This paper presents an unsupervised learning algorithm for sparse nonnegative matrix factor time–frequency deconvolution with optimized fractional β-divergence. The β-divergence is a group of cost functions parametrized by a single parameter β. The Itakura–Saito divergence, Kullback–Leibler divergence and Least Square distance are special cases that correspond to β=0, 1, 2, respectively. This paper presents a generalized algorithm that uses a flexible range of β that includes fractional values. It describes a maximization–minimization (MM) algorithm leading to the development of a fast convergence multiplicative update algorithm with guaranteed convergence. The proposed model operates in the time–frequency domain and decomposes an information-bearing matrix into two-dimensional deconvolution of factor matrices that represent the spectral dictionary and temporal codes. The deconvolution process has been optimized to yield sparse temporal codes through maximizing the likelihood of the observations. The paper also presents a method to estimate the fractional β value. The method is demonstrated on separating audio mixtures recorded from a single channel. The paper shows that the extraction of the spectral dictionary and temporal codes is significantly more efficient by using the proposed algorithm and subsequently leads to better source separation performance. Experimental tests and comparisons with other factorization methods have been conducted to verify its efficacy.


Not since the initial cloning of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989 and the subsequent development of assays to detect silent carriers (1) and protect the blood supply (2) have data on this infection been so exciting. Before 1990, HCV was an incurable, prevalent chronic infection and had only a 10% cure rate with early interferon monotherapy. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates—which are tantamount to cure—increased to approximately 25% by adding ribavirin and 45% when pegylated interferon was combined with ribavirin (3). In 2011, the first HCV-specific protease inhibitors were licensed after clinical trials showed that these drugs, combined with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, could achieve close to 70% SVR for patients with genotype 1 infections (4, 5). Further, a small clinical trial that added a polymerase inhibitor (quadruple therapy) achieved 90% SVR (6). More amazing, a Japanese trial that used only 2 oral agents (protease plus NS5A inhibitor) also demonstrated a 90% cure rate, albeit in only 10 patients (7). Such dramatic cure rates for genotype 1 infections far exceed prior expectations and portend a paradigm shift in HCV therapy that may eventuate in interferon-sparing regimens with low toxicity and high compliance.

These unprecedented outcomes result from 2 decades of brilliant basic science that developed crystal structures of key viral enzymatic sites and then generated inhibitors to engage these sites (8). These basic studies coalesced into 2 licensed protease inhibitors and at least 40 drugs in the pipeline that additionally target the NS5b polymerase and NS5a proteins. Other nonenzymatic targets, such as entry and assembly sites, are also being studied.

What do these findings mean to the average patient with HCV, high-risk cohorts, patients with severe chronic liver disease, and society? Will the costs of new treatments be justified and sustainable? Can we afford not to treat when cure rates are so high? What factors best predict response? Is prediction less important when cure rates are high? How will we identify the large number of persons who are unaware of their infection and likely to be cured if identified?

Because traditional pegylated interferon–ribavirin therapy has considerable adverse effects and less than 50% sustained efficacy, treatment decisions have been highly variable. Generally, patients with normal alanine aminotransferase levels or minimal fibrosis were not offered treatment and asymptomatic patients often opted out of recommended treatment because the complications are so difficult to endure. Estimates suggest that only 10% to 20% of patients known to be infected with HCV accept therapy and complete a full therapeutic course (9). Newly licensed triple therapy that incorporates protease inhibitors will not alleviate the adverse effects of interferon and will, in fact, impose some new toxicities. However, triple therapy increases efficacy to 70% and shortens treatment duration, so it will be more frequently recommended and more likely accepted. When cure rates approach 90%, as they appear to do with quadruple therapy or with combinations of oral direct-acting antivirals, it is probable that nearly all identified patients will be offered therapy and that acceptance will be high. However, this optimism comes with some caveats. First, the adverse effects associated with triple therapy are difficult to manage. Second, many factors diminish treatment response, including black race, obesity, HIV coinfection, and established cirrhosis. In addition, viral genotype and specific host polymorphisms in the interleukin (IL)-28B gene strongly influence treatment response. Of note, all of these predictors of response are based on classic dual therapy. Data from clinical trials with protease inhibitors suggest that, as overall efficacy increases, predictors of response become less important; potency appears to trump negative confounders (10). What will these new regimens cost and, more important, will the costs be worth the benefits? In this issue, Liu and colleagues (11) report the cost-effectiveness of universal triple therapy (interferon plus ribavirin and a protease inhibitor) compared with a strategy that used IL-28B genotyping to guide therapeutic decisions. Patients with the favorable IL-28B CC genotype would receive pegylated interferon plus ribavirin, whereas patients with unfavorable genotypes would also receive a protease inhibitor. They estimate that, compared with IL-28B–guided therapy, universal triple therapy costs $102 600 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) for patients with mild fibrosis and $51 500 per QALY for patients with advanced fibrosis and that, compared with standard therapy, it costs $70 100 and $36 000 per QALY, respectively. Of note, protease inhibitors fell within a range typically considered to be cost-effective, whichever strategy was used. We hypothesize that, as efficacy increases with future regimens, cost-effectiveness will improve and the advantages of IL-28B testing will diminish.

As innovative treatments for hepatitis C follow their now-destined progression, the most burning question will not be whether to treat, but rather how to identify the many chronic HCV carriers who are unaware of their infection and are at risk for cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, or hepatocellular carcinoma. This concern was a major emphasis of a recent Institute of Medicine report (9). Another article in this issue, by Ly and associates (12), emphasizes that a minimum of 15 000 persons in the United States died of HCV-related events in 2007 and that HCV now exceeds HIV as a cause of mortality in the United States. Hepatitis C virus–related mortality is anticipated to increase as the infected population ages and as the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma increases, proportionate to the duration of infection (13).

Identification of persons with asymptomatic HCV infection presents a continuing dilemma. It is estimated that 50% to 75% of persons with HCV are unaware of their HCV status (14). Persons who are at risk, such as those who use intravenous drugs, are not often engaged in regular medical care. Further, most persons with HCV are not addicted to drugs, but rather those who experimented with drugs for a limited time in their youth. These bygone experiences do not often connote risk to the affected persons nor serve as a reason to seek testing. Public health campaigns to encourage such individuals to be tested have not been sufficiently effective. Recommendations that physicians routinely ask questions about HCV risk have fallen victim to brief clinical encounters and the awkwardness of addressing sensitive issues. A new approach is needed that shifts the focus from the person to a more global context.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its collaborators (15) have proposed a clever strategy that targets the highest-risk birth cohorts. Hepatitis C virus infection has been shown to be most prevalent among persons born between 1945 and 1965. In this issue, Rein and colleagues (15) report an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of birth-cohort screening in U.S. primary health care settings. Compared with the status quo, birth-cohort screening for anti-HCV identified 808 580 additional cases of chronic hepatitis C at a screening cost of $2874 per identified case. If birth-cohort screening were followed by treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin, screening would result in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $15 700 per QALY gained. This is a phenomenal incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and will only improve as sustained treatment efficacy increases with newer regimens. It must be emphasized that—as opposed to HIV and hepatitis B virus, where the infecting virus is integrated into the host genome, necessitating lifetime treatment—HCV is nonintegrative and eradicable after only 6 to 12 months of antiviral therapy. Thus, birth-cohort screening seems practical and cost-effective and should be implemented as a national health policy. We must also directly target high-risk cohorts because every effectively treated high-risk individual diminishes the infectious pool and the likelihood of secondary transmission.

In summary, treatments for chronic hepatitis C are evolving at such a rapid pace that in 5 years, interferon-free, oral, direct-acting antiviral regimens may achieve close to 90% cure rates across viral genotypes and regardless of IL-28B allele status. What is currently lacking in this optimistic perspective is a national "find-and-treat" policy aimed at achieving maximum identification of HCV carriers and providing new-generation therapies to a large proportion of those identified cases. The individual and societal benefits of such a strategy are substantial and the costs are in step with other well-established public health measures. The goal to prevent fibrosis progression and cancer evolution in patients with HCV infection is now achievable if our collective will can evolve as rapidly as our pharmacologic skill.


Authoritative parenting is typically considered the gold-standard parenting approach based on studies with largely European American (EA) samples. The current study evaluated a novel, "no-nonsense" parenting style in Mexican American (MA) and EA families, not captured by traditional classifications. Parenting styles of mothers and fathers, cultural values, and youth internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed in 179 MA (n = 84) and EA (n = 95) parents and adolescents across 2 years (seventh to ninth grade). MA families showed a higher proportion of "no-nonsense" parenting, characterized by high levels of acceptance as well as harsh discipline and rejection, compared with EA families. Cultural values influenced the link between parenting styles and youth outcomes across ethnicity such that when parents endorsed low adherence to familismo values, authoritative parenting predicted lower youth internalizing and externalizing problems compared with the "no-nonsense" parenting. Yet when parents endorsed strong adherence to familismo values, the authoritative and no-nonsense parenting functioned similarly. Findings have implications for the development of culturally competent parenting interventions that may lead to positive outcomes in youth from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.


Aim : Genetic polymorphisms in homocysteine-related genes are subject of a large body of research in pregnancy and newborn associated pathologies. The enzyme cystationine β-synthase (CBS) is involved in the transsulfuration pathway of homocysteine to cysteine. Our objective was to analyze the association of a common polymorphism exhibited by the CBS gene, 844ins68, with idiopathic spontaneous abortions (SA). Material and Methods : 131 patients with a history of at least one unexplained SA and 135 healthy women with at least one successful pregnancy and no SA were included in a case-control study. Simplex PCR was used to genotype the cases and control volunteers for the CBS 844ins68 polymorphism. Fisher's exact test was performed to obtain the odds-based parameters describing the relationship between the two variables. Results : The variant allele was encountered with a frequency of 0.08 in the SA group and 0.048 in controls. The dominant model analysis of risk revealed the OR 1.957, 95%CI [0.920, 4.162], Fisher's p = 0.09. Conclusion : The findings suggest possible effects of this polymorphism in SA risk that did not reach the significance level in this study. Future studies might validate or clarify the association between CBS 844ins68 and idiopathic SA.


