IntroductionPlyometric training (PT) has been used widely in sport training to improve characteristics such as power, strength and to induce beneficial neuromuscular improvements. Previous evidence has demonstrated a significant impact of this training method on muscle activation patterns during training, however there is a lack in research literature of studies examining its follow up effects in the recovery period. The purpose of this study was to examine any possible changes in the muscle activation of the lower extremities up to 72 hours after high intensity PT.MethodsAn experimental study design with repeated measures was used. Twelve (n=12) male subjects (mean age 24.33 ± 2.6) executed a high intensity PT protocol for the lower extremities. Countermovement jump test (CMJ) was performed pre, immediately post, 24, 48 and 72 hours after the PT. Surface electromyography (sEMG) evaluation examined the activation of Gluteus Maximus (GM), Vastus Lateralis (VL), Biceps Femoris (BF) and Gastrocnemius (GAS) during the CMJ in all the time points of the recovery. A one way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze differences between the five time points (p≤0.05).ResultsThe results indicated a statistical significant decrease in CMJ performance at 24 and 48 hours, compared with the baseline, that peaked at 24 hours (-7.16%), and recovered at 72 hours. Muscle activation levels for GM, VL and BF followed the same pattern, decreasing significantly post training compared to the baseline, recovering at 72 hours post. Muscle activation decrease peaked immediately post training for GM (-21.8%), VL (-14.04%) and BF (-19.82%). Muscle activation for GAS decreased significantly post training (-6.77%), recovering faster than the other muscle groups, at 48 hours.DiscussionCMJ jump performance impairment was in accordance with previous research, peaking at 24-48 hours and recovering at 72 hours after the bout (Chatzinikolaou et al., 2010). The impairment pattern observed in the sEMG values peaked immediately post training, recovering at 72 hours; however the magnitude of the decrease was not as extended as observed after eccentric training (Hortobagyi et al, 1998). GAS activation recovered 24 hours faster than the rest of the tested muscle groups probably due to the higher percentage of slow twitch fibers which are less susceptible to muscle damage than fast twitch. In conclusion PT significantly decreases muscle activation and jump performance up to 72 hours after the bout in GM, VL and BF, while GAS recovered in 48 hours.ReferencesChatzinikolaou A, Fatouros IG, Gourgoulis V, Avloniti A, Jamurtas AZ, Nikolaidis MG, et al.. (2010). J Strength Cond Res, 24, 1389–98.Hortobagyi T, Houmard J, Fraser D, Dudek R, Lambert J, Tracy J. (1998). J Appl Physiol, 84, 492–8.Contact email@example.com


Applications that deal with time-series data often require evaluating complex statistics for which each time series is essentially one data point. When only a few time series are available, bootstrap methods are used to generate additional samples that can be used to evaluate empirically the statistic of interest. In this work a novel bootstrap method is proposed, which is shown to have some asymptotic consistency guarantees under the only assumption that the time series are stationary and ergodic. This contrasts previously available results that impose mixing or finite-memory assumptions on the data. Empirical evaluation on simulated and real data, using a practically relevant and complex extrema statistic is provided.


The aim of this research is to acquire valuable information about the mineral content of Bluish-Black and Yellowish-White Myrtus communis berries and Arbutus unedo fruits. The analysis of minerals was conducted by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results showed that there were significant (p < 0.5) differences between species for the following elements: Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), Calcium (Ca)and Chromium (Cr). The highest values of P, Ca, Mg, Mn, Co and Fe were recorded by Yellowish-White fruits with respective rate of 0.38, 12942.5, 4586.67, 130.58, 5, 510.25 mg/g DM. No significant differences were recorded for Potassium (K), Lead (Pb), Copper (Cu), Sodium (Na), Nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn).


The emerging use of passive radio frequency identification (RFID) systems at ultra-high-frequency (UHF) spectrum requires application specific tag antenna designs for challenging applications. Many objects containing conductive material need novel tag antenna designs for reliable identification. The operability of folded microstrip patch-type tag antenna for objects containing conductive material is analyzed and tested within the UHF RFID bands used at the moment mainly in Europe and in North and South America. First the operability of the tag antenna design and the effects of conductive material are modeled with simulations based on finite element method (FEM). The performance of the tag antenna design affixed to a package containing metallic foil is verified with read range measurements. The results show that the antenna design is operable in both of the UHF RFID bands within 865-928 MHz


In translation and cultural studies, the issue of (in) visibility of translator has taken its firm grounds especially after the publication of Venuti's (1995) The Invisibility of Translator and its subsequent row of arguments and counter-arguments for and against the theoretical perspective as given in the book. The current research paper is an attempt to have an overview of Venuti's and his critics' arguments and add to the existing discussion of (in) visibility of translator, foreignization, and domestication of translation and projection and preservation of source culture during the act of translation by resisting the linguistic and cultural hegemony of English. This paper has, broadly, three main divisions of ideas: a firstly brief overview of Venuti's arguments; secondly, a brief overview of Venuti's most recent critics' arguments like Pym, Tymoczko, Baker, Cronin, and Shamma; and thirdly the researchers own arguments about the issue based on the detailed analysis of previous literature. Conducting a close reading, as a popular method of analysis in qualitative research methodology, of the literature related to the issue of visibility of translator, the researcher has tried to suggest that the act of translation, during the voluntary act of foreignization, adds a concocted essence to the real spirit of the literary piece of work which neither remains beneficial for the assertion of the individuality of the source culture nor it helps very much in the resistance of the dominating language and culture. At the cost of aesthetic pleasure, the foreignization method also entails the sacrifice of literary meanings and effects.


Worldwide, there is a growing level of interest to develop sustainable cement-based products and processes in which the usage of natural resources such as sand and limestone are reduced from the current levels. One of the ways to achieve this is by replacing them with suitable inclusions of recycled granular materials from municipal wastes where possible. However, to understand the effects of such inclusions in concrete structures, research advancements are needed to sense and characterise the distribution of stresses (/strains) at the local scale and to establish their links with the fracture and bulk strength characteristics under external loading environments, which is the focus here. In this research, polyethylene (PE)-based granular materials derived from municipal wastes and fly ash obtained from the incineration of municipal solid wastes are used together as secondary raw materials in preparing the concrete mixtures. Photo stress analysis (PSA) is performed here, making non-contact and whole-field digital measurements of maximum shear stress distribution and the directions of the principal stresses at any point of interest on the surface of the samples under external loading. Their links with the fracture toughness and flexural strength of the samples cured at different times are presented. The novel PSA-based stresssensing helps to establish new understandings of the strength characteristics of composites across scales in the applications involving recycling and reusing conventional wastes and possibly in otherengineering applications in the future.


Identification of causal direction between a causal-effect pair from observed data has recently attracted much attention. Various methods based on functional causal models have been proposed to solve this problem, by assuming the causal process satisfies some (structural) constraints and showing that the reverse direction violates such constraints. The nonlinear additive noise model has been demonstrated to be effective for this purpose, but the model class is not transitive--even if each direct causal relation follows this model, indirect causal influences, which result from omitted intermediate causal variables and are frequently encountered in practice, do not necessarily follow the model constraints; as a consequence, the nonlinear additive noise model may fail to correctly discover causal direction. In this work, we propose a cascade nonlinear additive noise model to represent such causal influences--each direct causal relation follows the nonlinear additive noise model but we observe only the initial cause and final effect. We further propose a method to estimate the model, including the unmeasured intermediate variables, from data, under the variational auto-encoder framework. Our theoretical results show that with our model, causal direction is identifiable under suitable technical conditions on the data generation process. Simulation results illustrate the power of the proposed method in identifying indirect causal relations across various settings, and experimental results on real data suggest that the proposed model and method greatly extend the applicability of causal discovery based on functional causal models in nonlinear cases.


The relationship between scientific knowledge and physical activity has had a problematical historical trajectory. In this paper we tried to identify the obstacles that have made the integration of both fields difficult. We began by identifying four basic problems: the identification of the goals of a particular study, the departure from scientific knowledge to study physical activity, the institutional marginality of both fields of study, and the professional merit in the field. After defining these four problems, we reviewed the evolution of occidental thought to identify the cultural dualism that originally gave rise to the problems. Thereafter, we examined the characteristics of scientific knowledge and the relation of physical activity with respect to them, following Kuhn's categories ( 1975 ). Additionally, we tried to identify the keys of social change produced by thought on physical activity in the last two last decades, identify changes in the attitudes and habits of the general public, as well as those in the institutional integration in the university. Finally, we wrote a series of proposals to overcome the resistance that remains derivative of the old problems in establishing physical activity as a scientific area. KEY WORDS: Sport Sciences, Physical Activity Explanations, Study Object, Scientific Knowledge, Intitutional Situation


This research studied the relationship between gender, age, education and the attitudes towards managerial women in Puerto Rico. A mixed methodology was utilized. The samples consisted of 564 sub graduated and graduated students (quantitative phase) and 25 managerial women (qualitative phase) who worked in Puerto Rico. Two instruments were used for the quantitative phase: a Scale of Attitudes Toward Women Who Occupied Management Positions (�?lvarez, 1994) and a social demographical data sheet. For the qualitative phase, semi structured interviews and another social demographical data sheet were used. The quantitative data was analyzed using ANOVA procedures and t test. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. This is the first research in Puerto Rico which has been done with a mixed methodology studying the attitudes toward managerial women and presenting these women's experiences in the cooperative world.


