BACKGROUND
The success of orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) has resulted in its widespread use for different liver diseases.

AIM
To report our 8 years experience with adult OLT at Clinica Alemana de Santiago.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
In all transplantations done at the center, we recorded patient's overall data and survival, postoperative medical and surgical complications and causes of death.

RESULTS
Between November 1993 and September 2001, 51 consecutive OLT were performed in 44 patients (22 females, median age 45 years old). Thirty eight patients presented with chronic and 6 with acute or sub-acute liver failure. Cryptogenic cirrhosis and hepatitis C infection were the most common causes for OLT. Postoperative bleeding and extrahepatic biliary complications were seen in 17.6 and 21.5% of cases respectively. Acute rejection, bacterial infections, CMV infection or disease and post OLT hemodialysis were the most common medical complications (51, 31, 19.6 and 19.6% of cases respectively). The overall 1 and 5 years survival rates were 80% and 73% respectively. Considering exclusively the last 22 OLT performed since January 1999, the 1 year survival rate has improved to 91%.

CONCLUSIONS
Liver transplantation in Chile provides a good long term survival with acceptable morbidity, due to a multidisciplinary approach management. The survival rates have improved over the last few years probably due to better surgical techniques, ICU care and immunosuppression. These overall results are comparable with those from other Centers in developed countries.


Studies concerning the processing of natural scenes using eye movement equipment have revealed that observers retain surprisingly little information from one fixation to the next. Other studies, in which fixation remained constant while elements within the scene were changed, have shown that, even without refixation, objects within a scene are surprisingly poorly represented. Although this effect has been studied in some detail in static scenes, there has been relatively little work on scenes as we would normally experience them, namely dynamic and ever changing. This paper describes a comparable form of change blindness in dynamic scenes, in which detection is performed in the presence of simulated observer motion. The study also describes how change blindness is affected by the manner in which the observer interacts with the environment, by comparing detection performance of an observer as the passenger or driver of a car. The experiments show that observer motion reduces the detection of orientation and location changes, and that the task of driving causes a concentration of object analysis on or near the line of motion, relative to passive viewing of the same scene.


The purpose of this study was to construct a training program based on instructional competencies and to measure its effects in improving these competencies for special education resource room teachers in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of 50 teachers. The participants were distributed into two equal groups, with 25 teachers in each group. The teachers in the experimental group were attached with the training program module; whereas the teachers in the control group were exposed to the conventional training program. The results of (ANOVA) revealed that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups' performance on the post-achievement test and the post-observation scale, favoring to the experimental group. The results of qualitative data analysis, that utilized interview methods showed significantly better performances of the experimental group teachers than of the control group in improving the personal and professional competencies.


Microbial metabolism is the engine that drives global biogeochemical cycles, yet many key transformations are carried out by microbial consortia over short spatiotemporal scales that elude detection by traditional analytical approaches. We investigate syntrophic sulfur cycling in the 'pink berry' consortia of the Sippewissett Salt Marsh through an integrative study at the microbial scale. The pink berries are macroscopic, photosynthetic microbial aggregates composed primarily of two closely associated species: sulfide-oxidizing purple sulfur bacteria (PB-PSB1) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (PB-SRB1). Using metagenomic sequencing and 34S-enriched sulfate stable isotope probing coupled with nanoSIMS, we demonstrate interspecies transfer of reduced sulfur metabolites from PB-SRB1 to PB-PSB1. The pink berries catalyse net sulfide oxidation and maintain internal sulfide concentrations of 0–500 μm. Sulfide within the berries, captured on silver wires and analysed using secondary ion mass spectrometer, increased in abundance towards the berry interior, while δ34S-sulfide decreased from 6‰ to −31‰ from the exterior to interior of the berry. These values correspond to sulfate–sulfide isotopic fractionations (15–53‰) consistent with either sulfate reduction or a mixture of reductive and oxidative metabolisms. Together this combined metagenomic and high-resolution isotopic analysis demonstrates active sulfur cycling at the microscale within well-structured macroscopic consortia consisting of sulfide-oxidizing anoxygenic phototrophs and sulfate-reducing bacteria.


Wildland fire management has moved beyond a singular focus on suppression, calling for wildfire management for ecological benefit where no critical human assets are at risk. Processes causing direct effects and indirect, long-term ecosystem changes are complex and multidimensional. Robust risk-assessment tools are required that account for highly variable effects on multiple values-at-risk and balance competing objectives, to support decision making. Providing wildland fire managers with risk-analysis tools requires a broad scientific foundation in fire behaviour and effects prediction as well as high quality computer-based tools and associated databases. We outline a wildfire risk-assessment approach, highlight recent developments in fire effects science and associated research needs, and recommend developing a comprehensive plan for integrated advances in wildfire occurrence, behaviour and effects research leading to improved decision support tools for wildland fire managers. We find that the current state of development in fire behaviour and effects science imposes severe limits on the development of risk-assessment technology. In turn, the development of technology has been largely disconnected from the research enterprise, resulting in a confusing array of ad hoc tools that only partially meet decision-support needs for fuel and fire management. We make the case for defining a common risk-based analytic framework for fire-effects assessment across the range of fire-management activities and developing a research function to support the framework.


A review of the relevant literature indicates that a study of the relationships between Type A behaviour and personal as well as organizational variables is necessary. Information was gathered from 375 professionals on a number of demographic and personality variables, as well as Type A behaviour. MANOVA, Product-moment correlation, and Multiple regression were used to determine the relationships between Type A behaviour and other variables. Total Type A scores could be predicted reasonably well by means of personality variables. Demographic variables were less closely related to Type A scores.


This paper reports on the adaption of a model for consultancy of using graduates working on a contract basis for Bournemouth University (BU) but within a client organisation, and managed by a
member of academic staff. The model is based on BU Design graduates undertaking a 6 month consultancy under the direction of an academic. The adapted model, discussed in this paper, offers consultancy in the area of lean sustainable design, a research specialism of the Sustainable Design Research Centre. The paper discusses the industrial relevance of design education and how design education and design research are strengthening each other with industrial relevance and investigates how to exploit existing relationships with companies who employ undergraduates on placement. It is envisaged that in order for graduates to work effectively as consultants, they will need additional development in the area of sustainable design and lean design. To address this possible shortfall a short continuing professional development (CPD) course is being developed, which will be offered to perspective consultant graduates to provide training to them in appropriate areas. In order to manage the risk associated with using inexperienced graduates to conduct the consultancy work, the projects will be managed by academics as well as providing support, by way of mentoring, to the graduates during the consultancy periods. The paper reports on research undertaken with final year design students to determine the content of this short course.


The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC), as part of its statutory remit to produce forecasts of the Scottish economy and revenues from devolved taxes, provide assessments of Scotland's 'output gap', which in turn are derived from estimating 'potential output'. The evolution of potential output and the output gap play key roles in any assessment of the current position of the Scottish economy, and in turn the outlook for future economic growth and tax revenues. This article looks at these concepts in more detail. In what follows we explain the concept of the output gap, its relevance to policy, how output gaps in a given economy can be estimated and why the estimates are always uncertain. We then discuss current views on the evolution of the UK's output gap and the SFC's estimates of Scotland's output gap and end by discussing whether estimates of the output gap currently tell policymakers what they really need to know.


During prolonged application of a gate bias, organic field-effect transistors show an instability involving a gradual shift of the threshold voltage toward the applied gate bias voltage. We propose a model for this instability in p-type transistors with a silicon-dioxide gate dielectric, based on hole-assisted production of protons in the accumulation layer and their subsequent migration into the gate dielectric. This model explains the much debated role of water and several other hitherto unexplained aspects of the instability of these transistors.


The purpose of this work is to assess the feasibility of a homogeneous—or defect-free—initiation mechanism for high energetic materials in which initiation is a direct consequence of the heterogeneity of crystal plasticity at the subgrain scale. In order to assess the feasibility of these mechanisms, we develop a multiscale model that explicitly accounts for three scales: (i) the polycrystalline structure at the macroscale, (ii) single-crystal plasticity—including subgrain microstructure formation—at the mesoscale, and (iii) chemical kinetics at the molecular scale. An explicit construction gives the effective or macroscopic behavior of plastically deforming crystals with microstructure, and enables the reconstruction of optimal microstructures from the computed macroscopic averages. An intrinsic feature of the optimal deformation microstructures is the presence of highly localized regions of plastic deformation or slip lines. Temperatures, strain rates, and pressures in these slip lines rise well in excess of the average or macroscopic values. Slip lines thus provide a plentiful supply of likely initiation sites, or hotspots, in defect-free crystals. We have assessed this initiation mechanism by simulating a PETN plate impact experiment and comparing the resulting predictions with experimental pop-plot data. The computed characteristic exponents are in the ballpark of experimental observation


Abstract The realization of engineering structures in compressible sites, requires in-depth geotechnical reconnaissance, as well as a study of the mechanical behavior of the soil, in order to adapt suitable soil improvement solutions. This is the case with the Annaba viaduct in Algeria, where it was found during the site survey that the soil is poor and very compressible. The foundations in these soils eventually pose the problem of their low bearing capacity and significant settlement. This, therefore, leads to the choice of reinforcement techniques. Among the many methods of improving soils, we have selected the stone column technique. The object of our article is to study the behavior of these columns, in terms of settlement and, through the loading tests on real site, we have found out that the intermediate columns are stiffer and more confined than the bank columns and the percentage reduction in settlements of these two types is important. Then, this experimental study is validated by the Plaxis 2D software, where the configurations are studied to find the best model that approximates the real behavior of the reinforced soil.


