Seed of 42 wild accessions (Plant Introductions) of Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium Jusl., 11 cultigens (cultivated accessions) of L. esculentum Mill., and three control genotypes [LA716 (a salt-tolerant wild accession of L. pennellii Corr.), PI 174263 (a salt-tolerant cultigen), and UCT5 (a salt-sensitive breeding line)] were evaluated for germination in either 0 mM (control) or 100 mM synthetic sea salt (SSS, Na + /Ca 2+ molar ratio equal to 5). Germination time increased in response to salt-stress in all genotypes, however, genotypic variation was observed. One accession of L. pimpinellifolium, LA1578, germinated as rapidly as LA716, and both germinated more rapidly than any other genotype under salt-stress. Ten accessions of L. pimpinellifolium germinated more rapidly than PI 174263 and 35 accessions germinated more rapidly than UCT5 under salt-stress. The results indicate a strong genetic potential for salt tolerance during germination within L. pimpinellifolium. Across genotypes, germination under salt-stress was positively correlated (r = 0.62, P < 0.01) with germination in the control treatment. The stability of germination response at diverse salt-stress levels was determined by evaluating germination ofa subset of wild, cultivated accessions and the three control genotypes at 75, 150, and 200 mM SSS. Seeds that germinated rapidly at 75 mM also germinated rapidly at 150 mM salt. A strong correlation (r = 0.90, P < 0.01) existed between the speed of germination at these two salt-stress levels. At 200 mM salt, most accessions (76%) did not reach 50% germination by 38 days, demonstrating limited genetic potential within Lycopersicon for salt tolerance during germination at this high salinity.


Secure information flow guarantees the secrecy and integrity of data, preventing an attacker from learning secret information (secrecy) or injecting untrusted information (integrity). Covert channels can be used to subvert these security guarantees, for example, timing and termination channels can, either intentionally or inadvertently, violate these guarantees by modifying the timing or termination behavior of a program based on secret or untrusted data. Attacks using these covert channels have been published and are known to work in practiceâ as techniques to prevent non-covert channels are becoming increasingly practical, covert channels are likely to become even more attractive for attackers to exploit. The goal of this paper is to understand the subtleties of timing and termination-sensitive noninterference, explore the space of possible strategies for enforcing noninterference guarantees, and formalize the exact guarantees that these strategies can enforce. As a result of this effort we create a novel strategy that provides stronger security guarantees than existing work, and we clarify claims in existing work about what guarantees can be made.


In order to support us, humanoid robots are expected to perform various tasks in our living spaces, such as offices. With regard to this purpouse, robots have to move from one room to another one autonomously. Especially in offices, robots must open heavy and spring loaded doors to pass through them. In this paper we implemented a trajectory planner for a humanoid robot to pass through a swing door. The trajectory planner takes into account matters such as collision avoidance with obstacles, stability of the walking motion during the physical interaction with the door, and physical restrictions imposed by the structure of the humanoid robot. We use the Artificial Potential Field (APF) approach in a new way: the artificial forces are summed with the ones due to the manipulation of the door, and the potential profile changes depending on the position of the robot to reduce the likelihood of deadlocks, particulary high when the robot has to pass through narrow spaces such as a doorway. In order to generate a peculiar trajectory, respecting several constraints, we use a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to evolve the APF. We verify the feasibility of the so optimized trajectory on the dynamic simulator for the humanoid.


In 1948 Rodolfo Pallucchini requested the collaboration of Umbro Apollonio to organize the 24th Venice Biennale. In 1949 the critic became the permanent curator of the Historical Archive of Contemporary Art (The Biennale Archive). First of all Apollonio organized the archival documentation of the Biennale and for this reason he thought of a new project for the library and the archive: to realize it he previously entrusted with the architect Carlo Scarpa and then with BBPR Group. After the great disorders of the 1968 edition, in 1970 Apollonio became Bienniale director. He curated with Dietrich Mahlow the special exhibition «Proposal for an experimental exhibition». On this occasion, a strong dialogue with the public was sought, focusing on issues such as art and society, art and production, analysis of seeing. The result was an exhibition holding arts from historical avant-garde to the most recent researches.


electric circuits courses through the sophomore level are considered adequate. An exposure to basic vector calculus would be helpful. Numerous worked-out examples and chapter problems are given to facilitate the use of the book in the classroom. Finally, appendixes on unit conversion, wire tables, winding diagrams, and certain review material are included for ready reference. McGraw-Hill and the author thank Dennis P. Carroll, University of Florida; Mariesa L. Crow, University of Missouri-Rolla; and Alvin L. Day, Iowa State University, for their many helpful comments in reviewing the manuscript. Syed A. Nasar is a professor and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Kentucky. He earned his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author or coauthor of 30 books and over 100 journal papers in Electrical Engineering. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and IEE, United Kingdom. Nasar has been involved in teaching, research, and consulting in the area of electric machines for over 30 years.


We present an anomaly detection approach for three dimensional data. We pre-process the 3D data using the Karhunen-Loeve transform (KLT), to remove correlation between data layers. Each layer is modeled as a Gauss Markov random field (GMRF). We present an efficient least squares method for model estimation. Anomaly detection is carried out in each data layer independently. We assume the anomalies lie in a known signal subspace. A different subspace is assumed for each data layer, such that a-priori knowledge about the sensors used to capture the data, or about the anomalies can be incorporated into the subspace. A parametric form of the model inverse covariance matrix is utilized to yield a computationally efficient detection. We demonstrate the performance of our approach by applying it to the detection of defects in wafer images and to detection of faults in 3D seismic data.


1. Temperature dependence of the conduction velocity and the duration of the rising and falling phase of action potential was studied in the median and lateral giant fibres of the nerve cord of earthworms acclimated to 13° or 23° C. 2. Compensatory acclimation of the conduction velocity was found at all temperatures studied from 6° to 32° C. However, the effect was statistically significant only at 6° C. 3. The temperature coefficient (Q 10 ) of the conduction velocity was lower at all temperatures for the cold-acclimated animals. The difference was significant only for the temperature interval from 6° to 13° C. 4. The compensatory acclimation of the duration of the rising and falling phases of the spike was statistically significant at 6° and 13° C. The corresponding Q 10 values were lower for the cold-acclimated animals. 5. The duration of the falling phase of the action potential showed the most efficient compensatory acclimation of the parameters studied.


What does it mean to cast border violence as a crime against migrants, specifically as an international crime? Some instances of border violence satisfy the legal definition of crimes against humanity. However, so far, almost no investigations or prosecutions have been brought forth to hold the perpetrators of such crimes accountable. The Chapter therefore elucidates the moral and political assumptions required for international criminal law to do just that. These are divided into three groups: (1) interpretations focused on the way that border policies employ violence against migrants to send a message to other would-be migrants; (2) interpretations revealing that prosecuting border crimes allows criminal law to address 'structural violence'; (3) interpretations stressing the social desirability of porous borders and the harms of hermetic separations between national groups. The Chapter concludes by a call to make explicit the moral and political commitments undergirding advocacy through international criminal law.


Since one of the main goal of the human brain is to take and evaluate stimuli that comes from sensory organs, it is possible to measure their functionality. In this study we classified the electroencephalography signals which were recorded during four different kinds of spice odors including peppermint, clove, thyme and rosemary were smelling. Additionally we investigated to find out which odor pair was the most discriminative by classifying all the combinations of odor pairs. The achieved classification accuracy rate of 75.96% showed that peppermint-clove odor pair was the most discriminative. Based on the obtained results it is believed that this research has increased the variability of the scent-based experiment and greatly contributes to such studies for evaluating the function of the olfactory organ.


"The DI put me and my friend in front of the platoon and said, 'this is what the View Cong looks like, with slanted eyes'." - Raymond Imayama, US Marine Corps, Dong Ha, 1968-69. Among Vietnam veterans, Japanese Americans have remained largely silent about their wartime experiences. Until now. In this ground-breaking book, many of them talk for the first time about their struggle for identity in the US and how this affected their participation in the Vietnam War. Toshio Whelchel interviewed over one hundred veterans in the course of his work, and here he presents the most revealing and moving of their stories. Several of them begin in the relocation camps to which many Japanese American families were posted during and after the Second World War environments which led many young men to accept the military draft without question. Some reveal the various forms of discrimination practised across the different military institutions. All illustrate the profound influence of the war on their lives: how they dealt with routine racism, their growing politicisation and the struggle to reintegrate themselves into American society after the war. "What the American presence in Vietnam was doing was creating a dehumanizing environment for all the Vietnamese. Part of this dehumanization was the paranoia about who the enemy really was. I think that many Marines lost the ability to make that distinction, and that realization started to bother me because I was Asian. If I could be mistaken for a Vietnamese, then I could be a gook. In the eyes of many Americans, I was already a gook!" -- Marcus Miyatomo, US Marine Corps, Danang, 1965-1966


Abstract We studied the pattern of acquisition of breeding positions among helpers in a population of Grey-crowned Babblers Pomatostomus temporalis rubecula in the monsoon tropics of northwestern Australia, using both behavioural and molecular data. In particular, we focused on sex differences, kinship, and their interactions among emigrating helpers. Moreover, we also considered whether intergroup movement and extra-pair mating contributed to incest avoidance in our population. The advantage of this material is that there are previous studies of populations in different regions, and the comparison of the results may provide a better understanding of ecological factors driving helping behaviour in cooperative breeding. Three options for a mature helper to acquire a breeding position were observed: establishing a new territory, emigrating to an existing territory, or waiting in the natal territory for a breeding vacancy. In many cases, male helpers took the third option, while female helpers took the second one. Our population of Grey-crowned Babblers seemed not to be actively avoiding incest. Female helpers tended to disperse from natal groups more than males, but neither intergroup movements nor extra-pair mating were effective in avoiding incestuous breeding. In some groups, dominant breeders were closely related to each other. The frequency of extra-pair mating in our population was similar to that of the New South Wales population previously studied, but dispersal distances were twice as great. The two populations also differ in mean clutch size and group size. Such variation in life history characteristics among different populations of cooperatively breeding species has received little attention, but has the potential to explain how cooperative breeding systems are modified by environmental factors.


