BACKGROUND: Marketing by the pharmaceutical industry affects doctors' prescribing habits. MATERIAL AND METHOD: All pharmaceutical advertising received by nine doctors in two GP offices over a period of three months was collected. The advertising material was sorted by compound. For each compound, the advert with the highest number of references was selected. The cited references were obtained, and the claims in the adverts were assessed in terms of their consistency with the source data based on the provisions in the Norwegian regulations on pharmaceuticals. The references were also assessed with regard to the incidence of conflicts of interest among authors. RESULTS: The doctors received a total of 270 shipments of advertising for 46 different compounds. Altogether 95% of the 173 references cited in the 46 selected adverts could be obtained. The adverts contained a total of 156 claims. Of these, 56% were assessed as correct when compared to the source data and as having clinical relevance. Altogether 75% of the journal articles reported relevant conflicts of interest for the authors. INTERPRETATION: About half the claims in the adverts were found to be correct and clinically relevant. These results concur with those from a methodologically identical study based on advertising material collected in 2004. The cited literature was of varying quality and often funded by the pharmaceutical companies. The findings indicate that the target group should be sceptical of this type of marketing.


The catechins composition of tea polyphenols with different extracted methods was analysed by HPLC. The aim is to compare the extraction effect of water-extracting and alcohol-extracting method, the purification effect of solvent extraction and ionic precipitation method. The results indicated that organic solvent extraction method can improve the extraction rate of catechins, especially can increase the content of estered catechins. In the technic of organic solvent extraction, the total content of catechins can effectively be increased by using alcohol extraction. Ion precipitation can enhance the content of gallocatechins,while organic solvent extraction can raise the contents of catechins,EC and estered catechins.


Background: Seniors recognize the need for dental care in maintaining quality of life. Research has identified behaviors that are associated with improved dental health. Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the association of certain attitudes and behaviors upon tooth loss. Method: This study obtained data by random selection from patients in the UOP School of Dentistry via paper survey. Results: A statistically significant association was evident between tooth loss and seeing a dentist only when absolutely necessary, as well as going five years or more without seeing a dentist. Another significant correlation was made between smoking cigarettes and the use of cocaine or methamphetamines and tooth loss. Factors found to have positive correlations with having 10 or more teeth were found when a dentist was seen twice a year or more frequently, having full time employment for most of the patient's life, tooth grinding at night, the daily use of one or more glasses of alcohol, and brushing and flossing twice a day. Conclusion: Patients with fewer than ten teeth express attitudes which emphasize the value of their teeth similarly to those patients who have more than ten teeth. Behavior differences between the two groups are various and significant. Long-term retention of teeth can be positively influenced by the avoidance of cigarette smoking, and cocaine and methamphetamine use. Twice -yearly or more regular dental visits, the maintenance of full-time employment, and twice daily brushing and flossing were associated with tooth retention.


The cure kinetics of middle temperature curing 3234 epoxy resin was investigated under both isothermal and dynamic curing conditions by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) technique. The kinetic equations for isothermal and dynamic curing were established respectively by analyzing experimental data obtained from DSC . By following the temperature procedure of the standard cure cycle of the resin system, the validity of the cure kinetic equations was verified by means of determining the residual heat of reaction of samples from different stages of the cure cycle. Results showed that the cure kinetics under both isothermal and dynamic conditions could be described by the autocatalytic kinetic model. Predictions by the kinetic equation for dynamic curing agreed well with the experimental results.


Knowledge about variations in energy use for energy intensive industries is becoming more important due to rising fuel prices and international competition. Many industries will need to produce a higher share of more refined products to survive. The knowledge about energy usage variations can be used for identification of potential energy and emission savings and for price setting of products.
In this master thesis the variations of the energy use of an integrated steel mill have been analyzed. The project was carried out at Outokumpu Stainless – Avesta Works in Avesta, Sweden. The aim was to identify production and product related parameters, which affect the energy use of the steel mill. Furthermore a calculation tool was built to predict the annual energy use with the annual production mix as input.
Existing energy log data was allocated to the process log data for 2010 to retrieve the energy usage indicators for each product group. This data was used to analyse the energy usage variations and was the foundation for the calculation tool. Two cases where the share of 'special' steel products was increased compared to the production mix of 2010 were implemented with the tool.
The results show that production of 'special' steel is more energy intensive than 'standard' steel. An increase of 'special' steel in the production mix could therefore increase the energy consumption, the CO2 emissions and the production costs of the plant. Including energy related parameters in the price setting process could therefore improve it by charging the customer for the real energy costs.


There has been an increasing interest in discovering and developing small molecules that are of pharmaceutical importance. Heterocyclic compounds are known to be the most versatile class of these types of molecules, either prepared synthetically or occurring in nature. However, in some cases, it has been reported that the activity is enhanced to a larger extent when these heterocycles are repeated in the molecule separated by a suitable spacer, i.e., a bis-heterocycle. Thus, the synthesis of new bis-heterocyclic compounds has become an eye-catchy field to explore in the recent past owing to their pharmacological, biological and industrial importance. The synthesis of bis-heterocycles is mainly achieved by join- ing heterocyclic nuclei together using a variety of linkers and points of linkages. These structural permutations and com- binations have given an unlimited number of available bis-heterocycles. Use of S-S linkage is one such facile method of getting bis-heterocycles as they are easily obtained from the oxidation of thiols and protected thiols by using broad range of reagents and reaction conditions. Disulphide linkage being an integral part of the biological system, as disulphide bonds are found in peptides and proteins, also adds to the efficacy of these bis-heterocycles.


The study presents a method for taking the heterogeneity of the stand into account in the optimisation of stand management. Heterogeneity refers to within-stand variation in stand density and/or other characteristics. A set of plots, corresponding to different sub-areas of the stand, represents the stand in calculations. Cuttings and other treatments of the plots are done simultaneously. The method was used to analyse how the optimal management depends on the heterogeneity of a Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stand. The results supported the hypothesis that the heterogeneity of a stand decreases its optimal prior-thinning density. Also the remaining stand basal areas were lower in heterogeneous stands, especially in spruce. The effect of stand heterogeneity prior to the first commercial thinning still affected the timing of the second thinning, which had to be conducted earlier and at lower prior-thinning basal areas in heterogeneous stands. This happened despite the fact that the first thinning greatly decreased the within-stand variation in stand basal area. In addition, heterogeneity decreased the soil expectation value, net income and timber harvests.


Cu(iii)-CF3 complexes are important intermediates of both synthetic and mechanistic interest. This study describes the isolation, and spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic characterization of CuIII-CF3 complexes 2-4 with typical monophosphine ligands PPh3 and Buchwald-type biarylmonophosphines. Distinct from the ion-pair [P2Cu(i)]+[Cu(iii)(CF3)4]- structures of 2 and 4 (P: PPh3 or SPhos), complex 3 exhibits a novel OH-bridged Ag(i)-Cu(iii) dinuclear structure with XPhos-coordinated linear Ag(i) and square planar Cu(iii) components. This is the first heterobimetallic Cu(iii)-CF3 complex confirmed by both solution-phase NMR spectroscopy and solid state X-ray crystal structure analysis. Complex 3 is found to have the LUMO orbital of major σ*(Cu-CF3) nature and electrophilic CF3 ligands. Accordingly, complex 3 is able to trifluoromethylate 2 equivalents of aryl boronic acids in up to quantitative yields, regardless of the inert or oxidative conditions. In contrast, the ion-pair complexes 2 and 4 show low reactivity. This study enriches the coordination and reactivity chemistry of Cu(iii)-CF3 compounds and shows the feasibility of modulation of structures and reactivity by ligand design, which may inspire future efforts on Cu(iii)-CF3 chemistry.


Nearly 2,500 years ago the Greek historian Thucydides noted that the foreign policy of Athens was driven by fear, interest and honour. That these motives continue to drive policy even today is reflected in the three approaches most commonly employed in the study of international relations: realism and neo-realism, which emphasise the pursuit of power and security in an anarchical international system characterised by the security dilemma; liberalism and neo-liberalism, which highlight interdependence and the pursuit of economic interests; and institutionalism and constructivism, which stress upon identity and the quest for prestige and social recognition.1 How does India's approach to its Asian neighbourhood fit within this three-dimensional framework of fear, interest and honour? That is the question which this commentary explores.


Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterium that causes a worldwide zoonotic disease, Q fever. Since C. burnetii infection is an occupational hazard and could develop into severe chronic disease in humans, vaccination should be considered to protect individuals at-risk of contact with naturally infected animals or exposure to the agents. Although several vaccines produced from Phase I whole-cell C. burnetii are effective in protecting against the infection in humans, vaccination of previously sensitized people can induce severe local and occasional systemic reactions. Safe use of these vaccines requires screening of potential vaccinees by skin tests, serological tests, or in vitro lymphocyte proliferation assay. Since these procedures are time-consuming and costly, they limit the use of whole-cell vaccines in a mass vaccination program. Efforts have been underway to develop a safer, more effective new-generation vaccine that will not cause adverse reactions when given to someone with pre-existing immunity. This article describes new information relating to the characterization of acquired immunity to C. burnetii infection that will provide a fundamental understanding of the development of protective immunity against Q fever. Recent works focused on development of recombinant vaccines against this pathogen offers promise in the pursuit of a new Q fever vaccine.


Individuals will experience strong traumatic memories after traumatic events such as earthquakes, car accidents, or loss of loved ones, the most common of which is fear memory. In this experiment, a multi-sensory compound stimulation model (electric stimulation + picture) was used as the conditional stimulus, and the skin electrical response was used as the index of fear response. The effect of retrieval-extinction paradigm on the conditional fear extinction was tested. In addition, high-frequency rTMS was introduced as a treatment.To explore the therapeutic effect of TMS on conditional fear, with the aim of providing new measures for the treatment of PTSD.


