In Reply.— Dr Caccamise is quite right—interpretation problems are not unique to medicine. For example, in Hawaii lawyers state that problems have arisen because the interpreters are not behaving as a "faithful echo" of the defendent, but rather are presenting the communication they (the interpreters) feel will be most acceptable to the judge. Since no one else in the courtroom can understand both the language of the defendant and English, there is no one to check on the interpreter. 1 The risks are well known in international politics, wherein each side brings its own interpreters and thereby has the advantage of monitoring the other's messages. Dr Caccamise's phrase traduttore, traditore brings out a major issue for monolinguals, a sense that the interpreter will betray intent or meanings and alter purpose. Medical personnel as well as patients blame interpreters for failures, real or perceived. The challenge is to make an ally


Ontogenetic changes in habitat are driven by shifting life-history requirements and play an important role in population dynamics. However, large portions of the life history of many pelagic species are still poorly understood or unknown. We used a novel combination of stable isotope analysis of vertebral annuli, Bayesian mixing models, isoscapes and electronic tag data to reconstruct ontogenetic patterns of habitat and resource use in a pelagic apex predator, the salmon shark (Lamna ditropis). Results identified the North Pacific Transition Zone as the major nursery area for salmon sharks and revealed an ontogenetic shift around the age of maturity from oceanic to increased use of neritic habitats. The nursery habitat may reflect trade-offs between prey availability, predation pressure and thermal constraints on juvenile endothermic sharks. The ontogenetic shift in habitat coincided with a reduction of isotopic niche, possibly reflecting specialization upon particular prey or habitats. Using tagging data to inform Bayesian isotopic mixing models revealed that adult sharks primarily use neritic habitats of Alaska yet receive a trophic subsidy from oceanic habitats. Integrating the multiple methods used here provides a powerful approach to retrospectively study the ecology and life history of migratory species throughout their ontogeny.


The aim of this study was to determine slime production and the adherence of coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS) strains isolated from cows' milk with mastitis and chickens which have pathological disorders. For this purpose, 60 CNS strains isolated from cows' milk with mastitis and 60 from chickens suffering from skin and joint diseases were examined. In addition, 20 strains isolated from healthy cows and healthy chickens were used as control groups. Slime production was conductet by the tube method and the results were recorded as -, +, ++ and +++ after 24 h incubation according to the formation of a film layer on the tube surface (inside walls) and the thickness of the film layer. Adherence was determined by spectrophotometry. Adherence measurements were repeated three times to obtain a median OD value. According to the results, bacteria were grouped in three categories: nonadherent, weakly adherent and strongly adherent. Comparisons of our findings were performed through chi-square test. In conclusion, pathogenic CNS strains isolated from the milk of cows with mastitis and lesions of chickens were more slime productive and adherent compared to strains isolated from healthy animals. This difference between the two groups was found to be clinically significant (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively) and led us to conclude that slime productivity and adherency may be related to a disease caused by CNS strains.


An improved integration system of multiple utility boilers is proposed in this study. Short-term load demand forecasting and load dispatching for multiple boilers are the two function blocks, they are modeled with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Multi-objective Optimization Problem (MOP) respectively. In particular, the MOP is solved by a novel hybrid multi-objective optimization algorithm with a combination of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Extremal Optimization (EO) solutions, called "PSO-EO-MO". Both the two function blocks have been developed to a integration system software based on real production data from a thermal power plant and have being running online on the spot with the procedure of production. The results illustrate the efficiency and applicability of the software and the software has got Software Copyright in 2010.


INTRODUCTION
The nutritional registries are data bases through which we obtain the information to understand the nutrition of populations. Several main nutrition societies of the world have these types of registries, outstanding the NADYA (Home artificial and Ambulatory nutrition) group in Spain. The object of this study is to determine by means of a systematic review, the existent scientific production in the international data bases referred to nutritional support registries.

METHODS
Descriptive transversal study of the results of a critical bibliographic research done in the bioscience data bases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, ISI (Web of Sciences), LILACS, CINHAL.

RESULTS
A total of 20 original articles related to nutritional registries were found and recovered. Eleven registries of eight countries were identified: Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Sweden, United Status and United Kingdom. The Price Index was of 65% and all the articles were published in the last 20 years.

CONCLUSIONS
The Price Index highlights the innovativeness of this practice. The articles related to nutritional support are heterogeneous with respect to data and population, which exposes this as a limitation for a combined analysis.


This review aims to provide a better understanding of the emerging role of mitophagy in glaucomatous neurodegeneration, which is the primary cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Increasing evidence from genetic and other experimental studies suggests that mitophagy-related genes are implicated in the pathogenesis of glaucoma in various populations. The association between polymorphisms in these genes and increased risk of glaucoma is presented. Reduction in intraocular pressure (IOP) is currently the only modifiable risk factor for glaucoma, while clinical trials highlight the inadequacy of IOP-lowering therapeutic approaches to prevent sight loss in many glaucoma patients. Mitochondrial dysfunction is thought to increase the susceptibility of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) to other risk factors and is implicated in glaucomatous degeneration. Mitophagy holds a vital role in mitochondrial quality control processes, and the current review explores the mitophagy-related pathways which may be linked to glaucoma and their therapeutic potential.


LKB1, a serine/threonine kinase, regulates cell polarity, metabolism, and cell growth. The activity and cellular distribution of LKB1 are determined by cofactors, STRADalpha and MO25. STRADalpha induces relocalization of LKB1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and stimulates its catalytic activity. MO25 stabilizes the STRADalpha/LKB1 interaction. We investigated the mechanism of nucleocytoplasmic transport of LKB1 in response to its cofactors. Although LKB1 is imported into the nucleus by importin-alpha/beta, STRADalpha and MO25 passively diffuse between the nucleus and the cytoplasm. STRADalpha induces nucleocytoplasmic shuttling of LKB1. STRADalpha facilitates nuclear export of LKB1 by serving as an adaptor between LKB1 and exportins CRM1 and exportin7. STRADalpha inhibits import of LKB1 by competing with importin-alpha for binding to LKB1. MO25 stabilizes the LKB1-STRADalpha complex but it does not facilitate its nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. Strikingly, the STRADbeta, isoform which differs from STRADalpha in the N- and C-terminal domains that are responsible for interaction with export receptors, does not efficiently relocalize LKB1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. These results identify a multifactored mechanism to control LKB1 localization, and they suggest that the STRADbeta-LKB1 complex might possess unique functions in the nucleus.


Associations were examined between warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (mostly associated with the occurrence of warm El Nino-Southern Oscillation events) and coral bleaching in Academy Bay, Galapagos Is, and Naos Is., Gulf of Panama, in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. Various SST-related metrics potentially associated with bleaching occurrence were computed. These quantities suggested that the 1997-98 event, considered one of the strongest in recent history, was comparable in intensity to the strong 1982-83 event for the regions studied. Previously established bleaching conditions' (function of maximum annual SST values and a degree-days index) were shown to be valid for the 1997-98 ENSO event. In Galapagos, the 1997-98 metrics fell within the previously identified bleaching conditions' and bleaching indeed was observed (although not so severe as earlier and populations subsequently recovered) In the Gulf of Panama, the metrics' values were outside the range of bleaching conditions and no bleaching was detected. Lower coral mortality in Galapagos in 1997-98 may have been due in part to the timing of largest SST anomalies and to SST fluctuations in early 1998. Additionally, since current coral populations in the Galapagos have originated from coral survivors and their progeny following the 1982-83 disturbance, the presently-observed lower mortality rates may also have resulted from host/symbiont combinations more resistant to high temperatures.


Objective:The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of this trial with respect to morbidity and mortality. Summary Background Data:Laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) is rapidly gaining popularity. However, there is limited evidence regarding its oncologic safety. We therefore conducted a phase III multicenter, prospective, randomized study comparing LADG with open gastrectomy (ODG). Methods:Patient eligibility criteria were pathologically-proven adenocarcinoma, 20 to 80 years of age, preoperative stage I, no history of other cancer, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy. The primary end point was to determine whether there is a difference in overall survival between 2 groups. The morbidity and mortality were compared to evaluate the safety of this trial. The time was decided on the hypothesis that the morbidity of this trial was not significantly different from that of previous reports on open gastric cancer surgeries (17%–20%). This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov and carries the following ID number: NCT00452751. Results:A total of 342 patients were randomized (LADG, 179 patients; ODG, 161 patients) between January 1, 2006 and July 19, 2007. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in age, gender, and comorbidities. The postoperative complication rates of the LADG and ODG groups were 10.5% (17/179) and 14.7% (24/163), respectively (P = 0.137). Reoperations were required in 3 cases each group. The postoperative mortality was 1.1% (2/179) and 0% (0/163) in the LADG and ODG groups (P = 0.497), respectively. Conclusion:There was no significance difference in the morbidity and mortality between the 2 groups. Therefore, we conclude that this trial is safe and is thus ongoing.


Heat islands (HI) are a common anthropogenic phenomenon and are defined as artificial surfaces (urban areas) that have a higher average temperature than their surroundings (rural areas). The aim of this work was to determine the influence of land use on the spatial distribution and intensity (HIi ) of HI in Slovenia. The MODIS Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Corine Land Cover (CLC) databases were used to perform the analysis. Within the identified HI, two HI levels were determined based on temperature difference. The results revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between HIi and both forest co%ver and forest fragmentation (forest edge density and ratio of mean forest patch size to HI size). Artificial surface was positively correlated with HIi . The results contribute to the understanding of the spatial distribution of HI and HIi and provide informati%on for spatial planning and policy-making to reduce the negative impact of HI.