How complex natural sounds such as speech and vocalizations are encoded in the main
converging center of the auditory midbrain is not yet fully understood.
For multi-units, which are composed of several single neurons, the representation of individual
vocalizations is investigated across gradients of neural preferences in the inferior
colliculus. The multi-units allow making inferences about collective neural behavior. The
cross-correlation of averaged spiking responses is used to analyze if the vocalization representation
depends systematically on the spatial distance between multi-units. The measure
of response correlations and correlated variability indicates if interactions between
the multi-units exist. Neural discrimination is employed to examine whether the whole
set of spectrotemporally rich vocalizations can be reliably distinguished. The question is
addressed whether along the frequency gradient of the inferior colliculus, individual vocalizations
are encoded following their specific spectral content. This leads to the question
whether vocalizations are accurately represented by individual multi-units, or, if groups
of multi-units provide a more detailed representation, and if the multi-units interact to
facilitate encoding. Some of these vocalizations display envelope correlations, and neurons
might have neural preferences to these correlations, allowing them to encode the complex
sounds in more detail. Reverse correlation analysis can capture nonlinear neural response
properties. This analysis is used to probe preferences of single neurons to stimulus correlations,
separately for different frequency carriers of the envelope, and to characterize the
neural spectrotemporal tuning.
It is found that similarity of multi-unit spiking responses to vocalizations decreases linearly
with spatial distance across the inferior colliculus, and extends to a few hundred
micrometers. Neural correlations which are due to interactions between the multi-units are
substantial but do not improve separability. Since interactions with other multi-units do
not improve the neural separability, the multi-units act as independent encoders of vocalizations.
However, neural discrimination improves substantially when the responses from
more than one multi-unit are considered. In many cases, combining responses from a few
multi-units results in a perfect discrimination of the whole set of vocalizations. The individual
vocalizations are reliably encoded across wide frequency ranges, thus yielding a
robust representation, which is relevant in a behavioral context. Optimal encoding does
not strictly follow the spectral content of the vocalizations. The analysis of receptive fields
reveals that the majority of the tested single neurons displayed preferences to envelope
correlations. These are mostly found at the preferred frequency of the neuron and exhibit
temporal tuning properties that enhance or modulate the neuron's linear response.
In conclusion, vocalizations are reliably encoded by independent multi-units across a wide
frequency range of the inferior colliculus. Neural preferences to envelope correlations are
present in the inferior colliculus and are likely to facilitate encoding of the vocalizations.


During depression neurophysiological changes can occur, which may affect laryngeal control i.e. behaviour of the vocal folds. Characterising these changes in a precise manner from speech signals is a non trivial task, as this typically involves reliable separation of the voice source information from them. In this paper, by exploiting the abilities of CNNs to learn task-relevant information from the input raw signals, we investigate several methods to model voice source related information for depression detection. Specifically, we investigate modelling of low pass filtered speech signals, linear prediction residual signals, homomorphically filtered voice source signals and zero frequency filtered signals to learn voice source related information for depression detection. Our investigations show that subsegmental level modelling of linear prediction residual signals or zero frequency filtered signals leads to systems better than the state-of-the-art low level descriptor based systems and deep learning based systems modelling the vocal tract system information.


The major part of the delay from onset of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction to arrival in hospital is caused by patients' delayed reporting. Therefore, a media campaign was initiated by the Swiss Heart Foundation with the goal of informing people about the seriousness of chest pain and about the importance of proper action in these situations. An initial 2 months' national campaign was followed by a 3 weeks' intensive local campaign in a mixed urban/suburban area in central Switzerland. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of this media campaign on patients information and reaction in case of cardiac emergency, and to study the possible impact of this campaign on anxiety levels and other emotions. Telephone interviews were performed before and after both the national and the local campaign using a cohort of 500 persons in a longitudinal and 4 x 500 persons in a cross-sectional study. The information had reached about 50% of the population by the end of the local campaign. The percentage of persons who would call the emergency medical services immediately in case of chest pain increased from 40% to 57% in the cross-sectional and from 48% to 65% in the longitudinal study (p < 0.001), and the percentage of persons who would call the ambulance team immediately on witnessing a person with a heart attack increased from 25 to 92% in the cross-sectional and to 96% in the longitudinal study (p < 0.001). Anxiety levels and other negative emotions decreased slightly during the campaign (p < 0.05), whereas feelings of personal safety revealed a slight increase (p < 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


First declared as a coronavirus disease by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in March 2020 (COVID-19), the number of Positive and death cases continues to rise even seven months after that Seven months later This global pandemic has had a huge effect on the world's health, social and economic facets Therefore, it is necessary to recognise the risk factors that lead to the production of serious infections for risk stratification, to improve the re-allocation of hospital resources and to direct guidelines and strategies on public health A variety of co-morbidity consequences such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, anaemia, coronary, thyroid disease, and pulmonary disease have been shown to be correlated with serious COVID-19 findings 1 Persons with dementia are the most fragile in normal times as they rely on others for their daily life In a recent review, dementia has been found to increase the risk of morbidity and death, including incidence of respiratory illness, of hospitalising patients Unfortunately, until now, no research has shown specifically how dementia is linked to COVID-19 This paper seeks to investigate the theoretically related implications of COVID-19 infection with dementia


In this paper, we describe an exploratory study on the challenges of conducting usability tests with very young children aged 3 to 4 years old (nursery age) and the differences when working with older children aged 5 to 6 years old (primary school). A pilot study was conducted at local nursery and primary schools to understand and experience the challenges working with young children interacting with computer products. We report on the studies and compare the experiences of working with children of different age groups in evaluation studies of interactive systems.


This paper reports on the results of an experiment in which MBA student participants select securities at random for the purpose of reproducing the familiar exponentially declining relationship between portfolio volatility and number of securities. We find that the overall set of participants reproduces the pattern, but there is considerable variation within the participants. Somewhat similar results are even achieved with randomly selected securities, but the exponential pattern is observed more frequently. We examine potential differences in how humans ostensibly select random securities from how a random process selects securities. We find that the human participants tend to select larger companies with lower risk and that as a marginal security is added, that security is more correlated with the existing portfolio than when all securities are selected randomly. These results suggest that the process of achieving diversification when human beings select securities apparently at random is hindered by biases. It also suggests that there is wide variation from participant to participant, and therefore from investor to investor, in the relationship between diversification and the number of securities.


Journalists research and present stories on topical events or issues. These could appear in newspapers, magazines, television, radio or online.


The Video Game Industry provides a platform for the research on the video game industry to draw a coherent and informative picture of this industry. Previously this has been done sparsely through conference papers, research articles, and popular science books. Although the study of this industry is still stigmatized as frivolous and only game oriented, those who grew up with video games are changing things, especially research agendas, the acceptance of studies, and their interpretation. This book describes and defines video games as their own special medium. They are not pinball from which they grew, nor movies which they sometimes resemble. They are a unique form of entertainment based on meaningful interactions between individuals and machine across a growing sector of the population. The Video Game Industry provides a reference foundation for individuals seriously interested in the industry at the academic level. As a result, this book will serve as a reference in curricula associated with video game development for years to come.


BACKGROUND
The sub-acute ischemic stroke is the most basic illnesses reason for death on the planet. We evaluate the impact of segmentation technique during the time of breaking down the capacities of the cerebrum.

OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this paper is to segment the ischemic stroke lesions in Magnetic Resonance (MR) images in the presence of other pathologies like neurological disorder, encephalopathy, brain damage, Multiple sclerosis (MS).

METHODS
In this paper, we utilize a hybrid way to deal with segment the ischemic stroke from alternate pathologies in magnetic resonance (MR) images utilizing Random Decision Forest (RDF) and Gravitational Search Algorithm (GSA). The RDF approach is an effective machine learning approach.

RESULTS
The RDF strategy joins two parameters; they are; the number of trees in the forest and the number of leaves per tree; it runs quickly and proficiently when dealing with vast data. The GSA algorithm is utilized to optimize the RDF data for choosing the best number of trees and the number of leaves per tree in the forest.

CONCLUSION
This paper provides a new hybrid GSA-RDF classifier technique to segment the ischemic stroke lesions in MR images. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed technique has the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), and Mean Bias Error (MBE) ranges are 16.5485 %, 7.2654 %, and 2.4585 %individually. The proposed RDF-GSA algorithm has better precision and execution when compared with the existing ischemic stroke segmentation method.


Soft-tissue changes in the anterior aspect of the knees were evaluated with ultrasonography among 96 randomly selected carpet and floor layers and 72 painters. The ultrasonography showed thickening of the prepatellar or superficial infrapatellar bursa in 49% of the carpet and floor layers and 7% of the house painters. Fluid collection in the prepatellar or superficial infrapatellar bursa was noted for 10 carpet and floor layers, and this ultrasonographic finding was associated with knee pain in kneeling postures.


