In children in developing countries, zinc deficiency may be common and associated with immune impairment and increased risk of serious infectious diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. Studies have evaluated the therapeutic effects of zinc supplementation during acute or persistent diarrhea. In studies of acute diarrhea, the illness duration has been found to be 9-23% shorter in zinc-supplemented than in control children. Diarrhea was also less severe in zinc-supplemented children. In studies of persistent diarrhea, the effect sizes were similar but were often not statistically significant, perhaps because of the small number of children participating in these studies. Trials that provided continuous daily zinc supplementation for 5-15 mo evaluated effects on the incidence of diarrhea and in some studies acute lower respiratory infections and malaria. The reduction in the incidence of diarrhea in the zinc-supplemented group in these studies ranged from 8% to 45%. A study that gave 2 wk of zinc supplementation found preventive effects against diarrhea for the 3 mo of surveillance. More limited data also suggest that the incidence of acute lower respiratory infection and clinical attacks of malaria may also be reduced by zinc supplementation. If these results are confirmed by meta-analysis of the existing trials and additional research, improvement of zinc nutriture should become a priority intervention to reduce the high burden of serious infectious disease in children in developing countries.


Summary A routine challenge is that of making inference on parameters in a statistical model of interest from longitudinal data subject to dropout, which are a special case of the more general setting of monotonely coarsened data. Considerable recent attention has focused on doubly robust (DR) estimators, which in this context involve positing models for both the missingness (more generally, coarsening) mechanism and aspects of the distribution of the full data, that have the appealing property of yielding consistent inferences if only one of these models is correctly specified. DR estimators have been criticized for potentially disastrous performance when both of these models are even only mildly misspecified. We propose a DR estimator applicable in general monotone coarsening problems that achieves comparable or improved performance relative to existing DR methods, which we demonstrate via simulation studies and by application to data from an AIDS clinical trial.


The concentration levels of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and particulates (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) in underground and elevated car parks in Kota Kinabalu city were studied for a period of six months. The maximum 15-min average concentration of CO in the underground car parks was found to be higher than in elevated car parks, both during weekends and weekdays. Meanwhile for NO 2 , the maximum concentrations were comparatively higher in elevated car parks than in underground car park. Results have shown that none of the CO and NO 2 concentration levels exceeded the Swedish STEL (15-min average) of 100 ppm and 5 ppm respectively. However, based on an 8-hr average, only CO concentration (26.0 to 29.5 ppm) in the WP underground car park during weekends has exceeded the Swedish Hygienic Limit (20 ppm). Most of the time, the maximum concentrations of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in the WP underground car park during weekends and weekdays were observed to be higher than in the CP elevated car park. Generally, the highest concentration levels of all the pollutants were observed to occur during rush hours. The concentrations of CO and particulates (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) in both car parks have indicated good correlations with the number of cars entering and leaving the car parks. These results have suggested that there is a relationship between the pollutants and the number of cars. Meanwhile, weak correlations between the NO 2 concentrations with the number of cars in both car parks were found and this could suggest that other factors have influenced the pollutant concentrations.


This special issue stems from an increasing awareness on the key contribution made by biometrics and biological indices in the quality classification of aquatic ecosystems. This theme has been the subject of passionate debate during the 13th European Ecological Federation (EEF) and 25th Italian Society of Ecology's (S.It.E.) joined congresses held in Rome in September 2015. In this frame, on the margins of the special symposium named " Biomonitoring: Lessons from the past, challenges for the future ", it was launched the idea of a special issue of the Journal of Limnology on the "aquatic" contributions presented at the conference. The present volume mainly reports these studies, enriched by few invited papers. Among the other things, the main message is the need of a better integration between sector knowledges and legislative instruments. This is even truer given the on-going climate change, and the necessity to record rapid changes in ecosystems and to elaborate effective/adaptive responses to them.


Clinical and experimental studies were under way to examine nonspecific adaptive reactions of blood in chronic brain ischemia. The electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells and differential blood count were studied in animals (rats) when simulating local and total brain ischemia, as well as in patients with stages I, II, and III dyscirculatory encephalopathy. General mechanisms responsible for changing the adaptive reactions of blood were found in varying chronic brain ischemia in the experiments and clinical observations. These characterize the activity of the pituitary-adrenal system and the state of an adaptive process in the body.


Enterprise control applications are becoming more and more complex, exploiting distributed object technology in multi-tier architectures. For educational purposes, the development of a manufacturing control laboratory that may emphasize the new control techniques and the overall integration of the system activities is a complex and challenging task. In the paper, an enterprise application solution that integrates the ERP concept in three-tier architecture with a Flexible Manufacturing System is presented. It contains modularized, distributed subsystems in configurable and maintainable software. Starting from the customer order, to planned order dispatch, the ERP main components and the information flow within the system is presented. The software architecture contains the ERP components that are implemented using Enterprise Java Beans, deployed in a J2EE application server. It enables transactions with the business environment, shop-floor system and the database. The application is conceptually designed and analyzed using a visual model developed in Unified Modelling Language.


The effect of the spin states of structural defects on the mechanical properties of a crystal is the subject of spin micromechanics, a discipline that emerged at the junction of solid state physics, spin chemistry, and plasticity physics. The main reason for considering the electron spin when discussing elementary processes in plastically deformed crystals is the solid experimental evidence of recent years that the multiplicity of excited short-lived defect pairs affects the way in which dislocations (plastic deformation carriers) move in various nonmagnetically ordered crystals. Because the contribution of defect spin states to mechanical properties can basically be found from magnetic field effects on plasticity, the systematization and analysis of recent experimental data on such effects are given the main attention in this review. In interpreting these effects, analogies between the elementary events of a dislocation overcoming an obstacle and the earlier studied spin-dependent processes (charge transfer, light emission, intermolecular chemical bond formation) are employed.


We found a consistent equation of reheating after inflation which shows that for small quantum fluctuations the frequencies of resonance are slighted different from the standard ones. Quantum interference is taken into account and we found that at large fluctuations the process mimics very well the usual parametric resonance, but proceeds in a different dynamical way. The analysis is made in a toy quantum mechanical model and we discuss further its extension to quantum field theory. PACS number: 9880C


An adolescent's subjective experiences of mindfulness were explored in a single case study of a 17-year-old female. Data were created by means of 'mindfulness sessions', unstructured interviews, creative expression, journals and field notes. The data were analysed and interpreted using a combination of typological and interpretive analysis strategies. Findings are presented within a conceptual framework of mindfulness derived by the main author from the literature review. Five themes emerged from the data in relation to the conceptual framework applied, namely present-centered awareness and attention, attitude and heart qualities, self-regulation, universalism and mindlessness. Overall findings suggest firstly that the participant subjectively experienced mindfulness as being predominantly task-oriented. Secondly, it appears that the participant experienced personal growth and development in terms of her understanding and practice of mindfulness. These findings could make a potential contribution towards qualitative research on mindfulness, and research on how mindfulness could possibly apply to an adolescent. Studies have shown mindfulness to be a potentially promising intervention and quality to be cultivated in the development of well-being. The study is thus significant in the context of positive psychology and a move towards more holistic health and well-being.


Previous studies have indicated that temperature regulation is related to social behavior (for an overview, see IJzerman et al., 2015; IJzerman & Hogerzeil, 2017). However, precise causal relationships between temperature and social behaviors are unclear. These links may be better understood by frequently measuring temperature in daily life and mapping those measurements onto social behaviors. The primary purpose of the present study was to enable such studies by validating a new wireless temperature sensor, the Insight SiP ISP131001, for human peripheral temperature measurement in daily life. In our exploratory dataset, we found moderately high correlations between two ISP131001 sensors and a comparison sensor (r = .81 for the average of our two ISP sensors). These correlations [replicated/did not replicate] in our confirmatory dataset (r = .xx for the average of our two ISP sensors). A secondary purpose of this report is the inclusion of a standard set of relevant measures for social thermoregulation research. We propose that this standard protocol of measures be included in future social thermoregulation studies in order to facilitate and encourage data re-use and aggregation across studies.


The ability to determine ferrite rapidly, accurately and directly on a finished casting, in the solution annealed condition, can enhance the acceptance, save on manufacturing costs and ultimately improve service performance of duplex stainless steel cast products. If the suitability of a non-destructive ferrite determination methodology can be demonstrated for standard industrial measurement instruments, the production of cast secondary standards for calibration of these instruments is a necessity. With these concepts in mind, a series of experiments were carried out to demonstrate, in a non-destructive manner, the proper methodology for determining ferrite content. The literature was reviewed, with regard to measurement techniques and vagaries, an industrial ferrite measurement round-robin was conducted, the effects of casting surface finish, preparation of the casting surface for accurate measurement and the evaluation of suitable means for the production of cast secondary standards for calibration were systematically investigated. The data obtained from this research program provide recommendations to ensure accurate, repeatable, and reproducible ferrite measurement and qualifies the Feritscope for field use on production castings.


