Reusability of process models is frequently discussed in the literature. Practices of reusability are expected to increase the performance of the designers, because they do not need to start everything from scratch, and the usage of best practices is reinforced. However, the detection of reusable parts and best practices in collections of BPMN 2.0 process models is currently only defined through the experience of experts in this field. In this work we extend an algorithm that detects the recurring structures in a collection of process models. The extended algorithm counts the number of times that a recurring structure appears in a collection of process models, and assigns the corresponding number to its semantics. Moreover, the dublicate entries are eliminated from the collection that contains the extracted recurring structures. In this way, we assert that the resulting collection contains only unique entries. We validate our methodology by applying it on a collection of BPMN 2.0 process models and analyze the results. As shown in the analysis the methodology does not only detect applied practices, but also leads to conclusions of our collection's special characteristics.


The challenge is to have man living and working in a permanently based space station. Nursing is on the threshold of expanding the health care role to man's adaptation in outer space. Elements of man's physiologic and psychologic responses are involved in determining the most productive use of man and machines in the space environment. Curricular considerations for a career in space nursing are being explored. The projection of possibilities for practice of space nursing can produce effective contributions toward health care maintenance of the space station personnel. The challenge for nursing is to become a collaborating team participant in the exploration of living and working in space.


Evidence suggests that extracellular vesicles (EVs) act as mediators and biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases. Two distinct forms of Alzheimer disease (AD) are known: a late-onset sporadic form (SAD) and an early-onset familial form (FAD). Recently, neurovascular dysfunction and altered systemic immunological components have been linked to AD neurodegeneration. Therefore, we characterized systemic-EVs from postmortem SAD and FAD patients and evaluated their effects on neuroglial and endothelial cells. We found increase CLN-5 spots with vesicular morphology in the abluminal portion of vessels from SAD patients. Both forms of AD were associated with larger and more numerous systemic EVs. Specifically, SAD patients showed an increase in endothelial- and leukocyte-derived EVs containing mitochondria; in contrast, FAD patients showed an increase in platelet-derived EVs. We detected a differential protein composition for SAD- and FAD-EVs associated with the coagulation cascade, inflammation, and lipid-carbohydrate metabolism. Using mono- and cocultures (endothelium-astrocytes-neurons) and human cortical organoids, we showed that AD-EVs induced cytotoxicity. Both forms of AD featured decreased neuronal branches area and astrocytic hyperreactivity, but SAD-EVs led to greater endothelial detrimental effects than FAD-EVs. In addition, FAD- and SAD-EVs affected calcium dynamics in a cortical organoid model. Our findings indicate that the phenotype of systemic AD-EVs is differentially defined by the etiopathology of the disease (SAD or FAD), which results in a differential alteration of the NVU cells implied in neurodegeneration.


Little is known about the type of patient who is referred for clinical psychotherapy. A descriptive, retrospective cohort study was performed involving 100 patients who attended a (day) clinic for personality, anxiety and eating disorders. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of these patients are described. Most of the patients had multiple disorders of a serious nature, displayed a high degree of functional impairment and were relatively treatment-resistant. Of the 70% who were diagnosed as requiring treatment, 79% agreed to have the treatment that was offered.


The behavior of male NIH Swiss mice of various body weights in the resident-intruder test of aggression was investigated. Mice were housed individually for 10 days prior to the test, and allocated to six groups. In the first three groups body weights of residents and group-housed intruders were matched, and the animals were divided into light, average, or heavy groups. In the last three groups weights of the intruder mice were either matched with the residents, or intruders were lighter or heavier than the residents. We found that light residents spent significantly less time in aggressive behaviors and longer time in defensive behaviors than the other two groups. The heavy mice showed most social investigation. The body weights of intruders were also shown to affect the behavior in the test: those residents which had light opponents spent a longer time in aggressive behavior than those which had matched or heavy opponents. The resident mice with heavy opponents showed most defensive behaviors. To study whether pharmacological manipulation may have different effects on behavior in the resident-intruder test in mice having different weights, animals of light, average, and heavy body weight received a low dose (0.8 g/kg) of ethanol 30 min prior to the test. We did not note any effect of ethanol on aggressive behavior in the three groups. The results suggest that body weight plays a significant role in determining the level of aggression and defensive behaviors in the resident-intruder test.


As our college has struggled to develop perspective about the monumental task of assessing our curriculum, a familiar mantra from my days as a hospital pharmacist emerged above the clatter: high risk, high cost, high volume. This adage reminded the hospital performance improvement team to focus its efforts on the aspects of health care that are high risk or high cost for the patient and institution, and those that are performed frequently. To apply this principle to the knowledge, skills, and values we impart to our graduates through pharmacy education, there would be no more high risk (or high cost) skill than compounding.

That our graduates can do serious harm by compounding poorly is well documented in the literature. A migraine patient developed atropine toxicity and remained comatose for 48 hours after administration of a compounded atropine sulfate 0.25 mg suppository that actually contained 25 mg of atropine sulfate.1 In 2006, Civen et al described 11 cases of Serratia marcescens infection associated with improperly compounded betamethasone injection.2 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports describes several other outbreaks of infection resulting from poor compounding practices, and there have been numerous reports of the hazards of calcium phosphate precipitate in parenteral nutrition solutions.3-5

What is the evidence that pharmacy educators have trained our graduates well? In 2005, Kadi et al evaluated the compounding skills of pharmacy students by quantifying the concentrations of potassium permanganate and caffeine citrate compounded solutions. They found that approximately 54% of the P2 pharmacy students were able to prepare the 2 solutions within ± 10% of the target concentrations on the first try.6 In a study of the retention of compounding skills, Eley and Birnie found that only 17% of pharmacy students demonstrated a competency level of 80% when asked to prepare metoprolol capsules a second time a year after learning the skill.7 A survey of compounded drug products by the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research revealed that 9 out of 29 samples collected failed the assay for potency (all were subpotent) and a tenth sample failed the assay for endotoxin.8

If we acknowledge then that we could improve our compounding educational process, how should this be done? Again, drawing from the performance improvement literature, we need to identify best practices, standardize our processes, and check the results. Standards of practice have become increasingly clear; USP 797, which set the standards for compounding sterile products, details the validation of sterile compounding skills at 3 levels: high risk, medium risk, and low risk. All graduates of an accredited school of pharmacy should have successfully validated their skills at the level of low risk sterile compounding. USP 795 and the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board have articulated standards and compliance indicators for non-sterile compounding practice. All graduates should be familiar not only with these standards but be able to demonstrate that they can properly prepare selected compounded products within a specified standard.

While we can identify best practices in pharmacy practice, what are the academy's best practices? Which of these compounding skills should a new graduate possess, and what are the best ways to teach for a student to learn to compound and to retain an understanding of the significant principles of formulation, equipment selection and product preparation, and assessment to ensure patient safety? Should we count the number of lecture hours on parenteral products offered by each school of pharmacy, or ensure that the outcomes of the pharmaceutics courses include the ability to weigh and measure within the standard ± 5% error? I would submit to you that there is no substitute for quality laboratory education. The evidence we have so far suggests that we need to model the best practices identified by our practitioners in the laboratory, provide opportunities for students to practice their skills — practice, practice, practice — and finally require students to demonstrate competency in those key aspects of compounding that could put their future patients at risk.9-13 These are the obligations of pharmacy educators, and as we all strive to improve the quality of our educational programs, we have the opportunity to identify our own best practices and share them with the academy.


The health of a software ecosystem reflects the ability of the ecosystem to endure and remain variable and productive over time. Measurements of health in a software ecosystem are applied to inform on how the ecosystem is evolving, evaluate changes, and predict future states. In this study we investigate the influence of software to the overall health of the ecosystem. We propose an approach of measuring the activity of the ecosystem over time and identifying the influence to health. We do this in two ways: (i) we study the evolution of the software network over time to identify changes in the structure of the software network and investigate whether they relate to general changes in the ecosystem. (ii) We propose the identification of the influence of the independent software components to ecosystem health at an activity level. We do so by defining keystone and dominator activities and propose tentative means of measuring them. We apply our proposed approach to the platform of the Apache Cordova ecosystem, an ecosystem with a community-based platform and independent contributions. Our analysis identifies two points in time where the ecosystem is under major change. These points are confirmed independently by both the measures of software network and keystone and dominator activities.


In the annals of Industrialization, the Soviet experience is unique in its whirlwind rapidity. Even more striking was the critical role of women: in no country of the world did women come to constitute such a significant part of the working class in so short a time. They composed a larger percentage of the working class, filled an unprecedented share of jobs in heavy industry, and served as the first targeted 'reserve' for Soviet labour policy and recruitment. As women undercut the strict hierarchies of skill and gender within the factories, they forced male workers to re-examine their ideas about 'masculine' and 'feminine' work, and women's role in the work place. Using new Russian archival materials, Women at the Gates is the first social history of Soviet women workers in the 1930s.