Varicella is a highly contagious viral disease which mainly affects young children and usually is perceived as infection with a mild disease course. However, there is increasing evidence indicating that the morbidity and mortality as well as the economic impact associated with varicella are significant. While universal childhood vaccination against varicella is currently not recommended in Germany, the availability of safe and efficacious vaccines offers the opportunity for preventive intervention. Detailed and reliable data on the consequences of varicella and the possible impact of a universal vaccination program are missing to date for Germany. In order to generate this information, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation. The objective was to quantify the medical consequences and the economic impact of varicella on third-party payers and the society by means of a model analysis, and particularly to assess the effects of various universal vaccination strategies. The study confirms that varicella represents a significant health and economic burden in Germany. Following mathematical modelling, universal varicella vaccination for children at the age of 12-18 months could prevent more than 82 % of cases and complications on average per year. Economically, universal vaccination would lead to net cost savings not only for the society but also for the third-party payers. From these findings it can be concluded that universal varicella vaccination is a strategy which should be encouraged, from a medical, epidemiological, but also economic viewpoint.


Between 1969 and 1988, 191 children underwent operations for anorectal anomalies in the Pediatric Surgical Department of Mainz University Hospital. Ninety-six had deep and 84 had intermediate or high malformations; the type was unknown in 11. Of these patients 53 had impaired continence and 8 still have a protective colostoma. 37 of the remaining 45 children had check-ups and reoperations (5 were deep types). After reoperation there was full continence in 14 patients, partial continence in 11, persisting incontinence in 11 and one case could not be assessed. Our results recommend reoperation using modern surgical methods of patients with continence.


Nigerian Journal of Dental Research | Volume 7 issue 1 1 w w w .n jd re s. co m ABSTRACT Background: The assessment of skeletal maturity is important in the timing of orthodontic treatment especially in the modification of dento-facial growth. The use of cervical vertebrae as a method of assessment of skeletal maturity has rarely been used among Down Syndrome. Objective: To assess skeletal maturity among individuals with Down Syndrome using the cervical vertebrae maturation stages. Methods: The study was conducted among 21 Down Syndrome with mean ages of 11.70  1.83 years (males) and 13.64  1.75 years (female); and 21 control individuals with mean ages of 12.00  2.00 years (male), and 13.50  1.90 years (female). The independent t-test and chi-square test were used to determine significant differences among the continuous (age) and categorical variables (cervical vertebrae maturation stages) respectively when matched with gender and chronological age. Fischer exact test was used when an expected frequency presentation was <5. A p-value of < 0.05 was set as statistically significant. Results: Down Syndrome males had delayed maturation at 11 years but accelerated at 12 with early attainment of maturity at 15 years. Down Syndrome female had a delay tendency in skeletal maturation from 11–15 years of age. Overall, Down Syndrome had a 1.242 probability of either having a delay or advancement in skeletal maturation which was not statistically significant. Conclusively, the skeletal maturation pattern between Down syndrome patients and normal individuals was not statistically different. Conclusion: The average timing for commencement of orthodontic treatment especially growth modification for normal individuals can be applied for individuals with Down Syndrome as this present study did not show any statistically significant difference in their overall skeletal maturation.


The Raman spectra of phosphate minerals: apatite, merrillite, panethite, brianite, czochralskiite, maricite, new phosphate with composition of Na2Fe(Mg,Ca)(PO4)2 and high-pressure phase tuite from the Elga IIE iron meteorite are characterized. Panethite, brianite, czochralskiite and new Na-Fe phosphate were described for the first time. The basic features of all studied phosphates include strong ν1 symmetric stretching mode of PO43− ions at 950–990 cm−1, antisymmetric ν3 vibrations in the 1000–1175 cm−1 region and weak bands in the 400–500 cm−1 region, which correspond to ν2 bending mode and in the 550–640 cm−1 region, related to ν4 bending mode. Weak bands at less than 300 cm−1 represent lattice modes. Most of the studied phosphates have three non-equivalent positions of phosphorus atoms in the crystal structures and can be derived from glaserite, K3Na(SO4)2, arrangement. Two or three of non-equivalent [PO4] tetrahedra typically correspond to two or three strong bands in the region of ν1 vibrations. High-pressure mineral tuite has similar composition and was formed after merrillite. P-O vibrations in equivalent [PO4] tetrahedra produce major Raman band of tuite at 972 cm−1. The Elga parent-body experienced a shock pressure of at least 12–15 GPa according to minimum pressures of tuite formation in the static high-pressure experiments. This is the first finding of tuite in iron meteorites and the only second finding of high-pressure mineral in them. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The purpose of this paper is to identify the economic impacts associated with weather modification in Southwest Minnesota. Although it is recognized that cloud seeding could directly affect many sectors of the economy, the scope is restricted to the direct benefits on agricultural production and first order income and sales taxes returned to Minnesota. Sectors not covered by this report include electrical power generation, municipal and agricultural surface and underground water supplies, recreation, and wildlife. That is, crop yield response to precipitation change estimates are used to derive dollar benefit figures. These dollar benefits are based on the assumption that an actual cloud seeding program could produce timely increases in growing season precipitation equal to those derived hypothetically, or about 1.00" (15 percent above the 50 year median).


We present an efficient and fully parallel 2D object recognition method based on the use of a multiscale tree representation of the object boundary and recursive learning of trees. Specifically, the object is represented by means of a tree where each node, corresponding to a boundary segment at some level of resolution, is characterized by a real vector containing curvature, length, and symmetry of the boundary segment, while the nodes are connected by arcs when segments at successive levels are spatially related. The recognition procedure is formulated as a training procedure made by recursive neural networks followed by a testing procedure over unknown tree structured patterns.


Can green growth policies help protect the environment while keeping the industry growing and infrastructure expanding? This study applies Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method on the 50-years' time series data, from 1967 to 2015, of Kitakyushu City, Japan, and found mixed evidence for Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. The analyses of NO2, Ox, falling dust particle, and SOx highlight a trilemma among the growth of industrial firms, infrastructure development, and reducing air-quality degradation. Nevertheless, for CO emission per capita, its logarithm has a general declining trend when plotted against both average firm size growth and paved road area expansion. This finding sheds light on the possibility of developing a regulatory framework that can harmonize a low-carbon society with industrial and infrastructure development.


A rare disease is any disease that affects a very small percentage (1 in 1,500) of population. It is estimated that there are nearly 7,000 rare disease affecting 30 million patients in the U. S. alone. Most of the patients suffering from rare diseases experience multiple misdiagnoses and may never be diagnosed correctly. This is largely driven by the low prevalence of the disease that results in a lack of awareness among healthcare providers. There have been efforts from machine learning researchers to develop predictive models to help diagnose patients using healthcare datasets such as electronic health records and administrative claims. Most recently, transformer models have been applied to predict diseases BEHRT, G-BERT and Med-BERT. However, these have been developed specifically for electronic health records (EHR) and have not been designed to address rare disease challenges such as class imbalance, partial longitudinal data capture, and noisy labels. As a result, they deliver poor performance in predicting rare diseases compared with baselines. Besides, EHR datasets are generally confined to the hospital systems using them and do not capture a wider sample of patients thus limiting the availability of sufficient rare dis-ease patients in the dataset. To address these challenges, we introduced an extension of the BERT model tailored for rare disease diagnosis called RareBERT which has been trained on administrative claims datasets. RareBERT extends Med-BERT by including context embedding and temporal reference embedding. Moreover, we introduced a novel adaptive loss function to handle the class imbal-ance. In this paper, we show our experiments on diagnosing X-Linked Hypophosphatemia (XLH), a genetic rare disease. While RareBERT performs significantly better than the baseline models (79.9% AUPRC versus 30% AUPRC for Med-BERT), owing to the transformer architecture, it also shows its robustness in partial longitudinal data capture caused by poor capture of claims with a drop in performance of only 1.35% AUPRC, compared with 12% for Med-BERT and 33.0% for LSTM and 67.4% for boosting trees based baseline.


In production SLU systems, new training data becomes available with time so that ML models need to be updated on a regular basis. Specifically, releasing new features adds new classes of data while the old data remains constant. However, retraining the full model each time from scratch is computationally expensive. To address this problem, we propose to consider production releases from the curriculum learning perspective and to adapt the local-to-global learning (LGL) schedule (Cheng et. al, 2019) for a statistical model that starts with fewer output classes and adds more classes with each iteration. We report experiments for the tasks of intent classification and slot filling in the context of a production voice-assistant. First, we apply the original LGL schedule on our data and then adapt LGL to the production setting where the full data is not available at initial training iterations. We demonstrate that our method improves model error rates by 7.3% and saves up to 25% training time for individual iterations.


Most DHT-based P2P search systems assume implicitly that the participating peers contain multiple objects. The distributed hash table (DHT) is used as a directory to store the keys of these objects for efficient lookup. However, maintaining the DHT and keeping its contents fresh require substantial message and storage overhead. In this paper, we study whether it is possible to do without a directory. We consider a special case of the search problem in which each peer is characterized by a single set of attributes and the peers satisfying a given range or k-nearest-neighbor (KNN) query are looked up. The attribute values may change constantly. For this special search problem, we study the feasibility of interconnecting the peers directly using their attribute values instead of using hash keys. The resultant attribute-based overlay network (AON) thus preserves the attribute semantics in the interconnection. Such a distributed structure can easily support range and KNN queries and accommodate dynamically changing attribute values.


