Blood pressure is an indicator of a cardiovascular functioning and could provide early symptoms of cardiovascular system impairment. Blood pressure measurement using catheterization technique is considered the gold standard for blood pressure measurement [1]. However, due its invasive nature and complexity, non-invasive techniques of blood pressure estimation such as auscultation, oscillometry, and volume clamping have gained wide popularity [1]. While these non-invasive cuff based methodologies provide a good estimate of blood pressure, they are limited by their inability to provide a continuous estimate of blood pressure [1-2]. Continuous blood pressure estimate is critical for monitoring cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart failure. Pulse transit time (PTT) is a time taken by a pulse wave to travel between a proximal and distal arterial site [3]. The speed at which pulse wave travels in the artery has been found to be proportional to blood pressure [1, 3]. A rise in blood pressure would cause blood vessels to increase in diameter resulting in a stiffer arterial wall and shorter PTT [1-3]. To avail such relationship with blood pressure, PTT has been extensively used as a marker of arterial elasticity and a noninvasive surrogate for arterial blood pressure estimation. Typically, a combination of electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG) or arterial blood pressure (ABP) signal is used for the purpose of blood pressure estimation [3], where the proximal and distal timing of PTT (also referred as pulse arrival time, PAT) is marked by R peak of ECG and a foot/peak of a PPG, respectively. In the literature, it has been shown that PAT derived using ECG-PPG combination infers an inaccurate estimate of blood pressure due to the inclusion of isovolumetric contraction period [1-3, 4]. Seismocardiogram (SCG) is a recording of chest acceleration due to heart movement, from which the opening and closing of the aortic valve can be obtained [5]. There is a distinct point on the dorso-ventral SCG signal that marks the opening of the aortic valve (annotated as AO). In the literature, AO has been proposed for timing the onset of the proximal pulse of the wave [6-8]. A combination of AO as a proximal pulse and PPG as a distal pulse has been used to derive pulse transit time and is shown to be correlated with blood pressure [7]. Ballistocardiogram (BCG) which is a measure of recoil forces of a human body in response to pumping of blood in blood vessels has also been explored as an alternative to ECG for timing proximal pulse [5, 9]. Use of SCG or BCG for timing the proximal point of a pulse can overcome the limitation of ECG-based PTT computation [6-7, 9]. However, a limitation of current blood pressure estimation systems is the requirement of two morphologically different signals, one for annotating the proximal (ECG, SCG, BCG) and other for annotating the distal (PPG, ABP) timing of a pulse wave. In the current research, we introduce a methodology to derive PTT from seismocardiograms alone. Two accelerometers were used for such purpose, one was placed on the xiphoid process of the sternum (marks proximal timing) and the other one was placed on the external carotid artery (marks distal timing). PTT was derived as a time taken by a pulse wave to travel between AO of both the xiphoidal and carotid SCG.


Paratuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), is a chronic incurable infection of intestinal tract of animals. Molecular characterization of Map isolates classifies them into two major groups, 'Cattle' or Type II and 'Sheep' or Type I/III with a different phenotype, epidemiology, virulence and pathogenesis. The aim of this study was to examine 192 Map ELISA-positive sheep and goats from Cyprus using faecal culture and genotype Map isolates using IS1311 PCR and restriction endonuclease analysis (IS1311 PCR-REA) with HinfI restriction enzyme. Map was isolated from only four (4.6%) faecal samples out of 88 sheep and 15 (14.4%) faecal samples out of 104 goats. Genotyping of the isolates using IS1311 PCR-REA revealed that sheep and goat populations on the island are infected primarily by 'Sheep' strains. Only three Map isolates from goats originated from one farm were characterized as 'Cattle' strains.


We analyze firm's tax choices facing a withholding and enforcement regime with a focus on three salient mechanisms of bunching: (i) transaction costs, (ii) withholding threshold as a reference point for taxpayer that creates a kink due to loss aversion, and (iii) withholding threshold as a reference point for audit (audit trigger model). The transaction costs model predicts that none of the firms that bunch at the withholding threshold would declare higher taxes when withholding rate is increased, as was the case in Ecuador in 2007. Evidence from a triple-difference research design shows the opposite. A prospect theoretic model with the power value function of Kahneman and Tversky (1979) does not generate bunching at the withholding threshold. While linear prospect theory (LPT) can generate bunching under certain conditions, it also yields testable predictions that are not consistent with the behavior of a significant proportion of firms. Under the LPT, given an enforcement and withholding regime, if a firm bunches in one year it should also bunch in all the following years, or if it unbunches in a following year, it should declare taxes less than the withheld amount. The evidence from panel data on the universe of all corporations in Ecuador shows very low persistence in bunching: conditional on bunching at least once, only 3-4 percent firms bunch every year before changes in the withholding rate, and among the firms that unbunch 35-40 percent declare taxes more than the withheld amount, thus contradicting the LPT model for a substantial proportion of the firms. Using the Sasabuchi t test as developed by Lind and Mehlum (2010), we find that the relation between probability of bunching and assets of a firm is inverted-U which is consistent with the audit trigger model. The evidence suggests that the behavior of the firms cannot be captured by a single model. The strength of enforcement is important in determining bunching in an LPT model which suggests cross-country differences in the role played by loss aversion in bunching of taxpayers at policy thresholds.


Software of today is becoming larger and more complex. More powerful ways of structuring complexity are consequently required, whether it is about development methodologies, structural programming, naming conventions, configuration management, or, as is discussed in this report, software architecture. A software system's architecture can be described as the "blueprint" of a system at the highest level of abstraction, describing the main components and their most important interactions. We discuss in more detail how architectures can be described and the uses of such descriptions. Much research so far has also been dedicated to methods and case studies, to make the research of practical interest. This report describes how the quality of the software can be ensured to a certain degree through informal approaches – not least because an architectural description provides a common understanding around which different stakeholders can meet and discuss a system. Formal approaches are also emerging, and there are a number of formal languages for description of a system's software architecture. This report presents a brief survey of the field of Software Architecture; both informal and formal approaches are covered and discussed. The report concludes with presenting the author's planned research, aiming at answering how componentbased architectures can be designed to handle change.


Proponents of personal digital assistants (PDA) say that it will be these hand-held units that tie the on-the-go executive of the future to the Internet. However, looking just as strong is the other big contender for providing wireless Internet access-the next generation cell phone. This article discusses the capabilities and drawbacks of the latest generation of PDAs using the Bluetooth and Wireless Application Protocol networking technologies. The article also discusses the latest cellular phone technology performing similar functions to PDAs. The cost of connecting a PDA to the Internet is also discussed.


Ride comfort of railway vehicles is affected by many factors, such as vibration, noise, smell, temperature, visual stimuli, humidity and a seat design. In general, vibration, which originates from vehicle motion, is considered as the primary concern. In evaluating the ride comfort, relationship between passenger's feeling and vibration characteristics is very important because human feeling is dependent on frequency spectrum of vibration. Therefore, the weighing functions in frequency domain are used to evaluate the ride comfort of railway vehicles. In the present paper, we have analyzed the characteristics of the frequency weighting curves defined in many standards and reviewed the effect resulting from their difference on the ride comfort.


Background: Injuries are becoming major public health problem worldwide and since India is also passing through a major socio-demographic, epidemiological and technological transition; injuries are coming up as an emerging health problem. Objectives: To find out prevalence of "Injuries", causative mechanism, place of injury & distribution in rural & urban area of Agra district. Material & Methods: It is type of observational study in rural & urban area of Agra district. The area to be surveyed was selected by multistage stratified random sampling technique. A recall period of three months for minor injuries & one year for major injuries or deaths due to injury was used. A total of 4 villages covering 2439 population and in urban area 2 mohallas & 2 slums covering 2410 population were surveyed. Data collected was entered on Fox. Pro (vs 2.6) and analyzed by SPSS (vs. 10). Results: A total of 93 persons in rural and 142 persons in urban had major while 147 peoples in rural and 200 peoples in urban had minor injuries during the recall period. Among the injured most common mechanism for major & minor injury was due to fall (45.16% & 36.73%). Regarding place maximum major injury occur at home (32.26%) in rural while in urban it was road/highway (46.48%) but for minor it the home being commonest place in both rural & urban (40.82% & 55%). Conclusions: Considering the high morbidities due to injuries focusing health education efforts based on local epidemiology and behavioral practices is needed.


The increasing availability of complete genome data is facilitating the acquisition of phylogenomic data sets, but the process of obtaining orthologous sequences from other genomes and assembling multiple sequence alignments remains piecemeal and arduous. We designed software that performs these tasks and outputs anonymous loci (AL) or anchored enrichment/ultraconserved element loci (AE/UCE) data sets in ready-to-analyze formats. We demonstrate our program by applying it to the hominoids. Starting with human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan genomes, our software generated an exhaustive data set of 292 ALs (∼1 kb each) in ∼3 h. Not only did analyses of our AL data set validate the program by yielding a portrait of hominoid evolution in agreement with previous studies, but the accuracy and precision of our estimated ancestral effective population sizes and speciation times represent improvements. We also used our program with a published set of 512 vertebrate-wide AE "probe" sequences to generate data sets consisting of 171 and 242 independent loci (∼1 kb each) in 11 and 13 min, respectively. The former data set consisted of flanking sequences 500 bp from adjacent AEs, while the latter contained sequences bordering AEs. Although our AE data sets produced the expected hominoid species tree, coalescent-based estimates of ancestral population sizes and speciation times based on these data were considerably lower than estimates from our AL data set and previous studies. Accordingly, we suggest that loci subjected to direct or indirect selection may not be appropriate for coalescent-based methods. Complete in silico approaches, combined with the burgeoning genome databases, will accelerate the pace of phylogenomics.