In this multidisciplinary interpretation of world Christianity and the changing shape of the global religious landscape, scholars consider the complex dynamics shaping Christianity's recent expansion in all parts of the globe. They view the explanations of homogenization or American cultural influence as being necessarily limited and point to the far more varied intersections of external influence and indigenous appropriation. The geographical coverage and the voices from various corners of the globe exemplify the shift of Christianity's center of gravity away from the northern hemisphere. New voices, new methods, and new perspectives emerge here. Contributors: Afe Adogame Edith L. Blumhofer Joel Carpenter Paul Freston Anthony dela Fuente Jehu J. Hanciles Brian M. Howell Ogbu U. Kalu Sebastian C. H. Kim Philomena Njeri Mwaura John Parratt Dana L. Robert Brian Stanley Diane Stinton Feiya Tao Kevin Xiyi Yao


planned orwelcomed. It therefore seems reasonable to focus on these two groups and the data that reflect their current experience rather than calculating hypothetical total period rates because these groups as the weak links in the chain are a tracer of the quality of services provided for all women. This approach, which leads to the choice of conception rates and abortion ratios for 15-19 year olds as performance indicators, is recommended in a discussion document on indicators and targets for Health for All produced for the Mersey region.4


Count of FFCEs for asthma by PCT (registration basis). Fields shown: Year, Admission type, Age, PCT, SHA. [Please note that this resource can only be downloded by registered users of our website]


The recent Crop Intensification Program represents a great opportunity for Rwanda to guarantee food security and strengthen the country`s agricultural productivity. However overwhelming evidence is arising that a sustained growth path will be preserved over time only if the production process incorporates sustainability issues. Through qualitative interviews, a quantitative analysis and findings from the literature we will assess the sustainability of the current Rwanda Crop Intensification Program formulation and will analyze the interventions that are needed to reconcile immediate food security needs and long run environment proof methods of crops production.


We consider the problem of distributed detection of a mean parameter corrupted by Gaussian noise in wireless sensor networks, where a large number of sensor nodes jointly detect the presence of a weak unknown signal. To circumvent power/bandwidth constraints, a multilevel quantizer is employed in each sensor to quantize the original observation. The quantized data are transmitted through binary symmetric channels to a fusion center where a generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector is employed to perform a global decision. The asymptotic performance analysis of the multibit GLRT detector is provided, showing that the detection probability is monotonically increasing with respect to the Fisher information (FI) of the unknown signal parameter. We propose a quantizer design approach by maximizing the FI with respect to the quantization thresholds. Since the FI is a nonlinear and nonconvex function of the quantization thresholds, we employ the particle swarm optimization algorithm for FI maximization. Numerical results demonstrate that with 2- or 3-bit quantization, the GLRT detector can provide detection performance very close to that of the unquantized GLRT detector, which uses the original observations without quantization.


Decadal variations of very small amplitude (;0.38C in sea surface temperature (SST)) in the tropical Pacific Ocean, the genesis region of the interannual El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, have been shown to have powerful impacts on global climate. Future projections from different climate models do not agree on how this critical feature will change under the influence of anthropogenic forcing. A number of attempts have been made to resolve this issue by examining observed trends from the 1880s to the present, a period of rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. A recent attempt concluded that the three major datasets disagreed on the trend in the equatorial gradient of SST. Using a corrected version of one of these datasets, and extending the analysis to the seasonal cycle, it is shown here that all agree that the equatorial Pacific zonal SST gradient has strengthened from 1880 to 2005 during the boreal fall when this gradient is normally strongest. This result appears to favor a theory for future changes based on ocean dynamics over one based on atmospheric energy considerations. Both theories incorporate the expectation, based on ENSO theory, that the zonal sea level pressure (SLP) gradient in the tropical Pacific is coupled to SST and should therefore strengthen along with the SST gradient. While the SLP gradient has not strengthened, it is found that it appears to have weakened only during boreal spring, consistent with the SST seasonal trends. Most of the coupled models included in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report underestimate the strengthening SST gradient in boreal fall, and show almost no change in the SLP gradient in any season. The observational analyses herein suggest that both theories are at work but with relative strengths that vary seasonally, and that the two theories need not be inconsistent with each other.


All advanced economies have undergone secular revolutions in which religious belief and institutions have been subordinated to secular forms of authority. There are, however, numerous examples of failed secular transitions. To understand these failures, we present a religious club model with endogenous entry and cultural transmission of religious beliefs. A spike in the demand for religious belief, due for example to a negative economic shock, induces a new and more extreme organization to enter the religious market and exploit the dissatisfaction of highly religious types with the religious incumbent. The effect is larger where institutional secularization is more advanced, for example where the religious establishment has moderated itself or has been moderated by the political authority. The greater the moderation of the religious incumbent, the more extreme is the position chosen by the religious entrant, and the larger is the rise in religious participation. Hence, unanticipated shifts in religious demand can lead to the emergence of new and more extreme religious organizations and reverse previous trends toward secularization. Our model sheds light on the causes and consequences of failed secular revolutions and religious revivals in Latin America and Egypt.


We formulate a quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) method for calculating the ground state of many-boson systems. The method is based on a field-theoretical approach, and is closely related to existing fermion auxiliary-field QMC methods which are applied in several fields of physics. The ground-state projection is implemented as a branching ran dom walk in the space of permanents consisting of identical single-particle orbitals. Any single-particle basis can be used, and the method is in principle exact. We apply this method to an atomic Bose gas, where the atoms interact via an attractive or repulsive con tact two-body potential parametrized by the s-wave scattering length. We choose as the single-particle basis a real-space grid. We compare with exact results in small systems, and arbitrarily-sized systems of untrapped bosons with attractive interactions in one di mension, where analytical solutions exist. Our method provides a way to systematically improve upon the mean-field Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) method while using the same frame work, capturing interaction and correlation effects with a stochastic, coherent ensemble of non-interacting solutions. To study the role of many-body correlations in the ground state, we examine the properties of the gas, such as the energetics, condensate fraction, and the density and momentum distributions as a function of the number of particles and the scattering length, both in the homogenous and trapped gases. Results are presented for systems with up to 1000 bosons. Comparing our results to the mean-field GP results, we find significant departure from mean field at large positive scattering lengths. The many-body correlations tend to increase the kinetic energy and reduce the interaction en ergy compared to GP. In the trapped gases, this results in a qualitatively different behavior as a function of the scattering length. Possible experimental observation is discussed.


This research uses a case study approach to examine how IT governance has evolved in eight public universities in Australia. Data is gathered through interviews of IT management, university executive, and representatives of the core functional areas. This study adds to the body of knowledge on strategic IT management by exploring the effects of advancing technology and business environmental changes on IT governance in complex, decentralised organisations. The research found that all of the universities examined shared a common history of highly decentralised, faculty based IT functions which appeared to be a natural evolution from the initial move from mainframe computing several decades ago. In each of the case studies this evolution has led to a multitude of IT related issues. These include duplication of resources, difficulty in achieving institution wide alignment with strategic business objectives, and IT risks that were not being managed. As a consequence these institutions were in various stages of review and subsequent implementation of comprehensive IT governance restructures. The paper provides a rich insight into the motivations, process and outcomes of the review process.


Aim: to determine the association pre-operative vitamin D3 levels with post-operative hypocalcemia in patients undergoing total thyroidectomy. Material and methods: A Prospective study was conducted in the Department of General Surgery, Patna Medical College and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India for 17 months. Total 80 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for benign thyroid disorders were included for this study. Preoperatively, serum calcium and vitamin D3 levels of all patients were measured. Postoperatively, serum calcium was measured at 24 hours, 1st and 4th week. A data of patient demographics, indication for surgery, operative findings, preand postoperative biochemical laboratory results and clinical outcomes were collected and analysed. Postoperative calcium concentrations, total length of hospital stay and also on the use of intravenous calcium for the treatment of hypocalcemia and the need for calcium and/or calcitriol supplementation at the time of discharge. Results:80 patients were subjected to total thyroidectomy for benign disease. The mean age was 45.77 years with interquartile range of 53.68-34.89 years. Mean serum albumin and serum PTH (post-operative day 1) levels of study group were estimated as 4.31 (g/dl) and 26.39 (pg/ml) respectively. Patients were divided into two groups, one with lower preoperative vit D levels (group A, 25 hydroxy <30 ng/dl, n=20) and other group with normal preoperative vit D levels (group B, 25 hydroxy ≥30 ng/dl, n=60). The mean preoperative vitamin D concentration was 15.27±3.2 ng/ml, in group A and it was 33.65±10.88 ng/ml in group B patients .Mean preoperative serum calcium levels of the study group were estimated as 7.89 (mg/dl). Mean 24 hour post-operative calcium was 8.06 mg/dl in group A and 8.74 mg/dl in group B.During postoperative course, 24 of 80 (30%) of the study group became symptomatically hypocalceamic, which was statistically significant (p=0.034), 18 of 24 (75%) patients who developed symptomatic hypocalcemia had preoperative vitamin D3 levels between 20-30 ng/dl; another 25% (6 of 24) had preoperative Vitamin D3 levels <20 ng/dl. Post operatively, 24/80 patients developed hypocalceamic symptoms. This included 18 in group A and 6 in group B (p<0.05) which was statistically significant. The mean 24 hour postoperative calcium in group A was 8.06 mg/dl whereas 8.74 mg/dl in group B, that was significantly lower or normal in group A. No difference was found in the postoperative PTH concentrations (34±32 vs. 31±44 pg/ml, respectively, p=0.72).The total length of hospital stay was significantly longer in the group A as compared with the group B (6.7±2.5 vs 3.4±1.7 days,p=0.02). Conclusion: the preoperative serum vitamin D3 estimation seems to predict significantly postoperative occurrence of symptomatic and/or biochemical hypocalcemia following TT. European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine (EJMCM) ISSN: 2515-8260 Volume 07, Issue 11, 2020 8079 Thus necessary means to supplement vitamin D, preoperatively can curb the incidence of hypocalcemia following TT, thereby reducing associated morbidity.