Adsorption and dissociation of gaseous carbon monoxide (CO) on metal surfaces is one of the most frequently occurring processes of carburisation, known as primary initiator of metal dusting corrosion. Among the various factors that can significantly influence the carburisation process are the intrinsic surface defects such as single surface vacancies occurring at high concentrations due to their low formation energy. Intuitively, adsorption and dissociation barriers of CO are expected to be lowered in the vicinity of a surface vacancy, due to the strong attractive interaction between the vacancy and the C atom. Here the adsorption energies and dissociation pathways of CO on clean and defective Fe 110 surface are explored by means of density functional theory. Interestingly, we find that the O adatom, resulting from the CO dissociation, is unstable in the electron-deficit neighbourhood of the vacancy due to its large electron affinity, and raises the barrier of the carburisation pathway. Still, a full comparative study between the clean surface and the vacancy-defected surface reveals that the complete process of carburisation, starting from adsorption to subsurface diffusion of C, is more favourable in the vicinity of a vacancy defect.


Interest in risk analysis for non-native freshwater fishes and other organisms is increasing. Unfortunately, complete risk analysis for a single species is data-intensive, time-consuming, and expensive. A relatively quick and simple screening process may be able to identify species as low or high risk and other species where the risk level is more moderate or uncertain. The Fish Invasiveness Scoring Kit (FISK) was developed in the United Kingdom (UK) as a screening tool to assess potential invasiveness of non-native freshwater fishes. The method is semi-quantitative and provides a scoring framework for biogeographical, historical, biological, and ecological information on a species. Higher scores indicate higher risk. We created a list of non-native freshwater fishes introduced into peninsular Florida, scored two sample species using the online FISK toolkit, and determined risk categories for each species based on original and UKcalibrated FISK. Over 120 fish species were introduced into peninsular Florida, with 33 currently reproducing. Barramundi Lates calcarifer, a species not introduced into open waters but used in Florida aquaculture, scored high risk in the FISK. This agreed with a recent risk assessment of the species in Florida. Nevertheless, the score was only a minimal value for high risk in the UKcalibrated FISK. Zebra danio Danio rerio scores were at the minimum value for "evaluate further." Previous risk assessment in Florida considered zebra danio to be very low risk. Lack of variation between two scorers for both species suggested that scorers with different levels of experience can come to a similar conclusion using FISK. Future work will evaluate the remaining species, calibrate the scoring thresholds for Florida, and develop a web-based tool of the modified Florida FISK.


Bioactive ORMOSILS (organically modified silicate), PDMS-CaO-SiO2-P2O5 with five different P2O5 content (0, 0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09 mol%) have successfully been synthesized by sol-gel process. The hybrids have been prepared with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), calcium nitrate tetrahydrate [Ca(NO3)2 4H2O] and triethyl phosphate (TEP) as starting materials and subsequently soaked into the simulated body fluid (SBF) for different period of time and the bioactivity of hybrids was determined by examining the apatite formation on the surface of the specimen by FT-IR, Thin-Film X-ray Diffraction, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). All of the prepared samples with different P2O5 content showed in vitro bioactivity. It was observed that the increase in P2O5 content up to 0.03 mole % increases the apatite formation compared to P2O5- free hybrids. However, further increase in P2O5 concentration slows down the formation of the apatite layer most probably due to the decrease of pH of SBF by dissolution of a large amount of phosphate ions.


Creating a snapshot of current thinking about psychoanalysis, this lively collection examines the legacy of Freud and Lacan. Through provocative and penetrating arguments, the contributors take psychoanalysis to task for 0ts dark view of human nature, theoretical sorcery, devaluation of femininity, self-referentiality, discipleship, negativity, ignorance of history and more. The essays also examine the complex relationships between Freudian and Lacanian theory and philosophy, feminism, anthropology, communications theory, deconstruction, Foucauldian genealogy and medical history. The outstanding list of contributors includes Paul Roazen, Francois Roustang, John Forrester, Rodolphe Gasche, Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen and Jacques Derrida.


The fast development of sensing devices and radios enables more powerful and flexible remote health monitoring systems. Considering the future vision of the Internet of Things (IoT), many requirements and challenges rise to the design and implementation of such systems. Bridging the gap between sensor nodes on the human body and the Internet becomes a challenging task in terms of reliable communications. Additionally, the systems will not only have to provide functionality, but also be highly secure. In this paper, we provide a survey on existing communication protocols and security issues related to pervasive health monitoring, describing their limitations, challenges, and possible solutions. We propose a generic protocol stack design as a first step toward handling interoperability in heterogeneous low-power wireless body area networks.


During Pleistocene time, the Bermuda Islands repeatedly underwent partial inundation and re-emergence. The land areas were continuously attacked and reduced by rain and ground water but repeatedly renewed, during times of submergence, by deposition of marine limestone and by contemporaneous additions of shore-born and wind-transported carbonate sand, now eolianite. Soils formed under subaerial conditions are now buried beneath later deposits and constitute important stratigraphic markers. The igneous foundation rock appears to have been exposed during some low marine stands, and the former shore lines seem to be recorded by submerged terraces. The major karst features are largely below sea level, and they must date from times of continental glaciations. Previous writers have assigned eolian accumulation to times of Pleistocene low sea level and soil-making to times of interglacial high sea. Both conclusions are held to be erroneous.


Demand response (DR) is very important in the future smart grid, aiming to encourage consumers to reduce their demand during peak load hours. However, if binary decision variables are needed to specify start-up time of a particular appliance, the resulting mixed integer combinatorial problem is in general difficult to solve. In this paper, we study a versatile convex programming (CP) DR optimization framework for the automatic load management of various household appliances in a smart home. In particular, an L1 regularization technique is proposed to deal with schedule-based appliances (SAs), for which their on/off statuses are governed by binary decision variables. By relaxing these variables from integer to continuous values, the problem is reformulated as a new CP problem with an additional L1 regularization term in the objective. This allows us to transform the original mixed integer problem into a standard CP problem. Its major advantage is that the overall DR optimization problem remains to be convex and therefore the solution can be found efficiently. Moreover, a wide variety of appliances with different characteristics can be flexibly incorporated. Simulation result shows that the energy scheduling of SAs and other appliances can be determined simultaneously using the proposed CP formulation.


This paper is an empirical study of partial hedonic adaptation. It provides longitudinal evidence that people who become disabled go on to exhibit considerable recovery in mental well-being. In fixed-effects equations we estimate the degree of hedonic adaptation at -depending on the severity of the disability -approximately 30% to 50%. Our calculations should be viewed as illustrative; more research, on other data sets, is needed. Nevertheless, we discuss potential implications of our results for economists and the courts.


ABSTRACT The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a life story program on reducing Chinese American family caregivers' stress due to the burden of caregiving. This study conducted a quasi-experimental pre-posttest research design. A simple one-way ANOVA was performed to test the significance of the intervention on caregivers' burden. The life story was not found to be directly statistically significant on reducing burden. However, through the life story intervention, it was discovered that among Chinese American family caregivers their perceived lower dependency of the care receiver, fewer needs of the care receiver and unknown time frame of continuation of care were statistically significant on the burden scale. The life story intervention improved family caregivers' insight and judgment on the effect that care receivers' needs and demands had on their continuation of caregiving.


Background: The incidence of acute hamstring injuries is high in several sports, including the different forms of football. Purpose: The authors investigated the preventive effect of eccentric strengthening of the hamstring muscles using the Nordic hamstring exercise compared with no additional hamstring exercise on the rate of acute hamstring injuries in male soccer players. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: Fifty Danish male professional and amateur soccer teams (942 players) were allocated to an intervention group (461 players) or a control group (481 players). Players in the intervention group conducted a 10-week progressive eccentric training program followed by a weekly seasonal program, whereas players in the control group followed their usual training program. The main outcome measures were numbers of overall, new, and recurrent acute hamstring injuries during 1 full soccer season. Results: Fifty-two acute hamstring injuries in the control group compared with 15 injuries in the intervention group were registered. Comparing intervention versus the control group, overall acute hamstring injury rates per 100 player seasons were 3.8 versus 13.1 (adjusted rate ratio [RR], 0.293; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.150-0.572; P < .001). New injury rates per 100 player seasons were 3.1 versus 8.1 (RR, 0.410; 95% CI, 0.180-0.933; P = .034), whereas recurrent injury rates per 100 player seasons were 7.1 versus 45.8 (RR, 0.137; 95% CI, 0.037-0.509; P = .003). Number needed to treat [NNT] to prevent 1 acute hamstring injury (new or recurrent) is 13 (95% CI, 9-23) players. The NNT to prevent 1 new injury is 25 (95% CI, 15-72) players, and NNT to prevent 1 recurrent injury is 3 (95% CI, 2-6) players. Conclusion: In male professional and amateur soccer players, additional eccentric hamstring exercise decreased the rate of overall, new, and recurrent acute hamstring injuries.