Animals are important in organic farming systems, both as a part of the concept and in practice, where there is great weight on forming an integrated system with harmony between the land, the animals and the people, involving local recirculation of feed and manure. Good animal health and welfare is an important goal for organic husbandry. In contrast to crops, animals are not just parts of the farming system, they are also sentient creatures and as such they deserve special moral consideration. They are individuals that need to be cared for, they can suffer, and they can interact with each other and with the humans and environment around them. Animal management is, therefore, very different from crop management. Humans have a moral obligation to treat animals well and to intervene before they suffer or die, as this is unacceptable. Organic farming principles go much further than promoting animal welfare in terms of avoiding suffering. One of the basic principles of organic farming refers to access to 'natural' behaviour for organically managed animals, which substantially broadens the concept of 'welfare'. These perspectives are presented and discussed in Chapter 8, where Lund emphasises the importance of integrating naturalness into the concepts and practical application of animal welfare in organic animal husbandry.
The animal welfare goal of avoiding suffering allows the use of synthetic medicines for treating sick animals. This is the only circumstance in organic agriculture where use of 'chemicals' is allowed and even recommended in Europe. In the United States of America (USA), antimicrobial treatments are completely prohibited. Some farmers, therefore, change their disease treatment patterns and turn to so-called alternative or complementary methods, sometimes in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs ('pain-killers'). No matter how diseases are managed, the most sustainable way to avoid suffering and the need for disease treatment is to make more fundamental changes in husbandry methods, such as breeding for increased disease resistance and introducing more species-appropriate housing, and a well-balanced diet. Horning (see Chapter 6) discusses aspects of breeding and housing, and we will discuss the aspects of feeding and disease management.
Organic farming in a global context is emphasised in this book, and therefore we touch on perspectives of non-certified organic farming, in the way it exists in many regions of the world. In most countries, there are hardly any local markets for certified organic livestock products (e.g. in most African countries), and export is limited for all livestock products as a result of disease status. Certified organic products consist mainly of fruits and cereals for export to privileged consumers such as those in north-western Europe. The certification procedures are too costly for most farmers, especially when nobody wants to pay extra for organic products, organic producers lack support or premium prices are difficult to obtain. Parrott et al. (2005) discuss the issue of non-certified organic farming and categorise four main areas they call the 'hidden world of ecological farming':
1 explicit organic approaches (e.g. membership of certifi cation agency);
2 like-minded approaches (e.g. permaculture movement in Zimbabwe);
3 low external input sustainable agriculture (weight on local resources and processes); and
4 traditional farming ('food grown without chemicals', or 'organic by default').
In this chapter, we will keep the basic ideas of organic animal husbandry in mind and also include the potential organic livestock production with examples from areas that are not certified. Organic farming can in this context be seen as not only a way of producing 'certified animal products' but also as a way of farming sustainably, emphasising a harmonious way of using land and keeping animals.
There is great diversity among countries and regions regarding different ways and conditions for farming; farms locations range from mountain to grassland areas, and farming systems from traditional to intensive systems. The aim of this chapter is to present and discuss aspects of animal health and feeding in organic farming systems. A short overview of current knowledge about animal health, welfare and disease in organic agriculture is presented. For nutrition especially, we will focus on the interactions between nutrition and animal health and welfare. We have chosen to concentrate mostly on dairy cattle and grassland feeding, but also provide other examples.


Background: The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) in various professions has been well established. It can have detrimental effects on the industry, including lower productivity and early retirement. Little is known about the detrimental effects of non ergonomic work posture among the traditional gold miners in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. This study aimed to examine association between work posture and musculoskeletal complaint among traditional gold miners in Sekotong, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Subjects and Method: This was a cross sectional study conducted at a small traditional gold mining in Pelangan Village, Sekotong Sub-District, West Lombok District, West Nusa Tenggara, from August to September 2015. A sample of 53 gold miners was selected for this study by random sampling. The dependent variable was musculoskeletal complaint. The independent variable was work posture. The musculoskeletal complaint was measured by Standardized Nordic Questionnaire. The work posture was measured by Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). The association between variables was measured by contingency coefficient.

Results: Of all 53 gold miners under study, 31 (58.5%) had moderately non ergonomic work posture, 16 (30.2%) had highly non ergonomic work posture, 6 (11.3%) had very highly non ergonomic work posture. As many as 38 (71.7%) gold miners had musculoskeletal complaint. Non ergonomic work posture was positively correlated with musculoskeletal complaint on the shoulder (r= 0.37; p= 0.014), back (r= 0.37; p= 0.014), and waist (r= 0.33; p= 0.039).

Conclusion: Musculoskeletal complaint is associated with non ergonomic work posture among the traditional gold miners in Sekotong, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Keywords: work posture, musculoskeletal complaint, Standardized Nordic Questionnaire, Rapid Entire Body Assessment


ABSTRACT Autologous cultured fibroblasts combined with plasma gel (FibrogelTM) can be used as an injectable autologous soft tissue filler. Herein, we report the assessment of the long-term clinical efficacy and safety of Fibrogel for facial wrinkles. Ten healthy adults were treated for facial wrinkles with Fibrogel, an innovative autologous filler. Patients underwent three treatment sessions at 1-month intervals for the correction of infraorbital, nasolabial, and marionette folds. In each session, 6–8 mL of Fibrogel filler containing 4 million fibroblasts/mL, was injected into the deep dermis or subdermal plane. Three evaluators independently assessed the efficacy at 3, 6 and 12 months after the last treatment, using the validated Global Esthetic Improvement Scale at two different times in a blinded manner. Infraorbital area and lower face were evaluated separately. All patients showed immediate improvement after the first injection at the infraorbital area and lower face. Follow-ups at 3, 6 and 12 months revealed that the improvement was persistent. Adverse reactions were mild and the treatment was well tolerated. Delivering autologous cultured fibroblasts embedded in an autologous plasma gel (Fibrogel) to the skin can provide immediate volume effect and long-term improvement. Therefore, Fibrogel can be considered as a promising novel autologous filler.


La promocion de nuevas empresas en el medio rural. Analisis de la incidencia del Leader II en la provincia de Huelva...The paper examines, for the period 1982-1999, the behaviour of the economic concentration of agricultural holding based on their Total Gross margin and classidied according to their principal Type of farming and the farming sector as a whole; municipal Gini indices are also calculated. Intercensal changes for each type and censal changes between types are assessed. The paper sets out the systematic changes that have taken place in index distributions. These changes reflect change in agricultural holding structure. Inequality in the economic distribution of dominant-agriculture holdings rose slightly over the period, but decreased remarkable in the dominant livestock activity. The only explanation for these developments must be sought in structural change, in particular, the notable retreat of sheep, goat and other dominant grazing-livestock agricultural holdings. Finally, concentration of cropping and livestock also decreased. The salient point of the intra-censal results is the change in the order of magnitude of the overall indices. While in 1982 the economic concentration of the dominant Agriculture was significantly less than that of Livestock, by 1999 the reverse was the case.


In order to enhance the long‐term properties of a high‐pH local anaesthetic drug, emulsion tests were conducted where the emulsion was stored in pouches made of a compression moulded high‐barrier liquid‐crystalline polymer, Vectra A950. The oxygen permeability of the pouch material was too low to be detected at 23°C and 0% relative humidity with the instrument used. The water vapour transmission rate was 0.135 (g.mm/m2.day) at 38°C and 100% relative humidity. The emulsion, containing prilocain and lidocain as active substances, was stored in pouches which were sealed by the thermal impulse technique at 260°C for 1.08 s. It was possible to obtain good quality films and good quality seals by optimization of the compression moulding and sealing operations. The concentrations of prilocain and lidocain in the emulsion were studied for 14 weeks at two different temperatures, 40°C and 60°C, and at 100% relative humidity. The decrease in concentration was higher for prilocain (5.4–8.3%) than for lidocain (3.4–3.6%). The loss of the substances from the emulsion was due mainly to adsorption onto the polar surface of the liquid crystalline polymer. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The research in hierarchical planning has made considerable progress in the last few years. Many recent systems do not rely on hand-tailored advice anymore to find solutions, but are supposed to be domain-independent systems that come with sophisticated solving techniques. In principle, this development would make the comparison between systems easier (because the domains are not tailored to a single system anymore) and-much more important-also the integration into other systems, because the modeling process is less tedious (due to the lack of advice) and there is no (or less) commitment to a certain planning system the model is created for. However, these advantages are destroyed by the lack of a common input language and feature set supported by the different systems. In this paper, we propose an extension to PDDL, the description language used in non-hierarchical planning, to the needs of hierarchical planning systems. We restrict our language to a basic feature set shared by many recent systems, give an extension of PDDL's EBNF syntax definition, and discuss our extensions, especially with respect to planner-specific input languages from related work.


