape element by the selective growth of an electrophoretic Ag/sub 2/O-doped YBa/sub 2/Cu/sub 3/O/sub 7-x/ film. The doping amount of Ag/sub 2/O has been optimized to improve the magnetic field sensitivity and the element has been coupled to a Permalloy to enhance the sensitivity. A magnetic field resolution of 8.5 pT Hz/sup -1/2/ at 100 Hz at 77 K has been obtained with no input coil. To demonstrate this high sensitivity, we have been successful in measuring a human magnetocardiogram.<<ETX>>


The multiconfiguration Dirac-Hartree-Fock (MCDHF) method has been employed to calculate atomic electric dipole moments (EDM) of Ra, Hg, and Yb. For the calculations of the matrix elements we extended the relativistic atomic structure package GRASP2K [1]. The extension includes programs to evaluate matrix elements of (P, T )-odd e-N tensor-pseudotensor and pseudoscalar-scalar interactions, the atomic electric dipole interaction, the nuclear Schiff moment, and the interaction of the electron electric dipole moment with nuclear magnetic moments. The interelectronic interactions were accounted for through valence and core-valence electron correlation effects. The electron shell relaxation was included with separately optimised wave functions of opposite parities.


Pulverized coal (PC) has become an important auxiliary fuel in the iron and steel industry since the technique of pulverized coal injection (PCI) was developed for iron making. The combustion efficiencies of pulverized coal in blowpipes and tuyeres under various operational conditions are numerically predicted to determine the performance levels with regard to different locations of the nozzles in a blast furnace. A variety of parameters, including the pulverized coal quantities, oxygen amounts, inlet temperatures of the tuyeres, and the mass flow rate of coal carrier gas are taken into consideration. Also, in order to develop greater efficiency than those of existing coal injection systems, this study applies a flame measurement system using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera and a frame grabber. It uses auto sampling algorithms from the flame shape information to determine the device for the optimal location control for PCI. This study finds further improvements of the blast furnace performance via the control of the PCI locations.


A novel astigmatism-tunable microlens is reported in this letter. This device is based on a thermal-actuated current-controlled tunable polymer lens. The thermal deformation as well as surface profile of polymer lens is tuned by temperature using the current induced Joule heating. The asymmetric boundary condition is further applied on the silicon conducting ring of the lens to invoke asymmetric deformation of the polymer lens as well as astigmatic change of the polymer lens. To prove the concept, the astigmatism-tunable polydimethylsiloxane lens has been fabricated on the silicon-on-glass wafer. Astigmatism tuning was demonstrated by change of astigmatic focal distance, from 1590 to 44 mum, as input current increased from 0 to 30 mA. In addition, aspect ratios of focal spot shape were varied from -20 to -1.3 and 16 to 1.22 with respect to anterior and posterior focal points. This device provides a feasible solution to the dilemma of astigmatic tuning capability and miniaturization. In summary, the present device has the potential to act as a key component for microelectromechanical systems-based aberration corrector or laser focus-spot shaper.


Abstract A new method for attenuation of external unknown bounded disturbances in linear dynamical systems with known parameters is proposed. In contrast to the well known results, the developed static control law ensures that the phase trajectories of the system are located in an ellipsoid, which is close enough to the ball in which the initial conditions are located, as well as provides the best control accuracy in the steady state. To solve the problem, the method of Lyapunov functions and the technique of linear matrix inequalities are used. The linear matrix inequalities allow one to find optimal controller. In addition to the solvability of linear matrix inequalities, a matrix search scheme is proposed that provides the smallest ellipsoid in transition mode and steady state with a small error. The proposed control scheme extends to control linear systems under conditions of large disturbances, for the attenuation of which the integral control law is used. Comparative examples of the proposed method and the method of invariant ellipsoids are given. It is shown that under certain conditions the phase trajectories of a closed-loop system obtained on the basis of the invariant ellipsoid method are close to the boundaries of the smallest ellipsoid for the transition mode, while the obtained control law guarantees the convergence of phase trajectories to the smallest ellipsoid in the steady state.


Insurance system in Romania is carried out with a constant natural activity, evolving quite honorably these times. This is largely due to the difficulty with which insurance is sold in normal economic conditions when it comes to prosperity. Although psychologists, led by Maslow believes that the protection needs are basic needs, along with the physiological one, on the priority list regarding procurement, insurance needs are for some Romanians, of minimum or no importance, so that they are either pushed to the bottom of the list, or even, as it most often happens, they are non existent. Current economic conditions and climate, urges caution on most fields, especially in terms of individual properties, including, how somewhat forced, life and physical integrity which are still considered property, if this aspect is not debated in terms of Christian or other religious dogma. In other words, many Romanians see insurance as a product that "is not up their alley†including it in the luxury category. Furthermore, the media shows, sometimes amplify certain cases of doubt in relations between insurance company - customer. Appropriate marketing, allied with the information technology can improve the complete relationship between the two entities - the offeror and the consumer. Through this study we aim to identify important issues that facilitate the sale of insurance, using information technology, given that the sales of these financial products through the \"ancestral\" methods are effective but not very efficient. We will follow, byanchoring to the current reality, the insurance utility and how to use information technologies in support of marketing (sales). The study itself was done by observing the results in practical work, from an insurance agency, but also related to what the literature offers. Because this study is currently underway, there are certainly some limitations of accuracy of results, which are adjusted \"on the fly\". Realizing a practical application to accompany the insurance consultant, manager and sales team, can increase business efficiency, while being able to better control the forecast, an aspect so painful to the sales man.


Heerema Marine Contractors' (HMC) former Project Risk Management (PRM) method was until recently supported by a specialized risk team. The risk team facilitated the PRM activities, i.e. risk assessment workshops and review moments during the projects. The risk team also performed a quantitative risk analysis on all projects. Such an analysis provides insight into the project risk, i.e. the combined effect of the identified risk events. The Board of Directors abandoned the risk team after three years of service. The abandonment was associated with two adjustments: (a) the project manager received the full responsibility for all PRM activities and (b) the quantitative risk analysis disappeared. Since then there has been an ongoing discussion about the Board of Directors' decision to abandon the risk team. This raises the research questions 'Which aspects of HMC's current project risk management method show room for improvement?' and 'What is the usefulness of quantitative risk analysis in HMC's project risk management?'


This paper introduces a new large-scale n-gram corpus that is created specifically from social media text. Two distinguishing characteristics of this corpus are its monthly temporal attribute and that it is created from 1.65 billion comments of user-generated text in Reddit. The usefulness of this corpus is exemplified and evaluated by a novel Topic-based Latent Semantic Analysis (TLSA) algorithm. The experimental results show that unsupervised TLSA outperforms all the state-of-the-art unsupervised and semi-supervised methods in SEMEVAL 2015: paraphrase and semantic similarity in Twitter tasks.