We consider an environment where distributed data sources continuously stream updates to a centralized processor that monitors continuous queries over the distributed data. Significant communication overhead is incurred in the presence of rapid update streams, and we propose a new technique for reducing the overhead. Users register continuous queries with precision requirements at the central stream processor, which installs filters at remote data sources. The filters adapt to changing conditions to minimize stream rates while guaranteeing that all continuous queries still receive the updates necessary to provide answers of adequate precision at all times. Our approach enables applications to trade precision for communication overhead at a fine granularity by individually adjusting the precision constraints of continuous queries over streams in a multi-query workload. Through experiments performed on synthetic data simulations and a real network monitoring implementation, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in achieving low communication overhead compared with alternate approaches.


When investing in corporate social responsibility (CSR), managers may strive for a win-win scenario where all stakeholders end up better off, but they may not always be able to avoid trading off stakeholders' interests. To provide guidance to managers who have to make tradeoffs, this study used a vignette-based experiment to explore stakeholders' intention to associate with a firm (i.e., buy from or become an employee) that trades off CSR directed at the stakeholders' own group (self-directed CSR) and CSR directed at another stakeholder group (other-directed CSR). Results show that stakeholders were not systematically more attracted to a firm that favors their own group over another stakeholder group. Specifically, stakeholders' other-orientation moderated their reaction to tradeoffs: stakeholders higher on other-orientation were willing to forego some material benefits to associate with a firm that treated suppliers in developing countries significantly better than its competitors, whereas stakeholders lower on other-orientation were more attracted to a firm favoring their own stakeholder group. Other-orientation also moderated reactions to tradeoffs involving the environment, although high CSR directed at the environment did not compensate for low self-directed CSR even for stakeholders higher on other-orientation. Second, the vignette study showed that trust mediated the relationship between tradeoffs and stakeholders' reactions. The study contributes first and foremost to the burgeoning literature on CSR tradeoffs and to the multimotive approach to CSR, which claims that other motives can drive stakeholders' reactions to CSR in addition to self-interest. First, it provides further evidence that studying CSR tradeoffs is important to understand both (prospective) employees' and customers' reactions to CSR-related activities. Second, it identifies other-orientation as a motive-related individual difference that explains heterogeneity in stakeholders' reactions to CSR. These findings suggest several avenues for future research for organizational psychologists interested in organizational justice. Third, it investigates trust as a mediating mechanism. Fourth, it reveals differences in stakeholders' reactions depending on which other stakeholder group is involved in the tradeoff. For practice, the findings suggest that tradeoffs are important because they influence which stakeholders are attracted to the firm.


Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among females. Although
considerable progress in disease detection and treatment has greatly improved
survival, this entails the endurance of sequential treatment combinations. Such
treatments are associated with cancer related fatigue (CRF), a debilitating form of
fatigue that often persists for months or years post treatment, and a reduction in cardiovascular health that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. Such factors,
combined with the risk of breast cancer recurrence negatively affect patient
survivorship. Consequently, interventions that target fatigue, cardiovascular health
and risk of breast cancer hold benefit for this population. Aerobic exercise previously
shown to promote cardiopulmonary fitness, reduce fatigue and specific breast cancer
risk factors is one such intervention. However, due to a failure within the literature to
control exercise intensity, and monitor interim time points rather than pre and post test
measures, there is a paucity of data regarding the most appropriate exercise
prescription for the patient. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to extend the
existing body of knowledge with novel data regarding the effectiveness of a
standardised aerobic exercise prescription upon survivorship (cardiovascular health,
fatigue and breast cancer risk), to help elucidate the benefit of moderate intensity
aerobic exercise for this group.

Study 1: The aim of this investigation was to examine the feasibility of a progressive,
moderate intensity, aerobic exercise intervention at improving cardiovascular health
within a healthy subset of the population, to determine if the aerobic exercise
intervention would be viable within a group of breast cancer survivors. It also had a
secondary aim to investigate if the intervention could be implemented within working
hours without disrupting the working day for the promotion of occupational health.
As the study demonstrated a significant improvement in peak cardiopulmonary
capacity (V0 [sub]2 peak) and submaximal oxygen utilisation, alongside a high adherence to
the exercise training, efficacy and feasibility was provided for the use of the exercise
intervention in breast cancer survivors to improve cardiopulmonary fitness and
cardiovascular health. It also confirmed that this exercise intervention could be
incorporated into working hours without disrupting the working day.

Study 2: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effect of the aerobic
exercise intervention upon the cardiovascular health and fatigue of breast cancer
survivors. There was a significant improvement in V0[sub]2 peak and a trend for a
reduction in C-reactive protein (CRP) indicating that the intervention could provide
protection against cardiovascular disease. There was also a reduction in fatigue
highlighting improved patient well-being, although there were no significant changes
in the pro-inflammatory markers associated with fatigue (lnterleukin-6 and TNF-[alpha]).
Regarding exercise prescription, the four week follow up period, in the absence of
additional exercise prescription showed that while no deconditioning occurred there
were no further adaptations in cardiopulmonary fitness.

Study 3: The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the effect ofthe aerobic
exercise intervention upon cardiovascular health, IGF-1, IGFPB-3 and the molar ratio
in healthy pre-menopausal women. There was a significant improvement in V0[sub]2 peak,
submaximal oxygen utilisation, resting heart rate, IL-6, alongside a trend for a
reduction in CRP, supporting an improvement in cardiovascular health and a
reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease. There was also a significant reduction in
IGF-1, but as there was no change IGFBP-3 or the IGF-1:IGFBP3 molar ratio the
benefit of the aerobic exercise intervention at improving IGF profile within healthy
pre-menopausal women remains equivocal.

These investigations provide novel data for the benefit of progressive moderate
intensity aerobic exercise upon the survivorship of women who have recovered from
breastcancer. In particular, interim time point analysis within all studies highlights
the need for progressive aerobic training, to continue adaptation for the optimisation
of health related benefit. As moderate intensity aerobic exercise had no adverse
effects, and received high study adherence within breast cancer survivors, future
research that examines the effect of higher intensity aerobic exercise training is now
required to evaluate if there are additional health related benefits for the patient.


Differential evolution (DE) is an evolutionary algorithm that is based on the individual differential reconstruction idea. It is proposed by Stom and Price in 1997, and is very suitable to solve optimization problem over continuous spaces. First of all, with the introduction of concepts of differential operator (DO), etc., the concise description of DE is given and the analysis of its main features is advanced. For solving discrete optimization problem using DE, a new operator, mapping operator, in the new algorithm was used to ensure the original mutation operator still effective. Then a new S operator, with sigmoid function, was used to keep the result of the mutation operator falls in the interval [0, 1]. The algorithm not only has the advantages of DE, but also is very suitable to solve discrete optimization problems. Calculations of 0/1 knapsack problem show that algorithm has better convergence capability and stability.


BACKGROUND
Current evidence indicates that patients with hematological malignancies are less likely to receive input from specialist palliative care services compared to those with solid tumors.

AIM
We aimed to analyze data for referrals to our palliative care service, in order to assess trends in the number and proportion of referrals received from hematology, and changes in the characteristics of these referrals.

DESIGN
Prospective information was collected for all referrals to the Department of Pain and Palliative Care (DPPC) over a four-year period. This included inpatient/outpatient status, diagnosis, symptoms, and goals of the referring clinician; and information linked to hospital inpatient data to obtain date and location of death.

SETTINGS/PARTICIPANTS
All hematology referrals were from January 2007 to December 2010.

RESULTS
Hematology referrals constituted 11.6% of all referrals received during the study period. Outpatient referrals increased significantly with each year, as did the proportion of patients referred for symptom control. The median time from referral to death was 34 days, with poorest survival seen in acute leukemia and inpatients. Overall, 54% of inpatient hematology deaths had consultation from the DPPC, with these patients less likely to die in the intensive care unit.

CONCLUSIONS
Over recent years, collaboration between hematology and palliative care has resulted in increased referral numbers, with potentially positive results for patients.


We survey the recent literature on the economic implications of strengthening intellectual property rights in developing countries. First, we identify the theoretical concepts and empirical methods that are frequently applied to this topic. Then we discuss ten specific economic studies that have addressed this topic in the last ten years. Finally, we identify the most common findings in the literature.


Our study explored the value of a community engaged model for good hospice care in three rural communities in Alberta, Canada. When communities are highly engaged in planning and implementing hospice care in their communities, our study discovered that they have key characteristics: that volunteerism needs to be balanced to prevent burnout; that the local knowledge of community members is used in a number of ways to plan and provide good hospice care; that a variety of resources, infrastructure, policies and expertise are used by the community to nurture community-focused palliative care initiatives. The value to the community or social capital, that accrues from these initiatives is not easily appreciated by the community members, and community-based initiatives benefit when this value is identified for them. In all three communities a focus group was conducted separately with the Hospice Society board and with family members and volunteers connected with the Hospice Society. Participants attending this oral presentation will learn how community palliative care is perceived by non-professional community leaders, as well as strategies that may help address barriers that are encountered when communities become engaged in addressing their own hospice and end of life care needs.