In an article recently published in the American Political Science Review, Allen et al. (2020) argue that citizens in U.S. allies are more likely to nurture favorable attitudes toward the U.S. government, American people, and American troops because they have inter-personal contact with Americans and receive economic benefits associated with the U.S. military presence. However, their analysis of surveys fielded in fourteen U.S. allies disregards the geographical concentration of U.S. military facilities within the host countries. To examine this relevance of geography, we focus on Okinawa, a small Japanese prefecture constituting only 0.6% of Japan's surface land but hosting 70% of U.S. military facilities within Japan. Based on a national sample and a targeted sample from Okinawa, we replicate their survey. We also administer an original conjoint experiment on Japanese citizens' attitudes toward the Osprey deployment in Japan. The results show strong Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) sentiment among Japanese people, particularly among Okinawans, toward the military presence, regardless of their contact with Americans and economic benefits. Our study sheds light on the importance of local foreign public opinion for foreign policy analysis and contributes to the debate on the U.S. military presence in the world.


Storage and subsequent recall of shaped femtosecond waveforms is achieved by performing spectral holography within a femtosecond pulse-shaping apparatus. Readout of the spectral hologram by using a short reference pulse yields both real and time-reversed reconstructions of the original signal. Convolution and correlation operations are achieved by using shaped pulses for readout. These experiments demonstrate the possibility of nonlinear spectral filtering and signal processing of femtosecond optical waveforms.


Excessive drinking creates costs to public services which the government can recoup through alcohol taxes, thereby making drinkers internalise the costs. However, in Britain, the alcohol duty regime is excessive and illogical. Not only do revenues from alcohol duty far exceed the costs to public services, but units of alcohol are taxed at dramatically different rates depending on what type of drink they are in. The tax on a unit of alcohol ranges from 7p to 34p. A flat rate of 9p on every unit of alcohol sold would raise approximately £4.6 billion (at current rates of consumption), totally off-setting the external costs of drinking to public services. Alcohol would continue to earn the government additional revenue in the form of VAT on the product, VAT on the duty, and other taxation on the alcohol and hospitality industry. A 9p/unit tax would pay for all the costs incurred to public services by alcohol abuse and would incentivise the development of lower strength drinks across the board. It would also effectively create a minimum unit price of 11p (inlcuding VAT on the duty). Alcohol duty evasion, currently valued at £1.8 billion per annum, would likely fall as a result of the lower price of beer, wine and spirits. A 9p/unit tax would ensure that alcohol duty is a tax on alcohol, not an arbitrary tax on fluids. EU regulation currently prohibits this system of alcohol taxation. Outside of the EU, Britain will no longer be constrained.<br>


Silence Shirt is the 17th collection from the Top 100 project and explores the contribution silent meditation and portraiture can make to developing relationships between inter-disciplinary partners in the design science EU project, www.trash2cashproject.eu . Building on previous collaborations that explore the multiple human aspects of textiles for the circular economy (Shanghai Shirts, Shavasana Shirts, School Shirts) this collection focuses on the relationships between material scientists and industry designers. Trash-2-Cash is a project with 18 partners from 10 countries; language and expertise levels can be barriers to successful outcomes. This experiment sought to create a baseline experience from which the first co-created piece could be made.

"This has been the most difficult of all the shirts in my Top 100 project. The images were created through a silent meditation and portrait session between scientists and designers in the Trash-2-Cash project. I wanted to facilitate the making of a co-created garment for the project, to bring people from different backgrounds, cultures and disciplines together in to one focused task. I wanted to find a common ground for us all – and to give us a chance to connect in a less formal way. After we had made the portraits I found it difficult to make a unified design – the drawing styles differed so much. But the end result is a shirt that represents the effort required to make collaborative projects work – especially between designers and scientists – and I got the print design to work by extending the lines between portraits and literally linking people up."


After the Revolution of dignity and the reform of the National Police, the number of criminal offenses committed in our country unfortunately remains at a high level. This is confirmed by the statistics provided on the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Therefore, the total number of all registered criminal offenses in Ukraine amounted to 565 182 in 2015, 592 604 in 2016, 523 911 in 2017, 483 133 in 2018, 444 130 in 2019.

At present, one of the priority areas of the law enforcement bodies of our state is the investigation of criminal offenses against participants in the Revolution of Dignity, as well as crimes committed in the areas of environmental protection, which is emphasized by the country's leadership and the directed expectations of ordinary citizens.

During the commission of grave and especially grave criminal offenses, law enforcement officers confiscate a variety of material evidence, among which quite often there are used cartridges, bullets, remnants of explosive devices, burned cars, etc. heating (for example, sleeves after a shot). That is why, more and more often, there is a need for constant updating of modern forensic technology and methods for its use and the introduction of the positive experience of law enforcement agencies of foreign countries in the investigation of crimes and subsequent work with material evidence in the framework of forensic examinations.

The seizure of such material evidence as fingerprints or biological fluids of the offender's personality are the most significant evidence in court, subject to the positive conclusions of the examinations carried out on these traces, which will allow to identify the person and prove his involvement in the commission of a criminal offense.

The use of forensic technology in the detection and investigation of hidden fingerprints and biological fluids in the investigation of crimes is the subject of the work of such domestic and foreign scientists as V. P. Bakhin, R. S. Belkin, P. D. Bilenchuk, M. S. Bokarius, V. G. Goncharenko, I. V. Mountains, A.V. Ishchenko, E. P. Ishchenko, V. A. Kolesnyk, V. K. Lysychenko, M. M. Lysova, E. D. Lukianchykov, A. V. Oderii, O. A. Parfylo, M. A. Pohoretskyi, M. V. Saltevskyi, T. A. Sedovoi, V. S. Kuzmicheva, M. Ya. Sehai, V. V. Tyshchenko, V. Yu. Shepitko, N. E. Shumylo, M. G. Shcherbakovskyi and other scientists.


This study empirically examines aggregate tourism outflows in the case of Turkey using the time-series data for 1970–2005. As far as this article is concerned, there is no previous empirical work dealing with tourist outflows from Turkey. The previous tourism studies of Turkey have focused, by and large, on inbound tourism demand analyses. However, as a developing country and an important tourism destination, Turkey has also been a significant source for generating a substantial number of tourists in recent years. Therefore, the tourist outflows also merit empirical analysis. Total tourist outflows from Turkey are related to real income and relative prices. The bounds testing to cointegration procedure proposed by Pesaran et al (2001) is employed to compute the short- and long-run elasticities of income and relative prices. An augmented form of Granger causality analysis is conducted among the variables of outbound tourist flows, income and relative prices to determine the direction of causality. In the long run, causality runs interactively through the error correction term from income and relative prices to outbound tourist flows. However, in the short run, causality runs only from income to outbound tourism flows. The aggregate tourism outflows equation is also checked for the parameter stability via the tests of cumulative sum (CUSUM) and cumulative sum of the squares (CUSUMSQ). The results suggest that income is the most significant variable in explaining total tourist outflows from Turkey and there is a stable outbound tourism demand function. The results also lead to important policy recommendations.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: We conducted a secondary analysis of changes in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ)-12 over 30 days in a randomized trial of self-care coaching versus structured usual care in patients with acute heart failure who were discharged from the emergency department. Methods: Patients in 15 emergency departments completed the KCCQ-12 at emergency department discharge and at 30 days. We compared change in KCCQ-12 scores between the intervention and usual care arms, adjusted for enrollment KCCQ-12 and demographic characteristics. We used linear regression to describe changes in KCCQ-12 summary scores and logistic regression to characterize clinically meaningful KCCQ-12 subdomain changes at 30 days. Results: There were 350 patients with both enrollment and 30-day KCCQ summary scores available; 166 allocated to usual care and 184 to the intervention arm. Median age was 64 years (interquartile range, 55–70), 37% were female participants, 63% were Black, median KCCQ-12 summary score at enrollment was 47 (interquartile range, 33–64). Self-care coaching resulted in significantly greater improvement in health status compared with structured usual care (5.4-point greater improvement, 95% CI, 1.12–9.68; P=0.01). Improvements in health status in the intervention arm were driven by improvements within the symptom frequency (adjusted odds ratio, 1.62 [95% CI, 1.01–2.59]) and quality of life (adjusted odds ratio, 2.39 [95% CI, 1.46–3.90]) subdomains. Conclusions: In this secondary analysis, patients with acute heart failure who received a tailored, self-care intervention after emergency department discharge had clinically significant improvements in health status at 30 days compared with structured usual care largely due to improvements within the symptom frequency and quality of life subdomains of the KCCQ-12. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02519283.