The article presents a pedagogical model, functional in the virtual moodle training environment, for experimenting online coaching in teaching practice. The construction of this e-pedagogical model is based on the needs analysis. The study presents the specific online coaching activities projected for optimizing teaching practice activities and highlights the formative aspects of the application of this pedagogical model.
The purpose and objectives of this study circumscribe to the following finalities: e-learning support for the students in the teaching practice probationary stage, experimenting the teaching act for the first time, students' training in exploring online resources, activities, instruments and services created especially for them and for successful teaching, the dynamic participation of students in the virtual discussions on the Moodle platform (www.moodle.ro), focused on case studies taken from their teaching practice, the analysis of video registrations from teaching practice and the analysis of specific tasks to be performed for the practical activities. Those mediating and intermediating going through such experiences are resourceful persons holding teaching practice trainer capacities and have the professional experience necessary to the development of the knowledge, capacities, abilities of students to obtain excellent results in performing certain tasks specific to the didactical profession. The facilitators projected a precise agenda for the virtual guidance of the teaching practice. The online content was projected by reference to large interest subjects for the students at their first teaching practice experience, but also to the set of didactical competences targeted through the exercise of the professional behavior: filling in the assistance sheet for demonstrative classes, the application of techniques related to the operationalization of some lessons objectives, the selection of an efficient didactical strategy for a class, the projection of a training sequence, the projection of an application or of a pedagogical test, the integral project of a specialty lesson, the formative evaluation and the performance of self-evaluation. The communication among the students in the collaborative learning virtual environment but also between students and trainers/tutors is made at the level of the online system proposed by means of the interactive instruments such as chat-room, forum, instant messaging, blog. The students' impressions and opinions on the teaching practice activity in application schools are stored in an online journal of reflection on teaching practice. Subsequently, they were analyzed and interpreted. Also, tutors configured an activity report according to three main indicators: 1) the analysis of the involvement degree of the students participating in such virtual course, 2) the analysis of the correctness of solving the proposed themes and 3) the analysis of self-assessments.
The article presents the preliminary results of experimenting the online coaching platform in teaching practice by 53 users (50 practitioner students at the University of Pitesti in the IIIrd year of psycho-pedagogical studies and two teaching practice tutors/coordinators in the University of Pitesti and one supervisor in the Gh.Asachi Technical University of Iasi). The methodology observes the structure of a qualitative research.
 Also, authors are interested in direct feedback and integrated in the platform the online interview for experts having the role of analyzing the opinion of education science experts on the utility of the offered model.
The authors highlight, based on the obtained results, the advantages and limits in implementing the online coaching pedagogical model during the first teaching practice probationary stage and offer the premises for continuing the research also during the second stage through re-conceptualizing and optimizing the projected model.


A concentration of 1.2×108 cfu/mL Bacillus coagulans YX-6 was poured into the shrimp culture ponds with the concentration of 1000mL/667m2, and the water quality such pH, DO, NH4+_N content, NO2−_N content, and the death quantity of the shrimp were studied for 7 days. It was demonstrated that the Bacillus coagulans YX-6 could improve water quality in contrast with the control group. The results indicated that the pouring of Bacillus coagulans YX-6 can help to keep the pH 8.0∼8.3, increase the DO content of farming pond, and it degraded the NH4+-N from 1.7 mg/L to 0.35 mg/L, simultaneously, it decrease the NO2−_N from 0.64mg/L to 0.05 mg/L, and it decrease the average death rate of the shrimp as 50%(P<0.05).


OBJECTIVES
The authors performed a systematic review to evaluate published literature on diagnostic performance of emergency physician-performed ultrasonography (EPPU) for the diagnosis and exclusion of deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

METHODS
Structured search criteria were used to query MEDLINE and EMBASE, followed by a hand search of published bibliographies. Relevance and inclusion criteria required prospective investigation of emergency department (ED) outpatients with suspected DVT; diagnostic evaluations had to consist of EPPU followed by criterion standard (radiology-performed) imaging. Two authors independently extracted data from included studies; study quality was assessed utilizing a validated tool for quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). Pooled data were analyzed using an unweighted summary receiver-operating-characteristic (SROC) curve; sensitivity and specificity were estimated using a random effects model.

RESULTS
The initial search yielded 1,162 publications. Relevance screening and selection yielded six articles including 936 patients. Four of the six studies reported adequate blinding but a number of other methodologic flaws were identified. A random effects model yielded an overall sensitivity of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.87 to 0.99) and specificity of 0.96 (95% CI = 0.87 to 0.99).

CONCLUSIONS
Systematic review of six studies suggests that EPPU may be accurate for the diagnosis of DVT compared with radiology-performed ultrasound (US). However, given the methodologic limitations identified among the primary studies, the estimates of diagnostic test performance may be overly optimistic. Further research into EPPU for suspected DVT is needed before it can be adopted into routine clinical practice.


The transition from vegetative to reproductive development in the temperate cereals is mainly regulated by seasonal cues including vernalization (determined mainly by VRN1 and VRN2 genes) and photoperiod (determined mainly by PPD1 and CO2 genes). The wheat VRN3 gene, which is similar to Arabidopsis FT, plays a central role in the integration of the competing signals from these two pathways. Under long days, VRN3 transcription is down-regulated by VRN2, a unique flowering repressor in cereals, and up-regulated by CO2. Overexpression of VRN3 overcomes VRN2 repression and promotes VRN1 transcription and flowering initiation. Using yeast two- and three-hybrid assays we show here that the CCT domains present in VRN2 and CO2 proteins interact with the same subset of eight NF-Y proteins, and that these CCT proteins compete with NF-YA for interactions with NF-YB proteins. We have confirmed all these interactions in vitro, and the interactions between VRN2 and two of the three NF-YB proteins were further confirmed in planta. In addition, we show that mutations in the CCT domain of VRN2 that eliminate the vernalization requirement in winter wheat also reduce the strength of the interactions between VRN2 and NF-Y proteins, and the ability of VRN2 to compete with CO2. Taken together, our results suggest that the interactions between CCT and NF-Y proteins play an important role in the integration of the vernalization and photoperiod seasonal signals, and provide a flexible combinatorial system to integrate multiple developmental and environmental signals in the regulation of flowering initiation in the temperate cereals.


The time history of magma withdrawal through a central vent from a flat-roofed chamber strongly stratified in density and viscosity has been numerically modeled. Important parameters include the geometry of the reservoir; the initial vertical compositional profile; the ratio of viscous, inertial, and gravitational forces; and the basal normal stress driving the eruption. Finite critical stresses in the range 102 to 106 Pa are required to initiate and maintain an eruption. The composition-time history of erupted magma depends strongly on the reservoir/conduit width ( A ) such that large A increases (1) the time interval during which mixed magma is erupted, (2) the steady-state time ( ts ), defined as the time at which the composition of erupted magma is within 1% of the initial basal composition, and (3) the fraction of silicic magma trapped within the chamber. Steady-state times increase by a factor of two as the viscosity contrast increases from 1 to 102, and they become independent of viscosity variations for contrasts > 104. It is possible to distinguish continuous from discontinuous (i.e., layered) pre-eruptive gradients within chambers by comparing synthesized and measured geochemical stratigraphic sections for particular pyroclastic flow deposits. A mechanism for the generation of compositional gaps in ignimbrites following either a short eruption hiatus or an abrupt increase or decrease of the discharge during an otherwise quasi-steady eruption is quantitatively predicted. Most important, a compositional gap or a series of gaps within a pyroclastic deposit does not necessarily mean that one existed within the chamber before the eruption. It is impossible to invert stratigraphically controlled geochemical data to obtain in situ chamber compositional structure if one does not have detailed information regarding the location of vents and the variation of magma discharge with time during a pyroclastic eruption.


REVIEW QUESTION/OBJECTIVES
The objective of this review is to synthesize the evidence of registered nurses' and midwives' experiences of videoconferencing in clinical and professional practice. For the purpose of this review, professional practice is defined as activities including education and training, maintaining competencies, networking and peer support. Clinical practice includes any activities directly related to patient/client care. The primary questions to be answered are: What are the the perceptions and experiences of nurses and midwives in relation to the appropriateness and meaningfulness of videoconferencing; how do they perceive its use in professional and clinical practice?A secondary question to be addressed in this review is: What are nurse and midwife accounts of the factors that influence the use of videoconferencing in professional and clinical practice?

CENTER CONDUCTING THE REVIEW
Centre for Evidence-based Healthy Ageing - an Affiliate Center of the Joanna Briggs Institute; Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland.


Vegetation is ubiquitous in river channels and floodplains and alters mean flow conditions and turbulence. However, the effects of vegetation patches on near‐bed turbulence, bed load transport rates, and sedimentation are not well understood. To elucidate the influence of emergent vegetation on local and patch‐averaged bed load transport, we conducted a set of experiments in which we varied the mean flow velocity (U), total boundary shear stress (τ), or vegetation density between runs. We measured 2D velocity fields using Particle Imaging Velocimetry and bed load fluxes using high‐speed video. Simulated rigid vegetation caused bed load fluxes to vary spatially by an order of magnitude, causing distinct scour zones adjacent to, and depositional bed forms between stems. These local patterns of sedimentation could impact recruitment and survival of other plants. Large bed load fluxes were collocated with high near‐bed turbulence intensities that were three to four times larger than spatially averaged values. Higher vegetation densities increased the importance of inward and outward interactions, particularly downstream of vegetation. At the patch scale, greater stem densities caused either an increase or decrease in run‐averaged bed load fluxes, depending on whether U or τ was held constant between runs. This implies that sedimentation in vegetation patches is not only a function of bed grain size, sediment supply, and vegetation density and species, but whether vegetation significantly impacts mean and local flow properties, which could depend on vegetation location. Commonly used bed load transport equations did not accurately predict average sediment fluxes in our experiments unless they accounted for the spatial variability in the near‐bed Reynolds stress.