There is a never-ending debate about practice relevance within management accounting and control research. This dissertation contributes to an understanding of the gap claimed between theory and practice. The concepts of theory and practice are discussed, and the key finding is that there is no unanimous definition of the concepts, something which may contribute to confusion about the content of the gap. Moreover, in addition to having multiple meanings, the concepts are often applied implicitly. In this dissertation, the concepts are considered according to the following: (1) theory as ideas and hypotheses which explain something, and (2) practice as a translation of these ideas into action. The gap is a discrepancy between the ideas and how these ideas are executed. There is an underlying assumption that this gap matters only if theories in some way do not have an impact on managerial decisions. The papers describe certain situations where this gap is present and relevant. Based on a multiple case study, Paper 1 investigates the ideals of risk reporting in light of the concept of enterprise risk management, a concept that is introduced by consultants and promoted by governing bodies. The main finding is that the ideals of enterprise risk management are not implemented in practice. The topic of Paper 2 is the use of investment analysis techniques and choice of cost of capital. The survey shows that net present value and weighted average cost of capital have the most widespread use. The paper discusses possible causes and consequences of the gap between theory and practice among these well-established methods. The purpose of Paper 3 is to study whether the introductory budgeting textbooks have changed over the past 20 years, as expected based on criticism from both academics and practitioners. This bibliographic study of an important bridge between theory and practice finds only minor traces of the critique being incorporated in new editions of textbooks. Paper 4 addresses the question of how cost-based pricing can be performed in the presence of uncertainty and risk. The paper exemplifies one possible strategy for determining internal and external prices in order to reduce the risk of losses that arise from under-allocation of costs. In contrast to the other three papers, this one is normative. In addition, the introduction presents a normative framework which can be applied by researchers to precis in their communication with businesses the purposes for which certain objects are studied. Practitioners can apply the framework when configuring their control package. The introduction closes with specific implications of the dissertation for researchers, lecturers and practitioners, three target groups with different perspectives on management accounting and control. All over the present work also contribute to management accounting and control research by applying mixed-methods and thus crossing paradigms something which is rarely observed in the literature.


The paper studies the Swedish income distribution during the 1990's using panel data set on the county level. County specific effects have been controlled with a fixed effects model. The measures used as indicators of inequality are the Gini-Coefficient and a 90/10 income share quota. The results show that a change in unemployment has a negligible affect on the income distribution. An increased share of college educated people increases the income distribution and an increase in the age groups 30-39 and 50-64 also had the same effect. The age group of 65+ seemed to decrease the difference between the share of income that the poorest and the richest had.


The Lipschitz constant of neural networks has been established as a key quantity to enforce the robustness to adversarial examples. In this paper, we tackle the problem of building $1$-Lipschitz Neural Networks. By studying Residual Networks from a continuous time dynamical system perspective, we provide a generic method to build $1$-Lipschitz Neural Networks and show that some previous approaches are special cases of this framework. Then, we extend this reasoning and show that ResNet flows derived from convex potentials define $1$-Lipschitz transformations, that lead us to define the {\em Convex Potential Layer} (CPL). A comprehensive set of experiments on several datasets demonstrates the scalability of our architecture and the benefits as an $\ell_2$-provable defense against adversarial examples.


After the introduction of continuous welded rail, thermal track buckling has been recognized to be one of the unsolved problem caused by this technological railroad improvement. In general, both weak ballast strength in the lateral direction and large alignment defects are the principal causes of such phenomenon.
 In the UIC 720 Leaflet, which is the reference standard for the realization and maintenance of continuous welded rail tracks, two safety criteria against thermal track buckling are described: one is based on the maximum (ΔTmax) and minimum (ΔTmin) buckling temperatures, the other only on the minimum buckling temperature.
 In the literature, it is found that a correlation exists between ΔTmax and the maximum (or peak, FP) lateral resistance value of the tie-ballast system, and, analogously, between ΔTmin and the minimum (or limit, FL) lateral resistance. For this reason, railway technicians had to paid special attention in the assessment of FP and FL.
 Because FP concerns lateral displacements equal to 5÷10 mm, and FL occurs for lateral displacements greater than 80÷100 mm, some researchers have proposed to measure FP with a quasi-non-destructive experimental technique, the Single Tie Push Test (STPT), and, successively, to evaluate FL as a function of FP by empirical formulas, in place of the experimental evaluation of the full lateral resistance curve of the tie-ballast system.
 Based on these considerations, a concerning issue arises whether it is sufficient, and above all safe, to use the simpler, less destructive, and less expensive STPT technique, which requires that only one tie is detached from the rails, or if it is necessary to perform lateral resistance tests on track panels composed by 4 to 6 ties, as in the case of the Discrete Cut Panel Pull Test (DCPPT).
 For this purpose, in this paper the experimental results obtained in situ in full scale conditions with the two testing techniques are reported, and the differences obtained by performing tests with one, two, and four ties are analyzed with the aim of ensuring a safe evaluation of the main input parameters required for buckling temperatures calculation.
 It is found that the limit lateral resistance depends neither on the chosen experimental technique, nor on the compaction level of the ballast bed, whereas the peak lateral resistance appears to be dramatically altered if it is evaluated by mean of the STPT, with serious risks of an unsafe evaluation of the buckling temperatures.


BACKGROUND
Internal rectal intussusception, usually occurring in women, causes constipation and incomplete evacuation of stool.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Twenty-one women and one man (median age 48) were operated with suture rectopexy and sigmoid resection. The patients were examined with anoscopy and defecography, and symptomatic outcome, patients' satisfaction and morbidity were evaluated. Outcome was based mainly on the validated KESS score for constipation.

RESULTS
There was a significant reduction in all ten symptoms. Faecal incontinence improved in the two afflicted patients after operation. The number of patients with constipation was reduced from 20 to 8 (p < 0.01); none became constipated. Mean (95 % CI) colonic transit times in ten constipated patients was reduced from 5.3 (4.1-6.4) to 4.0 (2.6-5.4) days (p = 0.08); seven of these patients had a reduction of transit time as well as constipation score.

INTERPRETATION
Rectopexy with sigmoid resection improved symptoms, including constipation and feeling of incomplete rectal emptying.


Background : Our aim in this study was to recognize the endoscopic anatomy of the Pterygopalatine fossa (PPF) and the anatomic variations of the related neurovascular structures, to define the endoscopic endonasal approach to this region. Methods: In a case series study 17 fresh adult cadavers were studied by endoscopic endonasal approach. To reach the pterygopalatine fossa endonasally, we performed the antrostomy and uncinectomy in all cadavers. The medial and posterior walls of the maxillary sinus were defined and studied. The internal maxillary artery and pterygopalatine ganglion and the other nerves were exposed. The posterior wall of maxillary sinus was opened to expose the pterygopalatine fossa and its neurovascular contents, which were studied and documented. Mean, median, range, standard deviation, frequency and frequency percentage were determined using statistical software SPSS V.19 and using descriptive analyses. For comparison of qualitative averages, independent t test was used after the normal distribution of data was tested to determine whether it is followed by 1-sample KS; and -Chi square statistical test was used for the comparison of qualitative ratios. In all tests, significance level was considered as two tails and p value less than 0.05. Results: The PPF was easily approached by endoscopic transnasal transmaxillary approach. The PPF region was best exposed by the middle meatus tranasal approach. In the PPF infraorbital nerve, vidian nerve, greater palatine nerve, the infraorbital artery, internal maxillary artery, sphenopalatine artery, descending palatine artery, posterior superior alveolar artery and buccal artery were exposed. Conclusion: During the endoscopic transnasal transmaxillary approach to the PPF, it is possible to face wide range of variations in every phase of the approach but they are similarities at the base. Understanding the anatomy of this region and the neurovascular relations from the endoscopic view by cadaver dissections, will help us to perform more controlled and safe surgery.


The performance of out-of-hospital systems is frequently evaluated based on the times taken to respond to emergency requests and to transport patients to hospital. The 90th percentile is a common statistic used to measure these indicators, since they reflect performance for most patients. Traditional regression models, which assess how the mean of a distribution varies with changes in patient or system characteristics, are thus of limited use to researchers in out-of-hospital care. In contrast, quantile regression models estimate how specified quantiles (or percentiles) of the distribution of the outcome variable vary with patient or system characteristics. The authors examined the performance of traditional linear regression vs. that of quantile regression to assess the association between hospital transport interval and patient and system characteristics. They demonstrate that richer inferences can be drawn from the data using quantile regression, utilizing data drawn from a study of ambulance diversion and out-of-hospital delay. The results demonstrate that the effect of ambulance diversion upon out-of-hospital transport intervals is not uniform, but is worse on the right tail of the distribution of transport intervals. In other words, ambulance diversion disproportionately affects those patients who already have longer transport intervals. Second, the distribution of transport intervals, conditional on a given set of variables, is positively skewed, and not uniformly or symmetrically distributed. The flexibility of quantile regression models makes them particularly well suited to out-of-hospital research, and they may allow for more relevant evaluation of out-of-hospital system performance.