Abstract This study examined the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner in host-seeking adult and nymphal Ixodes pacificus Cooley & Kohls and estimated the I. pacificus infestation and B. burgdorferi infection of rodent and avian hosts in the western Sierra Nevada foothills of northern California. Additionally, we identified species likely to participate in an enzootic cycle for B. burgdorferi in this yellow pine transition habitat. Evidence of infection with B. burgdorferi was identified in 7.3 and 5.4% of host-seeking I. pacificus adults and nymphs, respectively. Mean numbers of I. pacificus observed on rodents were 1.15 for Neotoma fuscipes Baird and 0.18 for Peromyscus spp. One of 104 ear punch tissues obtained from woodrats and none from 49 Peromyscus spp. yielded B. burgdorferi. A total of 291 collected birds representing 34 species had a mean of 0.27 I. pacificus per bird. The mean I. pacificus infestation of ground-dwelling birds was 2.5 ticks per bird. Forty-nine of 92 (53%) blood smears collected from birds were reactive to a B. burgdorferi specific antibody. This study presents the identification of a B. burgdorferi-like spirochete in birds in western North America. The tick burden and spirochete infection of birds suggests that birds may be involved in a local B. burgdorferi enzootic cycle and likely participate in the transport of ticks and spirochetes to other locations while rodents from this site do not appear to be major contributors.


.Wenote,asseeninthe proximity matrix table, that the BSA had a greater overlap with symptom severity when compared to the LBT. This suggests the BSA captures audio data pertinent to the severity of IBS symptoms beyond bacterial dysbiosis. Conclusion: PointofCareBSAmayserveasapromisingobjectiveassessmentforIBS.Thetime-e ffi cientandpoint-of-careapplicationofBSAmayallowittoserveasascreeningproceduretohelpevaluateand treat patients with IBS. A large sample cohort study of the BSA between pre and post-treatment patients would need to be done to establish a better understanding. If validated, the BSA could provide clinicians with an objective marker to ascertain IBS presentation, response to therapy, as well as coupled with the LBT to assess speci fi c abnormal intestinal gas levels that may subsequently guide treatment plans (Figure 1).


This paper aims to find out (1) Learning needs of the students, (2) Language needs of the students, and (3) Design an appropriate English syllabus based on the students' need. The researcher applied descriptive quantitative method. This research used some techniques in selecting the sample. Those are purposive sampling and convenience sampling. The subject consist to two groups, they were the nursing students of Stikes Mega Buana Palopo and graduate students who work in Hospital. The result of this research showed that (1) learning needs consist of language skills and learning preferences. In language skills, all the language skills are used at the rate of often in the classroom. In learning preferences of learning English with others, study in pairs is preferred than study alone, and study in small group is more preferred than study in big group while learning preferences in terms of learning by using teaching technique, study by listening and pronouncing, and  by using games and  role play are mostly preferred by the students. (2) Language needs consist of the use of English in workplace. regarding to use English in workplace, the graduates students hardly ever speak English in hospital. In language function, based on the graduates' perspective about language function, all the categories fall into important level that used in hospital. (3) The syllabus design was based on the students' need where it includes, topic, language function, teaching strategies, and language focus. Key Words: Need analysis, Syllabus, Teaching Materials, Learning Needs, Learning Style, Language Function, Teaching Strategies, and Language focus.


Early in the nineteenth century the London publishers and printsellers, S. and J. Fuller, packaged paper dolls and storybooks together in their Temple of Fancy paper doll books. This article examines the tension between the narratives of these works—typically moral tales for children in which a love of clothing is punished—and the accompanying paper dolls, which celebrate costume and dressing up. The textual morals against love of clothing are gendered in problematic ways, with female characters mortified for this flaw more readily than male characters. However, the variety of potential reading experiences offered by the form of the paper doll book, in which picture and word are separate, is viewed as a challenge to the gendered moral content of the stories. Ultimately this article argues that the form of the paper doll book sheds new light on D. F. McKenzie's (1986) ideas about how readers make meaning from texts.


A novel approach for damage localization, based on covariance equivalent synthesized data and multi-class pattern recognition is presented. The approach combines the data acquired from the structure in the baseline state with data from an FE model but avoids the task of FE model updating. The method is presented as the second half of a two-step approach to damage detection and localization, but it's capability of performing one-step detection & localization is demonstrated. The technique is tested on simulated data and it is verified on experimental data of two separate laboratory structures. Three types of modal features, AR coefficients, eigenfrequencies and mode shapes, were combined with four types of classifiers. All three types were found to hold information for damage localization, but frequencies were found to have the best noise rejection. Lastly, the value of detection and localization is discussed and calculated for both the one-step approach, the two-step approach, and for a no-localization approach. Based on the experimental data, the twostep approach outperforms the others. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/305


This paper is one of a series reporting on a clinical field trial evaluating the efficacy of the modified therapeutic community (TC) approach for the treatment of homeless mentally ill chemical abusers (MICAs). The social and psychological characteristics of the treatment sample were described in an earlier paper; the purpose of the present report was to categorize subtypes of homeless MICA clients to predict with greater accuracy their treatability in modified TCs. An index that consistently correlated with treatment-relevant variables was identified for each of three dimensions; Homelessness (residential instability), Mental Illness (current severity), and Substance Abuse (current substance abuse/dependence diagnosis). These indices yielded distributions that captured the variability in the sample with respect to a number of variables, including drug use, criminality, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk (sexual behavior), psychological status, and motivation. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that the indices were not strongly related to demographic variables such as race/ethnicity, age, or gender, but were significantly associated with baseline drug use, criminal activity, HIV risk (sexual behavior), psychological symptoms, and motivation and readiness. These findings indicate that, even among those admitted to residential treatment for substance abuse, homeless MICA clients are not homogeneous; rather, subgroup differences emerge among the indices of homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse. The efficacy of treatment in modified TCs for these subgroups will be assessed in subsequent papers examining the relationships among the three indices, client retention, and outcomes during and subsequent to residential treatment.


Pesticide residue has repeatedly been documented as a leading source of food safety concern among consumers. While many studies have presented aggregate, descriptive illustrations of consumer response to Integrated Pest Management (IPM), consumer willingness-to-pay a premium for IPM produce and the factors that determine such willingness have received relatively little research attention. Such information is critical in the marketing of IPM produce. This study empirically evaluates the demographic characteristics that influence consumers to pay a premium for IPM grown produce. Results indicate that females, those with higher annual incomes, younger individuals, and those who frequently purchase organic produce are all more likely to pay a premium for IPM produce.


Even though tree-based reliable multicast protocols are known to be most scalable for one-to-many sessions, there is still an open question as to whether these protocols are also scalable for many-to-many sessions. In this paper, we analyze and compare two promising multicast protocols—the receiver-initiated protocol with NACK suppression and the tree-based protocol—using a new spatial loss model. The proposed model considers the correlation of packet loss events for more realistic analysis unlike the previous work. The analysis results show that the tree-based protocol achieves much higher throughput than the receiver-initiated protocol for a many-to-many session as the number of participants in the session becomes larger. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This study reports on early results following the introduction of one measure of medication prescription errors, that being the prescribing of a drug for which there is an 'alert' notice, into The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards Accreditation process. Characteristics of hospitals reporting of zero and non-zero errors were analysed using a logistic model. After adjusting for other hospital characteristics and duration of data collection, hospitals over 100 beds were more likely to report medication errors compared to hospitals with 1-100 beds. Reporting of these prescribing errors was not associated with the particular type or location of the hospital. However, as a result of monitoring of this indicator, a number of hospitals reported an increase in their quality assurance activities. It is a sentinel event and not a rate based indicator and, as a performance measure, is of greater value as an internal, rather than external, review mechanism.


Identification of static and/or dynamic roles of different non-canonical base pairs is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the sequence-structure-function space of RNA. In the past combined structural bioinformatic and quantum mechanical (QM) approach provided insights into occurrence context and conservation and covariation pattern of non-canonical A:G W:W Cis base pair in RNAs. In this work we have investigated structural and functional occurrence context of reverse Watson-Crick purine-purine base pairs (A:A, G:G and A:G W:W Trans) which constitute an interesting class of non-canonical base pairs in RNA due to their characteristic C1′-C1′ distance (highest among all base pairing geometries) and parallel local strand orientation. In contrast to canonical base pairs, intrinsic interaction energies and frequencies of occurrence in a nonredundant set of RNA crystal structures of these base pairs do not correlate with each other. Therefore, it is expected that, occurrence of these base pairs will be associated with specific structural folds or functional roles. We have identified the occurrences of these base pairs in a non-redundant set of RNA crystal structures and performed structural alignments of the corresponding homologous sites followed by a detailed context analysis. Our studies reveal that occurrences of purine-purine W:W Trans pairs exhibit a bimodal distribution with respect to the corresponding local backbone geometry. One mode is populated by both A:A and G:G W:W Trans pairs and characterized by a special fold in backbone. We call it a 'Sharp-turn' motif. We have observed 'Sharp-turn' to be of significant biological importance as it acts as binding site for proteins, metabolites and ions in RNAs. It remains conserved across species with some variation in its composition and often mediates structural folds crucial for the function as in the case of HIV-1 dimerization initiation site. The other mode in distribution is explicitly associated to A:A W:W Trans pairs involved in mediating higher order interactions. A:A W:W Trans mediates in these higher order interactions by participating in specific kinds of triple/quartet formation. We also have analyzed structural context of previously undetected A:G W:W Trans base pair. It has been found to be involved in maintaining translational fidelity at A site in the ribosome via type II A-minor and G-minor interactions with codon:anticodon bases. We rationalize our observations on the basis of quantum chemical calculations performed at M05-2X/6-3++(2d,2p) level of theory. The general trends obtained from analyzing X-ray crystal structures are also consistent with trends observed in available solution NMR structures.