I regress real GDP growth rates on the IMF's growth forecasts and find that IMF forecasts behave similarly to those generated by overfitted models, placing too much weight on observable predictors and underestimating the forces of mean reversion. I identify several such variables that explain forecasts well but are not predictors of actual growth. I show that, at long horizons, IMF forecasts are little better than a forecasting rule that uses no information other than the historical global sample average growth rate (i.e., a constant). Given the large noise component in forecasts, particularly at longer horizons, the paper calls into question the usefulness of judgment-based medium and long-run forecasts for policy analysis, including for debt sustainability assessments, and points to statistical methods to improve forecast accuracy by taking into account the risk of overfitting.


To date, healthcare organizations need well-established knowledge to support care quality. Managers invest in motivating medical staff and associated healthcare stakeholders to share their respective knowledge. Additionally, they invest in advanced technology to facilitate sharing process. However, these efforts essentially raise classification and privacy concerns. Technology configuration that does not meet management process requirements may lead to managerial difficulties. In fact, information classification in healthcare systems should respect privacy, yet still be accessible. Using qualitative research, our paper proposes a novel ontological model that extends the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) with privacy dimension to enhance access to sensitive patient's data.


Introduction Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetic disorder with significant variability in its clinical phenotype. Most major studies in HCM to date have been largely based on Caucasian patients, but there are some indications that racial background may have an important effect on the disease course. In other areas (such as athletes and hypertensive patients) black patients have been shown to be significantly different to white patients in terms of ECG and echocardiographic appearances. In this study we have used a large single centre population to determine the effect of racial group on baseline phenotype and clinical outcomes in HCM. Methods The case records of sequential patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy referred to our cardiomyopathy clinic were reviewed. Patients were asked to identify their racial group using the standard Office of National Statistics classification. Patients who identified themselves as mixed race were excluded. Patients underwent comprehensive cardiac assessment at their baseline visit, and were followed up regularly, for a mean of 7 years. Results Records were available for 2248 patients (95 Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (B), 216 Asian/Asian British (A), 1937 White (W)). Asian patients were more likely to be male (W 66%, B 66%, A 78%, p < 0.02). At baseline assessment, there were differences in the morphological pattern of left ventricular hypertrophy on echo, with more B patients having apical and concentric distributions of hypertrophy, while W and A patients mostly displayed asymmetric septal hypertrophy (p < 0.02). There were no significant differences between racial groups in terms of maximal wall thickness, fractional shortening and left ventricular outflow tract gradient, but W patients had slightly higher left atrial diameter than other groups at presentation (W 44 mm, B 42 mm, A 42 mm, p 0.02). During follow-up, there were significant differences between ethnic groups in a combined end-point of mortality and cardiac transplant (Annual rates W 1.4%, B 1.7%, A 0.6%, p 0.02), but there were no significant differences in a secondary combined end-point of sudden cardiac death, aborted sudden death, and appropriate ICD therapy (Annual rates W 0.4%, B 0.4%, A 0.2%, p 0.4). W patients were significantly more likely to receive a pacemaker (Annual rates W 1.8%, B 0.9%, A 0.8%, p < 0.02). B patients had a trend to fewer ICDs (Annual rates W 3.5%, B 2.5%, A 4.3% p 0.18). Rates of septal reduction therapy were similar across groups (Annual rates W 3.0%, B 3.1%, A 2.2% p 0.2). Conclusions In this large single centre study of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, there were significant differences between racial groups in terms of their clinical phenotype at presentation and their long term outcomes. Further work is required to try and understand the different genetic and social factors which lead to these different disease patterns.


The single LED package structure determines the light intensity distribution and the well-designed package structure will be conductive to light emitting and improve its external quantum efficiency. This paper based on the optical package structure of high power LED, in order to analyze the influence of the structure of LED package on optical performance and the feasibility of the packaging structure design, the simplified high power LED optical models were established in Tracepro software. The light distribution curve of LED was obtained and the difference between measured data and simulation result was compared. By changing the LED optical model parameters in the experiment, such as: the shape of reflector, lens design and the position of phosphors to get the light distribution curves under different parameters of package structure and then we analyze the effect of various packaging structures on optical performance to find the package structure optimization, so that it could be used in actual production getting a higher available luminous flux and the light extraction. What's more, designing a package structure which can be achieving the specific light intensity distribution meets the requirements of the LED light source in different areas.


Piezo channels transduce mechanical stimuli into electrical and chemical signals to powerfully influence development, homeostasis, and regeneration. Due to their location in the plasma membrane, they are positioned to transduce both external mechanical forces in the environment as well as internal forces generated by cells. While much is known about how Piezo1 responds to externally-applied mechanical forces, its response to cell-generated forces that are vital for cellular and organismal physiology is poorly understood. Here we show that Ca 2+ flickers generated by endogenous Piezo1 channel activity in human neural stem/progenitor cells and human fibroblasts are stimulated by proximal piconewton to nanonewton scale actomyosin-based cellular traction forces. Further, although Piezo1 channels diffuse readily in the plasma membrane and are widely distributed across the cell, flicker activity is enriched in spatially constrained regions at force-producing adhesions. We propose that Piezo1-mediated Ca 2+ flickers allow spatial segregation of mechanotransduction events within cells, and that Piezo1 diffu sion allows a few channel molecules to efficiently respond to transient and localized mechanical stimuli throughout the entire cell surface.


The effect of absorbed moisture on the strengths of fibers and the fiber/matrix interface for an epoxy reinforced with continuous fibers of E-glass is under investigation. Single-fiber fragmentation tests of glass/epoxy model composites have shown degradation of the strengths of both the fiber and the interface after immersion in water. The fragmentation specimens were tested as-fabricated and after immersion in distilled water at 25 and 75 C for more than 4000 h. Two coatings were applied to the fibers, one epoxy-compatible and the other vinylester-compatible, in an effort to include the initial interfacial shear strength as a variable. Analyses of the fragmentation test results adapting the approach of Wagner and coworkers were used to determine moisture-induced changes in the fiber strength, making it possible to also evaluate changes in the interfacial strength.


A study in India in which girls were being vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which had previously attracted criticism on ethical grounds, had no justification on the grounds of public health either, a team of health researchers in the United Kingdom has said.

The researchers, from the University of London and the University of Edinburgh, said in a review of the study that India's surveillance system for cancer and its information on the incidence of cervical cancer in the country were too patchy to justify any further roll out of the vaccine.1

But the organisers of the study countered their criticisms by saying that the researchers had "seriously misunderstood or misrepresented" the data from the Indian cancer registry, and had belittled the threat from cervical cancer in India, despite the fact that deaths from the disease outnumbered maternal deaths. They also said that the study was completely ethical.

Two years ago, women's groups and health activists in India had questioned the ethics and the rationale of the study, in which more than 23 000 girls aged 10-14 years in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat were vaccinated against the human papillomavirus.2

The study, by the international non-profit making Programme for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH), based in Seattle, Washington state, was approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research and implemented by state health authorities using …


This should have read as follows. Abstract—Accurate estimation of daily total energy expenditure (EE) is a prerequisite for assisted weight management and assessing certain health conditions. The use of wearable sensors for predicting free-living EE is challenged by consistent sensor placement, user compliance, and es- timation methods used. This paper examines whether a single ear-worn accelerometer can be used for EE estimation under free-living conditions. An EE prediction model as first derived and validated in a controlled setting using healthy subjects involving different physical activities. Ten different activities were assessed showing a tenfold cross validation error of 0.24. Furthermore, the EE prediction model shows a mean absolute de- viation (MAD) below 1.2 metabolic equivalent of tasks. The same model was applied to a free-living setting with a different population for further validation. The results were compared against those derived from doubly labeled water. In free-living settings, the predicted daily EE has a correla- tion of 0.74, p 0.008, and a MAD of 272 kcal day. These results demonstrate that laboratory-derived prediction models can be used to predict EE under free-living conditions.


Frame analysis has been applied in Information Systems (IS) research to generate understanding of such issues as organisational change and IS implementation. Frames are the unconscious interpretive schemas that people, or groups of people, use to interpret their surroundings, determine what is important, and guide their actions. While framing has been used as a theoretical lens in IS research into organisations, there has been no analysis to date of how frames may play a role in the IS field itself. This paper argues that is relevant and insightful to examine the IS discourse from a framing perspective. In order to demonstrate the potential value of such an approach, a subset of a collection of articles from six journals in the senior scholars' basket of journals was analysed in an exploratory attempt to locate the frames of reference that predominate in the IS discourse. Three levels of framing were identified and a provisional schema is proposed. We suggest that further investigation of the schema, the frames and their application will provide opportunity for critical reflection on the nature of Information Systems as an academic discipline. Such critical self-examination may even foster purposive frame breaking, in support of recent calls for transformation in the IS field.


The deformation behaviour of magnesium single crystals under plane strain conditions has been examined using molecular dynamics modelling. The simulations were based on an existing atomic potential for magnesium taken from the literature. A strain of 10% was applied at rates of 3x109s-1 and 3x107s-1. The simulations predicted the formation of mechanical twins that accommodated extension in the c-axis direction of the hexagonal unit cell. However, the predicted twin is not of the same kind found in magnesium, but is that commonly observed in titanium. It is believed that further analysis of the physical properties predicted by this interatomic potential will shed more light on the atomic processes controlling twinning in Magnesium alloys. It also highlights the need for improvements to the interatomic potential such that more accurate deformation behaviour can be attained.