The aim of the study was to present the territorial differentiation of the level of human capital in rural areas in Poland. The level of human capital has been evaluated using synthetic index, calculated on the basis of statistical data from 2012 for individual provinces. The highest level of human capital in rural areas was in provinces: śląskie, malopolskie, pomorskie, wielkopolskie and podkarpackie, while the lowest: podlaskie, warminsko-mazurskie and zachodniopomorskie.


BACKGROUND
A positive effect of motor cortex stimulation (MCS) (defined as subjective estimations of pain relief ≥ 30%) has been reported in 55 - 64% of patients. Repetitive magnetic cortical stimulation (rTMS) is considered a predictor of MCS effect. These figures are, however, mostly based on subjective reports of pain intensity, and have not been confirmed in the long-term.

OBJECTIVES
This study assessed long-term pain relief (2 - 9 years) after epidural motor cortex stimulation and its pre-operative prediction by rTMS, using both intensity and Quality of Life (QoL) scales.

STUDY DESIGN
Analysis of the long-term evolution of pain patients treated by epidural motor cortex stimulation, and predictive value of preoperative response to rTMS.

SETTING
University Neurological Hospital Pain Center.

METHODS

PATIENTS
Twenty patients suffering chronic pharmaco-resistant neuropathic pain.

INTERVENTION
All patients received first randomized sham vs. active 20 Hz-rTMS, before being submitted to MCS surgery.

MEASUREMENT
Postoperative pain relief was evaluated at 6 months and then up to 9 years post-MCS (average 6.1 ± 2.6 y) using (i) pain numerical rating scores (NRS); (ii) a combined assessment (CPA) including NRS, drug intake, and subjective quality of life; and (iii) a short questionnaire (HowRu) exploring discomfort, distress, disability, and dependence.

RESULTS
Pain scores were significantly reduced by active (but not sham) rTMS and by subsequent MCS. Ten out of 20 patients kept a long-term benefit from MCS, both on raw pain scores and on CPA. The CPA results were strictly comparable when obtained by the surgeon or by a third-party on telephonic survey (r = 0.9). CPA scores following rTMS and long-term MCS were significantly associated (Fisher P = 0.02), with 90% positive predictive value and 67% negative predictive value of preoperative rTMS over long-term MCS results. On the HowRu questionnaire, long-term MCS-related improvement concerned "discomfort" (physical pain) and "dependence" (autonomy for daily activities), whereas "disability" (work, home, and leisure activities) and "distress" (anxiety, stress, depression) did not significantly improve.

LIMITATIONS
Limited cohort of patients with inhomogeneous pain etiology. Subjectivity of the reported items by the patient after a variable and long delay after surgery. Predictive evaluation based on a single rTMS session compared to chronic MCS.

CONCLUSIONS
Half of the patients still retain a significant benefit after 2 - 9 years of continuous MCS, and this can be reasonably predicted by preoperative rTMS. Adding drug intake and QoL estimates to raw pain scores allows a more realistic assessment of long-term benefits and enhance the rTMS predictive value. The aims of this study and its design were approved by the local ethics committee (University Hospitals St Etienne and Lyon, France).


By block compressed sensing (BCS), the image can be compressed and encrypted simultaneously. A novel reversible data hiding (RDH) method is proposed to embed additional data into the BCS encrypted images. In the proposed method, based on the image block edge pixel separation, every block can be used for data embedding through a special measurement flipping. After decryption, considering the correlation of natural images, the fluctuation function can be used to find out the flipped block and realise the data extraction and image recovery. Experiments show that the proposed method can outperform the existing RDH method in BCS images.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between advanced glycation end products (AGE) and cardiovascular damage in end-stage renal diseases.

METHODS
Ninety-one hemodialysis patients who had been on dialysis treatment for at least six months were recruited for the study. Each patient underwent echocardiography and an echo-color Doppler study of the carotid arteries. We measured plasma pentosidine and related it to intima media thickness, atherosclerotic plaques and parameters of left ventricular geometry.

RESULTS
Pentosidine was higher in patients treated by low-flux dialysis (31.0+/-16.6 pmol/mg protein) than in those treated by high-flux dialysis (25.4+/-7.6 pmol/mg protein), but this difference was of marginal statistical significance (P=0.08). On multivariate analysis, plasma IgG (beta=0.24, P=0.02) was the only independent correlate of plasma pentosidine. Intima media thickness and the number of atherosclerotic plaques were unrelated to plasma pentosidine. Mean wall thickness (beta=0.18, P<0.05), relative wall thickness (beta=0.20, P<0.05) and left ventricular end-diastolic volume (beta= -0.23, P<0.01) were independently related to plasma pentosidine.

CONCLUSIONS
Pentosidine, a reliable marker of "carbonyl stress", is unrelated to intima media thickness and to the number of atherosclerotic plaques, but it is related to alterations in heart geometry. These data suggest that the effect of carbonyl stress on the cardiovascular system is complex and that the effects of AGE on the heart may be dissociated from those on the arterial system.


Abstract Background Mortality risk is high soon after dialysis initiation in patients with kidney failure, and dialysis withdrawal is a major cause of early mortality, attributed to psychosocial or medical reasons. The temporal trends and risk factors associated with cause-specific early dialysis withdrawal within 12 months of dialysis initiation remain uncertain. Methods Using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry, we examined the temporal trends and risk factors associated with mortality attributed to early psychosocial and medical withdrawals in incident adult dialysis patients in Australia between 2005 and 2018 using adjusted competing risk analyses. Results Of 32 274 incident dialysis patients, 3390 (11%) experienced death within 12 months post-dialysis initiation. Of these, 1225 (36%) were attributed to dialysis withdrawal, with 484 (14%) psychosocial withdrawals and 741 (22%) medical withdrawals. These patterns remained unchanged over the past two decades. Factors associated with increased risk of death from early psychosocial and medical withdrawals were older age, dialysis via central venous catheter, late referral and the presence of cerebrovascular disease; obesity and Asian ethnicity were associated with decreased risk. Risk factors associated with early psychosocial withdrawals were underweight and higher socioeconomic status. Presence of peripheral vascular disease, chronic lung disease and cancers were associated with early medical withdrawals.KEY LEARNING POINTS What is already known about this subject? dialysis withdrawal is a major cause of death in patients with kidney failure, and international registry reports suggested temporal increase in withdrawal-related mortality; and risk factors associated with mortality from dialysis withdrawal were older age, Caucasian ethnicity, late nephrologist referral and haemodialysis as initial dialysis modality. What this study adds? the proportion of early mortality from dialysis withdrawal has remained unchanged in Australia since 2005; the annual proportion of early mortality attributed to medical withdrawals consistently surpassed the proportion of psychosocial withdrawals; and early mortality attributed to psychosocial and medical withdrawals was associated with similar risk factors. What impact this may have on practice or policy? recognizing the patient at risk of early mortality attributed to dialysis withdrawal may better inform the shared decision-making process, empower patient-focused treatment choices and facilitate advanced care planning. Conclusions Death from dialysis withdrawal accounted for >30% of early deaths in kidney failure patients initiated on dialysis and remained unchanged over the past two decades. Several shared risk factors were observed between mortality attributed to early psychosocial and medical withdrawals.


A cytotoxic product of lipid peroxidation, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE), rapidly inhibited glycine, malate/pyruvate, and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent O2 consumption by pea leaf mitochondria. Dose- and time-dependence of inhibition showed that glycine oxidation was the most severely affected with aK 0.5 of 30 μm. Several mitochondrial proteins containing lipoic acid moieties differentially lost their reactivity to a lipoic acid antibody following HNE treatment. The most dramatic loss of antigenicity was seen with the 17-kDa glycine decarboxylase complex (GDC) H-protein, which was correlated with the loss of glycine-dependent O2 consumption. Paraquat treatment of pea seedlings induced lipid peroxidation, which resulted in the rapid loss of glycine-dependent respiration and loss of H-protein reactivity with lipoic acid antibodies. Pea plants exposed to chilling and water deficit responded similarly. In contrast, the damage to other lipoic acid-containing mitochondrial enzymes was minor under these conditions. The implication of the acute sensitivity of glycine decarboxylase complex H-protein to lipid peroxidation products is discussed in the context of photorespiration and potential repair mechanisms in plant mitochondria.


Northeast Dairy Compact impacts were estimated for Boston and Hartford retail prices using an econometric model. Asymmetric speeds of adjustment to farm price increases and decreases were found; however, tests indicated that retail prices do return to the same level following equal farm price increases and decreases. Model forecasts suggested no structural changes occurred during the out-of-sample period, July 1996 through June 1998. Simulations with and without the Compact predicted lower retail fluid milk price impacts than actual July 1997 changes. These predicted impacts separate the effects of farm price changes on retail prices from possibly confounding effects.


Objective:A team-based approach to obtaining prior authorization approval was implemented utilizing a specialty pharmacy, a clinic-based pharmacy technician specialist, and a registered nurse to work with providers to obtain approval for medications for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the time to approval for prescribed treatment of HCV infection. Methods:A retrospective observational study was conducted including patients treated for HCV infection by clinic providers who received at least 1 oral direct-acting antiviral HCV medication. Patients were divided into 2 groups, based on whether they were treated before or after the implementation of the team-based approach. Student t tests were used to compare average wait times before and after the intervention. Results:The sample included 180 patients, 68 treated before the intervention and 112 patients who initiated therapy after. All patients sampled required prior authorization approval by a third-party payer to begin therapy. There was a statistically significant reduction (P = .02) in average wait time in the postintervention group (15.6 ± 12.1 days) once adjusted using dates of approval. Conclusions:Pharmacy collaboration may provide increases in efficiency in provider prior authorization practices and reduced wait time for patients to begin treatment.