IN RECENT YEARS, outbreaks of diseases such as avian flu, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the Ebola virus, and mad cow disease have frightened the public, disrupted global commerce, caused massive economic losses, and jeopardized diplomatic relations. These diseases have also shared a worrisome key characteristic: the ability to cross the Darwinian divide between animals and people. None of these illnesses depends on human hosts for its survival; as a result, they all persist today, far beyond the reach of medical intervention. Meanwhile, humanity has become vulnerable to cross-species illnesses, thanks to modern advances such as the rapid transportation of both goods and people, increasing population density around the globe, and a growing dependence on intensified livestock production for food. The global transport of animals and animal products, which includes hundreds of species of wildlife, also provides safe passage for the harmful bacteria, viruses, and fungi they carry, not to mention the prion proteins that cause insidious illnesses such as mad cow disease and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. Adding to the risks is the fact thgt while many people in the developed world would scarcely recognize meat if it did not come wrapped in clear plastic, the vast majority of people on the planet today still slaughter animals for meat themselves or buy it fresh, salted, or smoked in open-air markets. These markets generally go


TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN BY JAMES HILL from The Gypsies, the Rom: A Culture at the Borders The gypsies are constantly pushed to assimilate into the dominant society, which imposes on them its rules and its patterns. They need to reconcile the need to modify themselves under the pressure coming from the surrounding society with the need to conserve intact their underlying identity. The Rom are a tiny population dispersed in the middle of another population hostile to them, infinitely stronger, on whom they depend for food, housing, and well-being. The gypsies must move among the non-gypsies everyday, often camouflaging their true identity, adapting themselves to the expectations of the non-gypsies in ways that contrast with their own integrity and that could, in the end, degrade and change their cultural identity. A mode of defense is necessary, an invisible cultural shield, behind which they can move in the midst of the non-gypsies with security, without being damaged. Judith Okely has demonstrated that the habits, the beliefs, and the customs of the English gypsies, in particular in regard to cleanliness, constitutes in reality a coherent system of symbolic borders to separate themselves ideologically from the non-gypsies. For the most part, this deals with customs regarding daily tasks such as the preparation of food, cleanliness, the allocation of space, customs which, if respected, guarantee the integrity of the gypsies in the midst of the alien culture. The customs and beliefs of the gypsies cannot be explained either in terms of archaic residues of an Indian past, nor as superstitions due to illiteracy, or other reasons that do not consider the surroundings into which they are inserted. Apparently habits disjointed and without meaning hide a logical system expressed in symbolic terms, capable of mediating between the gypsies and the external world. An ideology of separation expresses itself in numerous modes, powerful and invisible, thanks to which the gypsies continue to be Rom in the midst of the non-gypsies. One of these modes concerns the rapport among men, flesh, and animals. Among the Rom there is a curse, unique in its power to control the behavior of others and for the seriousness in the reactions it causes. "Te has tre mule" (literally, "Eat your dead") are words that, as a Rom has said, "are worth your life." In order not to hear this insult, that would constrain one to revenge oneself in order to escape the vendetta of the dead, a Rom is disposed to leave the area and to face whatever sacrifices. If the curse has been pronounced when there has been a recent death, speaking the name of the dead, these words are literally worth the life of him who has spoken them. The relative of the offended deceased has no other choice; he fears the wrath of the deceased more than the consequences of his own act. Up to now in Italy there are Rom in jails accused of attempted murder because of the consequences of an offense to the dead. Naturally, through trials, lawyers, judges and tribunals that seek to disentangle a tangle of improbable lies and inexplicable complicity and reticence, no one suspects the truth. On the other hand, in these cases, only a few people come to know what has really happened. The Rom whose relative has been thus offended keeps the affair to himself, even if he has to go to jail. To reveal the offense would mean dragging his family into an obligatory vendetta. There is, moreover, a very severe taboo that forbids the killing and consumption of whatever domestic animal, which may absolutely never be eaten, even if it had been killed accidentally. This taboo doesn't have to do with the consumption of meat in general, but only the flesh of domestic animals. It is the closeness between man and animal that creates the condition for the taboo. Why don't gypsies eat chickens and swine killed in the field? You don't have the heart to eat it. If they eat it, they will die of evil . …


The question of when the first humans arrived in the New World has been a bone of contention for several decades. Similarly, the age of rock paintings has been heatedly debated. Settlements in the Serra da Capivara National Park have been dated to between 5 kyr and >50 kyr, which is far older than the Clovis barrier. Moreover, calcite formation on a rock-wall painting in a rockshelter yielded thermoluminescence (TL) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) ages older than 35 kyr BP (Watanabe et al. 2003). In an attempt to contribute to this ongoing debate, we have studied calcite deposits covering prehistoric paintings from several rockshelters (Toca da Bastiana, Toca do Serrote de Moendas, and Toca da Gameleirinha [Pedra pintada]). Coupled AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) 14C and MC-ICPMS (multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) 230Th/U dating was performed in Toca da Gameleirinha. The ages obtained for these cal-cites are younger than 12 kyr and suggest that the paintings could be more recent than proposed by previous studies.


ABSTRACT Research into older people's use of remote controls, mobile phones, digital home appliances, and computerized communication systems reveals that many have difficulty accessing and using these everyday technologies. By using occupational justice theory as a lens onto this technological development, we argue in this commentary that critical analysis of the findings from an occupational perspective reveals systematic injustices that disadvantage certain sectors of the older population. In particular we propose that, contrary to what might be expected, diagnosis or disability is not the sole marker for a vulnerable population at high risk of occupational injustices. Rather, the empirical findings support that other aspects (e.g., economic, educational) may also be influencing both everyday technology access and use among the older population. In light of these concerns, we argue that (a) occupation-centred outcome measures are needed to target everyday technology populations at risk of occupational injustices, and (b) future studies evaluating the access and use of everyday technology among older people must also monitor and target socio-demographic diversities.


Following Brexit, the four countries that make up the UK will each treat basic payments to farmers differently. For farmers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland payments will remain the same – at least for now. For farmers in England, change is coming faster. Bad news can hit
 you with a bang or it can creep up on you. The changes at Britain's borders had an immediate impact, but for many farmers in England the consequences of losing income from the EU Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) are only now sinking in. For farmers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland payments
 will remain the same – at least for now. In July, Farmers Weekly (30th July, 2021, p.30) published a farmer survey which found that 95% of farmers received annual basic payment. A little over half get up to £30,000, and for larger farms the sums are considerably higher as
 the payment depends on the acres farmed. Now that Britain has left the EU, payments for English farmers will be phased out gradually with the last one to be made in 2027. Instead, they can apply for money through the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme (SFI), one of three programmes under
 the Government's Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMs). If that sounds complicated that is because it is. 'Public money for public goods' is Defra's catchy slogan, but at present it is still unclear how much money farmers will eventually be paid and for what – the
 four-year trial phase of the scheme only began this summer, the general SFI rollout is planned for the middle of next year. So far, only one thing is absolutely clear: ELMs will not be a full substitute for the EU Basic Payment Scheme. At best, farmers will be able to make up about a third
 of BPS through ELMs. The Farmers Weekly poll reflects what that means: three-quarters of farmers have no idea how their business will survive without BPS. Some 53% said it would be difficult to replace the lost income, with a further 26% unsure if they could. So, what can farmers do
 to make up for the loss?


Background and aims : The main objective of this research was finding the relations between musculoskeletal disorders and depression and anxiety (overt and covert) in emergency staff of hospitals supervised by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Method s: The research was descriptive- analytical study. Out of 600 staff of hospitals supervised by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 120 were selected randomly in 2012. Socio-demographic, Nordic Musculoskeletal Disorders, CES-D and Schpillberger anxiety scales were applied as research tools. SPSS v.19 software and statistical techniques such as t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and one- way ANOVA were employed for analyzing the data. Result s: Depression was lower and anxiety was upper than average amounts. There was significant relationship between depression and musculoskeletal disorders. Also, there was a significant difference in depression with respect to job title and educations. There were not observed such differences in overt and covert anxiety among staff. Staff with contract recruitment were suffering from depression more than other groups. It was found significant relationship between depression and anxiety, also overt and covert anxiety. Conclusion : The overt and covert anxiety of emergency staff is in the high level in order to the harmful nature of their jobs. Emergency managers and physicians have lower depression in comparison with other groups because of their low physical pressure. Further to the stressful nature of emergency job without concerning the job position, whole of the staff have high overt and covert anxiety.