Although bluetongue (BT) causes large numbers of sheep mortalities in some parts of the world, the main economic global impact is due to restricted trade. Australia supports a risk-based approach using current scientific knowledge to determine animal health requirements for international trade. It is important that import health conditions for bluetongue virus (BTV) are based on science and are consistent with international guidelines. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) specifies basic rights and obligations of importing and exporting member countries. The Terrestrial animal health code of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) provides specific guidelines for BTV and general guidelines for many trade-related matters, including surveillance and zoning. The combined effect of relevant WTO-related measures and the OIE guidelines is to both encourage and require countries to apply import health requirements that are based on sound science and which afford justifiable protection without being unnecessarily trade restrictive.


Background: A clinically significant improvement in median overall survival (OS) has been reported for fulvestrant 500 mg vs fulvestrant 250 mg (26.4 months vs 22.3 months, respectively; hazard ratio [HR] 0.81; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69, 0.96; nominal p=0.02) in the Phase III COmparisoN of Faslodex In Recurrent or Metastatic breast cancer (CONFIRM) study, following failure on prior endocrine therapy. Therefore, further evidence for OS effects of fulvestrant 500 mg was sought. The Fulvestrant fIRst-line Study comparing endocrine Treatments (FIRST) compares fulvestrant 500 mg with anastrozole in the earlier first-line treatment setting for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) advanced breast cancer. In the primary analysis (6 months after last patient was randomized) fulvestrant 500 mg was at least as effective as anastrozole for clinical benefit rate (primary endpoint) and showed a significantly longer time to progression (TTP; median TTP not reached for fulvestrant 500 mg vs 12.5 months for anastrozole; HR 0.63; 95% CI 0.39, 1.00; p=0.05). In a follow-up analysis when 79.5% of patients (pts) had discontinued study treatment, median TTP was 23.4 months for fulvestrant 500 mg vs 13.1 months for anastrozole (HR 0.66; 95% CI 0.47, 0.92; p=0.01). Here we report OS from FIRST. Methods: FIRST is a Phase II, randomized, open-label, multicenter study (NCT00274469) comparing fulvestrant 500 mg (500 mg im on Days 0, 14 and 28, and every 28 days thereafter) with anastrozole (1 mg/day po). Pts were postmenopausal women with locally advanced or metastatic HR+ breast cancer who had not received prior endocrine therapy for locally advanced or metastatic disease. Kaplan-Meier curves of OS (time from randomization to death from any cause) will be compared by unadjusted log-rank test. Pts not known to have died including those lost to follow-up or with no survival information will be right-censored at last known date alive. Serious adverse events will also be reported. Results: In total, 205 pts (median age 67.0 years) were randomized from 62 centers in 9 countries (fulvestrant 500 mg: n=102; anastrozole: n=103). The first pt enrolled on Feb 6, 2006. As of May 14, 2014, 40/205 pts (19.5%) were alive across both treatment groups. 4 pts (2.0%) were lost to follow-up, 130 pts (63.4%) had died, and 31 pts [15.1%] did not participate in the OS follow-up (20 pts due to non-participation of center in the OS follow-up; other reasons included withdrawal of consent). A total of 130 events had occurred; preliminary data indicate a median OS of 50 months in the total study population. Data cut-off is planned for when approximately 65% pts have died, expected in Aug 2014. Comparative data between fulvestrant 500 mg and anastrozole for OS will be presented. Conclusions: We understand FIRST to be the only study that has demonstrated improved efficacy (ie TTP) for an alternative hormone therapy over a third-generation aromatase inhibitor for treatment of HR+ advanced breast cancer. Improved OS results would provide additional support for superior efficacy of fulvestrant 500 mg over anastrozole as first-line endocrine therapy for postmenopausal women with HR+ locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer. Citation Format: John FR Robertson, Antonio Llombart-Cussac, David Feltl, John Dewar, Marek Jasiowka, Nicola Hewson, Yuri Rukazenkov, Matthew J Ellis. Fulvestrant 500 mg versus anastrozole as first-line treatment for advanced breast cancer: Overall survival from the Phase II 'FIRST' study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr S6-04.


Background: The question of where to hospitalize extremely malnourished patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) is a real dilemma. On one hand, psychiatrists have to deal with severe medical complications that are not within their competences and that justify hospitalization in an internal medicine ward. On the other hand, medical doctors have to face psychic decompensations that would justify admission to a psychiatric ward. In this context, we share our experience of management of severely malnourished AN adult patients in a transdisciplinary specialized eating disorders (ED) unit, referral center for AN associated with somatic severity.Method: First, we described the modalities of care proposed to patients with AN hospitalized in the medical unit. Intensive medical care, both somatic and psychiatric, are provided thanks to a transdisciplinary therapeutic program, where objectives are to: medically stabilize the patient, initiate progressive refeeding and start supportive psychotherapy before being transferred to a psychiatric ED unit. Secondly, we conducted a retrospective descriptive study that included all adult patients with AN admitted for the first time to the unit, between November 1997 and January 2014, for severe malnutrition and/or complications of the ED. Objective was to specify patients characteristics: demographic, nutritional status, history of ED, care pathway. Results: Among a cohort of 386 adult patients with AN (21 males and 365 females) admitted for the first time in the unit, mean age was 29.4 (± 11.5) years, mean BMI was 12.7 (± 2.2) kg/m². Before being supported in the unit, 78.2% of patients had already been hospitalized in other hospitals. Mean length of stay was 35.2 days. Patients were clinically serious and unstable because of life-threatening somatic complications due to a low BMI. During hospital stay, a temporary transfer to medical intensive care unit was necessary for 25.6% of patients. Average patient weight gain was 0.777 kg per week and 81.9% of patients benefited from enteral nutrition.Conclusion: This specialized transdisciplinary unit where physician nutritionists and psychiatrists coordinate medical care together, allow a better understanding and management of extreme malnutrition associated with AN. Thanks to their expertise, care teams are less critical and less rejecting towards patients. Thus, therapeutic alliance could be optimized.


Glasses based on the 3CaO.P2O5-SiO2-MgO system present high bioactivity aiming the use as bone restorations. On the other hand, the low mechanical properties reduce the importance of this glass aiming the use as restoration bulk specimens. In this work, glass-ceramics were obtained by devitrification of this glass using different temperatures. CaCO3, SiO2, MgO and Ca(H2PO4).H2O were used as starting-powders. Powder mixture was milled/homogenized and melted at 1600°C, for 2h and annealed at 700°C for 4h with cooling rate of 3°C/min. Glass specimens of 151550mm3 were characterized by DTA and XRD analysis. Specimens were heat-treated in different temperatures between 7000C and 1050°C, for 4 hours, obtaining glass-ceramics with different crystallized phase content. Hardness and fracture toughness were determined and correlated with crystalline phase content. The results indicated that crystallization-degree increase with the temperature, and the mechanical properties are improved: Hardness values present increases lower than 20% as function of the crystallization. Fracture toughness may increase 100% as function of temperature (crystallization degree).


This paper investigates the effect of body biasing on the leakage and delay of dynamic leakage suppression (DLS) logic. We present a brief theoretical analysis of the impact of body biasing on DLS logic as well as measurements from a test chip in 65nm CMOS. Results show that forward body biasing can reduce delay by up to 41X with negligible impacts on leakage.


ABSTRACT Drawing on extensive fieldwork during the Israeli construction of the Wall in Palestine, we challenge the way in which state-centric—and implicitly hierarchical—discourses around the concept of security (a) underlie the real-world manifestations of restrictive apparatus and practises; and (b) effectively justify discriminate use of these practices along ethno-nationalistic lines. We argue that an alternative approach to security in this context is possible. We highlight how, "desecuritization"—a key tool advocated by the Copenhagen School of Critical Security Studies—may indeed bring back quotidian power negotiations to individuals and empower them, but in this and other contexts, much more is needed. We follow from the normative agenda articulated in the Aberystwyth School's literature, toward "emancipation." Namely, by challenging the basic assumptions central to a dominant—exclusivist—interpretation of security, it is possible to conceive of radically different alternatives to the status quo.


An addition of a very small amount of Pr in Co-Ni films of a recording medium improves both corrosion resistance and frequency response. The columnar grains, which are induced by oblique incidence of evaporation, becomes remarkably finer by the addition of rare-earth elements. The TEM image of the cross section of the films shows a dense packed structure. High magnetization and a better corrosion resistance are considered to be due to the dense packed structure. The fine grain improves the frequency response. Among several rare-earth elements, especially Pr doping yields a best recording performance.


Molybdenum has many prominent properties, such as high melting point, good thermal properties, and low erosion rate and so on, which make it promising candidate materials for plasma facing materials in the next fusion reactor. In this paper, Molybdenum coatings were deposited onto the oxygen-free copper substrates by atmospheric plasma spraying. The spraying parameters had been carefully selected. Different interlayers were induced between the substrate and the coating. SEM and XRD were used to investigate the photographs and compositions of these coatings. The micro-hardness and bonding strength were also tested. Thermal behaviors of the coatings were evaluated by thermal shock tests. The coatings with interlayers showed better resistance of thermal shock but lower bonding strength compared to coatings that without interlayers.


Gangwon Province, located in the mid-eastern part of the Korean Peninsula, is blessed with beautiful mountains and beaches that offer some of the best sceneries and vacation spots throughout the year. It also provides a wide variety of food that embraces local identity. The mountainous region in the west and the seaside region of the east both add more colors to its local food in terms of recipes and ingredients. In addition, this study focuses on its renowned novelist Kim Yu-jeong, developing food contents through storytelling which was reflected on his works.


