Statistical topic models such as the Latent Dirichlet Al- location (LDA) have emerged as an attractive framework to model, visualize and summarize large document collec- tions in a completely unsupervised fashion. Considering the enormous sizes of the modern electronic document col- lections, it is very important that these models are fast and scalable. In this work, we build parallel implementations of the variational EM algorithm for LDA in a multiproces- sor architecture as well as a distributed setting. Our ex- periments on various sized document collections indicate that while both the implementations achieve speed-ups, the distributed version achieves dramatic improvements in both speed and scalability. We also analyze the costs associated with various stages of the EM algorithm and suggest ways to further improve the performance.


The Proceedings of the Sixth Canadian Cancer Conference provides a broad view of current concepts of the causation of cancer. It emphasizes how much remains to be learned about the causes of cancer and how important fundamental research is in this quest. Previous Proceedings of the "Honey Harbour" Conferences have brought authoritative summaries of important aspects of fundamental cancer research in the areas of experimental tumors, cellular ultrastructure, cell interaction, enzymes, nucleic acids, genetics, viruses, immunity, tumor-host relations, and chemotherapy. Thirty-six distinguished essayists have contributed to this volume. The book is divided into five sections. In the first, devoted to "Hormonal Carcinogenesis," two papers stress the role of hormonal factors in the etiology, course, and treatment of human breast cancer. Cutts then summarizes the results of estrogen-induced breast cancer in the rat, pointing out interesting similarities of this model to the disease in man. Nandi presents preliminary evidence of a


Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the subjective life satisfaction after brain injury and its relation to work re-entry. Method: The research design was a longitudinal study. Thirty-six individuals answered a questionnaire at 3 and 6 years after admittance to a rehabilitation programme. The questionnaire addressed work status, job satisfaction, subjective symptoms of illness and life satisfaction. Results: The reported life satisfaction both for life as a whole and for different domains of life was low. No significant difference between follow-ups was found for satisfaction with life as a whole. For the domain IADL activities, the subjects reported a statistically significant lower satisfaction at the second follow-up than at the first. No correlation between work status and subjective satisfaction with life as a whole was found in this population. At the second follow-up, significantly more people were satisfied with IADL in the group that had returned to work. Conclusions: The results from this study indicate that brain injury has a lasting effect on a person's life also many years after onset. The decreasing satisfaction with the ability to perform IADL-activities in a long-term perspective should give implications for clinical practice. More research in this area is needed.


Background Since 2015, 23 states have issued a variety of reforms to the teacher tenure process. Many of these reforms have made it more difficult for teachers to receive tenure, either by extending the pre-tenure probation period or requiring some form of evidence of teacher performance. How educators and school leaders make sense of changes to tenure-granting policies likely transforms their perceptions of the teaching profession and has ramifications for staffing practices in schools. However, little research has sought to understand how states and districts have implemented tenure reform, how educators make sense of these reforms, and how teacher and school leaders' understanding of changes to tenure statutes influence school practice and staff relations. Focus of Study The purpose of this study is to explore the sensemaking process of school stakeholders most directly affected by changes to teacher tenure policies—teachers and school leaders. To this end, this study examines the referential cues on which school staff tend to rely to understand tenure reform as well as their collective accounts of how reform translates into changes within the context of their work. Setting and Participants: Participants in this study included 30 pre-tenured teachers and 10 school leaders across 10 school sites within a single large, urban district in Tennessee. Research Design In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants during the 2016–17 and 2017–18 academic years. Transcripts of interviews were coded for recurring themes to address the research questions of the study. Conclusions/Recommendations Findings illustrate how school leaders relied on outdated state and district supports, while teachers referenced peer interactions to make sense of tenure reform. In addition, school leaders considered the enacted reforms an improvement to the previous tenure process, however, few school leaders indicated that tenure reform influenced teacher staffing and professional development within their schools. Teachers suggested tenure reform provided a sensible form of professional accountability in theory but was nevertheless undermined by a lack of communication, administrative support, and conflicting policy aims in practice. Findings highlight the robustness of peer networks in teacher sensemaking. More generally, this research has implications for the implementation of concurrent policy initiatives within schools and future directions for research on distributed and fragmented sensemaking.


Objective:

This study examines body size, body satisfaction (BodSat), feelings of fatness (FeelFat) and pressure to diet (PressDiet) in 356 non-referred Hong Kong Chinese adolescents. The primary interest was to elucidate the mechanisms that increase risk for girls to translate their dissatisfaction with their bodies into weight restriction efforts.

Method:

Secondary school boys (n = 192) and girls (n = 164) completed selected scales of the Body Attitudes Questionnaire with measures for BodSat, FeelFat and PressDiet. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated based on current weight and height.

Results:

As predicted, the association between FeelFat and PressDiet was stronger in girls than boys. FeelFat mediated the effect of BodSat and BMI on PressDiet in girls. In contrast, in boys, BMI influenced PressDiet independently of FeelFat.

Discussion:

These findings suggest that the effect of BMI on PressDiet may be a protective factor against eating pathology in boys. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.


Spray dried rice starch (SDRS ) (Era-Tab ®)was prepared by spray drying of rice starch at a suitable condition. Scanning electron microscope revealed that particle of SDRS was spherical and made up entirely agglomerates of rice starch grains. Tablet properties of SDRS were studied and compared with those of three commercially available direct compression fillers. Hardness, friability, and disintegration of the tablets were evaluated. It was found that SDRS was inferior to only one of them. Segregation tendency of direct compression formulation containing SDRS as a major component was tested. A blend of propranolol hydrochloride and SDRS was tableted on an rotary tablet press. Dissolution and drug content were evaluated. The results indicated that segregation did not occur over a two-hour period. To demonstrate the uniform distribution of low-dose drug, a mixture of SDRS and chlorpheniramine maleate were prepared at 4% of the drug. The tablets were assayed for the content uniformity and found to be excellent. Since direct compression process avoided the use of heat and moisture which were normally employed in wet granulation process, aspirin which was a heat and moisture sensitive drug was formulated with the use of SDRS. The tablets obtained were found to be satisfactory. Therefore, it was concluded that it could be employed successfully as a filler in direct compression tableting


The rapid upward shift in ethanol demand has raised concerns about ethanol's impact on the price level and volatility of agricultural commodities. The popular press attributes much of this volatility in commodity prices to a price bubble in ethanol fuel and recent deflation. Market economics predicts not only a softening of demand to high commodity prices but also a positive supply response. This volatility in ethanol and commodity prices are investigated using cointegration, vector error corrections (VECM), and multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedascity (MGARCH) models. In terms of derived demand theory, results support ethanol and oil demands as derived demands from vehicle-fuel production. Gasoline prices directly influence the prices of ethanol and oil. However, of greater significance for the fuel versus food security issue, results support the effect of agricultural commodity prices as market signals which restore commodity markets to their equilibriums after a demand or supply event (shock). Such shocks may in the short-run increase agricultural commodity prices, but decentralized freely operating markets will mitigate the persistence of these shocks. Results indicate in recent years there are no long-run relations among fuel (ethanol, oil and gasoline) prices and agricultural commodity (corn and soybean) prices.


The goal of this project is to provide data and conservation assessment tools to aid the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's efforts to determine management actions necessary for recovery of bull trout, a species listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Each summer, researchers systematically capture and mark bull trout with unique tags and then re-sight marked individuals during subsequent sampling events at various locations throughout the watershed. Additional resights occur at passive in-stream antenna arrays, located throughout the river system, which allows us to track movement of marked fish. Collecting data on several populations across consecutive years has allowed us to provide critical information on bull trout abundance, trend, vital rates, habitat needs, and movement patterns, and compare how these vary between different life-stages. Data from this study is currently being used to help build a population viability model to assess how elimination of current threats can help protect bull trout populations across the species' range. Funding: US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (in-kind) Investigators: Phaedra Budy, Principle Investigator, USGS – UCFWRU, USUDept. of Watershed Sciences Gary P. Thiede, Fishery Biologist, USUDept. of Watershed Sciences Tracy Bowerman, Graduate Research Assistant (PhD), USUWATS {expected graduation, 2012} Selected Publications: Al-Chokhachy, R. and P. Budy. 2008. Demographic characteristics, population structure, and vital rates of a fluvial population of bull trout in Oregon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 137: 1709:1722. AlChokhachy, R., P. Budy, and M. Conner. 2009. Detecting declines in the abundance of a bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) population: understanding the accuracy, precision and costs of our efforts. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 66: 649-658.


This paper presents a feedback-feedforward steering controller that simultaneously maintains vehicle stability at the limits of handling while minimising lateral path tracking deviation. The design begins by considering the performance of a baseline controller with a lookahead feedback scheme and a feedforward algorithm based on a nonlinear vehicle handling diagram. While this initial design exhibits desirable stability properties at the limits of handling, the steady-state path deviation increases significantly at highway speeds. Results from both linear and nonlinear analyses indicate that lateral path tracking deviations are minimised when vehicle sideslip is held tangent to the desired path at all times. Analytical results show that directly incorporating this sideslip tangency condition into the steering feedback dramatically improves lateral path tracking, but at the expense of poor closed-loop stability margins. However, incorporating the desired sideslip behaviour into the feedforward loop creates a robust steering controller capable of accurate path tracking and oversteer correction at the physical limits of tyre friction. Experimental data collected from an Audi TTS test vehicle driving at the handling limits on a full length race circuit demonstrates the improved performance of the final controller design.