I INTRODUCTION There is nothing new in the United Nations, more particularly the UN Security Council ('UNSC'), undertaking tasks or establishing protocols for the conduct of 'domestic' functions in post-conflict areas. This form of temporary UN control and governance has been an element in several UN peace-support operations, (1) evidenced in acts of political governance ranging from attempts to reconvene the Congolese Parliament, (2) through to 'restoring law and order' in places like the Congo and East Timor, (3) to establishing and monitoring election systems in Namibia, the Western Sahara, Bosnia-Herzegovina, East Timor and Cambodia. (4) At other times UN control and governance has been manifested in a territorial sense--such as the establishment of no-fly zones in Iraq, (5) and the promulgation of UN safe areas during the Balkans conflict. (6) The current 'high water mark' (7) of UN transitional administration is to be found in the recently completed operations of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor ('UNTAET') and in the ongoing operations of UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo ('UNMIK'). These are missions in which the UNSC, through appointed Special Representatives of the Secretary-General, has exercised or continues to exercise unprecedented power and authority over the people and territory under administration. One issue that has not been widely examined, however, is the practical effect of such mature transitional administration on the status of any waters attached to that territory; waters which would otherwise be characterised as a 'territorial sea'. This short article aims to outline several potential approaches to characterising the legal status of the territorial sea of an entity under UN transitional administration. To do this, it will first briefly outline the context of transitional administration in East Timor by distinguishing it from that of the contemporaneous UN transitional administration in Kosovo. It will then employ the East Timor example as a lens through which to examine three possible options for characterising the territorial sea of UN-administered entities. The first two of these options are the sovereignty-based possibilities of residual colonial sovereignty and immediate vestment in the state-in-waiting (the entity under transitional administration). The third is an alternative possibility of temporary UN control of the territorial sea-designate. The article will then conclude with a few brief comments on the status of the territorial sea of entities under some degree of UN transitional administration, but in non-self-determination situations. II BACKGROUND: THE EAST TIMOR CONTEXT Several core aspects of the context of the UNTAET can be conveniently illustrated by comparison with that of the contemporaneous UN operation in Kosovo. Although similar in execution, the context of UNTAET, in which UNSC-mandated power and authority in the entity was exercised until its full independence on 20 May 2002, (8) differs from that of UNMIK in three significant ways. Firstly, given Portugal's poor colonial development record until it abdicated the territory in 1975, there was little in the way of recent indigenous experience or institutions of self-governance in East Timor. Further, the subsequent 25 years of Indonesian occupation (1975-99) saw East Timor governed essentially as a military zone, again with heavily constrained local participation. (9) Kosovo, on the other hand, had had recent local experience and the memory of a significant degree of self-rule and autonomy within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, despite the fact that this autonomy was in abeyance in the decade 1989-99. Secondly, while it was a relatively sudden escalation in violence that sparked involvement by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ('NATO'), and subsequently the UN, in Kosovo, (10) East Timor had been subject to 25 years of atrocities and resource stripping. …


The principle of the transversal interleave filter previously proposed as a novel class of interleave filter is described. The principle of a conventional 1 /spl times/ 1 coherent optical transversal filter is reviewed. Then, the fundamental operating principle and the three design conditions required for the novel interleave filter are explained. As examples, three types of filter design, namely 1) a general/transposed design; 2) an asymmetric design; and 3) a symmetric design, are presented, and their interleave filter characteristics are discussed. The designed interleave filters with a free spectral range of 100 GHz was fabricated using silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology. The asymmetric design achieved a wide 3-dB passband width of 55 GHz, whereas an ordinary lattice-form interleave filter could not realize a 3-dB passband width larger than 50 GHz because of the halfband property. A small polarization-dependent wavelength shift of 0.01 nm is demonstrated by inserting a single half waveplate in the middle of the circuit. The general/transposed and symmetric designs realized a practical interleave filter with a boxlike transmission spectrum and low chromatic dispersion. The two-stage interleave filter formed by cascading the general and transposed designs has the advantages of a low crosstalk of less than -46 dB and a wide 20-dB stopband width of 40 GHz, whereas the single-stage symmetric design has an extremely small chromatic dispersion of within /spl plusmn/5 ps/nm. In addition, the design concept to realize a 1/spl times/N transversal interleave filter is extended.


The data acquisition (DAQ) system of the SND detector successfully operated during four data-taking seasons (2010–2013) at the e+e− collider VEPP-2000. Currently the collider is shut down for planned reconstruction, which is expected to increase the VEPP-2000 luminosity and data flow from the SND detector electronics by up to 10 times. Since current DAQ system implementation (electronics and computer part) does not have enough reserve for selection of events in the new environment without compromising quality, there arose the need for the system upgrade. Here we report on the major SND data acquisition system upgrade which includes developing new electronics for digitization and data transfer, complete redesign of the data network, increasing of the DAQ computer farm processing capacity and making the event building process concurrent. These measures will allow us to collect data flow from the most congested detector subsystems in parallel in contrast to the current situation. We would like to discuss also the possibility to implement full software trigger solution in the future.


A comprehensive approach to reforming the Security Service of Ukraine necessitates the preparation of amendments to regulations. The article, based on the analysis of the institutional capabilities of the military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine, proposes changes and additions to current legislation that expand the legal basis for counterintelligence support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Proposals to improve the legal regulation of the activities of military counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine regulate organizational, social, personnel, logistical and other issues of it`s functioning.


Brivaracetam is a high-affinity synaptic vesicle protein 2A ligand, in phase 3 clinical development for epilepsy. A phase 1, single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single (2.5-100 mg) and multiple (2.5-50 mg twice daily) rising oral dose study (N01209) was conducted to assess the adverse event profile and pharmacokinetics of brivaracetam in healthy Japanese men, and the influence of the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C19 genotype. Plasma and urine were collected serially for analysis of brivaracetam and its three main metabolites: acid, hydroxy and hydroxy acid. Overall, 79/80 randomized participants completed the study. Brivaracetam was generally well tolerated. After single- and multiple-dose administration, brivaracetam was rapidly absorbed, with dose-proportional pharmacokinetics over the dose ranges tested. Steady state was reached after 2 days of repeated dosing. Brivaracetam clearance (averaged across the five single dose levels) was reduced from 0.99 mL/min/kg in homozygous extensive metabolizers (EM; n = 10) to 0.81 mL/min/kg (-18%) in heterozygous EM (n = 17) and 0.70 mL/min/kg (-29%) in poor metabolizers (PM; n = 9). Exposure and urinary excretion of hydroxy metabolite were reduced 10-fold in PM participants, compared with EM participants. Results suggest that brivaracetam is hydroxylated by CYP2C19, but this pathway is minor compared with hydrolysis to the acid metabolite.


The origin of biodiversity in the Neotropics predominantly stems either from Gondwana breakup or late dispersal events from the Nearctic region. Here, we investigate the biogeography of a diving beetle Glade whose distribution encompasses parts of the Oriental region, the Indo-Australian archipelago (IAA) and the Neotropics. We reconstructed a dated molecular phylogeny, inferred diversification dynamics and estimated ancestral areas under different biogeographic assumptions. For the Oriental region and the IAA, we reveal repeated and complex colonization patterns out of Australia, across the major biogeographic lines in the region (e.g. Wallace's Line). The timing of colonization events across the IAA broadly coincides with the proposed timing of the formation of major geographic features in the region. Our phylogenetic hypothesis recovers Neotropical species nested in two derived clades. We recover an origin of the group in the early Eocene about 55 million yr ago, long after the break-up of Gondwana initiated, but before a complete separation of Australia, Antarctica and the Neotropics. When allowing an old Gondwanan ancestor, we reconstruct an intricate pattern of Gondwanan vicariance and trans-Pacific long-distance dispersal from Australia toward the Neotropics. When restricting the ancestral range to more plausible geological area combinations in the Eocene, we infer an Australian origin with two trans-Pacific long-distance dispersal events toward the Neotropics. Our results support on one hand a potential Gondwanan signature associated with regional extinctions in the Cenozoic and with Antarctica serving as a link between Australia and the Neotropics. On the other hand, they also support a trans-Pacific dispersal of these beetles toward the Andean coast in the Oligocene.


In this review paper, we bring together a number of aspects of family firms that are ubiquitous in a number of institutional contexts, often as part of larger business groups. We pay particular attention to the mechanisms by which families retain control over firms, and the incentives of the families in control to expropriate other stakeholders by way of tunnelling. We examine the role of earnings management in facilitating tunnelling, and evidence about the incidence of earnings management in family firms. Our review suggests that while the literature on these aspects of family control is rich, the contexts in which the empirical exercises are undertaken are relatively few, and hence there is considerable opportunity to expand it to other contexts, in particular in the form of cross-country comparisons of the relative impact of agency conflicts and institutions on these issues.


The growth of multiunit hospital systems (organizations that include two or more acute-care hospitals owned, leased, or managed by a single corporate entity) and their impact on health care are described. In 1970, there were fewer than 50 nongovernmental multiunit hospital systems in the United States. By 1981, this figure increased to 256; 53% of the systems included only two or three hospital units, while 13% included 11 or more units. Approximately one third of all nongovernmental hospitals in 1981 were included in multiunit systems. About 12% of the systems, which included 39% of the hospitals, were owned or operated by investor-owned firms. Multiunit hospital systems can improve the hospital industry's overall effectiveness and efficiency by achieving economies of scale and by developing hospital performance criteria and standards. In the future, the number and size of U.S. multiunit hospital systems most likely will continue to increase. The nation's multiunit hospital systems vary enormously in size and composition, as well as in their mission, goals, values, and approaches to governance and management.