Women's endorsement of beliefs that prioritize others' voices over their own (i.e., self-silencing beliefs) predicted behaviorally self-silenced to everyday, interpersonal forms of sexism. Self-silencing beliefs, which are consistent with prescriptive gender roles for women, indicate that one should avoid conflict in relationships, put others needs over one's own, accept a discrepancy between one's personal and public self, and judge one's behaviors by external standards. Results from a diary study indicate that the more U.S. college women endorsed self-silencing beliefs the less likely they wanted to respond to sexist incidents and, if they wanted to respond to incidents, the more they verbally restrained their responses to everyday sexism and other stressful incidents. The results suggest that, when addressing women's tendency to self-silence to incidents, one should address women's gender-role consistent beliefs about how they should behave in interpersonal interactions.


This study employs principal component analysis to identify fugitive river dust episodes over Zhuoshui River in Taiwan. The scores of the first unrorated principal component were applied as indicators for screening the dust episodes; this component explains 65% of the total variance of the daily PM10 concentrations at monitoring stations by Zhuoshui River. As the other principal components contributed less than 13% of the PM10 concentration, they were not suitable indicators of air pollution episodes. The number of days exceeding the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for PM10 was used as indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of the component scores of the first principal component. Furthermore, air pollution episodes resulting from dust storms and transboundary pollution rather than river dust were excluded. The meteorological parameters, synoptic weather, PM10 concentrations, and principal components of the fugitive river dust episodes over Zhuoshui River were also analyzed as references for forecasting fugitive river dust episodes and implementing related air quality management.


This paper investigates how the concept of DevOps is implemented in IT departments. In the last two decades, information system development is increasingly agile and oriented to react quickly to unforeseen changes in environments. Nevertheless, there still exists a gap between the important activities of planning, developing, testing, deploying etc. within the software delivery process. Through implementing the DevOps concept, interruptions between the several stages of the software development process can be avoided. The findings of this paper are based on a case study with five companies, whereas assimilation of innovation stages is applied to examine the use and implementation of DevOps within IT departments. The results provide information about the several assimilation stages that are used by DevOps teams. The teams achieved different levels of innovation assimilation, independent from the time their organization decided to work DevOps-oriented. Additionally, the paper provides implications of how companies can realize cross-functional DevOps teams in their IT organizations.


Rationale: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a chronic disease associated with enhanced proliferation of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) and dysfunctional mitochondria, and the clinical therapeutic option for PAH is very limited. Recent studies showed that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive constituent of cannabinoids, possessed antioxidant effect towards several cardiovascular diseases, whereas the mechanistic effect of CBD in PAH is unknown. Methods: In this study, the effects of CBD in PAH were determined by analyzing its preventive and therapeutic actions in PAH rodent models in vivo and PASMCs' proliferation test in vitro. Additionally, CBD's roles in mitochondrial function and oxidant stress were also assessed in PASMCs. Results: We found that CBD reversed the pathological changes observed in both Sugen-hypoxia and monocrotaline-induced PAH rodent models in a cannabinoid receptors-independent manner. Our results also demonstrated that CBD significantly inhibited the PASMCs' proliferation in PAH mice with less inflammation and reactive oxygen species levels. Moreover, CBD alleviated rodent PAH by recovering mitochondrial energy metabolism, normalizing the hypoxia-induced oxidant stress, reducing the lactate overaccumulation and abnormal glycolysis. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings confirm an important role for CBD in PAH pathobiology.


We present the early clinical results achieved with image-guided adaptive brachytherapy (IGABT) with combined intracavitary-interstitial (IC-IS) technique recently implemented in Hungary in the treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Twenty-one patients were treated with radio-chemotherapy (RCT) followed by combined IC-IS BT. At the end of the RCT we assessed the residual tumour with pelvic MRI. On CT images registered with the applicator in place we contoured the organs at risk and the high-risk clinical target volume, which included the whole cervix and the eventual residual tumour in the parametria. No grade 4 toxicity was noticed. At 11 months follow-up the local control rate was 92.3%, the pelvic control rate 86.5%, the distant metastasis free survival and the disease-free survival were 74%. The combined IC-IS treatment was well tolerated. Our clinical results are similar to those reported in the literature.


Chemists refer to chemical phenomena on different representational levels—macroscopic, symbolic, and submicroscopic—which are directly related and connected to each other. Especially in the laboratory, students have to reason about various mechanistic features at the submicroscopic level and connect them in a meaningful way to make sense of the observable. There is plenty of evidence in chemistry education that students have difficulty connecting the different representational levels when thinking about chemical phenomena. However, current literature provides limited information about the mechanistic features that students activate when reasoning about phenomena and how they transition between the representational levels when in an organic chemistry laboratory. In this study, we performed in-depth analysis of how organic chemistry student teachers (N = 9) explained typical work-up procedures and characterized their activated mechanistic features and transitions between the different representational levels. Our analysis revealed that the students do not activate all features of a mechanism in the same way and construct various explanatory approaches. The findings emphasize the need to explicitly communicate how to connect the macroscopic and submicroscopic levels in a meaningful way in the laboratory. The implications of these findings for research, teaching, and learning to foster meaningful activation of mechanistic features are discussed.


The people as numbers: The politics of election statistics in Sweden, 1866–1921
Opinion polls have been an essential part of democratic politics since the middle of the 20th century. They inform views of what popular politics is about, and shape political debates and party strategies, as well as citizens' understandings of themselves as political subjects. However, quantitative data about elections and the electorate have a much longer history that deserves attention.
This longer history can be explored by investigating the creation of official election statistics in Sweden in the 1860s and its subsequent development up to the "democratic breakthrough" in the early 1920s. Although historical studies of statistics have proliferated in recent decades, very little is known about the cultural and political history of election statistics. This article asks, firstly, how this new sort of statistical knowledge was described and justified, in particular in relation to the ideas of political representation that underpinned the new bicameral parliament, and how official statistics were used to promote national improvement and political reform. Secondly, the article asks how election statistics constructed the electorate as an object of study, paying particular attention to the changing categories used to present and explain statistical data in official publications.
From their inception, official election statistics, produced and published by the government agency Statistiska Centralbyran (Statistics Sweden), were intended to measure national political life and to provide statesmen and ordinary citizens with useful insights into the consequences of projected and completed constitutional reforms. Election statistics interpreted the electorate in terms of political activity, interests, conflict, participation and economic inequality, and, toward the end of the period, presented voters according to differences of occupation, class and gender. Contemporary debates testify that elections statistics were deemed both reliable and politically useful information, and gave considerable encouragement to this quantitative view of politics and of the people.


The aim of this research was to examine the differences in attachment to family members and romantic partners among individuals whose parents had divorced as opposed to those whose parents had high quality marriages and those whose parents had low quality marriages. 529 participants, students from various faculties of the University of Zagreb, were included in the research. 52.2% of them were female and 47.8% of them were male. The average age was M=21.6, SD=1.95. Data about family structure and the quality of parental relationship were obtained. Attachment to family members and attachment to romantic partners were assessed with comparable measures and results were computed separately for each dimension of both types of relations. Results showed significant sex differences only on Avoidance dimension in relationship with parents, but no gender differences were found on the Anxiety dimension, and no significant sex differences were found on dimensions of attachment to romantic partners. As far as effects of family structure and quality of parental relationship are concerned, significant differences emerged on Avoidance in attachment to family and on Anxiety in attachment to romantic partners due to low quality of parental relationship. No significant interactions of sex and family structure were found. Specifically, individuals whose parents had low marital quality while they were teenagers appear to be more avoidant towards their parents and more anxious in their romantic relationships in comparison with individuals in two other groups. These findings contribute to a new direction in research of consequences of divorce on children, which postulates parental marital discord accompanied by inadequate parental interaction and maladaptive communication strategies, and not merely divorce, to be the key factor detrimental to psychological functioning, well-being and social adjustment of children.


On the basis of a broad perspective on theatricality and tragedy in imperial Rome this article argues that theatrical and tragic elements play an important role in the episode on the death of Nero's mother Agrippina in Tacitus' Annals 14.1-10. These elements fall into three categories: 1) theatricality, 2) generic, tragic elements and 3) allusions to specific tragic texts. These evocations of the (tragic) stage serve to underscore Tacitus' characterization of the reign of Nero and of imperial Roman society in general as fundamentally artificial. Tacitus' use of tragic material does not reflect an Aristotelian, tragic vision of history, but rather stresses the theatricality of the historical events, drawing upon a cultural memory of Nero and Agrippina as the creators of, and actors in, their own farcical world. At the same time the episode is presented by Tacitus as the paradigmatic starting point of Nero's engagement in various forms of spectacle entertainment (Annales, 14.11-22). In Tacitus' presentation of the aftermath of the murder theatricality and spectacle represent a moral decline characterized by lascivia and licentia, reflecting Tacitus' moral concerns.