Manuscript type: Research PaperResearch aims: This paper investigates the impact of social networkmarketing on consumer purchase intention and how it is affectedby the mediating role of consumer engagement.Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This study analyses data takenfrom 300 existing users of social network marketing websites inPakistan. Structural equation modelling was employed to test themodel developed.Research findings: Results indicate that social network marketingis significantly related to consumer purchase intention. They furtherdemonstrate that consumer engagement acts as a partial mediatorin how social network marketing impact on consumer purchaseintention.Theoretical contributions/ Originality: This study expands on theexisting research of social network marketing by investigating theindirect effect of consumer engagement on the relationship betweensocial network marketing and consumer purchase intention in thecontext of Pakistan.Practitioner/ Policy implications: The findings drawn from thisstudy imply that marketers should respond to the rising importance of social networking sites because of their powerful influence onconsumer purchase intention. This suggestion can be implementedby companies through the continuous monitoring of consumerconcerns by adjusting their online marketing strategies.Research limitation/ Implications: Future studies should considerusing a qualitative approach, namely interviews to gain a betterunderstanding of consumers' insights and experiences influencingtheir commitment and purchase intentions. Additionally, moreweight can be added to the literature by comparing the influenceof electronic word-of-mouth e-WOM to the marketing campaignscarried out by various companies in various social websites.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the USA and currently there are minimal therapies specific for the treatment of COPD. To advance our knowledge on COPD pathogenesis and develop new therapeutics, animal models are needed that represent key clinical and pathologic features of the human disease. The primary animal models utilized to study COPD rely on several factors associated with disease progression, i.e. genetic and epigenetic changes, environmental exposures and the microbial flora of the lungs. Here, a systematic approach was taken to summa - rize and evaluate the current animal models employed to study COPD pathogenesis, comorbidities and exacerbations. The strengths and limitations of these disease models are also delineated. The rodent COPD models have been extensively utilized but several studies have highlighted the potential of larger animals as an additional approach. Due to the inherent heterogeneity of COPD, the usefulness of certain animal models may be limiting but still represent helpful means to explore gene functional studies, testing new therapeutics and the exploring the significance of microbial floral changes. Therefore, interpreting the findings from animal models for the study of COPD represents a critical approach in deciding possible future human therapeutics.


A blue reaction product is formed at sites that contain horseradish peroxidase (HRP) activity when benzidene is used as the chromogen. With neutral red as a counter stain, this method affords excellent visualization of both retrograde and orthograde axonal transport of intracerebrally injected HRP. The visibility of this blue reaction-product is better than the visibility of the brown reaction-product obtained in the commonly used diaminobenzidene procedures. Variations in incubation times and reagent concentrations resulted in significant differences in the extent to which transported HRP could be demonstrated with benzidene. One of these benzidene procedures demonstrated a wider extent of HElP transport than a representative diaminobenzidene procedure. The substantia nigra and the nucleus locus ceruleus did not display artifactual deposition of the blue reaction-product.


Caffeine sodium benzoate was injected intraperitoneally at one time in doses of 1 and 50 mg/100 g to rates aged 30 days and 3--5 months. The ATP, ADP, AMP, inorganic phosphorus levels and the p32 incorporation activity were determined in the myocardium. Introduction of the drug in a dose of 1 mg/100 g is shown not to produce any substantial shifts on the level of the study indices in 7-day old and adult animals and to increase the ATP content in 30-day old rattlings. Administration of caffeine in a dose of 50 mg/100 g brings down the ATP content in the myocardium of the animals in all the age categories. As regards the degree of the ATP level changes the 7-day old rattlings are more resistant than are the adult animals.


Since 1968 a special wing for married elderly couples has been in operation at the psychogeriatric nursing home "Heremalerhof" at Harmelen (The Netherlands). At least one of the two partners admitted suffered from dementia in old age and needed more nursing-care than could be offered at home or in a home for the aged. The information of this paper spans the admission period of 26 couples in this institution. Of this group, there was 8 couples where both partners were considered for immediate admission into a psychogeriatric nursing-home because of dementia. At the end of the period there were 6 couples more in which both partners suffered from dementia. Therefore only 12 partners returned to normal life in society after the admission period. Of the 12 partners who returned to normal life in society, 10 were available for an interview. At that time, 6 partners still adhered to their previously taken decision. There is certainly a need for an institution for couples, of which one of the partners needs much care because of dementia in old age. It could function best as an independent institution, yet closely connected with a psychogeriatric nursing-home.


We prove a general principle satisfied by weakly precompact sets of Lipschitz-free spaces. By this principle, certain infinite dimensional phenomena in Lipschitz-free spaces over general metric spaces may be reduced to the same phenomena in free spaces over their compact subsets. As easy consequences we derive several new and some known results. The main new results are: $\mathcal {F}(X)$ is weakly sequentially complete for every superreflexive Banach space $X$, and $\mathcal {F}(M)$ has the Schur property and the approximation property for every scattered complete metric space $M$.


: The designing of an integrated information system of a tuberculosis dispensary (TD) has resulted in the construction and introduction of a model that is based on the concept of a uniform patient card, combines information on dispensary registration (DR) and striking off, as well as on the shifting of the TD-attached contingents between different DR groups. The system also contains a logic group that includes formalized descriptions of a tuberculous process. In addition, this model serves to integrate geoinformation technologies, as other information technologies (such as digital image acquisition, postprocessing, storage, and transmission) into its based information systems. This integrated information system permits a real-time quantitative analysis of the basic indices of the tuberculosis epidemic situation, which is necessary while planning tuberculosis-controlling measures, controlling their implementation, and correcting them at all levels.


Abstract Introduction: Hypodontia refers to the congenital absence of less than six teeth. This absence may be unilateral or bilateral. Though the congenital agenesis of bilateral mandibular/maxillary incisors has often been reported in literature, however, the congenital absence of bilateral mandibular and maxillary incisors, as well as the mandibular second molar-giving rise to a total of six missing permanent teeth in an apparently healthy individual has not been reported earlier. Case presentation: This case series presents two cases of a 10- and 11-year-old children with presence of retained deciduous anterior in both arches with absence of permanent successors and also aims to review the literature regarding etiology, clinical implications and management in such cases. Conclusions: It is essential that practitioners monitor the developing dentition with establishment of a proper review schedule. Non-eruption of the permanent tooth more than one year later than expected, or even after six months following the emergence of the contralateral tooth, warrants a high degree of suspicion. A multidisciplinary team, including pediatric, restorative and orthodontic specialists, is advised. In addition, prior to formulation of any treatment plan, due consideration to the general issues such as the patient's systemic and oral health, motivation and expectations should be given.


Digital appliances designed to simplify everyday tasks are readily available to end consumers. For example, mobile users can retrieve Web content using handheld devices since content retrieval is well-supported by infrastructure services such as transformational proxies. However, the same type of support is lacking for input-centric devices, those that create content and allow users to share content. This lack of infrastructural support makes input-centric devices hard to use and less useful.
The Appliance Data Services project seeks to explore a vision of an appliance computing world where users move data seamlessly among various devices. Based on this vision, we formulate three principles that guide the design of an architecture that helps realize this vision: bring devices to the forefront, minimize the number of device features, and place functionality in the network infrastructure. We evaluate our implementation of the ADS architecture based on these principles, and build applications using the ADS framework to evaluate the ease with which appliance computing applications can be built using the framework. We find that it is relatively simple to build and extend applications on ADS that make using digital devices easier, which results in the devices themselves becoming more useful.


*These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Although the characteristics of pruritus in some skin diseases are documented, characteristics of pruritus related to gender-, age-, and skin disorder have not yet been well defined. Objective: To characterize dermatosis-associated pruritus in Chinese patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a single center. The intensity of pruritus was evaluated using a 0–10 visual analog scale (VAS). Skin disorders were diagnosed by dermatologists. The prevalence and intensity of pruritus were compared among skin disorders, and between males and females. Results: Valid questionnaires were obtained from 1,246 female and 864 male patients. Patients with acne, eczematous dermatitis, and urticaria accounted for 18%, 17%, and 14%, respectively. Both the prevalence and severity of pruritus varied greatly with skin disorders (p<0.0001). Patients with either urticaria or eczematous dermatitis displayed a higher prevalence of pruritus (92% and 82%, respectively), while subjects with urticaria exhibited the highest VAS in comparison to those with other skin disorders (p<0.05 to p<0.001 vs the others). Moreover, both the prevalence and severity of pruritus were positively associated with age in both males and females (p<0.0001). Furthermore, 60 out of 77 patients (78%) with topical glucocorticoid-induced dermatitis experienced pruritus, with a VAS of 2.03±0.21. Finally, a lower VAS was found in subjects with oily skin than those with either dry or normal skin. Conclusion: The prevalence and severity of pruritus vary with skin disorders, skin type, age, and gender in Chinese patients.