Copper hydroxyphosphate,as self-assembled nanoparticles, was synthesized by using a hydrothermal method,with cupric acetate (Cu(CH3COO)2·H2O) and diammonium hydrogen phosphate ((NH4)2HPO4) as raw materials. Physical property of copper hydrophosphate was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Ultraviolet obvious diffuse reflection(UV-vis DRS). No surfactants or templates were added in the procedure of preparation. By simply adjusting the pH from 3 to 9, the morphology of copper hydrophosphate varied from microrods to walnutshaped microspheres. Photocatalytic activity of the samples was also investigated. Photo decoloration of Rhodamine B in water under visible light irradiation shows that copper hydrophosphate (pH=7) have the best photocatalytic activity: Photodecoloration activity of 100 mL Rhodamine B (10 mg/L) was 98 % under illumination for 30 min.


Abstract Background and aims : Carbon monoxide (CO) is a highly toxic, colorless, and odorless gas with a density close to the air, which is produced by natural processes and anthropogenic sources and is well known for its potential harmful and poisonous effects on humans. Inhalation of carbon monoxide gas can impair the heart and central nervous system. Diatomite supported nano copper oxide catalyst was used to investigate the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide. In this study, it was shown that how a low cost diatomaceous earth can be used as catalyst support. Methods : The required amount of copper oxide nanoparticles placed into 200 ml deionized water to prepare different concentrations (1wt%, 2wt%, 3wt%, 4 wt% and 5wt%) of nanoparticle, next the suspension liquid stirred for 30 min at pH of 7 at room temperature, and then 100g diatomite was added to the above solution. The nano CuO coating was implemented under sonication conditions in ultra sound bath for 20 min at room temperature, and gently stirring was then carried out for 2h.The prepared catalysts were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and porosimetry. The influence of reaction temperature, CuO loading, and calcination temperature on the catalytic activity of copper oxide nanoparticle supported on diatomite have been studied. Their catalytic behavior for CO oxidation was studied at different conditions in a tubular reactor packed with catalyst using a multi-component NDIR gas analyzer (Delta 1600 S-IV). Results : The catalytic behavior of catalyst was dependent on the nano copper oxide content, reaction temperature, retention time and the particle size of the catalysts. The results show that diatomite is the promising candidate for catalytic support due to its high surface area, high porosity, low thermal conductivity, very low cost and good sorption ability of its porous media. The catalyst with 4wt % CuO content, in 0.5 l/min and at 400 ºC exhibited the highest catalytic activity. Conclusion : Diatomite, which is a type of widespread natural porous material, provides a suitable support. Chemical and physical characteristics of this support are similar to cordierite. Due to the numerous fine microscopic pores, cavities and channels good sorption ability, chemical inertness, low density, high surface area, unique combination of physical and chemical properties, high permeability and excellent thermal resistance of diatomite, there is a possibility to use it as a support in automotive catalytic converters and as a cost-effective substitute of noble metals for carbon monoxide oxidation. In addition, these unique properties of diatomite can prevent sintering and agglomeration of atoms.


The final cause of nerve-cell destruction during infections with Trypanosoma cruzi has not yet been definitively established. It seems that a cytotoxic or cytolytic substance contained within the leishmania forms is probably liberated after their disintegration and acts, mainly at a short distance and in high concentrations, on the ganglion cells in the vicinity of the ruptured pseudocysts. Recent studies with the electron microscope favour this hypothesis.The destruction of nerve cells in the central or perpipheral nervous systems or in both is responsible for the so-called "late manifestations" of Chagas' disease, which therefore represent "neuropathies" or Chagas' syndromes, i.e., sequelae of the acute phase of the T. cruci infection.


Intercultural communication has developed rapidly as a new field of study in the second half of the 20'h century1 , stimulated in large part by a need to analyse and understand the changing conditions created by global trading trends, by increasingly intertwined interaction in the political sphere, by a growth in migratory trends on both an individual and a large scale and by the resulting multicultural complexity of our modern world.


The Editorial Board would like to encourage the submission to the Advances of Review Papers summarising and coordinating recent results in any of the fields of Applied Probability. In addition to these Review papers. Advances is also designed to be a medium of publication for (1) longer research papers in Applied Probability. which may include expository material. (2) expository papers on branches of mathematics of interest to probabilists, (3) papers outlining areas in the biological. physical, social and technological sciences in which probability models can be usefully developed. and finally. (4) papers in Applied Probability presented at conferences which do not publish their proceedings. In short. the main function of Advances is to define areas of recent progress and potential development in Applied Probability. As with the Journal of Applied Probability. Advances undertakes to publish papers accepted by the Editors within 15 months of their submission. The Editorial Board consists of E. Sparre Andersen, V. D. Barnett, D. Blackwell, V. R. Cane, J. W. Cohen. 8. Gnedenko, E. J. Hannan, C. C. Heyde. J. Keilson, D. G. Kendall. J. F. C. Kingman, K. Krickeberg, R. M. Loynes, P. A. P. Moran. J. Neveu. K. R. Parthasarathy, N. U. Prabhu, R. Pyke. C. A. B. Smith and L. Takacs. The Editor-in-Chief is J. Gani, and the Editorial Office of the Advances is in the Department of Probability and Statistics, The University. Sheffield S3 7RH, England.


This work reports the structure, electrical and magnetic properties of the orthorhombic (Pbam) structured bulk Bi2Fe4O9 synthesized by the solid-state reaction process. Bi2Fe4O9 has been studied using several experimental techniques such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, dielectric spectroscopy, and magnetometry. Rietveld-refined X-ray diffraction data and Raman spectroscopy results clearly reveal the formation of Bi2Fe4O9 perovskite structure and all the peaks of Bi2Fe4O9 perfectly indexed in the orthorhombic (Pbam) structure. It has been established that the Raman spectrum identified Ag, B2g, and B3g active optical phonon modes, and that the Raman peak at 470 cm−1 may have a magnetic origin. As a result, the coexistence of weak ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders in Bi2Fe4O9 ceramic was established. The remanent magnetization (2Mr) and coercivity (2Hc) are 8.74 × 10−4 emu/g and 478.8 Oe, respectively. We report a remarkable multiferroic effects in polycrystalline Bi2Fe4O9 ceramic. These characteristics make this material very useful in technology and practical applications.


The effects of climate change are becoming more and more evident and a fossil-fuel based economy is no longer sustainable. Thus, it is important to abandon traditional power plants in favor of renewable energy sources, trying to change the demand in such way that it follows the available supply. The presence of renewable energy sources that depend on the weather creates uncertainty and can cause large energy imbalances. Moreover, different consumers' behavior, usually uncontrollable, are not easy to be managed and require energy management strategies. Among these demand management mechanisms, it is possible to find the demand-side management (DSM) and the demand-response (DR). In both cases, a key role is played by the willingness of the customers. Needless to say, that without their consensus, none of these methods can be applied. Regrettably, however, some of the studies focus on technical and economic aspects only, addressing this problem in the future. Others deal with the problem of user's discomfort without taking into account individuals' diversity. Still others do, but they do not include upstream cognitive processes. Indeed, a copious amount of articles does not consider that before deciding to accept a program event request, the customers must decide first whether to sign up for a DSM program. On the other hand, different papers conduct a survey to discover what factors affect the decision to participate or not to a DSM project but then they are not used in simulations . Thus, in this thesis, besides exploring possible optimization methods that allow RES exploitation and cost reduction, a special attention is given to the analysis of prosumers' behavior, their mutual influence and the individuals' response to requests at different times. The focus is only on the residential field which is particularly challenging since many households have to participate to have a remarkable impact on the market. The main goal is to learn the different prosumers' tolerance to their loads shifting in order to propose shifts that will be accepted by the prosumers. Thus, to have a win-win situation where the aggregator maximizes its own profit and the prosumers maximize their utility, which is a combination of monetary gain and comfort. Therefore, an agent based framework based on MOSAIK and AIOMAS has been developed to simulate the several interactions among the aggregator agent, the market agent, the DSO agent and many prosumer agents. First, by cross-referencing cadastral data, census data and other information, households' profile has been deduced. Second, the Theory of Planned Behavior has been applied to determine the signing of the DSM contract. Once in the program, requests' acceptance has been studied through an algorithm inspired by Q-Learning. Pyomo and CPLEX have been used for the optimization. Thanks to the algorithm, prosumers' participation and acceptance are enhanced.


WHO shows that cataract is a major cause of avoidable blindness. The Purpose of this research is to find data related to blindness and visual impairment caused by senile cataracts. Barriers of cataract surgery in patient with senile cataract is a very favorable factor in this study.

 Study design using cross-sectional method, data were collected from Ume Manekan Hospital November 2017. Assessment was done by clinical ophthalmologist evaluating the characteristics, type of cataract, visual acuity, and barriers to cataract surgery.

 Total subjects in this study are 109. Prevalence of mature cataract is 55 (51%). Barriers most cataract surgery in this study is the inability of the community to pay the cost of surgery 54 (49.5%), followed by the lack of access to treatment that is 33 (30%), fearing the results of operations 15 (13.8%) and felt that treatment is not needed 7 (6.4%). The category of most vision loss in the operated eye was found in the blindness group (<3/60), 100 (91.8%) and followed by Severe Visual Impairment category (9/ 60-3 / 60) (8.2%).

 Eye health system that must be well prepared at the level of regional holder considering the number of blindness due to high enough cataracts in TTS Timor Tengah Selatan district.