Background: Stratifying melanoma patients for adjuvant immunotherapy trials has quickly become an urgent need. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) analysis is predictive but insufficiently precise for clinical application. A novel pathology method, quantitative multiplex immunofluorescence (qmIF), allows for complex analysis of the tumor microenvironment (TME) for development of new biomarkers. Given that CD3+CD8+ cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTLs) promote antitumor immunity while CD68+ macrophages (Mφ) impair immunity, we hypothesized that precise quantification and spatial analysis of Mφ and CTLs would correlate with survival in melanoma. Methods: We applied qmIF to 104 stage II/III primary melanomas from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC); known cause of death is available for 64 patients. 5-µm slides were stained using qmIF for DAPI, CD3, CD8, CD68, SOX10, HLA-DR and Ki67. Tumor areas were preselected by a dermatopathologist and visualized using Mantra. Tissue and cell segmentation, multiparameter immune phenotyping, and quantitative spatial analysis (qSA) were performed using inForm. Local spatial analysis was implemented by partitioning images into 100-µm square windows. The interquartile range of cellular ratios among windows was used as the measure of dispersion. Results: We find high CTL and low Mφ density in stroma (p=0.0038, p=0.0006) correlate with disease-specific survival (DSS). Correlation was strongest for stromal HLA-DR+ CTLs (p=0.0005). CTL distance to HLA-DR- Mφ associates with poor DSS (p=0.0016), while distance to Ki67- tumor cells associates inversely with DSS (p=0.0006). Low CTL/ Mφ ratio in stroma confers a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.719 for death from melanoma and correlates with shortened overall survival (OS) in the complete 104-patient cohort by Cox analysis (p=0.009). HLA-DR- Mφ are more evenly dispersed throughout the stroma of survivors (n=42) than patients known to have died of melanoma (n=22) (p=0.0036), while conversely, HLA-DR+ CTLs are less evenly dispersed in survivors (p=0.023). Conclusions: CTL/ Mφ ratio is prognostically superior to conventional clinical biomarkers in nonmetastatic melanoma. Local spatial features such as leukocyte dispersion and intercellular distances also associate with survival, highlighting the importance of microenvironmental structure. Future efforts will further parse the large output of data from qmIF to generate biomarkers that are increasingly precise, spatially informed, and quantitatively robust. Citation Format: Robyn D. Gartrell, Andrew Chen, Douglas K. Marks, Thomas D. Hart, Gen Li, Alan Wu, Yan Lu, Camden Esancy, Zoe Blake, Bret Taback, Raul Rabadan, Howard L. Kaufman, Charles G. Drake, Basil Horst, Anthea Monod, Yvonne Saenger. Quantitative compositional and spatial analysis of tumor microenvironment (TME) in primary melanoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 2091.


Busbar distribution system is used as a modular infrastructure to carry electrical energy in low voltage grid. Due to the widespread usage in industrial areas, the power line communication possibilities should be investigated in terms of smart grid concept. This paper addresses modeling of the busbar distribution system as a transmission line and gives some suggestions on the link performance for narrowband power line communication for the first time in literature. Firstly, S-parameters of different current level busbars were measured up to 500 kHz for all possible two-port signal paths. The utilization of the frequency-dependent RLCG(f) model was proposed to extract transmission line characteristics to eliminate the unwanted measurement effects. Particle swarm algorithm was used to optimize the model parameters with a good agreement between measured and simulated S-parameters. Additionally, link performance of busbar distribution system as a power line communication channel at 3 kHz–148.5 kHz band was examined for frequency shift keying and phase shift keying modulations under different network configurations such as varying busbar type, the line length between transmitter and receiver, branch number, and terminating load impedance. Obtained results were presented as bit-error-rate vs. signal-to-noise ratio graphs.


Abstract BACKGROUND: Immunotherapy is increasingly used in patients with non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases (NSCLCBM). KRAS mutations are associated with worse prognosis and there is no FDA approved targeted therapy. KRAS mutations are associated with increased expression of PD-L1. We evaluated the outcomes of NSCLCBM with KRAS mutations treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI). METHODS: We reviewed 800 patients with NSCLCBM treated at our tertiary care center. 226 had known KRAS mutational status, 121 of which received immunotherapy. Overall survival (OS) was calculated from either the start of immunotherapy (when both groups received immunotherapy) or from the date of diagnosis of brain metastasis. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox Proportional hazard model were utilized to determine differences in OS and the Chi-square test was utilized to determine differences in PD-L1 expression. RESULTS: In 109 patients where both KRAS and PD-L1 status were known, KRAS mutations had greater PD-L1 expression (80.1% vs 61.9% positive, p=0.04). There was no difference in OS between KRAS mutant vs KRAS wild-type patients treated with immunotherapy. Median survival from the start of immunotherapy was 15.6 vs 15.5 months respectively (p=0.7), after adjusting for age, KPS, lesion number and extra-cranial metastasis (HR = .91, p=.7). Patients with KRAS mutations treated with immunotherapy versus those who received chemotherapy had a 1-year OS from the diagnosis of brain metastasis of 60.9% vs 38.7% respectively (trending towards significance, p=0.05). KRAS wild-type patients treated with immunotherapy versus those who did not receive immunotherapy had a 1-year OS from the diagnosis of brain metastasis of 61.9% vs 62.5% (p=0.85), respectively. DISCUSSION: KRAS mutations are associated with increased PD-L1 expression. Use of immunotherapy negates the poor outcomes seen traditionally in patients with NSCLCBM and KRAS mutations and it improves survival compared to use of chemotherapy. Our experience supports the use of immunotherapy in these patients.


We present the results of an experiment designed to investigate the way information is organized and stored in the human brain. In particular, we are using controlled stimuli to reverse engineer the networks of ideas and concepts in order to answer the following questions. (1) Are the networks of ideas and concepts in the human brain invoked by verbal and visual stimuli distinct from each other? The answer appears to be no for the network of ideas and inconclusive for the network of concepts. (2) What is the topology of these networks? Our experimental results show that both are small-world networks, with the network of ideas being random and the network of concepts scale-free.


Interleukin (IL)-13 mediates its activities via a complex receptor system. Interleukin-13 receptor alpha-1 chain (IL-13Ralpha1) binds IL-13 with low affinity, but does not signal. However, when IL-13Ralpha1 combines with IL-4 receptor alpha (IL-4Ralpha), a signaling high affinity receptor complex for IL-13 is generated. In contrast, IL-13Ralpha2 alone binds IL-13 with high affinity, but does not signal and has been postulated to be a decoy receptor. Herein, we investigated the cellular localization of IL-13Ralpha2 and the regulation of its expression by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry in primary and cultured cells. Our results demonstrate that IL-13Ralpha2 is largely an intracellular molecule, which is rapidly mobilized from intracellular stores following treatment with interferon (IFN)-gamma. Up-regulation of IL-13Ralpha2 surface expression in response to IFN-gamma was rapid, did not require protein synthesis, and resulted in diminished IL-13 signaling. These results provide the first evidence that the IL-13Ralpha2 is predominantly an intracellular molecule and demonstrate a novel mechanism by which IFN-gamma can regulate IL-13 responses.


One of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) therapeutic modality is transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). The albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade is amongst the newest of prognostic scores published to predict survival. The aim of this study was to analzye the ALBI grade as a three-month survival predictor in HCC patients after initial TACE. This was a retrospective analytic observational study identifying patients that underwent initial TACE from January 2013 to December 2017 in Dr. Soetomo General Hospital, Surabaya. Data were collected before treatment and analyzed to evaluate ALBI grade as a survival predictor. Out of 134 HCC patients, the subjects consisted of 100 (74.6%) male subjects and 34 (25.4%) female subjects. There were 25 (18.7%), 98 (73.1%), dan 11 (8.2%) subjects who were classified into to ALBI 1, ALBI 2, and ALBI 3, respectively, with a median ALBI score of -2.295. The ALBI grade was significantly associated with the three-month survival variable (p = 0.01; CI 95%). Using the ROC curve, we have determined a new cut-off point. The group of ALBI score ≤ -2.27 had an odds ratio of 2.549 (CI 95% 1.232-5.273) for three-month survival. The ALBI grade was associated with three-month survival after initial TACE in patients with HCC.