In 2004, the first Ficus microcarpa seedlings were observed self-establishing in Brisbane, Queensland. Prior to this the only F. microcarpa in the city were cultivated specimens. This self-establishment is a certain indicator of the presence of Eupristina verticillata, the obligate pollinator wasp of F. microcarpa. A Ficus species must exceed a critical population size (CPS) for its pollinator, a species of agaonid wasp, and other non-pollinator symbionts to colonize a new area and then maintain their new population. This CPS has often been estimated to be approximately 300 mature trees. The CPS for F. microcarpa has been exceeded in Brisbane for some time. Brisbane has been colonized by the wasps Odontofroggatia galili (a gall species), since at least 1975, and E. verticillata, since at least 2004. Previously, the southern extreme of the range of E. verticillata was central Queensland, approximately 600 km north of Brisbane. This was probably achieved through a stationary, inland, trough system drawing tropical air to the southeast over a few days. Brisbane's new E. verticillata population may not persist, as it must compete for short-styled F. microcarpa flowers with a long established O. galili population. Further, it must contend with a winter of greater duration and lower mean temperature than its tropical origins may allow.


BACKGROUND
Food stores have gained attention as potential intervention targets for improving children's eating habits. There is a need for valid and reliable instruments to evaluate changes in food store snack and beverage availability secondary to intervention. The aim of this study was to develop a valid, reliable, and resource-efficient instrument to evaluate the healthfulness of food store environments faced by children.

METHODS
The SNACZ food store checklist was developed to assess availability of healthier alternatives to the energy-dense snacks and beverages commonly consumed by children. After pretesting, two trained observers independently assessed the availability of 48 snack and beverage items in 50 food stores located near elementary and middle schools in Portland, Oregon, over a 2-week period in summer 2012. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using the kappa statistic.

RESULTS
Overall, the instrument had mostly high inter-rater reliability. Seventy-three percent of items assessed had almost perfect or substantial reliability. Two items had moderate reliability (0.41-0.60), and no items had a reliability score less than 0.41. Eleven items occurred too infrequently to generate a kappa score.

CONCLUSION
The SNACZ food store checklist is a first-step toward developing a valid and reliable tool to evaluate the healthfulness of food store environments faced by children. The tool can be used to compare availability of healthier snack and beverage alternatives across communities and measure change secondary to intervention. As a wider variety of healthier snack and beverage alternatives become available in food stores, the checklist should be updated.


Although great convenience has been brought to hundred millions of commuters by bike sharing schemes in recent year in China, safety issues of shared bikes received a lot of concerns. The ever rising number of cyclists make the investigation of safety in riding shared bike an imminent task. We compare the accidents and safety events rate between cyclists of different shared bikes and private bikes, as well as the safety relevant behavior, such as compliance to traffic regulations, and violations like calling mobiles while riding. The survey results indicated that cyclists of commercial shared bike reported more safety incidents, compared to cyclists of private bike and public shared bike, and that cyclists of commercial shared bike also reported more malfunction in brakes and worse maintenance of bikes. However, no significant differences in wearing protection equipment between different bike cyclists. And cyclists of commercial shared bike indicate higher propensity to check information to assist bike riding. Our findings that cyclists of commercial shared bike reported more safety incidents more problems in brakes and worse maintenance may provide suggestions for practitioners in the field.


In the most common method of commercial composting, bio-waste is stacked into triangle-shaped windrows. As oxygen is needed for the composting process, the windrows need to be turned repeatedly by compost turners with spiked drums. The biogenic material has to be turned at low speeds and during the turning process, the drivers are exposed to water vapor, gases and high temperatures. Due to these unpleasant working conditions, operators of large composting plants often have difficulty in finding personnel. Therefore, autonomous compost turners would be a great benefit for operators of composting plants. A prerequisite for an autonomous compost turner is a robust and reliable positioning algorithm which is capable of providing continuous and precise position, velocity and attitude information of the compost turner in real-time. This paper presents a positioning module for tracked compost turners. It gives an overview on the system design and evaluates which sensors can be used for positioning of compost turners based on tests in the environment of a real composting site. Based on the preliminary sensor tests, a set of suitable navigation sensors is selected. The selected sensors include a GNSS dual-antenna array, a stereo camera, a MEMS IMU and encoders. The images recorded by the stereo camera are fused with a precise 3D map. Within this paper, a federated loosely coupled extended Kalman filter is developed to fuse the result of the stereo-image and model matching with GNSS, INS and odometer measurements. The primary innovation lies in the sensor selection and sensor fusion specifically tailored to compost turners. A novel approach, which fuses GNSS, INS, odometer, stereo images and a 3D map, is presented.


The increasing interest in the potential use of fiscal incentives as a mechanism for stimulating urban renewal has been highlighted by a number of influential sources such as the UK governmentis 1999 Urban Task Force Report. However there is a lack of empirical research in the property literature on the use of such incentives. In this respect, the paper assesses the application and outcomes of tax-based incentives in urban regeneration by drawing upon case study analysis in Ireland and the USA. The evaluation focuses on the varying models used in Dublin (capital allowances, corporation tax) and in Chicago/Los Angeles (TIFs, BIDs). Issues considered include the utilisation of tax incentives, the drawing-down of benefits, the role of key actor groups, the ability to lever private sector finance, impact on property market sector performance and wider economic influences. Conclusions examine the relative merits of tax-based regimes rather than gap funding for urban renewal. Tangential to this debate is the future structure of urban regeneration mechanisms in EU member states given the Commission's ruling on competitive policy.


This article reports on a small-scale action
research project conducted in the Academic
Development Centre (ADC) across both campuses of Rhodes University in 2000. In line with
the growing movement to extend the professionalism of teachers and to meet the needs of
assuring quality, Rhodes University has recently
adopted a developmental model of Quality
Assurance, which places the responsibility for
personal development with individual lecturers
themselves. To be critically reflective, practitioners need to gather feedback about their
performance so that they can reflect on it and
develop themselves in those areas in which
weaknesses are recognised. The Academic Development Centre staff agreed to participate in a
departmental Performance Appraisal process in
order to initiate the appraisal of our own
individual performances; better understand the
quality assurance demands on academic staff;
and gauge the usefulness of Performance Appraisal as a tool for becoming critically reflective.
Each ADC staff member was assigned the roles
of appraisee and appraiser. Findings suggest that
the success of the Performance Appraisal process
was dependent firstly on the perceived purpose
of the appraisal, and secondly on the capacity
(both real and perceived) of individual members
of the department, to benefit from and work
within the appraisal relationships.


Two programs using locally trained paramedical personnel provide health care to villagers in Bangladesh. The general level of care rendered appears to be above average for the country, but varies with the individual paramedical worker. Field supervision is crucial to quality of care. The structure of the two programs places physicians in direct contact with the paramedical workers for supervision and consultation. Unlike most programs in less developed countries, these emphasize preventive care, prepaid insurance at minimal premiums (in one plan, premiums are payable by barter), and apparently high motivation of the staff, many showing personal concern as well as evidence of sound training.


A health economic analysis was conducted to determine the cost-effectiveness of a real-time continuous glucose monitoring (rt-CGM) system versus self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in Type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients treated with insulin. The IQVIA CORE diabetes model was utilized for the analysis. Clinical data were sourced from a US retrospective cohort study of adult T2D patients on insulin and adapted to Canada. The baseline mean age (SD) of the cohort was 61 years (13.2) and proportion of male 49%. Mean baseline HbA1c for the cohort was 8.3% (67 mmol/mol) . Patients using rt-CGM were assumed to have a reduction in HbA1c of -0.56% based on the mean difference between groups after 12-months follow-up. A quality-of-life (QoL) benefit associated with reduced finger-stick testing was applied. The analysis was conducted from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health perspective over a lifetime horizon. The rt-CGM system was associated with an incremental gain of 0.97 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) compared with SMBG (mean [SD] 10.35 [3.08] versus 9.375 [2.85] QALYs) . Total mean [SD] lifetime costs were CAN$ 17,223 higher with rt-CGM (CAN$ 206,284 [121,493] versus 189,061 [129.680]) , resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of CAN$ 17,652 per QALY gained. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated findings were sensitive to changes in QoL, HbA1c, younger patient cohorts, and rt-CGM cost. Varying rt-CGM cost to -25% of base case yielded an ICER of CAN$ 3,512, and varying rt-CGM cost to -50% of base case the ICER becomes dominant over SMBG. For T2D patients on insulin, rt-CGM was associated with significant clinical outcomes and is a cost-effective management option relative to SMBG based on a willingness-to-pay threshold of CAN$ 50,000 per QALY gained.

 J.J.Isitt: Consultant; Dexcom, Inc. S.Roze: None. G.Cogswell: None. P.M.Lynch: Employee; Dexcom, Inc., Stock/Shareholder; Dexcom, Inc.