Chelicerates exhibit dynamic evolution of genome architecture, with multiple whole genome duplication events affecting groups like spiders, scorpions, and horseshoe crabs. Yet, genomes remain unavailable for several chelicerate orders, such as Opiliones (harvestmen), which has hindered comparative genomics and developmental genetics across arachnids. We assembled a draft genome of the daddy-long-legs Phalangium opilio, which revealed no signal of whole genome duplication. To test the hypothesis that single-copy Hox genes of the harvestman exhibit broader functions than subfunctionalized spider paralogs, we performed RNA interference against Deformed in P. opilio. Knockdown of Deformed incurred homeotic transformation of the two anterior pairs of walking legs into pedipalpal identity; by comparison, knockdown of the spatially restricted paralog Deformed-A in the spider affects only the first walking leg. To investigate the genetic basis for leg elongation and tarsomere patterning, we identified and interrogated the function of an Epidermal growth factor receptor (Egfr) homolog. Knockdown of Egfr incurred shortened appendages and the loss of distal leg structures. The overlapping phenotypic spectra of Egfr knockdown experiments in the harvestman and multiple insect models are striking because tarsomeres have evolved independently in these groups. Our results suggest a conserved role for Egfr in patterning distal leg structures across arthropods, as well as cooption of EGFR signaling in tarsomere patterning in both insects and arachnids. The establishment of genomic resources for P. opilio, together with functional investigations of appendage fate specification and distal patterning mechanisms, are key steps in understanding how daddy-long-legs make their long legs.


Pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS) incidence is reported between 2.95 to 12.8 cases per 100,000 person years,1,2 which is lower than in adults but remains one of the most challenging form of lung diseases for a Pediatric Intensivist. Application of the adult ARDS definition is limited in pediatrics due to differences in risk factors, etiology, pathophysiology, hard to obtain PaO2 values, and lower levels and variation of PEEP utilization. To address these limitations, to promote early recognition and diagnosis of PARDS, and to improve prognostication and stratification of disease severity, the Pediatric Acute Lung Injury Consensus Conference (PALICC) published the first definition for PARDS in 2015.3 This definition (Table 1) kept the criteria of onset within seven days of a known clinical insult and the presence of respiratory failure not fully explained by cardiac failure or fluid overload. It eliminated the term acute lung injury, excluded bilateral infiltrate, and stratified severity of PARDS based on the oxygenation deficit as mild, moderate, and severe. Either oxygenation index or the oxygen saturation index (when arterial blood gas is not available) can be used to assess the degree of hypoxemia. Non-invasive ventilation is now included for continuous positive airway pressure of more than 5 cm H2O. Furthermore, PALICC included recommendations for defining PARDS in children with preexisting chronic lung disease, cyanotic congenital heart disease, and left ventricular dysfunction. The PARDS management guidelines are based on very limited pediatric data and are largely based on expert opinions.3 For ventilatory management, no mode of ventilation is found to be superior, patient-specific tidal volumes per ideal body weight according to disease severity are recommended (3–6 mL/kg for patients with reduced and 5–8 mL/kg for patients with better-preserved compliance). In the absence of transpulmonary pressure measurements, plateau pressure should be limited to 28 cm H2O and 29–32 cm H2O during increased chest wall elastance. Moderately elevated PEEP to 10–15 cm H2O should be titrated in severe PARDS to the observed oxygenation and hemodynamic response. The oxygenation goal for mild PARDS (PEEP < 10) is 92–97% and severe PARDS (PEEP >10) 88–92%, although in some patients, < 88% can be considered with oxygen delivery monitoring. Permissive hypercapnia with a pH of >7.15 is the goal except in severe pulmonary hypertension, intracranial hypertension, select congenital heart lesions, significant ventricular dysfunction with hemodynamic instability, and pregnancy. Recruitment maneuvers by slow incremental and decremental PEEP steps may be used for severe hypoxemia. High-frequency oscillatory ventilation remains as an alternative ventilatory mode for patients with moderate-to-severe PARDS. There is not enough evidence to support the routine use of inhaled nitric oxide, steroids, or prone positioning for PARDS at this time.3 Since the publication of the new definition, several studies comparing the previous definitions to PALICC suggest that the PALICC definition can not only identify more patients with PARDS but it is also better at risk stratification for mortality.4,5 Despite decades of research and experience of managing PARDS, there remains a lack of definitive clinical evidence in Pediatrics. Further pediatric research is needed to gain more insight and to improve outcome of PARDS.


Generation of electricity by fossil fuels in the United States of America kills about 20000 Americans a year through air pollution, transportation accidents and industrial diseases. More will die because Three Mile Island Aeactor No.2 no longer delivers the power which is safer. Yet already the politicians who pander to the media in the United States of America and in AU!j,tralia are calling for a higher death rate among workers by slowing or even stopping nuclear power. Those who opposed the safer power on the grounds of safety are opposing it even more now, presumably because its safety has been vindicated in battle.' According to Leslie Kemeny in an address to the Institute of Engineers on June 27, 1979, had the Three Mile Island reactor operators walked away and left it to the automatic devices it would have been a different story; the Windscale fire, of 1958, spread about 20000 curies of iodine-131 into the surrounding countryside without harm to anyone. The Three Mile Island reactor accident gave off about 19 curies of iodine-131 according to the latest provision, out reliable, measurements.' This demonstrates the filtration effectiveness. One must echo Dr Peter Beckmann's reference to the biggest battle of all, which has yet to be joined. Will human decency and intelligence survive the onslaught of the brainwashers?


Background: The ethical basis of randomised controlled
trials is
equipoise,
whether
at the collective or individual level. Neonatal intensive
care
trials
are
therefore
conducted in a context of clinical uncertainty as
well as stress
and trauma.
The
theoretical literature suggests that tensions
exist
in the trials
situation
between the
aims of care and research.
Objectives: To improve understanding
of
decisions that
clinicians
and
parents make
about neonatal trial collaboration, participation
and
non-participation.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted
with
30
neonatologists
and
63
parents from 5 UK hospitals who
were
offered enrolment
in the INNOVO
and/or
CANDA trials. Qualitative analysis
was aided
by ATLAS-ti.
Results: The neonatologists' interviews suggested an
intermediate level
of equipoise.
A therapeutic orientation operated
for the INNOVO Trial
but
not
for the
CANDA
Trial. Neonatologists often did not
connect trial
participation and trial-related
postmortem pathology studies. Most parents made very
rapid
decisions
about trial
participation. Perception of risk was
independent
of the trial
under
consideration
but
associated with a slower decision-making process.
The 'therapeutic
misconception'
was present for parents in both trials. Many
supported
contributing to
research.
For
some of the bereaved parents, this extended
to
contribution to trial-related
pathology
studies. Parents who declined the
CANDA
Trial
saw
risks
in the trial
situation.
Conclusions: Decisions were complex
and
multi-tiered.
The
boundaries
between
care
and research were often unclear for neonatologists
and
parents.
Clarification
of the
nature of decisions at the heart of clinical trials is
needed,
so that those
associated
with
research might be willing collaborators and
participants,
fully
cognisant
of the
activity
in which they are engage


Background Self-assessment is a skill required by clinicians for continuous professional development. Medical students struggle with the skill, largely due to the paucity of incorporating it into the undergraduate curriculum and the absence of a validated self-assessment cycle. Several studies suggest video-playback used in a simulated environment may be an effective learning and teaching tool. We aimed to investigate whether students' evaluation of their performance in a simulated environment before and after video-playback correlated with those of qualified clinicians' evaluation, and whether their self-assessment skills improved with the use of video-playback, in order to gauge the usefulness of video-playback within the self-assessment process for simulated scenarios. Methodology Consented recordings of final-year medical students (n = 90) leading an emergency simulation scenario were made over two five-month periods in 2015 and 2016. Students and assessors used identical marking schemes. Students self-assessed their performance before and after video-playback and their scores were compared against markers' scores. Statistical analysis of data was conducted. Results 91% of students scored their performance lower than clinician assessors prior to video-playback. After video-playback, 60% demonstrated an increase in self-assessment scores, whilst 40% showed a decrease. Students continued to score themselves significantly lower than their assessors following video-playback (P < 0.001). No demonstrable correlation was noted between student and clinician scores. Conclusions and recommendations Our results suggest that students may be able to self-assess more accurately following video-playback, although self-assessment remains challenging for a significant proportion. While the ability to self-assess improves for the majority of final-year medical students following video-playback and reassessment of their performance, they remain harsh self-assessors. Utilising video-playback for self-assessment purposes within the feedback process can only be cautiously adopted with phased, incremental and guided use of self-assessment. The development of a validated self-assessment framework is recommended before widespread use within the undergraduate curriculum.


"Pedagogiska kvarten" is a project at Orebro University. It is a study that deals with the teachers' perspective of pedagogics. When I came in touch with "Pedagogiska kvarten" I found it interesting to find out more about pupils' perspective of pedagogics, since the teachers' perspective already had been noticed. This study is inspired of "Pedagogiska kvarten", hence the perspective of the pupils are what this essay will inquire into. However, unlike "Pedagogiska kvarten" this study uses an ethnographic approach. What create the base for this essay are materials found at a Swedish high school with a class of nearly 30 pupils. More specifically, observations and notes followed by interviews and recordings of pupils' descriptions of "pedagogics". The aim was to examine and investigate what the pupils' perspective of pedagogics is and what meanings emerge in their descriptions. The research question therefore became "What meanings of the phenomena pedagogics appear in pupils' descriptions of "pedagogics"?" This essay shows that the pupils' descriptions of pedagogics can be divided into three categories. These categories are: Pedagogics is an encounter with the teacher, lessons structure and pupils' participation. The conclusion is that the pupils' meanings of pedagogics are associated with the teacher. Hence the role of the teachers becomes important.


: The development of nasal cavity was traced in human embryos. The identity in the primitive formation of the mouth cavity and that of the nasal cavity is stated. During embryogenesis, the primitive nasal cavities are demonstrated to change their position concerning the mouth cavity. Epithelial "cluster" formation in the area of the nostrils is examined: it appears in embryos of 16-19 mm long, is mostly prominent in embryos of 50-55 mm long, is absent in fetuses of 5.5 months old. By comparing the terms and dynamics in the development of epithelial adhesion in the larynx an the nostrils, the importance of these temporal structures for protecting the respiratory tract of the embryo from amniotic fluid is demonstrated.