In this investigation, the self-(in)compatibility of the Spanish cultivar Arbequina and the Greek cultivar Koroneiki was studied for the first time in Sicily, where these low vigour cultivars were recently introduced in super-intensive olive groves. Self- (S.P.) and open-pollination (O.P.) tests, observation of fruit set and paternity test of seeds with microsatellite (SSR) markers, were performed to ascertain whether these cultivars were self-fertile and/or inter-compatible. For S.P. tests, branches with flowers at the balloon stage were bagged. For the O.P. tests, flowers were left to pollinate under natural conditions. Fruits from S.P. and O.P. were collected in November and fruit set was calculated. Genomic DNA was extracted from seeds. None of the 'Arbequina' seeds studied in either the S.P. or O.P. tests originated from self-fertilization. In addition, none of these seeds had 'Koroneiki' as the pollen parent. In contrast, 'Koroneiki' was found to be predominantly self-compatible in self-bagged branches, with 70% of the seeds originating from self-fertilization. However, the incidence of self-fertilization was low (11%) in seeds from the O.P. test. Low levels of inter-compatibility were found between 'Arbequina' and 'Koroneiki', while many local cultivars were found to be good pollinators. The information presented here will be useful to growers for planning their orchards with suitable pollinators and for our breeding program aiming at obtaining new low vigour olive genotypes. In addition, our results suggested that the recent model of attribution of S-alleles and the prediction of suitable pollinizers for a given variety should be more cautious and always based on controlled crosses and paternity testing of seed from those crosses.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. African Americans have a higher risk of hypertension compared with other racial or ethnic groups in the United States. One possible explanation for this disparity is discrimination. Few studies have examined the association between discrimination and incidence of hypertension. We examined whether everyday discrimination, lifetime discrimination, and stress from discrimination were associated with incident hypertension and whether these associations differed by gender, age, discrimination attribution, and coping responses to discrimination among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study. Discrimination was self-reported by 1845 African Americans aged 21 to 85 years without hypertension at baseline (2000–2004). Participants completed 2 follow-up study visits from 2005 to 2008 and 2009 to 2013. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate associations of discrimination with incident hypertension. Overall, 52% (n=954) of the participants developed hypertension over the follow-up period. After adjustment for age, gender, socioeconomic status and hypertension risk factors, medium versus low levels of lifetime discrimination (hazard ratio, 1.49 [95% CI, 1.18–1.89]), and high versus low levels of lifetime discrimination (hazard ratio, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.07–1.68]) were associated with a higher incidence of hypertension. No statistically significant interactions with gender, age, attribution, or coping were present. Higher stress from lifetime discrimination was associated with higher hypertension risk after adjustment for demographics (hazard ratio for high versus low, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.01–1.40]), but the association was attenuated after adjustment for hypertension risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.14 [95% CI, 0.97–1.35]). Lifetime discrimination may increase the risk of hypertension in African Americans.


AIMS
To synthesize continuous associations between delayed reward discounting (DRD) and both addiction severity and quantity-frequency (QF); to examine moderators of these relationships; and to investigate publication bias.

METHODS
Meta-analysis of published studies examining continuous associations between DRD and addictive behaviors. Published, peer-reviewed studies on addictive behaviors (alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, stimulants, opiates and gambling) were identified via PubMed, MEDLINE and PsycInfo. Studies were restricted to DRD measures of monetary gains. Random-effects meta-analysis was conducted using Pearson's r as the effect size. Publication bias was evaluated using fail-safe N, Begg-Mazumdar and Egger's tests, meta-regression of publication year and effect size and imputation of missing studies.

RESULTS
The primary meta-analysis revealed a small magnitude effect size that was highly significant (r = 0.14, P < 10-14 ). Significantly larger effect sizes were observed for studies examining severity compared with QF (P = 0.01), but not between the type of addictive behavior (P = 0.30) or DRD assessment (P = 0.90). Indices of publication bias suggested a modest impact of unpublished findings.

CONCLUSIONS
Delayed reward discounting is associated robustly with continuous measures of addiction severity and quantity-frequency. This relation is generally robust across type of addictive behavior and delayed reward discounting assessment modality.


The microfluidics group at CWRU has demonstrated a thin film shape memory alloy actuated smart microvalve with feedback control for fluid control. A micromachined flow sensor was designed and fabricated and feedback control electronics were developed and incorporated with a TiNi microvalve to realize the system. The valve is a Titanium Nickel (TiNi) Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) thin film actuated micromachined valve capable of modulating 0–250 ml/min of airflow at 2 psi. The flow sensor used is a micromachined, anemometric type flow sensor. By simulation, the smart controller was designed using MATLAB with Simulink and realized with standard integrated circuits. The performance of the smart valve shows flow insensitivity to pressure variations across the valve. This was demonstrated by a constant flow even when the valve is subject to a change in the pressure drop across the valve. This is in contrast to the typical behavior of standard valves without flow sensing and feedback control.


Results of questionnaire survey of 275 physicians of major clinical specialties are provided in regard to 26 aspects of medical expertise. Information is provided which characterise physicians' knowledge of medical expertise provisions, the sources of this knowledge, the assessment of competence of this expert commission and of its director, ungrounded issue of sick lists, denial to identify factual disability, causes leading to this phenomenon and also ways of reducing the level of morbidity associated with temporary disability.


This research aims to find out whether there is a positive and significant correlation between the interest to read the results of the study grade V SD Tingkir Tengah 02 school year 2017/2018 Salatiga. The subject of this research is the grade V SD Tingkir Tengah 02 Salatiga a number of 30 persons. The variable in this study is of interest as a free variable, and read the results of the study as a bound variable. Data collection is done using the now as well as documentation of student learning outcomes. Technique of data analysis is a test using SPSS correlations.Based on the correlation of the test has been performed, the obtained value of 0.36 significance which means that value greater than 0.05 meaning not correlated. Interest in reading and learning results also had a negative correlation with the value of the degrees of correlation -385, * which declared negative. Values, 383 * entered into the range value of 0.21 up to 0.41, meaning the interest to read the results of the study have a weak correlation.


This monograph provides a structured overview of costing system research that can explain the variation in the characteristics and properties of costing systems found in practice based on firms' source(s) of their demand for cost information. Costing systems are not developed in a vacuum but are designed to fulfill a purpose. In order to have a meaningful decision on the various demands for cost information, I start in Part 1 by exploring the different techniques firms can use to supply cost information to its managers and employees. Next, I discuss how even the most advanced costing systems will contain error, and present research on how the production environment affects this costing error and what firms can do to reduce the error, outlining important avenues for future research. Part 2 then moves onto the sources of the demands for cost information. I first discuss the decision-making objective of costing systems, and the requirements it places on the preferred measurement object, which resources to include in the cost measurement, and the desired properties of the costing system. The most voluminous literature here is on the capacity acquisition and allocation decision problem, but I cover the demands on costing systems to support customer portfolio decisions, inventory management decisions and decisions on managing competition as well. This part also explores the demands for costing systems for the identification of cost management opportunities and inventory valuation to support financial and tax accounting in a chapter each. Part 2 concludes with a chapter on cost information supporting performance measurement and control, again with respect to the preferred measurement object, which resources to include and the costing system's preferred properties. Part 3 develops on the conflicting demands placed on costing systems by firms' attempts at designing costing systems that serve multiple purposes. Furthermore, this part also discusses the nature of the strategic interactions between those different demands.


In contrast with the usual coloration of stone crayfish (Austropotamobius torrentium), we newly discovered a rare marble morph in a brook in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). During mark-recapture sessions, we captured by hand 1,103 individuals over the 3 years 2008–2010 from which only 5 were marble-colored. This color morph's frequency of occurrence was thus less than 1% within the estimated subadult and adult stone crayfish population. Although many biological papers and determination keys regarding crayfish are based upon analysis of exoskeletal coloration, recent studies have asserted that this characteristic provides unreliable guidance when determining species inasmuch as it easily results in errors because many crayfish species exhibit an extensive variety of color morphs.


BACKGROUND
 The COVID-19 outbreak has increased challenges associated with health management, especially cancer management. In an effort to provide continuous pharmaceutical care to cancer patients, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) implemented a remote pharmacy service platform based on its already existing web-based hospital app known as Cloud SYSUCC.

 OBJECTIVE
 The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics, acceptance, and initial impact of the Cloud SYSUCC app during a COVID-19 outbreak in a tertiary cancer hospital in China.

 METHODS
 The total number of online prescriptions and detailed information on the service were obtained during the first 6 months after the remote service platform was successfully set up. The patients' gender, age, residence, primary diagnosis, drug classification, weekly number of prescriptions, and prescribed drugs were analyzed. In addition, a follow-up telephonic survey was conducted to evaluate patients' satisfaction in using the remote prescription service.

 RESULTS
 A total of 1718 prescriptions, including 2022 drugs for 1212 patients, were delivered to 24 provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government of China between February 12, 2020, and August 11, 2020. The majority of patients were female (841/1212, 69.39%), and 90.18% (1093/1212) of them were aged 31-70 years old. The top 3 primary diagnoses for which remote medical prescriptions were made included breast cancer (599/1212, 49.42%), liver cancer (249/1212, 20.54%), and thyroid cancer (125/1212, 10.31%). Of the 1718 prescriptions delivered, 1435 (83.5%) were sent to Guangdong Province and 283 (16.5%) were sent to other provinces in China. Of the 2022 drugs delivered, 1012 (50.05%) were hormonal drugs. The general trend in the use of the remote prescription service declined since the 10th week. A follow-up telephonic survey found that 88% (88/100) of the patients were very satisfied, and 12% (12/100) of the patients were somewhat satisfied with the remote pharmacy service platform.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The remote pharmacy platform Cloud SYSUCC is efficient and convenient for providing continuous pharmaceutical care to patients with cancer during the COVID-19 crisis. The widespread use of this platform can help to reduce person-to-person transmission as well as infection risk for these patients. Further efforts are needed to improve the quality and acceptance of the Cloud SYSUCC platform, as well as to regulate and standardize the management of this novel service.


A combination of equations describing diffusion, gas solubility, and mass conservation yields a general relation for oxygen transport in hemoglobin solutions. Total oxygen flux is shown to be the sum of the flux in the plasma and the flux due to transport by hemoglobin. The total flux depends not only on oxygen concentration gradient but also on absolute oxygen concentration.