Digital twin has the potential for increasing production, achieving real-time monitor, and realizing predictive maintenance by establishing a real-time high-fidelity mapping between the physical entity and its digital model. However, the high accuracy and instantaneousness requirements of digital twins have hindered their applications in practical engineering. This article presents a universal framework to fulfill the requirements and to build an accurate and trustworthy digital twin by integrating numerical simulations, sensor data, multifidelity surrogate (MFS) models, and visualization techniques. In practical engineering, the number of sensors available to measure quantities of interest is often limited, and complementary simulations are necessary to compute these quantities. The simulation results are generally more comprehensive but not as accurate as the sensor data. Therefore, the proposed framework combines the benefits of both simulation results and sensor data by using an MFS model based on moving least squares (MLS), named MLS-based multifidelity surrogate (MFS-MLS). The MFS-MLS was developed as an essential part to calibrate the continuous field of the simulation by limited sensor data to obtain accurate results for the digital twin. Then, single-fidelity surrogate models are built on the whole domain using the calibrated results of the MFS-MLS as training samples and sensor data as inputs to predict and visualize the quantities of interest in real time. In addition, the framework was validated by a truss test case, and the results demonstrate that the proposed framework has the potential to be an effective tool to build accurate and trustworthy digital twins.


This Essay studies the relationship between race, rhetoric, and history in three twentieth century segregation cases: State ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, Kraemer v. Shelley, and Liddell v. Board of Education. Part I gives a brief overview of the scholarship of Critical Race Theory, majoritarian narratives and minority counter-narratives, and the judiciary's rhetoric in race-based cases. Part II analyzes the narratives and language of Gaines, Kraemer, and Liddell, provides the social context of these cases, and traces their historical outcomes.
The Essay contends that majoritarian narratives with problematic themes continue to perpetuate even though court opinions have evolved to use less explicit race-based rhetoric. The Essay proposes that this rhetoric has been replaced with majoritarian enthymemes, i.e., unstated assumptions about race. These majoritarian enthymemes allow the underlying narratives of historic court opinions to retain vitality even outside of the courts. The Essay concludes that long-lasting societal change has been elusive, in part, because, without explicitly rebutting majoritarian narratives and giving voice to counter-narratives, even progressive judicial opinions cannot effectively challenge the status quo.


The request-to-send and clear-to-send (RTS/CTS) exchange has been used in mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) to alleviate the hidden and exposed terminal problems. In such an exchange, the so-called network allocation vector (NAV) indicates the current and future state of the channel. Unfortunately, this technique may suffer from virtual jamming by malicious nodes in the network. For example, malicious nodes may send periodic Spurious CTS (SCTS) packets with the sole purpose of forcing other nodes to update their NAV values and preventing them from using the channel. In this paper, we investigate the effect of such SCTS attacks and propose a solution, termed carrier sensing based discarding (CSD). The CSD scheme serves as an add-on to the original RTS/CTS-based medium access control schemes such as IEEE 802.11 DCF MAC. We further demonstrate the performance of our proposed scheme through analysis and the ns2 simulator.


In asserting that law is a profession, not a business, lawyers often refer to the role that self-governance plays in the legal profession. Julius Henry Cohen captured this sentiment in the following exhortation: "Ours is a profession...The sins of one of us are the sins of all of us." Come, brethren, let us clean house." Meaningful self-governance requires accountable and independent professionals. This article tackles accountability as fundamental aspects of professionalism. The examination of accountability considers fissures in accountability as demonstrated in lawyers' rush to jump on the limited liability bandwagon and resistance to mandatory legal malpractice insurance and insurance disclosure requirements. The article closes with a exposition on lawyer self-interest and the importance of inculcating a sense of financial responsibility as a distinguishing characteristic of law as a profession.


Agriculture and horticulture depend heavily on human labor to perform tasks that are often dirty, hazardous, and highly repetitive. One reason for the lack of automation of these tasks is the absence of suitable robotic handling equipment. Rigid robotic manipulators are typically incapable of performing dexterous manipulation tasks such as harvesting apples as they lack the ability to adapt to objects of various shapes and sizes. Such robotic manipulators need a large number of sensors and actuators to overcome these challenges, making them overly complex and not very robust. Therefore, the development of robotic manipulators for dexterous manipulation tasks has begun to focus on morphological computation, in which at least some aspects of the control are outsourced to the body of the robot. Taking inspiration from grasping mechanisms in natural systems, the field of soft robotics attempts to address this problem by constructing robots from soft materials. Although soft robotics may be the key to realizing automation of dexterous manipulation tasks, the current commercially available soft robotic grippers are only capable of performing simple pick-and-place tasks with open-loop control. This limited capability is in large part due to a lack of techniques to endow these manipulators with a sense of self-movement and body position, known as proprioception. Proprioception is a simple problem for conventional robots with rigid members and discrete joints, as the body position can be easily reconstructed using the information from encoders in the robots' joints. However, it is a highly challenging problem for soft robots with virtually infinite degrees of freedom and above all, no suitable off-the-shelf sensors…


Harboring a high density of threatened and endangered species on its bases leaves the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) with a critical responsibility: establishing sound environmental policies while also continuing training and ensuring military readiness. This dual objective is the goal of the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration program, a large conservation fund for military installations that is mandated to be cost-effective. Analyzing a unique DoD data set, we show that use of optimization models generates a 21% increase in military readiness and environmental protection or achieves the same benefits as benefit targeting at a cost saving of 37%. (JEL Q57, Q58)


A new antigenic fraction to be used in the immunodiagnostic of Chagas' disease was obtained by treating Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigotes with Triton X-100. The method comprises the following steps: a) Epimastigotes grown in a modified LIT medium were harvested at the initial stage of the stationary phase (cell population near 200 x 10(6)/ml; pH 7) and were centrifuged during 15 min at 2500 rpm., at 4 degrees C. b) The pellet was washed and then resuspended in a medium free of proteins (470 m Osmolar), composed of NaC1, KC1, Na2HPO4 and glucose, (GSM). c) To preserve cell breakage, as well as cell motility and viability, the best relationship between cell population and Triton X-100 concentration was determined (300 x 10(6) cells/ml and 162 microM). Cells were kept at 4 degrees C during 1 h, and vigorously mixed every 10 min. d) Cell suspension was centrifuged during 60 min at 2.500 rpm at 4 degrees C. e) The soluble extract was passed through a 0.22 mu filter Millipore. 0,42 to 0,44 mg proteins/ml were always detected in the recovered supernatant. The sensibility of this proteic fraction (F1) to detect anti-T. cruzi antibodies was studied by the complement-fixation (C'FH50) and the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) tests. The antigen used by the Instituto de Medicina Tropical, from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, M(PM), was employed as reference. The F1 showed a four to eight greater sensibility using the C'FH50 reaction while with IHA test F1 capability to detect antibodies against T. cruzi was eight times greater than the reference antigen. The immunoelectrophoretic analysis of the isolated fraction showed at least five protein components.


This paper extends the largely OECD-based research on the predictive content of the yield curve for future economic activity to the Nigerian context. Measured simply as the difference between the 14-year Federal Government Development stock rate and the 3-month Treasury bill rate, the slope is used to predict future growth in both total and disaggregated measures of real output and real expenditure. We find that the term-structure spread does predict real activity in Nigeria quite well. The in-sample predictive power of the spread is comparable to that found for OECD economies. The spread contains strong and reliable information on real economic activity growth from three to eight quarters ahead. It outperforms other available predictors over this horizon, but has little or no predictive power beyond two years. The spread contains relatively more information on future demand growth than on future output growth in Nigeria. The demand side sub-aggregate for which the spread has the highest information content is gross domestic investment. In fact the slope is quite weak in explaining private consumption or government consumption in the in-sample tests. The spread however contains considerable exclusive information only on consumer spending in Nigeria. Interestingly, out-of-sample forecast results also suggested that the information content of the spread is confined to consumption growth. Further tests for the transmission mechanism confirm that the explanatory power of the spread for future real activity stem entirely from the demand side of the economy. The information contained in the slope for future real output growth is still high in absolute terms, being only relatively lower than demand side. Manufacturing activity is the supply-side aggregate for which the spread has the highest information content. Since both investment demand and manufacturing output are more closely associated with the business sector in Nigeria, the information contained in the slope probably reflects business sectors' (investors') expectations of future activity or 'business confidence'. The spread however has absolutely no predictive content for real activity in the period before 1985. Its information content appears confined to the post liberalization/structural adjustment period when interest rates reflected relative scarcity of funds, exchange rate and goods prices were fully liberalized, and the macro-economy entered a turbulent phase. Finally, we note a number of reasons why the practical usefulness of the slope of the yield curve for policy purposes will vary over time. The slope of the yield curve will be of practical value to the central bank only when it is used in combination with information available on other key variables in the economy at any given point in time. It is only in this way that the slope can be a very strong indicator of the best courses of action, even when the slope itself cannot be used as a policy instrument or an intermediate target.


Immigration detention is a central tenet of the British government's response to immigration but remains under-theorised in academia. This article uses testimonies drawn from anthropological research conducted with detainees at an Immigration Removal Centre to examine lived experiences of immigration detention and explore the relationships between detainees and the British state. It suggests that despite being a space of extreme control (both in terms of legislation and daily practice), immigration detention is beset with uncertainty and confusion. Examples are given of chronic instability in relation to mobility, violent 'incidents', time frames and access to information. The article examines the repercussions of such instability on individuals and coping strategies employed. It argues that immigration detainees live in a context of continual crisis, in which profound uncertainty becomes normalised. This disorder should be understood as a technique of power, with governance through uncertainty constructing certain immigrants as expendable, transient and ultimately, deportable.