The Psychology department of National Research University Higher School of Economics as one of the main centers of the Russian psychological science conducts many fundamental and applied studies of various agenda. One of the booming trends of contemporary science at the department is the research by some of its professors such frontier of human study as the psychology of reflection.The goal of the research: to pinpoint main (shown at the department) approaches to study reflection, explicate their conceptual bases and characterize theoretical and experimental achievements.Methodology of the research: historical, objective-thematic and methodological analysis of original works in the psychology of reflection, systemic-scientific and problematic-conceptual synthesis of theories and achievements in study of reflection.Results of the research: 1) in scientific plane, among some concrete research at the department, fairly dealing with the agenda of reflection, most fundamental works were pinpointed that compose the theoretical and experimental base of study acute problems of the contemporary psychology of reflection and building its generic concepts; 2) objective-thematic analysis of these concepts allowed qualifying their theoretical-experimental and practical-applied realization (as branching research, based on definite grounds and conducted with the original methods as a compendium of empirical, methodical and conceptual developments) as distinctly formed scientific schools, intensively developing in the contemporary psychology of reflection; 3) the emerged systemic-methodological problem of the systematic sorting of the detected - as a result of thematic analysis - the objective variety of these schools of scientific research on various areas of psychological reality of reflection required as its solution to build a logic of development of the problem field of the contemporary psychology of reflection, seen as a theoretically grounded sequence of its all the more ontologically complicating aspects, studied at the department; 4) exposed by us gnostic logic explicated the relationship of studied at the department aspects of reflection, phenomenologically appearing in following situations: perceptive actions in motor-creative acts (conception of the underlying reflection by V.P. Zinchenko); reflexive choice of personality (transactional conception of reflection by V.A. Petrovsky); reflexive regulation of productive thinking and goal-setting of personality in problematic and conflict situations (conception of reflexive psychology of creativity by I.N. Semenov); reflexive-meaning focus of orientation of the consciousness of personality (conception of psychology of meaning by D.A. Leontiev); altered states of consciousness (conception of reflexivity of unconsciousness by A.V. Rossohin); diagnostics of abilities (conception of reflexivity of personality and its intellectual and professional abilities by V.D. Shadrikov); reflexivity of creativity of culture (conception of reflexive-personological model of development of personality by E.B. Starovoytenko). The paper presents the forms of intra-departmental, inter-university, and international collaboration of the reviewed scientific schools of NRU HSE in psychological and interdisciplinary research and development of reflection.Conclusion: conducted in the article methodological analysis showed that pinpointed and characterized main conceptions of the contemporary Russian psychology of reflection are theoretically and methodically worked-through, experimentally and empirically verified, conceptually generalized, informatively presented, have applied significance for implementation of psychological knowledge (about the phenomena of reflection, its mechanisms, models and methods of diagnostics and development) into the social practice of education, management and consulting. Thus, the author established the scientific fact, according to which the analyzed concepts appear as the theoretical nucleus of the scientific schools in the area of study of the psychology of reflection, as they meet the methodological criteria that define the scientific status of innovational scientific schools in modern psychology.


We have reported the role of annealing temperature Fe3O4/SnO2 nanocomposites as a photocatalyst for remove methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution. However, how to enhanced the degradation performance of Fe3O4/SnO2 nanocomposites is important to its photocatalytic application. Therefore, in this work Fe3O4/SnO2 nanocomposites was combined with two different types of graphene materials (NGP and grahene) to improve the photocatalytic performance for remove methylene blue (MB) dye. Fe3O4/SnO2/NGP and Fe3O4/SnO2/graphene have been successfully synthesized by co-precipitation method. The influence of two types graphene on Fe3O4/SnO2 nanocomposites properties were systematically investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Degradation of methylene Blue (MB) in aqueous solution was studied in detail under photocatalytic process. Effect of catalyst dosage (0.1-0.4 g/L) and scavengers on dye degradation were carried out to check the efficiency of photocatalyst. The results indicated Fe3O4/SnO2/graphene displayed higher photocatalytic activity than other catalyst. The reusability tests have also been done to ensure the stability of the used photocatalyst.


Indoor positioning systems (IPSs) locate objects in closed structures such as office buildings, hospitals, stores, factories, and warehouses, where Global Positioning System devices generally do not work. Most available systems apply wireless concepts, optical tracking, and/or ultrasound. This paper presents a standalone IPS using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The concept is based on an object carrying an RFID reader module, which reads low-cost passive tags installed next to the object path. A positioning system using a Kalman filter is proposed. The inputs of the proposed algorithm are the measurements of the backscattered signal power propagated from nearby RFID tags and a tag-path position database. The proposed algorithm first estimates the location of the reader, neglecting tag-reader angle-path loss. Based on the location estimate, an iterative procedure is implemented, targeting the estimation of the tag-reader angle-path loss, where the latter is iteratively compensated from the received signal strength information measurement. Experimental results are presented, illustrating the high performance of the proposed positioning system.


Radical economic reform programs initiated in India have led to a sharp rise in the trend rate of growth for India's economy. The rapid economic growth and socio-economic developments in India have boosted the country's consumption of many goods and services, including paper and paperboard. As the rapid economic growth and other developments continue, consumption of paper and paperboard in India will accelerate. The paper industry of India has however not been able fully to meet the consumption needs of its domestic market. Nor is it likely to do so for the foreseeable future when the country's consumption will be even greater. This is mainly because the industry is beset with problems such as a shortage of domestic supply of papermaking fibre, obsolete technology, and comparatively high cost of production. The situation thus presents a potential opportunity for the forest products industries of Australia and other countries to benefit from India's domestic market for paper, paperboard, pulp, recovered paper, pulpwood and related services.


: Crisis psychopharmacology techniques are readily available and potentially serve not only the obvious immediate goal of help for the patient, but also may have long range benefits in terms of patient attitude and confidence. The acute psychotic patient often responds to immediate high doses of phenothiazines, which may be potentiated by the addition of a barbiturate. Depression is felt to be a commonly missed diagnosis and is generally very susceptible to chemotherapy. In resistant patients, the administration of higher doses or of potentiating agents often yields desired results. Acute anxiety is distinguished by its susceptibility to the milder and less hazardous sedatives and minor tranquilizers. Their hypnotic effects are recommended in the initial treatment.


Finn mac Cumaill (Fionn Mac Cumhaill) has always been a popular figure in Gaelic tradition, coming to full prominence during the Early Modern period, as Fenian stories (tales of Finn and his fian, or fianna, known as fianaigecht in Old Irish and fiannaiocht in Modern Irish) become ever more popular in manuscript form. Despite the popularity that both Finn and the Finn Cycle have enjoyed in Gaelic literature, mentions of Finn's death are scant and tales recounting the event are even rarer. In the extant medieval Irish literature, the pinnacle of the corpus, Acallam na Senorach, not only holds the events in relative obscurity but its presentation of the circumstances of Finn's death may even be said to be conflicting. In looking at other tales in the fianaigecht corpus, while we find a number of references to the fact than Finn dies, only a few depict his demise, namely Aided Finn and Tesmolta Cormaic ocus Aided Finn. To this short list of narratives detailing Finn's death and the events preceding it, we can add the tale designated 'The Chase of Sid na mBan Finn and the Death of Finn' (henceforth 'The Chase') preserved in a single manuscript, London, British Library, MS Egerton 1782. Although the tale breaks off with Finn still alive, albeit weary and bloodied and standing alone encircled by his adversaries, his death is a logical next element in the narrative, not least because there is repeated mention of a prophecy of his demise throughout the tale. This tale, which spans eight manuscript pages, seems to be the longest engagement with the idea of Finn's death in the medieval and Early Modern Irish corpora, yet has been the subject of very little scholarly investigation to date. This regrettable lacuna in scholarship on Fenian literature is the starting point for this thesis, which presents a three-pronged investigation of 'The Chase'.

Following a fuller introduction to the topic in Chapter 1, the history of the manuscript is examined afresh in Chapter 2 as new evidence, particularly from the works of the scribe Muiris O Gormain, has shed new light on the manuscript's history and on the tale of 'The Chase'. This is then employed to examine the section of the manuscript in which 'The Chase' is to be found, a section consisting of four tales thought to be from the now lost manuscript, Cin Dromma Snechtai, and four fianaigecht tales. It is investigated if the unit may be considered a deliberate anthology and whether thematic and/or other concerns motivated the unit's compilation.

Next, the study turns to the tale of 'The Chase' itself, examining its place within a continuum of traditions found in Old, Middle and Early Modern Irish treatments of Finn's death. Based on my own linguistic work on 'The Chase', a semi-diplomatic edition of which is included as an appendix to this thesis, it is demonstrated in Chapter 3 that the author of 'The Chase' seems to have been aware of several accounts of Finn's death, either those which are now extant or sources akin to them, and sought to bring together many of the elements present in other accounts of Finn's death in a single tale, perhaps in what was intended to be a comprehensive death tale for Finn. The various elements of the tale which resonate with the event of or events leading up to Finn's death, however, have not merely been cobbled together. Rather it is illustrated that the composition skilfully treats of the themes of death, prophecy and youth versus age, making regular allusion to the audience's presumed knowledge of other tales of the Fenian corpus, while adhering to the norms of earlier written fianaigecht literature, a trait not always found in Early Modern tales of the Finn Cycle.