Learning Objectives Provide a clinical review of thyrotoxic crisis (thyroid storm). Review the limited published data currently available on thyroid arterial embolisation as treatment of thyrotoxic crisis. Provide pictorial anatomic review of thyroid arterial supply. Present a case of thyrotoxic crisis refractory to medical management and unsuitable for surgical intervention, which underwent thyroid arterial embolisation. Background Thyrotoxic crisis is an acute exacerbation of thyrotoxicosis, which can be precipitated by a multitude of causes. It has an overall mortality rate of20–30%, however if treatment is delayed the mortality rate increases up to approximately 75%. Treatment requires vigorous medical management and while thyroidectomy is often necessary, the severity of the exacerbation often makes this patient population poor surgical candidates. A limited number of published case reports demonstrate thyroid arterial embolisation as a treatment options for unstable patients with thyrotoxic crisis. Embolisation is via the bilateral superior and inferior thyroid arteries. Clinical Findings/Procedure Details This poster presents will review a case of a 69 year old male with intractable thyrotoxic crisis, despite appropriate medical management. The patient was not a surgical candidate due to prior episodes of cardiac and respiratory arrest secondary to sustained ventricular fibrillation. Given the patient's overall poor prognosis and lack of treatment options, arterial embolisation of the thyroid was considered. The patient underwent bilateral superior and inferior thyroid artery embolisations using 500 to 700 micron embospheres. Following embolisation there was interval increase in T4 and T3, as previously reported, but no further episodes of sustained ventricular fibrillation occurred and a curative thyroidectomy was performed one week later. Conclusion The case report in combination with the limited published data suggests thyroid embolisation may have a role in treatment of nonsurigical refractory thyrotoxic crisis. Further research is needed to determine if thyroid embolisation could help reduce the high mortality rate associated with thyrotoxic crisis. Disclosures R. Morgan: None. S. Best: None. C. Connor: None. P. Johnson: None. J. Madarang: None.


With an increasingly competitive job market, this study focuses on what marketing educators can do to help students develop a sustainable competitive advantage. The authors conducted a survey of students, faculty, and recruiters to develop a better understanding of what skills and characteristics might be of value to each group of respondents and to ascertain where differences might exist across respondent groups. Although the basic skills (i.e., critical thinking, communication) recruiters seek have not changed much from previous studies, recruiters rated critical thinking skills, such as problem solving, much higher than either faculty or students. Graduates must be accountable and show the impact and rationale behind decisions. In other words, educators must continue to stress reading, writing, and "arith-metrics." The lessons learned herein include ways to engage students, strengthen communication skills, incorporate skill development workshops, use professional speakers in marketing organizations, and promote services available outside the classroom as well as help students develop multiple skill sets in class. Educators should also encourage students to be open-minded, creative, and explore opportunities including internships and positions that may not be their current career choice. Finally, educators should discuss pros and cons of going straight through school or working before attending graduate school.


In a time of declining public trust in news, loss of advertising revenue, and an increasingly participatory, self-expressive and digital media culture, journalism is in the process of rethinking and reinventing itself. In this paper, the authors explore how journalism is preparing itself for an age of participatory news: a time where (some of) the news is gathered, selected, edited and communicated by professionals and amateurs, and by producers and consumers alike. Using materials from case studies of emerging participatory news practices in the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and the United States, the authors conclude with some preliminary recommendations for further research and theorize early explanations for the success or failure of participatory journalism.


OBJECTIVE
To identify potential deficiencies in product labeling (package insert) instructions for the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals.

METHODS
Preparation instructions, which include both reconstitution and quality control (QC) directions, as stated in the package inserts were evaluated for all commercially available reconstituted radiopharmaceuticals. Reviews of the package inserts were initially performed by each author, and then all identified deficiencies were compiled and evaluated by all authors. The preparation scenario for each package insert evaluated was based on a centralized nuclear pharmacy operation assuming typical support personnel, standard operating equipment, and workload.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
The instructions as stated in each package insert for the preparation (including QC) were rated as inadequate if a satisfactory preparation could not be prepared by a nuclear pharmacist or physician when instructions were followed exactly.

RESULTS
Identified deficiencies in package insert instructions for the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals fell into the following five categories: (1) absent or incomplete directions (especially with regard to QC procedures); (2) restrictive directions (e.g., specific requirement to use designated needles, chromatography solvents, counting devices), (3) inconsistent directions (e.g., different reconstituted volumes for the same final drug product, unworkable expiration times); (4) impractical directions (e.g., unrealistically low reconstituted activity limits, dangerously high number of radiolabeled particles); and (5) vague directions (e.g., use of the words "should," "may," "recommend").

CONCLUSION
Manufacturers' directions for the preparation of radiopharmaceuticals often contain deficiencies and should be viewed as standard guidance rather than as requirements. Just as physicians are permitted to use U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs for off-label indications, nuclear pharmacists should be allowed to use alternative methods for preparing radiopharmaceuticals, provided those methods have been validated to be as good as the stated directions and that the nuclear pharmacists do not engage in activities that fall outside the normal practice of pharmacy. Manufacturers, FDA, nuclear pharmacists, and nuclear physicians should work together to address identified deficiencies in package insert directions.


Increasing evidence suggests that exposure to new generation agents targeting the AR promotes the emergence of castration-resistant stem-like clones ultimately leading to treatment failure. In order to develop improved therapies for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), it is important to understand the origin and biology of these stem-like clones. We have observed significantly diminished levels of Neogenin (encoded by NEO1) in CRPC. Neogenin functions as a neuronal guidance receptor but has also been implicated in epithelial branching morphogenesis and is homologous to DCC, which functions as a suppressor of tumor progression in breast and colorectal cancer. We found that silencing of neogenin induces androgen receptor (AR) dependent prostate cancer cells to undergo an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and acquire neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation features. In addition, the neogenin-silenced cells expressed high levels of the stem cell markers β4 integrin and CD44 and formed rapidly growing tumor spheres in vitro. Intriguingly, these cells had become castration resistant due to loss of AR expression and were able to efficiently colonize the bone upon intracardiac injection in immunodeficient mice. Genomic and molecular pathology studies indicated that NEO1 expression is lost in CRPC and NEPC. To examine the relationship between the acquisition of the castration resistant phenotype and loss of neogenin, we have generated a series of casodex- and enzalutamide-resistant clones from LNCaP cells. Interestingly, we observed that a significant fraction of these clones have lost expression of neogenin and acquired expression of the β4 integrin and are highly metastatic in immunodeficient mice, similar to the characteristics of CRPC observed in the clinic. To validate these results, we sought to identify a population of β4-positive cells in the peripheral blood of patients with CRPC. By using immunofluorescent staining and FACS analysis, we were able to identify β4-positive circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from the peripheral blood of CRPC patients. These cells were not detected in the blood of healthy normal donors but their numbers increased with disease progression. These findings identify a novel tumor progression pathway that is likely to operate in at least a fraction of CRPC cases. Citation Format: Goutam Chakraborty, Mayur Gadiya, Myriam Kossai, Dong Gao, Weijing Su, Hua Gao, Yu Chen, Howard I. Scher, Mark A. Rubin, Filippo Giancotti. Inactivation of neogenin promotes castration resistance and bone metastasis in prostate cancer models. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4722. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4722


Developing mechanisms to uncover and share with students the deep richness of practice through reflective, collegial, and supportive dialogue is a very timely and necessary activity. How this compliments other educational strategies and the impact of the full expression of practice dialogue continues to be created and discovered. While practice dialogue can influence experimental knowledge development, it does not negate the necessity of the student's active engagement in direct practice learning episodes with the clinical faculty. Preliminary evaluations by staff nurses and students are positive. Staff nurses have identified a "therapeutic" effect in sharing their practice dialogue. Due to the early phase of implementation, other outcome data are not available. In this project, "Critical Thinking Rounds" are being developed as a mechanism to begin to uncover critical thinking in practice. Based on the excitement of nurses and students coming together and sharing practice, similar activities need to be facilitated as essential mechanisms for expressing the essence of nursing practice in the hope of bridging the gap between education and practice.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
An early elevation in blood pressure (BP) is common after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), has various potential causes, and is predictive of poor outcome. We aimed to determine the predictors of this phenomenon, in pooled analyses of the Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trials [INTERACT1 (n = 404) and INTERACT2 (n = 2829)].