Abstract This paper introduces a simple agglomerative clustering method to identify large publishing consortia with at least 20 authors and 80% shared authorship between articles. Based on Scopus journal articles from 1996–2018, under these criteria, nearly all (88%) of the large consortia published research with citation impact above the world average, with the exceptions being mainly the newer consortia, for which average citation counts are unreliable. On average, consortium research had almost double (1.95) the world average citation impact on the log scale used (Mean Normalised Log Citation Score). At least partial alphabetical author ordering was the norm in most consortia. The 250 largest consortia were for nuclear physics and astronomy, involving expensive equipment, and for predominantly health-related issues in genomics, medicine, public health, microbiology and neuropsychology. For the health-related issues, except for the first and last few authors, authorship seem to primarily indicate contributions to the shared project infrastructure necessary to gather the raw data. It is impossible for research evaluators to identify the contributions of individual authors in the huge alphabetical consortia of physics and astronomy and problematic for the middle and end authors of health-related consortia. For small-scale evaluations, authorship contribution statements could be used when available.


Lakeview Lumber, Inc. involves several auditing and accounting issues, including concepts related to Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 82, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit (AICPA 1997). The case highlights management's potential motivation to manipulate net income in response to a bonus compensation scheme. Lakeview Lumber also provides a framework for discussion of issues related to professional judgment, audit supervision and materiality. More specifically, the case emphasizes the professional judgment required in the estimation of selected account balances and in determining the accounting treatment of transactions related to unusual or extraordinary events. The concept of materiality, in conjunction with the interpretation and application of professional standards, is also discussed. In addition, the case gives students an opportunity to perform analytical review, prepare common‐size statements and use the Internet to find professional pronouncements and financial information.


With a wealth of updated material, rewritten chapters and additional case studies, this fourth edition of a hugely important work gives a broad and up-to-date overview of the concepts underlying APS. Special emphasis is given to modeling supply chains and implementing APS successfully in industrial contexts. Whats more, readers understanding is enhanced by several case studies covering a wide range of industrial sectors. What makes this book so crucial is that Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), and Advanced Planning Systems (APS) are concepts that must be mastered in order to organize and optimize the flow of goods, materials, information and funds. Here, leading experts provide insights into the concepts underlying APS.


Assessment of geological uncertainties based on probabilistic models has become widespread in the last few decades. One of the main problems of probabilistic modeling is the complexity of justifying ranges of variable parameters. Analogs play an important role in solving this issue. In this paper, the specifics of utilization of analogous information in probabilistic geological modeling are considered, and tools for integrating analogs and actual data in the model at different states of geological exploration are proposed. So, to justify the range of acceptable values of a parameter with analogs, it is rational to use statistical criteria, rather than minimum and maximum values among analogs list. This leads to reduction of sample size influence on estimate reliability. With a small amount of information, distribution type of an analyzed quantity can be proposed analytically. Most geological parameters can be described by normal and lognormal distributions. For complex quantities, the uncertainty of which is formed by several factors, the distribution type depends on their exploration maturity. As a rule, the greater the uncertainty, the stronger the mode of distribution is shifted towards smaller values. The refusal to use analog data in a probabilistic model should be made only if the object studies are sufficient to characterize the entire volume of the accumulation. In other cases it is recommended to use both actual field data and parameters collected from analogs.


Overview. Male sexual dysfunction includes disorders of libido and of erectile and ejaculatory function. Erectile dysfunction or impotence is a common symptom in many neurologic diseases. Peripheral neur~pathies,l-~ cauda equina ~ y n d r o m e , ~ ~ pelvic and pudendal nerve I e s i ~ n s , ~ ~ ~ and spinal cord trauma and d i s e a s e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ as well as many disorders of higher brain centers, such as trauma, parkinsonism, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and cerebrovascular insufficiency, are common causes of sexual dysfunction. 13-18 Furthermore, vascular abnormalities, many drugs, and psychological disorders associated with disturbance of neurologic or neuromuscular function may also be associated with imp~tence . '~ -~~ These facts have led to the increasing involvement of the neurologist in the evaluation of impotence. There are now several increasingly effective surgical and nonsurgical methods of treating impotence. The effectiveness and therefore the selection of treatment in an impotent patient is, in part, dependent on the diagnosis. Recent studies showing that intracorporeal injection of vasoactive substances is effective in producing erections have, in many ways, altered the traditional diagnostic approach while offering treatment that had not previously existed. For example, intracorporeal injection of papaverine was noted24-26 to be more effective in neurogenic impotence. A functional erection produced by this procedure in effect rules out a vascular cause of impotence and the need for vascular diagnostic studies or vascular s ~ r g e r y . ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Demand for more accurate diagnostic tools for evaluating impotence has increased the use of many of these tools within the field of neurology. The neurologist is often the primary physician the impotent patient depends upon for diagnosis and advice. In impotent patients, failure to address the issue of sexual dysfunction may adversely affect the patient's quality of life. Increasingly, however, patients are being referred specifically for the neurologic investigation of impotence, ejaculatory disturbances, and anorgasmia with the following question-is this patient's sexual problem neurologic? Although the primary causes of ejaculatory disturbances such as retrograde ejaculation and secondary organic anorgasmia-the inability to achieve orgasm-may be neurologic, this review will concentrate on the evaluation of erectile dysfunction.


Numerical and simulation studies are done to determine deflection behavior of epitaxially deposited polysilicon encapsulation. Polysilicon encapsulation, which is used as physical protection for moving parts of MEMS devices, is applied with external pressure to replicate packaging processes. Polysilicon encapsulations thickness 10, 20, 30, and 40 micron with seal oxide of thickness 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 micron are analyzed. Ritz's and energy methods are used to numerically approximate surface deflection of polysilicon encapsulation when perpendicularly loaded with a uniform pressure varying from 10 to 100 atm. Simulation was done using CoventorWare ver.2001.3 software. It is observed that numerical analysis values approximate theoretical values for small deflection (W >t). Thus, numerical analysis could be use to predict deflection behavior of encapsulation in that region.


The young adult that M.K. has become is in part of a result of the supportive relationship that I established with M.K. and her family over a decade ago. Viewing M.K. as a part of a family unit and not just as an isolated patient enabled the entire nephrology team to assist the family in dealing with the monumental medical problems that they have confronted. I am proud of the young woman that M.K. has become, and I am gratified by the relationship that we have shared for the past 16 years. It is this type of relationship that reminds me of why I decided to become a nurse many years ago.


Serum-tumour markers are molecules that are used frequently for diagnosis and treatment of malignancy. The present paper informs the reader about the use and limitations of common serum-tumour markers. We describe the use of serum-tumour markers for screening, diagnosis, staging and prognostic evaluation, detection of recurrence and treatment monitoring. Overall, the common serum-tumour markers are poorly sensitive and specific for screening in an asymptomatic population. The benefits of an improved prognosis by early detection should be weighted to the cost of substantial overdiagnosis and over-treatment. Serum-tumour markers often support the diagnostic process and give useful prognostic information. However, at present serum-tumour markers are above all applicable for treatment monitoring and detection of recurrence.


This study proposes an equivalent-circuit model for the composite right/left-handed (CRLH) coplanar waveguide (CPW) comprising the series interdigital capacitor and shunt meandering short-circuited stub inductor in symmetric configuration. The new technique for extracting the equivalent-circuit elements of the CRLH CPW, which include inductances, capacitances, and resistances to represent the left-handed, right-handed, and lossy characteristics, is developed based on the effective medium concept. The applications to the compact resonators and filters are presented to emphasize the unique features of the CRLH CPW. A novel CRLH CPW resonator with a 0/spl deg/ effective electrical length at resonance is proposed, which gives a 49.1% size reduction when compared with the conventional half-wavelength resonator at 5 GHz. Based on the zeroth-order CRLH CPW resonators, an inductively coupled two-pole bandpass filter with 5.4% 3-dB bandwidth and 2.7-dB insertion loss at 5 GHz is implemented, and it is 51.4% more compact than the conventional structure. A good agreement among the results of the full-wave simulation, equivalent-circuit model, published data, and measurement demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed modeling technique. To suppress the higher order harmonic spurious passbands, the electromagnetic-bandgap CPW structures are incorporated into the proposed CRLH CPW filter.


BACKGROUND
We have shown that there is no association between lecture attendance or accessing lecture recordings and academic outcomes for medical laboratory science students undertaking a biochemistry course (Doggrell et al, 2018). So why do students attend or not attend lectures or access or not access lecture recordings?

AIMS
To survey these medical laboratory students about why they attend or do not attend lectures, or access or not access lecture recordings.

METHODS
Consent for the survey study was sought in week 12 of semester two in 2017. After consenting, the students were requested to complete a survey on Google Drive, available via a link in Blackboard.

RESULTS
In 2017, 48 students attended the tutorial where consent was sought, and 34 students consented (71% of the class) but only 32 (66% of the class) completed the survey. Twelve students reported attending lectures in most weeks (38%), 10 sometimes (34%) and 10 not (31%). The most common reason for attending was "I think I learn more by attending" followed by "it allows for interaction with course staff and/or students" and "I am concerned the recordings may not be complete or the technology for recording may fail". The most common reason for accessing the recordings as well as attending the lectures was "Clarify difficult concepts" followed by "Revise lecture concepts for assessment purposes" and "Catch up on lectures I missed".