In P2-type ATPases, a stalk region connects the cytoplasmic part of the molecule, which binds and hydrolyzes ATP, to the membrane-embedded part through which cations are pumped. The present study has used cysteine scanning mutagenesis to examine structurefunction relationships within stalk segment 5 (S5) of the yeast plasma-membrane H-ATPase. Of 29 Cys mutants that were made and examined, two (G670C and R682C) were blocked in biogenesis, presumably due to protein misfolding. In addition, one mutant (S681C) had very low ATPase activity, and another (F685C) displayed a 40-fold decrease in sensitivity to orthovanadate, reflecting a shift in equilibrium from the E2 conformational state toward E1. By far the most striking group of mutants (F666C, L671C, I674C, A677C, I684C, R687C, and Y689C) were constitutively activated even in the absence of glucose, with rates of ATP hydrolysis and kinetic properties normally seen only in glucose-metabolizing cells. Previous work has suggested that activation of the wild-type H-ATPase results from kinase-mediated phosphorylation in the auto-inhibitory C-terminal region of the 100-kDa polypeptide. The seven residues identified in the present study are located on one face of the S5 a-helix, consistent with the idea that mutations along this face serve to release the auto-inhibition.


Bulk nanobubbles are nanoscopic bubbles formed in aqueous solution by supersaturation and have been discovered to form stable colloidal suspensions. They are attractive due to their relevance for many applications ranging from industrial processes such as cleaning, froth flotation and wastewater treatment, to biomedical fields that include ultrasound contrast agents, drug delivery and disease diagnosis. However, studies into these applications are partial, scattered and non-systematic. This thesis attempts a systematic study of interactions of bulk nanobubbles with a series of soft matter systems, which includes various colloidal suspensions, liposomes and viral capsid proteins. Our study also presents a range of experimental results and controls to improve the understanding of nanobubble features. The thesis starts by giving a brief literature review in Chapter 1 about bulk nanobubbles, their generation, characterization methods as well as possible stability mechanisms and potential applications. Despite the promise of practical implications, we attempt to build up the bridge to investigate their interactions with soft matter systematically. For the first investigation described in Chapter 2, we looked into the interaction of bulk nanobubbles with negatively charged Au nanoparticles. The resulting Au nanoparticle-nanobubble interaction suggests a scenario of nucleation and growth of nanobubbles directly on nanoparticles. This is supported by the fact that the smaller Au nanoparticles do not interact with nanobubbles but larger nanoparticles interact strongly. If collisions are the driving force for interaction, we would instead expect the smallest nanoparticle to interact the strongest due to both the lowered DLVO energy barrier and the increased diffusive speed. As a next step, we explored the interaction with positively charged amidine polystyrene beads over a range of sizes as reported in Chapter 3. We observed reentrant condensation of amidine nanoparticles of all sizes upon mixing with bulk nanobubble solution. This behavior is directly monitored through the size change and reversal of electrophoretic mobility of the mixtures. By studying the relation between nanoparticle concentration at the point of zero charge and the total particle surface area, we gained a further understanding of the nucleation mechanism underlying our observations. In Chapter 4 we moved onto liposomes in bulk solutions in order to investigate the phenomenology of interactions of bulk nanobubbles in an organic system. We employed dynamic light scattering to probe both the hydrodynamic and electrophoretic properties, and fluorescence microscopy to visualize the structure change of nanobubble-liposome complexes. The same reentrant condensation was observed with cationic liposomes, further supporting the interaction mechanism of gas nucleation on the liposome surfaces. Last but not the least, the thesis ends up with studying the bulk nanobubble-induced self-assembly of viral capsid proteins disassembled and purified from native CCMV. In Chapter 5, we address the successful self-assembly of capsid proteins by three distinct techniques including dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. In this process, bulk nanobubbles play a role as templates. We also found that depending on capsid protein concentrations, the same building blocks are able to assemble into different capsid sizes corresponding to different building structures.


The lack of boundary information in region based image segmentation algorithms resulted in many hybrid methods that integrate the complementary information sources of region and boundary, in order to increase the segmentation performance. In compliance with this trend, we propose a novel method to unify the region and boundary characteristics within the canonical recursive shortest spanning tree algorithm. The main idea is to incorporate the boundary information in the distance metric of RSST with minor changes in the algorithm. Additionally, we still benefit from the simple yet powerful structure of RSST. The results indicate the superiority of the proposed algorithm with respect to the conventional RSST. The object boundaries are successfully preserved. Therefore, the proposed algorithm is a candidate for video object segmentation where object boundaries coincide with motion field boundaries.


Spontaneous Raman scattering is an extremely powerful tool for the remote detection and identification of various chemical materials. However, when those materials are contained within strongly scattering or turbid media, as is the case in many biological and security related systems, the sensitivity and range of Raman signal generation and detection is severely limited. Here, we demonstrate that through microscopic engineering of the optical interface, the optical coupling of light into a turbid material can be substantially enhanced. This improved coupling facilitates the enhancement of the Raman scattering signal generated by molecules within the medium. In particular, we detect at least two-orders of magnitude more spontaneous Raman scattering from a sample when the pump laser light is focused into a microscopic hole in the surface of the sample. Because this approach enhances both the interaction time and interaction region of the laser light within the material, its use will greatly improve the range and sensitivity of many spectroscopic techniques, including Raman scattering and fluorescence emission detection, inside highly scattering environments. Published by AIP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5003363 chemical


This thesis focuses on class A radio frequency power amplifiers in dynamic supply modulation architectures (dynamic bias). These are promising efficiency enhancement techniques where the device is driven harder by varying its bias signals. Non linearities that arise are considered as digitally compensated through, for example, digital predistortion (DPD). Bias signals are meant as functions of the PA?s output power level (P out). Therefore, the input power level (P in) as well as the feeding signals are thought as quantities the amplifier need to give a certain P out. The selected set of bias points the device sweeps through is called bias trajectory or bias path. A tool to find a suitable bias trajectory is developed considering the requirements a class A power amplifier should satisfy: high power added efficiency, acceptable gain and output phase variations as P out changes (allowing a DPD algorithm to be effective), low harmonic distortion and not too complicated bias signals patterns. The tool consists of two softwares: ADS and Matlab. ADS simulates the device under test while Matlab allows the user to analyze the data and find a suitable bias path. Once a trajectory is identified, ADS can sweep along it and give more information on linearity and efficiency through, for instance, 2-tone harmonic balance simulations. Note that only static characteristics are evaluated and memory effects disregarded. The path searching algorithm is then applied to a HBT transistor, at a frequency of 1.9GHz and to a complete pHEMT class A PA (frequency of 6Ghz). In both cases a suitable trajectory is identified and analyzed back in ADS. The Matlab plots are qualitatively similar to each other when switching form one device to another. The HBT transistor has then been tested in the laboratory and static measurements have been performed showing good agreement with simulations. Keywords: Bias trajectory, dynamic bias, efficiency, HBT, linearity, pHEMT, power amplifier


One of the primary goals of education is to ensure that learners can apply their acquired knowledge in various ways and under different circumstances. However, this expected "transfer" does not always occur and, therefore, the acquired knowledge cannot be flexibly employed in different contexts. One way to minimize this problem is to understand how transfer occurs and what learning conditions can improve this process. This review paper provides major theoretical perspectives and pedagogical practices to explore the most effective ways to optimize knowledge acquisition and transfer. The results of the comparison of the selected theories indicated that transfer was a multi-dimensional process that could occur at any stage of learning and could be enhanced through coaching, scaffolding, interacting, assessing and reflecting in situated learning environments.


In all sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) production systems, grain molds can reduce the yield and quality of short duration cultivars if they mature in wet and humid weather. This investigation was taken up to find out combining ability for grain mold resistance under 4 environmental conditions by studying 168 hybrids and their parents along with checks. The pooled analysis of variance for combining ability revealed significant differences due to environments, parents, hybrids and various interactions indicating the existence of wide variability in the material under study. The ratios of additive to dominance variances revealed that additive gene action was predominant for inheritance of grain mold resistance (Panicle Grain Mold Rating - PGMR). Among the parents, two A-lines ICSA 369 and ICSA 370 and six testers viz., IS 41675, ICSR 91011, ICSR 89058, PVK 801, GD 65028, GD 65055 in all the 4 environments were identified as a good general combiners for grain mold resistance. These parents can be utilized for the development of grain mold resistant hybrids.


Introduction: Constipation is one of the most common side effects of the new style of life. There is no single definition of constipation. Metode and Materials: This study, is a library based and literature review that definite constipation, and compare its different causes in view of Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) with modern medicine Results: causes of constipation in views of ITM summarized in a table with categories and were matched with the causes of constipation from the perspective of modern medicine. Discussion: Definition of constipation in ITM is different from modern medicine, so that in traditional medicine, much earlier diagnosis of constipation is defined and number of normal defecation is more than what is suggested in modern medicine. So, there is no complete matching of these two definition. Overview of traditional medicine in health and disease, is a pragmatic and holistic perspective, while Viewpoint of modern medicine to human, health , disease is positivistic and organbased (not holistic). As a total view, it seems that some of the causes in ITM is matchable with some in modern medicine. But the causes of constipation in ITM, is more pragmatic and more inclusive. While the causes of constipation in modern medicine, despite the greater accuracy in the classification, have less Generality, so that functional constipation with a prevalence of 90% is failed to properly be classified.