Background Several measures of at-work productivity loss (i.e. presenteeism) exist, varying in concept, recall period, and attribution1. As a consequence, the contribution of contextual factors may vary which has important implications when considering these factors in studies evaluating the impact of inflammatory arthritis (IA) and osteoarthritis (OA) on presenteeism. Objectives To determine demographic, job related and health related factors associated with three different global measures of presenteeism in patients with IA or OA. Methods This large cross-sectional international EULAR-PRO study (n=8 countries) includes patients with RA, PsA, AS or OA in paid employment. Data collection included: demographics, job characteristics, health related and psychosocial factors. Patients also completed three global measures of presenteeism, varying in content, attribution and recall period. The Work Productivity Scale–Arthritis (WPS-A) measuring the affect of arthritis on productivity during the last 7 days, the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI) measuring interference of arthritis on work productivity in the last month, and the Work Ability Index (WAI) a generic scale measuring current ability to work. For interpretation purposes the scale of the WAI was reversed in this study. Due to skewed data, univariable median regression analyses were performed to assess the association between independent variables with each individual presenteeism instrument. Results 503 patients with IA/OA were recruited in this study with a mean age of 47 (SD10) yrs and disease duration of 12.6 (SD10) yrs. Except for male patients reporting a lower WPS-A score, no other demographics were significantly associated with presenteeism (table). Being neutral/unsatisfied about the job, not being able to organize one's own work, reporting higher VAS well-being and disability scores, and experiencing reduced quality of life were all significantly associated with higher presenteeism, a result observed for all three instruments. Furthermore, those with higher anxiety and depression scores also reported having more problems at work due to ill health. Discrepancies between instruments were especially observed between the WPAI (affect of ill health on productivity)/WPS-A (interference ills health on productivity) and WAI (generic scale on ability to work) in relation to job demands, receiving help from colleagues and the option to postpone work. Conclusions This is the first study investigating the association of many contextual factors with three commonly used global measures of presenteeism. Overall, job satisfaction and the ability to organize one's own work are the most important job characterises associated with presenteeism and should be considered when measuring presenteeism. References Ref. Leggett et al. Content validity of global measures for at-work productivity. Rheumatology, 2016;55:1364. Acknowledgements Funding: EULAR, AbbVie, BMS. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Micro computed tomography (muCT) is quite useful for quality evaluation of electro-mechanical systems because it provides three-dimensional geometrical information of internal structures. However, large differences in x-ray absorption coefficients of materials produce metal artifacts in the CT images. This study aims to develop a new reconstruction algorithm to reduce the artifacts from the images and establish a non-destructive inspection technique of electro-mechanical systems using x-ray CT imaging. This paper discusses the cause of the artifacts and proposes two algorithms to reduce them. One is direct signal conversion technique of the projection data, and the other uses two projection data based on different x-ray intensities. The authors apply the methods to several samples and discuss the efficiency of the methods.


The widespread incidence and effects of cancer have led to a growing development in cancer prevention in the form of screening and research programs and cancer registries. Because of the low number of patients with rare cancers this improvement is not applied to the same extent to all cancer patients. This thesis has operationalized the definition of rare cancer and the proposed list of cancers as presented by the RARECARE project. We found that in Europe about half a million new patients are annually diagnosed with a rare cancer. Calculation of the complete prevalence indicated that over 4 million people who have been diagnosed with a rare type of cancer are still alive today. The five-year relative survival was lower for rare cancers (47%) than for common cancers (65%).

More specific the burden of rare thoracic cancers (including peritoneum mesotheliomas), carcinomas of endocrine organs and rare neuroendocrine tumours in particular was estimated. We defined the burden of these rare cancers in terms of their incidence, prevalence and disease specific rates of survival. For the invasive extra-mammary Paget's disease (EMPD) also the patients' risk of developing secondary tumours after EMPD was determined. Of the 17,688 rare thoracic cancers, mesothelioma was the most common. In 2003 an estimated 315,000 patients with a past diagnosis of a tumours in the endocrine organs were living in the EU. The overall incidence rate for neuroendocrine tumours was 25 cases per million person-years. The highest increased risk of developing a second primary tumour was found in EMPD patients living in the South European region (SIR:2.3) or being female (SIR:1.5).

In conclusion we recommend to establish centres of excellence for rare cancers and international networks between these centres across the EU to achieve necessary critical mass to overcome low volume related problems patients and clinicians are facing.


Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a bacterium that produces ~700,000 new gonococcal diseases in the US each year. While gonorrhea is localized to the urethra in men, in women it can spread to the cervix, uterus and fallopian tubes. Lipooligosaccharide (LOS) is a surface antigen embedded in the outer membrane of all Neisseria strains that causes disease. However, with commensal Neisseria strains disease does not occur. The commensal strains, with the exception of two, all contain a third heptose attached to their core. We hypothesized that if a third heptose could be added to the LOS Beta chains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, then the LOS would become less virulent. The proposed gene sequence that codes for the HepIII transferase (enzyme that adds heptose) was located. The DNA was extracted and run in a PCR reaction to amplify the proposed gene sequence, which was then purified. PLES2 plasmid DNA was introduced to competent DH5aMCR cells by heat shock transformation to make multiple copies. The resultant cells were plated onto LB+Ampicillin+Xgal for selectivity and restreaked for growth. As research continues the plasmid will be isolated from the E. coli and the purified gene will be inserted into the plasmid. After a few tests, the plasmid with the gene will be inserted into Neisseria gonorrhoeae to observe effects.


Project control is a crucial function in project management. Over the years, several best practice standards have been developed to assist project managers in improving project control. The objective of this paper is to compare three prominent best practice models of PMBOK, PRINCE2, and the AACE framework with respect to the core processes of project control. Network analysis is used to achieve this objective. The results show that influential and linkage processes, such as Control quality, Review the stage status, Forecasting, and Change management have the most significant impacts on the complexity of the project control function. This work has the potential to help rethink the project control function by creating a more global view of the most central and critical processes for project control, from which enhancement in the ability to control the project can be drawn.


A fast training support vector machine using parallel sequential minimal optimization is presented in this paper. Up to now, sequential minimal optimization (SMO) is one of the major algorithms for training SVM, but it still requires a large amount of computation time for the large sample problems. Unlike the traditional SMO, the parallel SMO partitions the entire training data set into small subsets first and then runs multiple CPU processors to seal with each of the partitioned data set. Experiments show that the new algorithm has great advantage in terms of speediness when applied to problems with large training sets and high dimensional spaces without reducing generalization performance of SVM.


Sentinel node (SN) biopsy has become standard in staging of cutaneous melanoma. As skin lymphatic drainage is complex, preoperative empirical assessment of SN localization is virtually impossible. Therefore in order to identify all regional lymphatic basins corresponding to a specific primary tumor is mandatory to carry out preoperative lymphoscintigraphy. In this paper we present a clinical case that highlights the importance of identifying, biopsy and histological analysis of all SN in order to achieve a correct staging of the patient, followed by appropriate treatment according to the real clinical stage of the disease.


PURPOSE Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) rearrangement is a well-known driver oncogene in non–small-cell lung cancer and has also been identified in other types of tumors. However, there is limited evidence on the clinical response to ALK tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as alectinib and crizotinib, in rare tumors with ALK fusion. We evaluated the therapeutic effect of ALK-TKIs in rare ALK-rearranged tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS Between April 2012 and April 2019, clinical outcomes and characteristics of patients with ALK-rearranged nonlung solid tumors who received ALK-TKIs (alectinib and/or crizotinib) outside of clinical trials were reviewed. Expression and/or rearrangement of ALK was evaluated by immunohistochemistry, fluorescence in situ hybridization, and next-generation sequencing. The tumor response was assessed according to RECIST (version 1.1). Progression-free survival was estimated from initial ALK-TKI initiation until progression. RESULTS We identified seven patients (inflammatory myofibroblastic tumors, n = 3; ALK-positive histiocytosis, n = 1; histiocytic sarcoma, n = 1; osteosarcoma, n = 1; and parotid adenocarcinoma, n = 1), with a median age of 17 years. Two rare ALK fusions, namely, CTNNA1-ALK and ITSN2-ALK, were identified. As initial ALK-TKI therapy, five patients received alectinib and two received crizotinib. The objective response rate for the initial ALK-TKI therapy was 85.7% (95% CI, 44 to 97), including two patients who received alectinib and achieved complete response. The median progression-free survival was 8.1 months (range, 1.7 to not estimable). There were no treatment interruptions or dose reductions because of adverse events caused by alectinib. CONCLUSION This study highlights the potential benefit of ALK-TKIs, especially alectinib, in patients with ALK-rearranged nonlung solid tumors.


Natural killer (NK) cells have the ability to mediate both bone marrow rejection and promote engraftment, as well as the ability to elicit potent anti-tumor effects. However the clinical results for these processes are still elusive. Greater understanding of NK cell biology, from activating and inhibitory receptor functions to the role of NK cells in allogeneic transplantation, needs to be appreciated in order to draw out the clinical potential of NK cells. Mechanisms of bone marrow cell (BMC) rejection are known to be dependent on inhibitory receptors specific for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and on activating receptors that have many potential ligands. The modulation of activating and inhibitory receptors may hold the key to clinical success involving NK cells. Pre-clinical studies in mice have shown that different combinations of activating and inhibitory receptors on NK cells can reduce graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), promote engraftment, and provide superior graft-versus-tumor (GVT) responses. Recent clinical data have shown that the use of KIR-ligand incompatibility produces tremendous graft-versus-leukemia effect in patients with acute myeloid leukemia at high risk of relapse. This review will attempt to be a synthesis of current knowledge concerning NK cells, their involvement in BMT, and their use as an immunotherapy for cancer and other hematologic malignancies.