Abstract In strongly coupled light matter systems electronic energy levels become inextricably linked to local electromagnetic field modes. Hybridization of these states opens new relaxation pathways in the system, particularly important for plasmon decay into single electron states, known as hot carriers. We investigate the influence of the coupling strength between a plasmonic resonator and a molecule on hot carrier generation using first principles calculations. An atomistic approach allows the capture of changes in the electronic structure of the system. We show that hot carriers are not only preferably generated at excitation frequencies matching the new polaritonic resonances, but their energy distribution strongly deviates from the one corresponding to the non-interacting system. This indicates existence of new plasmon decay paths due to appearance of hybridized nanoparticle–molecule states. We observe also direct electron transfer between the plasmonic nanoparticle and the molecule. Therefore, we may conclude, that bringing plasmonic nanostructures in strong interaction with molecules gives the ability to manipulate the energy distribution of the generated hot carriers and opens possibility for charge transfer in the system.


Protein interaction networks and protein compartmentation underlie every signaling process and regulatory mechanism in cells. Recently, proximity labeling (PL) has emerged as a new approach to study the spatial and interaction characteristics of proteins in living cells. However, the two enzymes commonly used for PL come with tradeoffs – BioID is slow, requiring tagging times of 18-24 hours, while APEX peroxidase uses substrates that have limited cell permeability and high toxicity. To address these problems, we used yeast display-based directed evolution to engineer two mutants of biotin ligase, TurboID and miniTurbo, with much greater catalytic efficiency than BioID, and the ability to carry out PL in cells in much shorter time windows (as little as 10 minutes) with non-toxic and easily deliverable biotin. In addition to shortening PL time by 100-fold and increasing PL yield in cell culture, TurboID enabled biotin-based PL in new settings, including yeast, Drosophila, and C. elegans.


OBJECTIVES
This study aims to investigate the efficacy of screw length measurement through drilling technique on the reduction of intraarticular screw penetration and fluoroscopy time in osteosynthesis of proximal humerus fractures.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between January 2008 and June 2012, 98 patients (34 males, 64 females; mean age 64.4 years; range 35 to 81 years) who underwent osteosynthesis using locking anatomical proximal humerus plates (PHILOS) in our clinic with the diagnosis of Neer type 2, 3 or 4 were included. Two different surgical techniques were used to measure proximal screw length in the plate and patients were divided into two groups based on the technique used. In group 1, screw length was determined by a 3 mm blunt tipped Kirschner wire without fluoroscopic control. In group 2, bilateral fluoroscopic images for each screw at least were obtained.

RESULTS
Intraarticular screw penetration was detected in five patients (10.6%) in group 1, and in 19 patients (37.3%) in group 2. The mean fluoroscopic imaging time was 10.6 seconds in group 1 and 24.8 seconds in group 2, indicating a statistically significant difference.

CONCLUSION
Screw length measurement through the drilling technique significantly reduces the intraarticular screw penetration and fluoroscopy time in osteosynthesis of proximal humerus fractures using PHILOS plates.


The authors describe an approach to control colour shades by varying the volume fractions of three metal nanoparticles (NPs), Cu, Au and Ag, of fixed size and shape. The NPs were designed to match the absorption peaks of the three primary colours. Using the dynamic Maxwell Garnett equation, an analytical model is extracted that calculates the volume fraction value of each metal for the desired transmission red, green and blue values. The model considers the cross-talk between colours because of the broadening of the plasmon peaks. Maximum error of 10% was observed when producing secondary colour and grey shades.


This study presents the application of an uncertainty-based technique for automatic calibration of the well-known Hydrologic Engineering Center-Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) model. Sequential uncertainty fitting (SUFI2) approach has been used in calibration of the HEC-HMS model built for Tamar basin located in north of Iran. The basin was divided into seven sub-basins and three routing reaches with 24 parameters to be estimated. From the four events, three were used for calibration and one for verification. Each event was initially calibrated separately. As there was no unique parameter set identified, all events were then calibrated jointly. Based on the scenarios of separately and jointly calibrated events, different candidate parameter sets were inputted to the model verification stage where recalibration of initial abstraction parameters commenced. Some of the candidate parameter sets with no physically meaningful parameter values were withdrawn after recalibration. Then new ranges of parameters were identified based on minimum and maximum values of the remaining parameter sets. The new parameter ranges were used in an uncertainty analysis using SUFI2 technique resulting in much narrower parameter intervals that can simulate both verification and calibration events satisfactorily in a probabilistic sense. Results show that the SUFI2 technique linked to HEC-HMS as a simulation–optimization model can provide a basis for performing uncertainty-based automatic calibration of event-based hydrologic models.


T N this delightful little volume admirers of Miss Emily Hickey's *• writings will be glad to find that her later poems have all the charm and delicacy of her earlier poetical writings. There is that indescribable, intangible something, which we call the cath olic sense, to be found in them all, whether of a distinctly religious cast or concerned with more mundane matters. The book will be found useful as a little present during the coming season.


Abstract Aims Remote monitoring of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators may improve clinical outcome. A recent meta-analysis of three randomized controlled trials (TRUST, ECOST, IN-TIME) using a specific remote monitoring system with daily transmissions [Biotronik Home Monitoring (HM)] demonstrated improved survival. We performed a patient-level analysis to verify this result with appropriate time-to-event statistics and to investigate further clinical endpoints. Methods and results Individual data of the TRUST, ECOST, and IN-TIME patients were pooled to calculate absolute risks of endpoints at 1-year follow-up for HM vs. conventional follow-up. All-cause mortality analysis involved all three trials (2405 patients). Other endpoints involved two trials, ECOST and IN-TIME (1078 patients), in which an independent blinded endpoint committee adjudicated the underlying causes of hospitalizations and deaths. The absolute risk of death at 1 year was reduced by 1.9% in the HM group (95% CI: 0.1–3.8%; P = 0.037), equivalent to a risk ratio of 0.62. Also the combined endpoint of all-cause mortality or hospitalization for worsening heart failure (WHF) was significantly reduced (by 5.6%; P = 0.007; risk ratio 0.64). The composite endpoint of all-cause mortality or cardiovascular (CV) hospitalization tended to be reduced by a similar degree (4.1%; P = 0.13; risk ratio 0.85) but without statistical significance. Conclusion In a pooled analysis of the three trials, HM reduced all-cause mortality and the composite endpoint of all-cause mortality or WHF hospitalization. The similar magnitudes of absolute risk reductions for WHF and CV endpoints suggest that the benefit of HM is driven by the prevention of heart failure exacerbation.


The use of exponential embedding of two or more probability density functions (pdfs) is introduced. Termed the exponentially embedded family (EEF) of pdfs, its properties are first examined and then it is applied to the problem of model order estimation. The proposed estimator is compared with the minimum description length (MDL) and is found to be superior for cases of practical interest. Also, we point out there is a relationship between the embedded family model order estimator and the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT). The embedded family estimator appears to extend the GLRT to the case of multiple alternative hypotheses that have differing numbers of unknown parameters.


Carbonaceous chondrites are classified into several groups. However, some are ungrouped. We studied one such ungrouped chondrite, Y‐82094, previously classified as a CO. In this chondrite, chondrules occupy 78 vol%, and the matrix is distinctly poor in abundance (11 vol%), compared with CO and other C chondrites. The average chondrule size is 0.33 mm, different from that in C chondrites. Although these features are similar to those in ordinary chondrites, Y‐82094 contains 3 vol% Ca‐Al‐rich inclusions and 5% amoeboid olivine aggregates (AOAs). Also, the bulk composition resembles that of CO chondrites, except for the volatile elements, which are highly depleted. The oxygen isotopic composition of Y‐82094 is within the range of CO and CV chondrites. Therefore, Y‐82094 is an ungrouped C chondrite, not similar to any other C chondrite previously reported. Thin FeO‐rich rims on AOA olivine and the mode of occurrence of Ni‐rich metal in the chondrules indicate that Y‐82094 is petrologic type 3.2. The extremely low abundance of type II chondrules and high abundance of Fe‐Ni metal in the chondrules suggest reducing condition during chondrule formation. The depletion of volatile elements indicates that the components formed under high‐temperature conditions, and accreted to the parent body of Y‐82094. Our study suggests a wider range of formation conditions than currently recorded by the major C chondrite groups. Additionally, Y‐82094 may represent a new, previously unsampled, asteroidal body.


Background: Data sharing from clinical trials can be key to the development and approval of medicines for rare diseases. Many events during the first half of 2013 have contributed to the movement for increased transparency. These include the development of the European Medicines Agency's new data publication policy, the creation of the AllTrials petition and GlaxoSmithKline's choice to sign it, the launch of GlaxoSmithKline's system for access to patient-level clinical trial data and Roche's commitment to create a similar system, the release of results from the Yale University Open Data Access project's first medicine analysis for Medtronic, and the creation of the Reg4All website. Aims/Objectives: This paper summarises major developments in clinical trial transparency between January and June 2013 and analyses the composition of datasets released by GlaxoSmithKline. Methods: GlaxoSmithKline's database of available trials was tabulated and graphs of relevant trial characteristics were produced. Results/Conclusions: Due to current transparency initiatives, it is likely that much more data will be made available over the next few years through systems similar to GlaxoSmithKline's. Although some aspects of GlaxoSmithKline's model could limit its usefulness, the data currently listed is diverse and could be promising for researchers interested in rare disease treatment.