Serotonin (5-HT) signaling in the central nervous system (CNS) helps to regulate a variety of important cognitive and behavioral processes and it is a common therapeutic target for mood disorders. Because sleep abnormalities are frequently associated with mood disorders, there has been substantial interest in the regulatory abilities of 5-HT signaling on the sleep ⁄ wake cycle. However, to date there have been few practical and reliable ways to reversibly manipulate brain 5-HT levels without disrupting other monoaminergic signaling pathways that may be important for sleep. In this issue of European Journal of Neuroscience, Nakamaru-Ogiso and colleagues reveal a new method for reducing brain 5-HT levels in rats, a well-established rodent model of sleep–wake architecture. Intraperitoneal injections of the hemoprotein enzyme tryptophan side chain oxidase I (TSOI) transiently reduce brain and peripheral 5-HT concentrations by reversibly depleting the rats of tryptophan, while preserving catecholeaminergic signaling. The authors report that this transient reduction of brain 5-HT abolishes the sleep ⁄ wake rhythm but has no meaningful influences on daily sleep amount. Moreover, the circadian rhythm in brain temperature is preserved in TSOI-injected rats, providing evidence that the effects of the manipulation are specific to sleep and are not caused by global effects on circadian timing. These findings suggest that in addition to its well-established regulatory influences on central circadian timing, brain 5-HT also plays a more direct role in the specific regulation of the sleep ⁄ wake rhythm. The lack of practical methods to rapidly and reversibly manipulate brain 5-HT in mammals has been an obstacle in our understanding of the role of 5-HT signaling in sleep. Tryptophan-hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), the rate-limiting enzyme in 5-HT synthesis in the brain, has been a dependable target for brain 5-HT reduction; however, a lack of specificity of TPH2 inhibitors results in the collateral reduction of catecholamines such as the sleep ⁄ wake regulator norepinephrine, making these types of agents impractical for sleep studies. Serotonergic neurotoxins and TPH2 molecular deletions in mice have also been valuable to uncover the specific roles of 5-HT signaling, but neither manipulation is reversible, giving them limited usefulness in in vivo sleep experiments. Nakamaru-Ogiso and colleagues report that TSOI eliminates tryptophan and reduces brain 5-HT levels to 30% of controls within 12 h of treatment, with no collateral reductions in catecholeamines, other amino acids or protein synthesis. These influences of TSOI injection are no longer observed 96 h after injection. Consequently, this manipulation is faster and easier to control than the more traditional method of tryptophan depletion, the tryptophan-free diet; and it is specific to indoleamine synthesis, making it more practical for sleep experiments than manipulation with agents that non-specifically alter catecholeamines. Another obstacle in examinations of the role of 5-HT signaling on sleep is its fundamental role in circadian timing, particularly on the entrainment of circadian rhythms by light (Ehlen et al., 2001). The mammalian circadian timing system is a primary sleep regulator and observations of 5-HT sleep regulatory properties have rarely ruled out the involvement of the central circadian pacemaker. Nakamaru-Ogiso and colleagues report that TSOI treatment temporarily eliminates the sleep–wake rhythm in rats by reducing total sleep amount during the rest phase and increasing it during the active phase. Consequently, it has no cumulative effect on 24-h total sleep amount. TSOI injection also increased sleep ⁄ wake fragmentation, which is commonly reported in manipulations that disrupt central circadian timing. This observation suggests that the disruption of the sleep ⁄ wake rhythm is a secondary effect of TSOI treatment on the central circadian pacemaker. However, the authors also report that the pacemaker-driven brain temperature rhythm remains intact, providing evidence that TSOI is acting downstream of the central circadian pacemaker. These findings are consistent with an earlier study by Kawai et al. (1994) who reported that tryptophan depletion disrupts the circadian wheel-running rhythm in rats. Taken together, these studies suggest that 5-HT may play an important role in coupling the central circadian pacemaker to behavioral rhythms. This report fills an important gap in our understanding of the regulatory role of 5-HT on sleep, but several important questions remain. For instance, total elimination of brain 5-HT by neurotoxins and TPH2 knockout leaves sleep and behavioral rhythms intact (Morin & Blanchard, 1991; Alenina et al., 2009). The rapid reduction of 5-HT by TSOI may preclude compensatory mechanisms potentially present in non-reversible models of 5-HT depletion. The presence of sleep ⁄ wake rhythms in these non-reversible models is nonetheless paradoxical. Future studies investigating the potential role of the indoleamine melatonin, which also has sleep regulatory properties and is also tryptophan-dependent, may help to clarify these inconsistencies.


The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography is a major biographical reference work covering the lives and legacies of notable Afro-descendants from the Caribbean and Latin American, men and women from all eras and walks of life. This groundbreaking resource provides unprecedented coverage of the region through the lives of its people.

Biographical records on Afro-Latin American and Caribbean lives are in short supply. Even as new historical scholarship has invigorated the international study of Latin America and Atlantic history, and even as new departments of Latin American Studies have flourished, no large-scale biographical reference work devoted to black subjects in the region has ever been attempted. This is a surprise given the enormous influence the people of these areas have had on history, culture, and technological achievement.

The Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro-Latin American Biography (DCALAB) will be published in print with over two thousand in-depth historical biographies of Caribbeans and Latin Americans. From Toussaint L'Ouverture to Celia Cruz to Pele, the DCALAB provides rigorous scholarship on the people that have shaped the Caribbean, Central America, and South America The print work is only the first step in an ongoing research and publishing project, which will continue to grow online as part of the African American Studies Center. As a continuing publishing initiative, the DCALAB provides the most wide-reaching source of information ever produced on the lives of Afro-descendants who have shaped Latin American history, with entries written by leading scholars at research institutions from across the globe, linking together the international community of research.


Rossby-Haurwitz waves are large sinuous oscillations in the atmosphere and oceans. These planetary waves owe their existence to the rotation and shape of the earth. They are an important wave type for large-scale meteorological processes as they are dominant in determining the patterns of weather in the middle latitudes.

This thesis concerns the interactions of these Rossby-Haurwitz waves within the framework of the vorticity equation for nondivergent planetary flow at second order. O f particular interest is the potential for generating zonal flow, i.e., large-scale atmospheric flow th at occurs in an east-west direction. Examining interactions at first order we distinguish between nonresonant interactions and resonant interactions. Resonant interactions are interactions where two Rossby-Haurwitz waves can create a th ird Rossby-Haurwitz wave, which over time becomes as strong as the two primary waves. The necessary conditions for resonant interactions to occur are derived. I t is also shown th at zonal flow waves cannot be produced at this order.

Examining second order interactions it is shown that zonal flow can now be generated by a mechanism that disappears in the i3—plane limit. This is the central result of the thesis. Zonal flow can be generated through the exchange of energy within a triad, and this occurs at second order. The amplitudes of the zonal flow terms are not affected until the second order equation. Detailed numerical results are presented underpinning the theoretical results.


Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is now the most frequent chronic liver disease that occurs across all age groups and is recognized to occur in 14%-30% of the general population, representing a serious and growing clinical problem due to the growing prevalence of obesity and overweight. Histologically, it resembles alcoholic liver injury but occurs in patients who deny significant alcohol consumption. NAFLD encompasses a spectrum of conditions, ranging from benign hepatocellular steatosis to inflammatory nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. The majority of hepatocellular lipids are stored as triglycerides, but other lipid metabolites, such as free fatty acids, cholesterol, and phospholipids, may also be present and play a role in disease progression. NAFLD is associated with obesity and insulin resistance and is considered the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome, a combination of medical conditions including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and visceral adiposity. Confirmation of the diagnosis of NAFLD can usually be achieved by imaging studies; however, staging the disease requires a liver biopsy. Current treatment relies on weight loss and exercise, although various insulin-sensitizing agents, antioxidants and medications appear promising. The aim of this review is to highlight the current information regarding epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of NAFLD as well as new information about pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of this disease.


OBJECTIVE
The hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) are important for memory and executive functioning and are known to be sensitive to radiotherapy (RT). Radiation dosimetry relates radiation exposure to specific brain areas. The effects of various pituitary RT techniques were studied by relating detailed dosimetry of the hippocampus and PFC to cognitive performance.

METHODS
In this cross-sectional design, 75 non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma (NFA) patients (61±10 years) participated and were divided into irradiated (RT+, n=30) and non-irradiated (RT-, n=45) groups. The RT+ group (who all received 25 fractions of 1.8 Gy; total dose: 45 Gy) consisted of three RT technique groups: three-field technique, n=10; four-field technique, n=15; and five-field technique, n=5. Memory and executive functioning were assessed by standardized neuropsychological tests. A reconstruction of the dose distributions for the three RT techniques was made. The RT doses on 30, 50, and 70% of the volume of the left and right hippocampus and PFC were calculated.