The causes of maternal mortality are multiple. In Morocco the women die because the complications arising during the labor and the delivery are unnoticed or are not well taken into consideration. Besides, they die by trying to interrupt an unwanted pregnancy, without having access to appropriate services. The objective of this study is to determine the profile of women aborted and to propose preventive remedies to complications and maternal death. The study concerns a not composite population of 509 women. They have aborted during the year 2007, at the Souissi maternity hospital of Rabat Morocco. The results of the present study show that 41%of the cases are referred for pelvic pain, the women between 18 and 35 years old are the most exposed to the risks of abortion, 97%of the patients represent spontaneous abortion and the risk of abortion is increased during the first quarter with a rate of 72%.Antibiotics and ocytocics are administered to 64% of women, the rate of women presenting discolored conjunctive reach 72 % this explains that the risk of anemia is increased.


Rats were prepared with permanent electrodes for recording activities of the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) and made morphine dependent by the subcutaneous implantation of two morphine pellets. Abstinence was then precipitated by removal of the pellets 72 hr later. During the first 2 days after pellet implantation, high voltage slow activity appeared in the EEG during behavioral wakefulness and stupor, and sleep and REM sleep were greatly reduced. By the third day, tolerance to these effects developed. After pellet removal, REM sleep time during the first day was reduced. Wet dog shake activity reached a maximum during the second day of abstinence. Treatment of rats with cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP), 50 mg/kg intraperitoneally once daily prior to and during induction of morphine dependence and during withdrawal, markedly reduced the appearance of morphine-induced high voltage EEG slow activity after implantation of the morphine pellets. Behavioral arousal during the first 2 days after pellet implantation, on the other hand, was increased. After removal of the morphine pellets, sleep episodes occurred less frequently during the first day than in the control rats. The incidence of wet shakes at this time was also elevated. These results provide direct evidence for an involvement of brain cAMP in the mediation of the central effects of morphine.


Aims. Both empirical evidence and theoretical findings indicate that the stellar winds of massive early-type stars are inhomogeneous, i.e., porous and clumpy. For relatively dense winds, empirically derived mass-loss rates might be reconciled with predictions if these empirical rates are corrected for clumping. The predictions, however, do not account for structure in the wind. To allow for a consistent comparison, we investigate and quantify the effect of clumpiness and porosity of the outflow on the predicted wind energy and the maximal effect on the mass-loss rate of O-type stars. Methods. Combining non-LTE model atmospheres and a Monte Carlo method to compute the transfer of momentum from the photons to the gas, the effect of clumping and porosity on the energy transferred from the radiation field to the wind is computed in outflows in which the clumping and porosity stratification is parameterized by heuristic prescriptions. Results. The impact of structure in the outflow on the wind energy is complex and is a function of stellar temperature, the density of gas in the clumps, and the physical scale of the clumps. If the medium is already clumped in the photosphere, the emergent radiation field will be softer, slightly increasing the wind energy of relatively cool O stars (30 000 K) but slightly decreasing it for relatively hot O stars (40 000 K). More important is that as a result of recombination of the gas in a clumped wind the line force increases. However, because of porosity the line force decreases, simply because photons may travel in-between the clumps, avoiding interactions with the gas. If the changes in the wind energy only affect the mass-loss rate and not the terminal velocity of the flow, we find that the combined effect of clumpiness and porosity is a small reduction in the mass-loss rate if the clumps are smaller than 1/100th the local density scale height Hρ. In this case, empirical mass-loss determinations based on Hα fitting and theory match for stars with dense winds (Ṁ >∼ 10−7 M yr−1) if the overdensity of gas in the clumps, relative to the case of a smooth wind, is modest. For clumps larger than 1/10th Hρ, the predicted mass-loss rates exhibit almost the same dependence on clumpiness as do empirical rates. We show that this implies that empirical and predicted mass-loss rates can no longer be matched. Very high overdensities of gas in clumps of such large size may cause the predicted Ṁ to decrease by a factor of from 10 to 100. This type of structure is likely not to be the cause of the "weak-wind problem" in early-type stars, unless a mechanism can be identified that causes extreme structure to develop in winds for which Ṁ <∼ 10−7 M yr−1 (weak winds) that is not active in denser winds.


The phenolic compound profile and content of red wines are modified during the maceration-fermentation process by several factors that alter the extractability of the compounds and by reactions that phenolic compounds undergo, and can be directly related to the quality of the final wine and its beneficial effects on the consumer. The aim of this study was to determine the change in phenolic content and profile during cold pre-fermentative maceration and fermentation without the removal of grape pomace. Total phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanins, tannins and antioxidant capacity were determined by spectrophotometric methods, and the phenolic profile was determined by HPLC-MS on each day of the maceration-fermentation process. The results showed a variation in the content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity over time, but the final phenolic content showed no significative difference compared with the initial content (1 268 mg GAE/L and 1 115 mg GAE/L respectively). The phenolic profile showed that flavonoids were the principal compounds in wine and that they increased at the end of the winemaking. Condensed tannins also increased during fermentation, while anthocyanins and some phenolic acids decreased at the end of the process. The final content of phenolic compounds was similar to the initial one, but there was a change in the different fractions of phenolic compounds at the end of fermentation.


An increasing number of duplicates and near-duplicates can be found on websites for video sharing. These duplicates and near-duplicates often infringe copyright or clutter search results. Consequently, a high need exists for techniques that allow identifying duplicates and near-duplicates. In this paper, we propose a semantic-based approach towards the task of identifying near-duplicates. Our approach makes use of semantic video signatures that are constructed by detecting semantic concepts along the temporal axis of video sequences. Specifically, we make use of an image folksonomy (i.e., a set of user-contributed images annotated with user-supplied tags) to detect semantic concepts in video sequences, making it possible to exploit an unrestricted concept vocabulary. Comparative experiments using the MUSCLE-VCD-2007 dataset and folksonomy images retrieved from Flickr show that our approach is successful in identifying near-duplicates.


The article looks at how investors have historically used Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to gain exposure to Emerging Markets. However, in recent years we have seen a new development: ETFs are being listed on Emerging Market exchanges. Today, ETFs are listed in Latin American and Asian bourses, most notably in Mexico, Brazil, India, China, and Korea, while South Africa is leading the way on its continent. Some of these ETFs also have moved beyond just giving access to domestic securities, with many products now offering international exposure. The trend to invest both in and out of Emerging Markets via ETFs is clearly set to grow further. So what are the factors driving ETF growth on Emerging Market exchanges? How is the relationship of Emerging Markets with this exciting products class changing? The article references data from ETFGI, the independent research and consultancy firm, confirms that the adoption of ETFs in EMs has been strong, especially in relation to Developed Markets, albeit from a smaller base, and quotes Deborah Fuhr, its managing partner.


Immune function (response to concanavalin A, cytokine production, and lymphocyte profiles) and blood chemistry variables were measured in growing-finishing pigs (Yorkshire/Landrace/Duroc dam × Hampshire sire) fed varying percentages of CLA (0, 0.12, 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0%). Blood was collected at 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56 d on feed (DOF). Total white blood cell (WBC) count increased (P < 0.01) linearly to 42 DOF. No differences (P = 0.53) were observed for WBC across CLA treatment. Nitric oxide was greater (P < 0.01) for the 1.0% CLA treatment compared with all other treatments. Flow cytometry using fluorescent labeled monoclonal antibodies to the CD4, CD8, double-positive CD4/CD8, and CD2 surface markers was used to determine lymphocyte subpopulations. Supplementation of CLA had no effect (P = 0.61) on lymphocyte subpopulation cell distribution. Most blood chemistry variables were within the normal metabolic range for pigs. A decrease was observed over DOF for P (P < 0.01) and K (P < 0.05). Additionally, Na and Cl concentrations increased (P < 0.05) from 14 to 28 DOF and decreased over the remainder of the trial. Electrolyte balance was not different (P = 0.38) across CLA treatments and was likely explained by no differences in feed intake among the CLA treatment groups. Blood lipid variables indicated that total cholesterol (P < 0.001), triglycerides (P < 0.001), high-density lipoproteins (P < 0.001), and low-density lipoproteins (P < 0.01) increased as the amount of CLA in the diet increased, but none of the results from these treatments exceeded the normal range of acceptability. These results suggested that CLA was safe when fed to growing-finishing pigs and had little effect on their immune function and blood chemistry variables.


In many diverse ecosystems, ranging from natural surfaces in aquatic ecosystems to the mammalian gut and medical implants, bacterial populations and communities exist as biofilms. While the process of biofilm development has been well-studied for those produced by unicellular bacteria such Pseudomonas aeruginosa, little is known about biofilm development associated with filamentous microorganisms. Black band disease (BBD) of corals is characterized as a polymicrobial biofilm (mat) community, visually-dominated by filamen- tous cyanobacteria. The mat migrates across a living coral host, completely lysing coral tissue and leaving behind exposed coral skeleton. It is the only known cyanobacterial biofilm that migrates across a substratum, thus eliciting questions about the mechanisms and unique characteristics of this system. Fragments of the coral Montastraea annularis, five artificially infected with BBD and two collected from a naturally BBD-infected colony, were used to address these questions by detailed examination using scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM). In areas close to the interface of coral tissue and the mature disease band two types of clusters of cyanobacteria were observed, one with random orientation and one with parallel orientation of filaments. The latter exhibited active secretion of extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) while the randomly oriented clusters did not. Within the well developed band cyanobacterial filaments were observed to be embed- ded in EPS and were present as layers of filaments in parallel orientation. These observations suggest that BBD cyanobacteria orient themselves and produce EPS in a sequential process during migration to form the complex BBD matrix. Rev. Biol. Trop. 60 (Suppl. 1): 21-27. Epub 2012 March 01.