The last study which forms part of this thesis, Chapter 4, arose from the recognition that although 'The Chase' appears to be the longest extant engagement with Finn's death, there exists no study that details what material on Finn's death has circulated in the modern period. This section provides a comprehensive overview of modern engagements with Finn's death in post-1650 manuscripts and folklore collections. All the modern accounts that I have found to date in which Finn's death is recounted or in which it is presumed that Finn is dead, which are usually mentions of Finn's grave, are therefore identified, presented, and where applicable, translated. While it becomes clear that no other engagement with Finn's demise across the eleven centuries during which his death excited the Gaelic imagination is as long or as complex as 'The Chase', common or notable motifs in the modern accounts are identified, and similarities between the different treatments of Finn's death in the modern narratives are discussed. It is shown that a small number of the motifs and events treated in the medieval accounts of Finn's death and in 'The Chase' are also treated in the modern tales of his demise, thus indicating some thematic continuity between medieval and modern approaches to relating how Finn died. With this in mind, some further relationships between the modern accounts of Finn's death and other medieval and modern Fenian literature are explored.


ABSTRACT Human norovirus (HuNoV) is a major cause of nonbacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, yet despite its impact on society, vaccines and antivirals are currently lacking. A HuNoV replicon system has been widely applied to the evaluation of antiviral compounds and has thus accelerated the process of drug discovery against HuNoV infection. Rupintrivir, an irreversible inhibitor of the human rhinovirus 3C protease, has been reported to inhibit the replication of the Norwalk virus replicon via the inhibition of the norovirus protease. Here we report, for the first time, the generation of rupintrivir-resistant human Norwalk virus replicon cells in vitro. Sequence analysis revealed that these replicon cells contained amino acid substitutions of alanine 105 to valine (A105V) and isoleucine 109 to valine (I109V) in the viral protease NS6. The application of a cell-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay for protease activity demonstrated that these substitutions were involved in the enhanced resistance to rupintrivir. Furthermore, we validated the effect of these mutations using reverse genetics in murine norovirus (MNV), demonstrating that a recombinant MNV strain with a single I109V substitution in the protease also showed reduced susceptibility to rupintrivir. In summary, using a combination of different approaches, we have demonstrated that, under the correct conditions, mutations in the norovirus protease that lead to the generation of resistant mutants can rapidly occur.


We have designed and produced a prototypic malaria vaccine based on a highly versatile self-assembling polypeptide nanoparticle (SAPN) platform that can repetitively display antigenic epitopes. We used this platform to display a tandem repeat of the B cell immunodominant repeat epitope (DPPPPNPN)2D of the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei circumsporozoite protein. Administered in saline, without the need for a heterologous adjuvant, the SAPN construct P4c-Mal conferred a long-lived, protective immune response to mice with a broad range of genetically distinct immune backgrounds including the H-2b, H-2d, and H-2k alleles. Immunized mice produced a CD4+ T cell-dependent, high-titer, long-lasting, high-avidity Ab response against the B cell epitope. Mice were protected against an initial challenge of parasites up to 6 mo after the last immunization or for up to 15 mo against a second challenge after an initial challenge of parasites had successfully been cleared. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the SAPN platform not only functions to deliver an ordered repetitive array of B cell peptide epitopes but operates as a classical immunological carrier to provide cognate help to the P4c-Mal-specific B cells.


Malaria is still the main worldwide endemia. More than one milliard of people live in some malaria infected areas. After having affected almost all parts of the continents, malaria, nowadays, is mainly limited to tropical and subtropical zones. There is not one single malaria but the disease offers four aspects according to the existence of four human plasmodial species, P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae. P. falciparum is responsible for the more damageable effects on public health. It is the killing agent of tropical malaria. After a brief recall of the geographical distribution of the four human plasmodial species, the author reviews each link of the epidemiological chain: the pathogenic parasite, man as parasite reservoir, the anopheles as the vector in its relations with man and Plasmodium, receptive man regarding malarial infection, aspects of acquired immunity in the individual as well as in human groups of populations in endemic areas. These few up-to-date notes in malarial epidemiology may help to a better understanding of the endemicity levels, stable and unstable malaria, critic levels for transmission. A chapter deals with mathematical models for transmission. Rules for antimalarial control and reasons of the set backs of this control in tropical Africa are briefly reviewed.


\lambda/4 -shifted InGaAsP/InP DFB lasers were studied theoretically and experimentally. The effect of reflectivities at the end of a DFB region and that of a \lambda/4 shift position were analyzed in terms of stability of single-longitudinal-mode operation and asymmetric power distribution. The shift of the \lambda/4 -shift position from the center to a certain place in the DFB region, with the end reflectivities less than several tenths of a percent, seemed most effective for efficient power extraction and reproducible DSM operation. The devices emitting at 1.5 μm range were fabricated by using negative and positive photoresists and employing one-step holographic exposure. They exhibited single-longitudinal-mode operations just at or closely around the center of the stopband, i.e., the Bragg wavelength. The slight wavelength deviations from the center were found to be attributed to the accidental phase-shift variations from the optimal value. Concerning such deviations in the fabricated devices, a simple and useful criterion, for example, P_{0}/P_{1} \geq 2-3 at I/I_{th} = 0.9 , for stable DSM operation was presented. Statistically, single-longitudinal-mode operations were observed in 95 devices out of 100, and the theoretical prediction was verified. The side-mode-suppression ratios under high-speed direct modulation were 35 dB or more.


Received Au Departmen Southern D Departmen Denmark, Urological University Copyright a the Interna article und licenses/byhttp://dx.do J Sex Med Introduction: Previous studies have shown that focal low-energy extracorporeal shockwave therapy (Li-ESWT) can have a positive effect in men with erectile dysfunction (ED). Linear Li-ESWT (LLi-ESWT) for ED has not been previously assessed in a randomized trial. Aim: To evaluate the treatment outcome of LLi-ESWT for ED. Methods: Men with ED (n 1⁄4 126) and a score lower than 25 points on the International Index of Erectile Function erectile function domain (IIEF-EF) were included. Subjects were allocated to receive LLi-ESWT once a week for 5 weeks or sham treatment once a week for 5 weeks. After a 4-week break, the two groups received active treatment once a week for 5 weeks. Subjects completed the IIEF, Erection Hardness Scale (EHS), Sexual Quality of LifeeMen, and the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction at baseline, after 9 weeks, and after 18 weeks. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measurement was an increase of at least five points on the IIEF-EF score. The secondary outcome measurement was an increased EHS score to at least 3 in men with a score no higher than 2 at baseline. Data were analyzed by linear and logistic regression. Results: Mean IIEF-EF scores were 11.5 at baseline (95% CI 1⁄4 9.8e13.2), 13.0 after five sessions (95% CI 1⁄4 11.0e15.0), and 12.6 after 10 sessions (95% CI 1⁄4 11.0e14.2) in the sham group and correspondingly 10.9 (95% CI 1⁄4 9.1e12.7), 13.1 (95% CI 1⁄4 9.3e13.4), and 11.8 (95% CI 1⁄4 10.1e13.4) in the ESWT group. Success rates based on IIEF-EF score were 38.3% in the sham group and 37.9% in the ESWT group (odds ratio 1⁄4 0.95, 95% CI 1⁄4 0.45e2.02, P 1⁄4 .902). Success rates based on EHS score were 6.7% in the sham group and 3.5% in the ESWT group (odds ratio 1⁄4 0.44, 95% CI 1⁄4 0.08e2.61, P 1⁄4 .369). A limitation of this study is that device settings (number of shockwaves and penetration depth) were estimated based on an existing trial on focused ESWT. Conclusion: No clinically relevant effect of LLi-ESWT on ED was found. J Sex Med 2016;-:1e7. Copyright 2016, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).


To develop new amorphous, amorphous-nanocrystalline and nanocrystalline materials, optimize their unique properties and successfully operate their products, knowledge of changes in their structure under the influence of external factors is required. For the practical use of amorphous metal alloys, it is important to have data on the stability or changes in their properties under the action of magnetic fields, since products based on them are often operated under conditions of prolonged exposure to this factor. An experimental study of the influence of a constant weak (B  0.64 T) magnetic field on the micromechanical properties and thermal stability of amorphous Co67Fe3Cr3Si15B12 and Fe40Ni40B20 alloys was conducted. It is established that the long-term action of a weak constant magnetic field leads to a magnetoplastic effect: the microhardness of amorphous alloys decreases up to 18-21 % per 100 days. Results of dilatometric experiments indicate that after treatment of amorphous Co67Fe3Cr3Si15B12 and Fe40Ni40B20 alloys by a weak magnetic field, the temperature of the intense crystallization onset increases by 40-80 K, that is, the interval of thermal stability of the alloy expands. The established effects can be explained by the fact that the magnetic field creates magnetoelastic dynamic stresses that destroy borides and silicides in the amorphous alloy, which promotes the homogenization of its structure. This causes the destruction of frozen-in crystallization centers and the formation of a new, more stable structural state with other short-range parameters and the level of internal stresses caused by the processes of structural relaxation.


Abstract Thanks to advances in computer technology, it is feasible to obtain detailed reactor core descriptions for safety analysis of the light water reactor (LWR), in order to represent realistically the fuel elements design, as is the case for three-dimensional coupled simulations for local neutron kinetics and thermal hydraulics. This scenario requires an efficient thermal-hydraulic code that can produce a response in a reasonable time for large-scale, detailed models. In two-fluid codes, such as the thermal-hydraulic subchannel code COBRA-TF, the time restriction is even more important, since the set of equations to be solved is more complex. We have developed a message passing interface parallel version of COBRA-TF, called pCTF. The parallel code is based on a cell-oriented domain decomposition approach, and performs well in models that consist of many cells. The Jacobian matrix is computed in parallel, with each processor in charge of calculating the coefficients related to a subset of the cells. Furthermore, the resulting system of linear equations is also solved in parallel, by exploiting solvers and preconditioners from PETSc. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the capability of the recently developed pCTF/PARCS coupled code to simulate large cores with a pin-by-pin level of detail in an acceptable computational time, using for this purpose two control rod drop operational transients that took place in the core of a three-loop pressurized water reactor. As a result, the main safety parameters of the core hot channel have been calculated by the coupled code in a pin level of detail, obtaining best estimate results for this transient.