The most common reason given by the 10 students who did not attend the lectures was "I don't like the lecture time – it was too early": the lecture was at 8 am. This was followed by "Too far to travel for lecture" and "I had too few timetabled classes that day and didn't want to come in for just those". The students who did not attend lectures, gave similar answers to those who attended lectures, when asked why they accessed lecture recordings instead of attending lectures. Asked for additional comments on the use of lecture recordings as a learning tool, all 9 respondents emphasised the convenience/flexibility/pause/re-watchability of lecture recordings.

CONCLUSIONS
Overall our survey suggests that students are making reasonable judgements on whether to attend lectures or access lecture recordings. It may be possible to improve attendance rates at lectures by timetabling lectures later, and timetabling lectures and laboratories/tutorials for individual cohorts together. As there were no issues with the actual lecture recordings during this study, the student concerns about the technology probably relate to previous experiences or experiences in other courses.


AB3 and A3B intermetallic compounds, with Li, K, Ca, Ti, Zr or Hf as element A, and Fe or Ni as element B were studied both experimentally and computationally to explore their potentials for hydrogen storage at the moderate temperatures and pressures compatible with fuel cells. The motivation for this research was progress with promising AB3 compounds based on LaNi3.
Attempts were made to synthesize compounds with stoichiometries AB3 and A3B, where A = Li, K, Ca, Ti, Zr, Hf and B = Fe, Ni. Among these, TiNi3, Zr3Fe, ZrNi3 and HfNi3 were known to exist. The synthesis techniques used were argon-arc melting, furnace melting under a pressure of argon and ball milling. The produced materials were examined with x-ray diffraction and in some cases electron microscopy. None of the attempts to synthesize a new phase was successful, although a number of unknown phases were observed in x-ray diffraction patterns from the multi-phase products. Partially substituted Zr3Fe1-xNix with x = 0.3, 0.5 were successfully prepared.
The hydrogen absorption properties of the produced materials were measured using a commercial Sieverts-type hydrogenator. Only Zr3Fe was a known hydrogen absorber and its measured properties agreed with literature reports. Both Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3 and Zr3Fe0.5Ni0.5 absorbed as much hydrogen as the parent compound. Moreover, the temperature range in which hydrogen was desorbed was considerably lower in Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3, demonstrating that the properties of Zr3Fe were improved without loss of hydrogen capacity. Most of the new materials did not absorb a useful amount of hydrogen, although the materials with nominal stoichiometries "KNi3", "Ca3Fe" and "TiFe3" absorbed enough hydrogen to make further study to isolate the hydrogen-absorbing component worthwhile. The known compounds TiNi3, HfNi3 did not absorb hydrogen at room temperature, but could be investigated under more extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.
A comparative study of Zr3Fe, Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3 and Zr3Fe0.5Ni0.5 under deuterium with in-situ neutron diffraction showed that the crystal structure of Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3 its deuteride were the same as those of the parent compound. However, while Zr3Fe suffered from disproportionation during hydriding, and Zr3Fe0.5Ni0.5 did not.
Theoretical calculation was the other important part of this work. Computation, based on density functional theory, was done with Zr3Fe compounds and with some reference systems.
Firstly, the USPEX (Universal Structure Predictor: Evolutionary Xtallography) calculation was conducted to predict the structure of Zr3Fe hydride. Although the crystallographic structure of the Zr3Fe hydride was already reported, the successful application of the USPEX code to this compound might introduce a new, important and promising alternative approach for discovery of new hydride systems.
From the USPEX trials, the fixed composition USPEX calculation was demonstrated as being able to obtain the real Zr3Fe hydride structure. In order to verify the stability of the predicted hydride structures at room temperature, phonon calculations were then done with the predicted structures. The results predicted that the experimentally-determined structure of Zr3Fe hydride was not the most stable one. An issue that needs to be resolved is that the predicted stability of hydrides increased with added hydrogen, which is contrary to experience.
Secondly, after TOPOS calculations to predict interstitial sites, the basic VASP (Vienna Ab initio Simulation Package) relaxation was made on fully hydrided Zr3Fe, LaNi5, Fe and Pd lattices. This was done to explore the way to calculate hydride structures from the basic metallic lattice. The trial was successful for Zr3Fe, Fe and Pd but not for LaNi5. The reason may be that the wrong space group for LaNi5H6 was used, despite it being generally accepted.
TOPOS was employed to obtain the possible H interstitial sites and H migration paths in the metallic structures. The nudged elastic band (NEB) method was then used to calculate the energy barriers encountered along the different migration paths, in both the real hydride structures and the postulated non-existent hydride structures. The results showed much higher energy barriers in the migration paths through empty interstitial sites in the real hydrides or compounds.
Phonon calculations were also conducted with these real hydride structures and the non-existent hydride structures to verify the findings in the above step, and to deduce some fundamental mechanisms of the formation of hydrides.
Thirdly, based on the neutron diffraction results of Zr3Fe and the Ni-substituted Zr3Fe hydrides, NEB and MD (molecular dynamics) calculations were made to study the effects of partially substituting Ni for Fe atom in Zr3Fe. The results were consistent with higher energy barriers to migration and slower diffusion in Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3H7 compared to Zr3FeH7, and also consistent with the experimentally slower kinetics of hydrogen absorption by Zr3Fe0.7Ni0.3.


Limit equilibrium method (LEM) analysis of slope stability has been commonplace in geotechnical engineering for many years. The factor of safety calculated by a LEM analysis remains an industry standard of design. The Shear Strength Reduction (SSR) technique using finite element method (FEM) analysis to predict a factor of safety for slopes has also been in existence for several decades. Recent software tools allow the improved analysis of 3D slope stability through the LEM and SSR techniques. The advantages of a 3D SSR analysis over 3D LEM analysis are that stresses and deformations can be more accurately accounted for in a slope stability analysis. Assumptions are not needed regarding the shape, location and sliding direction of the failure surface. The purpose of this paper is primarily to compare 3D FEM-SSR stability analysis with 3D LEM analysis through the examination of benchmark examples. In general, wellmatched results are obtained between these two methods.


We present an application of machine-learning (ML) techniques to source selection in the optical transient survey data with Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru telescope. Our goal is to select real transient events accurately and in a timely manner out of a large number of false candidates, obtained with the standard difference-imaging method. We have developed the transient selector which is based on majority voting of three ML machines of AUC Boosting, Random Forest, and Deep Neural Network. We applied it to our observing runs of Subaru-HSC in 2015 May and August, and proved it to be efficient in selecting optical transients. The false positive rate was 1.0% at the true positive rate of 90% in the magnitude range of 22.0--25.0 mag for the former data. For the latter run, we successfully detected and reported ten candidates of supernovae within the same day as the observation. From these runs, we learned the following lessons: (1) the training using artificial objects is effective in filtering out false candidates, especially for faint objects, and (2) combination of ML by majority voting is advantageous.


Robotics has been providing essential tools to improve the Industry's flexibility and reconfiguration. Nowadays, the tasks are highly complex, making it mandatory to renew programming techniques and craft sophisticated solutions. This is where Reinforcement Learning comes in handy: it broadens the horizon for new and disruptive methodologies, incorporating tolerance to uncertainties using exploration. However, those solutions can be challenging when it comes to building the reward function. So, this work proposes a ''divide and conquer'' approach, which transforms a long and complex task into smaller and easier achieved goals that boosts training efficiency and performance. This study tested different combinations of parameters and proposes a set of guidelines that used a Pickand-Place environment. The observed performance shows higher success rates and faster convergence for two and three sub-goals when comparing the sub-goal approach versus a sequential and traditional reward.


One of the more important aims of graduate artificial intelligence courses is to prepare graduate students to critically evaluate the current literature. The established approaches for this include either asking a student to present a paper in class, or to have the entire class read and discuss a paper. However, neither of these approaches presents incentives for student participation beyond the posting of a single summary or review. In this paper, we describe a class project that uses the popular Easychair conference management system as a pedagogical tool to enable engagement in the peer review process. We report on the deployment of this project in a mediumsized graduate AI class, and present the results of this deployment. We hope that the success of this project in engaging students in the peer review process can be used better train and bolster the future corps of AI reviewers.


In this paper, we propose a video scene annotation method based on tag clouds. First, user comments associated with a video are collected from existing video sharing services. Next, a tag cloud is generated from these user comments. The tag cloud is displayed on the video window of the Web browser. When users click on a tag included in the tag cloud while watching the video, the tag gets associated with the time point of the video. Users can share the information on the tags that have already been clicked. We confirmed that the coverage of annotations generated by this method is higher than that of the existing methods, and users are motivated to add tags by sharing tag clouds. This method will contribute to advanced video applications.


From the beginning of May 2018, the Kilauea Volcano on the island of Hawaii experienced its largest eruption in 200 yr followed by a period of unrest for months. Because hot molten lava entered the ocean from the ocean-entry point near the lower East Rift Zone, the lava–water interaction led to explosions. Some explosions were near the water surface and ejected fragments of lava, also known as lava bombs. In the early morning on 16 July 2018, one of those lava bombs, which was almost the size of a basketball, hit a sightseeing boat and injured 23 people. In this study, we analyzed the hydrophone data recorded from July to mid-September by ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) deployed offshore near the ocean entry point to identify and locate the hydroacoustic signals of the lava–water explosions. Acoustic signals of hydrovolcanic explosions are characterized by a short duration (less than a few seconds) and a broad frequency range (at least up to 100 Hz). To automate event detection, a short-term average versus long-term average method was applied to the complete dataset. Approximately 4300 events were detected and located near the coastline and further used to prepare a catalog. The distribution of the lava–water explosions is consistent with the pattern of the offshore lava delta formed during the 2018 eruption. Identifying such hydroacoustic signals recorded by OBSs may provide new avenues of research using various seismoacoustic events associated with volcanic eruptions.