The research reported here is from the first two years of an ongoing and largely qualitative study to examine the impact of the No Child Left Behind federal education policy on educational practice and climate in elementary schools in two districts in southwest Washington. Based on systematic drop-in observations in classrooms and interviews with teachers and school and district administrators, data indicated that the policy had partially yielded the intended standards-based reforms but at considerable local cost. While most participating administrators described efforts to use NCLB to leverage needed change, most teachers described struggles to sustain best practice and to avoid some negative consequences to their students and schools. Administrators anticipated that resistant teachers would be nudged from the profession, and the greatest attrition among participating teachers was from the fourth-grade level at which the state's standards-based test was administered. Fourth-grade teachers particularly expressed concern about testrelated stress and test-driven curricula interfering with children's individual needs and with their own ability to provide developmentally appropriate instruction adapted for their particular students. The validity and utility of test results was a local issue.


Neural precursor expressed, developmentally down-regulated 9 (NEDD9), a member of the Cas family of signal transduction molecules, is amplified at the genetic level in melanoma, and elevated expression levels have been shown to correlate with melanoma progression and metastasis. NEDD9 interacts with the guanine nucleotide exchange factor DOCK3 to promote Rac activation and the elongated, mesenchymal-type of tumour cell invasion, but the molecular mechanisms through which NEDD9 promotes melanoma metastasis are not fully understood. We show that signalling through increased NEDD9 levels requires integrin β3 signalling, which leads to elevated phosphorylation of integrin β3. This results in increased Src and FAK but decreased ROCK signalling to drive elongated, mesenchymal-type invasion in environments that contain vitronectin. NEDD9 overexpression does not affect ROCK signalling through activation of RhoA but decreases ROCKII signalling through Src-dependent phosphorylation of a negative regulatory site Tyr722. In NEDD9-overexpressing melanoma cells, inhibition of Src with dasatinib results in a switch from Rac-driven elongated, mesenchymal-type invasion to ROCK-dependent rounded, amoeboid invasion. These findings brings into question whether dasatinib would work as a therapeutic agent to block melanoma invasion and metastasis. On the basis of the in vitro data presented here, a combination treatment of dasatinib and a ROCK inhibitor might be a better alternative in order to inhibit both elongated, mesenchymal-type and rounded, amoeboid motility.


ABSTRACT A new florescent oligo(aminopyrene) (OAP) was successfully synthesized by enzymatic approach. For this, H2O2 and Horse Radish peroxidase (HRP) were used as catalyst and oxidant, respectively. The structures of monomer and oxidation product were confirmed by NMR, FT-IR and UV-Vis measurements. The oxidation product was characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), cyclic voltammetry (CV), photoluminescence (PL) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses. OAP was soluble in a wide range of organic solvents. UV-Vis spectrum of the OAP showed a dramatic red shift compared to that of the monomer. The optical and electrochemical band gaps of OAP were found to be 1.65 and 1.56 eV, respectively. OAP emitted turquoise color in THF and green color in toluene. SEM observations indicated the presence of a heterogeneous cauliflower like morphology.


Introduction: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is the most prevalent in Indian women associated with Non specific inflammation predominantly. It is more common in developing countries due to improper hygiene. So the present study was aimed to study the cervical cytology associated with PID.
Materials and Method: This study was carried out in the department of pathology, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Sri Balaji Vidhyapeeth University. All the Pap smear done for PID cases during the period of January 2014 to December 2015 were collected and analysed.
Results:  Out of 330 pap smear, higher incidence of PID were observed in third and fourth decades of life. Out of 330 smears, nearly 80% of the cases show non-specific inflammation. The most common presenting complaints are vaginal discharge (82%) followed by pelvic pain (61%) and bleeding per vagina(24%). Out of 330 pap smear, 7.5% cases accounts for Candidial infection, Trichomonas and Bacterial vaginoses accounts for 3% each and Low Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion(LGSIL) accounts for 3.5% of cases.
Conclusion: This study reveals the incidence of infections and pre-malignant lesions associated with PID. So it implies the significance of the cervical cancer screening among the rural women to detect the early lesions in cervical cancer.

Keywords: PID, Pap smear, Squamous intraepithelial lesion


Background: In PD-L1-negative patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), conclusive evidence in support of specific treatments remains lacking. Objectives: The efficacy of first-line chemoimmunotherapy versus chemotherapy alone was compared. Methods: Eligible randomized studies that included patients with advanced NSCLC irrespective of PD-L1 status who were treated with chemoimmunotherapy as the first line were identified. Kaplan-Meier curves were extracted and analyzed using restricted mean survival time (RMST). Patient-level data were reconstructed from progression-free survival (PFS) graphs. A Bayesian network meta-analysis (NETMA) was carried out. Results: In five trials selected, chemoimmunotherapy regimens, compared with chemotherapy alone, resulted in an improvement in PFS without statistical significance. In the NETMA, chemoimmunotherapy was found to slightly improve PFS. Conclusion: This analysis showed that the incremental benefit of chemoimmunotherapy versus chemotherapy is limited.


A filtration mathematical model was developed on the basis of complete mass balance and momentum balance for the local flux distribution prediction and optimization of submerged hollow fiber membrane module. In this model, the effect of radial permeate flow on internal flow resistance was considered through a slip parameter obtained from the local flux experiments. The effects of fiber length, inside diameter, and average operating flux on local flux distribution were investigated using this model. The predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental data obtained from literature. It was also found that the asymmetry distribution of local flux could be intensified with the increase of average operating flux and fiber length, but slowed down with the increase of fiber inside diameter. Furthermore, the simulation coupled with energy consumption analysis could efficiently predict and illustrate the relationship between fiber geometry and water production efficiency. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 4377–4386, 2015


Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks designed by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) represent a widespread technology. LTE is mainly influenced by high data rates, minimum delay and the capacity due to scalable bandwidth and its flexibility. With the rapid and widespread use LTE networks, and increase the use in data/video transmission and Internet applications in general, accordingly, the challenges of securing and speeding up data communication in such networks is also increased. Authentication in LTE networks is very important process because most of the coming attacks occur during this stage. Attackers try to be authenticated and then launch the network resources and prevent the legitimate users from the network services. The basics of Extensible Authentication Protocol-Authentication and Key Agreement (EAP-AKA) are used in LTE AKA protocol which is called Evolved Packet System AKA (EPS-AKA) protocol to secure LTE network, However it still suffers from various vulnerabilities such as disclosure of the user identity, computational overhead, Man In The Middle (MITM) attack and authentication delay. In this paper, an Efficient EPS-AKA protocol (EEPS-AKA) is proposed to overcome those problems. The proposed protocol is based on the Simple Password Exponential Key Exchange (SPEKE) protocol. Compared to previous proposed methods, our method is faster, since it uses a secret key method which is faster than certificate-based methods, In addition, the size of messages exchanged between User Equipment (UE) and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) is reduced, this reduces authentication delay and storage overhead effectively. The automated validation of internet security protocols and applications (AVISPA) tool is used to provide a formal verification. Results show that the proposed EEPS-AKA is efficient and secure against active and passive attacks.


Based on biochemical and ultrastructural data, hyphochytriomycetes are believed to share an ancestor with oomycetes and heterokont algae. In order to study the phylogeny of the hyphochytriomycetes, we determined both the small- and large-subunit ribosomal RNA sequence of Hyphochytrium catenoides. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using the neighbor-joining and maximum-parsimony method and include representatives of Chlorobionta, Fungi, Metazoa, Alveolata, and all known Heterokonta. Our main conclusion is that the hyphochytriomycetes form a monophyletic group with the oomycetes and heterokont algae and that they are probably the closest relatives of the oomycetes. However, the order of divergence between the various heterokont algal phyla and the oomycete-hyphochytriomycete cluster remains uncertain.


Accurate characterization of ultrasound fields generated by diagnostic and therapeutic transducers is critical for patient safety. This requires hydrophones calibrated to a traceable standard and currently the upper calibration frequency range available to the user community is limited to a frequency of 40 MHz. However, the increasing use of high frequencies for both imaging and therapy necessitates calibrations to frequencies well beyond this range. For this to be possible, a source of high amplitude, broadband, quasi-planar and stable ultrasound fields is required. This is difficult to achieve using conventional piezoelectric sources, but laser generated ultrasound is a promising technique in this regard. In this study, various polymer-carbon nanotube nanocomposites (PNC) were fabricated and tested for their suitability for such an application by varying the polymer type, carbon nanotubes weight content in the polymer, and PNC thickness. A broadband hydrophone was used to measure the peak pressure and bandwidth of the laser generated ultrasound pulse. Peak-positive pressures of up to 8 MPa and −6dB bandwidths of up to 40 MHz were recorded. There is a nonlinear dependence of the peak pressure on the laser fluence and the bandwidth scales inversely proportionally to the peak pressure. The high-pressure plane waves generated from this preliminary investigation has demonstrated that laser generated ultrasound sources are a promising technique for high frequency calibration of hydrophones.