This article explores problems with several definitions of Originalism proposed by Justice Scalia in "Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts." It begins by looking at Justice Scalia's citation of a possible statement by Queen Anne that Justice Scalia claims in itself justifies Originalism. Queen Anne may have told Sir Christopher Wren that St. Paul's Cathedral was "awful, artificial, and amusing" at a time when those words meant "awe-inspiring, highly artistic, and thought-provoking." Conceding that one must understand how Queen Anne meant these terms, this article shows how this example actually undermines Originalism when applied to on-going rules. It also explores inconsistencies and problems with several definitions of Originalism including Justice Scalia's arbitrary exclusion of technology from the constraints of "original meaning." It further disputes his claim that Originalism ". . .will narrow the range of acceptable judicial decision-making and acceptable argumentation [and that it] will curb -- even reverse -- the tendency of judges to imbue authoritative texts with their own policy preferences." This article maintains that Originalism has the opposite effect.


We present a hybrid soft detector that has a good performance/complexity trade-off for a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communication system with known channel information. The new soft detector combines the merits of a simple unstructured least-squares (LS)-based soft detector and a list sphere decoder (LSD)-based soft detector for data bit detection. The former is computationally much more efficient than the latter at the cost of poorer performance. The poor performance of the former occurs mainly when the channel matrix is ill-conditioned. Whenever this happens, we use the LSD-based soft detector in the hybrid soft detector; otherwise, we use the LS-based one. Moreover, we provide a tight radius for a sphere decoder, a hard detector, via using the output of an LS-based hard detector. These two hard detectors are needed to determine if LS or LSD should be used in the hybrid soft detector. As an application example, we consider doubling the maximum data rate of the IEEE 802.11a conformable wireless local area networks by a MIMO system with two transmit and two receive antennas. For this application, the new soft detector is about 10 times faster than the LSD-based one and is about 10 times slower than the LS-based one. Yet the packet error rate due to using the new soft detector is quite close to that of using the LSD-based one.


Aim: To investigate the effect of VEGF165, FGF2, IGF-1, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB and IL-1β on the proliferation and angiogenic tube formation of human macular inner choroidal endothelial cells (ICEC). Methods: The proliferation of human macular ICECs after exposure to the aforementioned growth factors was determined by using both a WST-1 colorimetric assay and a cell-counting technique. The effect of growth factors on ICEC angiogenesis was assessed by sprout formation using a three-dimensional in vitro Matrigel duplex assay. Results: Using both the WST-1 assay and a cell-counting technique, VEGF165 and FGF2 both significantly increased human macular ICEC proliferation. The effect of equimolar concentrations of VEGF165 and FGF2 was additive. There was no significant effect for IGF-1, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB or IL-1β on proliferation up to a growth factor concentration of 1000 pmol/l. The angiogenesis assay found a significant effect on sprout formation for VEGF165 and FGF-2. Again, the effect of equimolar concentrations of VEGF165 and FGF2 was additive. There was no significant effect for IGF-1, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB or IL-1β on sprout formation at 1000 pmol/l. Conclusions: Both VEGF165 and FGF2 significantly increase human macular ICEC proliferation and sprout formation in an angiogenesis assay. When present together, their effect was additive. IGF-1, PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB and IL-1β did not have any significant effect on proliferation or sprout formation in vitro. These results suggest that targeting other growth factors such as FGF2, in addition to VEGF, may be beneficial in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.


Aortic cross-clamping during cardiac operations may injure the vessel wall and cause tissue lesions. This experimental study analyses the influence of the intravascular and external pressure and the duration of aortic cross-clamping on endothelial tissue damage. Fresh porcine aortas (n=20) were tested with intravascular pressures from 30 to 80 mmHg. The external clamp pressure, necessary to occlude the aorta, was applied by using the second cog of a commercial aortic clamp and cross-clamping was performed for 1 and 30 min. The observed pressure curves were compared to the histological findings. For occlusion of the aorta, an external pressure of at least 10-fold higher than the intravascular pressure (max. 812 mmHg) had to be applied. After 30 min of clamping, a complete endothelial destruction was observed, irrespective of intra-aortic pressure. The aortic media remained intact. After 1 min clamping, fractions of intact endothelial cells were left, ranging from 40 to 70% at different intra-aortic pressures. These results indicate that endothelial tissue lesions due to aortic cross-clamping are not avoidable, even in moderate clamp application. The duration of aortic cross-clamping but not intravascular pressure is the pivotal factor. The integrity of the aortic media can be preserved if low-force cross-clamping is achieved.


The lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery has been regarded as a highly promising rechargeable energy-storage system due to its high energy density of 2567 W h kg−1. However, moderating the dissolution of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and enhancing the conductivity of the sulfur cathode are the main limitations for its successful application. Herein, we demonstrate an approach to simultaneously tackle these two barriers by designing a porous N–Co3O4@N–C nanododecahedral composite. This composite was derived from ZIF-67 via a facile pyrolysis method, which realizes the effective doping of nitrogen into both Co3O4 and the carbon framework, simultaneously achieving a well-defined porous structure. After wrapping with reduced graphene oxide (rGO), this porous N–Co3O4@N–C/rGO cathode supported a high sulfur loading (5.89 mg cm−2) and exhibited excellent stability (611 mA h g−1 at 2C after 1000 cycles). Furthermore, ex situ Raman spectroscopy, ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and first-principles calculations confirm that the N–Co3O4@N–C/rGO nanododecahedra effectively bind LiPSs in the electrode over multiple cycles. This proved that the cobalt oxides in the porous N–Co3O4@N–C nanododecahedra have strong affinity for binding LiPSs. The simultaneous doping of nitrogen both into the cobalt oxides and carbon framework not only strengthened the binding energy for LiPSs absorption, but also improved the overall conductivity of the nanododecahedra. Moreover, the interconnected porous structure contributes to the electron transfer and alleviates the volume changes of active materials during cycling.


Atomization of fuel is a key integral part for efficient combustion in gas turbines. This demands a thorough investigation of the spray characteristics using innovative and useful spray diagnostics techniques. In this work, an experimental study is carried out on commercial hollow cone nozzle (Lechler) using laser diagnostics techniques. A hollow cone spray is useful in many applications because of its ability to produce fine droplets. But apart from the droplet diameter, the velocity field in the spray is also an important parameter to monitor and has been addressed in this work. Kerosene is used as the test fuel which is recycled using a plunger pump providing a variation in the injection pressure from 100psi to 300psi. An innovative diagnostic technique used in this study is through illumination of the spray with a continuous laser sheet and capturing the same with a high speed camera. A ray of laser beam is converted to a planer sheet using a lens combination which is used to illuminate a cross section of the hollow cone spray. This provides a continuous planar light source which allows capturing high speed images at 285 fps. The high speed images, thus obtained are processed to understand the non-linearity associated with disintegration of the spray into fine droplets. The images are shown to follow a fractal representation and the fractal dimension is found to increase with rise in injection pressure. Also, using PDPA, the droplet diameter distribution is calculated at different spatial and radial locations at wide range of pressure.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


PURPOSE
The presence of complement activation products in the human eye during infection or inflammation has been well described. During complement activation the host must be protected from attack against self tissue; this is achieved by three membrane-bound complement regulatory proteins: membrane cofactor protein (MCP, CD46), decay accelerating factor (DAF, CD55), and membrane attack complex inhibiting protein (CD59). This study was undertaken to analyze the expression of these proteins in the normal human eye.

METHODS
Tissues were sectioned by cryostat and both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to MCP, DAF, and CD59 were used. Control stains were performed with nonrelevant antibodies of the same immunoglobulin subclass and normal rabbit serum as well as by omission of the primary and secondary antibodies.

RESULTS
All three proteins were found to be differentially expressed in the human eye. With anti-MCP, strong staining of the corneal epithelium and weak staining of the corneal keratocytes in stroma and photoreceptor cells was observed. Staining with anti-DAF was very strong in the corneal epithelium and the ciliary body and moderate in the corneal stroma (keratocytes) and iris. In contrast, anti-CD59 stained very strongly in the corneal epithelium, corneal stroma (keratocytes), iris, choroid, and all layers of the retina, and moderately in the ciliary body.

CONCLUSIONS
Identification of MCP, DAF, and CD59 in the human eye provides evidence that a regulatory system exists to protect these cells from destruction by complement-activating events. It remains to be determined if other more specialized functions exist for these proteins, especially in the case of CD59 because of its extensive expression in the retina.


: Titanium nitride is widely used in plasmonic applications, due to its robustness and optical properties which resemble those of gold. Despite this interest, the nonlinear properties have only recently begun to be investigated. In this work, beam deflection and non-degenerate femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy (800 nm pump and 650 nm probe) were used to measure the real and imaginary transient nonlinear response of 30-nm-thick TiN films on sapphire and fused silica in the metallic region governed by Fermi-smearing nonlinearities. In contrast to other metals, it is found that TiN exhibits non-instantaneous positive refraction and reverse saturable absorption whose relaxation is dominated by slow thermal diffusion into the substrate lasting several hundred picoseconds. Ultrafast contributions arising from hot-electron excitations are found to be a small part of the overall response, only appearing significant in the TiN on fused silica at irradiance levels above 100 GW-cm − 2 . The modeling and origin of this response is discussed, and TiN is found to be adept at achieving ultrafast (below 1 ps) lattice heating which, combined with the robustness and low-cost of the material may prove useful in various thermo-optical applications such as local heating, heat-assisted processes, and nanoscale heat transfer.