PURPOSE
The goal of this study was to determine neck muscle forces and spinal loads that result from isometric muscle contractions.

METHODS
Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the neck musculature and a three-dimensional biomechanical model of the neck were used. The model was EMG-based and estimated muscle forces and spinal loads at the C4/5 level. EMG signals were collected from eight sites at the C4/5 level of the neck using Ag-AgCl surface electrodes from 10 adult male subjects. The subjects performed isometric contractions gradually developing to maximum efforts in flexion, extension, left lateral bending, and right lateral bending.

RESULTS
During maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) trials most muscles generated high levels of EMG signal during cervical rotation. The posterior surface of the neck (trapezius) was the only electrode site at which maximum activity EMG consistently occurred by the same method (rotation) in all subjects. Variations in the EMG patterns were observed in different experiments that produced overall neck moments of equal magnitudes. With these data the model computed variations in load distribution among the agonist muscles. Consistent also with EMG distributions, the model also computed co-contractions of antagonist muscles. The average (+/- SD) magnitudes of peak moments were 28.3 (+/- 3.3) Nm in extension, 17.7 (+/- 3.1) Nm in flexion, 16.9 (+/- 2.8) Nm in left lateral bending, and 17.0 (+/- 2.9) Nm in right lateral bending. The model predicted C4/5 joint compressive forces during peak moments were 1372 (+/- 140) N in extension, 1654 (+/- 308) N in flexion, 956 (+/- 169) N in left lateral bending, and 1065 (+/- 207) N in right lateral bending.

CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest that higher C4/5 joint loads than previously reported are possible during maximum isometric muscle contractions.


The European air transport system, presently close to its limit, is facing the challenge of a continuously growing demand with a wish of sustainable and economically viable development. The air transport industry is aware that it needs in particular to significantly reduce its environmental impact. In this context, the Infrastructure for Evaluating Air Transport Systems (IESTA) aims to gather the multidisciplinary knowledge of the aeronautical research in physical modelling guarantying the ability of the evaluation platform to handle innovative concepts. Complementary to real time simulators with operator in the loop, IESTA intents to go further than existing evaluation platforms mainly based on existing software limited to current traffic modelling and simulation. The first application of IESTA is focused on the environmental (acoustic and chemical) impact of air traffic surrounding airports. The different kinds of acoustic and chemical results that IESTA can provide depending on user needs are presented here.


During human placental development, cytotrophoblast stem cells differentiate and invade the uterus. Simultaneously, the cells modulate their expression of several classes of stage-specific antigens that mark transitions in the differentiation process and play a role in either uterine invasion (integrin cell-extracellular matrix receptors and matrix metalloproteinase-9) or immune interactions (HLA-G). The pregnancy disease pre-eclampsia is associated with shallow cytotrophoblast invasion. Previously we showed, by immunofluorescence localization on placental tissue, that in pre-eclampsia invasive cytotrophoblasts fail to properly modulate their integrin repertoire. This finding suggests possible abnormalities in the differentiation pathway that leads to uterine invasion. Here we used a culture system that supports this differentiation process to compare the differentiative and invasive potential of cytotrophoblasts obtained from control (n = 8, 22 to 38 weeks) and pre-eclamptic (n = 9, 24 to 38 weeks) placentas. In culture, the cells from pre-eclamptic placentas failed to properly modulate alpha1 integrin and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression at the protein and mRNA levels. Their invasive potential was also greatly reduced. Likewise, the cells failed to up-regulate HLA-G protein and mRNA expression. These results suggest that defective cytotrophoblast differentiation/invasion can have significant consequences to the outcome of human pregnancy (ie, development of pre-eclampsia) and that, by the time delivery becomes necessary, the defect is not reversed by removing the cells from the maternal environment.


Nowadays, the international dimension of brand name is becoming increasingly notable with the continual increase of the international economic exchanges. However, the translation of brand name is a complicated process, which requires the translator not only to regard the brand name translation as a kind of commercial activity, but also to understand clearly the cultural similarities and disparities between the source and target languages. From the aspect of cultural differences, this paper discusses the cultural influence on Chinese and English brand name translation, and finally introduces some suggestions for brand name translation.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infections in humans occurring in 1% of all liveborns. Symptomatic congenital CMV infection involves multiple systems and causes significant morbidity and mortality in newborns. Isolated CMV infection of the kidneys in a living infant has not been reported in literature. Here, we report an infant who presented only with renomegaly and renal biopsy showed extensive CMV inclusions. Serum and urine polymerase chain reaction for CMV were positive, and CMV involvement of other organs was ruled out. The child for treated with intravenous ganciclovir and is currently on follow-up. Cytomegalic inclusion disease involving only kidneys without other systems involvement can occur. The treatment protocol is unclear and long-term follow-up is needed.


Objectives: The first aim of our study was to evaluate the malnutrition rates of patients separately with four different phenotypic methods (Calf Circumference (CC), Middle Arm Circumference (MAMC), Fat Free Mass Index (FFMI), and Handgrip Strength (HGS)) that define reduced muscle mass with the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM).The study's first aim was to determine the frequency of MN according to (Mini Nutritional Assessment) MNA and the GLIM criteria. The second aim was to evaluate the relationship between the energy and content of the foods consumed daily by older adults and four different phenotypic methods.
Methods: The study included 238 outpatients. Anthropometric measurements, body composition and HGS of the patients were evaluated. The dietician recorded the 24-hour food consumption records of the patients.
Results: The median age of outpatients included in the study was 68(60-85). The median Basal metabolic Index (BMI) value of the outpatients was 30.7(16.9-61.2). GLIM-MAMC was 26.9%, GLIM-CC was 28.1%, GLIM-FFMI was 31.5%, GLIM-HGS was 31.9%, and GLIM-2F+2E, 21.4% of outpatients.
Conclusion: One of the most practical and straightforward methods to determine malnutrition in geriatric outpatients is the MAMC, which is more meaningful with food consumption recording. However, the method that determines the highest rate of MN according to HGS is the GLIM. By using these methods, the malnutrition of patients will not be neglected.


Cascaded converters have risen as a suitable solution for the connection of Utility-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to the grid. These converters allow to split the battery array into the power modules, reducing the total series-connected battery cells and improving the reliability of the system. Different types of modules have been proposed to integrate the batteries in the converter. The three-port full-bridge module connects the batteries through a second deport decoupled from the harmful low-frequency oscillations and current peaks. However, the multi-variable controller required to manage the power interaction between the battery and the grid presents a challenge in terms of computational burden and scalability. This work proposes the use of the Sequential Phase-Shifted Model Predictive Control (PS-MPC) in a multilevel BESS implementation using three-port full-bridge modules. The proposed controller outperforms a standard FCS-MPC, as it obtains the optimal duty cycles for the operation of the converter with the same fast dynamic response, but also with the fixed spectrum of the PS-PWM and low computational burden, which facilitates its scalability to multilevel BESS with a large number of cells. Simulation results show the ability of the system to exchange different amounts of power with the grid, ensuring the best battery operational conditions.


We studied the antisecretory effect of the synthetic PGE1 derivative misoprostol. Basal, histamine-stimulated and nocturnal acid secretion were determined on separate days in 3 groups of endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcer patients. Misoprostol or placebo were given in random order in doses of 200, 400 and 800 mcg. H+ concentration, acid output and pH of gastric content were determined. Additionally, the effect of misoprostol on purified and gastric mucosa carbonic anhydrase was determined according to Maren's micromethod. Misoprostol reduced dose-dependently basal acid secretion (by 54% after 200 mcg, by 82% after 400 mcg and, respectively, by 94% after 800 mcg) as well as stimulated secretion which was reduced after the same doses by 22% (p less than 0.05), 48% and 64% (p less than 0.001), respectively. Nocturnal secretion was significantly reduced for a period of 4 h, with a consecutive rise of gastric pH. In vitro, misoprostol inhibited dose-dependently purified and gastric mucosa carbonic anhydrase basal activity. In conclusion, misoprostol inhibits basal, nocturnal and histamine-stimulated secretion in duodenal ulcer patients, an effect which could be mediated by inhibition of carbonic anhydrase.


Electrically tunable solidly mounted thin film bulk acoustic resonators based on BaxSr1-xTiO3 films are reported for the first time. The films are acoustically isolated from the silicon substrate by a Bragg reflector stack. Applying DC bias induces piezoelectric effect and an acoustic resonance at approximately 4 GHz. Under 10 V applied DC bias the resonance frequency of the resonators based on Ba0.25Sr0.75TiO3 films is tuned 1.2% to lower frequencies. The Q-factor of these resonators is approximately 120, and the electromechanical coupling coefficient is 0.5%. The resonant frequency of the BaTiO3 based resonators shifts upwards 1.3% under 10 V DC bias, and the -factor is approximately 30, with an electromechanical coupling coefficient of 6.2%.


In domains where users are exposed to large variations in visuo-spatial features among designs, they often spend excess time searching for common elements (features) in familiar locations. This paper contributes computational approaches to restructuring layouts such that features on a new, unvisited interface can be found quicker. We explore four concepts of familiarisation, inspired by the human visual system (HVS), to automatically generate a familiar design for each user. Given a history of previously visited interfaces, we restructure the spatial layout of the new (unseen) interface with the goal of making its elements more easily found. Familiariser is a browser-based implementation that automatically restructures webpage layouts based on the visual history of the user. Our evaluation with users provides first evidence favouring familiarisation.