This unit describes the production of monoclonal antibodies beginning with immunization, cell fusion, and selection. Support protocols are provided for screening primary hybridoma supernatants for antibodies of desired specificity, establishment of stable hybridoma lines, cloning of these B cell lines by limiting dilution to obtain monoclonal lines, and preparation of cloning/expansion medium. An alternate protocol describes cell fusion and one‐step selection and cloning of hybridomas utilizing a semi‐solid methylcellulose‐based medium (ClonaCell‐HY from StemCell Technologies). Curr. Protoc. Immunol. 102:2.5.1‐2.5.29. © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The healthcare purchaser as a care chain orchestrator Healthcare purchasing, as carried out by health insurers and governmental organisations, contributes to ensuring qualitative, accessible and affordable care. Financial incentives, outcome monitoring and collaboration with care providers are known ways for purchasing organisations to drive better collaboration and task division between care providers. However, purchasers appear to struggle to adopt what we label an orchestrator's role. To date, there is still limited understanding of how purchaser's strategies and actions develop in practice, and whether they can be explained by differences between healthcare systems. Comparing England, Sweden and the Netherlands, this thesis shows that purchaser competition, internal governance and patient choice have a particularly strong impact on the role that purchaser's adopt. These three characteristics determine the extent to which purchasers focus on costs as against health, have a short or long-term vision, support care providers and are able to influence care providers. We saw that, with the support of a Dutch health insurance company, the implementation of out-of-hospital coaching for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) can be both feasible and effective. However, sustainable implementation requires the government to provide the right macro-level incentives and policy context. Further, we found, in a longitudinal case study, that three stakeholder groups strongly influence the strategies adopted by the health insurer: governments, care providers and insurance policyholders. Given the sometimes conflicting medical, financial, relational and public interests of these stakeholders, the health insurer was inclined to fall back on its traditional bookkeeping strategy, despite initial attempts to adopt an orchestrating role.


Objectives Aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with small aortic annulus (diameter ≤21 mm) is considered a challenging scenario because of technical aspects and the high risk of patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM). The choice of the appropriate prosthesis is crucial, and at the moment, an ideal device has yet to be identified. We compare clinical and hemodynamic results after AVR with three bioprostheses with different design and characteristics. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 76 consecutive patients from two cardiac surgery centers who underwent AVR (Trifecta = 24; Edwards INTUITY Elite valve system = 26, and Perceval = 26) for severe aortic stenosis between 2013 and 2017. Patients selected were older than 75 years and with an annulus diameter ≤21 mm at preoperative echocardiogram. Reinterventions and combined procedures were excluded. Minimally invasive AVR was performed in 44 (57.8%) patients. Telephonic interview was obtained at 2.9 ± 0.5 years and echocardiographic follow-up at 2.2 ± 0.8 years. Results Clinical outcome was similar in the three groups. At follow-up, Trifecta patients presented significantly higher peak and mean transprosthetic pressure gradients (P = 0.04 and 0.01). Effective orifice area and left ventricular mass regression were comparable, although an advantage was observed in Perceval patients without reaching the statistical significance. Incidence of moderate (P = 0.2) and severe PPM (P = 0.7) was comparable. Conclusions Despite higher postoperative pressure gradients observed with the Trifecta valve, all three prostheses (Trifecta, Edwards INTUITY Elite, and Perceval) have proven to be reliable when implanted in small aortic annuli, with good clinical outcome and favorable left ventricular mass regression.


Presenting the history of the cellular phone from its beginnings in the 1940s to the present, this book explains the fundamental concepts involved in wireless communication along with the ramifications of cellular technology on the economy, U.S. and international law, human health, and society. The first two chapters deal with bandwidth and radio. Subsequent chapters look at precursors to the contemporary cellphone, including the surprisingly popular car phone of the 1970s, the analog cellphones of the 1980s and early 1990s, and the basic digital phones which preceded the feature-laden, multipurpose devices of today.


Abstract Study Objectives Sleep-disordered breathing is a significant risk factor for cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. High loop gain (HLG) is a driving mechanism of central sleep apnea or periodic breathing. This study presents a computational approach that identifies "expressed/manifest" HLG via a cyclical self-similarity feature in effort-based respiration signals. Methods Working under the assumption that HLG increases the risk of residual central respiratory events during continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), the full night similarity, computed during diagnostic non-CPAP polysomnography (PSG), was used to predict residual central events during CPAP (REC), which we defined as central apnea index (CAI) higher than 10. Central apnea labels are obtained both from manual scoring by sleep technologists and from an automated algorithm developed for this study. The Massachusetts General Hospital sleep database was used, including 2466 PSG pairs of diagnostic and CPAP titration PSG recordings. Results Diagnostic CAI based on technologist labels predicted REC with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.82 ± 0.03. Based on automatically generated labels, the combination of full night similarity and automatically generated CAI resulted in an AUC of 0.85 ± 0.02. A subanalysis was performed on a population with technologist-labeled diagnostic CAI higher than 5. Full night similarity predicted REC with an AUC of 0.57 ± 0.07 for manual and 0.65 ± 0.06 for automated labels. Conclusions The proposed self-similarity feature, as a surrogate estimate of expressed respiratory HLG and computed from easily accessible effort signals, can detect periodic breathing regardless of admixed obstructive features such as flow limitation and can aid the prediction of REC.


Worldwide rates of obesity have dramatically increased in the last few decades. The impact on those involved and on health care systems continues to be huge. Psychological research has attempted to understand the factors and processes implicated in maladaptive overeating behaviour with the aim of assisting in alleviating it, whether associated with a physical or mental health need. This thesis investigated the relationship between biases in attention to food-related cues and the self-reported eating style known as 'external eating' (eating in response to external food cues). A systematic search of the literature found 15 papers that examined the relationship between these factors. These studies used a range of methodologies and found varying results. The literature review established that there is a significant relationship between external eating and attentional bias for food cues, such that higher levels of bias are linked with higher levels of external eating. An experiment was designed to measure attentional bias to food cues in high and low external eaters from a non-clinical population using an antisaccade methodology. This tool measured attentional bias scores for the 39 participants in the two groups. In addition, participants completed a behavioural task of inhibitory control, as well as a range of questionnaire measures concerned with eating behaviour and mental health. With this novel methodology, a significant positive relationship was identified between external eating and attentional bias for food. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical models of attentional bias and maladaptive eating behaviour. Clinical implications are explored and cognitive and behavioural interventions for overeating behaviour are discussed. Future research ideas are suggested with the aim of exploring further the role of eating styles and attentional biases in the development and maintenance of overeating behaviour.


Determining functionals are tools to describe the finite dimensional long-term dynamics of infinite dimensional dynamical systems. There also exist several applications to infinite dimensional {\em random} dynamical systems. In these applications the convergence condition of the trajectories of an infinite dimensional random dynamical system with respect to a finite set of linear functionals is assumed to be either in mean or {\em exponential} with respect to the convergence almost surely. In contrast to these ideas we introduce a convergence concept which is based on the convergence in probability. By this ansatz we get rid of the assumption of exponential convergence. In addition, setting the random terms to zero we obtain usual deterministic results.\\ We apply our results to the 2D Navier - Stokes equations forced by a white noise.


INTRODUCTION The state of community life in general, and of education in particular, in Africa south of the Sahara (henceforth also referred to as the sub-continent) seems to indicate that Africans have failed somewhat in their efforts to provide for themselves lives of good quality. Malala's (1) complaint that the African century has failed to dawn can be ascribed inter alia to the fact that sub-continental Africans seem not to have mastered the art of peaceful coexistence. (2) Life in this part of the world has for decades now been characterized by wars, violence, soaring crime rates and delinquent behavior, also in the more subtle forms of sexism, xenophobia, selfishness, collapse of family life, a growing gap between the rich and the poor, corruption and racism. (3) Such conditions are detrimental to the quality of personal and communal life. (4) Similar conditions prevail in schools. In many areas, life in schools has been characterized by violence, destruction of property, laziness, a lack of punctuality, weak performance, learner and teacher delinquency and self-centredness--in brief, by a general lack of moral literacy. (5) This portrayal of life on the sub-continent does not sit well with the precepts of the traditional African philosophy of life known as Ubuntu (in the Nguni languages; Botho in the Sotho languages, Hunhu in Shona, Bisoite in Lingala-Baluba, Ujamaa in Kiswahili, Harambee in Kenya). (6) According to Ubuntu, a person is who s/he is only because of the existence of others and because of his/her coexistence with them. If this is indeed the world-view according to which the people of the sub-continent live, why do we then find the inhabitants of the Sudan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Western Sahara, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau (to mention only a few of the hotspots) to seemingly have lost sight of this sentiment? Why has Ubuntu failed to inspire the people of the sub-continent towards peaceful coexistence and democracy? Failure to live according to the precepts of Ubuntu constitutes a threat to the freedom of the people. (7) Similar perpetrations also occur in other parts of the world. They are a function of how the respective life-views impact on people, their morality and their behavior. Unfortunately, we have to confine our attention to the situation in Africa. It is not the purpose of this article to harp on the negative conditions prevailing on the sub-continent or on the perceived failure of its inhabitants to live according to the tenets of Ubuntu. Neither is its purpose to once again proclaim the already well-known virtues of Ubuntu as a potential contributor to enhanced quality of life. Instead, the purpose of this paper is to consider the possibility of Ubuntugogy being a more suitable approach for sub-Saharan Africa than typical Western-style colonial education. While having borrowed the term 'Ubuntugogy' from Bangura, (8) I shall follow his lead only partially. I shall argue that two sets of changes have to be made to render Ubuntugogy more amenable to the demands of the modem, globalized, urbanized and industrialized circumstances on the African subcontinent. Firstly, Ubuntu, that is the life-view that forms the sub-stratum of Ubuntugogy, has to be updated, modernized or reconstructed to put it more in line with the demands of 21st century life. Secondly, while the notion of Ubuntugogy in itself remains attractive as a return to the classic past of Africa, it also needs filling with more appropriate content. It needs a global format to be able to address the needs of modern sub-continental Africans. (9) Because of their traditional tribal limitations, a simple return to Ubuntu and Ubuntugogy will not pass muster in modern African societies. Pedagogical input from the northern hemisphere has to be included in the new approach. Ubuntu and Ubuntugogy also need filling with new moral content. …