In the light of the discovery of a Higgs boson like particle and no evidence of particles beyond the Standard Model the question arises: How much can the coupling of the Higgs boson to other particles deviate from the Standard Model Higgs couplings if no further particles will be discovered at the LHC and how precise have Higgs coupling measurements to be to capture these deviations? In the context of three different models (a model with a singlet Higgs boson mixed-in, a composite Higgs boson model and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) these questions will be answered in the talk.


Today, the rapid development of information technology (IT) affects many areas of economic, social and political life. In the social policy sector, the effects are already considerable. In its current form, information technology (IT) applications are attracting attention and further progress is being made. Turning to governments, information age impacts are often addressed in the concept of e-government, an umbrella term that encompasses many different applications of IT. In the most advanced e-governments, policy and policy process effects are already documented. Elsewhere, the situation will feel different as time progresses, as information age dynamics work their way through political systems. The prevalence of policy networks, even in societies at the forefront of the information revolution, will reveal that stability, or at least predictable change, is the norm. In all societies, policy networks are of course affected by long-term trend changes such as the challenge to technocracy, the decline of occupations, and the emergence of civic activism. It is certain that citizens make a real input into policy and play a real partnership role in practice. In order to create interactive forms of social policymaking and move to e-governance in social policy, it is necessary to tackle the structural inequalities that currently dominate the emerging information societies. This research analyses the current results of the information society. For the policy process in general, it deals with e-governance and social policy issues with advancing technology. The study examines the nature of the information society and e-governance before moving on to important policy issues. In this context, it is aimed to fill an important gap in the literature.


RATIONALE
Extensive evidence in animal models supports a role for IL-13 in the pathobiology of asthma. IMA-638 and IMA-026 are fully humanized IgG(1) antibodies that bind to different epitopes and neutralize IL-13 bioactivity.

OBJECTIVES
We hypothesized that anti-IL-13 treatment would inhibit allergen-induced late-phase asthmatic responses, airway hyperresponsiveness, and inflammation in subjects with asthma.

METHODS
Fifty-six subjects with mild, atopic asthma were recruited for two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel group trials to compare IMA-638 and IMA-026 IL-13 antibody treatments with placebo treatment. Drug was administered on Days 1 and 8, and allergen challenges were performed on Days 14 and 35. The primary outcome variable was the late-phase area under the curve (AUC), and secondary outcome variables were the early- and late-phase maximum percent fall in FEV(1), early AUC, allergen-induced shift in airway hyperresponsiveness, and sputum eosinophils.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
The treatment difference with IMA-638 on Day 14 was -19.1 FEV(1) × hour (95% confidence interval: -36.2, -1.9) for the allergen-induced early AUC and -23.8 FEV(1) × hour (95% confidence interval: -46.4, -1.2) for the late AUC (both P < 0.05), but this effect was lost by Day 35. Treatment with IMA-026 did not attenuate the asthmatic responses on Day 14 or Day 35. There was no effect of either antibody on allergen-induced airway hyperresponsiveness or sputum eosinophils. The frequency of adverse events after administration of the IL-13 antibodies was similar to placebo.

CONCLUSIONS
IL-13 has a role in allergen-induced airway responses in humans. Further study is required to determine whether anti-IL-13 monoclonal antibodies will be beneficial clinically.


Relative to the well-developed theory and extensive survey batteries on people's preferences for substantive policy solutions, scholarly understanding of people's preferences for the mechanisms by which policies should be adopted is disappointing. Theory rarely goes beyond the assumption that people would prefer to rule themselves rather than leave decisions up to elites and measurement rests largely on four items that are not up to the task. In this article, we seek to provide a firmer footing for "process" research by 1) offering an alternative theory holding that people actually want elites to continue to make important political decisions but want them to do so only after acquiring a deep appreciation for the real-world problems facing regular people, and 2) developing and testing a battery of over 50 survey items, appropriate for cross-national research, that extend understanding of how the people want political decisions to be made.


Multivariate probability calibration is the problem of predicting class membership probabilities from classification scores of multiple classifiers. To achieve better performance, the calibrating function is often required to be coordinate-wise nondecreasing; that is, for every classifier, the higher the score, the higher the probability of the class labeling being positive. To this end, we propose a multivariate regression method based on shaperestricted Bernstein polynomials. This method is universally flexible: it can approximate any continuous calibrating function with any specified error, as the polynomial degree increases to infinite. Moreover, it is universally consistent: the estimated calibrating function converges to any continuous calibrating function, as the training size increases to infinity. Our empirical study shows that the proposed method achieves better calibrating performance than benchmark methods.


Kinetic mechanisms for the deactivation of nitrogen are investigated by ab initio theory. We find that the interaction of nitrogen with self-interstitials can lead to a deactivation of nitrogen, yet it cannot explain the experimentally observed nitrogen deactivation at high temperatures in silicon co-implanted samples. Our analysis suggests the aggregation of vacancies at high temperatures and the subsequent formation of passive nitrogen-vacancy complexes as a likely explanation.


The results from the variable moment of inertia (VMI) and cubic polynomial (CP) models with the available experimental information on transition energies for the yrast band levels in all studied nuclei. These models has been generalized so as to be applicable to transitional and vibrational nuclei by requiring that the extended models reduce at low angular momentum, to the polynomial dependence which gives excellent fits to the experimental spectra in the spherical, transitional and deformed regions. The level structure indicate a transition from collective to few-particle characteristics at high spin, possibly suggesting a change shape from prolate through triaxial to oblate. The loss of collectivity occurs at much lower angular momentum than predicted by calculations. The calculated Qt-value of the yrast band of the nucleus with N = 90.


Product quality determines how well a product meets the customer's requirements. One way of measuring and ensuring that the product's quality is achieved is through incorporating the functional analysis approach in the design process of the product, especially at early stage of lifecycle. A case study involving the design of a dual axis solar tracking system is used to illustrate the approach. In the study, the designed solar tracking concept was compared to existing mechanisms. The designed concept was found to be, generally, less complex than existing models.


Bleomycin is a powerful chemotherapeutic drug used to treat a variety of cancers. However, individual patients vary in their responses to bleomycin. The identification of genetic differences that underlie this response variation could improve treatment outcomes by tailoring bleomycin dosages to each patient. We used the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to identify genetic determinants of bleomycin-response differences by performing linkage mapping on recombinants derived from a cross between the laboratory strain (N2) and a wild strain (CB4856). This approach identified a small genomic region on chromosome V that underlies bleomycin-response variation. Using near-isogenic lines and strains with CRISPR-Cas9 mediated deletions and allele replacements, we discovered that a novel nematode-specific gene (scb-1) is required for bleomycin resistance. Although the mechanism by which this gene causes variation in bleomycin responses is unknown, we suggest that a rare variant present in the CB4856 strain might cause differences in the potential stress-response function of scb-1 between the N2 and CB4856 strains, thereby leading to differences in bleomycin resistance. Article summary We performed linkage mapping on a panel of recombinant lines generated between two genetically divergent strains of Caenorhabditis elegans and identified a bleomycin-response QTL. We generated CRISPR-Cas9 deletions and reciprocal allele-replacement strains for all six candidate genes across the QTL confidence interval. Deletions of one gene, H19N07.3, caused increased bleomycin sensitivity in both divergent genetic backgrounds. This gene might act in stress responses and detoxification in nematodes. We further compared our linkage mapping to a genome-wide association mapping and showed that a rare expression variant in the CB4856 strain likely underlies bleomycin-response differences.


Background/Aims: Antiviral resistance is a major challenge to the treatment currently available for hepatitis B virus (HBV). In this study, mutations that may affect the antiviral efficacy in treatment-naive HBV-infected individuals were analyzed. Methods: Ninety-seven treatment-naive HBV-infected individuals were included in this study. HBV reverse transcriptase (rt) domains were sequenced and nucleotide differences were compared to GenBank wild-type sequences. Furthermore, HBV genotypes, subgenotypes and subtypes were determined by analyzing surface gene sequences. Results: An adefovir-related rtI233V mutation was identified in 4 subjects. The rtS213T lamivudine and entecavir refractory mutant was presented in 3 individuals. Altogether, drug-related, atypical and novel HBVrt amino acid substitutions were seen in 73 positions. The HBV genotypes A, C, D and G were depicted in 15, 21, 60 and 1 individuals, respectively. There were 17 HBVrt amino acid substitutions that are associated with certain genotypes of HBV. Mutations in HBVrt corresponded to established surface gene mutations in 9 patients. Conclusion: This data shows that antiviral-resistant HBV strains do exist in treatment-naive individuals in this region. Further studies are essential to characterize the role of HBVrt amino acid substitutions in response to anti-HBV therapy.