BACKGROUND
The role of end-of-life (EOL) care preferences and conversations in receipt of care near death for Latinos is unclear.

OBJECTIVE
This study examines rates and predictors of intensive EOL and hospice care among Latino and white advanced cancer patients.

DESIGN
Two-hundred-and-ninety-two self-reported Latino (n=58) and white (n=234) Stage IV cancer patients participated in a U.S. multisite, prospective, cohort study from September 2002 to August 2008. The Latino and white, non-Hispanic participants were interviewed and followed until death, a median of 118.5 days from baseline.

MEASUREMENTS
Patient-reported, baseline predictors of EOL care included EOL care preference; terminal illness acknowledgement; EOL discussion; completion of a DNR order; and religious coping. Caregiver postmortem interviews provided information regarding EOL care received. Intensive EOL care was defined as resuscitation and/or ventilation followed by death in an intensive care unit. Hospice was either in- or outpatient.

RESULTS
Latino and white patients received intensive EOL and hospice care at similar rates (5.2% and 3.4% for intensive care, p=0.88; 70.7% versus 73.4% for hospice, p=0.33). No white or Latino patient who reported a DNR order or EOL discussion at baseline received intensive EOL care. Religious coping and a preference for life-extending care predicted intensive EOL care for white patients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6.69 [p=0.02] and aOR 6.63 [p=0.01], respectively), but not for Latinos. No predictors were associated with Latino hospice care.

CONCLUSIONS
EOL discussions and DNR orders may prevent intensive EOL care among Latino cancer patients. Efforts should continue to engage Latino patients and caregivers in these activities.


ABSTRACT This article revisits the issue of polygyny in Islam and the conditions men must meet before considered acceptable. Justified by the third verse of Sūrat al-Nisāʾ, participating in up to four contemporaneous marriages was traditionally allowed for any man with two conditions: physically capable of doing so, and that he treats his wives justly. This study suggests that there is a third condition: the presence of a strong legal reason for entering an additional marriage. Moreover, this article determined that the polygyny was allowed to treat a societal ill 'the injustice towards the orphans', thus the context must be applicable in any similar cases. The Qurʾān strongly warns against harming orphans in any way. Therefore, men of that time found themselves trapped between two prohibitions: not fulfiling the rights of the orphans- to avoid the consequences of injustice even by mistake-, and falling into temptation due to their unused assets or their beauty -if the orphan was woman-. The verse of polygamy, therefore, provided the solution: allowing men to marry from women orphans, if this legal reason (fear of mistreating orphans) is in place.


Purpose: Several research studies have explored the abnormal crossing of the retinogeniculate and geniculocortical optic pathways in human albinos. This prospective study has dealt with visual evoked potentials (VEPs) of human subjects to identify the percentage of albinos with asymmetric VEPs. Patients and methods: A series of 16 albino patients ranging in age from 6 to 37 years were examined. They had measurable visual acuity, with or without nystagmus. Diffusion of flash stimuli not allowing selective study of the two visual pathways (direct and crossed), two stimulation patterns were used for VEP recordings: monocular full open field then hemi-field stimulation to isolate the activity of each visual pathway. Analysis: In the normally pigmented subject, fibers derived from the nasal half of the retina of each eye decussate at the chiasma, while temporal retinal fibers are uncrossed and project to the ipsilateral hemisphere. In albinos, the majority of temporal retinal fibers subserving the nasal field (from fixation to an eccentricity of about 20 ° ) anomalously cross with the nasal retinal fibers. Therefore with monocular stimulation, the evoked visual response should be obtained only in the contralateral hemisphere. The asymmetry, morphology and latency for the first major positive peak and the amplitude of the VEP were examined and compared with the normal population. Conclusion: We managed to demonstrate the characteristic VEP asymmetry only in 3 out of the 16 patients. The results presented herein lead to question the absolute validity of VEP abnormality in diagnosis of albinism for clinical purposes.


This study aimed to investigate whether alum sludge, a material that is normally disposed of in landfills as waste, could be used as capping material in crude oil contaminated soil capping applications. The remediation of a crude oil-contaminated site by in-situ capping was investigated by a parametric study using two-dimensional finite element analyses. In the finite element analyses, different crude oil contents (0%, 4%, 8%, 12%, and 16%), contaminated soil depths (0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 m), capping materials (alum sludge and compacted clay), and uniform surface loadings (2.0 and 5.0 kPa) were modeled, and the results of the analyses were evaluated in terms of displacement and factor of safety (FS) values. The results of this study showed that settlement increased with increasing crude oil content, contaminated soil depth, and surface loading conditions. However, the use of alum sludge as the capping material resulted in a lower settlement and lateral displacement, but higher FS values in comparison to those of the compacted clay for all the crude oil contents, contaminated soil depths, and surface loading conditions investigated. For all the cases studied, FS values greater than 1.5 were obtained for slope stability. Based on these results, it was concluded that alum sludge has favorable mechanical properties, and can be used as a comparable alternative to compacted clay for use in crude oil-contaminated site capping applications.


A growing body of evidence suggests that hunter effort varies temporally and spatially, affecting game populations in unexpected ways. We set out to identify sources of variation in the spatial distribution of hunter effort by ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus hunters during two time periods representing different spatial decisions: where to access a hunting location at the start of a hunt and where to hunt within it for the duration of the hunt. Pheasant hunters used direct and indirect information about the availability and accessibility of pheasants to make spatial decisions throughout their hunts, but the sources of information used at the beginning of hunts differed from those used for the duration of hunts. Hunter access point effort at the start of hunts was positively associated with proximity to public access signs and declined near marked safety zones around occupied structures and livestock, indicating that hunters responded to the spatial distribution and information content of public access infrastructure. Hunter effort within fields for the duration of hunts was positively related to predicted pheasant habitat use and negatively associated with correlates of physical exertion and increasing distance from field edges. Our findings indicate that hunters in the field are making spatial decisions in response to information about public land access, their own physical state, and perceived opportunity to encounter pheasants. Our results further suggest managers may be able to optimize public lands for wildlife habitat and recreational value without imposing new regulations by managing the information provided to hunters.


Given the increased attention of precious metals by investors and the finance literature as well as the growth of high frequency trading, the behaviour of intraday precious metal markets is of great interest and importance. Therefore, this paper examines the stylized facts, correlation and interaction between volatility and returns at the 5-minute frequency of gold, silver, platinum and palladium from May 2000 to April 2015. We study the full sample period, as well as three sub-samples to determine how high-frequency data of precious metals have developed over time. We find that over the full sample period that the number of trades has increased substantially over time for each precious metal while the bid-ask spread has narrowed over time, indicating an increase in liquidity and efficiency. We also find strong evidence of periodicity in returns, volatility, volume and bid-ask spread. Returns and volume both experience strong intraday periodicity linked to the opening and closing of major markets around the world while the BAS is at its lowest when European markets are open. We also show a bilateral Granger causality between returns and volatility of each precious metal, which holds for the vast majority subsamples.


This portal provides information for UC Health employees from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, UC Physicians, West Chester Hospital, Drake Center, and the Lindner Center of Hope.


It discusses the measurement principle and the mechanical structure of 3D non-destructive measurement device for the homogeneous entity. The measurement project and its operating process is discussed. The basic operation principle and components of this measurement device are pointed out. Based on the modern design theory, optimization design, dynamical design, the mechanical structure of the device is analyzed and improved for assuring measurement precision, structural intensity, and vibration characteristic of the device. The primary experiment devices and their precision are designed and analyzed. Proved through principium experiment, the structure satisfies the request of the measuring precision. The mechanical structure of this measure device is effective and feasible.