This paper proposes a method to enhance the controllability of a Speech-like Emotional Sound (SES). In our previous study, we proposed an algorithm to generate SES by employing WaveNet as a sound generator and confirmed that SES can successfully convey emotional information. The proposed algorithm generates SES using only emotional IDs, which results in having no linguistic information. We call the generated sounds "speechlike" because they sound as if they are uttered by human beings although they contain no linguistic information. We could synthesize natural sounding acoustic signals that are fairly different from vocoder sounds to make the best use of WaveNet. To flexibly control the strength of emotions, this paper proposes to use a state of voiced, unvoiced, and silence (VUS) as auxiliary features. Three types of emotional speech, namely, neutral, angry, and happy, were generated and subjectively evaluated. Experimental results reveal the following: (1) VUS can control the strength of SES by changing the durations of VUS states, (2) VUS with narrow F0 distribution can express stronger emotions than that with wide F0 distribution, and (3) the smaller the unvoiced percentage is, the stronger the emotional impression is.


The saturated hydrocarbons ethane (C2H6) and methane (CH4) along with carbon monoxide (CO) and water (H2O) were detected in comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake with the use of high-resolution infrared spectroscopy at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The inferred production rates of molecular gases from the icy, cometary nucleus (in molecules per second) are 6.4 × 1026 for C2H6, 1.2 × 1027 for CH4, 9.8 × 1027 for CO, and 1.7 × 1029 for H2O. An abundance of C2H6 comparable to that of CH4 implies that ices in C/1996 B2 Hyakutake did not originate in a thermochemically equilibrated region of the solar nebula. The abundances are consistent with a kinetically controlled production process, but production of C2H6 by gas-phase ion molecule reactions in the natal cloud core is energetically forbidden. The high C2H6/CH4 ratio is consistent with production of C2H6 in icy grain mantles in the natal cloud, either by photolysis of CH4-rich ice or by hydrogen-addition reactions to acetylene condensed from the gas phase.


Most footprints of surface mounted components have been calculated on the basis of the sizes and tolerances of their electrodes, taking into account the various inaccuracies of the mounting processes to be applied. The introduction of components with very small connecting areas or leads (e.g., fine pitch IC packages) does not only imply smaller solder land dimensions, but also a different approach for the calculation of the footprint. This approach tackles the question of the required insulation spacing and lead/land overlap, and the 'optimum' solder land dimensions and the available mounting (i.e., placing and fixing) freedom are then obtained. The reduction of mounting freedom with decreasing pitch distances is quantitatively demonstrated. The ratio width of lead/size of pitch proves to be an important parameter in this respect. Requirements for mounting quality are linked with certain criteria for inspection of soldered joints (for example, regarding shift and rotation and vice versa), and some of thes...


Sun sensor is one of the key attitude sensors widely used in spacecraft attitude determination. Its accuracy is one of the major technical specifications. In this paper, we propose two methods for accuracy test and evaluation, which have been proved to be efficient and convenient. With these two methods, it is possible to isolate and then, eliminate the rotational error from the rotation table that holds the sun sensor so that the performance of the sun sensor can be evaluated. The proposed two methods can be also applied to test the performance for other angle measuring devices.


Tikhonov regularization for projected solutions of large-scale ill-posed problems is considered. The Golub-Kahan iterative bidiagonalization is used to project the problem onto a subspace and regularization then applied to find a subspace approximation to the full problem. Determination of the regularization parameter for the projected problem by unbiased predictive risk estimation, generalized cross validation and discrepancy principle techniques is investigated. It is shown that the regularized parameter obtained by the unbiased predictive risk estimator can provide a good estimate for that to be used for a full problem which is moderately to severely ill-posed. A similar analysis provides the weight parameter for the weighted generalized cross validation such that the approach is also useful in these cases, and also explains why the generalized cross validation without weighting is not always useful. All results are independent of whether systems are over or underdetermined. Numerical simulations for standard one dimensional test problems and two dimensional data, for both image restoration and tomographic image reconstruction, support the analysis and validate the techniques. The size of the projected problem is found using an extension of a noise revealing function for the projected problem Hnĕtynková, Ples̆inger, and Strakos̆, [BIT Numerical Mathematics 49 (2009), 4 pp. 669-696.]. Furthermore, an iteratively reweighted regularization approach for edge preserving regularization is extended for projected systems, providing stabilization of the solutions of the projected systems and reducing dependence on the determination of the size of the projected subspace.


Alongside his work as a practising architect, Sigurd Frosterus (1876–1956) was one of Finland's leading architectural critics during the first decades of the 20th century. In his early life, Frosterus was a strict rationalist who wanted to develop architecture towards scientific ideals instead of historical, archaeological, or mythological approaches. According to him, an architect had to analyse his tasks of construction in order to be able to logically justify his solutions, and he must take advantage of the possibilities of the latest technology. The particular challenge of his time was reinforced concrete. Frosterus considered that the buildings of a modern metropolis should be constructivist in expressing their purpose and technology honestly. The impulses of two famous European architects – Otto Wagner and Henry van de Velde – had a life-long influence on his work. Urban architecture with long street perspectives and houses with austere facades and unified eaves lines was the stylistic ideal that he shared with the Austrian architect Wagner. An open and enlightened urban experience was Frosterus's future vision, not National Romantic capriciousness or intimacy drawing from the Middle Ages. According to Frosterus, the  Belgian van de Velde was the master interior architect of the epoch, the interior of the Nietzsche Archives in Weimar being an excellent example of his work. However, already in the 1910s Frosterus's rationalism developed towards a broader understanding of the functions of the facades of business edifices. In his brilliant analyses of the business palaces by the Finnish architects Armas Lindgren and Lars Sonck, he considered the symbolic and artistic values of the facades to be even more important than technological honesty. Moreover, references to the history of architecture had a crucial role in the 1920s and 1930s when he wrote about his main work– the Stockmann department store in the centre of Helsinki.


The reliability and validity of the Anxiety about Aging Scale–Taiwan version (AAST), translated from the Anxiety about Aging Scale (AAS) developed by Lasher and Faulkender (1993) was investigated using both classical and multidimensional Rasch analysis. Age and gender effects were also investigated in terms of four latent traits: fear of old people, psychological concerns, physical appearance, and fear of losses. Taiwanese adults ( N = 334) participated and analytical results empirically validated the 16-item AAST and demonstrated it to be a reliable measure of aging anxiety. Young adults experienced more aging anxiety than older adults did and females exhibited more anxiety about their physical appearance in relation to aging compared to males.


1. A trypsin and chymotrypsin inhibitor was isolated by extraction of chick-pea meal at pH8.3, followed by (NH4)2SO4 precipitation and successive column chromatography on CM-cellulose and calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite). 2. The inhibitor was pure by polyacrylamide-gel and cellulose acetate electrophoresis and by isoelectric focusing in polyacrylamide gels. 3. The inhibitor had a molecular weight of approx. 10000 as determined by ultracentrifugation and by polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulphate. A molecular weight of 8300 was resolved from its amino acid composition. 4. The inhibitor formed complexes with trypsin and chymotrypsin at molar ratios of 1:1. 5. Limited proteolysis of the inhibitor with trypsin at pH3.75 resulted in hydrolysis of a single-Lys-X-bond and in consequent loss of 85% of the trypsin inhibitory activity and 60% of the chymotrypsin inhibitory activity. Limited proteolysis of the inhibitor with chymotrypsin at pH3.75 resulted in hydrolysis of a single-Tyr-X-bond and in consequent loss of 70% of the trypsin inhibitory activity and in complete loss of the chymotrypsin inhibitory activity. 6. Cleavage of the inhibitor with CNBr followed by pepsin and consequent separation of the products on a Bio Gel P-10 column, yielded two active fragments, A and B. Fragment A inhibited trypsin but not chymotrypsin, and fragment B inhibited chymotrypsin but not trypsin. The specific trypsin inhibitory activity, on a molar ratio, of fragment A was twice that of the native inhibitor, suggesting the unmasking of another trypsin inhibitory site as a result of the cleavage. On the other hand, the specific chymotrypsin inhibitory activity of fragment B was about one-half of that of the native inhibitor, indicating the occurrence of a possible conformational change.


QUBiC4plus is a RF-BiCMOS production technology tailored for 'silicon-based' RF-SiP. The device menu includes 3 varactor styles, 7 resistor types, novel complimentary 24 V PMU devices, hi-k MIM capacitors, RC-triggered ESD protection and a choice between all-silicon, SiGe and SiGe:C bipolar transistors. Buried-p+ guardrings, DTI and very-high resistivity substrates ensure excellent circuit-block isolation and high-quality inductors. The advanced design flow features state-of-the-art models.