A scheme suitable for visual information representation in a combined frequency-position space is investigated through image decomposition into a finite set of two-dimensional Gabor elementary functions (GEF). The scheme is generalized to account for the position-dependent Gabor-sampling rate, oversampling, logarithmic frequency scaling and phase-quantization characteristic of the visual system. Comparison of reconstructed signal highlights the advantages of the generalized Gabor scheme in coding typical bandlimited images. It is shown that there exists a tradeoff between the number of frequency components used per position and the number of such clusters (sampling rate) utilized along the spatial coordinate. >


Background and Objectives: Supraclavicular brachial plexus block is associated with 50% to 67% incidence of hemidiaphragmatic paresis as a result of phrenic nerve block. We examined whether ultrasound-guided compared with nerve stimulation supraclavicular brachial plexus block using 0.75% ropivacaine results in a lower incidence of hemidiaphragmatic paresis. Methods: In a prospective randomized observer-blinded controlled trial, 60 patients scheduled for elective elbow, forearm, wrist, or hand surgery under supraclavicular brachial plexus block without sedation were included. Supraclavicular brachial plexus block was performed with 20 mL of 0.75% ropivacaine using either ultrasound or nerve stimulation guidance. Ventilatory function was assessed by ultrasound examination of hemidiaphragmatic movement and spirometry. Results: None of the 30 patients in the ultrasound group showed complete or partial paresis of the hemidiaphragm (95% confidence interval, 0.00-0.14), whereas in the nerve stimulation group, 15 patients showed complete paresis of the hemidiaphragm and 1 patient showed partial paresis of the hemidiaphragm (0% versus 53%, respectively; P < 0.0001). Ventilatory function (forced expiratory volume 1, forced vital capacity, peak expiratory flow) was significantly reduced in the nerve stimulation group compared with the ultrasound-guided group (P < 0.05). Two block failures occurred in the nerve stimulation group compared with none in the ultrasound group (P = 0.49). No adverse effects occurred in either group. Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block, using 20 mL of 0.75% ropivacaine with the described technique, is not associated with hemidiaphragmatic paresis.


A heat-transfer investigation was conducted with water flowing in an electrically heated Inconel tube with an inside diameter of 0.204 inch and a length-diameter ratio of 50 for ranges of Reynolds number up to 100,000 and of entrance pressure up to 200 inches of mercury gage. Correlation of average heat-transfer coefficients was obtained by use of the familiar Nusselt relation, wherein the physical properties of water were evaluated at an average bulk temperature. For conditions in which no boiling occurred, the data gave a good correlation. Runs made in the nucleate-boiling region, however, gave higher values of heat-transfer coefficient than would be predicted by the Nusselt relation.


It has been said that "borders are the scars of history" (Schuman n.d), and while that may be true, we might also consider borders as living labs in which social interactions and the ability to coexist shape economic, social, and political prosperity. The socially- driven concepts, of Social Capital, and more recently Social Innovation, are the basis of extensive research across a broad scope of academic arenas. From clusters (Wolfe 1998) to health care (Global Health Innovation Guidebook), Social Capital and Social Innovation are increasingly considered as tools central to the creation of improved living environments and strong communities. The broad objective of this dissertation is to understand the impact that Social Capital and Social Innovation (social dynamics) have on economic development and competitiveness strategies in a cross-border context. To this end, we set out to test how social dynamics and links impact economic development and competitiveness strategies specifically within Region Laredo, Aquitaine-Euskadi, and Oresund. Our ultimate goal then is to tell each case study's narrative accurately and with context, and finally identify what can be learned from each region.


This paper develops the theory behind the bispectrum, a concept that is well established in statistical signal processing but not, until recently, extended to computer vision as a source of frequency-domain invariants. Recent papers on using the bispectrum in vision show good results when the bispectrum is applied to spherical harmonic models of three-dimensional (3-D) shapes, in particular by improving discrimination over previously-proposed magnitude invariants, and also by allowing detection of neutral pose in human activity detection. The bispectrum has also been formulated for vector spherical harmonics, which have been used in medical imaging for 3-D anatomical modeling. In a paper published in this journal, Smach {\it et al.} use duality theory to establish the completeness of second-order invariants which, as shown here, are the same as the bispectrum. This paper unifies earlier works of various researchers by deriving the bispectrum formula for all compact groups. It also provides a constructive algorithm for recovering functions from their bispectral values on SO(3). The main theoretical result shows that the bispectrum serves as a complete source of invariants for homogeneous spaces of compact groups, including such important domains as the sphere $S^2$.


Kabatini well field in Bahati area of Nakuru in the Kenya Rift, which has the highest yielding boreholes that supply 80% of the water needs in Nakuru, was selected for the geophysical study to obtain the electrical resistivity structure. Vertical electrical soundings (VES), electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) were conducted in the Kabatini area. These methods involve injecting of current into the ground and the flow of current is dependent on the pore fluid content of the rock and salinity of the fluid. The resistivity method measures the apparent resistivity of the subsurface, including effects of any or all of the following: soil type, bedrock fractures, contaminants and ground water. Variations in electrical resistivity/conductivity may indicate changes in composition, layer thickness or contaminant levels. The resistivity method is useful for simultaneously detecting lateral and vertical changes in subsurface electrical properties. The 1 D vertical electrical sounding (VES) was used to obtain a 3D geoelectric structure. To do this the data was collected in a uniform grid of 16 soundings and processed individually and plotted using a 3D plotting software to give the aquifer dimensions. Electrical resistivity tomography, a new technique in geophysics, widely used in environmental geophysics and engineering was applied in the Kabatini well field. This method had not been applied to this well field before hence was used to provide more information about the area. The results obtained from the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) complimented the VES results hence resolved the near surface region. The near surface region of the aquifer showed that the main aquifer found at a depth of about 60 meters is semi confined. In addition, the 3D model showed the aquifer is structurally controlled and is recharged by a river flowing in a shallow channel and a deeper channel. This indicates the fault structures control ground water movement in Kabatini. The main objective of the methods was to map the subsurface resistivity distribution of the layers and in addition show the depth to the water table in both 2D and 3D models and this was successfully achieved. The results, therefore, indicate that the aquifer in Kabatini is on an open channel which has been inferred as River Ngorsur and the lateral extent is seen to be semi bound on the western side. The aquifer extends beyond 165 meters depth. \ ' ■


The purpose of this essay has been to study if all the districts in the city of Malmoe get to be seen in the city's biggest newspaper, Sydsvenskan. Is the reporting proportional? What images is the newspaper offering the citizens? Do they match the reality? Or are some parts of Malmoe in the dark, in a media shadow?Research done in the past has shown that Stockholm in many ways is in a media shadow. The same pattern was shown in Gothenburg. It has also been argued that the district Rosengard in Malmoe has suffered the same treatment. This essay studies if this also applies to the whole city of Malmoe.With a quantitatively and a qualitatively perspective, four weeks of articles have been analyzed. This essay holds the answers to what subjects and which people are represented in the paper. It studies if the reporting is proportional and explains what images are offered from the different parts of Malmoe.The conclusions show that several parts of Malmoe are in a media shadow, exposed to unilateral and in some cases non-existing reporting, leaving the citizens with an untrue image of their city.


Plant growth and survival near range limits are likely sensitive to small changes in environmental conditions. Warming temperatures are causing range shifts and thus changes in species composition within range-edge ecotones; however, it is often not clear how temperature alters performance. Through an observational field study, we assessed temperature and nitrogen effects on survival and growth of co-occurring temperate (Acer saccharum) and boreal (Abies balsamea) saplings across their overlapping range limits in the Great Lakes region, USA. Across sampled ranges of soil texture, soil pH, and precipitation, it appears that temperature affects leaf nitrogen for A. saccharum near its northern range limit (R2 = 0.64), whereas there was no significant leaf N ~ temperature relationship for A. balsamea. Higher A. saccharum leaf N at warm sites was associated with increased survival and growth. Abies balsamea survival and growth were best modeled with summer temperature (negative relationship); performance at warm sites depended upon light availability, suggesting the shade-tolerance of this species near its southern range limits may be mediated by temperature. The ranges of these two tree species overlap across millions of hectares, and temperature and temperature-mediated nitrogen likely play important roles in their relative performance.


The photocatalytic degradation of an aqueous solution of ethylene diamminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) has studied under different conditions in the presence of TiO2 suspension. The effect of various parameters such as mass of titanium dioxide, EDTA concentration, light intensity, addition of H2O2 and flow rate of O2 on the photocatalytic degradation were investigated. Results showed that, the photocatalytic degradation process was high at the beginning and then decreased with time. This process was well described by pseudo, first order kinetics according to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. The results explained the photocatalytic degradation efficiency, which was increased by increasing catalyst loading from 1 g to 2 g. The degradation efficiency decreased with the increase in catalyst loading. Results also showed that the rate of photocatalytic degradation was increased with decreasing EDTA concentration. The proper amount of hydrogen peroxide improved the rate of photocatalytic degradation of EDTA, while the excess hydrogen peroxide quenched that formation of hydroxyl radicals •OH, which caused reducing at the rate of photocatalytic degradation. The effect of dissolved oxygen level of bubbling pure oxygen gas into the solution has been found to enhance the photodegradation rate. Results indicated that the photocatalytic degradation was enhanced by increasing light intensity.