C onflicts over natural resources are on the rise in Latin America. In 2008, the honeymoon between Ecuadoran president Rafael Correa and the country's indigenous social movements quickly soured after he announced plans to introduce large-scale mining. Tumultuous protests ensued, though Correa won his reelection. The same year, a secessionist movement in eastern Bolivia, driven to wrest control of hydrocarbon resources from the national government, culminated in a massacre of indigenous government supporters in the department of Pando. In June, at least 33 people were killed, including civilians and police, after shooting erupted at a road blockade set up near the Amazonian town of Bagua, Peru, to protest the government's plans to ease private investment in the countryside. And in July, Marcelo Rivera, the founder of a local Salvadoran environmental group that opposes gold mining, was murdered. Since then, at least two more outspoken mining opponents in El Salvador have narrowly escaped murder attempts. Such conflicts are likely to recur. Even with a global downturn in foreign investing, capital has been flowing steadily into the region's growing mining and hydrocarbon sectors, as governments push the extraction agenda. Indeed, as Anthony Bebbington writes, the presidential decrees that touched off the violence in Peru were "only the most brazen" expression of a new continent-wide push to open up frontiers to various extractive industries. The articles in this issue make clear that conflicts over natural resources occur in a variety of "political environments"— from neoliberal Peru to anti-neoliberal Bolivia. The aim of this Report is thus to showcase examples of natural resource conflicts in which development projects and environmentalism collide, in the context of the region's "new extraction." Governments that promote extraction have shown little sympathy for dissenters, who are variously dismissed as naive and misguided. Their positions are often portrayed as somehow anti-national; after all, extraction is said to underwrite development and social programs that benefit the nation. In Ecuador, Correa has called his opponents on mining "childish," "nobodies," and "allies of the right." Yet, as Paul Dosh and Nicole Kligerman note, Correa has also taken much of the credit for the country's new Constitution, which contains some of the most progressive environmental provisions of any constitution in the world. The "natural resource protections granted in the Constitution," they emphasize, "stem more from the grassroots than from the National Palace, and this tension is likely to foster continued conflict in the months and years ahead." Addressing Bolivia, Linda Farthing writes that the Morales government has employed both environmentalist and developmentalist rhetoric without resolving the conflict between both orientations. Thus, while having praised Mother Earth and called for her to be respected, President Evo Morales also recently echoed Correa's arguments against extraction skeptics: "What, then, is Bolivia going to live off if some [environmental] NGOs say 'Amazonia without oil'?" It would be a mistake, however, to ascribe this push for extraction to governments alone. The social pressure to satisfy the Bolivia's dire economic needs through extractive industries is as strong as ever. Colleen Scanlan Lyons's piece on the opposition to the Porto Sul infrastructure project in Bahia, Brazil, depicts a different scenario. There, a kind of reconciliation between economic development and environmental stewardship is being proposed from the grassroots opposition to the project, which will provide transportation infrastructure to facilitate mining and agro-forestry exports from the interior. The project's opponents reject it partly on the grounds that it will spoil locally conceived plans for development through ecotourism and organic farming. For the sake of contrast, this Report includes an update by Katherine T. McCaffrey on the struggle to reclaim Vieques, Puerto Rico, in the years since the U.S. Navy vacated its base there in 2003. While it doesn't involve extractive industry, the Vieques issue centers on local residents' fight to secure a better future for themselves by demanding that the military clean up its toxic mess after decades of bombing exercises. Ironically, the cleanup has been stymied by the navy's former base land's having been designated as an eco-friendly sounding "wildlife refuge." 1


The depletion in circulating dendritic cells (DCs) and inverse correlation with viral load have been described in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the DC blood count in antiretroviral-treated patients might be predictive of viral load control independent of CD4+ T cell count. Plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) and myeloid DCs (mDCs) were enumerated using a newly developed flow cytometric assay based on TruCOUNT. A significant reduction of circulating pDCs and mDCs was detected both in untreated and -treated subjects. The probability of experiencing viral load increase according to pDC, and CD4 count at baseline was evaluated in 39 treated patients. Individuals with lower baseline pDCs were more likely to have an increase of HIV-RNA during the 30 month follow-up in comparison with patients with high pDCs (p <0.001). In particular, the pDC measurement may be useful in the context of a high CD4 count, to distinguish the patients who have virological failure despite high CD4 counts. These findings suggest that in treated patients the enumeration of circulating DCs, especially pDC count, can augment the predictive value of CD4 measurement in predicting virologic failure.


Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are not only a technology are primarily a development direction of current geography with major impact on the applicability of this science, becoming the meaning by which geography participates to the current scientific and technical revolution.
In our country GIS it is present only in a few curriculum, despite the global trends. However GIS can bring a number of benefits such as: an important role in education reform, acquiring specific skills, applicative character, and interdisciplinary.
Learning GIS concepts can be performed by a conventional method in university or using alternative methods such as: virtual class's online, video tutorials available on YouTube, accessing online help libraries, participating in blogs and forums conducted by the user community.
The question that interests us is primarily what resources are needed and what steps need to be taken for integration of GIS in geography classes in a high school for example.
To find out the opinion of students from the Touristic Geography from Bistrita extensions regarding the use of GIS in geography faculties, a questionnaire was applied regarding on geospatial technology and have been proposed several methods of training, specific training with the help of the computer.
We propose a series of steps for a project for teaching geography using ArcGIS platform. For a project of this kind we have to plane a series of educational activities that involve a gradual complexity of students who work. Geography didactic principles along with those specific to GIS form the basis of lesson plans, of tutorials and presentations made in this research.


Electrical records of the heart of the chick embryo can be obtained at 40 hours (15 somites). These earliest records show a fast and a slow component making up an R-T complex. The electrocardiogram of the third-day embryo is practically identical with that of the adult. The development of fibrils and of syncytial-like structure have been shown, however (Wieman, 1907), to appear first at the fifth day and therefore the characteristics of the electrical record of the chick9s heart cannot depend on the presence of these structures. The time relations of the earliest electrical records show a remarkable resemblance to those found in the adult hen although the adult heart weighs 14 gm. and the early embryonic heart not more than 1 mg.


Nonsteroid antiinflammatory preparations, influencing biosynthesis of renal prostaglandins, are able to produce certain changes in hemodynamics of the organ with successive ischemia. Administration of these preparation (indomethacin and voltaren) to rats in doses corresponding to human therapeutic ones, produces dystrophic changes in the canalicular epithelium of the nephron and appearance of infiltrates in the interstitium and in the lamina propria of the renal calyxes mucous membrane. Intercellular edema and changes in configuration of the cells, decreasing electron density of hyaloplasm, swelled mitochondria, diluted cysterns of the Golgi complex and of the endoplasmic reticulum--are general regularities in ultrastructural reorganization of the cells in response to administration of the two preparations. These changes differ only in degree of their manifestation. As demonstrate the results, the pharmacologic depression of the prostaglandin synthesis causes decreased blood supply of the kidneys and successive depression of their functional state. This can be considered as risk factors of the renal complications under treatment with the nonsteroid antiinflammatory preparations.


BACKGROUND
The literature shows that workplace bullying can lead to negative consequences for both individuals' health and professional outcomes. Most of these studies used cross-sectional designs and self-report questionnaires and further research is needed in order to explore long-term effects of workplace bullying.

OBJECTIVES
This follow-up study aimed to explore professional and psychological outcomes in a sample of subjects who required a specialized and multidisciplinary assessment for psychological problems related, in their opinion, to workplace bullying.

METHODS
The sample includes 71 patients with a baseline diagnosis of work-related psychological disorder who were assessed at follow-up by means of a structured telephone interview. The interview included structured questions about professional career developments and psycho-somatic health, and administration of the General Health Questionnaire-12.

RESULTS
62.0% of the participants were currently working and, of these, 59.1% had changed workplace after experiencing mobbing. Patients who changed workplace scored significantly higher on job satisfaction levels (p<0.01) and showed lower levels of social dysfunction (p<0.01) compared to those who did not change their job. Patients with a baseline diagnosis of Adjustment disorder/Post-Traumatic Stress disorder had higher levels of general dysphoria (p<0.04) and social dysfunction (p<0.01) at follow-up than other patients.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings  stress the importance of an accurate diagnostic assessment of mobbing-related psychopathological disorder. Victims of workplace bullying require early and continuous psychological support in order to promote their psychological well-being and work reinstatement.


As for structural beam of travelling bridge under reciprocate loads, at the bearing there will be a large change in stress of structure, while at the ends and midspan, the change of stress of structure will be simple. In this paper, based on the bearing features of travelling bridge structure, as well as features of steel-truss beam and steel box beam, a new composite structure, which is named as steel truss-steel truss box beam, is put forward. This new structure adopts steel box beam with truss inside at the bearings, and adopts steel truss beam at the midspan. Based on a certain engineering project, combined with ANSYS, according to a serious of sizes and structure styles, work of modeling, analysing and optimizing has been done in this paper. As calculating results showed, steel truss-steel truss box beam not only has higher bearing capacity, structural bearing capacity and a better wholeness, but also has a lower steel usage, which can provide references for similar composite structures' research in future.


In this paper, we study the entanglement structure of mixed states in quantum many-body systems using the negativity contour, a local measure of entanglement that determines which real-space degrees of freedom in a subregion are contributing to the logarithmic negativity and with what magnitude. We construct an explicit contour function for Gaussian states using the fermionic partial-transpose. We generalize this contour function to generic many-body systems using a natural combination of derivatives of the logarithmic negativity. Though the latter negativity contour function is not strictly positive for all quantum systems, it is simple to compute and produces reasonable and interesting results. In particular, it rigorously satisfies the positivity condition for all holographic states and those obeying the quasi-particle picture. We apply this formalism to quantum field theories with a Fermi surface, contrasting the entanglement structure of Fermi liquids and holographic (hyperscale violating) non-Fermi liquids. The analysis of non-Fermi liquids show anomalous temperature dependence of the negativity depending on the dynamical critical exponent. We further compute the negativity contour following a quantum quench and discuss how this may clarify certain aspects of thermalization.


The design and development of efficient and stable nuclear waste hosts has drawn intensive interest for long-lived lanthanides and actinides. A detailed investigation of their structure and potential structural evolution are crucial. In this study, we have synthesized lanthanum hafnate La2Hf2O7 nanoparticles (NPs) doped with uranium at different concentrations (0–10%) and investigated their structural transition. We have discovered that in our La2Hf2O7:U NPs, the uranium dopants are stabilized at both U4+ and U6+ oxidation states in which the U6+ oxidation state exists in octahedral uranate UO66− form. We also confirmed that the U4+ ions substituted the Hf4+ ions with a lifetime of ∼1.0 μs and the UO66− ions resided at the La3+ sites with a lifetime of ∼9.0 μs. More interestingly, the proportion of the U4+ ions in the La2Hf2O7:U NPs was higher than that of the UO66− ions at low doping level, but at the doping level higher than 2.5%, the fraction of the UO66− ions was greater than that of the U4+ ions. Furthermore, we studied the structural phase transformation from order pyrochlore to cotunnite of these La2Hf2O7:U NPs with increasing uranium doping level, and found that ordered pyrochlore phase favors the U4+ ions whereas disordered cotunnite phase favors the UO66− ions. We further used in situ Raman spectroscopy to confirm the reversible cotunnite to pyrochlore phase transformation of the La2Hf2O7:10%U NPs at 900 °C. Therefore, this work demonstrated the successful development of uranium doped La2Hf2O7 NPs and thorough characterization of the fundamental spectra of uranium ions, doping induced phase transformation, and structure–optical property correlation.