Few studies have addressed the evolutionary relationships within Polygonaceae from a global perspective. The convoluted taxonomic history of Polygonaceae is a major barrier to understanding evolution in this group, and only portions of it have been included in systematic treatments. Phylogenetic studies have been limited in both taxon sampling and amount of data. Our objective is to identify clades within Polygonaceae and to provide a global estimate of phylogenetic relationships in this morphologically diverse and geographically widespread group. We include a total of 75 species representing approximately 40 of the 55 named genera in the family. We use three chloroplast regions (rbcL, matK, and ndhF) and the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer to understand the phylogenetic relationships in Polygonaceae. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood are used to analyze the data. Symmeria is the sister group to remaining Polygonaceae sampled, and there is strong support for this placement. Afrobrunnichia branches next but has only moderate support. Two large clades comprise Polygonaceae, generally corresponding to those found in previous molecular analyses. Circumscription of most of the currently recognized subgroups within Polygonaceae did not agree with clades identified in the total data analyses, with the exception of Rumiceae Dum.


Patients with high-risk and advanced prostate cancer require safe and efficacious therapies likely to offer a survival advantage while minimizing the treatment-related toxicities. Improvements in the surgical technology, diagnostic modalities, radiological staging, and risk stratification have made surgery for high-risk and advanced prostate cancer a safe and feasible option. In this review, we outline the role of radical prostatectomy in high-risk localized, locally advanced, and metastatic prostate cancer. We overview available data evaluating the use of surgery in the context of a multi-modal approach and highlight ongoing trials in this area. Furthermore, the role of surgery as a non-systemic modality for metastasis-directed therapy (MDT) is also described. Emerging imaging modalities enabling more accurate staging and longer follow-up of clinical trials for prognostic endpoints are anticipated to help identify patient cohorts and treatment strategies, where the use of surgical treatments is likely to provide oncological benefits and acceptable toxicity.


Rice is the most important food crop in the world, feeding over half the world's population. However, rice water use efficiency, defined by units of yield produced per unit of water used, is the lowest of all crops. The aim of this thesis was to study the effect of plant hormones and the root microbiome on drought tolerance in rice. The new plant hormone, strigolactone, was shown to be upregulated under drought and to regulate drought tolerance in interaction with the drought-hormone abscisic acid. Using a large collection of rice genotypes grown in the field, we showed that the composition of the root associated fungal microbiome is determined by the rice genotype and can contribute to drought tolerance.


Mitochondrial dysfunction can lead to diverse cellular and organismal responses. We used DNA microarrays to characterize the transcriptional responses to different mitochondrial perturbations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . We examined respiratory-deficient petite cells and respiratory-compe-tent wild-type cells treated with the inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation antimycin, carbonyl cyanide m -chlorophenylhydrazone, or oligomycin. We show that respiratory deficiency, but not inhibition of mitochondrial ATP synthesis per se, induces a suite of genes associated with both peroxisomal activities and metabolite-restoration (anaplerotic) pathways that would mitigate the loss of a complete tricarboxylic acid cycle. The array data suggested, and direct microscopic observation of cells expressing a derivative of green fluorescent protein with a peroxisomal matrix-targeting signal confirmed, that respiratory deficiency dramatically induces peroxisome biogenesis. Transcript profiling of cells harboring null alleles of RTG1, RTG2, or RTG3 , genes known to control signaling from mitochondria to the nucleus, suggests that there are multiple pathways of cross-talk between these organelles in yeast.


To accomplish the demand of minimum fuel consumption and good power performance for continuously variable transmission (CVT) car. Aiming at the whole vehicle model including the engine, the clutch and the CVT, the dynamics mathematical model of CVT system is established according to different stages of clutch engaging, that the dynamic integrated simulation model is developed. A parameter self-adjusting speed ratio fuzzy controller is devised and the typical operation states of the car are simulated and the results are analyzed in detail. The simulation results indicate that the speed ratio fuzzy controller has good control effect compared with the conventional PD controller. The running tests of whole vehicle verify further that the simulation model established is correct and the control arithmetic about speed ratio is feasible and effective.


There are many challenges involved in online participatory humanitarian response. We evaluate the Planetary Response Network (PRN), a collaboration between researchers, humanitarian organizations, and the online citizen science platform Zooniverse. The PRN uses satellite and aerial image analysis to provide stakeholders with high-level situational awareness during and after humanitarian crises. During past deployments, thousands of online volunteers have compared pre- and post-event satellite images to identify damage to infrastructure and buildings, access blockages, and signs of people in distress. In addition to collectively producing aggregated "heat maps" of features that are shared with responders and decision makers, individual volunteers may also flag novel features directly using integrated community discussion software. The online infrastructure facilitates worldwide participation even for geographically focused disasters; this widespread public participation means that high-value information can be delivered rapidly and uniformly even for large-scale crises. We discuss lessons learned from deployments, place the PRN's distributed online approach in the context of more localized efforts, and identify future needs for the PRN and similar online crisis-mapping projects. The successes of the PRN demonstrate that effective online crisis mapping is possible on a generalized citizen science platform such as the Zooniverse.


The purpose of this research was to explore whether those with certain demographic and personal characteristics, including gender, age, cohort, number of children, marital status, citizenship, race, current employment status, income, and institutional satisfaction level, are more or less likely to respond to open-ended questions placed at the beginning, middle, and end of an online alumni survey. Using data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), a series of chi-squared and means comparisons analyses were done to compare whether or not respondents provided an answer to three different open-ended questions throughout the survey. Findings suggest that there are some group differences in likelihood of response, which could be explained by time burden, negativity bias, and self-identification as "other."


The software program HEC-RAS from the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) of the US Army Corps of Engineers is probably one of the most commonly used methods in the world for computing water surface profiles in rivers. The energy method (one of the four bridge subroutines within HEC-RAS) computes the bridge backwater (the upstream surface increase) by applying standard step calculations five times from the end of the expansion reach up to the beginning of the contraction reach, using two different transition loss coefficients and different reach lengths. The aim of this study was to estimate the backwater in a less cumbersome and practical way, without sacrificing accuracy. A one-step energy method is suggested, based on a comprehensive set of laboratory bridge backwater data from compound channels. The proposed method gives an absolute mean error of 10% when applied to these laboratory data and an absolute mean error of 25% when applied to field data collected by the United States Geological Survey inclu...


Objective: The aim of the study was to find retinal sensitivity values with and without pupil dilatation in normal individuals. Methods: Cohort study on 60 normal individuals was carried out. All individuals were subjected to perimetry to measure retinal sensitivity. Fixation loss, false positive, false negative, pattern defect, overall defect, fluctuations, hill of vision (HoV) slope and HoV slope 3 ⁰ were examined during the test. Normal pupil range were taken as 2 - 4mm and dilated pupil was declared if it is ≥6 mm. Tropicamide 10% drop was instilled in both eyes to dilate pupil. Perimetry was done before and after dilatation. Paired sample t-test applied to analyze data. P value less than 0.05 was taken as significant. Retinal sensitivity values were taken using Medmont central static threshold perimeter. This study was conducted in the month of October, November and December 2014. Results: Out of 60 normal subjects 33 were males and 27 females. Retinal sensitivities values observed in each eye (N=120) before and after pupil dilatation were compared. Shapiro-Wilk test applied and the data were parametric. By applying paired sample t-test, there was no significant difference between Pattern defect, Overall defects, and HoV slope with and without pupil dilatation (p ˃ 0.42, p ˃ 0.28 and p ˃ 0.16 respectively). But there was marked differences between fluctuations with and without pupil dilatation (p<0.000001). Conclusion: There is no significant difference in retinal sensitivity before and after pupil dilatation. This study recommends that perimetry can be done with dilated pupils. Another study is required to validate this data in abnormal eyes particularly in glaucomatous eyes.


BACKGROUND
Massage is a popular treatment choice of athletes, coaches, and sports physical therapists. Despite its purported benefits and frequent use, evidence demonstrating its efficacy is scarce.

PURPOSE
To identify current literature relating to sports massage and its role in effecting an athlete's psychological readiness, in enhancing sports performance, in recovery from exercise and competition, and in the treatment of sports related musculoskeletal injuries.

METHODS
Electronic databases were used to identify papers relevant to this review. The following keywords were searched: massage, sports injuries, athletic injuries, physical therapy, rehabilitation, delayed onset muscle soreness, sports psychology, sports performance, sports massage, sports recovery, soft tissue mobilization, deep transverse friction massage, pre-event, and post exercise.

RESULTS
RESEARCH STUDIES PERTAINING TO THE FOLLOWING GENERAL CATEGORIES WERE IDENTIFIED AND REVIEWED: pre-event (physiological and psychological variables), sports performance, recovery, and rehabilitation.

DISCUSSION
Despite the fact clinical research has been performed, a poor appreciation exists for the appropriate clinical use of sports massage.

CONCLUSION
Additional studies examining the physiological and psychological effects of sports massage are necessary in order to assist the sports physical therapist in developing and implementing clinically significant evidence based programs or treatments.


Abstact: This investigation aims at establishing a new understanding of Plato's notion of artistic beauty. It will be argued that Plato's theory of beauty is in perfect agreement with his metaphysical system, and is based on the Pythagorean notion of beauty, as this is reflected in the principles of proportion and harmony. Hence it will be shown that Plato's ideas of κάλλος and καλὸν in the later books of the Republic and the Laws reflect the voice of a "Pythagorean Plato." According to this view, the essence of what is intrinsically beautiful in art (τέχνη) is of an abstract and rational nature. It is the result of the combination and unity of the rational elements of symmetry, rhythm, and harmony.