METHODS
INTERACT trials were international, open, blinded endpoint, randomized controlled trials of patients with spontaneous ICH (<6 h) and elevated SBP (150-220 mmHg) assigned to intensive (target SBP < 140 mmHg) or guideline-recommended (SBP < 180 mmHg) treatment. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to determine associations between baseline variables and the high admission BP, with continuous and binary SBP measures, respectively.

RESULTS
Among 3233 patients (mean age 63 years; 37% female; baseline mean SBP 179 mmHg), both analytic approaches showed significant positive associations of high admission BP with history of hypertension, admission hyperglycemia at least 6.5 mmol/l, elevated heart rate, and greater neurological severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores); and significant negative associations with prior use of antithrombotic agents and longer time from onset to randomization.

CONCLUSION
The high admission BP of mild-to-moderate acute ICH is related to autonomic nervous system activated 'stress' rather than hematoma location and mass effect.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION
URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00226096 and NCT00716079.


A distributed scheduling approach to multi-user beamforming at a base-station (BS) is proposed. The scheme assumes the BS is equipped with multiple antennas and uses zero-forcing beamforming to schedule multiple users on the same time-frequency uplink/downlink channels. The optimal user set that the BS can schedule is the one that maximizes the sum-rate for the communication channel. The computational complexity of finding the optimal user set becomes intractable as the number of users exceeds 20-30. Sub-optimal schemes for maximizing the sum-rate generally require large control overhead. We propose an effective sum-rate performance metric that accounts for the control overhead required by the scheduling method. We also propose a user scheduling method that has both low complexity and low overhead. The complexity and overhead are reduced by adding one user at a time and distributing the computation of the scheduling problem across the users. Each user calculates the sum-rate that would result if they were added to the existing user set using their own channel and knowledge of the channels of existing users that is broadcast by the BS. The user with greatest sum-rate increase is scheduled. We use simulations to show that this approach can achieve significantly higher effective sum rates than previously proposed sub-optimal schemes. We also derive an approximate expression for the expected sum-rate with our distributed scheduling method and demonstrate its accuracy with simulations.


Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) occurs in patients with defective alternative complement pathways, making them susceptible to thrombotic microangiopathy (thrombocytopenia, intravascular hemolysis, and renal failure), and is usually triggered by infectious agents. Influenza and Streptococcus pneumonia are known triggers for aHUS. However, influenza vaccination triggering aHUS is rarely reported. We present a 30-year-old male who presented with chills, abdominal discomfort, and night sweats after receiving the influenza vaccine. The patient had thrombocytopenia, elevated creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, liver enzymes, and bilirubin with schistocytes with peripheral smear. ADAMTS13 activity was normal so the patient was diagnosed with aHUS. The patient improved with eculizumab and was ultimately found to have a mutation in CD46, which made him susceptible to aHUS. This case shows patients with dysregulated alternative complement pathways may be predisposed to develop aHUS after receiving influenza vaccination.


For many years, literature's value has been widely regardedas a mean for the spiritual growth of every human being; however, this type of reading is neither common nor paramount for a large number of children and young people at present. There are many factors influencing such situation; this paper deals with only one of them: methods used by some professors regarding reading formation and development. Besides, the present work suggests some activities to be performed by professors towards literary competence.


In the preparation of urban designs, it is important for the designer to understand the space feature of the project district and to obtain the design resource from the site. In our design studio, students take pictures of a point of interest (POI) in the project district and discuss the design concept of the district based on the photographs. To share the photographs obtained by the students during the field survey along with the attribute information and shooting positions, the present authors have developed a Web-based image archive system as an effective resource for a design studio. This system registers the photographs taken in the surveying district on GoogleMap and simultaneously displays the images on a three-dimensional city model. In this paper, we discuss the development of a Map-based Repository of Image (MRI) system to share the photographs of a city. Moreover, we attempt to evaluate its pedagogical effect in the design studio.


In this work we present a new approach to the problem of output regulation for nonlinear systems in presence of periodic disturbances, possibly with an infinite number of harmonics. We show that, by adding a linear internal model, approximate regulation is achieved if the disturbance is small enough. Nominally all the harmonic included in the internal model are absent in the periodic steady state regulation error. Furthermore we show that the regulation error can be made arbitrarily small (in the ℒ2 sense) by enlarging the dimension of the internal model. The novel approach relies on forwarding technique. An example is provided to show the efficacy of the result.


The article presents information about the advantages and possibilities of modern methods of pathomorphological assessment used in otorhinolaryngology that not only allow to differentiate various forms of pathological processes, but also provide insight into the change in their physiological functions, as well as the opportunity to follow the stages of regeneration processes. Special attention is paid to the possibilities of the immunohistochemical method of assessment.


Data cooperatives with fiduciary obligations to members provide a promising direction for the empowerment of individuals through their own personal data. A data cooperative can manage, curate and protect access to the personal data of citizen members. Furthermore, the data cooperative can run internal analytics in order to obtain insights regarding the well-being of its members. Armed with these insights, the data cooperative would be in a good position to negotiate better services and discounts for its members. Credit Unions and similar institutions can provide a suitable realization of data cooperatives.


Numerous attempts to toughen thermosets like epoxies by incorporation of thermoplastics like PES or PEI have been made. Recently, we found that cyanate ester (CE) /soluble polyimide (PI) system can be a tough alloy with excellent heat resistance. Structure development during the curing reaction in a binary mixture of CE and soluble PI was investigated by light scattering. In the early stage of curing, the binary blend was a single-phase mixture. As the cure reaction proceeded, phase separation took place via the spinodal decomposition induced by the increase in the molecular weight of CE. This was supported by the characteristic change in light scattering profile with curing time. We also found that a ternary system, CE/epoxy/soluble PI system, render tough materials. In the ternary system, structure formation proceeded also by the reaction-induced spinodal decomposition. By incorporating epoxy, the miscibility with soluble PI was enhanced, so that the periodic distance in the two-phase structure was reduced to attain higher fracture toughness. The two-phase structure and fracture toughness in the ternary system was also affected by epoxy content and curing temperature.


The class activation mapping, or CAM, has been the cornerstone of feature attribution methods for multiple vision tasks. Its simplicity and effectiveness have led to wide applications in the explanation of visual predictions and weakly-supervised localization tasks. However, CAM has its own shortcomings. The computation of attribution maps relies on ad-hoc calibration steps that are not part of the training computational graph, making it difficult for us to understand the real meaning of the attribution values. In this paper, we improve CAM by explicitly incorporating a la-tent variable encoding the location of the cue for recognition in the formulation, thereby subsuming the attribution map into the training computational graph. The resulting model, class activation latent mapping, or CALM, is trained with the expectation-maximization algorithm. Our experiments show that CALM identifies discriminative attributes for image classifiers more accurately than CAM and other visual attribution baselines. CALM also shows performance improvements over prior arts on the weakly-supervised object localization benchmarks. Our code is available at https://github.com/naver-ai/calm.


