Background: Traditional chronic kidney disease (CKD) dietary advice is challenging with many restrictions, consequently adherence to the CKD diet is low. Recent literature has proposed less restrictive dietary guidelines in CKD to improve dietary adherence and outcomes; however, limited evidence of its implementation exists. Objectives: This study (trial number: PACTR202002892187265) investigated the effect of simplified dietary advice on nutritional outcomes and adherence after four weeks of dietary advice. Design: A before-and-after study was conducted. Outcome measures: Sociodemographic, clinical and biochemical information was collected and anthropometric measurements performed on Stage 3–5 CKD participants attending a pre-dialysis clinic. Uremic toxins were quantified by UPLC/fluorescence detection. Dietary intake was assessed using a quantified food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ). Participants were educated by the study dietitian on simplified dietary advice using an infographic. A diet-adherence score sheet monitored adherence. All outcomes were measured at baseline and four weeks after the diet was advised. IBM SPSS® version 27 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Fifty-nine participants, mean age 41.0 ± 11.6 years, completed the study. After four weeks, significant improvements were found in body mass index (p < 0.006), waist circumference (p < 0.001), mid-upper arm circumference (P < 0.001), serum total cholesterol (p < 0.045), serum triglycerides (p < 0.017), energy (p < 0.001), protein (p< 0.001) and most dietary intake variables. Overweight and obesity prevalence was high at 68%. Uremic toxin concentrations remained stable. Dietary adherence was 88.6%. Conclusion: The simplified dietary advice suggests improved nutritional outcomes in CKD patients who were predominantly overweight and obese, without compromising kidney function. This study highlights the importance and feasibility of simplified nutrition education in CKD.


The positive relationship between species diversity (richness and evenness) and critical ecosystem functions, such as productivity, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling, is often used to predict the consequences of extinction. At regional scales, however, plant species richness is mostly increasing rather than decreasing because successful plant species introductions far outnumber extinctions. If these regional increases in richness lead to local increases in diversity, a reasonable prediction is that productivity, carbon storage, and nutrient cycling will increase following invasion, yet this prediction has rarely been tested empirically. We tested this prediction in novel forest communities dominated by introduced species (;90% basal area) in lowland Hawaiian rain forests by comparing their functionality to that of native forests. We conducted our comparison along a natural gradient of increasing nitrogen availability, allowing for a more detailed examination of the role of plant functional trait differences (specifically, N2 fixation) in driving possible changes to ecosystem function. Hawaii is emblematic of regional patterns of species change; it has much higher regional plant richness than it did historically, due to .1000 plant species introductions and only ;71 known plant extinctions, resulting in an ;100% increase in richness. At local scales, we found that novel forests had significantly higher tree species richness and higher diversity of dominant tree species. We further found that aboveground biomass, productivity, nutrient turnover (as measured by soil-available and litter-cycled nitrogen and phosphorus), and belowground carbon storage either did not differ significantly or were significantly greater in novel relative to native forests. We found that the addition of introduced N2-fixing tree species on N-limited substrates had the strongest effect on ecosystem function, a pattern found by previous empirical tests. Our results support empirical predictions of the functional effects of diversity, but they also suggest basic ecosystem processes will continue even after dramatic losses of native species diversity if simple functional roles are provided by introduced species. Because large portions of the Earth's surface are undergoing similar transitions from native to novel ecosystems, our results are likely to be broadly applicable.


The conduction mechanisms in nickel‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Ni:YAG) have been studied as a function of temperature and partial pressue of oxygen. ac conductivity and ionic transference measurements show that Ni:YAG is a mixed ionic‐electronic conductor with an ionic mobility characterized by an activation energy of 2.0–2.2 eV. The reduction of Ni+3 to Ni+2 causes an increase in the oxygen vacancy concentration and a concurrent rise in the magnitude of the ionic conductivity. Codoping with zirconium, on the other hand, fixes the nickel in the divalent state, increases the n‐type conductivity, and lowers the degree of ionic conductivity. A defect model is presented which is consistent with all of these observations.