Quantification plays a central role in human reasoning and models thereof, but the discovery and development of quantification remains an open question. We present a theory of how such concepts are learned from experience in the DORA model, a neurally-plausible computational model of relational learning and reasoning (Doumas et al., 2008). The same theory accounts for how concepts of number are acquired in this class of model. We are unaware of any prior model that accounts for the development of both quantification and number from unstructured (e.g.,


Load-independent growth controls were investigated in embryonic atria and ventricles cultured in the anterior eye chamber of adult rats. At embryonic day 12, the mass of atria was half that of ventricles (0.11 vs. 0.24 mg), whereas after 8 wk in oculo, atrial grafts were threefold larger than ventricular grafts (2.26 +/- 0.36 vs. 0.69 +/- 0.16 mg). To examine possible paracrine communication between atria and ventricles, two grafts were cocultured in the same eye chamber. Atrial grafts cocultured with either another atrial graft or a ventricular graft did not differ in projected area or mass from atrial grafts cultured alone. Ventricular grafts cocultured with another ventricular graft did not differ in projected area or mass from ventricular grafts cultured alone. However, ventricular grafts cocultured with an atrial graft grew larger than single ventricular grafts. At 1 wk in oculo, DNA synthesis (bromodeoxyuridine incorporation) was higher in ventricular grafts cocultured with atrial grafts than in single ventricular grafts (6.84 +/- 0.88 vs. 4.40 +/- 0.10%). Thus atria may stimulate growth, including DNA synthesis, in developing ventricles via a paracrine mechanism.


Abstract The milling process in the solid-state 2:1 clay minerals, montmorillonite and talc, which have different cation exchange capacities, is reported here. Several instrumental techniques were used to monitor systematically the products formed. The dehydroxylation/amorphization of the montmorillonite and talc structures occurs within 3 and 6 h of milling, respectively. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectra indicated that structural Mn2+ was oxidized more quickly in the montmorillonite structure than in talc, while the paramagnetic defects increased during milling. Nuclear magnetic resonance was also used to monitor the environmental changes for Si and Al during milling.


Rationale: Diaphragm dysfunction worsens outcomes in mechanically ventilated patients, but the clinical impact of potentially preventable changes in diaphragm structure and function caused by mechanical ventilation is unknown. Objectives: To determine whether diaphragm atrophy developing during mechanical ventilation leads to prolonged ventilation. Methods: Diaphragm thickness was measured daily by ultrasound in adults requiring invasive mechanical ventilation; inspiratory effort was assessed by thickening fraction. The primary outcome was time to liberation from ventilation. Secondary outcomes included complications (reintubation, tracheostomy, prolonged ventilation, or death). Associations were adjusted for age, severity of illness, sepsis, sedation, neuromuscular blockade, and comorbidity. Measurements and Main Results: Of 211 patients enrolled, 191 had two or more diaphragm thickness measurements. Thickness decreased more than 10% in 78 patients (41%) by median Day 4 (interquartile range, 3‐5). Development of decreased thickness was associated with a lower daily probability of liberation from ventilation (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54‐0.87; per 10% decrease), prolonged ICU admission (adjusted duration ratio, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.29‐2.27), and a higher risk of complications (adjusted odds ratio, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.34‐6.72). Development of increased thickness (n = 47; 24%) also predicted prolonged ventilation (adjusted duration ratio, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.00‐1.90). Decreasing thickness was related to abnormally low inspiratory effort; increasing thickness was related to excessive effort. Patients with thickening fraction between 15% and 30% (similar to breathing at rest) during the first 3 days had the shortest duration of ventilation. Conclusions: Diaphragm atrophy developing during mechanical ventilation strongly impacts clinical outcomes. Targeting an inspiratory effort level similar to that of healthy subjects at rest might accelerate liberation from ventilation.


Unusual huge organelles together with mitochondria of typical organization were found in a part of population of callus cells of pea. They like mitochondria are surrounded by two biologic membranes, the inner one has invaginations. Inclusions in the matrix are a specific character of structural organization of these unusual mitochondria. These inclusions look as electronically dense bars that extend parallel to longitudinal axis of organelle and consist of fibril-like elements. Organization of inclusions and cristae as well as a shape of organelles are changing during cell development. Possible nature of the unusual mitochondria is discussed.


Background The incorporation of crossover in randomised controlled trials is accepted as an ethical obligation, especially in cancer clinical trials. The more common type of crossover is crossover allowance, which allows patients assigned to one arm to switch to another arm if there is an established benefit in the crossover arm. In contrast, crossover-designed studies involve switching patients from all arms to a different arm as part of the study design. Crossover allowance may have advantages in patient recruitment and incorporating crossover after initial positive results fulfil ethical requirements. However, crossover can also contribute to confounding major endpoints of studies, such as overall survival or the second progression-free survival interval. For this reason, it is important to investigate and identify potential trends of crossover in clinical trials testing novel therapies. Methods Data about cancer clinical trials were extracted from clinicaltrials.gov. The search query was limited to completed phase III studies in adult populations. Location was limited to the USA. Date range extended from 1990 to 2019. Search query included the terms: cancer; completed- recruitment status; age: 18–65+ years; sex: all; location: USA; and study phase: phase 3. Studies were then excluded if they were not randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with the primary purpose of treatment and if they did not test cancer-related interventions. Results A total of 744 clinical trials were identified. There were 459 RCTs aimed at treatment, and of those, 35 utilised crossover. The start dates of these crossover trials ranged from 1997 to 2012. Thirty studies utilised crossover allowance. Prostate, breast and gastrointestinal stromal tumour cancers were the most represented cancer types in crossover studies. Among the 30 studies, the median proportion of patients who crossed over relative to the original arm assignment ranged from 2% to 88%, with a median of 57.5%. Conclusions The proportion of identified clinical trials with crossover compared to those without is extremely small. Crossover in clinical trials studying cancer treatment does not appear to be a widespread practice. Even though statistical approaches to mitigate confounding exist, crossover can still skew accurate reporting of the impact of experimental therapies on overall survival.


For a long period, ethno medicinal plants have been a valuable source of natural products for maintaining human health, especially in the last decade, with more intensive studies for natural therapies. The use of ethno medicinal plant for pharmaceutical purposes has gradually increased in Iran. Gundelia tournefortii has been used as an antibacterial, anti-fungal, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant agent in Iran. In the recent examination, the testicular protective effect of G. tournefortii aerial parts aqueous extract on diabetic mice has been evaluated. Seventy mice were used and diabetes was induced by administration of 150 mg/kg of alloxan monohydrate intraperitoneally in 60 mature male mice and they were randomly divided into six groups. The treatment groups received glibenclamide 10 mg/kg and 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg of G. tournefortii through gavage for 20 days. Also, one group was considered as the non-diabetic control. At 20 day, the mice were killed, dissected, then blood and testis samples were collected for biochemical and stereological parameters analysis. The data were analyzed by SPSS-21 software. G. tournefortii at all doses (especially GT40) and glibenclamide significantly (p≤0.05) ameliorated the concentrations of fasting blood glucose, testosterone, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase. Also, multiple doses of G. tournefortii (especially GT40) and glibenclamide increased the weight and volume of the testis, the volumes of the tubule and interstitial tissue, the length and diameter of the tubule, the height of the germinal epithelium, and the number of the Leydig cell compared to the diabetic untreated group. According to the obtained results, G. tournefortii aerial parts aqueous extract can regulate the concentrations of biochemical parameters and inhibit testicular damages in alloxan monohydrate induced diabetic mice. It seems that G. tournefortii can be offered as a testicular protective supplement or drug for prevention, control, and treatment of testicular toxicity in diabetic patients. Conflicts of Interest: Declared None Funding: None


At present, the preclinical research interest in rodent social behavior is focused on its use as readout parameter in animal models for neuropsychiatric disorders ('translational research'). However, there are some major limitations that hamper progress. Pivotal is the limited translational value of the animal models. This becomes apparent by the lack of reproducibility of research results and an overestimation of treatment effects. In this thesis I argue that this can be partly attributed to a currently common practice in behavioral neuroscience: i.e. a limited and too simplistic analysis of animal behavior which ignores behavioral complexity both in approach and analysis. To overcome this problem, I have adopted an ethological approach combined with automation of behavioral analysis to facilitate measurements of rat social behavior. To this end, I have developed a methodology allowing continuous monitoring of social interactions in an experimental setup, including species-specific characteristics. Next, this approach has been applied and tested on two established animal models of impaired social behavior: a chronic phencyclidine (PCP) model and the play deprivation model. Both models were chosen because of their known efficacy to reduce social behavior. An adjusted large home-cage enclosure permitting observations of group-housed rats was used in which rat behavior can be automatically followed and ultrasonic vocalizations can be recorded. First, I show that rat social behavior can be categorized in three distinct modes of inter-individual distances, 'in contact', 'in proximity' and 'not in proximity'. A combination of the social modes with the velocity modes, 'moving with low or high speed' yields specific categories of behavior. These are susceptible to pharmacological treatments and environmental manipulations. Furthermore, the behavioral categories we defined with our automated analysis approach are consistent with the categories obtained with human scoring of these behaviors (hand scoring of the same experiments). Therefore, automated recognition of patterns in social behavior is a powerful tool for data analysis. Screening of rat exposed to PCP for 2 weeks revealed that the validity of chronic PCP administration as a model for diminished social behavior is limited to short term effects. Because, it only results in a temporarily reduction of social behavior. Moreover, the consummatory phase, i.e. the phase of active social interaction behavior, is not permanently affected, yet, the appetitive phase of social behavior seems permanently effected by chronic PCP, as reflected by a reduction in motivation to engage in social behavior. In the play deprivation model, play deprivation during the sensitive period leads to diminished adult social behavior, according to current literature. However, my behavioral analysis revealed a different effect of play deprivation on adult social behavior. Rather than diminishing sociability, play-deprived rats were actually more sensitive to social contact, i.e. effect of play deprivation merely on the appetitive phase. Also, play-deprived animals were more sensitive to a novel environment, when tested individually. Thus, the studies in this thesis show that an ethological approach in combination with automated methodology reveal differential effects of drug treatment or environmental manipulation on social behavior of rats.