Double-chambered right ventricle is often misdiagnosed clinically and may be missed at cardiac catheterization. The authors encountered a fifty-six-year- old man who had double-chambered right ventricle, which was clearly demon strated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before cardiac catheterization. The right ventricle was divided into two chambers by hypertrophic muscular bands at the coronal planes. This finding was confirmed by selective angiogra phy, and the pressure gradient in the right ventricle was 98 mmHg. Thus, MRI should be performed in the case of right ventricular obstruction to evaluate the site and extent of obstruction before cardiac catheterization.


The 11 beta-hydroxylase of the filamentous fungus Cochliobolus lunatus m 118 was induced with the substrate 17 alpha, 21-dihydroxypregna-1,4-diene-3,20-dione 17-acetate (11 beta-deoxyprednisolone 17-acetate) itself, substrate analogues, different pregnane compounds, sterols, intermediates of microbial sterol side-chain degradation or bile acids, together with 24 different steroids in a standardized test system. The resulting 11 beta-hydroxylation rate, leading to prednisolone 17-acetate and prednisolone, respectively, was determined and compared with the hydroxylation rate of non-induced cultures. The transformation yield strongly depended on the inducer structure. The microbial sterol side-chain degradation intermediates (20S)-20-hydroxymethylpregn-4-en-3-one and the corresponding pregna-1,4-diene compound caused the highest induction effects (induction factors 5.1 and 4.9, respectively). The metabolism of (20S)-20-hydroxymethylpregna-1,4-dien-3-one during the cultivation was elucidated. The induction effect decreased with the rising oxidation of the inducer. The significant increase of the 11 beta-hydroxylation rate of 1-dehydro-pregnane substrates by specific induction allows alternative pathways to glucocorticoid partial syntheses.


Advances in helicopter design continue to saturate the pilot's visual channel and produce remarkable increases in cognitive workload for the pilot. This study investigates the potential implementation of Direct Voice Input (DVI) as an alternative control for interacting with onboard systems of the AH-64D Apache, in an attempt to reduce pilot workload during a "hands on" the controls and "eyes out" condition. The intent is to identify AH-64D cockpit tasks performed through Multi Purpose Displays (MPDs) that when converted to DVI will provide the greatest reduction in task execution time and workload. A brief description of applicable AH-64D audio and visual displays are provided. A review of current trends in state-of-the-art voice recognition technology is presented, as well as previous and current voice input cockpit identification studies. To identify tasks in the AH-64D, a methodology was developed consisting of a detailed analysis of the aircraft's mission and on-board systems. A pilot questionnaire was developed and administered to operational AH-64D pilots to assess their input on DVI implementation. Findings indicate DVI would be most useful for displaying selected MPD pages and performing tasks pertaining to the Tactical Situation Display (TSD), weapons, and communications. Six of the candidate DVI tasks were performed in the AH-64D simulator using the manual input method and a simulated voice input method. Two different pilots made objective and subjective evaluations. Task execution times and workload rating were lower using a simulated means of voice input. Overall, DVI shows limited potential for workload reduction and warrants further simulator testing before proceeding to the flight environment.


Moving images, whether in film, television or videogames, dominate industrialized regions. They are accordingly primary modes through which many encounter the world, and in this sense become virtual realities. They can also be virtual in the sense of being artificial and simulated. The movie Pleasantville (1998) is a case in point. The movie does not even offer an imitation of historical events as much as an imitation of ready-made narratives circulating in mass media and culture. In this regard, it offers a variation of what Roland Barthes called mythic imagery, that is, a kind of sign language based in established discourses. Specifically, it employs common movie tropes representing fascism and racial segregation, along with symbolic representations of diversity, with the former associated with antagonists and the latter with protagonists. Because of this alignment, the movie, on the face of it, appears to have a progressive message. However, this appearance is misleading. Concretely speaking, most character developments are towards the mainstream and diversity diminishes at the end of the film, but with the visual rhetoric suggesting just the reverse. Consequently most audiences and indeed the writer-director fail to see that the movie is little more than an uncritical affirmation of mainstream American culture. Pleasantville accordingly stands as an illustrative example of how iconographic representations of social and moral ideals that we unthinkingly reject or accept can be used to sell the reverse of what they celebrate.


Efficiency of agrarian production depends on the characteristics of the natural complex in specific territory. Managing costs on crop production in steppe zone is largely determined by correctly chosen strategy of development and tools of its implementation, taking into account cost and innovative technologies. The purpose of this paper is to identify possible ways to reduce the cost of crop production by constructing an econometric model. Searching of the most efficient ways of working agrarian enterprise is grounded by the intense technological progress, with considerable attention which is paid to the econometric modelling. It provides the opportunity not only to see the relationship between the studied quantitative factors, but also to predict the results of activities in an analytical form. The paper proposes an econometric model of the crops' yield formation and identifies ways to reduce the cost of crop production. The hypothesis of a linear relation between the prime cost, expenditures and yield is proved. As a result of the analysis, the dependence of production costs on crop yields and prime costs, the opportunity to use the survey data to predict future economic factors in agriculture is given. JEL codes: C00, C02, C15, Q10.


We report on high-field magnetoconductance measurements made on indium-oxide films as a function of temperature and static disorder. Special emphasis is given to the strong-localization regime where the magnetoconductance reveals a negative contribution associated with a spin-alignment mechanism in addition to the positive contribution associated with orbital, quantum-coherence effects. While the overall features of the theoretically expected effects are observed in our experiments, they depart in certain ways from the detailed predictions. We discuss the merits and shortcomings of current models to describe them, in particular, as they apply to the regime where the localized wave functions become larger than the Bohr radius. The main results of this paper are both quantum interference and spin effects contribute to the magnetoconductance throughout the entire range studied. In the limit of very strong disorder, the quantum interference effects are faithfully described by the Nguyen {ital et} {ital al}. model. The spin effects, on the other hand, show only qualitative agreement with current models which are unable to account for the saturation field being insensitive to changes in disorder. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}


For model driven development approaches to succeed, there is a need for model validation techniques. This paper presents an approach to testing designs described by UML class diagrams, interaction diagrams, and activity diagrams. A UML design model under test is transformed into an executable form. Test infrastructure is added to the executable form to carry out tests. During testing, object configurations are created, modified and observed. In this paper, we identify the structural and behavioral characteristics that need to be observed during testing. We describe a prototype tool that (1) transforms UML design models into executable forms with test infrastructure, (2) executes tests, and (3) reports failures.


One important trend in thermal spraying is the application of novel Fe-based corrosion/wear protection coating systems. A typical field of application for such corrosion and abrasive wear protection coatings are rotary dryers of paper machines. At the moment, these cylinders are coated by wire arc spraying. A disadvantage of the wire arc sprayed coatings is their high thickness, which has a heat-insulation effect, and their high roughness. Therefore, an expensive post production grinding process is necessary in order to achieve the required surface quality. The goal is to develop a HVAF process that enables the production of thin, dense and near net shape corrosion/wear protection coating systems, which significantly reduce the post-production time and costs. In this study, the HVAF coating process and a novel Fe-based feedstock material are investigated. In the first step the Fe-based powder is analysed thermally using differential scanning calorimetry, to investigate the solidification and melting temperature of the feedstock material. Furthermore, the influence of the spraying distance and the powder feed rate on the microstructure and porosity of the resulting coatings is investigated using light microscopy. Furthermore, the deposition efficiency of HVAF coatings is analysed regarding their economic efficiency.