[1] We have identified a spatially extended electron current sheet (ECS) and its adjacent magnetic island during a magnetotail reconnection event with no appreciable guide field. This finding is based on data from the four Cluster spacecraft and is enabled by detailed maps of electron distribution functions and DC electric fields within the diffusion region. The maps are developed using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations with a mass ratio mi/me = 800. One spacecraft crossed the ECS earthward of the reconnection null and, together with the other three spacecraft, registered the following properties: (1) The ECS is colocated with a layer of bipolar electric fields normal to the ECS, pointing toward the ECS, and with a half width less than 8 electron skin depths. (2) In the inflow region up to the ECS and separatrices, electrons have a temperature anisotropy (Te∥/Te⊥ > 1), and the anisotropy increases toward the ECS. (3) Within about 1 ion skin depth (di) above and below the ECS, the electron density decreases toward the ECS by a factor of 3–4, reaching a minimum at edges of the ECS, and has a local distinct maximum at the ECS center. (4) A di-scale magnetic island is attached to the ECS, separating it from another reconnection layer. Our simulations established that the electric field normal to the ECS is due to charge imbalance and is of the ECS scale, and ions exhibit electron-scale structures in response to this electric field.


In dielectric insulating materials subjected to alternating electric fields there are energy losses associated with polarization mechanisms and resistivity. A typical dielectric material used for insulation of high voltage sub-marine cables is cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) produced from polyethylene (PE). Under production, PE can stagnate in high temperature thermal zones and consequently be subjected to thermal oxidation that introduces polar carbonyl groups to the polyethylene chain, which leads to increased energy losses, inferior insulating properties and subsequent degradation and eventually breakdown and failure of the cable. The oxidized polyethylene can contaminate the insulating material in the form of microscopic particles embedded in the material, that are difficult to detect and separate from the polyethylene granulate. In this work the focus have been on documenting the fundamental properties of the oxidized XLPE contaminations, such as complex permittivity, associated energy losses and breakdown strengths, compared to that of un-oxidized XLPE. In this thesis the thermal oxidation process of XLPE and PE has been studied in order to determine the degree of oxidation and carbonyl contents, using Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy. Three real contaminations was found, investigated and categorized. The contaminations was replicated through thermal oxidation of XLPE samples in a ventilated heat cabin at 170˚C. The electrical properties of replicated contaminations has been investigated using dielectric spectroscopy and breakdown strength-tests. At 50Hz the real relative per- mittivities is measured to be ε' = 2.30 for un-oxidized XLPE, ε' = 2.57 for category 1 samples, ε' = 2.72 for category 2 samples and ε' = 4.19 for category 3 samples. The lossy polarization process is characterized by the imaginary part of the permittivity ε''. It is seen that the dielectric losses are indeed increasing with the presence of polar carbonyl group, as expected from theoretical considerations. It is also seen that ε'' in oxidized samples increases as the frequency decreases, which indicates that the conductive process dominates the low frequency domain, and that the DC conductivity is higher in contaminations than in un-oxidized XLPE. Break- down tests was preformed using the ASTM D149 standard for dielectric breakdown testing. It was observed a decrease in breakdown strength in oxidized XLPE. The breakdown strengths decreased from (55.31±31)kV/mm in un-oxidized XLPE to (24.07±12.88) kV/mm in the most oxidized category 3 XLPE sample. As a consequence of the theories and experimental results presented in this work, it can be said that there is a causal relation between dielectric losses and breakdown strengths in oxidized XLPE material which can be sumerized as follows: The intro- duction of polar carbonyl groups through thermal oxidation to polyethylene causes increased permittivities and dielectric losses. Subsequently there will be a decrease in electric breakdown strength of the XLPE insulation. Contaminations of oxidized material embedded in a solid insulation system may pose a reliability issue and may eventually be the cause of breakdown and failure of the cable.


Diarrhea is the most common symptom of acute inflammation in gastrointestinal tract and the patients are isolated in order to inhibit transmission and to conduct investigations. Yet there is no standard test to distinguish gastrointestinal infection from more generalized diseases at admittance which might cause delay in therapy. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is produced upon injury by mesenchymal cells. On the contrary to chronic inflammation, HGF produced in the course of acute inflammation is biologically active and shows binding affinity to heparan sulphate proteoglycan (HSPG) and dextran sulphate (DS). Based on this phenomenon, an agarose gel containing DS was prepared and immobilized on loops to investigate the feces samples for the presence or absence of growth factors such as HGF with affinity to DS. The study is conducted as a clinical evaluation of an experimental model to distinguish acute infectious gastroenteritis from other causes of diarrhea. 656 fecal samples gathered consequently from patients seeking for bowel disturbances and healthy were tested by the test and the medical reports were investigated. Upon interaction with DS, methylene blue changes color to pink. This phenomenon was inhibited by HGF and converted by addition of anti-HGF antibodies to the samples. The test distinguished acute infectious gastroenteritis with high sensitivity and specificity (96% and 92% respectively) from other causes of diarrhea. We introduce a metachromatic experimental model that might distinguish acute inflammation in alimentary tract from other causes of diarrhea. This model might be used in developing rapid diagnostic tests.


The study of cell immobilization on delicate polymer by an air atmospheric pressure plasma jet (AAPPJ) is required for its medical application. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether AAPPJ treatment induce cell immobilization effect on delicate polymers without significant change of surface roughness by AAPPJ treatment. After surface roughness, dynamic contact angle, and chemical characteristics were investigated, the immobilization effect was evaluated with the mouse fibroblast L929 cell line. Surface roughness change was not observed (P > 0.05) in either delicate dental wax or polystyrene plate (PSP) as advancing and receding contact angles significantly decreased (P < 0.05), thanks to decreased hydrocarbon and formation of oxygen-related functional groups in treated PSP. Adherent L929 cells with elongated morphology were found in treated PSP along with the formation of immobilization markers vinculin and actin cytoskeleton. Increased PTK2 gene expression upregulated these markers on treated PSP.


This study examines the knowledge of miners, fishermen, fish sellers, and fish buyers regarding the linkages between elemental mercury, methylmercury, fish consumption, and health risks in and around mining areas in Ghana. While findings suggest that a clear grasp of the impacts of mercury on human health is lacking, few potentially polluted fish are consumed in the mining areas. Most customers prefer ocean fish from the Gulf of Guinea and freshwater fish from Lake Volta, neither of which is known for small-scale gold mining. Alarmist messages about contaminated fish from Ghanaian mining sites need to be treated with caution.


In this paper, we investigate human face recognition for facial images involving a high degree of in‐plane and out‐of‐plane 3‐D distortions such as rotation. In the proposed technique, we investigate the problem of invariant face recognition by considering four different classes of images. A small subset of images is used for every class to create a composite image, which represents each class. The proposed technique is implemented by using the fringe‐adjusted filter‐based joint transform correlator (JTC) technique due to its superior performance over alternate JTCs and the feasibility of its implementation in the optical domain. Furthermore, the utilization of the synthetic discriminant function to generate the composite image for enhancing the correlation output is also investigated. Computer simulation results are presented to show the validity of the proposed technique. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 30: 418–423, 2001.


Financial statements are important information for decision makers, because they contain the financial position, performance and changes in the company's financial position. However, determining the performance of a company can be used in various ways and functions to get benefits as information in determining the direction of company policy. The objectives of this research are to formulate the design of earning management formulations and models, measure intellectual capital, and the level of efficiency in the corporate services sector in Indonesia. Furthermore, testing is carried out to make a prediction model about the consequences of earning management actions, intellectual capital, and efficiency ratio on Company Performance in Indonesia. The chosen research subjects are the Health services sub-sector company and the Restaurant, Hotel and Tourism sub-sector operating in Indonesia from 2013 to 2018. The data analysis method used is Path Analysis. The results showed that only earnings management, intellectual capital from VACA, and efficiency of the SFA ratio only affect the Company's performance while the intellectual capital from VAHU and STVA has no effect on company performance. The implication of this research is that service companies in Indonesia still apply earnings management in conducting their business, while in terms of intellectual capital, the role is only the company's ability to utilize its capital.


A novel edge element method is proposed for the optimal control of the stationary Maxwell system with a nonvanishing charge density. The proposed approach does not involve the usual saddle-point formulation and features a positive definite structure in the associated equality constraints, for which optimal preconditioners are available in combination with conjugate gradient iteration. Our main results include error estimates and strong convergence for both the optimal edge element solution and the associated discrete Gauss laws. In particular, our analysis helps improve significantly the convergence rate established by Ciarlet, Wu, and Zou [SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 52 (2014), pp. 779--807] for the edge element method for the stationary Maxwell system. Numerical experiments are presented to verify the theoretical results.


This text takes a detailed and practical approach to what a model should do, how it should be structured, what it should contain and how to check the model and sort out problems.


We know little about how mitochondrial dynamic are regulated in the Purkinje cells. To explore it, we first set up a transgenic mice in which Purkinje cells expressed tdTomato in the cerebellum of Gad2-cre;ZsGreen-tdTomatofl/fl mice. Secondly Double stainings verified tdTomato cells were Calbinin (CB)-positive Purkinje cells, but not colocalized either with astrocyte marker GFAP or with microglia marker Iba1. Thirdly, application of RNAscope in situ hybridization with the identification of mRNAs of mitochondrial fusion (Mfn2), calcium transporter (Mcu and Nclx) and uncoupling proteins (Ucp2 and Ucp4) were used onto Purkinje cells for specific spatial analysis. The RNAscope assay used a semi‑quantitative H scoring guideline to evaluate the staining results. The number of bins ranges from 0–4 according to the ACD scoring system. Moreover, ACD scoring system was used to calculate the overall H scores of Dendritic Weighted Formula (DWF) and Soma Weighted Formula (SWF). Our data for the first time demonstrated that Mfn2 mRNAs expression was evident in Prukinje cells with the H scores of DWF and SWF as 60 and 139, respectively. And few Ucp4 mRNAs expression was present in dendritic shafts of Prukinje cells with the H scores of DWF and SWF as 14 and 103, respectively. It should be noted that Mcu mRNAs, Nclx mRNAs, as well as Ucp2 mRNAs expression were only scattered on both soma and dendrites in Prukinje cells with the low H scores of DWF and SWF. Double RNAscope profiling of mitochondrial molecules showed The data showed Mfn1 mRNAs are present only in the soma of the Purkinje cells, instead of processes. Double RNAscope showed almost none of dots of Drp1 mRNAs was co-localized with dots of Mcu mRNAs, as well as almost none of dots of Ucp2 mRNAs was co-localized with dots of Mfn2 mRNAs. All of these results show the mitochondrial Drp1/Mfn2/UCP4 convergence on the Purkinje cells. Finally, a major focus of present research will be to develop new and more specific molecules that tune the activity of the Purkinje cells activate or inactivate and to address diseases for which such druglike molecules may open therapeutic windows for Purkinje cells-related manipulation in the clinic. The molecular identification of drug targets, mechanism of action, and structural basis of their activity will crucially enable preclinical development.