Levin and Rappaport (1995) have proposed a binary classification for change of state verbs that revolves around the locus of cause for these changes: whether the cause is internal or external to the entity undergoing change. They claim this distinction is crosslinguistically viable and explains the syntactic behavior of these predicates. Based on work done by Smith (1970) and Wright (2001), this paper argues for an extension of Levin and Rappaport's binary classification. Instead, I propose a continuum resulting from the analysis of corpora in English and Spanish for verbs that would enter the binary categories advanced by Levin and Rappaport. One of the problematic pairs of verbs for their classification when applied to Spanish, florecer 'to bloom' and marchitar(se) 'to wilt' is analyzed in detail. The continuum proposed here extends Levin and Rappaport's categories and takes into account the locus of control of the change and whether external factors may be necessary conditions for the change to occur. In particular, this new focus can account for the presence or absence of the clitic se with some of the predicates in Spanish.


Spatial and temporal variations of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) concentrations and bacterioplankton density were investigated in a highly oligotrophic region of the Eastern Mediterranean in order to evaluate the relative contribution of the pico-, nano- and microparticulate fractions and to estimate bacterioplankton contribution to the nucleic acid pools. The oligotrophic conditions of the Cretan Sea were reflected by the extremely low particulate nucleic acid content. In particular, RNA concentrations (range: 0. 1 to 3.8 μg l -1 ) were the lowest reported so far in the marine environment. Particulate DNA concentrations (range: 0.8 to 5.9 μg l -1 ) also displayed a reduced temporal variability. Picoparticulate RNA and bacterial secondary production displayed similar spatial patterns, suggesting that RNA concentrations increased as a result of enhanced metabolic activity. High DNA concentrations were generally associated with the high salinity (>38.95) Transition Mediterranean Waters (TMW) in summer (August 1994 and September 1995), whereas a sharp decrease in DNA concentrations was observed in non-stratified conditions (e.g. February 1995). Most of the DNA concentration was associated with picoparticles (more than 60% of total DNA pool), with a ratio of 1:3:6 for micro-, nano- and picoparticulate fractions, respectively. By contrast, particulate proteins and RNA displayed an average annual ratio of about 1:1:2 for micro-, nano-, and picoparticulate fractions, respectively. Bacterial densities in the Cretan Sea ranged from 1.1 to 8.8 × 10 8 cells 1 -1 . The bacterial DNA contribution to the total DNA pool in the Cretan Sea was on average 40%, but in February 1995 the living DNA fraction accounted for 85% of the total DNA pool. As phytoplankton DNA annually accounted on average for only 17% of the total DNA, we conclude that bacteria play a role of primary importance as a living DNA component in the Cretan Sea.


Domestic and family violence in Australia has received unprecedented attention over the past few years. A number of recent reports and reviews have identified that improved policing is key to enhancing the safety of women and children. In response to these reports, and in recognition that police are often the first to respond to domestic violence, a number of jurisdictions have strengthened police powers and, in some cases, mandated police responses. This article draws on a qualitative study of victims' experiences of police responses to domestic violence in order to identify the extent and breadth of the problems that continue to plague police responses to domestic violence in Queensland, in spite of legislative change. The article then uses Queensland as a case study to consider whether a victim of domestic violence, who claims that the police failed to adequately respond to or deal with their request for assistance, would be able to successfully take a private civil action against the police in Australia; specifically in the tort of negligence. The current position in Australia concerning the existence and scope of the duty of care owed by police to victims of third party harm is unclear. While a number of state courts have considered the issue, to date there has been no High Court of Australia determination directly on point. Recent cases decided in the United Kingdom and Canada, changing community attitudes, and the enhanced police powers that have been introduced in Queensland and elsewhere to ensure police better respond to domestic and family violence reopen the debate about whether police should owe a duty of care to victims of crime, specifically victims of domestic violence.