Joy Watson is an assistant professor in the University of Cincinnati's Division of Professional Practice and Experiential Learning where she is the co-op adviser for chemical and environmental engineering students. She completed her Ph.D. in the College of Engineering at the University of South Carolina in August 2011. Her doctoral work focused on preparing engineering Ph.D. students for careers in industry. She obtained her B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with her master's research focusing on the rheology of ionic liquids and cellulose solutions. While at the University of Tennessee, she participated in the co-op program and was appointed a co-op ambassador, mentoring undergraduate students pursuing industrial internships. Most recently she collaborated with B3 Solutions, Temple University, and the U.S. Navy to develop a logistics/IT course for low-income, high potential middle and high school students. Some of her other experiences include working as a processing engineer in the pulp and paper industry, a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a NSF GK-12 Fellow at the University of South Carolina.


Background: Hepatitis B (HB) is one of the main health problems. Over 400 million people worldwide have been evaluated as infected patients or chronic carriers. Health care workers (HCWs) are of higher risk for infectious diseases including HBV infected patients. This study aims to evaluate the rate of HBS antibody among the HCWs of Shahid Sadoughi Burn hospital in Yazd. Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted on 52 staff of the hospital approved vaccinated against HBV. HBS antibody was measured by ELISA in blood samples. Anti HBS titer of more than 10 lu/ml was considered positive. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS (16) software using descriptive data analysis and Fisher exact test. Results: Among the 52 vaccinated staff of the hospital, 90.4% subjects had positive titers but 9.6% were negative. Females had higher titers (96%) than the males (85.2%). There was not a statically significant correlation between age, sex, accurate vaccination intervals and titer of HBS antibody, (P >0.05), but a positive correlation was found between duration after the last dose of vaccine and titer of HBS antibody (P= 0.046) Conclusion: More than 90% of the HCWS had immunity against HBV. Considering the importance of health care workers in transmission of blood born infections, a booster dose of hepatitis B vaccine should be delivered to those not having acceptable HBS antibody titer against


Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Several studies have shown that diabetic patients are at a greater risk of developing oral health problems than non-diabetics. This study aims to evaluate the oral hygiene practices of adult diabetic patients and their awareness of oral health problems related to the disease. In this cross-sectional, Internet-based descriptive study, a self-administered questionnaire was uploaded online and any adult diabetic patient living in Saudi Arabia was allowed to take part. The participants were asked to complete the questionnaire and submit it online. A total of 278 diabetic patients, ranging from 18 to 64 years of age (115 male and 163 female), responded and submitted their questionnaires. In the section on oral hygiene practice, the results showed 45.6% of the respondents brush their teeth once daily, 10.4% floss once daily, and only 11.5% use mouthwash regularly. Regarding patients' awareness, the majority (81%) are aware that diabetes may increase the risk of oral health problems; 75.9% are aware that diabetes may increase the risk for periodontal problems including gum bleeding and teeth mobility and 36.3% are aware that diabetes may reduce salivary flow. The main source of information was the media (31%), followed by dentists and dental hygienists (23%), physicians (21%) and the Internet (16%). Majority of the participants are aware of the importance of controlling diabetes in order to minimize oral health complication (74.4%) but only 15.1% of them visits the dentist regularly. Patients with higher levels of education (graduate and postgraduate) showed statistically significantly better brushing habits and more awareness regarding oral health problems related to diabetes in comparison with those with low levels of education (p value <0.05). Grouping patients by age and gender did not reveal any statistical difference in their level of awareness or brushing habits. Diabetic patients' level of awareness of their increased risk of oral health problems was generally acceptable. Further educational programs should be established for diabetic patients, especially those with low levels of education, in order to improve their oral health knowledge and dentists should take on more responsibility for this task.

 Key words: Oral health, awareness, knowledge, diabetes.


U.S. and European scholars have established the association between work in government and public service motivation (PSM). Yet, few studies measure PSM among master of public administration (MPA) students and link it to their intention to work in government. For the first time in Russia, the study tests the association between culturally determined measures of prosocial motives of Russian MPA students and their intention to work for government upon graduation. Three theoretical frameworks help structuring this research: public administration, political trust, and volunteering. The data in this study confirm that Russian MPA students with prosocial motives tend to choose work in government. We explain this phenomenon by deriving the prosocial motive theoretical perspective from the larger concept of PSM and from the theory of political trust. In addition, the study finds that formal and informal volunteering is not related to choosing work in government. The implications of these findings are discussed.


Background Research focused on elite senior Australian Football (AF) competition, during the in-season, has found training load (a measurement of both training intensity and duration) and factors such as cumulative load, monotony and strain to be associated with injury risk. Little is known about whether player training loads in elite junior footballers during a pre-season also predispose players to the risk of injury. Objective To explore pre-season training load risk factors for injury in elite junior Australian football players. Design An Australian Football prospective cohort study is currently underway to assess risk factors for injury over the course of the 2014 elite junior, Victorian state league competition (TAC Cup) season. Training load risk factors of weekly cumulative load, monotony and strain will be assessed over the course of the general and specific conditioning phases of the pre-season period of the 2014 TAC Cup season. Setting Elite junior AF. Participants Players, conditioning and medical staff involved with the Victorian elite junior competition (TAC Cup). Up to 480 participants, across 12 clubs, will be involved in this cohort study. Interventions Not applicable. Main outcome measurements Number of new injuries across 40 weeks of training and 17 matches (rated as per 1000 training and playing hours), number of training sessions missed per injury and injury site, cause and mechanism. Results Specific training load risk factors (cumulative training load, monotony and strain) will be identified over the course of the TAC Cup season as to their association with the number of new injuries and missed training sessions. Conclusions This study aims to inform the pre-season conditioning of under-18 elite athletes in terms of both player load management and awareness of factors that could optimise player recovery, with the ultimate goal of resulting in fewer new injuries.


Abstract Blood pressure in some elderly hypertensive patients is characterized by marked lability. This affects quality of life and may deteriorate prognosis. Conventional anti-hypertensive medication does not lead to stabilization of blood pressure. We call this form of hypertension "labile hypertension of the elderly" (LHE). The aim of the study was investigation of autonomic regulation of blood pressure and of clonazepam effectiveness in patients with LHE. Fifty-six patients with LHE (mean age 67.0 +/- 6.3 years) entered the study (87.5% women). Control group consisted of 38 patients with stable hypertension and 27 normotensives matched by sex and age. The patients and the controls underwent clinical and psychological examinations, regular measurement of blood pressure during one month before and after the treatment, cardiovascular tests and spectral analysis of the heart rate variability. It was found that LHE patients have higher level of anxiety and depression, low standard deviation of RR interval, low normalized LF and HF components and increased normalized VLF component. The cardiovascular tests showed signs of diminished parasympathetic regulation. Clonazepam treatment in a dose 1-2 mg/day brought about a significant stabilization of blood pressure in 82.0% of patients with LHE. Thus, LHE is an original form of hypertension in patients over 60 years old characterized by frequent, short-term, small symptomatic, spontaneous fluctuations of blood pressure with development of both hypertensive and hypotensive reactions. Pathogenesis of LHE is linked with disorders of heart rate autonomic regulation, marked anxiety and depression. Clonazepam stabilizes blood pressure in most LHE cases.


Introduction:
Patients' use of the web, particularly patient-to-patient (e.g., online fora) ,is playing an influential and transformative role in health care, particularly around chronic diseases (Fox07). We need to understand the specific types of work that patients attempt in online fora and the barriers or facilitators to their goals. This can guide design of new web health technologies, across the varied types of sites, tools, and activities. We are studying naturally occurring material (Coulson,Buchanan,&Aubeeluck07) postings on health fora about several chronic diseases.
Method: We have collected a large amount of material from public forums on several chronic diseases. We have selected fora and within fora sampled threads over time with additional inclusion of long threads. Our initial analysis focuses on the first message of each thread, to identify the issues patients raise and how exchanges are initiated. We have developed coding to capture variation and patterns suggested by extensive reading of the material. In our talk we will present qualitative and quantitative findings.
Results:
We will report on three of the first-message codes we developed, for Form, Topic and Schema, and summary results. Form was coded as Ask (for information or action), Tell (personal or general information), and Other (including Greetings and Jokes). Topic was coded as Physiological (treatments, mechanisms...), Pragmatic (providers, insurance,...), and Social/Emotional (comfort, sympathy, validation). Neither Form nor Topic codes have mutually exclusive values: For example, the primary form of a message might be ASKing for information, but include TELLing; or multiple topics might be addressed. In our initial sample of 100 threads, 60% of first messages concerned Physiological, 40% were Social/Emotional, 40% were pragmatic, and few percent were other. 33% of the messages were multi-topic.
We looked for frequently recurring message 'schemas', conventional structures of the message as a whole. 1) In the ProblemQ 1/4 of the messages fit this schema. 2) In Give-Information, the user simply posts information judged valuable to the community or an individual; 1/8 of the messages fit this schema. Content may be expert-authored or come from personal experience.
Discussion:
Overall, a wide range of difficult activities were addressed in first-messages. On the cognitive side these included reasoning about causes and treatment effectiveness, responding to or planning for visits to providers, soliciting help in making a decision, and gaining initial understanding of an unfamiliar condition, treatment, or test. On the emotional side, these included asking for help facing a frightening event, venting, validating experience, and providing specific encouragement or concern. Message coherence and complexity varied greatly.
We will report qualitative and quantitative analysis of first-messages on user forums for chronic disease, characterizing the types of problems that users try to solve in online communities. Our next step is to look at the problem solving outcomes and methods of the community's response across a thread. We also plan to compare this to other web forms of patient-to-patient interaction.
 Patient Problem-Solving on the Web: How do Patients Use Web Forums to Cope with Chronic Disease? [4 1530 Aud Billman] View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: medicine20 20 ) []


In the type of research I propose, I look at polymer phusics from a different angle: I consider the statistics of a system consisting of a set of interactive conformers belonging to all the chains put together at once. The statistical system is no longer a single macromolecule mede up of covalently interactive conformers, although this situation is also studied. The system is the global set of conformers belonging to all macromolecules. I no longer attribute to a mean field the influence generated by the other molecules on teh configurational properties of a single chain (defining its entropy and enthalpy), I attribute a "grain-structure" to the field that describes the result of interactive coupling, i.e. I consider the existence of an inhomogeneous density of state due to local fluctuations of the interactions. The evolution with time of the state of interactions between the conformers, when the system is submitted to a mechanical force or to a temperature variation dewscribes the change of the physical properties.