RESULTS
Cognitive test performance was not different between the four groups, despite differences in radiation doses applied to the hippocampi and PFC. Age at RT, time since RT, and the use of thyroid hormone varied significantly between the groups; however, they were not related to cognitive performance.

CONCLUSION
This study showed that there were no significant differences on cognitive performance between the three-, four-, and five-field RT groups and the non-irradiated patient group. A dose-response relationship could not be established, even with a radiation dose that was higher on most of the volume of the hippocampus and PFC in case of a four-field RT technique compared with the three- and five-field RT techniques.


Scholars of nineteenth-century literature have been inspired by the multiplicity of connections that existed between writing and early photography. Critics have often argued that writers in Britain, America and elsewhere understood photography to be a profoundly realist practice, and as such that it stood as an analogue of literary realism. As this article demonstrates, such arguments have been enormously influenced by the Art History narrative of photography, as well as late twentieth-century poststructuralism. Roland Barthes' Camera Lucida has been particularly prominent. Yet though it has much to say about the phenomenology of posing, as well as the affective quality of images, Barthes' 'modest book' makes assumptions that have been problematized in subsequent photographic scholarship. These assumptions, which include indexicality and medium specificity, support an ideology of photographic realism. This ideology has dominated comparative studies of Victorian literature and early photography, including work on Thomas Hardy and Henry James. One result has been for literary critics to overlook the nuances of particular technologies, such as the daguerreotype, and to treat nineteenth-century photography as if it were a single medium. Another has been a privileging of modernism. This last result has been concomitant with a tendency for literary scholars to view photography solely as art. Important recent work in the history of photography has challenged the Art History narrative, but this has been slow to filter through to literary studies. This article will conclude by noting encouraging signs that this situation seems to be changing.


India's automotive industry is accelerating fast. Triggered by market liberalizations that have kicked off a cycle of investment and growth, car demand this decade has been advancing at 20 percent a year. Provided there is no backsliding by policy makers, the domestic market could support sales of up to one million vehicles a year by the end of the century. Many hold high hopes of India also becoming a significant exporter to other LDC markets. Not surprisingly, the world's car manufacturers are scurrying to sign up Indian partners. General Motors, Peugeot, and Daewoo, to name but three, have all announced joint ventures. What has received considerably less international attention, however, is the state of India's automotive components industry. The reality is that although Indian demand for car components is likely to quadruple by the turn of the century, India's components industry faces substantial challenges in supporting that growth. THE STATE OF PLAY Protectionism. Protectionism has dealt the Indian automotive components industry a weak hand with which to withstand the competitive onslaught that is about to be unleashed. Government restrictions aimed at limiting consumption and protecting domestic industry have stifled vehicle demand: total annual revenue from all car component production stands at approximately $2.6 billion, representing just 1 percent of the world components market. From such a small industry base, Indian manufacturers will find it hard to capture the economies of scale necessary to compete regionally, let alone globally. A high level of industry fragmentation will make competing all the more difficult. As a result of regulations designed to favor smaller enterprises, India's 350 or so major component manufacturers generate average revenue of only $4 million a year. Between them, these 350 manufacturers have 96 percent of the market, leaving thousands of small-scale enterprises sorely exposed in a liberalized market (Exhibit A). Another legacy of protectionism is India's isolation from the world marketplace, a factor that has discouraged investment and restricted access to the new technologies involved in modern car manufacturing. Insulated from imports by tariffs as high as 100 percent, Indian components manufacturers have had little incentive either to invest or to cut prices or costs. The result has been low volumes, although at high margins. Foreign manufacturers entering India are bound to use their bargaining power to force these margins lower, which will inevitably further limit Indian suppliers' ability to invest and close the gap with global standards. Quality and technology. And there's a sizable gap to be bridged. India's car manufacturers have to put up with an average 2,900 faulty parts for every million they receive from suppliers - a rate 10 times worse than that enjoyed by leading Western assemblers [ILLUSTRATION FOR EXHIBIT B OMITTED]. Indian component suppliers themselves have to contend in turn with an astonishingly high 31,500 rejects for every million parts delivered from their own sub-suppliers [ILLUSTRATION FOR EXHIBIT C OMITTED]. These rates handicap even the most efficient factories as sorting, testing, and rework come to dominate and distract from the fundamental business of adding value. Quality will have to improve quickly if Indian manufacturers are not to be squeezed out by more advanced foreign firms seeking to capture the market's growth. Indian suppliers will also have to make great leaps in technical competency. As domestic demand grows for better-performing cars that meet higher regulatory standards, so too will the technical content of components, particularly electronic applications. This will require whole new sets of skills quite alien to traditional "metal-bending" firms. Low-cost labor. Despite all these drawbacks, a major reason for Western enthusiasm about India's automotive supply base is its low cost position, seen as largely offsetting any quality or technology shortcomings. …


In this paper we are interested to find teleparallel proper homothetic vector fields over the Lorentzian manifold of special axially symmetric static spacetime. For the purpose we applied teleparallel Lie derivative to the metric for homothetic equations and obtained ten coupled non linear differential equations. These equations are then solved for each possibility of the metric functions and it comes out that only in one case teleparallel proper homothetic vector fields exist for the special choice of metric functions. The spacetime admit eight dimensional teleparallel homothetic vector fields in which one is proper teleparallel homothetic vector and remaining seven are teleparallel Killing vector fields


Author(s): Lin, Hsiu-Chin | Abstract: The perciform suborder Blennioidei comprises six families, 151 genera and 883 species. In Chapter 1, I analyzed the phylogenetic relationships of 160 blennioids and ten gobiesocids as the outgroup with one mitochondrial and four nuclear DNA markers. According to the consensus of Bayesian, Maximum Likelihood, and Maximum Parsimony analyses, the monophylies of the six families are supported except for the Labrisomidae and Chaenopsidae. The globally distributed families Tripterygiidae and Blenniidae, are the basal clades branched out of the blennioids. Relationships of the remaining families are partially resolved with the two temperate lineages, the tribe Cryptotremini (Labrisomidae) and the family Clinidae, positioned at the base. Our data suggest that the three Labrisomus subgenera Brockius, Gobioclinus, and Labrisomus should be recognized as separate genera. The recent expansion of the Chaenopsidae with the inclusion of Neoclinus, Mccoskerichthys, and Stathmonotus is not supported. Relationships of the mostly New World family Chaenopsidae are further investigated with additional 145 morphological characters in Chapter 2. The phylogeny based on the combined molecular and morphological dataset supports the monophyly of the subfamily Chaenopsinae and all included genera, but partially agrees with the formerly hypothesized inter-generic relationships based on morphology. Four major clades were identified. The genus Coralliozetus is sister to the remaining three clades which have unresolved relationships. Chaenopsids show higher-than-average genetic variation, therefore are ideal models for studying evolutionary mechanisms. In Chapter 3, a Gulf of California endemic chaenopsid Acanthemblemaria crockeri is shown to have a species-level divergence with subsequent differentiation based on two mitochondrial markers (COI and d-loop). The geographical boundary between the northern "Gulf" and southern "Cape" species roughly corresponds to a hypothetical Pliocene seaway north of the La Paz. Surprisingly, this pattern is not congruent with the well-recognized northern melanic and southern red color morphs. Another speciation event is confirmed from the A. hancocki species group. In Chapter 4, two mitochondrial and one nuclear intron markers were used to discover a new species endemic to the Gulf of California. Acanthemblemaria hastingsi sp. nov. is separated from its sister species A. macrospilus, by the Sinaloan Gap and differ in head and dorsal-fin color pattern


now been shown m rats administered rat mammary tumor (MRMT1) cells (which metastasize easily) that the potent glucocorticoid dexamethasone decreased penpheral lymphocyte numbers by 50% and increased lung metastasis by over 25-fold. In addition, ether anesthesia and laparotomy resulted in a twofold increase in corticosterone, a sevenfold increase in apoptotic thymocyte numbers, and about a 10-fold increase in lung metastasis. These changes were almost completely prevented by preoperative adrenalectomy or treatment with the glucocorticoid synthesis inhibitor metyrapone (1). Antidepressant drugs reduce the response of the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis to stress; interestingly, acute administration of fluoxetine significantly reduced (by more than 20%) the effects of laparotomy on increasing lung metastases from injected carcinosarcoma cells in rats (2). Not all studies find antidepressant drugs to be antineoplastic; additional studies using many different acute and chronic antidepressant treatments will be necessary to clarify this issue. It is clear, however, that high glucocorticoid levels impair immune function and treatments that reduce the HPA axis response to stress could have a beneficial effect in improvmg host resistance to cancer metastasis.


Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent tumor worldwide. Triple-negative BCs are characterized by the negative estrogen and progesterone receptors and negative HER2, and represent 12-18%  of all BCs.Breast cancer (breast cancer) is the most common oncological disease in women in the Uzbekistan. Data from epidemiological studies show that TNBC is more common in young women (up to 50 years) before menopause. In addition, the likelihood of TNBC is higher in women with early menarche, the first pregnancy at an earlier age, a short period of breastfeeding, and an increased body mass index. It should be not that the prognosis for TNBC does not depend on the degree of differentiation of the tumor, the presence of lymph node metastases, the size of the tumor or the treatment performed. The aggressiveness of TNBC was also confirmed by the maximum risk of recurrence during the first three years after surgical treatment with a maximum mortality within the first 5 years. TNBC is a subtype of tumors with a special character of metastasis. Based on the above, we have undertaken the present work, having set ourselves the following goal: to improve immediate and long-term results of treatment of patients with locally advanced thyroid cancer by using the most effective diagnostic methods and comprehensive treatment.
Keywords: Triple negative BC, neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic chemotherapy, paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemicitabine


Multilevel inverter has become most popular over the years in the area of high power medium voltage energy control. With the recent advancement in Power semiconductor switches, multilevel inverter fed induction motor drives are extensively used in industries. Common mode voltage (CMV) is the voltage measure between star point of load and system ground. CMV is produced in inverter causes current to flow through bearings which may cause premature failure of the motor bearings. This paper presents the reduction of CMV in Diode Clamped multilevel Inverter using multicarrier SPWM technique. A MATLAB Simulation of diode clamped multilevel inverter is presented by applying different multicarrier modulation techniques. CMV and THD are investigated.


Malaria causes significant morbidity and mortality worldwide, disproportionately impacting parts of Africa. Disease phenotypes associated with malarial infection can vary widely, from subclinical to life-threatening. To date, prevention efforts, particularly those related to vaccine development, have been hindered by an incomplete understanding of which factors impact host immune responses resulting in these divergent outcomes. We applied single-cell RNA-sequencing to compare the immunological phenotypes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from children with clinical and subclinical malarial infections in an area of high malaria transmission in northern Ghana. On average, clinical pediatric malaria infections were characterized by a higher fractional abundance of monocytes and an upregulation of innate immune responses, including those to type I and type II interferons and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) signaling via NFkB. Further, in the clinical malaria group, we identified more putative interactions between antigen-presenting cells and proliferating CD4 T cells and naive CD8 T cells driven by MHC-I and MHC-II signaling pathways, respectively. Together, these findings highlight transcriptional differences between immune cell subsets associated with disease phenotypes that may help guide the development of improved malaria vaccines and new therapeutic interventions for individuals residing in endemic areas.


Serous otitis media is a serosal inflammation of the mucous membrane of the auditory tube and the tympanic cavity which develops on the background of Eustachian tube dysfunction. It is characterized by the presence of seromucous exudate in the tympanic cavity. The disease occurs more often in children than adults. The objective of the research was to compare the effectiveness of different methods of treating serous otitis media. Materials and methods. The study included 46 patients with serous otitis media at the age of 22-55 years. There were 26 females and 20 males who were treated as inpatients and outpatients in the department of microsurgery of ENT-organs in Ivano-Frankivsk Central City Clinical Hospital during 2012-2016. Disease duration ranged from 10-15 days to 1 month. In all the patients, serous otitis media developed on the background of persistent allergic rhinitis. All the patients underwent comprehensive examination: their complaints as well as anamnestic data were analyzed, ENT examination including the endoscopic examination of the nasal cavity and the nasopharynx, otoscopy, audiometry, impedancemetry and laboratory investigations was performed. All patients were divided into 2 groups: Group I included 21 patients receiving conservative therapy for allergic rhinitis and serous otitis media; Group II comprised 25 patients receiving conservative therapy for allergic rhinitis and treatment of serous otitis media applying myringotomy and bypass surgery of the tympanic cavity. Results. The analysis of the study revealed that in 9 patients of Group I, an improvement in hearing occurred on the third-fourth days after treatment. In 12 patients, treatment was ineffective. 14 patients of Group II who underwent myringotomy with the evacuation of the fluid from the tympanic cavity and subsequent injection of glucocorticoids into the tympanic cavity noted an improvement in hearing immediately after the procedure or the day after. In 11 patients of Group II, a thick mucous exudate was obtained during myringotomy. These patients underwent bypass surgery. The shunt was removed after a thorough cleaning of the tympanic cavity as well as the restoration of the auditory tube function. Conclusions. Myringotomy is more effective and rational method of treating serous otitis media. Myringotomy with subsequent bypass surgery is recommended for patients with a thick mucous exudate in the tympanic cavity in order to prevent chronic adhesive otitis as well as to perform a complete sanation of the tympanic cavity and to restore the auditory tube function.


ABSTRACT This paper details a two-stage process for standard setting using an extended pairwise comparison method. It describes the application of a new process of establishing a set of scaled and ordered performances as a basis for exemplifying standards. In stage one, the method of pairwise comparison was used to generate data from pairwise judgements made at the criterion level and overall grade. In stage two, judges identified where the pass/fail boundary lay in relation to a selected subset of ordered performances generated from stage one. The combined evidence from the two-stage process demonstrates the method's application to establish exemplified standards using on-balance judgements across multiple criteria. The approach combines expert judgement and statistical data to provide a basis for comparable cross-institution assessments against standards in the case of a summative assessment of professional competence in teacher education. It may be relevant to any discipline with professional standards and complex performance assessments.


Few-shot learning (FSL) aims to recognize novel queries with only a few support samples through leveraging prior knowledge from a base dataset. In this paper, we consider the domain shift problem in FSL and aim to address the domain gap between the support set and the query set. Different from previous cross-domain FSL work (CD-FSL) that considers the domain shift between base and novel classes, the new problem, termed cross-domain cross-set FSL (CDSC-FSL), requires few-shot learners not only to adapt to the new domain, but also to be consistent between different domains within each novel class. To this end, we propose a novel approach, namely stabPA, to learn prototypical compact and cross-domain aligned representations, so that the domain shift and few-shot learning can be addressed simultaneously. We evaluate our approach on two new CDCS-FSL benchmarks built from the DomainNet and Office-Home datasets respectively. Remarkably, our approach outperforms multiple elaborated baselines by a large margin, e.g., improving 5-shot accuracy by 6.0 points on average on DomainNet. Code is available at https://github.com/WentaoChen0813/CDCS-FSL


Directly assessing the impact of subsurface microbial activity on global element cycles is complicated by the inaccessibility of most deep biospheres and the difficulty of growing representative cultivars in the laboratory. In order to constrain the rates of biogeochemical processes in such settings, a quantitative relationship between rates of microbial catalysis, energy supply and demand and population size has been developed that complements the limited biogeochemical data describing subsurface environments. Within this formulation, rates of biomass change are determined as a function of the proportion of catabolic power that is converted into anabolism—either new microorganisms or the replacement of existing cell components—and the amount of energy that is required to synthesize biomass. Catabolic power is related to biomass through an energy-based yield coefficient that takes into account the constraints that different environments impose on biomolecule synthesis; this method is compared to other approaches for determining yield coefficients. Furthermore, so-called microbial maintenance energies that have been reported in the literature, which span many orders of magnitude, are reviewed. The equations developed in this study are used to demonstrate the interrelatedness of catabolic reaction rates, Gibbs energy of reaction, maintenance energy, biomass yield coefficients, microbial population sizes and doubling/replacement times. The number of microorganisms that can be supported by particular combinations of energy supply and demand is illustrated as a function of the catabolic rates in marine environments. Replacement/doubling times for various population sizes are shown as well. Finally, cell count and geochemical data describing two marine sedimentary environments in the South Pacific Gyre and the Peru Margin are used to constrain in situ metabolic and catabolic rates. The formulations developed in this study can be used to better define the limits and extent of life because they are valid for any metabolism under any set of conditions.


This paper describes a proposed system design for Style Change Detection (SCD) tasks for PAN at CLEF 2022. We propose a unified architecture of ensemble neural networks to solve three SCD2022 edition tasks. We fine-tune the BERT, RoBERTa and ALBERT transformers and their connecting classifiers to measure the similarity of two given paragraphs or sentences for authorship analysis. Each transformer model is regarded as a standalone method to detect differences in the writing styles of each testing pair. The final output prediction is then combined using the majority voting ensemble mechanism. For SCD-2022 Task 1, which requires finding the only one position of a single style at the paragraph level, our approach achieves a macro F1-score of 0.7540. For SCD-2022 Task 2 to detect the actual authors of each written paragraph, our method achieves a macro F1-score of 0.5097, a Diarization error rate of 0.1941 and a Jaccard error rate of 0.3095. For SCD-2022 Task 3 to find located writing style changes at the sentence level, our model achieves a macro F1-score of 0.7156. In summary, our method is the winning approach in the list of all intrinsic approaches.


The paper reports the fabrication of polymeric optical waveguides. Single mode planar slab waveguides and straight waveguides have been fabricated from the organic polymer B-staged bisbenzocyclobutene (BCB) from Dow Chemical. A low cost fabrication method, chemical etching, is used to form the waveguides on BK-7 glass substrates. The processing conditions required for the fabrication of single mode optical waveguides have been thoroughly investigated and are presented.


This paper presents a new approach to test sequence derivation from formal protocol specifications for protocol conformance testing. The approach is based on a model of External Behaviour Expression (EBE) which specifies only the external behaviour of a protocol in terms of the input/output sequences and their logical (function and predicate) relations, and can be obtained from formal protocol specifications in either Estelle or LOTOS. A basic test derivation theory is defined for the purpose of formalizing test sequence derivation strategies. Based on the EBE of a protocol, a test sequence derivation method is proposed to identify associations between inputs and outputs through the interaction paths and their I/O subpaths. Generic Test Cases generated from these I/O subpaths are based on specific testing purposes. Abstract Test Cases are selected in terms of particular test methods and additional requirements. Comparison to other existing schemes shows the method proposed here is simple and concise, and the resulting set of test sequences is complete and effective. It is our belief that this approach to test sequence derivation can provide the basis of a formalized framework for protocol conformance testing.