OBJECTIVE
Although the genetic etiology of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is known, limited information is available regarding the regulation of inflammation during attack-free periods. The aim of this study was to determine the alterations in serum copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) levels that may be associated with inflammation during attack-free periods in FMF patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study included 33 patients with FMF and 30 healthy volunteers. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), the serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level and serum levels of Cu, Zn and Se in FMF patients and healthy volunteers were assessed by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method.

RESULTS
ESR and serum CRP levels and serum Cu and Zn levels were similar between patients with FMF during an attack-free period and healthy controls (p>0.05). Serum Se levels in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
Our study shows that levels of trace elements in serum are variable in patients with FMF during attack-free periods. Serum Se concentrations may at least in part contribute to the subclinical inflammation in FMF patients during attack-free periods. However, further studies are necessary to confirm this result.


To simulate the whole process of anodic bonding accurately, this paper makes the research on the current of anodic bonding with area and point cathode respectively. Based on the known models of anodic bonding, novel current formulas are deduced for anodic bonding with area cathode by means of the relation between glass resistivity and temperature. After calibrated by statistics of experimental data, the formulas quantitatively describe the relation between bonding current with time, as well as bonding voltage and bonding temperature. Further, using spreading model of anodic bonding, an approach to dealing with the problem of point cathode current is presented. The experiments prove that the current formulas from the approach are able to indicate the law of point cathode current.


The activity of amylase, lipase and trypsin was increased and that of the trypsin inhibitor decreased in the blood serum of young peptic ulcer patients as compared with healthy persons. The antiulcerous dietetics normalized significantly the parameters studied. Similar highly pronounced shifts in the activity of the blood pancreatic enzymes were revealed in atrophic gastritis patients. Hyperamilasuria and clinical symptoms of pancreatitis were not observed both in the peptic patients, and in the atrophic gastritis patients. The shifts in the blood content of pancreatic enzymes and their dynamics correlated mainly with the intensity and dynamics of the disturbances in the locomotive function of the gastroduodenal system.


Inspired by binary tomography, we present a measure of directional convexity of binary images combining various properties of the configuration of 0s and 1s in the binary image. The measure can be supported by proper theory, is easy to compute, and as shown in our experiments, behaves intuitively. The measure can be useful in numerous applications of digital image process- ing and pattern recognition, and especially in binary tomography. We show in detail an application of this latter one, by providing a novel reconstruction algo rithm for almost hv-convex binary im- ages. We also present experimental results and mention some of the possible generalizations of the measure.


Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) represent the molecular interactions that govern the behavior of cells in tissues during development. The building and analysis of GRNs require quantitative information on gene expression from tissues. Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM) is commonly used to obtain such information, where immunofluorescence signal can be used as a correlate of gene expression or protein levels. However, a critical step for the extraction of this information is the segmentation of LSCM digital images. Popular segmentation algorithms are frequently based on watershed methods. Here we present an algorithm for the 3D segmentation of nuclei from LSCM (x,y,z) image stacks based on regional merging and graph contractions. This algorithm outperforms watershed methods, especially when the density of images along the z-axis is low and there is a high nuclear signal crowding. In addition, it reduces the parameterization since no filter is needed in order to prevent signal noise side effects (e.g. oversegmentation). Based on this algorithm, we developed an application (iFLIC, immunoFLuorescence Imaging Cytometry tool) for the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The application supports basic operations for reading, writing and filtering 8-bit depth multicolor TIFF image formats, including indexed file directories (IFD), which are provided by the Java Advanced Imaging (JAI) library. It also provides with basic 3D-rendering and ROI specification that make extensive use of the Java3D library. iFLIC is also a plugin based application powered by the Java Plugin Platform (JPF), so each specific operation is declared as a unique command associated to one plugin and linked to a common interface. Results from segmentation can be exported both as TIFF images and a descriptive file format (iFLIC format)


In this paper, a mathematical model for data object replication in ad hoc networks is formulated. The derived model is general, flexible and adaptable to cater for various applications in ad hoc networks. We propose a game theoretical technique in which players (mobile hosts) continuously compete in a non-cooperative environment to improve data accessibility by replicating data objects. The technique incorporates the access frequency from mobile hosts to each data object, the status of the network connectivity, and communication costs. The proposed technique is extensively evaluated against four well-known ad hoc network replica allocation methods. The experimental results reveal that the proposed approach outperforms the four techniques in both the execution time and solution quality.


We describe the Conference Assistant, a prototype mobile, context-aware application that assists conference attendees. We discuss the strong relationship between context-awareness and wearable computing and apply this relationship in the Conference Assistant. The application uses a wide variety of contexts and enhances user interactions with both the environment and other users. We describe how the application is used and the context-aware architecture on which it is based.


Discriminating teachers' pedagogical and professional skills, solely on the basis of accent, physical appearance, and native speaker status is unfounded and unethical. The growing number of English language learners worldwide correlates to an increasing number of nonnative English speaking teachers (NNESTs) and native English speaking teachers (NESTs). Unfortunately, NNESTs have not always shared equal status with NESTs in the field; in fact, until quite recently, NNESTs, the global majority of English teachers, were not seen by many as legitimate educators. Moreover, unity between NNESTs and NESTs seems lacking at best, and at worst a contest to claim superiority over the other. Specifically, a native speaker benchmark has divided a group of teachers sharing a common goal of teaching English, into two species with a distinct set of assets. This article aims to reexamine and implement the perceived advantages and disadvantages of NNESTs and NESTs into a coalescent framework in which both parties can access and utilize assets thought before unique to each group. Specifically, this paper argues the intersection of multicompetence, codeswitching, and six qualities thought only accessible to nonnative English speaking teachers offers one step towards unifying two disparate groups by refocusing the emphasis on the needs of our students. For instance, NESTs in EFL environments who have proficiency in their learners' L1 can empathize with the frustrations of learning a foreign language, and of course benefit from sharing a language in common. This essay seeks to move beyond the native speaker dichotomy and provide students with qualified teachers. iafor The International Academic Forum www.iafor.org The Asian Conference on Language Learning 2013 Official Conference Proceedings Osaka, Japan


: Complex observation and treatment of 112 patients with compressive-reflex syndromes of cervical osteochondrosis with pain as the leading clinical manifestation resulted in elaboration of the scheme of its pathogenesis. The main links of pathological process development as well as their relationships were described. The main means and methods of the correction of algesic syndrome development were determined on the basis of both own investigations and literary data. The peculiarity of this study was the inclusion of Xydiphone (the Russian-made drug from complexons group) in pathogenetic therapy. Its positive medical effect in treatment of the disease described was established.


This essay highlights the scientific vision of John Archibald Wheeler, a giant of 20th century physics. His ideas provided the important insight that humanity may be in the very center of disclosure and manifestation of the evolution of our universe. This on the basis of scientific reasoning derived from quantum physics rather than simple anthropocentrism or scale chauvinism. Wheeler, the Joseph Henry Professor of Physics Emeritus at Princeton University, became 96. Over a long, productive scientific life, he was known for his drive to address big, overarching questions in physics, subjects which he liked to say merged with philosophical questions about the origin of matter, information and the universe. His interests ranged far and wide and were characterized by true fearlessness. Wheeler's work was not only in gravity and nuclear physics. In the 1950s Wheeler grew increasingly intrigued by the philosophical implications of quantum physics. According to Wheeler, there was no universe until the rise of consciousness to perceive it. In fact, Wheeler was one of the first prominent physicists seriously to propose that reality might not be a wholly physical phenomenon. In some sense, Wheeler suggested, reality grows out of the act of observation, and thus consciousness itself: it is "participatory." He also stated that information is the most fundamental building block of reality, and that the universe should be seen as a self-synthesized information system: a self-excited circuit that is developing through a (closed loop) cycle. His cosmic variant of the delayed choice experiment led to the idea that human observers may not only determine the present, but also may influence the past. According to Wheeler, ultimate mutability is the central feature of physics, and the meaning of reality can only be established if there is a universal knowledge field, that transcend physical past, present and future.


This paper investigates the influence of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) on climatic variations over East Asian monsoon region, based on CAS IAP AGCM-Ⅱduring Equatorial East Pacific Ocean SSTA or not. The results show that the southwest monsoon over East Asian will break out later than normal, the intensity of the summer monsoon over the South China Sea (SCS) is stronger than normal, and more rainfall on Chinese main land is simulated when only IOD forcing exists. With both IOD and Equatorial East Pacific Ocean SSTA forcing, the southwest monsoon will break out much later than normal, the intensity of the SCS summer monsoon also is weaker than normal, and less rainfall in North China is simulated. Therefore, Equatorial East Pacific Ocean SSTA and IOD have a synergic effect.