In this paper, a total of six reinforced concrete beams including four beams strengthened with externally prestressed CFRP rods and two unstrengthened beams have been tested under monotonic and cylic loads in order to investigate the influence of a novel technique on the flexural static and fatigue behavior of the specimens. The experimental results show that the static and fatigue performance of strengthened members have been improved in terms of that the flexural capacity is greatly enhanced, the fatigue life is increased and the stress range of the internally tensile reinforcing bars is decreased as compared with the unstrengthened ones. It indicates that the developed technique can enhance the flexural capacity as well as improve the fatigue performance of RC members.


The power of the ocean is apparent to all and we are now much closer to harnessing that energy to power our lifestyle. According to the British Cartographic Society the length of coastline of Great Britain plus its principal islands is just shy of 20,000 miles, so it comes as no surprise that marine energy is considered to hold great potential as a future energy source. According to research by The Carbon Trust - Technology Innovation Needs Assessment (TINA) - this has the potential to deliver more than 75TWh a year; over 10 per cent of the UK's predicted needs, by mid century. Predictions of how much of that energy can be harvested by 2050 vary from 20GW to zero. What is clear, however, is that it will not have any impact before 2020. The same report pointed to the pricing pressures that marine energy will face. It predicts that it will need to reduce costs by 50-75 per cent by 2025 if it is to compete with offshore wind power. This level of cost reduction is ambitious but conceivable with significant economies of scale and innovation, combined with supply chain optimisation and appropriate financing.


The high hardware cost associated with multiple antennas at the secondary transmitter of an underlay cognitive radio (CR) can be reduced by antenna selection. This paper analyzes different power adaptive transmit antenna selection (TAS) schemes for an underlay CR, which ensure that the instantaneous interference caused by the secondary transmitter to the primary receiver is below a predetermined level. We consider the optimal continuous power adaptive TAS and present a low-complexity antenna and power level selection scheme, named sequential antenna and power level selection scheme (SAPS), for discrete power adaptation. Exact statistical characterizations of the signal-to-interference plus noise ratio at the secondary receiver are derived for the considered schemes. Based on the newly derived statistics, we prove that the considered schemes achieve the highest diversity order equaling the number of antennas at the secondary transmitter. Further, we also derive a closed-form expression of the ergodic capacity for the underlay CR with SAPS scheme. Finally, we show that the proposed scheme outperforms existing schemes in terms of ergodic capacity.


I developed a hydrological rating curve for Strawberry Creek on the University of California campus, so that estimated flow rates cold be calculated from stage records. Since 2007, water stage levels have been automatically recorded every 15 minutes based on pressure transducers that are located on the North Fork, the South Fork and on the Main Stem just below the confluence. I used current meters to collect flow measurements six times on the Main Stem, five times on the North Fork, and four times on the South Fork and used this data along with recorded stage data to develop a rating curve for each location. The rating curves developed for the Main Stem, South Fork and North Fork are: y = 9.5668x2.7479, y = 34.061x - 273.35 and y = 15.498x2 -19.768x + 6.2605, where y is streamflow in cubic feet per second (ft3/s) and x is stage in feet. All these rating curves have very good overall correlations for the relationship between stage and flow (r2 greater than 0.92), and therefore are likely to provide reasonably accurate flow estimates for most all but the highest flow levels. A considerable amount of uncertainty exists for the high flow estimates on the Main Stem and the North Fork. This uncertainty may be due to limited data for high flows, error in flow measurements, unsteady flow conditions, extrapolation to higher flows rates than those measured, and/or stage shift where the pressure transducers are located. The main sources of uncertainty are likely to be the unsteady flow conditions (due to rapid rate of change in flow) and potential stage shift due to erosion and/or deposition. The rating curve equations are sufficient for rough estimates at high flows, but would be improved with additional data collection.


This research is under psycholinguistics umbrella. The aim of the study is to analyze the linguistic phenomena of schizophrenia suffered by Mary, the main character in Canvas movie. This research has two objectives: (1) to describe the language abnormalities experienced by a schizophrenic in Canvas movie; (2) to show and explain the accompanying behaviours acted by a schizophrenic in Canvas movie.
This research employed a descriptive qualitative method. It is concerned with the description of the data in the form of utterances produced by the schizophrenic, Mary, in Canvas movie. However, numbers were also used to support the analysis of the data. Some steps in analyzing the data were: identifying the raw data, classifying each datum into the categorization, analyzing each datum, interpreting each datum based on its theories, reporting the findings, and drawing the conclusion. Finally, the data findings were triangulated by three linguistics students who were keen on psycholinguistics.
The findings of the research show that first, among the eight types of schizophrenic language abnormalities, only five of them occur. They are perseveration of ideas, non-logical reasoning (peculiar logic), looseness, weakening of goal, and poverty of speech. Meanwhile, the absent types are peculiar use of word, peculiar sentence, and distractibility. Perseveration of ideas is the most-often appearing phenomenon made by a schizophrenic who always repeats the same word, phrase, and even sentence continuously. Besides, the other types have only small occurrences since they are not common abnormalities mainly found. Second, the deviant behaviours which are accompanied by a schizophrenic are also shown in the movie. The other deviant behaviours i.e. aggression, painting, affective flattening, and unnecessary use of water, have the most-often occurring phenomena in the schizophrenic.


In a four and a half hour period, more than 60 events in an earthquake swarm on the western boundary of the Easter microplate were detected by an array of ocean bottom seismometers. The larger events of the swarm were strike‐slip earthquakes located on two transform faults separated by about 25 km. Slip on the faults was closely coupled, with activity alternating back and forth randomly between the two transforms. Coupled seismic activity is usually attributed to triggering by static stress changes or dynamic stresses in propagating shear waves generated by another earthquake, but these earthquakes are too small for either mechanism to be plausible. We suggest that the swarm may have been the seismic manifestation of a larger, primarily aseismic, slip event or slow earthquake involving both transforms, perhaps triggered by dike injection on the Easter‐Pacific spreading center.


The costing of the CAMEA spectrometer as proposed, involving the prices of guides and shielding, the spectrometer itself and the key pieces of sample environment equipment needed to fulfill the science goals of CAMEA, is estimated at 19.519 M€, which should be seen as an upper limit. Out of the estimate total construction cost (18.239 M€) of the instrument, 44 % is the cost of guides, shielding and shutters, 35% is the cost of the CAMEA-specific parts, i.e. analyzer tank, graphite analyzer crystals, 3He detectors, radial collimator, Beryllium filter etc. 21% of the total cost corresponds to the estimate prices of the magnets and pressure cells foreseen for CAMEA but useable on other ESS instruments as well. Salaries are estimated to be 1.28 M€.


Langevin-molecular-dynamics simulations of thin-film growth by energetic cluster impact were carried out. The impact of a ${\mathrm{Mo}}_{1043}$ cluster on a Mo(001) surface was studied for impact energies of 0.1, 1, and 10 eV/atom using the Finnis-Sinclair many-body potential. The characteristics of the collision range from a soft touchdown at 0.1 eV/atom, over a flattening collision at 1 eV/atom, to a meteoric impact at 10 eV/atom. The highest energy impact creates a pressure of about 100 GPa in the impact zone and sends a strong shock wave into the material. The cluster temperature reaches a maximum of 596 K for 0.1 eV/atom, 1799 K for 1 eV/atom, and 6607 K for 10 eV/atom during the first ps after the touchdown. For energies of 1 and 10 eV/atom the cluster recrystallizes after 20 ps. The consecutive collision of 50 ${\mathrm{Mo}}_{1043}$ clusters with a Mo(001) surface at T=300 K was simulated for the three impact energies. The formation of a porous film is calculated for clusters impinging with low kinetic energy, while for the clusters with the highest energy a dense mirrorlike film is obtained, in good agreement with experiment.


Twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) belongs to the group of multiple monochorionic pregnancies complications. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is not entirely clear, however there is a correlation between the location of the placentas trailers of umbilical cord, and the tendency to its occurrence. Moreover it is characterized by the existence of vascular connections in common placenta. It results in hemodynamic disorders, which consist in full leakage from one fetus called a "donor" to another fetus called the "recipient". Hypotony, hypotrophy, hypovolemia, anemia and oliguria are being developed in donor's as the result. Whereas the second fetus is under the risk of hypertrophy, hypertension, hypervolaemia, polycythemia and polyhydramnios. TTTS is a complication occurring in 10-15% of all monochorionic pregnancies. If no treatment is performed the fetal mortality occurs in 60100% of cases. Diagnosis of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome is based on ultrasound assessment of amniotic fluid volume. The conditions of diagnose are: the occurrence of common chorioid for both twins in the first trimester and measurement of the maximum fluid pocket. The main and preferred therapeutic method is fetoscopic laser coagulation of vascular connections. Treatment depends on the age of the fetus. The most important factor affecting prognosis is early diagnosis of TTTS and consultation at the reference center of fetal therapy.