K-12 public school reform in the United States over the last decade has increased educational accountability in reading and math and touted the importance of students' acquisition of a 21st century skill set. Non-tested content areas, such as art, music and physical education have struggled to maintain their position within the curriculum. In many cases, art, music and physical education teachers have been asked to integrate content from the tested content areas of reading and math or to engage in pedagogical approaches that foster 21st century skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. This qualitative multiple case study examined both teacher and school principal perceptions, attitudes and beliefs regarding the role, practice and context of selected elementary art, music and physical education teachers in western Pennsylvania in supporting the current aims of public education. Purposeful sampling was used to select a total of 13 participants from three different western Pennsylvania public elementary school sites. Participants engaged in guided conversation interviews at each of the three sites. Additional data was collected during site visits, including teacher schedules, lesson plans, field notes, and other internal documents. Arts-based research methods were employed to analyze and present findings and conclusions. The findings of this qualitative multiple case study provide insight for consideration by school leaders, teachers, school board members, policy makers and administrators in establishing integrated art, music and physical education teacher practice that provides students with opportunities for relevant 21st century learning across the curriculum. Conclusions drawn from this research suggest that many of participants often perceive their content areas to be regarded as subordinate in comparison to tested content areas within their elementary school contexts. Participants' interdisciplinary teaching practice was influenced by factors including: perceived curricular hierarchy, concerns with declining student creativity, awareness of school accountability requirements, self-efficacy, resources and principal support. Implications of this research suggest art, music and physical education teachers might explore new paradigms for integrated teaching practice, and that administrators and school leaders can support this effort by increasing the priority associated with these content areas to increase capacity and potential for student learning across the curriculum.


ABSTRACT The study aimed to investigate the utilization rates and outcomes of early intervention services on motor development of children with undefined developmental delay, and examine the potential factors associated with children's motor development. A two time period comparison of 129 children with undefined developmental delays was conducted using the data from a developmental assessment unit in a medical center in southern Taiwan from 2011 to 2015. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition was used to identify the children's motor development. Paired t tests were performed to examine changes in motor status between the two time periods. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between improvements in gross and fine motor development and potential factors. Utilization of early intervention services significantly increased after the initial evaluation from 0% to 92.2%. Approximately, 42.6% of the children showed significant improvement in gross and fine motor development between the two time periods. Normal cognitive development and utilization of occupational therapy services accounted for variability in the improvement of gross motor developmental problems. The crucial indicators of changes in fine motor development were normal cognitive development and preschool attendance. Utilization of early intervention services, such as occupational therapy, was positively correlated with improvements in motor development. It is crucial to offer caregivers comprehensive resources related to early intervention services, especially in regard to motor development.


Light optic and electron microscopic techniques were used to examine the brain of rats with visible neurological status recovered at day 4 following a 10-minute systemic circulatory arrest caused by compression of a vascular fascicle. Compensatory and recovering processes were shown to be the major processes in the brain at this time of a postresuscitative period. The highest magnitude of these processes was observed in the frontal and occipital cortex, the lowest was found in the hippocampal section CA3-5. Slight destructive changes in the cells were identified only at the ultrastructural level. The findings may aid to find measures that stimulate reparative processes in the central nervous system after a history of hypoxia.


SUMMARY Traditional, forest resource-dependent livelihoods face multiple challenges. In Gabon, bushmeat provides food and income for rural communities. This study investigates how villagers believe livelihood practices and dependence on bushmeat changed over the last decade and if alternative income and food generating strategies can be sustainable. Our results show that remote villages near Moukalaba Doudou National Park hardly changed practices. Less remote villages near Tchibanga experienced declining hunting revenues and are switching to alternatives. Villages near Libreville almost completely changed strategies, and are no longer dependent on forest resources. Changes in livelihood practices were driven either by resource depletion or urbanization. The ability to change depended on proximity to facilities and infrastructure. Although most respondents were able to change, not all alternative strategies are sustainable. The results highlight the need to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of alternative poverty reduction and nature conservation strategies in a context of urbanization and food security. There is a need to reduce bushmeat demand, making supply more sustainable through effective resource governance and creating a conducive institutional and policy environment.


Due to the aging of the US population, the number of women over the age of 50 years, currently more than 40 million, will substantially increase during the next several decades. This will result in increased incidence and cost for the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, ie, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and osteoporosis. Methods complementary to therapy are needed to prevent the anticipated increase in newly diagnosed cases of these diseases, thus improving the quality of life of postmenopausal women. It is timely to question whether estrogen is one such chemical or chemopreventive agent that can prevent (or minimize) these diseases. It has been reported that the use of estrogen by postmenopausal women has beneficial effects on coronary heart disease and osteoporosis but deleterious effects on cancer, most notably endometrial cancer. 1 In this issue of theArchives, two articles address the role of estrogen in disease prevention among


Abstract Providing an enabling nurturing care environment for early childhood development (ECD) that cuts across the five domains of the Nurturing Care Framework (i.e., good health, adequate nutrition, opportunities for early learning, security and safety and responsive caregiving) has become a global priority. Brazil is home to approximately 18.5 million children under 5 years of age, of which 13% are at risk of poor development due to socio‐economic inequalities. We explored whether the Early Childhood Friendly Municipal Index (IMAPI) can detect inequities in nurturing care ECD environments across the 5570 Brazilian municipalities. We examined the validity of the IMAPI scores and conducted descriptive analyses for assessing sociodemographic inequities by nurturing care domains and between and within regions. The strong correlations between school achievement (positive) and socially vulnerable children (negative) confirmed the IMAPI as a multidimensional nurturing care indicator. Low IMAPI scores were more frequent in the North (72.7%) and Northeast (63.3%) regions and in small (47.7%) and medium (43.3%) size municipalities. Conversely, high IMAPI scores were more frequent in the more prosperous South (52.9%) and Southeast (41.2%) regions and in metropolitan areas (41.2%). The security and safety domain had the lowest mean differences (MDs) among Brazilian regions (MD = 5) and population size (MD = 3). Between‐region analyses confirmed inequities between the North/Northeast and South/Southeast. The biggest within‐region inequity gaps were found in the Northeast (from −22 to 15) and the North (−21 to 19). The IMAPI distinguished the nurturing care ECD environments across Brazilian municipalities and can inform equitable and intersectoral multilevel decision making.


Abstract To trace past changes in flooding frequency, we investigated fluvial sediments in the middle reach of the Nakdong River, South Korea. Sediments with larger grain size, lower total organic carbon percentage, and depleted δ13C values in the recovered sediment cores were interpreted as periods of more frequent flooding. Patterns of decreased long-term flooding frequency and vegetation changes during the early to late Holocene were similar to the decreasing regional summer monsoon intensity. Multicentennial frequent flooding periods in the study area (2900–3400 cal yr BP, 3600–3900 cal yr BP, 4600–5300 cal yr BP, and 5800–6400 cal yr BP) corresponded to stronger El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity periods. Based on previous studies showing that high-frequency tropical typhoon-driven coastal inundation along the western coast of Japan during the middle to late Holocene was coupled with stronger ENSO activity, it is likely that the observed centennial-to-millennial-scale flood frequency change in South Korea was influenced mainly by changes in the genesis and tracks of tropical typhoons at centennial-to-millennial time scales. This suggests that the centennial-to-millennial-scale hydrologic changes in East Asia were linked to the remote atmospheric-oceanic circulation changes represented by an ENSO-like pattern.


The study was conducted to determine the resource use efficiency, profitability and demography of maize farming in Sindhuli district. This study was conducted in 120 maize producers, 60 from Kamalamai Municipality (KMC) and 60 from Marin rural municipality. Pretested semi-structured questionnaire was administered to randomly selected farmers. Maize producers were interviewed using face to face interview method in the month of October 2018. All the data were entered into SPSS and Microsoft excel and analysis was done by using Microsoft excel and SPSS. Cobb- Douglas production function was used to determine the resource use efficiency of maize production. Benefit cost ratio in the research area is 1.20 which indicates that maize production was profitable and farmers of Sindhuli get additional 20 paisa with investment of one rupee in maize farming. Productivity, cost and income per hectare of maize farming in Sindhuli was 1.98 tons, Rs 42423.3 and Rs 50805 respectively. 10% increase in chemical fertilizer, FYM and seed cost resulted in increase in income by 7.21%, 2.43% and 0.6% respectively. 10% increase in labor and animal power resulted into 0.2% and 0.07% decrease in output. For optimal allocation of resource expenditure on seed and chemical fertilizer were need to be increased by 89.93% each. Labor, animal power and FYM were over utilized resources for maize farming. The sum of coefficients was 0.983 which implied decreasing return to scale, 100% increase in all the factor of production included in the model would result in 98.30% increase in maize production.
Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 7(2): 257-263


This paper presents a novel framework for history matching using the concept of simulation-based optimization with guided search sampling, multiscale resolution and incremental metamodel (surrogate model) generation, aimed to mitigate the computational burden of large-scale history matching. The initial stage of the framework consists of a multiscale treatment of the permeability field through successive wavelet transformations. The coarsest grid which represents a highly constrained parameter space, is sampled with the aid of a derivative-free stochastic optimization algorithm that detects the most promising search regions. Due to the size of the coarse grid, thousands of simulation runs are possible at a low computational cost. Next, a sequence of intermediate metamodels is built iteratively by gradually increasing the number of sampling points in the decision space and using these temporary models to guide an incremental sampling. This incremental sampling is dictated by the use of an optimization method that finds a local optimum solution in a few iteration steps. The iterative refinement process is terminated when the metamodel solution is capable of reproducing (within a predefined tolerance) the reservoir simulator response. These metamodels are constructed using a support vector machine approach that captures the causal relations embedded in reservoir simulation by discriminating the true signal from the noise without over-fitting the simulation results. Finally, the coarse grid optimal solution is used as an initial point for the next finer grid level with the use of the inverse wavelet transform. The procedure is repeated with a decreasing number of function evaluations as the grid resolution level is increased. The objective function includes well production data and sensor measurements. Numerical experiments on realistic data reveal that the proposed framework improves the history matching process, not only in terms of computing savings and the accuracy of the estimated permeability field.