The Female Top Manager:  Does Bribe Paying Grease or Sand the Wheels of Innovative Firms? Hulya Unlu Cankiri Karatekin University, firstname.lastname@example.com ABSTRACT The new trend in economics as well as enterprises is being more innovative.  It is important for enterprises to survive in the market. In this paper the female top manager's effort on innovation is investigated in the presence of corruption. Following research questions are addressed: Is female top managers influence the innovation performance of the enterprises? Does corruption sand or grease the wheel of innovation in the presence of the female top managers? The data has been taken from The Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), which is conducted by the World Bank. Countries are divided into five groups according to Gender Development Index; High equality; Medium to High equality; medium equality; medium to low equality; and low equality in HDI achievements between women and men. Data includes the information of 8 countries in each group total 40 countries in 2013.  Probit models are going to be used for the analyses. © 2017 PESA All rights reserved. Keywords: Gender, Innovation, Corruption, Bribe, Grease Hypothesis and Sand Hypothesis


The author examines the role of workforce development—in the form of skills upgrading and training—in integrating and embedding foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economy of Wales. He finds that by far the most important deciding factor in choosing Wales as an investment location is the availability of the government grants and subsidies that facilitate the initial location process. If this assistance were not available then the majority of FDI projects would not be attracted to Wales. The perception during the location decisionmaking process by potential FDI plants of the availability and quality of skilled labour in Wales is good compared with that of other potential regions. However, upon locating it appears that there is a significant shortfall between this perception and the actual quality of skilled labour available. Although the large majority of FDI plants utilise 'aftercare' training and skills-development initiatives facilitated by regional institutions and agencies the programmes in place in Wales are not always of the standard required by inward investors. The author finds that training budgets are significantly higher among FDI companies in Wales than comparably sized businesses in the United Kingdom as a whole, indicating that their contribution to regional workforce development has been underemphasised. It is concluded that, despite some recent restructuring, inward investors in Wales have attempted to act as 'local' agents, exerting an influence on and having an interest in the socioeconomics of their residing localities, suggesting an increasing degree of embeddedness.


To optimize routing of flows in datacenters, SDN controllers receive a packet-in message whenever a new flow appears in the network. Unfortunately, flow arrival rates can peak to millions per second, impairing the ability of controllers to treat them on time. Flow scheduling copes with such sheer numbers by segmenting the traffic between elephant and mice flows and by treating elephant flows in priority, as they disrupt short lived TCP flows and create bottlenecks. We propose a learning algorithm called SOFIA and able to perform optimal online flow segmentation. Our solution, based on stochastic approximation techniques, is implemented at the switch level and updated by the controller, with minimal signaling over the control channel. SOFIA is blind, i.e., it is oblivious to the flow size distribution. It is also adaptive, since it can track traffic variations over time. We prove its convergence properties and its message complexity. Moreover, we specialize our solution to be robust to traffic classification errors. Extensive numerical experiments characterize the performance of our approach in vitro. Finally, results of the implementation in a real OpenFlow controller demonstrate the viability of SOFIA as a solution in production environments.


Elevational patterns of species richness, local abundance and assemblage structure of rainforest birds of north-eastern Australia were explored using data from extensive standardized surveys throughout the region. Eighty-two species of birds were recorded with strong turnover in assemblage structure across the elevational gradient and high levels of regional endemism in the uplands. Both species richness and bird abundance exhibited a humped-shaped pattern with elevation with the highest values being between 600 and 800 m elevation. While much of the variability in species richness could be explained by the species-area relationship, analyses of net primary productivity (NPP) and total daily energy consumption of the bird community (energy use) suggest that ecosystem energy flow or constraints may be a significant determinant of species richness. Species richness is positively correlated with local bird abundance which itself is closely related to total energy use of the bird community. We suggest the hypothesis that lower NPP limits bird abundance and energy use in the uplands (>500 m) and that low bird energy use and species richness in the lowlands is limited by a seasonal bottleneck in available primary productivity and/or a species pool previously truncated by an extinction filter imposed by the almost complete disappearance of rainforest in the lowlands during the glacial maxima. We suggest that some of the previously predicted impacts of global warming on biodiversity in the uplands may be partially ameliorated by increases in NPP because of increasing temperatures. However, these relationships are complex and require further data specifically in regard to direct estimates of primary productivity and detailed estimates of energy flow within the assemblage.


Wireless communication plays a significant role in our life as it provides mobility and flexibility as well as scalability. Handoff delays make a serious problem. A lot of research has been done in last few years to reduce the handoff delays occur in the different levels of wireless communication. Due to the mobility of devices handoff is an important aspect in WLAN and cellular communications and in WLAN this aspect is much more important due to limited range of APs, WLAN also provides sufficient bandwidth for real time streaming services. In the literature a number of handoff schemes have been proposed to reduce the handoff latency and support fast handoff in IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. In this article, we review these fast handoff schemes and analyze their advantages and disadvantages qualitatively. Our aim is to make available groundwork for future research on reducing the handoff latency for intelligent transport systems (ITS) in vehicular scenarios and give emphasis on requirement of fast handover for seamless connectivity. We comprise here various techniques to reduce handoff delays. Some future research ideas are also suggested here.


As a low footprint, high efficiency separation process, Dissolved Air Floatation (DAF) could effectively be retrofitted into existing waste management facilities at nuclear sites such Sellafield and Hanford to rapidly separate particulates from aqueous suspensions. The simplicity (no moving parts) and size of this technology coupled with low cost of construction and reagent purchase would also be ideal for ease of facility decommissioning with minimum impact to secondary waste generation. For this study, methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) was used in this research as a frothing agent to produce a preferable stable foam. Mg(OH)2 was selected as a test material as it is the result of long term corrosion of Magnox fuel in UK nuclear fuel storage ponds. Due to the cationic nature of the Mg(OH)2 test material, the anionic surfactant, Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS) was used as collector to modify the surface properties to increase hydrophobicity. The performance of anionic SDS in floating 2.5%v/v Mg(OH)2 was compared to the adsorption isotherm of SDS on Mg(OH)2 to determine monolayer coverage surfactant dose which was investigated using Total Organic Carbon (TOC). SDS was found to increase particulate recovery to 93% with some water carry-over observed and it was found that particle bubble attachment was optimum for a select particle size distribution. This study proved that potential application of flotation as an efficient viable dewatering technique for common magnesium hydroxide based legacy wastes, using cheap, readily available collector and frother agents.


When education signals underlying abilities, income returns to education may not reflect true increases in productivity. This may be a particular concern in developing countries, where education is often prescribed as a major path to escaping poverty. Unfortunately, because education signalling occurs when underlying worker characteristics are difficult to observe, it is extremely difficult to obtain estimates of education signalling. This study uses Spence's (2002) model of signalling to develop a testable hypothesis: in the presence of education signalling, wage earners will see a higher return to education than the self-employed doing similar work. Using the 2005-2006 round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, the study finds that returns to education are consistently higher for those in the wage-earning sector, which supports an education signalling hypothesis. Signalling appears to be more prevalent at higher levels of education and in large, unionised, and professional firms.


Accurate measurements have been carried out of permittivity, tan , versus frequency,field strength and temperature on four types of porcelain. The temperature range was from room temperature to 90' C. The study of the effect of electrodes on K and tan S on flat slmples of porcelain discs, reported in an earlier paper, was extended to include h~gher voltage stresses in view of their importance in these measurements. Indigenous discs have been checked with regard to changes in body composition and firing temperatures against K and tan 6. The investigation brings out the possibility of adapting dielectric measurements for quality control on industrial applications.


This paper describes a prototype system, CABRef, which provides seamless linking from a citation in the bibliography of an electronic journal article to a detailed abstract of the cited work, within a particular research domain. Publishers of journal articles will query CABRef to determine the URL links to embed in their article bibliographies which enable end-user cross-reference navigation. The abstracts within CABRef, and their discovery metadata, are encoded in XML and processed with XML-aware software. The CABRef XML abstracts database is updated using data exported from the CABI abstracts production database on a regular basis when abstracts are 'published', involving a simple extra step in the CABI abstracts production process.


This paper introduces the results of theoretical investigation on the dynamic characteristics of tilting 3-pad journal bearing that operates with turbulent oil film. The Reynolds, energy, viscosity and geometry equations determine the oil film pressure, temperature distributions, and oil film resultant force that are the grounds for the dynamic characteristics of bearing. These equations were solved simultaneously on the assumption of adiabatic laminar or adiabatic turbulent oil flow in the bearing gap. The stability and system damping of Jeffcott rotor operating in tilting 3-pad journal bearing was determined.


The purpose of the paper is to draw the historical background of the New Man in Socialism from his beginning in the 1917 avant-garde circles after the October Revolution in Russia—specially in Vsevolod Meyerhold's technique of typage—to its oversimplification as official aesthetic during the Stalin's period and its adoption by the People's Republic of China and the motivation behind it. The iconic and extremely codified images of the Socialist New Man are analyzed under the new light of the recent essays about art, which defy the traditional image among scholars of the style as monolithic and lackluster. The later part of the paper deals with the fading away of Socialist Realism during the 1980s as the Soviet bloc disintegrated and China evolved into a "socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics," but persisted, applied adamantly, in North Korea, who exports it to African countries like Senegal or Namibia.