This paper discusses the potential use of probabilistic wind power forecasting in electricity markets, with focus on the scheduling and dispatch decisions of the system operator. We apply probabilistic kernel density forecasting with a quantile-copula estimator to forecast the probability density function, from which forecasting quantiles and scenarios with temporal dependency of errors are derived. We show how the probabilistic forecasts can be used to schedule energy and operating reserves to accommodate the wind power forecast uncertainty. We simulate the operation of a two-settlement electricity market with clearing of day-ahead and real-time markets for energy and operating reserves. At the day-ahead stage, a deterministic point forecast is input to the commitment and dispatch procedure. Then a probabilistic forecast is used to adjust the commitment status of fast-starting units closer to real time, on the basis of either dynamic operating reserves or stochastic unit commitment. Finally, the real-time dispatch is based on the realized availability of wind power. To evaluate the model in a large-scale real-world setting, we take the power system in Illinois as a test case and compare different scheduling strategies. The results show better performance for dynamic compared with fixed operating reserve requirements. Furthermore, although there are differences in the detailed dispatch results, dynamic operating reserves and stochastic unit commitment give similar results in terms of cost. Overall, we find that probabilistic forecasts can contribute to improve the performance of the power system, both in terms of cost and reliability. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This thesis examines the behavior of individual investors towards socially responsible mutual funds. The results are reported in the four self-contained papers. Paper [I] profiles SR individual investors. An understanding of SR investors' characteristics is important for the development of hypotheses and for understanding the adoption of SR investing. We find evidence indicating, for example, that females, more educated, relatively older individuals, those with higher wealth and those living in municipalities with a higher proportion of SR investors are more likely to hold SR equity mutual funds. Paper [II] studies the relation between investments of adult children and their parents. The paper explores the importance of parent-child socialization in the formation of prosocial behavior. The study contributes to the understanding of when prosocial behavior is formed and how parent-child relationships influence it. We find evidence that there is a correlation between parents and children in the investment in SR mutual funds and that parental resources and parental experience are influential in the transmission of this prosocial behavior. Paper [III] documents individual investors' trading behavior in relation to SR equity mutual funds. Results indicate that SR investors are less likely to sell SR than conventional fund as past negative returns decrease. Nonetheless, fund flows of SR and conventional funds are similarly sensitive to past returns. There is, however, evidence that sticky SR investors' fund flows are more sensitive to past positive returns and are less sensitive to past negative returns on their SR than on their conventional funds. Despite sticky SR investors showing behavior in line with values-driven motives, they also appear to be less likely to reinvest in SR than in conventional funds. Paper [IV] examines whether SR investors are willing to forgo higher returns to invest responsible. Based on administrative data on individual investors' equity mutual fund portfolios, it is found that socially responsible (SR) investors forgo return by investing in a socially responsible manner. In comparison with similar conventional investors (in terms of characteristics), SR investors have an equal performance on their non-SR part of their total portfolio, but an inferior performance on their SR part. Analysis of individuals' money flows to funds further indicate that fund flows of SR investors who invest in only SR funds are less sensitive to past returns. Given that investors who value non-financial fund attributes, e.g., ethical or social, may be presumed to care less about the finance performance, the results lend support to an investment behavior, at least partly, driven by prosocial concerns. Taken together, the findings favor the interpretation that some individuals willingly forgo higher financial returns to invest in accordance with their social preferences.


We present graph-clear: a novel pursuit-evasion problem on graphs which models the detection of intruders in complex indoor environments by robot teams. The environment is represented by a graph, and a robot team can execute sweep and block actions on vertices and edges, respectively. A sweep action detects intruders in a vertex and represents the capability of the robot team to detect intruders in the region associated to the vertex. Similarly, a block action prevents intruders from crossing an edge and represents the capability to detect intruders as they move between regions. Both actions may require multiple robots to be executed. A strategy is a sequence of block and sweep actions to detect all intruders. When instances of graph-clear are being solved, the goal is to determine optimal strategies, i.e., strategies that use the least number of robots. We prove that for the general case of graphs, the problem of computation of optimal strategies is NP-hard. Next, for the special case of trees, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm. The algorithm ensures that throughout the execution of the strategy, all cleared vertices form a connected subtree, and we show that it produces optimal strategies.


We propose that with ultracold Fermi gases one can realize a spin-asymmetric Josephson effect in which the two spin components of a Cooper pair are driven asymmetrically--corresponding to driving a Josephson junction of two superconductors with different voltages V(↑) and V(↓) for spin up and down electrons, respectively. We predict that the spin up and down components oscillate at the same frequency but with different amplitudes. Furthermore our results reveal that the standard interpretation of the Josephson supercurrent in terms of coherent bosonic pair tunneling is insufficient. We provide an intuitive interpretation of the Josephson supercurrent as interference in Rabi oscillations of pairs and single particles, the latter causing the asymmetry.


In 2009 the legislature, judges and Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) each turned their attention to issues around assisted suicide. The legislature decided not to change the law. The judges decided the existing law was insufficiently clear and required the Director to clarify it. The Director flirted with reforming the law, but then drew back from such a legislative role. His published prosecution policy has been considered as a contribution to the regulation of death and dying, and as such has been found wanting. However, considered in the context of the proper roles of Parliament, courts and prosecutors, and seen as an exercise in constitutional restraint, the Director's approach should be appraised rather differently. From this perspective, the decision of the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords in R (Purdy) v DPP raises significant concerns for the legitimacy of decision making in the contested moral issues that arise in healthcare ethics. In our democracy, courts should be wary of usurping legislative authority in areas where the Parliamentary position is clear. They should be reluctant to take sides in the protracted war over access to a 'good death'.


Background 100% of medical students use Facebook, 88% of whom have viewed a colleague acting unprofessionally on Facebook.1,2 Formal complaints of healthcare professionals acting unprofessionally on social media are rapidly increasing.3,4 However, only 26% of medical students were aware of any relevant advice or guidelines.1,2 Our aim was to increase awareness of the importance of staying professional on Facebook and of how to access support and advice Methodology Our simulated tutorial was delivered to clinical medical students on placement in our Trust. Our faculty designed five fictional cases, based on real, high-profile cases, where a medic's unprofessional use of social media has been investigated. We created a simulated Facebook page for each of the cases. After a tutorial, the students were allocated in small groups to one of the five cases. Once they had prepared their case, they came to a simulated disciplinary hearing, with a mock panel. They presented their case to the panel and the group debated key points. Results Quantitative (10-point Likert) and qualitative (free text box) feedback was collected using an anonymous, paper questionnaire. Students (n = 26) feedback a 7.29/10 change in the way that they think about Facebook. Their awareness of what is considered unprofessional increased by 2.15/10 (from 6.26 to 8.42, p-value < 0.0001). Students' awareness of implications of unprofessional use increased by 2.76/10 (5.53 to 8.30, p-value < 0.0001). There was an increased awareness of 2.88/10 (4.88 to 7.76, p-value < 0.0001) of how to access support and advice. Students who were not aware of their privacy settings stated that they would review them. Comments included; "excellent session, really useful," "opportunity to apply principles to cases" and "very relevant session, will go and check my profile now!" Recommendations We hope to deliver these simulated cases through high-fidelity, simulated disciplinary hearings to further undergraduate and postgraduate students in more trusts. References Rileey B. The Social Media Highway Code, Royal College of General Practitioners. 2013 Osman A. Is it time for medicine to update its Facebook status? Br Med J. 2011;343:d6334 Rimmer A. Doctors' concerns over social medical use continue to rise. BMJ Careers 2014 Rimmer A. Use of Facebook and Twitter leads to 28 GMC complaints against doctors. BMJ Careers 2014. http://careers.bmj.com/careers


Recently, applications of THz spectroscopy for detecting explosive agents have attracted much attention due to following reasons: many CBRNE agents have fingerprint-like features in the THz wavelength range; the THz spectroscopy provides an ability for remote and non-destructive identification of explosives; the THz radiation penetrates through many covering dielectric materials including paper, leather, fabric and so on. One of the most important components of THz spectroscopy setups is the source of THz radiation, which has to be high-power, tunable, low-cost and to have compact sizes. In this chapter, we are going to overview recent progress of wide variety of THz emitters considered as candidates for that role. We will pay a special attention to recent trends in engineering of spectral characteristics of THz quantum-cascade lasers and their tunability. Also we will describe the advantages and difficulties that accompany a THz spectroscopy of explosives.


Analytical capacity research is an important infrastructure and operations planning tool that can be used alone or in conjunction with simulation. The blocking time theory is a new approach in analytical capacity research. The blocking time is the total elapsed time a section of track is exclusively allocated to a train and therefore blocked for other trains. Calculating blocking times and producing blocking time diagrams leads to a very detailed evaluation of the capacity and exploitation of a railroad line. It also shows very clearly how the capacity depends upon the signaling system. Beside capacity research, blocking time analysis is also a great tool to support computer-based scheduling. Although originally developed for European railroads, blocking time analysis has now found first applications in North American railroad industry.


In this paper, we address robust static anti-windup compensator design and performance analysis for saturated linear closed loops in the presence of probabilistic parameter uncertainties via randomized techniques. The proposed static anti-windup analysis and robust performance synthesis correspond to several optimization goals, ranging from minimization of the nonlinear input/output gain to maximization of the stability region or minimization of the region of attraction. We also introduce a novel paradigm accounting for uncertainties in the energy of the disturbance inputs. Due to the special structure of static anti-windup design, wherein the design variables are decoupled from the Lyapunov certificates, we introduce a significant extension, called scenario with certificates (SwC), of the so-called scenario approach for uncertain optimization problems. This extension is of independent interest for similar robust synthesis problems involving parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions. We demonstrate that the scenario with certificates robust design formulation is appealing because it provides a way to implicitly design the parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions and to remove restrictive assumptions about convexity with respect to the uncertain parameters. Subsequently, to reduce the computational cost, we present a sequential randomized algorithm for iteratively solving this problem. The obtained results are illustrated by numerical examples.