Strain-based design assessment (SBDA) has been known for suitable assessment concept for pipelines subjected to displacement-controlled load and high plastic deformation rather than conventional stress-based design assessment. Tensile strain capacity (TSC) has been used for one of important factors to indicate limit state in strain-based design, so that it is main concern to predict accurate TSC to ensure the structural safety and integrity of pipelines. For the pipeline containing a flaw, especially a girth weld flaw, TSC based on fracture mechanics can be determined. Crack-tip opening displacement (CTOD) has been widely used for typical elastic-plastic fracture parameter, representing crack-driving force and crack-resistance curve, which are required to assess unstable crack propagation. The one of the main principles of crack assessment is that the definitions of crack-driving force and crack resistance curve should be coincident. However, there exist two kinds of the definitions of CTOD, which are based on 90° and original crack-tip concept, and these have been not unified in practical regions until now. Moreover, it is reported that the deviations of crack-resistance curve can occur in the same specimen and experiment, caused by the different definitions of CTOD. Therefore, CTOD solutions based on each of different definitions of CTOD should be highly required since inaccurate TSC would be assessed when using not the identical definition of that.
 In the present study, CTOD solutions of pipelines with a circumferential and internal surface flaw are suggested by using two kinds of definitions of CTOD based on 90° and original crack-tip concept. For this purpose, FE analyses were systematically carried out considering various pipe geometries and material properties. And single-edge notched tension (SENT) specimen was used for representing resistance curve of API X70/X65 material. Moreover, the effect of the choice of each CTOD definitions on TSC was investigated through crack-driving force diagram (CDFD) assessment.


We obtain a class of steady three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) solar wind solutions from a primary radial MHD wind which is spherically symmetric. The energetic source for modifying the given primary MHD wind is the Poynting flux into the solar corona due to interactions of rotation, random flows, and magnetic field at the solar surface. The total energy flux associated with the perturbative MHD flow is conserved beyond several solar radii for typical solar wind parameters. Our main results are as follows: (1) clarification of the issue of possible transverse magnetic field configurations in heliospheric polar regions which can significantly influence the transport of galactic cosmic rays; (2) explicit demonstration that in the presence of nonaxisymmetric MHD perturbations over the solar poles such as a typical misalignment of the rotation and magnetic axes as well as random MHD perturbations, the transverse magnetic field eventually dominates the radial component over the polar heliosphere at large radial distance; (3) an analytical MHD model for latitudinal variation of heliospheric magnetic field due to the solar differential rotation; and (4) a MHD model of a warped heliospheric current sheet and its deformation due to the solar differential rotation. Our class of MHD wind solutions provides a new theoretical basis for developing numerical MHD codes and for modeling modulation of galactic cosmic rays by the heliospheric magnetic field.


In this research, analog active circuits are analyzed and designed using periodic sampling techniques. Switched capacitor networks are the basis of these techniques. A parasitic free switched capacitor network is combined with composite operational amplifiers to facilitate implementation of low sensitivity, wide bandwidth, analog integrated circuits. The resulting designed network is implemented into a finite gain circuit and into a band pass filter network. The results of these applications are compared with the results obtained from continuous circuits of the same design.


Introduction: In order to prevent bacterial colonization and cross infection tropical antimicrobial agent is applied to the umbilical stump at birth and for the first few days. Among those, cleaning with breast milk is one of an avenue for cord care which can be performed anywhere, requires no special equipment, which is also cost effective. Breast milk is full of mother's antibody that preventively helps babies develop immunity to illness. Breast milk contains live antibodies that fight bacteria. It is therefore a naturally existing antibacterial agent. The aim of the study was to find the effect of breast milk & natural drying modalities on cord separation time and signs of infection among neonates. An evaluative approach with post – test only design with control group was used for the study. The sample consisted of 60 neonates' selected using purposive sampling method and randomized into two groups. The findings revealed that t he mean score of group 1(20±0.00), who had been treated with breast milk was more than the group 2(18.60± 0.932) on day seven. Among the two groups, group I had the highest F-ratio i.e 607.501. And the mean score of group 1 from day 2 to day 7(14.13± 0.346, 17.50± 0.960, 19.20± 0.997, 20± 0.00, 20± 0.00, 20± 0.00 respectively) was more than group 2(12± 0.830, 13.77± 0.504, 15.07± 0.365, 16.70± 0.535, 18.17± 0.648, 18.60± 0.932 respectively). This finding reveals that treatment I was found to be more effective in cord separation time. No significant association was found between treatment I and selected demographic variables whereas significant association was found between treatment II and type of delivery. Conclusion: Application of breast milk hastens the cord separation time and there were no signs of infection in any of the groups. Hence breast milk is a cost effective method for umbilical cord care.


Molecular dynamics simulations of a beta-hairpin miniprotein, CLN025, were performed to examine the conformational stability of the peptide in H(2)O at 278, 300, 333, and 363 K, as well as in TFE, MeOH, and DMSO at 300 K. CLN025 is a variant of the Chignolin miniprotein, in which the terminal Gly residues of Chignolin are replaced with Tyr residues, which leads to a 29.7 K increase in melting temperature. The energy of the intramolecular interactions was calculated using DFT quantum chemical calculations at the BHandHLYP/cc-pVTZ level of theory. CLN025 maintained a beta-hairpin conformation in all environments. The beta-hairpin is stabilized by hydrogen bonds, an electrostatic interaction between the charged termini of the peptide, and weakly polar interactions. The interaction between the backbones of the N and C-terminal strands accounts for -97.32 to -120.87 kcal mol(-1) of the stabilization energy. The energies of the CH-pi interactions between Tyr2 and Pro4 were between -1.80 and -8.9 kcal mol(-1), and the energy of the Tyr2-Trp9 Ar-Ar interaction was between -0.43 and -8.11 kcal mol(-1). Increasing temperature caused the Tyr2-Pro4 CH-pi and the Tyr2-Trp9 and Tyr2-Tyr10 Ar-Ar interactions to become less favorable, but the Tyr1-Trp9 interaction became more favorable and played an important role in stabilizing the beta-hairpin of CLN025 that resulted in the increased melting temperature. Weakly polar interactions play an important role in the structure and stability of CLN025 and other proteins.


Background: Evaluation of children with clinically suspected neuroborreliosis (NB) is difficult. With a prospective study design we wanted to characterize children with signs and symptoms indicative for NB, investigate clinical outcome and, if possible, identify factors of importance for recovery. Material/Methods: Children being evaluated for NB (n = 177) in southeast Sweden were categorized into 3 groups: "confirmed neuroborreliosis" (41%) with Borrelia antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid, "possible neuroborreliosis" (26%) with pleocytosis but no Borrelia antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid, and "not determined" (33%) with no pleocytosis and no Borrelia antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid. Antibiotic treatment was given to 69% of children. Patients were followed during 6 months and compared with a matched control group (n = 174). Results: Clinical recovery at the 6-month follow-up (n = 177) was generally good and no patient was found to have recurrent or progressive neurologic symptoms. However, persistent facial nerve palsy caused dysfunctional and cosmetic problems in 11% of patients. Persistent nonspecific symptoms, such as headache and fatigue, were not more frequently reported in patients than in controls. Influence on daily life was reported to the same extent in patients and controls. Consequently, persistent headache and fatigue at follow-up should not be considered as attributable to NB. No prognostic factors could be identified. Conclusions: Clinical recovery was satisfactory in children being evaluated for NB although persistent symptoms from facial nerve palsy occurred. Persistent nonspecific symptoms, such as headache and fatigue, were not more frequently reported in patients than in controls.


Abstract - This study reports on the morphological characteristics and distribution for conservation and practical use in the Korean Peninsula of Chrysosplenium flaviflorum through a comparison with relative species. The morphological characters that were newly investigated in this study included subhypog aeus stolons and glabrous on the surface of leaves. The former has not been described by any taxonomist who had previously treated this species with the exclusion of Hara. Despite this, the latter is a very important key to using the identification of varieties of Ser. Pilosa though there were no descriptions which included Ohwi. C. flaviflorum Ohwi which was endemic and known to be distributed only in the northern area of the Korean Peninsula, was also observed in the Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, and Yeongdong- gun, Chungcheongbuk-do middle area since the latest collection repo rt in 1943. There is a requirement for further study to be conducted on the distribution and management by designation for the Special Plant Species by the Korean Ministry of Environment.