The flooding problem in San Jorge Samar, the Philippines can be effectively addressed using a holistic approach using factual information. This is the main purpose of the study, which is to understand the parameters contributory to the flood hazard specifically along the San Jorge channel of the Gandara River. The paper also evaluated flood control initiatives implemented by authorities. The evaluation is guided by the DPWH Flood Control Planning Manual, assessment and computation of the needed parameters in planning and design of flood control program was processed through HEC-HMS (Hydrological Engineering Center –Hydrologic Modeling System) software. Findings suggest San Jorge rurban areas, as well as portions of its adjacent barangays as depicted in topography, is surrounded by significant upland and rolling hills. San Jorge basin is considered a flood prone. Using the designed rain based on historical data, it was found out that the flood plain which is 431 hectares (which includes a big portion of mostly commercial, educational and agricultural area) adjacent to the river channel will be inundated; A. Peak discharge is 1,474 cubic meters per second, resulting in a flood depth up to about 7 meters is expected. This can go higher if sedimentation or siltation is not managed. There is no concrete strategy to control flood hazard. There is an immediate need to establish measures to prevent a catastrophe when the San Jorge channel of Gandara River in Samar capacity is exceeded.


Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has been reported as having body fat lowering properties and the ability to modulate the inflammatory system in several models. In the present study, the effects of CLA added to saturated fat diets, from vegetable and animal origins, on the serum adipokine profile of obese Zucker rats were assessed. In addition, the fatty acid composition of epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissues was determined and a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to assess possible relationships between fatty acids and serum metabolites. Atherogenic diets (2% cholesterol) were formulated with palm oil and ovine fat and supplemented or not with 1% of a mixture (1:1) of cis -9, trans -11 and trans 10, cis -12-CLA isomers. CLA-fed animals exhibited lower daily feed intake, final body and liver weights, and hepatic lipids content. Total and LDL-cholesterol levels were increased in CLA-supplemented groups. CLA also promoted higher adiponectin and lower plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) serum concentrations. In contrast to palm oil diets, ovine fat increased insulin resistance and serum levels of leptin, TNF- a and IL-1 b . Epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissues had similar deposition of individual fatty acids. The PCA analysis showed that the trans -10, cis -12-CLA isomer was highly associated with adiponectin and PAI-1 levels. Summing up, CLA added to vegetable saturated enriched diets, relative to those from animal origin, seems to improve the serum profile of adipokines and inflammatory markers in obese Zucker rats due to a more favourable fatty acid composition.


ABSTRACT In this study, we investigated if children build a print-to-meaning connection via the semantic radical – a mechanism we call semantic decoding – and its interaction with phonological decoding in orthographic learning of Chinese compound characters. Ninety-two Grade 4 children were taught the pronunciations and meanings of 16 pseudocharacters and were then exposed to their written forms in short stories. Half of the characters contained semantic radicals related to the taught meaning; the other half were unrelated. Half of the children learned the pseudocharacters' regular pronunciations; the other half learned the irregular pronunciations. There was better orthographic learning of regular than irregular pseudocharacters across measures of spelling and orthographic choice. However, the effect of semantic decoding was not as unequivocal. The findings indicate that in Chinese, decoding via phonetic radicals underpins orthographic learning. Whereas, the effect of semantic decoding might depend more on the linguistic features of the radicals and the learning environments.


Background Routine screening for distress is internationally recommended as a necessary standard for good cancer care given its high prevalence and negative consequences on quality of life. This study attempts to support validation of Distress Thermometer (DT) in Shiraz, Iran and in the second step to investigate privilege/priority of DT over other referent criterion measures. Material and methods In total, 58 outpatients with cancer were recruited from AMIR Oncology hospital in Shiraz, Iran. Each participant completed the DT and a list of 34 possible cancer-related problems (the Problem List), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the 18-item Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18), and a short visual analog scale to determine the understandability of the tools. Results Characteristic analysis revealed that DT cutoff scores ≥4 and ≥5 had optimal sensitivity and specificity relative to both HADS and BSI-18 cutoff scores for general caseness and more severe psychological distress, respectively. Patients with DT scores ≥4 (cases) were more likely to be women suffering from psychological problems in the past experience stressful events in the 3 years ago and encounter more family, emotional, and physical issue related to cancer or cancer treatment (p=0.02). Conclusion Patients indicated that the DT was easier to fill out and to understand than the HADS, but not the BSI-18. The DT was identified as a simple and effective screening instrument for detecting distress in Iranian cancer patients as a first step toward more properly referring those in need to psychosocial intervention.


In this paper we present an adaptation technique which exploits the inter/intra speaker vowel phoneme variations with respect to the tongue-hump-position within the oral cavity. The 13 vowels of American English speech can be classified into three areas according to the tongue-hump-position. The vowels, taken from the DARPA TIMIT phonetic database, in each of these areas are classified using one-class-in-one-network (OCON) feed forward subnets, similar to those proposed by Kung et al. (1995) and Jou et al. (1991), joined by a common front-end adaptation layer. This allows adaptation to be concentrated primarily on speaker characteristics, since speaker information is comparable within these areas, allowing adaptation towards a single phoneme to improve recognition of other vowel phonemes within the same network. This reduces the need for total vowel recital for complete vowel phoneme adaptation towards a new speaker. Results show increases of over 12% in the recognition rates of vowel phonemes after adaptation towards other phonemes in the same tongue-hump-position area. However, vowels that are well separated in the same group have little, even negative, effect on recognition after adaptation. (4 pages)


The basic features of some of the most versatile and popular open source frameworks for machine learning (TensorFlow, Deep Learning4j, and H2O) are considered and compared. Their comparative analysis was performed and conclusions were made as to the advantages and disadvantages of these platforms. The performance tests for the de facto standard MNIST data set were carried out on H2O framework for deep learning algorithms designed for CPU and GPU platforms for single-threaded and multithreaded modes of operation.


In this presentation, we cover key features of our graduate program at UCSB such as faculty advising, peer mentoring, student reviews, fellowship/other financial support, and professional skills development (professional skills forums, TA training, and public presentations). We refrain from discussing major degree requirements due to time constraints. Nevertheless, we wish to provide information on certain features of our program such as the field paper option, PhD emphases, and the language skills requirement, which underscore the importance of interdisciplinarity and flexibility in our training and advising of graduate students. One purpose of this presentation and discussion is to identify new challenges and best practices that may help our program better prepare for the increasing diversity among our undergraduate students. Furthermore, we aim to leverage the strength of increased campus diversity in a leading public institution of higher education to help maintain and further the goal of excellence in graduate training and mentoring.


Biomarkers of muscle protein synthesis rate could provide early data demonstrating anabolic efficacy for treating muscle-wasting conditions. Androgenic therapies have been shown to increase muscle mass primarily by increasing the rate of muscle protein synthesis. We hypothesized that the synthesis rate of large numbers of individual muscle proteins could serve as early response biomarkers and potentially treatment-specific signaling for predicting the effect of anabolic treatments on muscle mass. Utilizing selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) treatment in the ovariectomized (OVX) rat, we applied an unbiased, dynamic proteomics approach to measure the fractional synthesis rates (FSR) of 167-201 individual skeletal muscle proteins in triceps, EDL, and soleus. OVX rats treated with a SARM molecule (GSK212A at 0.1, 0.3, or 1 mg/kg) for 10 or 28 days showed significant, dose-related increases in body weight, lean body mass, and individual triceps but not EDL or soleus weights. Thirty-four out of the 94 proteins measured from the triceps of all rats exhibited a significant, dose-related increase in FSR after 10 days of SARM treatment. For several cytoplasmic proteins, including carbonic anhydrase 3, creatine kinase M-type (CK-M), pyruvate kinase, and aldolase-A, a change in 10-day FSR was strongly correlated (r(2) = 0.90-0.99) to the 28-day change in lean body mass and triceps weight gains, suggesting a noninvasive measurement of SARM effects. In summary, FSR of multiple muscle proteins measured by dynamics of moderate- to high-abundance proteins provides early biomarkers of the anabolic response of skeletal muscle to SARM.


We present a beam decoding strategy for recurrent neural network transducers which has the characteristic that all competing hypotheses within the beam have the same alignment length (number of output symbols plus BLANK symbols). We contrast the proposed technique with time-synchronous decoding where the competing hypotheses within the beam correspond to the same input frames (but can have different length output sequences). Experiments on the Switchboard 2000 hours corpus show that alignment-length synchronous decoding (ALSD) is 25% faster than time-synchronous decoding (TSD) for the same accuracy because ALSD performs 42% fewer joint network evaluations and hypothesis expansions during the search. Additionally, we discuss the benefit of caching and batching the prediction and joint network evaluations, of using prefix trees instead of full output vocabulary expansions, and of performing hypothesis recombination after pruning. With open beam decoding, we reach a 6.2% / 10.9% word error rate on the Switchboard and CallHome Hub5 2000 evaluation testsets which compares favorably to other published single-model results on this corpus.


Fourteen cases of totally or predominantly unilateral ventricular reflux and stasis of intrathecally injected radioisotope or contrast medium were demonstrated by scintigraphy or computed tomographic cisternography. All showed asymmetric enlargement of the lateral ventricles and nine had ipsilateral brain lesions. Four case reports are presented. The pathophysiologic mechanism of communicating hydrocephalus and possible causes of unilateral ventricular reflux are discussed, as well as indications for ventricular shunt installation.