We present experiments on field-free molecular alignment of N2 and CO2 probed with short XUV pulses that are obtained via high-harmonic generation. The XUV pulses induce a dissociative ionization or a Coulomb explosion of the molecule, where the fragment ion recoil (measured using the velocity map imaging technique) provides information on the alignment of the parent molecule at the time of ionization. We discuss how photoelectron detection may in future allow the determination of molecular-frame photoelectron angular distributions and molecular structure.


Research Highlights: We try to evaluate the relative contribution of environmental factors and functional traits on aboveground biomass in a species rich tropical forest ecosystem after a 40-years natural recovery. Background and Objectives: Functional traits have a potential to incorporate community dynamics into the impacts of disturbance histories or environmental conditions on ecosystem functioning, but few studies have been conducted to understand these processes. Materials and Methods: We measured plant functional traits and soil properties in the tropical montane rainforests on Hainan Island, China, which had experienced different disturbance histories (clear cutting, selective logging, and old-growth) 40 years ago. A structural equation model was used to elucidate how disturbance histories and soil factors influence aboveground biomass (AGB) across different size classes (saplings, treelets, and adult trees) through plant functional traits. Results: The results demonstrated logging stimulated seedling establishment but decreased AGB of adult trees and wood density at community-level (CWM_WD) of sapling and adult tree. Generally, CWM_WD of sapling, treelet, and adult tree decreased linearly with the increasing of specific leaf area at community-level (CWM_SLA) in old-growth forest and these two disturbed forests. Moreover, CWM_SLA explained more variation of CWM_WD with increasing intensity of logging within sapling, treelet, and adult tree. CWM_SLA and CWM_WD not only responded to environmental conditions and disturbance intensity but also affected AGB in all size classes; meanwhile, CWM_SLA was a major driver of AGB. CWM_SLA had a stronger effect on AGB in sapling and treelet classes than on the adult tree class. Conclusions: Our results suggested that disturbance history and environmental factors could directly or indirectly affect ecosystem functioning through plant functional traits. Functional traits always had a stronger effect on AGB than environmental conditions. Moreover, CWM_SLA is a key trait that can be used to link the relationship between environmental conditions and AGB.


The Vespidae of the northeastern Nearctic region are reviewed to include 92 established and four adventitious species. Six undescribed species (two each in Ancistrocerus, Euodynerus and Polistes) are recognised for the first time. Three former subspecies, Euodynerus blakeanus Cameron (subspecies of E. foraminatus de Saussure), Ancistrocerus albophaleratus de Saussure (subspecies of A. catskill de Saussure) and A. albolacteus Bequaert (subspecies of A. adiabatus de Saussure) are re-instated as or elevated to good species. Parancistrocerus vogti (Krombein) is synonymized with P. fulvipes (de Saussure). A brief introduction to the morphology, biology and distribution of Vespidae is given. Keys to subfamilies, genera and species are provided, and illustrated with 60 photographic plates (437 images) showing most diagnostic characters. All species are illustrated on 287 separate plates by means of (i) a set of standard photographs of pinned specimens (habitus lateral and dorsal, head of male and female; 537 images), and, where available, (ii) photographs of live specimens in the field (99 images). The variation (especially colour) of most species is described in detail and supplemented with brief information on distribution and biology. Twenty-two species (including five adventitious species) are recorded for the first time from Canada and numerous new state records for the U.S. are given. Euodynerus blakeanus, a taxon previously known only from Texas, is recorded for the first time from the northeastern Nearctic (New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia) and several midwestern and southeastern states (Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina). The occurrence of E. pratensis in the northeast (recorded from Ontario) is considered doubtful. New data on the nest sites of ten Eumeninae species is provided (Ancistrocerus albophaleratus, A. catskill, A. unifasciatus, Eumenes verticalis, Euodynerus auranus, E. planitarsis, Parancistrocerus leionotus, Parazumia symmorpha, Stenodynerus anormis, S. kennicottianus). Morphological and other scientific terms are explained in an appendix. Polistes bellicosus Viereck, female doi: 10.3752/cjai.2008.05 1 Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification No.5 (February 2008) BUCK ET AL.


Objectives
The association between poor growth and neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) among preterm infants is well-established whether due to inadequate nutrition, adverse events or both. The present study assessed the diagnostic accuracy of 36-week anthropometric measures, including corresponding < 10th and < 3rd percentile cut points to predict NDI in preterm infants.

Methods
This study included data from the PreM Growth Cohort Study for preterm infants < 30 weeks of gestational age (GA) and birth weights < 1500 grams. The accuracy with which measured weight, length and head circumference z-scores can predict cognitive impairment (Bayley-III Cognitive Composite score < 80) at 21 months corrected age (born in 2005-2014) and intellectual impairment (Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-3rd and 4th Edition (Intellectual test) score < 70) at 3-years corrected age (born in 2001-2014) was determined by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC).

Results
At 21 months 98/621 (15.8%) of infants had low Bayley scores and 57/613 (9.3%) had low Intellectual test scores at 3 years. None of the AUROCs exceeded 0.6 and none were significantly different from 0.5. Sensitivities and specificities for the 10th and 3rd percentile cut points were equally poor, with most not exceeding 70% (Figures). The findings were similar between the Fenton 2013 and INTERGROWTH 2015 growth charts. The addition of morbidities increased the accuracy of predicting cognitive impairments except for infants with cerebral palsy, other morbidities had relatively marginal associations with impairment.

Conclusions
Preterm infant measures of weight, length, and head circumference z-scores at 36 weeks, including corresponding < 10th and < 3rd percentile cut points, are not accurate as predictors of NDI. This study confirms previous findings that preterm infants show some "catch up" in weight relative to growth references between 37-44 weeks GA. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03064022.

Funding Sources
Canadian Foundation for Dietetic Research.

Supporting Tables Images and/or Graphs


Article history: Received June 5, 2015 Received in revised format August 16 2015 Accepted November 23 2015 Available online November 23 2015 The telecommunications industry continues to experience fierce competition due to the growth in subscribers and the rapid development of new technologies in the sector. With that hindsight, this study explores the dimensionality of factors that affect mobile phone subscribers' intention to switch operators. Survey data was collected from 235 mobile phone network subscribers and analyzed using the Partial Least Square Approach to Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The SEM model was assessed based on the measurement model and the structural model. Factor Loadings, Cross Loadings, Average Variance Extracted Cronbach's alpha, and Composite reliabilities of the latent variables examined showed that the measurement model exhibited sufficient reliability, discriminant validity and convergent validity. Assessment of the Structural model shows that 77% of the variation in Satisfaction is explained by our model (R2 = 0.77). Furthermore, 18% (R2 = 0.18) of the variation in Intention to Switch was explained by the model. Stone-Geiser Q2 for the endogenous showed that the proposed Structural Equation Model exhibited sufficient predictive relevance. Conclusions were drawn with practical implications of the results also discussed. Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 5 © 201


At the end of the 19th century, researchers observed that biological substances have frequency- dependent electrical properties and that tissue behaves "like a capacitor" [1]. Consequently, in the first half of the 20th century, the permittivity of many types of cell suspensions and tissues was characterized up to frequencies of approximately 100 MHz. From the measurements, conclusions were drawn, in particular, about the electrical properties of the cell membranes, which are the main contributors to the tissue impedance at frequencies below 10 MHz [2]. In 1926, a study found a significant different permittivity for breast cancer tissue compared with healthy tissue at 20 kHz [3]. After World War II, new instrumentation enabled measurements up to 10 GHz, and a vast amount of data on the dielectric properties of different tissue types in the microwave range was published [4]-[6].


This work presents an approach for analysis, design and simulation of mobile systems. The approach is developed based on UML-like meta models and graph transformation techniques to support sound methodological principals, formal analysis and refinement. With conceptual and concrete level of modeling and simulation, the approach could support application development and the development of new mobile platforms.


Twenty-two years after apartheid South African higher education is still struggling with challenges around access, success and transformation. Stellenbosch University (SU), as a historically white university, is striving to become significantly better and different in terms of relevance and active role-playing. SU wants to prepare students to become South African citizens who bring about and enable positive change in society. The Listen, Live and Learn (LLL) initiative at SU is a senior student housing programme with the aim of providing experiential opportunities for students to make contact with 'the other'. By being in closer, more regular contact with 'the other', students' stereotypes, biases and discriminatory attitudes should start changing for the better. This article focuses on the evaluation of one of the proposed outcomes of the LLL programme – increased levels of interaction among students in a LLL house lead to reduced stereotyping and diminished bias. A quantitative investigation by means of an electronic survey was conducted. The second phase of the research was of a qualitative nature and consisted of focus group interviews. The conclusion can be made that LLL participants are a self-selecting group and that students who tend to apply for the LLL programme probably already have low levels of prejudice, bias and stereotyping. For the programme to effect social change, it needs to be considerably expanded in order to include more students who may not necessarily share the 'open-mindedness' of this cohort.


In the seminal work [4] L. Lovász introduced the concept of an orthonormal representation of a graph, and also a related value, now popularly known as the Lovász number of the graph. One of the remarkable properties of the Lovász number is that it lies sandwiched between the stability number and the complementer chromatic number. This fact is called the sandwich theorem. In this paper, using new descriptions of the Lovász number and linear algebraic lemmas we give three proofs for a weaker version of the sandwich theorem. A Brooks-type theorem is also presented concerning a simple lower bound for the stability number.