One of the fundamental concepts of the object-oriented paradigm is inheritance. Unfortunately, though, there is not just one semantic definition of inheritance in the object-oriented world; instead, it is used in various languages to represent a number of different kinds of class relationships. This creates several difficulties. One is that language-independent references to inheritance, in specifications for example, are not well-defined. Another is that we cannot apply our understanding of inheritance from one language to another. In some languages, we cannot even apply the same understanding of inheritance from one class to another. This paper identifies three different ways in which inheritance is used, describes the conceptual distinctions among them, and identifies what information we can infer from each.<<ETX>>


ABSTRACT N-Acetylneuraminic acid is produced by alkaline epimerization of N-acetylglucosamine to N-acetylmannosamine and then subsequent condensation with pyruvate catalyzed by free N-acetylneuraminic acid aldolase. The high-alkaline conditions of this process result in the degradation of reactants and products, while the purification of free enzymes to be used for the synthesis reaction is a costly process. The use of N-acetylglucosamine 2-epimerase has been seen as an alternative to the alkaline epimerization process. In this study, these two enzymes involved in N-acetylneuraminic acid production were immobilized to biopolyester beads in vivo in a one-step, cost-efficient process of production and isolation. Beads with epimerase-only, aldolase-only, and combined epimerase/aldolase activity were recombinantly produced in Escherichia coli. The enzymatic activities were 32 U, 590 U, and 2.2 U/420 U per gram dry bead weight, respectively. Individual beads could convert 18% and 77% of initial GlcNAc and ManNAc, respectively, at high substrate concentrations and near-neutral pH, demonstrating the application of this biobead technology to fine-chemical synthesis. Beads establishing the entire N-acetylneuraminic acid synthesis pathway were able to convert up to 22% of the initial N-acetylglucosamine after a 50-h reaction time into N-acetylneuraminic acid.


Continuous cropping or decreasing the frequency of summer fallow (F) in cereal-based dryland rotations may have benefits other than greater water utilization and erosion control. We hypothesized that rotations with no fallow or minimum fallow frequency can produce more biomass and cover than the traditional winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-summer fallow systems (W-F), and ultimately, greater amounts of soil organic matter (SOM). To this end, we evaluated changes in various pools of SOM at the 0- to 5- and 0- to 15-cm depths on a Weld loam (fine, smectitic, mesic aridic Paleustolls) that were caused by (i) decreasing fallow or increasing cropping intensities, (ii) specific rotations of the same length but with different crop sequencing, and (iii) accumulated residue and roots from reduced- or no-tillage from 1993 to 1997. Total soil organic carbon (SOC) and N for the 0- to 5-cm depth increased by 20% with continuous cropping rotations compared with W-F rotations. Particulate organic matter-carbon (POM-C) doubled, while POM-N, and soluble organic C (OC) increased by one third for the same comparison. At the 0- to 15-cm depth, SOC, POM-C, and POM-N did not differ among systems with fallow, nor among systems with cropping intensities greater than W-F. Thus, significant differences always existed between W-F and continuous cropping. Generally, fallow had a negative influence on SOC accumulation, and continuous cropping a positive influence on surface SOM. Changes in SOC did not correlate with yields in the five-year comparison of this ongoing study.


We evaluated the impact of event-free survival (EFS) status at 24 months (EFS24) and 60 months (EFS60) after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using registry data. Patients who underwent their first autologous HSCT (auto-HSCT) or allogeneic HSCT (allo-HSCT) for lymphoma between 1981 and 2018 were included. Overall survival was compared with that of the age-, sex, and calendar period-matched general population. A total of 14 977 patients, including 10 964 and 4013 who underwent auto-HSCT and allo-HSCT, respectively, were analyzed. Although patients who achieved EFS24 and EFS60 had favorable outcomes, most had significantly poorer survival rates than the general population. The standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) were significantly higher than that of the general population even after achieving EFS24 or EFS60. The SMRs of those after auto-HSCT were 2.5 to 3.5 and 2.7 to 3.7, respectively. The SMR was consistently highest in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients after HSCT. By contrast, subsequent survival of patients with primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, intravascular large B-cell lymphoma, or peripheral T-cell lymphoma, not otherwise specified, who achieved EFS60 after auto-HSCT, and those with extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma who achieved EFS60 after allo-HSCT did not significantly differ from that of the general population, with SMRs of 1.6, 1.2, 1.8, and 1.3, respectively. Our results suggest that EFS24 and EFS60 were clinically useful end points after HSCT for lymphoma patients. Furthermore, patients with certain lymphoma subtypes who achieved EFS had a comparable prognosis with that of the general population and were potentially cured after HSCT.


using similar doses of vector. One set of questions on toxicology related to gene transfer arises because most studies in humans—as with many other trials of hazardous agents—enrol participants with advanced illness. Such participants are likely to misinterpret the purpose of the trial as providing therapy rather than producing generalisable knowledge. Enrolment in studies on the safety of gene transfer is therefore susceptible to being based on "misinformed" consent. Also, participants who perceive a trial as providing therapy may be less willing to comply with intrusive procedures (for example, long term follow up and autopsy) that are aimed at testing safety. By policing consent procedures for language that promotes misconceptions about therapy, investigators may encourage participants to cooperate with a trial's toxicological aspects. Premarketing studies of drugs often have insufficient power to expose rare adverse events; the collection of toxicity data is further hampered because gene transfer trials generally enrol participants with severe illness. For instance, attributing causes for adverse events is confounded by underlying medical conditions. Moreover, such populations are unlikely to survive and experience theoretically predicted latent adverse events. Therefore, many risks will only be characterised once gene transfer extends to populations with less severe medical conditions; patients and the public (rather than trial participants) will likely bear many of the risks involved in characterising latent toxicity. Owing to the uncertainties and inexperience surrounding risks from gene transfer, systems may need to be established for postmarketing surveillance (for example, registries) and the long term follow up of trial participants. In the United States, such long term follow up is not mandatory, and anecdotal evidence indicates that it is not widely practised. In contrast, the United Kingdom and Australia (www7.health.gov.au/ nhmrc/research/gtrap.htm) track the medical records of recipients of gene transfer. Follow up and postmarketing surveillance are potentially costly, can medicalise people's lives, and infringe on their privacy. Nevertheless, spontaneous reporting of adverse events is unreliable for detecting latent adverse events, and more active measures may be necessary to protect the public, and patients and their descendants, should gene transfer expand to milder medical conditions. Although recent trials confirm the feasibility of gene therapy, they also highlight that its risks are poorly understood. The task for researchers in gene transfer will be to characterise these risks while attending to the complex ethical challenges of conducting gene transfer studies in humans.


In this paper, a number of alternate-cascaded switched-inductor and tapped-inductor networks have been proposed for Z-source inverters. The resulting topologies have enhanced voltage-boost capability while retaining the usual voltage-buck flexibility of a conventional voltage-source inverter. The enhanced capability is achieved by using lower rated components that can more readily be found. These components are assembled without direct series connection and hence avoid unbalanced voltage sharing problems and losses linked to balancing resistive circuits. The component count is, however, high, meaning that the proposed inverters should only be considered when a design requires multiple lower rated components rather than a few higher rated ones. Analysis, simulation, and experimental results have already validated the concepts discussed.


Abstract Why do states make claims to some border areas and not others? We articulate three models of territorial claims and test them using a novel geospatial data set that precisely maps disputed and undisputed border segments in post-independence Africa. The geospatial approach helps eliminate problems of aggregation by permitting an analysis of variation both within and between dyadic borders. We find that ethnic political considerations are the most important driver of territorial claims in Africa, while institutional features of the border play a secondary role. Border segments that partition ethnic groups are at greatest risk of being challenged when the partitioned groups are politically powerful in ethnically homogeneous societies. Border segments that follow well-established and clear focal principles such as rivers and watersheds are significantly less likely to be disputed, while changes to the border in the colonial period created opportunities for later disputes to arise. Power considerations or resources play only a minor role in explaining the location of territorial claims.


For organizing my discussant response, I use the "input-process-output-outcomes" framework, where the PCAOB is part of the standard-setting infrastructure (input), the processes are its standard-setting activities, the standards eventually developed and approved by the SEC (the output), and assessing the outcome(s) refers to evaluating how well the PCAOB is achieving its mission and vision. From this perspective, Nolder and Palmrose's (2018) critique of the PCAOB's standard-setting pace as being "glacial" can only be regarded an "operational criticism." In fact, viewed in light of the recently released Monitoring Group's (2017) Consultation paper, the PCAOB actually appears to be ahead of the IAASB as a much more independent and active standard-setter. Expanding the PCAOB's "economic analysis" to incorporate behavioral disciplines could certainly make the rationale more grounded and stronger, but will likely further slow down the pace of standard-setting—a result that goes against the authors' preference. Beyond just behavioral approaches, I consider the even broader perspective of "political economy" in this context and highlight the relevance of Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety (Ashby 1956) as an overarching framework. Toward the end, I support certain arguments made by Nolder and Palmrose (2018), and in particular commend their suggestion that the PCAOB develop a conceptual framework for standard-setting going forward.