Summary Manipulation of the soil microbiota associated with crop plants has huge promise for the control of crop pathogens. However, to fully realize this potential we need a better understanding of the relationship between the soil environment and the genes and phenotypes that enable microbes to colonize plants and contribute to biocontrol. A recent 2 years of investigation into the effect of wheat variety on second year crop yield in the context of take‐all fungal infection presented the opportunity to examine soil microbiomes under closely defined field conditions. Amplicon sequencing of second year soil samples showed that P seudomonas spp. were particularly affected by the wheat cultivar grown in year one. Consequently, 318 rhizosphere‐associated P seudomonas fluorescens strains were isolated and characterized across a variety of genetic and phenotypic traits. Again, the wheat variety grown in the first year of the study was shown to exert considerable selective pressure on both the extent and nature of P seudomonas genomic diversity. Furthermore, multiple significant correlations were identified within the phenotypic/genetic structure of the Pseudomonas population, and between individual genotypes and the external wheat field environment. The approach outlined here has considerable future potential for our understanding of plant–microbe interactions, and for the broader analysis of complex microbial communities.


This thesis investigated the higher education experiences of Christian Arab women from the north of Israel. For some, it is their first multicultural educational experience. Israel has a complex socio-political history, and a mixed race higher education policy is bold, as Arabs and Jews are mostly segregated educationally until age eighteen.
There is scant research on Christian Arab women in Israel and this study focuses on their higher education experiences as related to socio-cultural, historical, political, and religious contexts. A feminist approach gives them a respectful and legitimate platform from which to speak and thematic analysis helps create a more comprehensive picture of their aspirations, and the practical realities and implications of the multi-dimensional perspective of higher education. Data was collected from twelve (student) participants using semi-structured interviews.
The participants understood the academic experience as one expected by family and cultural group, and believed that financial and social empowerment would result. Arabic has relative unimportance in Israel, and this study finds that the participants' Hebrew literacy was not strong, constraining most effective studying practices. Recommendations include changing emphases within schools, society, and higher education to offer greater opportunities regarding language development and social interactions.
Identity was affiliated to religion and Christianity had a defining role in the lives of participants. Higher education as part of a Jewish culture was perceived as developmentally liberating and using the experience to identify personal qualities and challenges was acknowledged. Its significance in the social and cultural fabric of Israel indicates the importance of optimising the experience for all students. An underrepresented and involuntary minority status did not affect participants' desire to use to their advantage a structure which offers capitals to augment lifestyle choices.
A unified future was the only reasonable outcome for citizens of Israel in which the participants' saw themselves as significant actors.


Recently, more young people are suffering from mental illness especially stress and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. The different between how bad the mental health condition depends on the ways each individual handle and overcome it. Besides, factor that leads stress and depression also plays an important roles in order to know the level of the stress and depression. A person's age and background are also among the factors that cause stress and depression. For instance, stress and depression of students mostly happen because of their study especially during COVID-19 pandemic where schools and universities are closed, and online learning need to be implemented. This study analyses on the number of students that were affected from the COVID-19 pandemic during online distance learning. Two keywords "stress and depression" were used to extract the data from the Twitter. Sentiment analysis has been conducted in the analysis process and Naïve Bayes classifier was applied to classify the data into the predefined categories. 571 out of 2291 students experienced depression, 872 experienced high levels of stress and 848 were diagnosed with early-stage stress. The obtained results are visualized using polar area diagram to ease the readers' understanding.


Most patients with cutaneous melanoma present with clinical stage 1 at diagnosis, i.e., with no evidence of lymph node or systemic metastases. However, since this is a type of neoplasm with high affinity to lymphatic tissue, between 30 and 60% of patients are estimated to have occult metastases on the lymph nodes of the area that drains the primary tumor site at the moment of diagnosis. This possibility depends on several histologic factors, especially thickness of the neoplasm. Historically, in order to reduce the rate of regional recurrence, lymphadenectomy was an essential part of cutaneous melanoma treatment, which has associated morbidity. In the decade of 1990, Morton et al. reported that lymph is initially received by a single lymph node in the lymphatic basin and that its histological status predicts the status of the others and that, therefore, in patients with sentinel lymph node free of metastases lymphadenectomy is not necessary, which reduces morbidity. In the present manuscript, indications, contraindications and requirements for sentinel lymph node identification are described, as well as its current value in cutaneous melanoma diagnostic and therapeutic process.


Focusing on patterns of intimacy, this book traces the historical roots of parenting practices and familial patterns constructed by lesbians and same-sex attracted women living in Britain and Australia between 1945 and 2000. It foregrounds women's unique lived experiences, as they expressed desire, fell in love, and created families against the backdrop of changing cultural, legal, and medical attitudes to female same-sex desire in the late 20th century.
 Including almost 100 original oral history interviews conducted by the author, Lesbian Intimacies and Family Life reveals the subjective histories of lesbian intimacy during the period, both highlighting the huge variety in women's experiences, and tracing shifting patterns of relationship and family formation. Combined with analysis of representations of lesbian intimacy in literature, press articles, medical texts, and archival material, the book demonstrates the ways in which changing political and cultural concepts of sexuality impacted on individual and collective attitudes.
 With a unique transnational perspective, Jennings uncovers how feminist and lesbian networks between Britain and Australia promoted knowledge sharing and helped foster change in the familial practices of each country – such as through the adoption of reproductive technologies and alternate routes into motherhood. Through considering the rise of divorce and challenges to traditional marriage practices in the period, this book highlights how lesbian relationships provided alternative models of interpersonal relations, impacting on broader patterns of sexuality, and helping redefine notions of the family in the modern era.


The number of means to communication have immensely exploded since the internet and Web 2.0 became available. In contrast to the past, consumers are no longer limited to time and geographical boundaries. Now, experiences and opinions about products and services can be freely exchanged across time and space. Sharing this information can help others to collect the necessary information needed for a product choice. However, literature has remain silent on the attributes that consumers deploy to navigate through their information seeking processes. Therefore, in this paper we conduct a systematic literature review and develop a framework that includes two routes of information processing including the attributes for each route. In addition, we develop a questionnaire with multiple items related to these attributes and routes to be of use for future research.


This paper presents the latest update of the World Bank Bank Regulation and Supervision Survey, and explores two questions. First, were there significant differences in regulation and supervision between crisis and non-crisis countries? Second, what aspects of regulation and supervision changed significantly during the crisis period? The paper finds significant differences between crisis and non-crisis countries in several aspects of regulation and supervision. In particular, crisis countries (a) had less stringent definitions of capital and lower actual capital ratios, (b) faced fewer restrictions on non-bank activities, (c) were less strict in the regulatory treatment of bad loans and loan losses, and (d) had weaker incentives for the private sector to monitor banks' risks. Survey results also suggest that the overall regulatory response to the crisis has been slow, and there is room to improve regulation and supervision, as well as private incentives to monitor risk-taking. Specifically, comparing regulatory and supervisory practices before and after the global crisis, the paper finds relatively few changes: capital ratios increased (primarily among non-crisis countries), deposit insurance schemes became more generous, and some reforms were introduced in the area of bank governance and bank resolution.


Two thousand and thirteen was the year of the spy. Edward Snowden – "leaker" or "whistleblower" depending on one's perspective – ignited a mainstream (and social) media frenzy in mid-2013 by sharing details of classified US National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs with the U.K. Guardian and Washington Post newspapers. For related reasons, 2013 was also the year in which the expression "metadata" migrated from the lexicon of the technologically literate to the parlance of everyday commentary. The NSA revelations fuelled media, academic and other speculation about whether similar surveillance programs exist in Canada. That attention focused on Canada's NSA equivalent (and close alliance partner), the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC). CSEC does have a metadata collection program, prompting questions about its legal basis, and the extent to which CSEC is governed by robust accountability mechanisms. This article focuses on a single aspect of this debate: By reason of technological change and capacity, have the state's surveillance activities now escaped governance by law? A broad question with a number of facets, this article examines the specific sub-issue of metadata and its relationship with conventional rules on searches and seizures. The article concludes that the privacy standards that CSEC must meet in relation to metadata are much more robust than the government seems to have accepted to date.


Forty-nine adolescents with active pulmonary tuberculosis were followed up to assess the biological chip test for the detection of rifampicin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MBT). Rifampicin resistance (rpo B gene mutation) was detected in 22 (44.9%) patients. Disseminated processes were detected in a larger proportion of the patients with rifampicin resistance than in those with MBT susceptibility (63.6 and 40.7%, respectively (p < 0.05). Comparison of the data on MBT resistance and susceptibility, which had been obtained by bacteriological studies (nutrient medium cultuvations) and the biological chip test, revealed their agreement in 50% of the cases. A response could be showed after 2-3 months in the former case and after 2-3 days in the latter case. With the biological chip test, the resistance of MBT to rifampicin was additionally established in 38.7% of the patients with negative cultivation tests on admission and during therapy. Follow-ups have demonstrated that MBT resistance to rifampicin preserves longer with the biological microchip test than that with nutrient medium cultivation.