There are four species of South American Camelids (SACs): the domestic alpaca (Lama pacos), the domestic llama (Lama glama), the wild vicuna (Lama vicugno) and the wild guanaco (Lama guanicoe). The social and economic importance of the SACs in the population of the high Andes is
mainly due to the climatic and high altitudes limitations. The anatomy of the gastrointestinal tract of the llama is different from that of ruminants. The forestomach of llamas is comprised of three compartments, called C1, C2 and C3. Gastrointestinal nematodes are the most numerous and most
detrimental of the llama parasites. The most important are: Haemonchus contortus, Ostertagia ostertagia, Trichostrongylus and Lamanema chavezi. Eimeria spp. is the most important pathogenic protozoa of the llamas. To treat the llamas against gastrointestinal nematods and coccidiosis,
antihelmintic and anticoccidial treatment can be used, management changes are even or more important.
The aim of this study was to learn more about gastrointestinal nematode and coccidian in the llamas in intensive and extensive agriculture systems in different regions in Argentina. The provinces sampled were: Jujuy, Buenos Aires and Entre Rios. Those regions have different climatic measurements. In two farms, the llamas are kept under intensive agriculture systems and in five farms the llamas are kept under extensive agriculture systems. Individual faecal samples were taken directly from the rectum of the llamas and processed by the parasitological techniques; faecal eggs count, faecal oocyst count, coproculture and flotation Willis. The farms in Castelar, Villaguay, La Plata, Carlos Keen and Cieneguillas were positive for gastrointestinal nematodes, eggs per gram ranged from 20 to 1800. The genera identified were Haemonchus, Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus, Oesophagostomun, Nematodirus lamae and cestode. All the farms were positive for coccidian. The gene identified was Eimeria lamae.
There is no significant difference between intensive and extensive agriculture systems in Eggs Per Gram (EPG). The Oocysts Per Gram (OPG) in the intensive agriculture is significantly higher than the OPG in the extensive agriculture. The EPG from the province of Entre Rios (Villaguay) and the provencie of Buenos Aires (Castelar, Carlos Keen and La Plata) have significant more eggs than the province of Jujuy (Pucara de Tilcara, Cieneguillas and Santa Catalina). The province of Entre Rios and the province of Buenos Aires have a lot of rain and a low altitude. There is no significant difference in OPG in the four regions.


SUMMARY: The expression of R-gene resistance in tissue cultures of Solanum species was investigated. Tissue aggregates (4 mm. diam.) of Solanum tuberosum var. Majestic (rr) and Orion (RI) and other R-gene Solanum lines behaved in a similar way to the intact plants from which they were derived, in response to Phytophthora infestans race 4. Tissue aggregates of S. tuberosum var. Orion supported good growth of P. infestans race I, to which the intact Orion plant is susceptible, but did not support more than rudimentary growth of race 4, to which the intact Orion plant is resistant. Sectioning revealed that P. infestans race 4 made general growth in Majestic tissues, but was almost totally excluded from Orion tissues. A slide technique showed that Orion tissue suspensions, unlike those of Majestic, inhibited the growth of P. infestans race 4 germ tubes. This led to a demonstration that toxicity to P. infestans zoospores was developed in Orion but not in Majestic tissue cultures in response to infection with P. infestans race 4. It was concluded that R-genes may be expressed in tissue culture, that the failure of the Orion tissue to support growth of P. infestans may be due to expression of the RI gene, and that this may operate through the development of post infectional toxicity.


The Catechetical School in Alexandria has delivered a number of prolific scholars and writers during the first centuries of the Common Era, up to its demise by the end of the 4th century. These scholars have produced an extensive collection of documents of which not many are extant. Fortunately, there are many references to these documents supplying us with an idea of the content thereof. As the author could not find one single source containing all the documents written by the heads of the School, he deemed it necessary to list these documents, together with a short discussion of it where possible. This article only discusses the writings of the following heads: Mark the Evangelist, Athenagoras, Pantaenus and Clement, covering the period between approximately 40 CE and the end of the 2nd century. The follow-up article discusses the documents of the heads who succeeded them. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The potential results of the proposed research are a full detailed list of all the documents being written by the heads of the School in Alexandria. The disciplines involved are (Church) History, Theology and Antiquity. These results will make it easier for future researchers to work on these writers.


Canada is among the world's foremost refugee resettlement countries and is signatory to international agreements that affirm its commitment to the protection of refugee rights. Asylum seekers come to Canada from around the globe. But as climate change continues to affect growing regions of the world -- threatening to create as many as 200 million environmental migrants by the year 2050 -- Canada has not yet begun to address the issue of climate change migration. In an era defined by a neo-liberal approach to migration issues, and until international actors determine the status of environmental migrants, Canada's policy response to the looming crisis may be conjectured from an historical review of its refugee policy. This provides an understanding of the various factors, both domestic and international, that may have the greatest influence on Canada's future refugee policy.


Precursors of calcium strontium zirconate (Ca0.8Sr0.2ZrO3) were synthesized by oxalate coprecipitation method. TG-DTA was used to characterize the thermal decomposition behaviors of the precursors. The XRD results revealed that the powders crystallized as cubic Ca0.8Sr0.2ZrO3 with increasing heating temperature up to 1000°C. Calcium strontium zirconate ceramics were obtained under conventional sintering conditions by using the as-prepared Ca0.8Sr0.2ZrO3 powders. The SEM micrographs of the ceramics sintered at 1450oC exhibited narrow grain-size distribution with the average grain size around 0.7 4m. The dielectric properties showed that, dielectric constant of the Ca0.8Sr0.2ZrO3 was about 24.0 and dielectric loss was 0.002 at the frequency of 1GHz and the room temperature.


ABSTRACT Maneuverability is one of the most important and least understood aspects of animal locomotion. The hydrofoil-like flippers of cetaceans are thought to function as control surfaces that effect maneuvers, but quantitative tests of this hypothesis have been lacking. Here, we constructed a simple hydrodynamic model to predict the longitudinal-axis roll performance of fin whales, and we tested its predictions against kinematic data recorded by on-board movement sensors from 27 free-swimming fin whales. We found that for a given swimming speed and roll excursion, the roll velocity of fin whales calculated from our field data agrees well with that predicted by our hydrodynamic model. Although fluke and body torsion may further influence performance, our results indicate that lift generated by the flippers is sufficient to drive most of the longitudinal-axis rolls used by fin whales for feeding and maneuvering. Summary: A simple hydrodynamic model predicts fin whale rolling performance.


In machine learning, learning a task is expensive (many training samples are needed) and it is therefore of general interest to be able to reuse knowledge across tasks. This is the case in aerial robotics applications, where an autonomous aerial robot cannot interact with the environment hazard free. Prototype generation is a well known technique commonly used in supervised learning to help reduce the number of samples needed to learn a task. However, little is known about how such techniques can be used in a reinforcement learning task. In this work we propose an algorithm that, in order to learn a new (target) task, first generates new samples—prototypes—based on samples acquired previously in a known (source) task. The proposed approach uses Gaussian processes to learn a continuous multidimensional transition function, rendering the method capable of reasoning directly in continuous (states and actions) domains. We base the prototype generation on a careful selection of a subset of samples from the source task (based on known filtering techniques) and transforming such samples using the (little) knowledge acquired in the target task. Our experimental evidence gathered in known reinforcement learning benchmark tasks, as well as a challenging quadcopter to helicopter transfer task, suggests that prototype generation is feasible and, furthermore, that the filtering technique used is not as important as a correct transformation model.


We describe a microcomputer-based program developed for the Brazilian Kidney Transplant Registry. The system can construct life tables and survival curves online, without the need to export the database. From 1987 through 1993, 6069 kidney transplants were reported; 3485 (57.4%) were from living donors and 2584 from cadavers. The proportion of cadaveric transplants increased from 28.5% in 1987 to 58.1% in 1993. Overall kidney transplantation activity was 8.1 patients per million population per year. Sixty-four percent of the patients were male, and 71% were white. The mean age was 33.4 years. The primary renal diseases most frequently reported were glomerulonephritis (43.6%) and hypertensive renal disease (13.6%). Only 3.6% of the recipients were diabetic. Patient and graft survival rates have improved in recent years. We expect that cadaveric organ procurement programs will continue to develop in our country, increasing the number of organ transplantations and creating a more equal distribution of cadaveric organs.


: Efficacy of surgical treatment of patients with strictures of the bulbomembraneous portion of the urethra by R. Turner-Warwick in G. Webster modification was studied in 30 patients operated in 2008-2009. Efficacy of the operation was assessed by uroflowmetry and urethrography findings. Follow-up covered 3 to 20 months (median 10 months). Posttraumatic urethral strictures arose after car accident in 89% cases. Mean length of the destruction defect was 2.7 cm (1.5-5.5 cm). Efficacy of surgical treatment reached 96.7%. Erectile dysfunction due to the operation developed in 2 of 23 (8.6%) patients. Thus, urethroplasty by Turner-Warwick in Webster modification is effective and safe in the treatment of posttraumatic strictures of the posterior urethra and can be used widely in specialized centers for urethral surgery.


ABSTRACT A black granule layer in the Precambrian West-Congolian Mountain Range has been studied. Situated in a calcareous and dolomitic unit of the "Schisto-Calcaire" group of the West-Congolian System, this layer, called the "Pseudo-Oolithe de Kisantu," is found in all this part of southwest Africa. It is composed of millimeter-sized spheroids or ovoids of pure talc in a siliceous matrix, with minor amounts of calcite, dolomite and sulfate. These oolites have a homogeneous chemical composition and do not contain organic matter. Their oxygen isotopic composition (+18 versus SMOW) is within the range of low-temperature clay minerals and outside the composition range of hydrothermal talcs. After comparison with other authigenic Mg-clays found n salt-bearing or evaporitic environments, the proposed origin for this oolitic talc layer is a two-step process: 1) direct precipitation of stevensite or sepiolite at low temperature in shallow marine, low salinity waters; 2) transformation of the stevensite (or sepiolite) into talc during diagenesis.


tions of DILLENIUS relate to "subjects so diverse as the investigation of the British Flora, especially that of Wales; the botanical exploration of North America; the botany of the exotics, especially succulents, cultivated in his time; and the classification of cryptogamic plants." The Dillenian herbaria are three: that of the Synopsis; that of the Hortus Elthamensis; and that of the Historia Muscorum.-J. M. C.