Recently, single gray/RGB image super-resolution reconstruction task has been extensively studied and made significant progress by leveraging the advanced machine learning techniques based on deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs). However, there has been limited technical development focusing on single hyperspectral image super-resolution due to the high-dimensional and complex spectral patterns in hyperspectral image. In this article, we make a step forward by investigating how to adapt state-of-the-art deep learning based single gray/RGB image super-resolution approaches for computationally efficient single hyperspectral image super-resolution, referred as SSPSR. Specifically, we introduce a spatial-spectral prior network (SSPN) to fully exploit the spatial information and the correlation between the spectra of the hyperspectral data. Considering that the hyperspectral training samples are scarce and the spectral dimension of hyperspectral image data is very high, it is nontrivial to train a stable and effective deep network. Therefore, a group convolution (with shared network parameters) and progressive upsampling framework is proposed. This will not only alleviate the difficulty in feature extraction due to high dimension of the hyperspectral data, but also make the training process more stable. To exploit the spatial and spectral prior, we design a spatial-spectral block (SSB), which consists of a spatial residual module and a spectral attention residual module. Experimental results on some hyperspectral images demonstrate that the proposed SSPSR method enhances the details of the recovered high-resolution hyperspectral images, and outperforms state-of-the-arts. The source code is available at [Online]. Available: https://github.com/junjun-jiang/SSPSR.


Wavefunctions of electronic Wannier-Stark states in a superlattice are calculated with a finite Kronig-Penney model. Overlap integrals between electron and heavy-hole wavefunctions centred in the same well layer, and in first- and second-neighbour wells are calculated as functions of the applied field. The results show good agreement with experimental results on photoluminescence. The problem is also treated by a one-band approximation method, which gives a closed expression for the wavefunction of the Wannier-Stark states; this is compared with the results of accurate calculations with the Kronig-Penney model.


We report the case of a 29-years-old male presenting with a large mass inserted at the hypokinetic apex of the left ventricle. Without any early regression under anticoagulant therapy and taking into account recent neurological manifestations, surgical extraction was decided. The mass corresponded to a chronic thrombus lying on a non-transmural myocardial necrosis. This case gives us the opportunity to review all causes of intracardiac masses.


&agr;-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is an underrecognized cause of emphysema with associated hyperinflation and compromised quality of life. Lung volume reduction surgery for AATD has been reported in a small number of series. In general, the magnitude and duration of benefit of lung volume reduction surgery for AATD is smaller and briefer in AATD than in &agr;-1 antitrypsin-replete chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Nonsurgical approaches to lung volume reduction have included various endobronchial approaches, including valves, glue, and steam. Endobronchial valves have been shown to confer benefit in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with the largest available controlled trial (VENT) showing enhanced FEV1 and 6-minute walk distance in valve recipients, albeit at the expense of more complications. Three small series examining a total of 29 patients have reported use of endobronchial valves in individuals with AATD, again suggesting benefit. To our knowledge, no other nonsurgical approaches to lung volume reduction have been reported in AAT-deficient patients. Overall, on the basis of a small current experience, endobronchial treatment to effect lung volume reduction in AATD appears promising, with further study needed to clarify its role and regulatory approval.


Networks of photonic devices with broken time-reversal symmetry may provide a way to create a quantum simulator to study strongly correlated systems.


Background: Iron deficiency anemia is the most common and important public health problem all over the world in the risk group of antenatal women. Research is going on to improve the iron status of the pregnant women with different forms of iron available. In this regard Carbonyl Iron is showing promising result in improving the red cell mass with better compliance.
Objective: The purpose of present study was to compare the efficacy of Ferrous Sulfate and Carbonyl Iron in the blood film of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women.
Methodology: An observational prospective study in obstetric and gynae out – patient department of Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital. Women between 16 – 28 weeks of pregnancy with haemoglobin level 7 – 10 gm/dl and with microcytic hypochromic blood film were included in this study. Pregnant women in 1st and 3rd trimester of pregnancy were excluded from the study. Among the study population one group was given tablet Ferrous Sulfate and another group was given capsule Carbonyl Iron.
Results: At the end of study (after 12 weeks) MCV, MCH, MCHC level were more increased incase of Carbonyl Iron group than Ferrous Sulfate group which is statistically significant.
Conclusion: Carbonyl Iron is more effective than Ferrous Sulfate in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy.
J Shaheed Suhrawardy Med Coll 2021; 13(1): 46-49


Panonychus citri is a dominant citrus pest mite in the world. Pesticide-induced population resurgence is a concern for environmental and resistance risk assessment in mite control. To evaluate the effective mite management strategies, the sublethal and transgenerational effects of pyridaben on P. citri were assessed using life-table parameters. Two segregated pyridaben-resistant and susceptible strains (previously obtained from the crossing between laboratory susceptible strain and pyridaben-resistant population) were used in our study. After exposure to LC30 pyridaben, the fecundity of Pyr_Control and Pyr_Rs strains were both significantly reduced in the parental generation (F0). Life-table results showed that LC30 pyridaben significantly induced the fecundity of both strains in F1 generation (egg stage was prolonged as well). Interestingly, this effect also stimulated the fecundity of F2 generation in Pyr_Control strain. But no significant effects were observed in Pyr_Rs strain. While detoxification enzyme assays indicated that only the activity of P450s was significantly activated by LC30 pyridaben in Pyr_Control and Pyr_Rs strains (1.242- fold and 1.355-fold increase, respectively). The expressions of P450 gene (CYP4CL2) and reproduction-related gene (Pc_Vg) were determined and the results showed that the expression of Pc_Vg of pyridaben treated mites in F0 generation was significantly reduced in both strains. In Pyr_Control and Pyr_Rs strains, the significant upregulation CYP4CL2 (2.029-fold and 2.516-fold increase, respectively) and PcVg (1.771-fold and 2.924-fold increase, respectively) of F1 generation suggested there were delayed hormesis effects on reproduction and developed tolerance to pyridaben. No significant difference was found between LC30 treatments and controls in F2 generation of both strains. These results provided evidence that transgenerational hormesis effects of low concentration of pyridaben might lead to mite population outbreak and resistance risk in the field through stimulating the reproduction and developing tolerance to pyridaben. Furthermore, LC30 pyridaben could affect the offspring populations of susceptible strain in the longer-term as compared to resistant strain.


A simple analytical solution for the crystallographic orientation is described. This method is based on one indexed Kikuchi pair in a known zone rather than the corresponding diffraction spots. The accuracy of this method is shown to be better than 0.1° even for cases in which a zone axis deviates by a large angle (e.g. 10°) from the centre of the beam direction. This approach simplifies experiments beacuse only one pair of Kikuchi lines and a zone axis are needed, and is especially suited when it is difficult or cumbersome to resolve a second pair of Kikuchi lines with sufficient accuracy.


Innate immunity is currently under scope of interest concerning its role in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Antimicrobial peptides constitute a potent part of this fast response system. Here, we focus on the role of a specific antimicrobial peptide, the only human cathelicidin, the pleiotropic LL-37 peptide, in the development of COPD under clinical conditions. A cross-sectional study was conducted in groups of 43 patients with COPD (previously classified according to GOLD) and 12 healthy individuals. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) sampling, followed by LL-37 measurements by mass spectrometry combined with previous immunoaffinity purification, was performed. Based on urea levels, concentrations of LL-37 in epithelial lining fluid (ELF) were calculated. Additionally, an antimicrobial assay of growth inhibition of two bacterial species, often involved in COPD development mechanisms, by purchased LL-37 was conducted. Altogether, 55 BALF samples were analyzed. LL-37 levels were significantly higher in BALF from patients in early stages of COPD (GOLD I-II) compared to BALFs from healthy individuals. The same was true for ELF. Cathelicidin's concentration was significantly lower in both BALF and ELF from patients in advanced COPD (GOLD III-IV). The significantly elevated LL-37 levels both in BALF and ELF in patients with COPD at stage GOLD I-II together with reduced levels in advanced (COPD stage III-IV) further supports the innate immunity involvement in COPD pathology and suggests a profound change in non-specific immunity during the disease progression.


Subject area

Finance.

Study level/applicability

This case can be taught in the Finance area as a part of the course on "Valuation" in a postgraduate program. MBA/EMBA/MBF.

Case overview

Himachal Futuristic Communications Ltd. (HFCL) discontinued all of its old products and entered into manufacturing of telecom products for mobile telephony and turnkey projects. This complete change in product line was like a re-birth for the company. HFCL grew tremendously between FY 2012 and FY 2015. Its sales grew from Rs 2,638m in FY 2012 to Rs 26,129m in FY 2015, an increase of 114 per cent CAGR (compound annual growth rate). HFCL stock price increased from Rs 11.75 in March 2012 to Rs 19.90 in September 2014 because of this tremendous growth. The stock price came down to Rs 13.35 in March 2015, as the market was sceptical about HFCL sustaining this growth. In March 2015, Choudhary, an equity analyst, was wondering how to value this high growth company. If somehow he could ascertain the intrinsic value of the stock properly, he would be able to appropriately advise his clients about the HFCL stock.

Expected learning outcomes

The case learning objectives are as follows: to scan the competitive landscape of telecom equipment manufacturing industry and gauge the competitive advantages enjoyed by HFCL; to size the potential market of the industry and predict the level of sustained profitability for HFCL; to develop multiple scenarios based on key drivers and compile projected financial statements for each scenario; and to value the company using the scenario-based discounted cash flow technique by assigning probabilistic weights to each scenario.

Supplementary Materials

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email email@example.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.