Four experiments examined the effects of similarity between the sample and an interpolated stimulus in a modified delayed-matching-to-sample (DMTS) paradigm. The basis trial sequence was as follows: (a) a sample was presented, and the response to it was either rewarded or nonrewarded, (b) an interpolated stimulus was presented, and the response to it was either rewarded or nonrewarded, and (c) after a delay interval a choice test was given between the initial sample and a new stimulus, with the sample being correct if it had been initially rewarded and incorrect if it had been initially nonrewarded. When the sample and the interpolated stimulus were associated with opposite outcomes (sample rewarded, interpolated stimulus not rewarded or sample not rewarded, interpolated stimulus rewarded), retroactive interference was observed to increase as the similarity of the two stimuli increased. When the two stimuli were either both rewarded or both nonrewarded, retroactive facilitation was observed so long as the sample and interpolated stimuli were similar along either the relevant or an irrelevant dimension. Finally, test probes involving the interpolated stimulus and a new stimulus revealed asymmetrical interactions such that the interpolated stimulus influenced performance on the initial stimulus more than the initial stimulus altered performance on the interpolated stimulus. Taken as a whole, the results are inconsistent with the idea that alternative stimuli are encoded independently of each other. At best, independence may hold only for cases in which the stimuli are not similar to each other.


Rice is an important commodity in the Philippines. In the Cagayan Valley (CV), rice production provides employment to more than half of the region's population and any climate variability and change can cause negative impacts on crop production and people's livelihoods. This paper attempts to understand projected climate changes in seasonal rainfall and mean temperature (2011–2040) to inform climate change adaptation planning in CV. The climate change projections were provided to crop and water resource modeling, agricultural market modeling, food insecurity vulnerability analysis, community-based climate change adaptation planning, and policy simulation. The results are presented for the Provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino based on the statistical downscaling of three global climate models (BCM2, CNCM3, and MPEH5) and two emission scenarios (A1B and A2). A spatial interpolation technique was utilized in interpolating downscaled climate projections at weather stations to grids, and subsequently aggregated to administrative provinces. Results obtained in the downscaling showed anticipated significant climate changes from 2011 to 2040 in terms of rainfall and temperatures relative to 1971–2000. Consistent signals of climate change were found in many seasons and variables, whereas conflicting signs of changes were found in a few cases. A larger warming effect is projected for a daily minimum temperature than that for the maximum temperature, thus reducing diurnal temperature range. Precipitation is projected to increase in general in the Valley. Regarding seasonality, dry months (March–April–May) will continue to remain dry but during the rainy season, July and November are likely to become more notable wet months. There are also indications of an increasing frequency of heavy rainfall events, prolonged dry spell events and extreme daytime temperatures (especially in Aparri).


Despite of the various attempts to implement safety practices in school, there still many unresolved issues related to students' safety in schools. This study aimed to explore and examine current safety management practices in Malaysian primary schools and the type of safety management plans adopted by the administrators for ensuring students' safety. The sample of this study consisted of 141 School Headmasters and Deputy Headmasters (Administration and Curriculum, Student Affairs or Co-curriculum), randomly selected from 138 primary schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. Quantitative methods were used and the data of school administrators' attitude and stances in implementation of safety management practices were gathered using a set questionnaire. The data was then tabulated, summarized and evaluated to draw conclusions from them, using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Results from the study indicated that there was a strong positive attitude among school administrators in relation to safety management plan and policy practices in school. Teachers' and staffs' participation and parental and community involvement are significantly and positively predicted by school administrators' commitment and communication; as well as safety education, training and campaign at schools. Some of the safety practices investigated in the study were not observed in schools due to increasing workload and responsibilities of teachers and their time availability. Safety practices at the schools mostly depended on the issues that are considered as important by the respective schools. As the implication of this study, some recommendations were made to help schools to improve safety practices at school and promote cooperation between school administrators, teachers, parents and community as a whole. The study also implied that implementation of safety management education in Malaysian primary school has a good prospect.


In the present experiment, the motional electric field responsible for the quenching (and polarization) of metastable hydrogen atoms passing through a magnetic field, is compensated, for a prescribed atomic velocity, by a static electric field. The resulting continuous velocity selection has been tested over a wide range of velocities ((5 ÷ 40) km/s). The relative velocity dispersion ranges from 5% at 40 km/s, to 22% at 5 km/s. As is confirmed by a calculation, the resolution is mainly determined by the quality of the matching of the two field profiles.


We focus on the development of a Lyapunov-based economic model predictive control (LEMPC) method for nonlinear singularly perturbed systems in standard form arising naturally in the modeling of two-time-scale chemical processes. A composite control structure is proposed in which, a "fast" Lyapunov-based model predictive controller (LMPC) using a quadratic cost function which penalizes the deviation of the fast states from their equilibrium slow manifold and the corresponding manipulated inputs, is used to stabilize the fast dynamics while a two-mode "slow" LEMPC design is used on the slow subsystem that addresses economic considerations as well as desired closed-loop stability properties by utilizing an economic (typically non-quadratic) cost function in its formulation and possibly dictating a time-varying process operation. Through a multirate measurement sampling scheme, fast sampling of the fast state variables is used in the fast LMPC while slow-sampling of the slow state variables is used in the slow LEMPC. Appropriate stabilizability assumptions are made and suitable constraints are imposed on the proposed control scheme to guarantee the closed-loop stability and singular perturbation theory is used to analyze the closed-loop system.


The existing system of preventive medical examination of the population engaged in economic activities with the purpose of early diagnostics of a variety of disorders and pathological conditions practically does not use the technologies for the assessment of health reserves and identification of the groups at risk of developing common diseases and premorbid conditions. We examined a total of 67 subjects (32 men and 35 women) and treated the data obtained by using the mathematical methods of statistics. The results were used to develop the "Health Reserves" hardware and software complex whose diagnostic potential and informational content permit to identify individuals at high risk of developing common diseases, quantitatively evaluate functional reserves of the human organism, and predict the efficacy of application of non-medicamental technologies for their enhancement.


About 20 years ago, two large solar telescopes with spectrographs were put in operation in the Observatory Ondřejov, belonging to the Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. According to the German name "HorizontalSonnenForschungsAnlage" (Horizontal device for solar research), the telescopes are known under the abbreviations HSFA1 and HSFA2. Both identical instruments were supplied by the company Carl Zeiss, Jena. The control electronics was made by the Hungarian producer Vilati.


X-ray scattering from the chemical bond within N2 and CN- has been studied in detail. Differences in scattering from these systems, derived from bonding and non-bonding models, are characterized by R values of ~ 0.04. Partitioning of the scattering into core and valence electron parts clearly demonstrates that the bonding effects are completely situated in the valence electron structure of the systems. Therefore, new evidence has been contributed to support valence structure analysis methods presently employed in X-ray diffraction structure studies.


The objective of the present investigation is to explore the physics behind the waterjet/hull interaction, and in particular the negative thrust deduction often reported in the semi-planing speed range. Another objective is to propose a validated numerical technique for computing the hydrodynamics of waterjet-driven hulls.