To the Editor. —I found Dr Stitham's article "Educational Malpractice" to be disturbingly accurate. 1 Unfortunately, the rest of the August 21, 1991, issue on medical education failed to address the legitimate concerns raised by this article. Admittedly, medical education today is fraught with problems which, like world hunger, are much harder to solve than to ignore. If we continue to ignore them, however, today's selftaught graduates will be ill-prepared to deal with tomorrow's challenges. First, I would like to pose several questions surrounding the widespread lack of quality, supervised, postgraduate education. Second, I would like to suggest several possible ways that we, as a profession, could renovate certain areas of medical education before the bureaucracy outside of medicine attempts to do so for us. Residents and medical students feel that they pay a significant price to be taught, but are they getting their money's worth? Is supervised, quality education


SUMMARY
Intussusception in adults is a rare condition accounting
for 5% of all causes of bowel obstruction. Manifestations
include abdominal pain, vomiting and occasionally melaena
and palpable abdominal mass. Of note, 90% of intussusception
cases in adults are secondary mainly complicating
postoperative adhesions, benign or malignant tumors
or diverticulosis, while 10% of cases are primary. We present
a patient with ascending colon intussusception secondary
to increased bowel mobility due to the presence of blood in
the bowel following gastrointestinal haemorrhage. We display
relevant imaging findings and discuss the further
progress of the case.
Key words: Intussusception, gastrointestinal haemorrhage


Ruminococcus sp. PO1-3 obtained from human intestinal flora is able to reduce dehydrocholate as well as 3-ketoglycyrrhetinate. From this bacterium dehydrocholate- and 3-ketoglycyrrhetinate-reducing activities were purified one thousand-fold together with 3-ketocholanate-reducing and 3-beta-hydroxyglycyrrhetinate (glycyrrhetic acid) oxidizing activities by means of Matrex Red A, Sephadex G-200 and Octyl-Sepharose column chromatography. The purified enzyme catalyzed the reduction of dehydrocholic acid to 3 beta-hydroxy-7,12-diketocholanic acid and of 3-ketocholanic acid to 3 beta-hydroxycholanic acid. Studies on substrate specificity revealed that the enzyme had absolute specificity for the beta-configuration of a hydroxyl group at the 3 position of bile acid and steroids having no double bond in the A/B ring. This enzyme was neither beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase [EC 184.108.40.206] nor 3 beta-hydroxy-delta 5-steroid dehydrogenase [EC 184.108.40.206], but a novel type of enzyme, defined as 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.


We study optimal insurance contracts for an agent with Markovian private information. Our main results characterize the implications of constrained efficiency for long-run welfare and inequality. Under minimal technical conditions, there is Absolute Immiseration: in the long run, the agent?s consumption and utility converge to their lower bounds. When types are persistent and utility is unbounded below, there is Relative Immiseration: low-type agents are immiserated at a faster rate than high-type agents, and ?pathwise welfare inequality? grows without bound. These results extend and substantially generalize the hallmark findings from the classic literature with iid types, suggesting that the underlying forces are robust to a broad class of private information processes. The proofs rely on novel recursive techniques and martingale arguments. When the agent has CARA utility, we also analytically and numerically characterize the short-run properties of the optimal contract. Persistence gives rise to qualitatively novel short-run dynamics and allocative distortions (or ?wedges?) and, quantitatively, induces less efficient risk-sharing. We compare properties of the wedges to their counterparts in the dynamic taxation literature.


While the deep learning-based image deraining methods have made great progress in recent years, there are two major shortcomings in their application in real-world situations. Firstly, the gap between the low-level vision task represented by rain removal and the high-level vision task represented by object detection is significant, and the low-level vision task can hardly contribute to the high-level vision task. Secondly, the quality of the deraining dataset needs to be improved. In fact, the rain lines in many baselines have a large gap with the real rain lines, and the resolution of the deraining dataset images is generally not ideal. Meanwhile, there are few common datasets for both the low-level vision task and the high-level vision task. In this letter, we explore the combination of the low-level vision task with the high-level vision task. Specifically, we propose an end-to-end object detection network for reducing the impact of rainfall, which consists of two cascaded networks, an improved image deraining network and an object detection network, respectively. We also design the components of the loss function to accommodate the characteristics of the different sub-networks. We then propose a dataset based on the KITTI dataset for rainfall removal and object detection, on which our network surpasses the state-of-the-art with a significant improvement in metrics. Besides, our proposed network is measured on driving videos collected by self-driving vehicles and shows positive results for rain removal and object detection.


In addition to its centrally mediated hypotensive action, clonidine causes a decrease in intraocular pressure associated with a long-lasting mydriasis. The present study was conducted to determine to what extent this drug-induced pupillary dilation is of central or peripheral origin. Pupil size was observed in cats anesthetized with pentobarbital. Clonidine (1 to 100 mug per kilogram, intravenously) resulted in a dose-dependent increase in pupillary diameter in intact as well as sympathectomized preparations. These same doses of clonidine produce no effect on the eserinized, parasympathectomized iris. Epinephrine administration (0.1 to 30 mug, intra-arterially) produced an equivalent pupillary dilation in all preparations. In addition, clonidine caused a dramatic decrease in postganglionic ciliary nerve activity and both the decreased nerve activity and pupillary dilation were reversed by intravenous administration of yohimbine hydrochloride. These results suggest that the inhibition of parasympathetic tone by clonidine may involve a central adrenergic inhibitory mechanism.


Fingerlings having average weight of 1.64 ± 0.13 g and length 5.26 ± 0.10 cm were fed on four different formulated feeds and a control feed (each in a triplicate set), 6% of their body weight, three times a day, during 90 days. Feeds were formulated using groundnut oil cake, mustard oil cake, rice bran, wheat bran, fish meal and soybean meal in order to suffice the balanced need of protein and energy of the Common carp. Carcass composition was determined initially, at the end of 30 days and at the end of the study. At the end of 30 days, carcass composition of fingerlings was not affected significantly (P>0.05) with protein, lipid and carbohydrate contents in the feeds. At the end of the study, carcass composition of fingerlings was affected significantly (P<0.05) with protein, lipid and carbohydrate contents in the feeds. Highest carcass dry matter, crude protein, crude lipid, ash and energy content, lowest moisture content and carbohydrate content were observed in fingerlings fed with Feed B which contained 40 ± 0.21% protein, 9.31 ± 0.25% lipid and 10.08 ± 0.10% carbohydrate. The fingerlings fed with Feed C which contained 25.98 ± 0.19% protein, 5.49 ± 0.18% lipid and 34.63 ± 0.19% carbohydrate showed least carcass dry matter, crude protein, crude lipid, ash and energy content, highest moisture content and carbohydrate content. This study concluded that Feed B containing 40% protein, 9.31% lipid and 10.08% carbohydrate is the best one in terms of carcass composition for a more profitable and successful culture of the common carp. Keywords: Cyprinus carpio communis , fingerlings, carcass composition


The degree of accumulation of sorbitol pathway metabolites by the lens, sciatic nerve and aorta is determined by the duration and gravity of experimental diabetes. As the blood glucose content (indicating experimental diabetes gravity) rises, the aldose reductase activity in the tissues increases, the content of sorbitol and fructose ascends. The sorbitol-dehydrogenase activity does not depend on diabetes gravity. An increase of aldose reductase and a decrease in the sorbitol-dehydrogenase activity occur within the first two weeks after diabetes induction, which correlates with the maximal rate of sorbitol and fructose accumulation. The conclusion is made on the necessity of a strict compensation for diabetes to prevent the development of chronic complications.


The research in this thesis explores how and why student leadership of learning with ICT can impact the knowledge, practice and environment in one high school. Interest in student participation and student voice increased with the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child over a decade ago by countries including the UK, USA and Australia, but questions remain as to whether or not this has resulted in schools becoming more democratic. Although much valuable research has been done relying on the views of students themselves, few studies actually examine student participation in school leadership. This research therefore seeks to further understanding in this area by exploring student participation in school ICT policymaking, and the consequences of this involvement.I set up a student-led project at an independent private secondary school in the south-east of England. This project, which lasted 8 months, became a lens through which I examine student leadership of ICT for learning. Twenty-five students aged 14?19 led staff at the school in developing research-based ICT policy statements for recommendation to the school?s senior management team. They formed a consortium in which the 13 staff members served as their ?critical friends?, and worked with them in devising the policy recommendations. I studied this project over 33 months using case study methodology. Data generated through observations, participant interviews and document analysis, along with literatures in related fields of educational technology, educational leadership and student participation are used to address how and why student leadership of ICT for learning can contribute to changes in knowledge, practice and the school environment. Distinctly, the specific Doctoral research investigates the role of these students in leading learning with ICT from the perspective of a researching practitioner: not just what role they can and do play but also what are the consequences of their involvement in school policymaking. The findings show that (1) ICT leadership at the school is problematic, and students hitherto played no part in decision-making about school and classroom ICTs; (2) the student-led project highlighted the fact that students can provide knowledge and understanding about digital technologies, and that there is need for students and staff to develop a shared ethos about ICT for learning at the school; (3) students are quite capable of leading ICT changes in the knowledge, practice and environment at the school. The thesis goes further to use Bourdieu?s thinking tools?field, habitus, capital and strategy?to conceptualise student leadership in practice.