The breadth of knowledge required for the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology challenges and extends traditional concepts of multidisciplinary graduate education. There is a paucity of information, both general reporting and peer-reviewed studies, on the challenges for graduate students working in this multidisciplinary paradigm, from the students' perspectives. We report two graduate-student perspectives from different instructional models: (i) the core academic department that has expanded student choice by allowing additional classes to be taken from outside the core department and (ii) multiple departments working together to provide choice and diversity across the curriculum. We find, even after many years of multidisciplinary research, that traditional university organizational structure does not easily accommodate multidisciplinary research. In addition, administrative autonomy of academic departments and colleges, competition among various departments for contracts and grant submission, and a disconnect between research and teaching challenge multidisciplinary research endeavors. The students recommend that (i) university administrators support multidisciplinary departments and develop mechanisms to promote faculty participation; (ii) institutions and departments provide more multidisciplinary groups, centers, and institutes and encourage networking through broad collaboration; (iii) more graduate and postdoctoral fellowships for multidisciplinary research be created; and (iv) departments create more flexible curricula allowing their students to participate in more courses outside the department, necessary for a multidisciplinary thesis. Progress in multidisciplinary science will rely both on deep, specialized knowledge and, increasingly, on scientists who can speak a number of scientific languages and take advantage of synergistic connections. As new and more effective approaches to multidisciplinary training are developed, perhaps it is time to listen more to those with the most intimate experience of the system's successes and failures—the students who are training now to be the next generation of research leaders.


International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation developed and published the Utstein style guidelines for reviewing, reporting, and conducting research on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). We used this style to evaluate the effectiveness of in-hospital CPR for comparison.

 Materials & Methods: We prospectively analyzed the data on all cardiac arrest calls in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Urmia, Iran. Data were collected using the Utstein style.

 Results: There were 74 CPRs. The patients' mean age was 54.68 years. In about 70% the initial rhythm was systole/pulseless electrical activity (PEA) and in 27% ventricular fibrillation/tachycardia (VF/VT). The first shock was delivered within 3.60 ± 2.75 minutes and the mean time from arrest to intubation was 12 ± 8.53 minutes. Return of spontaneous circulation was achieved in 28 (37.8%) cases. Survival to discharge was achieved in 13.5%. CPR success rate was 60%and 25% in patients with an initial rhythm VF/VT and systole/PEA, respectively (p=0.006). CPR was successful in about 48% in those with beginning of CPR within less than 3 minutes and15% in those with delay more than 3 minutes (p= 0.006). CPR success rate was 42% and 35% in patients with age<55 and more than 55 years old prospectively (p value= 0.296)

 Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first report of CPR wit Utstein style in Iran. It is more likely for our patients to survive if the initial rhythm is VF/VT or beginning CPR earlier. Survival rate was less than similar studies.


Laryngomalacia is caused by inspiratory collapse of the supraglottic structures in babies. This predominant cause of stridor in the first years of life has a graded occurrence from an insignificant sound phenomenon to insufficient alveolar ventilation with possible serious complications and development of dystrophy. The laryngomalacia must be sub-classified by direct laryngoscopy with a flexible endoscope under spontaneous respiration. Microsurgical techniques for performing supraglottoplasty have recently been introduced. The authors describe symptoms and results in four cases of laryngomalacia, in one of whom a supraglottoplasty was performed. The authors emphasise the importance of recognising laryngomalacia as a possible cause of delayed development in the first year of life.


The problem of fault detection and location in tree networks of two input EXCLUSIVE-OR (EOR) gates is considered. The fault model assumes that an EOR gate can change to any other function of its two inputs except the equivalence function. An efficient procedure for single fault location is presented. In the worst case the number of tests necessary to locate single faults is bounded by a linear function of the number of input variables. Constructive upper bounds are obtained for the number of tests to detect multiple faults. Optimality of these bounds is argued and extension of results to other types of networks is considered.


The second track of this year's KDD Cup asked contestants to separate a user's highly rated songs from unrated songs for a large set of Yahoo! Music listeners. We cast this task as a binary classification problem and addressed it utilizing gradient boosted decision trees. We created a set of highly predictive features, each with a clear explanation. These features were grouped into five categories: hierarchical linkage features, track-based statistical features, user-based statistical features, features derived from the k-nearest neighbors of the users, and features derived from the k-nearest neighbors of the items. No music domain knowledge was needed to create these features. We demonstrate that each group of features improved the prediction accuracy of the classification model. We also discuss the top predictive features of each category in this paper.


For those looking to design policies that mitigate the deleterious consequences of alcohol abuse, understanding how consumer demand for alcohol responds to changes in the local economic conditions is of great importance. We use high-frequency purchase data from a large panel of US households between 2004 and 2011 to examine how alcohol demand changes over the business cycle in a dynamic panel-data estimation framework. We find strong evidence that demand for packaged alcohol is procyclical. Changes in the state-level unemployment rate and personal per capita income between the most recent business cycle peak and trough imply a 6.5 percent decrease in the demand for packaged alcohol (ethanol by volume). The results also show that the decline in alcohol expenditures is primarily due to a decrease in quantity rather than an overall decrease in the price per ounce of ethanol purchased. Moreover, we improve on the related literature methodologically by accounting for consumption dynamics, as long-run demand for alcohol may differ from short-run demand because of habit formation in the quantity and type of alcohol consumed. Our results also indicate that failing to account for consumption dynamics will tend to understate the long-run association between macroeconomic conditions and alcohol demand.


Abstract. Experiment outputs are now available from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project's sixth phase (CMIP6) and the past climate experiments defined in the Palaeoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project's fourth phase (PMIP4). All of this output is freely available from the Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF). Yet there is overhead in analysing this resource that may prove complicated or prohibitive. Here we document the steps taken by ourselves to produce ensemble analyses covering past and future simulations. We outline the strategy used to curate, adjust the monthly calendar aggregation and process the information downloaded from the ESGF. The results of these steps were used to perform analysis for several of the initial publications arising from PMIP4. We provide post-processed fields for each simulation, such as climatologies and common measures of variability. Example scripts used to visualise and analyse these fields are provided for several important case studies.


In the early days of the Severn Wildfowl Trust, birds were 'collected' from wherever they could be found. This was often from the wild and, in common with other zoos, birds were brought in to increase the variety on show and in order to have the 'set'. As staff avicultural skills increased, however, limitations on what could not be kept in the English climate became apparent. Arguably, the avicultural heyday of WWT was in the 1970s, when the emphasis was on maximising breeding, and birds were still imported, often from private breeders and dealers who helped to maintain an interest in the more unusual species. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, in its 51st year, still maintains one of the most substantial collections in the world. However, some species, especially seaducks, are not kept because conditions are not 'right'. WWT now plays to its own strengths aviculturally, and the collection is part of a much wider, more wetland habitat orientated organisation.


Goldstein posited that drugs and violence are related in three primary ways, namely, psychopharmacologically, systemically, and economic compulsively. Although Goldstein's framework is a robust explanation of the drugs and violence nexus, it largely ignores the experiences of the actors, and the mechanism and experiences linking motive to action remain underexplored and vague. To understand the causal relationships detailed by Goldstein and others, we believe that it is important to look at the phenomenological basis of his drugs and violence connections. Drawing on interviews with a sample of 30 incarcerated carjackers, we identify three narratives in offenders' accounts that tie drug use to violence. Two of these ("it wasn't the real me" and "expected violence in drug areas") are expressions of Goldstein's mechanisms, while the third one ("addicts are deserving victims") indicates the importance of symbolic boundaries for harmdoing. We argue that drug users draw from culturally circulating stories present in both conventional and street culture to explain the drug violence links and that the presence of these stories is a contributing factor in drug-related violence. Further work within Goldstein's framework would thus benefit from including meanings commonly held and understood in the world of heavy drug users and street offenders who commit violence.


The Car License Plate Detection and Recognition System (CLPDRS) is becoming a significant area of research due to its variety of applications such as parking, access control, tolling, border control, traffic control and crime prevention, and the payment of parking fees. The paper proposes a novel method consisting of four stages where License Plate Detection (LPD) is followed by Character Recognition. Vertical Edge Detection Algorithm (VEDA) is used for license plate detection and makes the proposed method faster and easier. After locating the license plate (LP), license plate recognition is accomplished with the aid of Character Segmentation and Character Recognition using Template matching.


Along with the advancement of technology in the telecommunications sector, every government or private agency or office already has internet access. However, there are still a few offices that use this failover system that can support community services as is the case at the Makassar Ministry of Religion. This study aims to determine the configuration, performance and efficiency of the failover system. The method used to test the proxy tool and failover system to all users or clients contained in the office of the Ministry of Religion of Makassar, then carried out a trial of the system and then do a comparison of the number of users or clients contained in ISP 1 whether ISP 2 can backup all user or client contained in ISP 1, the results of the comparison failover system runs as expected and all users or clients contained in ISP 1 can be backed up properly by ISP 2 and it can be concluded that performance and efficiency in failover system usage and Smartfren as an ISP 2 is very helpful to maximize service to the community .


To achieve reliable packet transmission over a wireless link without feedback, we propose a layered coding approach that uses error-correction coding within each packet and erasure-correction coding across the packets. This layered approach is also applicable to an end-to-end data transport over a network where a wireless link is the performance bottleneck. We investigate how to optimally combine the strengths of error- and erasure-correction coding to optimize the system performance with a given resource constraint, or to maximize the resource utilization efficiency subject to a prescribed performance. Our results determine the optimum tradeoff in splitting redundancy between error-correction coding and erasure-correction codes, which depends on the fading statistics and the average signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless channel. For severe fading channels, such as Rayleigh fading channels, the tradeoff leans towards more redundancy on erasure-correction coding across packets, and less so on error-correction coding within each packet. For channels with better fading conditions, more redundancy can be spent on error-correction coding. The analysis has been extended to a limiting case with a large number of packets, and a scenario where only discrete rates are available via a finite number of transmission modes.