The study explores the spatial patterns of poverty in Pakistan through two dimensions, asset accumulation and basic needs. For this purpose Pakistan Standard of Living Measurement 08-09 is employed to construct an Asset Index and a Basic Needs index, at a district level, through the use of household level indicators. The study finds a clear north south divide, with particular concentration of better off districts in the north east of the country. Additionally, regression analysis is carried out to help identify the macro level factors contributing towards the observed pattern. Results reveal infrastructural and industrial development to be significant factors behind a district's well-being. This indicates that public policy directed towards developing deprived districts should be cantered on these factors, specifically expanding road networks, and incentives for industrial development in those districts.


1 This case study performed at the largest gold mining village in the Philippines compares four methods for gold recovery: amalgamation, cyanide leaching, a shaking sluice, and Cleangold® sluices. The results show that a combination of manual panning or Cleangold® sluices followed by cyanidation is the best solution under present conditions, followed by cyanidation alone. Based on the knowledge obtained, remarks on suitable policy actions, which maybe applied also in other gold fields, are made.


The aim of this article is to elucidate the processes that characterize natural language interpretation. The basic hypothesis is that natural language interpretation can be characterized as an optimization problem. This innovative view on interpretation is shown to account for the crucial role of contextual information while avoiding certain well- known problems associated with compositionality. This will become particularly clear in the context of incomplete expressions. Our approach takes as a point of departure total freedom of interpretation in combination with the parallel application of soft constraints on possible interpretations. These constraints can be contextual, intonational or syntactic in nature. The integration of pragmatic and syntactic/semantic information in a system of ranked constraints is proposed to correctly derive the optimal interpretations in cases of nominal anaphorization, determiner quantification and elliptical comparatives.


The significant variation of the laser output can be caused by feedback of a small part of laser beam, which is reflected or backscattered by a target at a long distance from laser source, into the laser cavity. This paper describes and analyzes theoretically and experimentally the influence of atmospheric turbulence on interference caused by laser feedback. The influence depends upon both the energy of feedback into the laser cavity and the strength of turbulence over a laser propagation path in the atmosphere. In the case of stronger energy of feedback and weak turbulence variance of fluctuation of the laser output can be enhanced by hundreds to thousands times. From our measurements and theoretical analysis it shows thatthese significant enhancements can result from the change of laser-cavity-modes which can be stimulated simultaneously and from beat oscillations between a variety of frequencies of laser modes. This also can result from optical chaos inside the laser resonator because a non-separable distorted external cavity can become a prerequisite for optical chaos.


The effect of indomethacin, a prostaglandin (PG) synthesis inhibitor, on some cardiovascular reflexes was studied in healthy subjects. Heart rate (HR) and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) in the basal state and during carotid stimulation (neck suction), Valsalva ratio, and changes in heart rate and blood pressure (BP) during an orthostatic test were measured before and one hour after administration of indomethacin (1.5 mg/kg). The efficacy of the PG synthesis inhibitor was monitored by analysis of platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid. Following indomethacin no change was observed in basal HR. Carotid stimulation depressed the HR and this effect was of the same amplitude before and after indomethacin. The amplitude of RSA was not affected by indomethacin, either in the basal state or during carotid stimulation. The Valsalva ratio and the changes in HR and BP during the orthostatic test were similar before and after the drug. Circulating levels of noradrenaline were unaffected by indomethacin. These data demonstrate that inhibition of PG bioformation in man does not affect major cardiovascular reflexes. Consequently they disfavour the hypothesis that endogenously formed PG would be involved in the normal activity of the afferent, central or efferent pathways for cardiovascular regulation.


In this paper, the author argues that globalist egalitarians may face a dilemma between a generous welfare policy such as a national basic income (NBI) for all residents, and an egalitarian immigration policy such as open borders, because NBI may have a welfare magnet effect that generates pressure for tightening of borders or restricting NBI to citizens only. However the case for open borders is weaker to the extent that global transfers (such as might occur with a regional basic income or global basic income) address the economic inequities and motives for migration. In the absence of such global or regional institutions, NBI advocates can justify border restriction and a waiting period for BI entitlement, to the extent necessary to prevent a worsening of the condition of the least advantaged compatriots, as temporary measures on a path toward global justice.


Abstract In high-altitude settings of Central Asia the Endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia has been recognized as a potential umbrella species. As a first step in assessing the potential benefits of snow leopard conservation for other carnivores, we sought a better understanding of the presence of other carnivores in areas occupied by snow leopards in China's Qilianshan National Nature Reserve. We used camera-trap and sign surveys to examine whether other carnivores were using the same travel routes as snow leopards at two spatial scales. We also considered temporal interactions between species. Our results confirm that other carnivores, including the red fox Vulpes vulpes, grey wolf Canis lupus, Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and dhole Cuon alpinus, occur along snow leopard travel routes, albeit with low detection rates. Even at the smaller scale of our camera trap survey all five carnivores (snow leopard, lynx, wolf, red fox and dhole) were observed. Kernel density estimates suggested a high degree of temporal overlap between the snow leopard and the fox, and the snow leopard and the lynx, as indicated by high overlap coefficient estimates. There is an opportunity to consider protective measures at the local scale that would benefit various species simultaneously. However, it should also be recognized that snow leopard conservation efforts could exacerbate human–wildlife conflicts through their protective effect on other carnivore species.


Today it is possible to evaluate the reliability of the Internet. Prior approaches to measure network reliability required telecommunications providers reporting the status of their own networks, resulting in limits on the precision, timeliness, and availability of the results. Recent work in Internet measurement has shown that network outages can be observed with active measurements from a few sites, and from passive measurements of network telescopes (large, unused address space) or large network services such as content-delivery networks. We suggest that these kinds of *third-party* observations of network outages can provide data that is precise and timely. We discuss early results of Trinocular, an outage detection system using active probing developed at the University of Southern California. Trinocular has been operating continuously since November 2013, and we provide (at no charge) data covering about 4 million network blocks from around the world. This paper describes some results of Trinocular showing outages in a large U.S. Internet Service Provider, and those resulting from the 2017 Hurricane Irma in Florida. Our data shows the impact of the Broadband America policy for always-on networks, and we discuss how it might be used to address future policy questions and assist in disaster planning and recovery.


This thesis explores the experiences of adult immigrant students within four different classes of the course Swedish as a second language (svenska som andrasprak :SAS), which is a standardized course offered around Sweden. This course is structured by the national school board in Sweden and is aimed as a social policy for integration through language acquisition and learning to navigate Swedish society. By conducting anthropological research among these students, I sought to uncover more regarding the determinants for success within the course and how students mediate and experience the one-size-fits-all course structure despite the asymmetrically distributed forms of capital within the classroom. Students responded with resentment and frustration, which highlights how this structure for education can be ineffective and suffers from a lack of 'pedagogic transmission.' This thesis will highlight the determinants of success that should be incorporated into the structure and execution of SAS as well as putting the students' voices on a platform that is not often regarded when designing curriculums.


Lynch syndrome is a hereditary cancer predisposition from pathogenic variants in mismatch repair (MMR) genes, conferring an increased lifetime risk of colorectal cancer up to 70%. Many healthcare facilities utilize universal tumor screening (UTS) of colorectal tumors through microsatellite instability (MSI) testing or immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining for MMR protein expression. These screening tests identify individuals at risk to carry a pathogenic variant in a Lynch related gene. This pilot study analyzed levels of patient distress among colorectal cancer patients who had UTS or who had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 50, and subsequently underwent genetic counseling at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hereditary GI Tumor Program, and patients with normal UTS who were seen in the surgical oncology center without genetic counseling. Patients were asked to complete a series of validated questionnaires (PHQ-8, GAD-7, IES-R) to evaluate their levels of depression, generalized anxiety, and trauma associated with their diagnosis of cancer at three points. For those who received genetic testing, the MICRA questionnaire was completed after receiving genetic test results to evaluate impact of the results on distress. Given the small number of participants (n=23), nonparametric tests were used to assess the differences in patient distress over time. Levels of distress were measured in both groups at all three time points. For a given individual, there was no statistically significant difference in any distress scores across the three time points within the case group. Analysis of baseline distress between patients in the case group and the control groups were not statistically significant, however the mean values of patient distress trended higher across the case sample compared to the control sample. The impact of test result type on distress levels did not identify a statistically significant difference (p=0.727). While not statistically significant, increased levels of uncertainty were observed in the case group after receiving genetic testing results as compared to controls. Understanding the impact of UTS on patient-associated distress has important public health implications and may assist in patient support to alleviate psychological distress and further the assessment of UTS as a public health application.