Given a text, rank and select queries return the number of occurrences of a character up to a position (rank) or the position of a character with a given rank (select). These queries have applications in, e.g., compression, computational geometry, and pattern matching in the form of the backwards search -- the backbone of many compressed full-text indices. A wavelet tree is a compact data structure that for a text of length $n$ over an alphabet of size $\sigma$ requires only $n\lceil\log\sigma\rceil(1+o(1))$ bits of space and can answer rank and select queries in $\Theta(\log \sigma)$ time. Wavelet trees are used in the applications described above. In this paper, we show how to improve query performance of wavelet trees by using a 4-ary tree instead of a binary tree as basis of the wavelet tree. To this end, we present a space-efficient rank and select data structure for quad vectors. The 4-ary tree layout of a wavelet tree helps to halve the number of cache misses during queries and thus reduces the query latency. Our experimental evaluation shows that our 4-ary wavelet tree can improve the latency of rank and select queries by a factor of $\approx 2$ compared to the wavelet tree implementations contained in the widely used Succinct Data Structure Library (SDSL).


In its anniversary 40 years the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has published 453 documents that have framed the general bank (and particularly risk) supervision and regulation worldwide. The objective of the paper is to investigate the main stages of BCBS regulation evolution, key facts related to bank and risk regulation development process and to summarize the areas that were touched by the BCBS regulation including credit, market, operational and liquidity risks; risk and capital aggregation; corporate governance, recommendations for central banks and information disclosure by commercial banks. The paper should be viewed as a natural continuation of the Professor Goodhart's 2011 book on BCBS history with two core distinctive features. Whereas Professor Goodhart's book focuses on the early history of 1974-1997 and is based on review of BCBS internal archives, the current paper covers whole history of 1974-2014 and is based on the documents and comments publicly available on the website of the Basel Committee. Concluding remarks present recommendations to improve existing bank and risk regulation to be first adopted by the Basel Committee.


Abstract:  Cardiac screening is recommended to prevent cardiovascular death after renal transplantation. This retrospective observational study illustrates the results of application of a cardiac assessment algorithm in a series of 558 renal transplant candidates at a single center in Turin, Italy. A dipyridamole‐stress sestamibi myocardial scintiscan (DMS) performed in 302/558 (54.1%) cases was positive in 52 (17.2%), negative in 200 (66.2%), borderline in 16 (5.3%), and with signs of previous necrosis in 34 (11.4%). Coronary lesions detected by angiography in 48.1% of the 52 positives were treated medically (13.5%) or by percutaneous/surgical procedure (34.6%). Coronary lesions were detected in 14.1% of asymptomatic population subgroup. The minor and major cardiovascular event rates and the cardiovascular death rate were 1.9%, 0%, and 0%, respectively, in positive DMS group (high‐cardiological risk) vs. 10%, 4.5%, and 3.5% in the negatives (p > 0.5; n.s.). It is suggested that not increased cardiovascular event or deaths rates in the high‐risk group reflect early coronary lesion detection and correction. Since 55.9% of cardiovascular events or deaths occurred in the negative group more than 24 months after the DMS, its mandatory repetition every two yr after a negative finding is recommended.


Background: A lymphoedema self-assessment tool can help therapists deliver appropriate advice, and prioritise patients who are on waiting lists or who cannot access a lymphoedema clinic. Aims: This pilot study aims to assess the validity and reliability of the Lymphoedema Self-Examination Survey (LYSES) and the relationship between outcomes obtained through LYSES and healthcare professionals' lymphoedema assessment. Methods: Participants with lymphoedema (n=54) completed the LYSES, with the same survey repeated 1 week later. Bioimpedance measurement and International Society of Lymphology (ISL) staging were conducted by lymphoedema healthcare professionals, blinded to each other. Results: There was little agreement between self-reports of elevation being helpful and ISL staging of ≤I (k= -0.154), substantial agreement between self-reports of indentation and ISL staging of II (k=0.631), and poor agreement between self-reports and healthcare professionals' reports of skin firmness and skin changes (>ISL stage IIb) (k=0.089 and k=0.466, respectively). Lymphoedema severity based on ISL staging was able to account for 31% of the variability in L-Dex rank scores (p=0.005). Conclusion: LYSES cannot be used as an accurate self-report survey


OBJECTIVE
The significance of early mild clinical improvement after intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IVtPA) treatment is unclear. Therefore, we examined whether the timing of clinical improvement after IVtPA predicted the clinical outcome at 3 months.

METHODS
Consecutive patients with acute cerebral infarction in the anterior circulation who received IVtPA treatment within 3 hours of the onset of symptoms were enrolled in the study. Patients were classified according to the timing of clinical improvement [early responder (ER), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score improved ≥4 points or who had a score of 0 within 2 hours after IVtPA; late responder (LR), a similar improvement between 2 and 24 hours; and non-responder (NR)] and according to the arterial occlusion site (P group, internal carotid artery and proximal middle cerebral artery M1 region; and D group, distal M1 and M2).

RESULTS
Ninety-three patients [median age, 74 (67-79) years; 54 men (58%); median NIHSS score, 11 (7-16)] were enrolled in the study. The P group consisted of 48 (52%) patients and the D group consisted of 45 (48%) patients. Thirty-eight patients (41%) were classified as ERs, 20 (22%) as LRs, and 35 (38%) as NRs. On a multivariate regression analysis, the P group [odds ratio (OR), 3.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.08-10.45; p=0.036] and NR (OR, 4.04; 95% CI, 1.29-14.27; p=0.016) were independent predictors of a poor outcome. ER (47%, p=0.01) and LR (45%, p=0.01) patients showed fewer poor outcomes than NR (77%) patients, but the rate did not differ significantly between the ER and LR patients.

CONCLUSION
Early mild clinical recovery did not predict a good outcome. The occlusion site was a stronger predictor of clinical improvement after IVtPA administration.


Maternal deaths due to haemorrhage have doubled in the United Kingdom since the last report from the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths, which covered 1985-7. The inquiry's latest report, covering 1988-90, also shows that deaths from sepsis have nearly doubled.

"Many of the overall favourable trends seen in previous reports have not been maintained," says the report, published by the government. "There is a need for critical reappraisal of the administration and delivery of maternity care."

The assessors for the inquiry - one in obstetrics, anaesthetics, and pathology from each health region - found evidence of substandard care in almost half of all the cases of maternal death. The report draws attention to the "significant number of cases where major problems were handled by junior doctors, a recurring theme of recent reports."

The inquiry found that 238 women died during pregnancy …


We have recently demonstrated anomalous relaxationless hot electroluminescence from molecules in the tunnel junction of a scanning tunneling microscope [Dong et al., Nat. Photonics, 2010, 4, 50]. In the present paper, based on physically realistic parameters, we aim to unravel the underlying physical mechanism using a multiscale modeling approach that combines classical generalized Mie theory with the quantum master equation. We find that the nanocavity-plasmon-tuned spontaneous emission rate plays a crucial role in shaping the spectral profile. In particular, on resonance, the radiative decay rate can be enhanced by three-to-five orders of magnitude, which enables the radiative process to occur on the lifetime scale of picoseconds and become competitive to the vibrational relaxation. Such a large Purcell effect opens up new emission channels to generate the hot luminescence that arises directly from higher vibronic levels of the molecular excited state. We also stress that the critical role of resonant plasmonic nanocavities in tunneling electron induced molecular luminescence is to enhance the spontaneous radiative decay through plasmon enhanced vacuum fluctuations rather than to generate an efficient plasmon stimulated emission process. This improved understanding has been partly overlooked in previous studies but is believed to be very important for further developments of molecular plasmonics and optoelectronics.


The Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has developed a biomass gasification technology, called the MILENA technology. The MILENA gasification technology has a high cold gas efficiency and high methane yield, making it very suitable for gas engine or gas turbine application and upgrading of the gas into Substitute Natural Gas (SNG). HVC Group (situated in Alkmaar, North Holland) is a modern public service waste and energy company. HVC converts waste streams which cannot be recycled into usable forms of energy. HVC has a large waste wood boiler in operation, which produces heat and electricity. HVC expects an important role for Bio-SNG and medium size Bio-CHP plants in the future. HVC has decided to join ECN with the development, demonstration and implementation of the MILENA technology for CHP and SNG production. Most biomass gasification processes use clean wood as fuel, but clean wood is relatively expensive. Waste wood is an attractive fuel for gasification, because it is widely available and the price is low. Because of the pollutants in the wood (glass, nails, screws, plastic, stones, etc.) and the increased content of chloride and sulphur, this fuel behaves differently than clean wood. ECN performed an extensive test program in the 800 kWth pilot scale MILENA gasifier to test if waste wood supplied by HVC is a suitable fuel for the 12 MWth demonstration plant HVC and ECN are preparing. The OLGA pilot plant was used to remove tar and dust from the producer gas. Demolition wood containing painted wood, particle board, glass particles and other pollutants were tested during a duration tests. The test results showed that demolition wood can be a suitable fuel if the bottom ash handling system is designed to discharge the accumulated pollutants like nails and screws and the bed material is refreshed enough to prevent bed agglomeration by e.g. melting glass particles. The gas cleaning should be designed in such a way that the increased level of pollutants (NH3, HCN, H2S, COS and HCl) can be removed.