The parameters that play a role in the waterjet/hull interaction are split into global effects (i.e. sinkage and trim variations) and local effects (other effects caused by the intake suction) and each are addressed individually in this thesis. Investigation of these parameters is carried out in two different ways. First, assuming the flow to be potential flow, an algorithm is developed for modelling the water/hull interaction. Then, in the second part of the thesis, a technique employing a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver is employed for modelling the flow and understanding the interaction effects.

The algorithm used in the first part is called the Pressure Jump Method in this thesis. This method is based on the equilibrium condition that the resistance forces are balanced by the thrust force created by the head increase through the waterjet pump. The Pressure Jump Method is coupled with a potential flow solver capable of non-linear free-surface modelling. Validation and verification of the method are accomplished by comparing the computational results with experimental data available from a test case. The resistance increment of the hull is also estimated using the Pressure Jump Method and the dominant parameters, which contribute to the thrust deduction, are determined. General sinkage and trim changes between the bare hull and the self-propelled hull are also estimated by approximating the waterjet- propelled hull as a flat plate with a rectangular hole representing the intake opening.

In the second part of the thesis, a technique using a RANS solver with a Volume of Fluid (VOF) free-surface representation combined with a body force representation of the pump is developed and validated against measurements. Using the results of this technique, the thrust deduction fraction is studied in detail from very low to high speeds. It is revealed that, in the lower speed range, the transom clearance plays an important role in the behaviour of the thrust deduction fraction. Therefore, the transom clearance phenomenon is studied in detail. The reasons for the waterjet-driven hull resistance increment are identified through studying the hydrostatic and the hydrodynamic pressure resistance as well as the frictional resistance variations over the entire speed range. The difference between the net thrust and the gross thrust of the waterjet system, which has been a controversial issue, is also studied in this thesis and it is seen that this difference may well be the reason for the negative thrust deduction. Other issues investigated in the thesis are the shape of the capture area and the streamtube within which all water going into the intake is contained, the importance of the velocity profile at the intake and exit, the pressure distribution at the exit and the diameter and position of the vena-contracta.


An experiment was conducted to test the Greenhouse Emission Model (GEM) performance. The model simulates fate of plant protection products in soilless systems for a various combinations of application types, substrate and crop types in Dutch greenhouses. Pymetrozine and imidaclorid are applied withthe nutrient solution in sweet pepper growing on stone-wool. Measured and simulated concentrations were compared for (i) simulations with experimentally derived water flows, (ii) simulated water flows based on weather conditions and based on computer settings of the automatic control system and (iii) a predefined scenario in GEM3.3.2 for sweet pepper. GEM is able to simulate water flows well, when these flows are based on weather conditions and computer settings. Also, the concentrations in the mixing tank were simulated well. Simulated concentrations in the used water reservoir were higher than measured concentration. The model performance improves when the cultivation compartment is simulated with two reservoirs instead of one, with the rationale that no complete mixing occurs in the cultivation compartment. The effect of plant uptake and degradation could not be assessed. The concentration in the recirculation water in greenhouse is sensitive to the volumes of the various reservoirs in the greenhouse system. It is recommended to update the reservoir volumes according to the latest insight on commercial greenhouse systems.


Background: The control of spread of HIV takes concerted efforts at both national and international levels. Education is an important component of preventing the spread of HIV. This study aimed to assess the attitudes of parents, teachers and students towards informing children about HIV/AIDS, attitudes concerning 'proper' age to learn about HIV/AIDS, possible differences in attitudes relating to gender of child and what they should learn and ideas about the most 'adequate' person/institution to be responsible for provision of HIV/AIDS education. Methods: This study was conducted in Amman, Jordan in April 2015. Descriptive correlational design was used; a sample of school students, university students, school teachers and parents, a stratified random sample was used. Data was collected by using a questionnaire. Results: All groups asserted the importance of HIV/AIDS education and awareness rising for all. 62.0% of respondents thought that school was the main source of information. About 82% of respondents believed that HIV/AIDS education should be integrated into different disciplines of school curricula, 84% of respondents believed that HIV/AIDS education should be part of university curricula. Nobody believed that HIV/AIDS education should be restricted to boys only. Conclusion: As HIV/AIDS is a scary matter to all, stigmatization and shame may be behind potentially bigger numbers of infected or ill people who do not come forward for treatment or care. Attitudes of their kin care providers need to be addressed as well as those of the official health care providers.


Multivariate statistical modeling methods have been applied to near-infrared (NIR) spectral data to discriminate glucose concentrations. Specifically, performance levels are compared for principal component regression (PCR) and partial least-squares regression (PLSR) models based on their standard errors of prediction (SEP). NIR spectra of blood serum from 456 individual hospitalized patients were generated using a NIRSystems 6500 spectrophotometer in 2 nm intervals from 400 to 1098 nm. Only the data between 870 and 1098 nm were used for calibration model development and validation. Performance results for the PLSR model (SEP=29.577 mg/dl) were about the same as that obtained with the PCR model (SEP=28.881 mg/dl).<<ETX>>


BACKGROUND
Anatomical alterations in bony structures, as the sacrum, can be related with defects in nervous supply to pelvic viscera and low urinary tract.

OBJECTIVE
To relate location of damages at spina bifida occult with diagnosis of overactive bladder.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Cross sectional study between December 2005 and March 2006 in 31 patients with diagnose of overactive bladder. All of them with complete medical history, uroneurologic physical exam, multichannel urodynamic study, urethrocystoscopy, urine culture, bladder voiding, life quality questionnaire, and antero subsequent, sacred lateral and lumbar column x-ray. Statistical analysis was done through distribution frequencies graphics and averages comparison.

RESULTS
Age average was 47 years, 20 to 69 years; gestations average was four and childbirth average was three by patient. Highest percentage of dysraphia was located between S2 to S5 in 29 patients (94%), and between L5 to S5 in 2 patients (6%). Other findings were: scoliosis in 20 patients (64.5%), asymmetry of hip in 9 patients (29%), and lordosis in 7 patients (22.5%); spondilolistesis, lumbarization of S1 and sacralization of L5 were found each one in a patient (22.5%).

CONCLUSIONS
In 94% of patients, presence of spina bifida occult between S2 to S4 correlates with the diagnosis of overactive bladder. Another type of alteration, as lordosis and scoliosis, are findings in a high percentage of patients and can be related to symptoms of overactive bladder.


This thesis proposes, through a multi-layered exploration, the development of a system of computer tools for architects. The research consists of a series of "design sessions" in the context of a desert design problem.The goal is to create a knowledge-based system using a commercially available expert shell, which provides the designer with an automated interface to visual references. Data can be seen as a collection of things, while knowledge can be similarly seen as a collection of relationships between things. An expert shell is literally a program that is "empty" of knowledge, and into which a designer puts knowledge: a knowledge-base is the result. The shell itself acts as a means of manipulating that knowledge-base by an inference process that is activated by rules, or hypotheses and tests. The experimental framework of the thesis is devised to evaluate both type of inference processes in relation to their capabilities for representing design knowledge. The design problem serves to outline a methodology for understanding the process of design, but it also is the means by which a design grammar and syntax appropriate to the automated system are formally described. The intent is not to compile a vast domain of knowledge on all issues of arid lands design, but to focus on a specific architectural response to the climate: the relationship between the primary structural system and the secondary closure system. The design of a window system is the vehicle for documenting observations of the way visual references are used. From this process a descriptive system and body of "expert" rules are developed to define the function of the automated environment. The larger goal is to then relate the syntactical environment to a general image referencing system so that the expert system can act as a personal design consultant. The image referencing system is a distinct and important component of the automated environment, and as such a detailed specification of its nature and operation is intended to show the interdependence of the knowledge-base and a visual database. Thesis Supervisor Frank Miller Title: Assistant Professor, Computer Aided Design 2