This study examined parents' reported use of peer management behaviors (i.e., communicating preferences, communicating disapproval, supporting friendships, and information seeking) and linked these behaviors to (a) adolescents' self-reported psychosocial adjustment and friendships and (b) parents' beliefs about adolescents' peer relationships (i.e., perceived efficacy in managing adolescents' friendships and concerns about adolescents' friendships). The participants were 269 parents (161 mothers, 108 fathers) and their predominantly White adolescents in Grades 6 and 9 (N = 177). Results suggest that parents may be more apt to use some behaviors (e.g., communicating disapproval and information seeking) when there are indications that their adolescents are engaged in problem behaviors and have friends who are deviant. In addition, parents' concerns about their adolescents' friends mediate the relationship between adolescent problem behaviors and parents' communications of disapproval. Parents' peer management is promising as a route to understand further the nature of parent-peer linkages.


Background: The association between current tobacco smoking, the risk of developing COVID-19 and the severity of illness is an important information gap. Methods: UK users of the COVID Symptom Study app provided baseline data including demographics, anthropometrics, smoking status and medical conditions, were asked to log symptoms daily from 24th March 2020 to 23rd April 2020. Participants reporting that they did not feel physically normal were taken through a series of questions, including 14 potential COVID-19 symptoms and any hospital attendance. The main study outcome was the association between current smoking and the development of classic symptoms of COVID-19 during the pandemic defined as fever, new persistent cough and breathlessness. The number of concurrent COVID-19 symptoms was used as a proxy for severity. In addition, association of subcutaneous adipose tissue expression of ACE2, both the receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and a potential mediator of disease severity, with smoking status was assessed in a subset of 541 twins from the TwinsUK cohort. Results: Data were available on 2,401,982 participants, mean(SD) age 43.6(15.1) years, 63.3% female, overall smoking prevalence 11.0%. 834,437 (35%) participants reported being unwell and entered one or more symptoms. Current smokers were more likely to develop symptoms suggesting a diagnosis of COVID-19; classic symptoms adjusted OR[95%CI] 1.14[1.10 to 1.18]; >5 symptoms 1.29[1.26 to 1.31]; >10 symptoms 1.50[1.42 to 1.58]. Smoking was associated with reduced ACE2 expression in adipose tissue (Beta(SE)= -0.395(0.149); p=7.01x10-3). Interpretation: These data are consistent with smokers having an increased risk from COVID-19.


Cloud photographs are available from geosynchronous weather satellites at intervals of approximately 20 min. Sequences of such photographs show cloud motions over vast regions of the planet, providing a potential source of useful weather data, particularly over the oceans, since there are few weather-monitoring stations at sea. Our computer programs represent objective methods that require a minimum of human assistance to compute cloud motions. Computer algorithms are described for matching the earth's disk, giving a global registration; a more precise local registration is then achieved by matching landmarks. Accurate registration is needed because the satellite cannot be given an ideal synchronous orbit and perfect attitude stability. We have experimented with landmark templates of sizes 10×10 and 20×20 picture elements, representing 25-mi and 50-mi squares. An initial coarse scan of the template suggests where to try a succession of fine scans. The disk matching and the template matching are combined in the complete subsystem for registration. Properly registered cloud data are processed by means of the ISODATA clustering algorithm, which represents a cloud pattern by a number of cluster centers. Cloud motions are found by tracking these centers on successive pictures.


We present a physically-based approach to grasping and manipulation of virtual objects that produces visually realistic results, addresses the problem of visual inter-penetration of hand and object models, and performs force rendering for force-feedback gloves, in a single framework. Our approach couples a simulation-controlled articulated hand model to tracked hand configuration using a system of linear and torsional virtual spring-dampers. We discuss an implementation of our approach that uses a widely available simulation tool for collision detection and response. We pictorially illustrate the resulting behavior of the virtual hand model and of grasped objects, discuss user behavior and difficulties encountered, and show that the simulation rate is sufficient for control of current force-feedback glove designs. We also present a prototype system for natural whole-hand interactions in a desktop-sized workspace.


1. Counseling in the Country at the Gress Mountain Ranch provides both educational programs (i.e., animal-assisted activities) and counseling sessions (i.e., animal-assisted therapy). 2. Animals who participate in the educational and counseling sessions include Great Pyrenees, cats, goats, horses, and mules. 3. Animals help people develop trust and overcome shyness. Sometimes the process is reciprocal. 4. Animals develop "specialist" roles, such as greeter or calming agent, and help people cope with their illnesses. Interacting with animals builds individuals' confidence and enhances their social skills.


We investigate the thermoelastic waves launched by a localized heat deposition. Pulsed laser excitation is used to generate mechanical perturbations in metals that are detected using the photothermal mirror method. This method detects the wavefront distortion of the probe beam reflected from the perturbed sample surface. Nanometer scale expansion of the material is induced just under the irradiated surface releasing transient thermoelastic waves of much smaller amplitudes on the surface. Numerical predictions and the experimental results are in a good agreement and represent both the thermal diffusion of the large amplitude, long-lasting outward bulge, and the released elastic waves.


ABSTRACT Payments for care, by which people in need of long-term care directly employ care workers, have been introduced in many European countries. In The Netherlands, care dependants are allowed to use these payments to hire relatives to perform care tasks. Care-givers who are employed by their relatives are in a hybrid position, because they are contracted as employees in the informal setting of a family home and its affective care relationships. This paper reports a qualitative study of relatives' experiences of payments for care and how these affect their care-giving. In-depth interviews were undertaken with 17 paid carers: they were asked to respond to three fictional vignettes of contrasting care trajectories. It was found that the cash nexus had mixed and partly contradictory implications for the paid care-givers. On the one hand, the care-givers were satisfied with the arrangement, as the payments recognised and raised their status as carers, and were seen as reward and reciprocation for their care work. Some carers had found that the contract helped manage strained relationships, by enabling a clearer differentiation of care tasks from affection. On the other hand, some who regarded themselves as employees and saw their role as equivalent to formal carers felt a greater obligation to provide high-quality care, and found that they were thanked less often and received fewer tokens of gratitude.


— Modern industrial processes are based on a large amount of electronic devices such as programmable logic controllers and adjustable speed drives. Unfortunately, electronic devices are sensitive to disturbances, and thus, industrial loads become less tolerant to power quality problems such as sags, swells, and harmonics. Voltage sags are an important power quality problem. In this paper proposed a new configuration of Static Var Compensator (SVC) considering three different conditions named as topologies and Booster transformer with fuzzy logic based controller, capable of compensating for power quality problems associated with voltage sags and maintaining a prescribed level of voltage profile. Fuzzy logic controller is designed to achieve the firing angles for SVC such that it maintains voltage profile. The online monitoring system for voltage sag mitigation in the laboratory using the hardware is used. The results are presented from the performance of each topology and Booster transformer considered in this paper.


We investigate the parametrization issue for real discrete-time stable all-pass multivariable systems by means of a real tangential Schur algorithm. A recursive construction of balanced realizations is associated with it, that possesses a very good numerical behavior. A chart selection strategy is given which makes use of the real Schur form of the dynamic matrix. Application to rational L/sup 2/-approximation is considered.


Using the methods of absorption spectroscopy, luminescence and EPR there has been studied the mechanism of solar energy accumulation by high boiling products of oil refining and by luminophors prepared on their basis within wide temperature range (77-550 K). The photochemical processes with participation of all main components of oil products and luminophors have been considered. The mechanisms of accumulation of solar energy of the studied products and luminophors have been considered. The mechanism of accumulation of solar energy of the studied products prior and above their pour points have been found to differ significantly. The light energy accumulation and its thermal luminescence have been established to occur with participation of free radicals, ions, peroxides and tetraoxides. It has been shown that low-temperature recombination luminescence takes place only by two-photon process, but photochemoluminescence-both by one photon and two-photon processes.


An 82-year-old woman visited the hospital with the chief complaint of dyspnea on light exertion. Computed tomography (CT) showed a coronary artery aneurysm and coronary arteriovenous fistulas. The pulmouary flow/systemic flow (Qp/Qs) ratio was 1.4, and the left-to-right shunt rate was 31%.Two anomalous vessels were identified. One arose from the right coronary artery, formed an aneurysm, and drained into the coronary sinus, while the other originated from the distal circumflex branch and drained directly into the coronary sinus. The aneurysm measured 50×45 mm. The anomalous vessel from the right coronary artery was ligated at the sites of flow from the right coronary artery and at the site of drainage into the coronary sinus. The circumflex artery was ligated at the last branch and at the site of drainage into the coronary sinus. The aneurysm was incised and the vessel flowing into the aneurysm was sutured closed. Postoperative CT showed no anomalous blood vessel and the circumflex artery was visualized up to the last branch.


The eye is a glucocorticoid target tissue which orchestrates expression of target genes through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). The classical function of GR involves its interaction with glucocorticoid to influence transcription of genes involved in numerous physiological processes which include inflammation. The first line of defence in the ocular tissues includes the mucosal barrier and expression of receptors that recognise pathogen. These mechanisms activate the innate immune response during inflammation, however, in the 'normal' eye, immunomodulatory components exist to promote immune privilege. 11beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1) regulates cortisol locally in tissues and has already been localised to to some ocular surface and intraocular tissues. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the functional role of 11β-HSD1 in the eye and the orbit and whether the 11β-HSD1 can be targeted to modify various disease processes in the eye. An animal model was used to characterise the pre-receptor regulation of glucocorticoids and this was further characterised in human ocular and orbital tissues and cells. The results showed that 11β-HSD1 is functional in certain ocular (corneal epithelial, fibroblast and conjunctival fibroblast) and orbital (orbital preadipocyte) cells. The data therefore emphasises the putative role of 11β-HSDs in the ocular and orbital microenvronment.