So-called "targeted therapeutics", agents with tumour-selective action, promise to revolutionise treatment of specific malignancies; however, realisation of the therapeutic promise of such drugs requires new methods of rapidly distinguishing patients who will derive treatment benefit. Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs), a group of small molecule therapeutics, inhibit specific aspects of the phosphorylation-mediated intracellular signalling pathways commonly altered in cancer. Overexpression of one such pathway, initiated by the HER2 growth factor receptor, occurs commonly in breast cancer. Lapatinib, a HER2 TKI, has been used in combinations with other cancer drugs for treating HER2 overexpressing breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate gene expression changes in response to these targeted therapies to examine their ability to predict treatment response.
In this thesis, microarray data from lapatinib-treated drug sensitive breast cancer cell lines was interrogated using an emerging bioinformatic technique, Co-inertia analysis (CIA). Using this technique, 512 genes were found to be altered in a specific response to lapatinib treatment in the cell lines. 27 gene targets were chosen for more detailed analysis using Taqman RT-PCR, of which five showed predictive response in a broader panel of breast cancer cell lines treated with lapatinib.
Expression of the five genes was further examined in response to other HER2 targeted therapies and the analysis indicated that the gene expression changes remained consistent with these other treatments, demonstrating a more broadly representative anti-HER2 response pattern. An in vivo study sought to evaluate these gene expression responses in a more in vivo-relevant scenario and found that they were also conserved in this model.
Our research indicates that there are commonalities among the gene expression response to HER2-targeting therapeutics in responsive cells which may extrapolate to HER2-amplified patient tumours and more broadly suggests that characterisation of gene changes shortly after treatment may provide a valuable rapid predictor of inhibitor response, potentially guiding a more specific use of such agents by identifying patients that will benefit from these therapies.


In this paper we analyse the discrepancies that exist in the widespread prescription of metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes and the lack of guidelines concerning its prescription in the different stages of renal failure. This cross-sectional study includes 304 patients with type 2 diabetes treated with oral antidiabetic drugs (ADOs) and a glomerular filtration rate (estimated GFR) <60ml/min/1.73m 2 . Patients were attended in consecutive visits to primary health centres or in hospital departments of endocrinology or nephrology during 2010. We studied the frequency of metformin and other ADO prescriptions according to renal function and the department in which the patient was treated. The ADO most frequently prescribed was metformin (54.9%), followed by repaglinide (47.7%), DPP4 inhibitors (28.6%), and sulfonylureas (18.4%). However, in nephrology departments, repaglinide was more frequently prescribed than metformin (P<.001), whereas in primary health centres, the prescription of DPP4 inhibitors increased. In patients with an estimated GFR of 15-29ml/min/1.73m 2 , metformin (13.3%) and sulfonylureas were the least prescribed, whereas metformin was much more frequently prescribed (70.0%) when estimated GFR was 45-59ml/min/1.73m 2 (P<.001). In contrast, patients with an estimated GFR of 15-29ml/min/1.73m 2 were mainly prescribed repaglinide (76.7%), as opposed to patients with an estimated GFR of 45-59ml/min/1.73m 2 (38.9%) (P<.001). Substantial evidence suggests that the recommendations for the use of ADO should be modified. This would lead to safely prescribing ADO in patients with an estimated GFR<60ml/min/1.73m 2 , and more importantly in medical practice, according to the law.


The meson eigenstates of the light-cone Hamiltonian in a coarse transverse lattice gauge theory are investigated. Building upon previous work in pure gauge theory, the Hamiltonian and its Fock space are expanded in powers of dynamical fields. In the leading approximation, the couplings appearing in the Hamiltonian are renormalised by demanding restoration of space-time symmetries broken by the cut-off. Additional requirements from chiral symmetry are discussed and difficulties in imposing them from first principles in the leading approximation are noted. A phenomenological calculation is then performed, in which chiral symmetry in spontaneously broken form is modelled by imposing the physical pion-rho mass splitting as a constraint. The light-cone wavefunctions of the resulting Hamiltonian are used to compute decay constants, form factors and quark momentum and spin distributions for the pion and rho mesons. Extensions beyond leading order, and the implications for first principles calculations, are briefly discussed.