Information Technology (IT) is a collaboration environment for business and engineering. The past decade has seen a reduction in business understanding of engineering principles because of the lack of trained engineers working in IT, while businesses have become increasingly dependent upon new and complex technologies. These new technologies, often still evolving, are system-of-systems environments and present significant challenges to early implementers. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is one such system-of-systems that pushes the discipline of Software Configuration Management (SCM) beyond traditionally defined bounds. Evolving standards associated with SOA and the nature of SOA contribute to these challenges of governance and management: loose coupling of service operations, brokerage of third-party services, and virtualization of workspaces and environments.
This study resulted from an effort to bring a complex application with SOA Web Services (WS) under Configuration Management (CM) in parallel with defining CM process and procedures for the IT division of a Fortune 100 financial corporation. Research into the discipline of CM and the implementation of process management identified the need for further research into the CM of information-based rather than product-based systems. Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process improvement strategy widely used by software "product" development and manufacturing, which includes engineering processes. Typically identified as a level 2 maturity process, applying CM in an unstructured environment in which a knowledge of engineering principles is lacking correlates to building the second floor of a building with no foundation or first floor. IT Service Management (ITSM), as implemented through the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), can provide the foundation and structured framework required for businesses delivering information-based services to successfully apply the engineering discipline of CM. As depicted in ITIL version 2, two major issues were corrected through the application and integration of engineering fundamentals: (1) consolidation of the processes for configuration, change, and release management following IEEE SCM standards and (2) defining IT Awareness System (ITAS) requirements suggested in the ITIL Configuration Management Database (CMDB)/IT Service Catalog. Research results have contributed to the bodies of knowledge for software engineering, engineering management, and communications engineering.


This volume is about automation - automation in design, automation in manufacturing, and automation in production. Automation is essen tial for increased productivity of quality products at reduced costs. That even partial or piecemeal automation of a production facility can deliver dramatic improvements in productivity has been amply demon strated in many a real-life situation. Hence, currently, great ef forts are being devoted to research and development of general as well special methodologies of and tools for automation. This volume re ports on some of these methodologies and tools. In general terms, methodologies for automation can be divided into two groups. There are situations where a process, whether open-loop or closed-loop, is fairly clearly understood. In such a situation, it is possible to create a mathematical model and to prescribe a mathe matical procedure to optimize the output. If such mathematical models and procedures are computationally tractable, we call the correspond ing automation - algorithmic or parametric programming. There is, however, a second set of situations which include process es that are not well understood and the available mathematical models are only approximate and discrete. While there are others for which mathematical procedures are so complex and disjoint that they are computationally intractable. These are the situations for which heuristics are quite suitable for automation. We choose to call such automation, knowledge-based automation or heuristic programming."


Micelles have been studied in the targeting of drug substances to different tissues as a nano-sized delivery system for many years. Sustained drug release, ease of production, increased solubility, and bioavailability of drugs with low water solubility are the most important superiorites of micellar carriers. These advantages paved the way for the use of micelles as a drug delivery system in the ocular tissues. The unique anatomical structure of the eye as well as its natural barriers and physiology affect ocular bioavailability of the drugs negatively. Conventional dosage forms can only reach the anterior segment of the eye and are used for the treatment of diseases of this segment. In the treatment of posterior segment diseases, conventional dosage forms are administered sclerally, via an intravitreal injection, or systemically. However, ocular irritation, low patient compliance, and high side effects are also observed. Micellar ocular drug delivery systems have significant promise for the treatment of ocular diseases. The potential of micellar systems ocular drug delivery has been demonstrated by in vivo animal experiments and clinical studies, and they are continuing extensively. In this review, the recent research studies, in which the positive outcomes of micelles for ocular targeting of drugs for both anterior and posterior segment diseases as well as glaucoma has been demonstrated by in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo studies, are highlighted.


Background Limitations of the clinical efficacy of dendritic cell (DC)-based immunotherapy, as well as difficulties in their industrial production, are largely related to the limited number of autologous DCs from each patient. We here established a possible breakthrough, a simple and cytokine-based culture method to realize a log-scale order of functional murine DCs (>1,000-fold), which cells were used as a model before moving to human studies. Methodology/Principal Findings Floating cultivation of lineage-negative hematopoietic progenitors from bone marrow in an optimized cytokine cocktail (FLT3-L, IL-3, IL-6, and SCF) led to a stable log-scale proliferation of these cells, and a subsequent differentiation study using IL-4/GM-CSF revealed that 3-weeks of expansion was optimal to produce CD11b+/CD11c+ DC-like cells. The expanded DCs had typical features of conventional myeloid DCs in vitro and in vivo, including identical efficacy as tumor vaccines. Conclusions/Significance The concept of DC expansion should make a significant contribution to the progress of DC-based immunotherapy.


Finite difference and finite elements methods were evaluated in sense of their usability for calculation of various periodic electrodynamic systems. Finite elements methods could be applied for calculation of structures with more complicated form of cross-section, nevertheless calculation of structures, formed from rectangular figures only, is more simple applying the method of finite difference. Properly selected parameter of relaxation, that changes its value in process of calculation, makes method of finite difference more effective. It was shown that finite difference and finite elements methods could be applied for calculation of all main characteristics of periodic electrodynamic systems that could be simulated by multistrip lines. The areas of application of finite difference and finite elements methods and errors of calculation were discussed.


The average age of principal farm operators rose from 50.3 years in 1978, to 57.1 years in 2007, as farmers retire and new farmers do not enter farming (NASS, 2013).With declining numbers of entrants into farming, agricultural educators and service providers must better understand strategies for effectively preparing beginning farmers. On-farm apprenticeships in the U.S. show promise as a means to prepare farmers and are increasing in number (Niewolny & Lillard, 2010). Lave (1988) writes "knowledge-in-practice, constituted in the settings of practice, is the locus of the most powerful knowledgeability of people in the lived-in world" (p. 14). Thus, farming, as a complex set of interwoven skills, is best learned in situ, as situated learning. Onfarm apprenticeships therefore may allow learners to construct knowledge in context, and build identities as farmers. In this thesis, I share findings from a mixed methods study that explored what kinds of on-farm apprenticeships are available, and to whom; and important educational practices, structures, and institutions that support on-farm apprenticeship learning. This study comprises data from a survey (N=45) of Virginia farmers who host apprentices, and interviews (N=12) with farmers and on-farm apprentices. Findings describe who undertakes on-farm apprenticeships, and suggest that apprentices develop expert identities through situated learning with farmers. Findings describe how farmers participate as educators, and how farms function as sites of situated learning. This study also found that on-farm apprenticeships are embedded within alternative food movements, with social reproduction potentially occurring. I also explore broader implications for preparing beginning farmers.


Biodiversity plays a crucial role in stability and productivity of natural ecosystem. The main goal of this research was to classify ecological groups in steppe rangeland and investigate their relationships with plant diversity indices. Therefore, fifty different Land Unit Tracts (LUT) were identified in Khod-Neuk basin, Yazd province, Iran, in 2010. Vegetation and soil samples were taken in the LUT's representative stands. Two way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) method were used to identify ecological groups on the basis of presence-absence and canopy cover of plant species. The diversity indices including species richness, Shannon-Wiener evenness index, Simpsons' dominance index, Shannon-Wiener diversity index and Simpsons' diversity index were analyzed in vascular plants based on species canopy cover data. Then the relationship between land unit distribution and diversity indices was assessed using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Results showed that ecological groups were quite different in terms of species composition and plant diversity indices. So that, ecological group 2 had the lowest dominance index and the highest scores of other indices and ecological groups 1 and 5 had the lowest richness and along with ecological group 3 had the lowest species evenness values. Ecological group 5 had the lowest and the highest scores of Shannon-Weiner diversity index and Simpsons' dominance index respectively. The second group located in the mid altitudes with high saturation percentage and low Na, lime and Sodium Adsorption Ratio (SAR) had the highest diversity indices. Therefore, these groups are enough to delineate rangeland into ecological units which could be used for management purposes.


This paper draws attention to an ambitious project in the publication of source material for the precolonial history of West Africa, which has recently been approved for inclusion in the Fontes Historiae Africanae series of the British Academy. In addition to self-promotion, however, I wish also to take the opportunity to air some of the problems of editorial strategy and choice which arise with regard to the editing and presentation of this material, in the hope of provoking some helpful feedback on these issues. The material to be published consists of correspondence of the Royal African Company of England relating to the West African coast in the late seventeenth century. The history of the Royal African Company (hereafter RAC) is in general terms well known, especially through the pioneering (and still not superseded) study by K.G. Davies (1957). The Company was chartered in 1672 with a legal monopoly of English trade with Africa. Its headquarters in West Africa was at Cape Coast (or, in the original form of the name, Cabo Corso) Castle on the Gold Coast, and it maintained forts or factories not only on the Gold Coast itself, but also at the Gambia, in Sierra Leone, and at Offra and Whydah on the Slave Coast. It lost its monopoly of the African trade in 1698, and thereafter went into decline, effectively ceasing to operate as a trading concern in the 1720s, although it continued to manage the English possessions on the coast of West Africa until it was replaced by a regulated company (i.e., one open to all traders), the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa, in 1750.


INSTRUCTIONS FOR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor are considered for publication (subject to editing and abridgment) provided they do not contain material that has been submitted or published elsewhere. Please note the following: •Your letter must be typewritten and triple-spaced. •Its text, not including references, must not exceed 250 words if it is in reference to a recent


Our understanding of natural microbial communities is shaped by the careful investigation of a relatively small number of isolated and cultured organisms, and by analysis of genomic sequences obtained by culture-free metagenomic sequencing approaches. Metagenomic shotgun sequencing has facilitated partial reconstruction of strain-level community structure and functional repertoire. Unfortunately, it remains difficult to cost-effectively produce high quality genome drafts for individual microbes without isolation and culture. Recent molecular techniques that partition long DNA fragments and then barcode short fragments derived from them produce "read clouds", which are short-read sequences containing long-range information. Here, we present a novel application of a read cloud technique to microbiome samples, as well as Athena, a de novo assembler that uses these barcodes to produce improved metagenomic assemblies. We apply our approach to sequence human stool samples from two healthy individuals, and compare it to existing short read and synthetic long read metagenomic sequencing approaches. We find that read cloud metagenomic sequencing and Athena assembly produce the most complete individual genome drafts. These genome drafts are also highly contiguous (>200kb N50, <10 contigs), even for bacteria that have relatively low (20x) raw short read sequence coverage. We also apply this approach to a significantly more complex marine sediment sample and obtain 23 genome drafts with valuable 16S ribosomal RNA taxonomic marker sequences, nine of which are complete genome drafts. Read cloud metagenomic sequencing allows culture-free generation of high quality microbial genome drafts using only a single shotgun experiment.