To the Editor:— A problem sometimes confronting operating room personnel is the "steaming up" of eyeglasses. Difficulties arise for persons who have high-bridged noses when the relative humidity in the room is high, either because of the climatic conditions or because a sterilizer is discharging steam into the room. Various glass-coating soaps and waxes cause disappointment, since their protection is incomplete and temporary, breaking down with high humidities and in the middle of long operations. The difficulty is met satisfactorily by a mask bearing a strip of lead or aluminum molded to the bridge of the nose. A special mask is needed that has a cloth channel for receiving the metal strip. The deep openings lateral to a high-bridged nose are thereby sufficiently closed so that expiration occurs, as it should, through the meshes of the mask. This presupposes proper adjustment and tightening, of course. There is some advantage in


In the same way that students of Shakespeare discuss their "Supreme Quartet" of plays, so Irish Studies has its own quartet of writers, Yeats, Joyce, Beckett and Wilde, whose fame is outstanding and worldwide. The inclusion of Wilde in the quartet may surprise some, but it is an incontrovertible fact that scholars are coming to appreciate Wilde's importance as a major influence on 20th century literature. Over the past years, conferences on all four members of this Irish quartet have been organized by the Princess Grace Irish Library of Monaco (the proceedings of each being published in this series), the most recent, on Wilde, in 1993. This collection of papers given at that conference, covers every aspect of Wilde's oeuvre, not only considering his plays, poetry and novels, but his family, his influence on writers both in English (such as Joyce and Stoppard) and in other languages (including Marti, Dario, Borges and Lispector). How influential and far-reaching he has become can be seen by the nationalities of those who attended the conference and contributed papers: Antonio Ballesteros Gonzalez, Mariano Baselga, Pia Brinzeu, Edward Burns, Richard Allen Cave, Davis Coakley, Jean M. Ellis D'Allessandro, Masolino D' Amico, Lawrence Danson, Denis Donoghue, Joseph Donoghue, Irene Eynat-Confino, Michael Patrick Gillespie, Robert Gordon, Warwick Gould, Merlin Holland, Joel H. Kaplan, Patricia Kellogg-Dennis, Melissa Knox, Jacques de Langlade, Donald Lawler, Jerusha Mccormack, Bart J. Moore-Gilbert, Isobel Murray, Sylvia Ostermann, Norman Page, Kerry Powell, Maria Pilar Pulido, Peter Raby, Gerd Rohmann, Roy Rosenstein, Neil Sammells, Ronald Schuchard, Theorharis Constantine Theoharis, Deirdre Toomey, Emmaneul Vernadakis, and Marie-Noelle Zeender. This is the eighth volume in the Princess Grace Irish Library Series.


A new approach to address the memory effects of the building component is demonstrated in the paper. As an output of the analysis, the probability distribution for the surface temperature and relative humidity is given, which is interesting for the determination of both thermal comfort and the risk of mold formation. Three different wall constructions are used in the example. The paper presents two calculation procedures. The first procedure is the probabilistic approximation based on the wall surface dynamic response (DTN model) to the external and internal climatic load. The probability distributions of moisture and thermal parameters, as well as a reliability analysis of the moisture performance of the walls, are carried out using FORM (firstorder reliability method). The results are then compared with the results obtained from the second procedure. In this, a transient one-dimensional HAM model is used for the calculation of the hygrothermal surface conditions, followed by a statistical analysis of the output.


The fraction of the incident light transmitted by various narrow slits of finite depth and with metal walls is measured for two states of polarization and two wave-lengths of the incident light. It is found: (1) that real, narrow slits do not transmit all the incident light; (2) that the transmission losses increase when the depth of the slit is increased, and decrease when the conductivity (or reflectivity) of the slit walls is increased; (3) that when a slit is more than about half a wave-length wide, light polarized with its electric vector parallel to the slit is transmitted better than light polarized with its electric vector perpendicular to the slit, and that for either state of polarization the fraction of incident light transmitted increases as the wave-length is decreased; (4) that a slit less than half a wave-length wide transmits light polarized with its electric vector normal to the slit only, and that in such a slit the fraction of incident light transmitted increases as the wave-length is increased. It is shown that the existence and order of magnitude of all these effects may be predicted from the electromagnetic theory of light, and that some of them may be expected from a consideration of the older scalar wave theory. The paper includes some brief notes on the transmission of light by dielectric slits and on the diffraction patterns produced by slits of finite depth, and concludes with some applications of the observed phenomena.


In 2011 IBM announced the Power 775 Supercomputing node/system which, for the time, was a significant increase in computing performance and energy efficiency. The system was designed from the start with water cooling in mind. The result: a system with greater than 95% of its heat load conducted directly to water and a system that, together with a rear door heat exchanger, removes 100% of its heat load to water with no requirement for room air conditioning. In addition to direct water cooling the processor, the memory, power conversion, and I/O electronics also conduct their heat directly to water. Also included within the framework of the system is a disk storage unit (i.e. disc enclosure) containing an interboard air-to-water heat exchanger.The heart of the water cooling system is the Water Conditioning Unit (WCU). The WCU circulates system water at a controlled temperature and flow rate while also transferring the electronics heat load to the data center facility (building chilled water) system. The brain for this system is the motor drive and control assembly (MDA-WCU). In addition to the pump motor drive function, the MDA-WCU contains the control circuitry and associated firmware that maintains system water at a prescribed temperature above the room dew point irrespective of system and or facilities thermal/flow transients. It is also capable of error detection and fault isolation that, together with higher level system firmware, facilitates serviceability and availability. The paper will present the WCU and MDA-WCU design with an emphasis on the control methodologies and algorithms.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


A new transformer protection theory based on spectral entropy characteristics is put forward in this paper. First, the algorithm of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) and entropy are developed, and variation trends of spectral entropy characteristics are analyzed in the case of inrush currents and internal fault currents. EMD algorithm is used to conduct the accurate location of current breaks and the spectral entropy is calculated for all of the states. The advantages of the method are little computation, reliable and quick operation. The results of dynamic analog testing confirmed that the method is able to clear the internal fault reliably and quickly. Moreover, compared with the second harmonic restraint principle, the proposed algorithm has better performance.


Total flavonoid and individual hydroxycinnamoyl derivative (sinapic and caffeoyl-quinic acid derivative) contents were evaluated in the edible portions of freshly harvested broccoli (cv Marathon inflorescences) before and after cooking and in the cooking water. High-pressure boiling, low-pressure boiling (conventional), steaming and microwaving were the four domestic cooking processes used in this work. The predominant sinapic acid derivatives were identified as 1,2,2′-trisinapoylgentiobiose and 1,2′-disinapoyl-2-feruloylgentiobiose. In addition 1,2-diferuloylgentiobiose and 1-sinapoyl-2,2′-diferuloylgentiobiose were also identified in broccoli inflorescences. The results showed large differences among the four treatments in their influence on flavonoid and hydroxycinnamoyl derivative contents in broccoli. Clear disadvantages were detected when broccoli was microwaved, namely high losses of flavonoids (97%), sinapic acid derivatives (74%) and caffeoyl-quinic acid derivatives (87%). Conventional boiling led to a significant loss of flavonoids (66%) from fresh raw broccoli, while high-pressure boiling caused considerable leaching (47%) of caffeoyl-quinic acid derivatives into the cooking water. On the other hand, steaming had minimal effects, in terms of loss, on both flavonoid and hydroxycinnamoyl derivative contents. Therefore we can conclude that a greater quantity of phenolic compounds will be provided by consumption of steamed broccoli as compared with broccoli prepared by other cooking processes. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry


Power consumption analyzes of embedded processors indicate that a significant amount of power is consumed in accessing memory and in the control path. Based on this, and on the runtime characteristics of signal processing applications, we advocate the use of instruction buffering as a power-saving technique for processors for signal processing and multimedia applications. Two approaches, a decoded instruction buffer (DIB) and a decoded instruction cache, are considered. Performance improvements in representative applications in speech processing such as, the vector sum excited linear prediction (VSELP), linear prediction coding coefficient computation (LPC), and two-dimensional 2-D 8/spl times/8 DCT which is used in image compression, are provided. The reduction in power obtained is between between 25 and 30%.


The microcirculatory bed of the neurosecretory nuclei was studied post-mortally in three groups of patients with various levels of the functional activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary neurosecretory system (HPNS), namely basal, high and lowered. Sudden death from a heart attack was associated with signs of inhibition in the HPNS cells, edema manifestations in the HPNS zone, by a considerable increase in the number of functionally inactive capillaries, narrowing of their lumina and a decrease in their transport capacities determined by the level of alkaline phosphatase activity in their wall. These changes correlated with an elevation of the number of dark cells in the neurosecretory nuclei which suggests the existence of the functional connection between them.


This paper presents a critical overview of the way in which higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK have had their research activity subject to review. There have been six such reviews to date, the first two carried out by the Universities Grants Committee and, from 1992, by its replacement, the four UK higher education (HE) funding bodies (HE Funding Council for England, HE Funding Council for Wales, the Scottish HE Funding Council and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland). The paper provides a broad outline of the key elements of the process, focusing on the two more recent research reviews and their impact on the subject of education, with the references providing specific detail for those interested in the minutiae of the reviews.