Abstract: Our objective was to evaluate the long-term impact of management systems combining rotation types [barley in monoculture (M) vs. barley in rotation with forage (R)], tillage practices [chisel plow (CP) vs. moldboard plow (MP)], and nutrient sources [mineral fertilizer (MIN) vs. liquid dairy manure (LDM)] on forage and barley grain production in the Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. Barley grain yields were significantly higher in MP (14%) than in CP during the first 10 yr of the experiment only. In R, grain yields were comparable between the two fertilizer sources, but in M, LDM resulted in 17%–20% lower yields compared with MIN. In contrast, forage yields reached 5000 kg ha-1 under LDM, which was 11% more than under MIN. Nutrient uptake was significantly higher under R than under M. In forage production, nutrient uptake was higher under LDM than under MIN. In the long term, perennial forages and barley can be sustainably produced in rotation without productivity loss using LDM and either MP or CP. Residual N effects and non-N benefits from manure and rotation are identified as important factors contributing to cereal and forage productivity.


Small molecule inhibitors, such as lapatinib, are effective against breast cancer in clinical trials, but tumor cells ultimately acquire resistance to the drug. Maintaining sensitization to drug action is essential for durable growth inhibition. Recently, adaptive reprogramming of signaling circuitry has been identified as a major cause of acquired resistance. We developed a computational framework using a Bayesian statistical approach to model signal rewiring in acquired resistance. We used the p1-model to infer potential aberrant gene-pairs with differential posterior probabilities of appearing in resistant-vs-parental networks. Results were obtained using matched gene expression profiles under resistant and parental conditions. Using two lapatinib-treated ErbB2-positive breast cancer cell-lines: SKBR3 and BT474, our method identified similar dysregulated signaling pathways including EGFR-related pathways as well as other receptor-related pathways, many of which were reported previously as compensatory pathways of EGFR-inhibition via signaling cross-talk. A manual literature survey provided strong evidence that aberrant signaling activities in dysregulated pathways are closely related to acquired resistance in EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Our approach predicted literature-supported dysregulated pathways complementary to both node-centric (SPIA, DAVID, and GATHER) and edge-centric (ESEA and PAGI) methods. Moreover, by proposing a novel pattern of aberrant signaling called V-structures, we observed that genes were dysregulated in resistant-vs-sensitive conditions when they were involved in the switch of dependencies from targeted to bypass signaling events. A literature survey of some important V-structures suggested they play a role in breast cancer metastasis and/or acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs, where the mRNA changes of TGFBR2, LEF1 and TP53 in resistant-vs-sensitive conditions were related to the dependency switch from targeted to bypass signaling links. Our results suggest many signaling pathway structures are compromised in acquired resistance, and V-structures of aberrant signaling within/among those pathways may provide further insights into the bypass mechanism of targeted inhibition.


We investigated the infection rate for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) among ticks collected from humans during May–October 2013 in South Korea. Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks have been considered the SFTSV vector. However, we detected the virus in H. longicornis, Amblyomma testudinarium, and Ixodes nipponensis ticks, indicating additional potential SFTSV vectors.


In programming the implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), the ventricular tachycardia (VT) detection cycle length (CL) is based on the CL of the documented tachycardia but the ventricular fibrillation (VF) detection CL is set arbitrarily. Appropriate programming of VF detection may not only reduce the incidence of inappropriate ICD shocks for non‐VF rhythms but can also avoid the fatal underdetection of VF. The mean VFCL may provide a useful parameter for optimal ICD programming for VF detection if it is reproducible. This study examined the intrapatient reproducibility and interpatient variation of the mean VFCL in 30 ICD patients (25 men and 5 women, mean age 63 ± 13 years). A total of 210 VF episodes (7 ± 4 per patient, range 3–17) induced by T‐wave shocks (166) or AC (44) at the ICD implant (30 patients) and the predischarge test (12 of 30 patients) were analyzed. The mean VFCL was calculated from the stored V‐V intervals in the ICDs. Although the mean VFCL varied significantly from 171 ± 6 to 263 ± 11 ms (P < 0.01) among different patients, it was reproducible among different VF episodes in an individual patient (maximal variation 4–50 ms, P > 0.05). The mean VFCL was not significantly different between patients with and without antiarrhythmic drugs (210 ± 32 vs 210 ± 23 ms, P > 0.05) and was correlated with the ventricular effective refractory period (r = 0.5, P < 0.05). The mean VFCL varies greatly among different patients but remains reproducible in an individual patient, suggesting that the mean VFCL may serve as a reference for ICD programming of VF detection.


Introduction: Transthoracic guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of clinically suspected lung tumors is an increasingly common procedure in diagnosis. Cytospin Smear and Cellblock preparations of available material are helpful in subtyping and confirming the diagnosis, and they can also be used for further studies, i.e., special stain and immunohistochemistry, etc. Aims and Objectives: This research was undertaken to study the technique of guided transthoracic lung FNAC of clinically suspected lung tumors and the establish role of FNAC smears, cytospin smears, and cellblocks in the detection and typing of neoplastic lung lesions and correlation. Materials and Methods: Guided FNAC was taken from 100 cases of clinically suspected lung tumor and FNAC smears, cytospin smears, and cellblocks of aspirated material were studied over a period of 2 years from September 2011 to September 2013. Results: The material adequacies were 80% in FNAC smears, 83% in cytospin smears, and 89% in cellblocks. Additional information supported by cytospin smear and cellblock was 3% and 9%, respectively. Architectural preservation was better in FNAC smears (85%) and cellblocks (73.03%) than that in cytospin smears (31.33%). Morphological preservation was better in FNAC smears (90%) and cellblocks (75.28%) than that in cytospin smears (14.46%). Diagnostic accuracy was increased in the cellblocks and cytospin smears. Conclusion: Cytospin smear was helpful when low cellular material was obtained, and the concomitant examination of cellblocks not only confirmed the diagnosis of malignancy but also helped in classifying the obtained material and allowed further study on the same.


Twenty-eight episodes of nocardial central nervous system infection fulfilling criteria for meningitis were reviewed. In 21 cases Nocardia was cultured from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Associated predisposing conditions were present in 75% of cases. The typical presentation was subacute to chronic meningitis characterized by fever (68%), stiff neck (64%), and headache (55%). CSF studies revealed neutrophilic pleocytosis (83% of cases, greater than 500 white blood cells/mm3), hypoglycorrhachia (64%, less than 40 mg of glucose/dL), and elevated protein level (61%, greater than 100 mg/dL). In 43% of cases there was an associated brain abscess. Patients with brain abscess had more frequent and severe aberrations in mental status as well as higher initial white blood cell counts in CSF. Mortality was 52% for the 23 cases diagnosed antemortem and 57% overall. Compared with patients who died, survivors were younger, had lower initial CSF glucose levels, and were less likely to have brain abscess. Diagnosis was often delayed, and nocardial infection was rarely suspected before positive culture reports or autopsy findings became available.


Kurt Godel, mathematician and logician, was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Godel fled Nazi Germany, fearing for his Jewish wife and fed up with Nazi interference in the affairs of the mathematics institute at the University of Gottingen. In 1933 he settled at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he joined the group of world-famous mathematicians who made up its original faculty. His 1940 book, better known by its short title, The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis, is a classic of modern mathematics. The continuum hypothesis, introduced by mathematician George Cantor in 1877, states that there is no set of numbers between the integers and real numbers. It was later included as the first of mathematician David Hilbert's twenty-three unsolved math problems, famously delivered as a manifesto to the field of mathematics at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris in 1900. In The Consistency of the Continuum Hypothesis Godel set forth his proof for this problem. In 1999, Time magazine ranked him higher than fellow scientists Edwin Hubble, Enrico Fermi, John Maynard Keynes, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Jonas Salk. He is most renowned for his proof in 1931 of the 'incompleteness theorem,' in which he demonstrated that there are problems that cannot be solved by any set of rules or procedures. His proof wrought fruitful havoc in mathematics, logic, and beyond.


The rapid growth and availability of social networking websites have changed the medical students approach to learn and manage the information about their academic, personal and professional lives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the medical student's opinion on the using of social networking sites and learning and development of medical information. Self-administered, paper based questionnaire survey was conducted in the Department of Medical Education, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 647 questionnaires were distributed among the first and second year male and female medical students. 432 (66.76%) of the students completed the questionnaire 246 (56.94%) were males and 186 (43.05%) were females. The questionnaire items on the students' perception were about the social networking sites (SNSs) usage and its positive and negative impacts. Among 432 medical students 312 (72.2%) students showed that social networking sites are the necessity of the everyday life [p=001]; helps in sharing the healthcare information 321 (74.3%) [p=0.001]; provide enough opportunities to promote academic medical activities 392 (90.7%) [p=0.02]; improve the quality of health care and communication 360 (83.3%) [p=0.01]; and SNSs is the fastest and easiest access for sharing and understanding the medical subject contents to promote activities among the fellow students 302 (69.9%) [p=0.001]. Medical students have a positive perception about the social networking websites and its role in medical professionalism. SNSs are being used extensively by the medical students to promote and enhance the knowledge. The most positive impact of SNSs was to facilitate the medical students to learn and understand the medical information; however, the study provides students' concerns related to the shared information security.


The dynamic constraint relaxation theory predicts crucial roles of the initial diversity and evaluation in creative problem-solving. We reported the experimental evidence supporting these predictions, using an insight problem. The experiments showed that the degrees of making different types of trials and the appropriate evaluation were closely related to individual differences in insight problem-solving, and that evaluation became more appropriate by making the problem-solving goal explicit. The review of the research in related fields showed that these experimental findings were in congruent with the evidence obtained from different types of creative activities.