This study was investigated the evolution of fracture damage of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in flexure with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets or plates using acoustic emission (AE), and developed an AE monitoring strategy that can determine the structural integrity of RC beams strengthened by external bonding of CFRP sheets or plates. In this study, five beams were used, each with a cross sectional area of 200300 mm2 and length of 2,000 mm. Each specimen was simply supported and subjected to three-point loading. The AE signals were monitored during flexural testing of specimen using four sensors located on the side of each beam. The damage behavior and the microscopic fracture process of the RC beams strengthened with CFRP was evaluated using the AE parameters, such as AE duration time, event and amplitude. The two-dimensional AE source location was successful in measuring crack initiation and propagation in the RC beams strengthened with CFRP.


A wide variety of international social movements over the course of history have utilized radio as a primary medium for political organizing. Despite media technology that has purportedly been eclipsing radio for nearly eight decades, radio continues to be a vehicle for resistance, advocacy, and contentious politics in a wide variety of communities. "'The Fabric of Our Lives': Relationality, Ritual, and Regional Resistance in American Radio Broadcasting" offers a theory-driven explanation for the ubiquitous implementation of radio as a resource for promoting, imagining, and attaining sociopolitical change with an emphasis on hyperlocal radio in small American communities. Utilizing a number of theoretical frameworks (materialism, objection relations, affect, localism, and social movements) I examine the oft overlooked characteristics of radio that distinguish it from other media. Ethnographic field work at two different American community radio station grounds some of the more involved theory. I ultimately posit that it is the unique psychosocial space radio occupies as a medium that has made it so pervasively viable in the development and expansion of social movements.


A model is presented for bistatic scattering into ocean sediments from an acoustic source located in the water to a receiver buried in the bottom. The model is closely related to that developed previously for a source and receiver that were both located in the water. The model is an applied effort that incorporates the results of more fundamental work that has tested the validity of some components of the model. Bottom scattering is treated as being due to interface roughness and volume inhomogeneity. Kirchhoff theory is used to explain interface scattering near the refracted (Snell's law) direction, and perturbation theory is used for all other directions. Perturbation theory is also used to treat the scattering due to volume inhomogeneities. Model results are presented for two bottom types. It is shown that it predicts subcritical penetration into sediments with sound speeds greater than that of water. [Work sponsored by Office of Naval Research.]


I cannot agree that my comparison of the average gross income of General Practitioners (as officially reported) with the expectation of consultant salary is misleading. The scale of expenses paid to consultant anaesthetists is quite inadequate in any case, but above all the salaried hospital consultant fails to be assessed for income tax purposes under Schedule E as a result of which, at best, negligible practice expenses are allowed. The G P as an independent contractor is assessed under Schedule D and receives comprehensive allowances for the expenses of running his practice. As a result of the fiscal arrangements and the punitive level of taxation generally, the whole expectation of quality of life is much better for the G P than for the consultant. It is not surprising that others have discerned the 'Flight from specialist medicine'.' If as a result there should be a crippling shortage of consultants, as predicted by Dr Schutte, it is clear that the blame lies on the governmental assault on the status and quality of life of the consultant. I have urged young anaesthetists to consider entering the Hospital Practitioner grade and certainly this grade must be adequately remunerated. I have elsewhere (Anaesthesia (1978) 33, 282) pointed out the disincentives to becoming a consultant anaesthetist-inadequate expense allowance against tax, rarely if ever eligible for domiciliary payments which could, for example, earn E3000 per annum for a geriatrician, derisory fees for dental anaesthetists at E2.00 a time. the abolition of private practice in NHS hospitals, etc. Should politicians attempt to solve the problem by dilution with nonmedical anaesthetists, I am confident that with the cooperation of professional anaesthetists, this Association's Confidential Survey on Anaesthetic Mortality would soon point out the increased danger to the public, which I believe would be unacceptable. In closing, I note that Dr Schutte's views on this subject expressed elsewhere, have attracted reasoned criticism from Professor Vickers and Dr RosenlI accept their views.


A high-titer, recombinant retroviral vector produced in psi 2 packaging cells has been used to introduce the murine interleukin-3 (IL-3) gene into mouse hematopoietic cells. Integration and expression of the IL-3 gene was observed in spleen foci from which could be derived factor-independent, continuously proliferating cell lines. Irradiated or genetically anemic W/Wv recipients of infected hematopoietic cells developed a myeloproliferative syndrome characterized by a marked elevation in leukocyte count, bone marrow hyperplasia, and enlargement of the liver and spleen. The syndrome reflected proliferation of one or more stem cell clones, the progeny of which were capable of repopulating secondary recipients. One animal developed the syndrome primarily by a paracrine mechanism. Endogenous IL-3 production caused amplification of hematopoietic cells but did not appear to alter the maturational or self-renewal potential of these cells.


In this paper we report on the optical and X-ray behaviour of the Be X-ray binary, SXP 91.1, during a recent type I outburst. We monitored the outburst using the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. These data were supported by optical data from the Southern African Large Telescope and the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) to show the circumstellar disc activity. Matter from this disc accretes on to the neutron star, giving rise to the X-ray outburst as seen in the synchronous evolution of the optical and X-ray light curves. Using data taken with OGLE we show that the circumstellar disc has exhibited stable behaviour over two decades. A positive correlation is seen between the colour and magnitude from the OGLE and massive compact halo object observations, which indicates that the disc is orientated at relatively low-inclination angles. From the OGLE and Swift data, we demonstrate that the system has shown relative phase offsets that have persisted for many years. The spin period derivative is seen to be at maximum spin-up at phases when the mass accretion rate is at maximum. We show that the neutron star in SXP 91.1 is an unusual member of its class in the sense that it has had a consistent spin period derivative over many years, with the average spin-up rate being one of the highest for known Small Magellanic Cloud pulsars. The most recent measurements of the spin-up rate reveal higher values than the global trend, which is attributed to the recent mass accretion event leading to the current outburst.


ABSTRACT Pasteurella multocida is the causative agent of infectious diseases of economic importance such as fowl cholera, bovine hemorrhagic septicemia, and porcine atrophic rhinitis. However, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and determinants that P. multocida requires for virulence and pathogenicity is still limited. To address this issue, we developed a genetic expression system, based on the in vivo expression technology approach first described by Mahan et al. (Science 259:686–688, 1993), to identify in vivo-expressed genes of P. multocida. Numerous genes, such as those encoding outer membrane lipoproteins, metabolic and biosynthetic enzymes, and a number of hypothetical proteins, were identified. These may prove to be useful targets for attenuating mutation and/or warrant further investigation for their roles in immunity and/or pathogenesis.


Storms, hurricanes, and cyclones have been a feature of life on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) for centuries. But climate change is now increasing the intensity of these disasters, as well as creating new developmental challenges - like rising sea levels and increasing ocean acidity - which not only challenge the development models of these countries. They challenge and threaten their own existence.
This report examines the nature, scope and volume of concessional finance directed to SIDS to build resilience to climate change and natural disasters. It identifies challenges in the provision and use of financing for resilience. Yet, it is not just about challenges. It also illustrates the positive steps that SIDS are taking – and in many cases leading – to ensure that climate and disaster resilience is addressed as an integral part of their development. The report offers targeted recommendations to enhance the scope and quality of resilience financing, calling for the international community to consider financing for climate and disaster resilience that is appropriate for the challenges that SIDS face.
The report is a jointly funded initiative of the OECD and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) at the World Bank.


Due to the advantage over signals in expanding network capacity, the strategy of using uninterrupted-flow (or crossing-elimination) intersections has been viewed as one of the most effective means for managing evacuation traffic. However, implementing such a strategy may demand a large amount of manpower and resources, and often need some evacuees to take additional detours. To optimize the selection and distribution of signalized and uninterrupted flow intersections in an evacuation network, this article presents a mathematical model with equilibrium constraints to yield the maximum operational efficiency under the available budget. The proposed model, incorporating a parametric variational inequality (VI) to formulate the user equilibrium (UE) behavior of evacuees in route choice, is capable of providing effective solutions to the following critical questions that have long challenged transportation professionals for strategic planning of an emergency or special event: 1) how many intersections should be implemented with the signals and interrupted flow controls; 2) what would be the optimal spatial distribution for those intersections in the target network; and 3) how to best plan turning restriction, channelization, and signal timings at those intersections? In view of the large number of variables and constraints for the proposed model, this study has developed an efficient heuristic approach embedded with a diagonalization algorithm to yield the meta-optimal solutions. An extensive numerical analysis with a sub-network in Washington DC is also performed to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed model.


Users of current search systems actively interact with the system to complete their search task. This can encompass formulating and reformulating a series queries expressing evolving of different information needs. We believe that the next generation of search systems will see a shift towards proactive understanding of user intent based on analysis of user activities. Such a proactive search system could start recommending documents that are likely to help users accomplish their tasks without requiring them to explicitly submit queries to the system. We propose a framework to evaluate such a search system. The key idea behind our proposed metric is to aggregate a correlation measure over a search session between the expected outcome, which in this case refers to the list of documents retrieved with a true user query, and the predicted outcome, which refers to the list of documents recommended by a proactive search system. Experiments on the AOL query log data show that the ranking of two sample proactive IR systems induced by our metric conforms to the expected ranking between these systems.