The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered various kinds of activities, especially in the world of tourism. Based on data on international tourist visits to Indonesia in August, it experienced a significant decrease of 89.22%. The Deputy for Destination and Infrastructure Development of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) predicts that international tourist visits to Indonesia only occupy the number 4 million people, which before the pandemic occupied the figure of 18 million visitors. The purpose of this study is to find out the perception of local tourists towards the development of international tourists during the pandemic, the method used is to conduct interviews with local tourists randomly in the Barru district. The analysis method used is descriptive qualitative to explain the research results obtained. The result of this study is that the decline in tourism visitors has a significant impact on people's income, especially in Barru district, but this, it can reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus that is sweeping the world.


Biological sensing and processing is asynchronous and sparse, leading to low-latency and energy-efficient perception and action. In robotics, neuromorphic hardware for event-based vision and spiking neural networks promises to exhibit similar characteristics. However, robotic implementations have been limited to basic tasks with low-dimensional sensory inputs and motor actions due to the restricted network size in current embedded neuromorphic processors and the difficulties of training spiking neural networks. Here, we present the first fully neuromorphic vision-to-control pipeline for controlling a freely flying drone. Specifically, we train a spiking neural network that accepts high-dimensional raw event-based camera data and outputs low-level control actions for performing autonomous vision-based flight. The vision part of the network, consisting of five layers and 28.8k neurons, maps incoming raw events to ego-motion estimates and is trained with self-supervised learning on real event data. The control part consists of a single decoding layer and is learned with an evolutionary algorithm in a drone simulator. Robotic experiments show a successful sim-to-real transfer of the fully learned neuromorphic pipeline. The drone can accurately follow different ego-motion setpoints, allowing for hovering, landing, and maneuvering sideways$\unicode{x2014}$even while yawing at the same time. The neuromorphic pipeline runs on board on Intel's Loihi neuromorphic processor with an execution frequency of 200 Hz, spending only 27 $\unicode{x00b5}$J per inference. These results illustrate the potential of neuromorphic sensing and processing for enabling smaller, more intelligent robots.


for dissemination) Enriching videos by offering continuative and related information via, e.g., audiostreams, web pages, as well as other videos, is typically hampered by its demand for massive editorial work. While there exist several automatic and semi-automatic methods that analyze audio/video content, one needs to decide which method offers appropriate information for our intended use-case scenarios. We review the technology options for video analysis that we have access to, and describe which training material we opted for to feed our algorithms. For all methods, we offer extensive qualitative and quantitative results, and give an outlook on the next steps within the project. c © LinkedTV Consortium, 2013 3/64 Visual, text and audio information analysis for hypervideo, first release D1.2


Environmental policy evaluation is characterised by a paucity of information. Bounded sets may be more appropriate for representing this ambiguity than traditional probability distributions. A formal calibration method for regional policy models, positive mathematical programming, is thus extended to incorporate parameter definition using bounded sets through the novel method of robust non-linear programming. The resulting procedure identifies strong bounds on the range of abatement costs accruing to environmental policy and improves the relevance and value of modelling studies through not limiting conclusions to realisations of specific point estimates or probability distributions. Moreover, it may easily be solved using standard mathematical-programming algorithms. Empirical insights are provided in an application to a New Zealand inland lake threatened by nitrate pollution from dairy farming. Factor substitution could potentially be used to reduce the abatement costs accruing to regulation. However, such behaviour is shown not to be optimal at the parameter values used in this study. Accordingly, large reductions in nitrate leaching and concomitant improvements in water quality potentially bear a substantial cost to producers.


In neural Information Retrieval (IR), ongoing research is directed towards improving the first retriever in ranking pipelines. Learning dense embeddings to conduct retrieval using efficient approximate nearest neighbors methods has proven to work well. Meanwhile, there has been a growing interest in learning \emph{sparse} representations for documents and queries, that could inherit from the desirable properties of bag-of-words models such as the exact matching of terms and the efficiency of inverted indexes. Introduced recently, the SPLADE model provides highly sparse representations and competitive results with respect to state-of-the-art dense and sparse approaches. In this paper, we build on SPLADE and propose several significant improvements in terms of effectiveness and/or efficiency. More specifically, we modify the pooling mechanism, benchmark a model solely based on document expansion, and introduce models trained with distillation. We also report results on the BEIR benchmark. Overall, SPLADE is considerably improved with more than $9$\% gains on NDCG@10 on TREC DL 2019, leading to state-of-the-art results on the BEIR benchmark.


The right to data protection is a fundamental right recognized by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Art. 8) and constitutional law of most Member States, as well as ECJ case law. As a leading legislation, the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) concretizes and materializes the right by means of granting a constellation of specific rights to data subjects, and establishes stringent law compliance mechanisms for their realization. Further, the GDPR claims a wide extraterritorial jurisdiction to protect all data subjects on the EU territory – regardless of their nationalities, when their personal data are transferred to third countries outside the EU. Apparently, many controllers and processors processing their data on Chinese territory will be directly influenced and may encounter law breaches with negative consequences that may lead to conflict of law and jurisdiction. This short article will first discuss data protection as a fundamental right under the EU law and how GDPR can protect that right with different instruments. Then, it will analyze in detail GDPR's exterritorial application to controllers and processors in China and their related data protection roles and duties under various processing circumstances, as well as the different impacts on their data processing operations for law compliance and the potential incurred costs.


Background The role of enterococci in the pathogenesis of polymicrobial infections is still debated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of virulent enterococci in the presence or absence of Escherichia coli strains in the in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model. Principal Findings This study demonstrated that there was a synergistic effect on virulence when an association of enterococci and E. coli (LT50 = 1.6 days±0.1 according to the tested strains and death of nematodes in 4 days±0.5) was tested in comparison with enterococci alone (LT50 = 4.6 days±0.1 and death in 10.4 days±0.6) or E. coli alone (LT50 = 2.1±0.9 and deaths 6.6±0.6) (p<0.001). In addition, there was a relation between the virulence of E. faecalis strains alone and the virulence potential of the association with E. coli strains. Finally, in the presence of avirulent E. coli strains, enterococci have no effect (LT50 = 4.3±0.5 and deaths in 10.8±0.8), independently of the level of their own virulence, demonstrating that the 'enterococci effect' only occurred in the presence of virulent E. coli strains. Conclusion This study allows a better understanding of a bacterial cooperation. Moreover, it could help to optimize the antibiotic regimen during polymicrobial infections.


Abstract. The first operations at the new High-altitude Maïdo Observatory at La Réunion began in 2013. The Maïdo Lidar Calibration Campaign (MALICCA) was organized there in April 2013 and has focused on the validation of the thermodynamic parameters (temperature, water vapor, and wind) measured with many instruments including the new very large lidar for water vapor and temperature profiles. The aim of this publication consists of providing an overview of the different instruments deployed during this campaign and their status, some of the targeted scientific questions and associated instrumental issues. Some specific detailed studies for some individual techniques were addressed elsewhere. This study shows that temperature profiles were obtained from the ground to the mesopause (80 km) thanks to the lidar and regular meteorological balloon-borne sondes with an overlap range showing good agreement. Water vapor is also monitored from the ground to the mesopause by using the Raman lidar and microwave techniques. Both techniques need to be pushed to their limit to reduce the missing range in the lower stratosphere. Total columns obtained from global positioning system or spectrometers are valuable for checking the calibration and ensuring vertical continuity. The lidar can also provide the vertical cloud structure that is a valuable complementary piece of information when investigating the water vapor cycle. Finally, wind vertical profiles, which were obtained from sondes, are now also retrieved at Maïdo from the newly implemented microwave technique and the lidar. Stable calibrations as well as a small-scale dynamical structure are required to monitor the thermodynamic state of the middle atmosphere, ensure validation of satellite sensors, study the transport of water vapor in the vicinity of the tropical tropopause and study their link with cirrus clouds and cyclones and the impact of small-scale dynamics (gravity waves) and their link with the mean state of the mesosphere.


The aim of study examined the factors affecting motivation, compensation, career management, and stress of work to employees loyalty at Bank Danamon Sudirman Solo. The research used study quantitative method. The study was sites Bank Danamon Solo-Branch at Sudirman No. 5 Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Populations of study were 169 employees at Bank Danamon Sudirman Solo. Analysis of the data used in this study is the multiple linear regression analysis. The results shows that the hypothesis motivation to work, of compensation, career management, and work pressure have a positive and significant impact on the loyalty shown to work. If employees will increase loyality work on a bank, we need help attention motivation work. If want increase loyality work on bank employees and employees need to be compensated significant. If want increase loyality work on bank employees and management employees require to be given career. If want increase loyality work on bank employees and employees work should be minimized pressure. And advice based on the implications of this research result is: 1) for management should take notice of compensation, the management of a career, and pressure work employees to be able to conduct supervision on loyality work employees; 2) for employees should be tried to be open to grievances and hope to management in order to increase morale work so can grow loyality work; 3) for researchers will come should develop this research by adding other variables that can affect loyality work, as; security work, the effectiveness of communication, facilities work, and many others.