Abstract The complexity of the question of obtaining the true mean temperature led the late A. Buchan to look favorably on the mean daily extremes (maximum plus minimum)/2 as an expression of the mean temperature. This view has become traditional among English-speaking races, but it has two very grave objections. and it is not adopted by continental or South American meteorologists. These objections are briefly : (1) Maximum and minimum thermometers. especially the latter, are far more likely to develop systematic errors than is the ordinary dry bulb. This remark applies with great force to hot countries, where in addition the observers are frequently untrained. In fact, it was this very difficulty which led to the adoption of a column of "True mean temperature" in Reseau Mondial. (2) The relation (maximum plus minimum)/2 to the true mean is not, even approximately fixed, but varies with the location, with the cloudiness, and with the time of year. The means of observations taken at 7 a. m., 1 or 2 p. m.,...


The wide usage of computer vision has become popular in the recent years. One of the areas of computer vision that has been studied is facial emotion recognition, which plays a crucial role in the interpersonal communication. This paper tackles the problem of intraclass variances in the face images of emotion recognition datasets. We test the system on augmented datasets including CK+, EMOTIC, and KDEF dataset samples. After modifying our dataset, using SMOTETomek approach, we observe improvement over the default method.


We explored factors associated with postnatal depression and further evaluated whether any of these risk and protective factors are specific for adolescent mothers. Data concerning depression levels, family and individual factors were collected in a cross-sectional study which surveyed 298 women in Monterrey, N.L., Mexico. Mean maternal age was 24.64 years, and 27.18% of the mothers were between 14 and 19 years old. Prevalence of postnatal depression was higher in adolescents (16.05%) than in adult mothers (14.29%) but, on average, this difference was not significant. The association between individual factors and postnatal depression for both adult and adolescent mothers was explored. Our results revealed that social support is significantly associated with less possibility of postnatal depression in both groups, and that this effect is stronger for adolescents (OR = 0.81) than for adults (OR = 0.92). For the sample as a whole postnatal depression was associated with lower levels of education, reported fear during labor and living with partner. We also found that having a girl greatly increased the possibility of postnatal depression. We conclude that social support is a protective factor associated with postnatal depression, especially for adolescents.


Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that aims to embed virtual objects in the real world, showing to the user the set of objects (virtual and real) as a single world. For that purpose, it is necessary to offer a perfect alignment between virtual and real objects, which increases the effectiveness of AR. The solution to this problem is known as tracking. The object tracking consists in determining at any time the position and orientation of the camera relative to the scene. Optical sensors are most commonly used to overcome the tracking problem due to their low cost implementation. However, it is often difficult to provide robustness, accuracy and low computational cost at the same time. This thesis tackles the improvement and development of the main optical tracking techniques, primarily focused on detecting the deformations of the bodies. First, it has been achieved the tracking of rigid and non-rigid planar surfaces through a monocular camera, and then, the object deformation estimation with a more complex device as a RGB-D camera has been developed. Surface tracking systems such as those based on markers have the problem of not being able to handle occlusions. Thus, this thesis raises a new marker design that offers robustness against occlusions. Furthermore, in order to handle the deformations of surfaces, a solution that recovers the camera pose and the non-rigid surface simultaneously is proposed. Continuing with the deformation handling, it has also developed a robust tracking system for reconstructing the 3D shape of deformable objects using two different physical formulations. One offers a correct physical behaviour with a low computational cost, whereas the other achieves higher levels of accuracy at the expense of higher processing time. In addition, all the presented solutions have the common factor that all are executed in real time, which is a key property for a fluently visual feedback of an AR application


The low-density lipoprotein related-receptor-1 (LRP1) is a large endocytic and signaling receptor. We show that Lrp1 is required for proper CNS myelinogensis in vivo. Either global inducible or oligodendrocyte (OL)-lineage specific ablation of Lrp1 impairs myelin development and adult white matter repair. In primary oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), Lrp1 deficiency reduces cholesterol levels and attenuates differentiation into mature OLs. Despite a strong increase in the sterol-regulatory element-binding protein-2, Lrp1-/- OPCs are not able to maintain normal cholesterol levels, suggesting more global metabolic deficits. Mechanistic studies identified a decrease in peroxisomal biogenesis factor-2 and a reduction in peroxisomes localized to OL processes. Treatment of Lrp1-/- OPCs with cholesterol or pharmacological activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ with pioglitazone is not sufficient to promote differentiation; however when combined, cholesterol and pioglitazone treatment enhance OL production. Collectively, our studies identify a novel link between LRP1, peroxisomes, and OPC differentiation during white matter development and repair.


The changing epidemiology of neonatal infections manifested in the first few weeks of life is described. The six infections discussed are herpes, hepatitis B, chlamydial infection, infection due to the group B streptococcus, gonococcal disease, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Nursing actions to prevent the spread of these diseases are described, with particular emphasis on the importance of body substance precautions for all neonates.


"Winning Behavior" gives companies a new way to increase business: by "outbehaving" rivals so that customers see a positive behavioral difference at every customer touchpoint - from product development and branding to bids and proposals, service, and much more. It is this company-wide Behavioral Differentiation that breeds lasting customer loyalty by allowing any company to distinguish itself from competitors in a tough, crowded market. "Winning Behavior" will prove to be a landmark book in the literature on customer service and customer relationship management: there has never been a book on Behavioral Differentiation before, but readers will see its potential in the results of the blue-ribbon organizations that practice it.This title is packed with eye-opening case histories and examples: Ritz-Carlton Harley-Davidson Enterprise Rent-a-Car Wal-Mart. It features exclusive interviews with high-profile executives including: George Zimmer (Men's Wearhouse) Hans-Olof Olssen (Volvo) Piers Marmion (Heidrick & Struggles) and others.


Percutaneous image-guided ablation has become a standard of practice and one of the primary modalities for treatment of benign bone tumors. Ablation is most commonly used to treat osteoid osteomas but may also be used in the treatment of chondroblastomas, osteoblastomas, and giant cell tumors. Percutaneous image-guided ablation of benign bone tumors carries a high success rate (>90% in case series) and results in decreased morbidity, mortality, and expense compared with traditional surgical methods. The ablation technique most often applied to benign bone lesions is radiofrequency ablation. Because the ablation technique has been extensively applied to osteoid osteomas and because of the uncommon nature of other benign bone tumors, we will primarily focus this discussion on the percutaneous ablation of osteoid osteomas.


Purpose: Purpose of the study is to study the pattern of presentation of metastatic lesions of the peripheral lymph nodes for various malignant tumors and for confirmation of metastatic lesions in cases of a known or an occult primary. Methods: Total 140 cases of metastatic lesions of the lymph node were studied from January 2003 to December 2004 by Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in cytology department of B.J.Medical college, Ahmedabad. Results: Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common metastatic lesions of the lymph node and comprised about 80%. Metastatic lesions of lymph node occur more commonly after age of 40 years and more common in male than female except metastatic lesion form carcinoma of breast .Cervical lymph nodes were common site for metastasis for squamous cell carcinoma and axillary lymph nodes were common site for metastasis from breast malignancy. Conclusion: FNAC is cost-effective, reliable, rapid and inexpensive procedure in diagnosis of lymphadenopathy. Metastatic lesions confirmed by FNAC also give a clue to the nature and site of primary.


The elucidation of the potential health benefits of tea beverage continues to be a focus of research in many laboratories. Beneficial effects of tea have been particularly evident in animal tumorigenesis models, with green and black tea frequently demonstrating similar effectivity. Human data are now emerging to support a beneficial role for tea in cardiovascular disease, but the data with respect to cancer risk at various sites remain inconclusive. The constituent flavonoids of green and black tea beverage are known to be potent antioxidants, and although this may be a major factor in explaining their biological activity, it appears that the gallated flavonoids in particular (e.g., epigallocatechin gallate and the gallated theaflavins) impact on a wide range of molecular targets that influence cell growth and more specifically pathways such as those involving angiogenesis. Data on the pharmacokinetic properties of tea flavonoids, primarily on the catechins and therefore related most closely to green tea, have provided indications of the plasma levels and circulating molecular forms that may be expected in humans following tea consumption. The structural complexity of black tea flavonoids, in particular the thearubigins, has hindered efforts to describe their bioavailability and to perform mechanistic studies. Recent studies on the effects of catechins and theaflavins on growth factor-, nuclear factor-kappaB-, and stress-mediated signal transductions are described in this review, where possible in relation to their bioavailability in vivo. These studies indicate that effects that may be relevant to both cancer and atherosclerosis are often observed at tea flavonoid levels that could realistically be encountered in vivo. However, more studies need to be performed using those molecular forms of tea flavonoids (methylated, sulfated, and glucuronidated conjugates) that are the major circulating species encountered following tea consumption. Such studies, combined with further human epidemiological and interventional data, should ultimately elucidate the full beneficial potential of tea beverage on human health.