An investigation into the effects of transient events on the wind turbine drive train is presented. Two transient events, normal stop and emergency stop due to grid loss, are studied focusing on the effects that these individual events have on the drive train. The analysis was conducted using two commercial software packages; GH Bladed to simulate the loads on the turbine and RomaxWIND to find the resulting effects of these loads on key bearings within the drive train. Time series of the turbine and overall drive train loads during these transient events are simulated using Bladed and these are applied to a detailed drive train model to find the loads on key bearings. A comparison between the two transient events shows that emergency stops are roughly 3 times more damaging than a controlled normal stop. In addition a comparison between the results obtained from reliability analysis and results from the modeling show that the model does not predict the most damage to be on the high speed shaft bearings as indicated by operational experience, rather, as might be expected from a simplified picture of the turbine, the bearings of the low speed stage are the most damaged. The results thus suggest that other effects such as misalignments are likely to be the cause of the frequent high speed shaft bearing failures rather than the loads applied through the drive train.


Adolescence is an important developmental period for the self. It is also a time when
young people are particularly vulnerable to depression. Despite this, researchers have
neglected to examine how young people spontaneously describe their self and how the self
is disrupted in adolescent depression. The aim of the four papers in this thesis is to describe
the content of the self in young people and examine associations between the self and
depression. Adolescents (n = 822) were recruited from three UK secondary schools, one in
Northamptonshire and two in Wiltshire. They completed a measure of self-concept, The
Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954) and depression symptoms, the Mood
and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ; Costello & Angold, 1988). A sub-sample (n = 584)
completed a measure of the possible self, a variant of the 'I Will Be' Task (Rathbone,
Salgado, Akan, Havelka & Bernsten, 2016). Data from the TST were combined and one
large dataset is used in all papers included in this thesis. MFQ data were also combined
and is presented in Papers 3 and 4 only. Data from the 'I Will Be' Task is described in
Paper 4 only. Paper 1 describes data of adolescent generated self-images. They are also
presented in a freely available database. The majority of self-images used by adolescents
were positive 'Traits'. These data were compared to adult self-images and demonstrated
that adults most often used 'Social roles' to describe the self. Paper 2 presents the
development of an adolescent-specific classification scheme to categorise self-images into
'aspects of the self'. Young people most often described themselves in relation to their
personal attributes, relationships with family members and their peer group. This
classification scheme was used in Paper 3. In the application of this classification scheme
in Paper 3, the valence of the self rather its complexity was associated with more severe
symptoms of depression. This was consistent with the cognitive theory of depression (Beck, 1967). Adolescents with a more positive self had less severe symptoms of
depression. In Paper 4, the possible self and depression symptoms were examined. The
valence of possible selves was associated with depression symptoms suggesting that young
people with more severe symptoms of depression had a more negative possible self.
Together, these results of the four papers suggest that an adolescent 'self' is different from
an adult 'self' and presents an adolescent-specific classification scheme devised to use for
this population. These findings also provide partial support for the cognitive theory of
depression and suggest that improving self-evaluation in the treatment of depression in
young people may be helpful.


This study is conducted in order to find out the sentence patterns used by the main characters in "101 Dalmatians" animated cartoon films. There are three main problems of the study: (1) What are the sentence patterns found in Pongo?s and Cruella?s dialogues? (2) What is the most dominant sentence pattern in Pongo?s and Cruella?s dialogues? (3) Are there any differences in their sentence patterns? The syntax theory used in this study is Stageberg?s Basic Sentence Patterns theory. It is supported by theory of Noun and Verb Phrases and also by the theory of part of speech. The dialogues of the two main characters, Pongo and Cruella are collected as the data and analyzed based on the theories above. From the analysis, it can be seen that not all the sentence patterns found in the dialogues, like pattern 8 and 9. The dialogues of Pongo are dominated by pattern 4 while Cruella?s are dominated by pattern 5 . Pattern 4 is Noun Phrase + Infnitive, pattern 5 is Noun Phrase + Transitive Verb + Noun Phrase. The writer found that although there is a difference in their sentence patterns, but the difference is not really significant since pattern 5 is the second predominant sentence pattern in Pongo?s and pattern 4 is the second predominant sentence pattern in Cruella?s As the result by doing this study, the sentence patterns of the main characters of "101 Dalmatians" animated cartoon film can be described.


In the past few years, we observed a wide adoption of practical systems that use Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems to improve human-machine interaction. Modern ASR systems are based on neural networks and prior research demonstrated that these systems are susceptible to adversarial examples, i.e., malicious audio inputs that lead to misclassification by the victim's network during the system's run time. The research question if ASR systems are also vulnerable to data poisoning attacks is still unanswered. In such an attack, a manipulation happens during the training phase of the neural network: an adversary injects malicious inputs into the training set such that the neural network's integrity and performance are compromised. In this paper, we present the first data poisoning attack in the audio domain, called VENOMAVE. Prior work in the image domain demonstrated several types of data poisoning attacks, but they cannot be applied to the audio domain. The main challenge is that we need to attack a time series of inputs. To enforce a targeted misclassification in an ASR system, we need to carefully generate a specific sequence of disturbed inputs for the target utterance, which will eventually be decoded to the desired sequence of words. More specifically, the adversarial goal is to produce a series of misclassification tasks and in each of them, we need to poison the system to misrecognize each frame of the target file. To demonstrate the practical feasibility of our attack, we evaluate VENOMAVE on an ASR system that detects sequences of digits from 0 to 9. When poisoning only 0.94% of the dataset on average, we achieve an attack success rate of 83.33%. We conclude that data poisoning attacks against ASR systems represent a real threat that needs to be considered.


A tragic dilemma is thought to arise when an agent, through no fault of her own, finds herself in a situation where she must choose between two courses of action, both of which ir would be wrong to undertake. I focus on tragic dilemmas that are resolvable, that is, where a reason can be given in favour of one course of action over another, and my aim is to examine whether Hursthouse 's virtue-ethical account of right action succeeds in avoiding two problems presented by tragic dilemmas. The first of these is that they produce the seemingly contradictory conclusion that an agent, in doing what she ought to do, acts wrongly, making it appropriate for her to feel guilt. The second is the paradox of moral luck, which consists in the conflict between the intuition that an agent cannot be held responsible for actions that are not fully voluntary, and the fact that she may nevertheless believe that she has done something morally reprehensible. I argue that if we accept Hursthouse 's separation of action guidance and action assessment, her account succeeds in solving the problem of contradiction. However, it does not completely avoid the problem of moral luck. I argue, against Hursthouse, that the virtuous agent can emerge from a tragic dilemma having acted well and that this is the conclusion we must arrive at if we want to avoid the problem of contradiction and of moral luck.


Extrarenal nephroblastoma (ERNB) is a rare disease. We report a case of ERNB in a 4-year-old boy complaining of abdominal pain and vomiting. Imaging showed a retroperitoneal mass and left hydronephrosis. The mass was completely removed by surgery. The pathologic diagnosis was ERNB with favorable histology. Postoperative chemotherapy was administered for 24 weeks with actinomycin D, vincristine, and doxorubicin. No signs of recurrence were found for the next 3 years. We consider 53 reports of ERNB and our own. Median age at diagnosis was 42 months. The most common site is the retroperitoneal space (44.4%), followed by the uterus (14.8%).


In the interconnected globe where service delivery is the success measure, cloud high availability (HA) is an indispensable area for enterprises. An HA-aware cloud system provides different approaches to handle the outages. This includes geo-redundancy, failover schemes, and HA-aware placement solutions. However, using real-cloud platforms to model HA-aware approaches is hindered by the configuration settings. To this end, simulation tools, such as CloudSim, can be used to evaluate HA solutions and a cloud resiliency against failures. CloudSim allows implementing of scheduling policies, but it does not support HA properties. This paper provides availability-aware CloudSim extension (ACE). ACE extends CloudSim with a graphical and textual modeling to ensure simplicity and reusability of cloud scenarios. ACE has added HA-aware modeling (HA metrics and failure/redundancy/interdependency models) and HA-aware scheduling (HA-aware placements, failover, repair, and load balancing policies) into CloudSim. With ACE, the creation of cloud scenarios is facilitated, and multiple HA-aware deployment solutions can be evaluated under different stochastic and deterministic events. ACE can assess the impact of different redundancy/failure models, and other performance policies to extract HA-aware lessons. In this paper, ACE is assessed on a cloud application to evaluate different redundancy/failure models and provide availability analysis of the HA-aware placement solution.


This paper presents a classification system in which learning, feature selection, and classification for incomplete data are simultaneously carried out in an online manner. Learning is conducted on a predefined model including the class-dependent mean vectors and correlation coefficients, which are obtained by incrementally processing the incoming observations with missing features. A nearest neighbor with a Gaussian mixture model, whose parameters are also estimated from the trained model, is used for classification. When a testing observation is received, the algorithm discards the missing attributes on the observation and ranks the available features by performing feature selection on the model that has been trained so far. The developed algorithm is tested on a benchmark dataset. The effect of missing features for online feature selection and classification are discussed and presented. The algorithm easily converges to the stable state of feature selection with similar accuracy results as those when using the complete and incomplete feature set with up to 50% missing data.


Life Partners, Inc., a viatical settlement company, has been enjoined from selling new life insurance policies until it complies with Federal securities laws. U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth stated that Life Partners did not comply with court orders to restructure its operations in such a way that its viatical settlement contracts would not constitute securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission asked that Life Partners be held in contempt of court, as the company is not registered to trade securities. Life Partners asked people to assign their life insurance policy to the company and not to individual investors. When the person died, the benefits were paid to Life Partners and then to investors. As a result, investors had no contractual rights against the insurance companies that issued the policies. The judge ruled that Life Partners had made some changes and improvements and would therefore not hold the company in contempt of court.