Recent ex-urban development within the wildland interface has significantly increased the complexity and associated cost of federal wildland fire management in the United States. Rapid identification of built structures relative to probable fire spread can help to reduce that complexity and improve the performance of incident management teams. Approximate structure locations can be mapped as specific-point building cluster features using cadastral data records. This study assesses the accuracy and precision of building clusters relative to GPS structure locations and compares these results with area mapping of housing density using census-based products. We demonstrate that building clusters are reasonably accurate and precise approximations of structure locations and provide superior strategic information for wildland fire decision support compared with area density techniques. Real-time delivery of structure locations and other values-at-risk mapped relative to probable fire spread through the Wildland Fire Decision Support System Rapid Assessment of Values at Risk procedure supports development of wildland fire management strategies.


Myocardial dysfunction may occur in areas remote from an acutely occluded coronary artery if those areas are served by a critically stenosed vessel. Although subendocardial hypoperfusion of such remote myocardium has been demonstrated in experimental preparations of this situation, this study was undertaken to determine whether actual reductions in subendocardial perfusion below control levels were necessary for such dysfunction to occur. A 20 mg dose of pentobarbital was injected into the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in 14 anesthetized dogs to create a large anterior regional wall motion abnormality without drawing significant collateral flow from the circumflex vascular bed. Circumflex subendocardial flow was found to rise during injections of pentobarbital and occlusion of the LAD (1.12 +/- 0.38 and 1.17 +/- 0.34 ml/min/g, respectively, vs control 0.91 +/- 0.23 ml/min/g; p less than .05) in the absence of circumflex stenosis. In the presence of circumflex stenosis, circumflex subendocardial flow fell during left anterior descending occlusion (0.59 +/- 0.21 vs 0.89 +/- 0.19 ml/min/g control; p less than .01) but did not change during pentobarbital injections in the LAD (0.77 +/- 0.36 ml/min/g). In the absence of circumflex stenosis, circumflex segment shortening increased during injection of pentobarbital or occlusion of the LAD (14.3 +/- 4.9% and 14.4 +/- 3.5%, respectively, vs 12.3 +/- 3.3% control). In the presence of circumflex stenosis, it did not change (12.5 +/- 4.0% pentobarbital, 11.8 +/- 3.6 LAD occlusion vs 13.1 +/- 4.0% control). We concluded that the presence of large regional wall motion abnormalities may increase the oxygen consumption of remaining myocardium and that dysfunction of that myocardium may result from relative hypoperfusion if blood flow cannot increase appropriately.


The design of sample cells to study solid/liquid interfaces by neutron reflection is presented. Use of standardized components and a modular design has allowed a wide range of experiments that include grazing incidence scattering and conventional small-angle scattering. Features that reduce background scattering are emphasized. Various flow arrangements to fill and replenish the liquid in the cell as well as continuous stirring are described.


The ultrasound contrast agent based on a poly lactic acid (PLA) was prepared by combining an ultrasound method and a Shirasu Porous Glass (SPG) membrane emulsification technique. An aqueous phase containing ammonium bicarbonate was used as the internal water phase (Wi), and PLA and Span 80 were dissolved in a solvent of dichloromethane (DCM), which was used as the oil phase (O). These two solutions were probe sonicated to form a Wi/O primary emulsion. The primary emulsion was permeated through the uniform pores (1.1 mum) of an SPG membrane into the external water phase (W2) by the pressure of nitrogen gas to form the uniform W1/O/W2 droplets. After DCM was evaporated, the hardened PLA microcapsules were further formulated into a lyophilized powder containing decafluorobutane gas. SEM image demonstrated that the PLA microcapsules were sphere-shaped and internally hollow with an average diameter ranging from 1.99 to 3.58 mum. In vitro, the PLA contrast agents showed high acoustic enhancement properties, the enhancement increased nonlinearly with dose, and the minimal loss (less than 5 dB) of signal was observed over 20 min of analysis at 37degC, the maximum acoustic enhancement was 45 dB, which significantly higher (p < 0.01) compared to a value of 28 dB for those prepared by a conventional solvent evaporation method. In conclusion, the hollow PLA microcapsules prepared by the novel method have the characteristics desirable for an intravenously administered ultrasound contrast agents.


The purpose of the present article is to examine how virtual design studio environments can be used to aid collaborative designing and describe some of our experiences in supporting collaborative design with such environments. The authors will introduce three design projects. These were projects, respectively, for designing clothes for premature babies, conference bags and tactile books for visually impaired children; they constitute a continuum in terms of being design experiments, each of which highlights certain perspectives on the virtual design process. Our approach, in which the first author was acting as a teacher in each project, made it possible to address current problems faced in the field of virtual designing. The purpose of our design experiments is set up, foster, and investigate an iterative design process, in which previous observations and lessons can be applied to enhancement of educational settings and practices. The authors examined how participants create shared design ideas, to what extent users can be involved in the design process (participatory designing), and how expert knowledge is utilized. According to our experiments, the progressive inquiry model can fruitfully be applied to collaborative designing to facilitate participants' interaction processes of developing design ideas and sharing their expertise through the virtual design studio.


The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different levels of forage and concentrates diets on the metabolism of glucose, β-hydroxybutyrate (BOHB) and nonesterified fatty acid (NEFA) in livers of nonlactating goats. Six catheterized GuanZhong goats (40±2 kg weight) were fed high concentrate diet (HC, 40% hay, 60% concentrate) or high forage diets (HF, 60% hay, 40% concentrate). Blood samples were simultaneously taken from the portal, hepatic and arterial catheters at 0 h, before feeding, 2, 4, 6 and 8 h after feeding . The HC fed goats exhibited higher (P<0.01) plasma glucose concentration and arterial flow accompanied by NEFA, BOHB(P<0.01) and hepatic glucagons concentrations (P<0.10) while NEFA portal flow and BOHB hepatic flow decreased (P<0.05). Glucose portal-arterial concentration difference and hepatic-portal concentration differences in BOHB and NEFA tended to decreased (P<0.10) with increasing NEFA portal and hepatic arterial concentration differences (P<0.05) in HC fed goats. There were no differences in net flow of glucose, BOHB and NEFA across splanchnic tissues, but a decreased net portal absorption in NEFA (P<0.05) accompanied with a tendency for depressing its net PDV plus hepatic uptake (P<0.10). In conclusion, the high concentrates diet may increase hepatic gluconeogenesis in nonlactating goats.


There are several generics of Warfarin Sodium available in Syrian drug market. The aim of this study is to evaluate the physicochemical properties of three brands of Warfarin Sodium(5mg) tablets marketed in Syria. The physicochemical equivalence of three brands of warfarin sodium tablets were assessed through the evaluation of weight variation, friability, hardness, content uniformity, and dissolution rate. All the brands complied with the specifications for hardness, friability, and weight variation tests. Two brands had values within the range specified (95-105%) for content uniformity in the USP while brand C failed the test. Also brands A, B released more than 80% of drug in 30 minutes while brand C release less than 80%, so brands A, B passed USP specifications, While brand C failed this test.


Objective: Pre-eclampsia (PE) and fetal growth restriction (IUGR) are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Failure of trophoblast invasion of the maternal spiral arteries is an important pathogenetic factor. Raised hemoconcentration in early pregnancy leads to high blood viscosity which may also predispose to placental pathology. In addition early alteration of renal function may be an indicator of maternal complications in PE. It is on this background that we investigated the role of early uterine artery Doppler in combination with different maternal biochemical markers in the prediction of PE and IUGR. Methods: In our prospective cohort study in a high risk population 120 patients agreed to participate. Inclusion criteria were singleton pregnancy and gestational age between 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks. Exclusion criteria were as follows: smoking, diabetes, fetal anomalies, serious maternal disease and maternal medication affecting fetal growth. Uterine artery Doppler was routinely performed. In addition, different maternal biochemical markers (hemoglobin, hematocrit and cystatin C as an indicator of reduced glomerular filtration rate) were examined. Every patient was considered only once. Primary outcome variables were pregnancy outcome, in particular presence or absence of PE and IUGR. Statistics were based on stepwise polynomial regression analysis. Results: Pregnancies with an increased risk of PE and IUGR demonstrated a significantly higher prevalence of early bilateral diastolic notching (p < 0.001). Mean PI values of patients in the control and study group did not differ significantly. None of the examined biochemical markers proved to be a useful predictor of PE or IUGR. Conclusions: Early artery Doppler in high-risk pregnancies can identify women who later develop PE and IUGR. Further studies are warranted to demonstrate whether affected pregnancies may benefit from earlier diagnosis.


There is strong interest in Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) control architectures which are able to systematically respect physical limitations of the plant. Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) inherits the required constraint handling abilities and is easy to reconfigure in case of plant degradation. This work presents a promising cascaded control architecture for multirotors for the task to follow a geometric path. In contrast to existing NMPC implementations for path following, three times continuously differentiable reference trajectories are required due to the underactuated nature of multirotor vehicles. This is achieved by defining a path by a quartic spline and employ fourth order path dynamics. The proposed controller considers the dynamics of the inner acceleration loop explicitly so that the assumption of time-scale separation between the controller cascades can be dropped. The presented implementation allows for online adaptation of plant and control parameters as a first step towards application in a fault-tolerant setup. High fidelity simulation results demonstrate the favorable performance. Due to the observed runtimes well below a tenth of the sample rate, deployability to the onboard embedded computer can be expected.