ABSTRACT Infections caused by human parvovirus B19 are known to be controlled mainly by neutralizing antibodies. To analyze the immune reaction against parvovirus B19 proteins, four cell lines secreting human immunoglobulin G monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were generated from two healthy donors and one human immunodeficiency virus type 1-seropositive individual with high serum titers against parvovirus. One MAb is specific for nonstructural protein NS1 (MAb 1424), two MAbs are specific for the unique region of minor capsid protein VP1 (MAbs 1418-1 and 1418-16), and one MAb is directed to major capsid protein VP2 (MAb 860-55D). Two MAbs, 1418-1 and 1418-16, which were generated from the same individual have identity in the cDNA sequences encoding the variable domains, with the exception of four base pairs resulting in only one amino acid change in the light chain. The NS1- and VP1-specific MAbs interact with linear epitopes, whereas the recognized epitope in VP2 is conformational. The MAbs specific for the structural proteins display strong virus-neutralizing activity. The VP1- and VP2-specific MAbs have the capacity to neutralize 50% of infectious parvovirus B19 in vitro at 0.08 and 0.73 μg/ml, respectively, demonstrating the importance of such antibodies in the clearance of B19 viremia. The NS1-specific MAb mediated weak neutralizing activity and required 47.7 μg/ml for 50% neutralization. The human MAbs with potent neutralizing activity could be used for immunotherapy of chronically B19 virus-infected individuals and acutely infected pregnant women. Furthermore, the knowledge gained regarding epitopes which induce strongly neutralizing antibodies may be important for vaccine development.


Protein sources from cereals are used in broiler diets, usually in order to reduce feeding costs. However, their efficient use in poultry diets is limited by the level of fiber whose compounds are resistant to digestion in the small intestine; due to this sugars are not digested by endogenous poultry enzymes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of multi-carbohydrase (MC) and phytase (Phy) on the total retention of nutrients, retention of apparent metabolizable energy corrected for nitrogen (AMEN) (trial 1) and apparent and standardized ileal digestibility of amino acids (trial 2) of rice bran (RB). A total of 245-day-old male broilers (Cobb 500) was distributed at 21-day-old in a completely randomized design in a 2 × 2 + 1 (0 and 200 mg/kg MC; 0 and 50 mg/kg Phy, and basal diet - BD) factorial arrangement of treatments, to give seven replicates and seven birds per replicate. The BD based on corn (trial 1) and cornstarch and casein (trial 2) was used only to determine the coefficients of retention of nutrients and energy, and coefficients of digestibility of amino acids of the RB. The test diets were made by mixing BD and RB 7 : 3 wt/wt basis. There was interaction (P<0.05) between MC × Phy for DM, nitrogen and AMEN, retention and no interaction (P>0.05) for ash, calcium, phosphorous and NDF was observed. Enzymes interacted (P<0.05) on standardized ileal digestibility of arginine, histidine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, valine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline and serine. Dietary combination of MC and Phy resulted in higher (P<0.05) standardized digestibility of arginine, histidine, methionine and threonine relative to single enzyme supplementation or control diet without enzymes. Enzyme isolated inclusions in the diets improved (P<0.05) standardized digestibility of methionine. The supplementation of carbohydrases and Phy in RB will improve the nitrogen, energy and amino acids utilization for broiler chickens.


Without monetary payments, the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem proves that under mild requirements all truthful social choice mechanisms must be dictatorships. When payments are allowed, the Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) mechanism implements the value-maximizing choice, and has many other good properties: it is strategy-proof, onto, deterministic, individually rational, and does not not make positive transfers to the agents. By Roberts' theorem, with three or more alternatives, the weighted VCG mechanisms are essentially unique for domains with quasi-linear utilities. The goal of this paper is to characterize domains of non-quasi-linear utilities where "reasonable'' mechanisms (with VCG-like properties) exist. Our main result is a tight characterization of the maximal non quasi-linear utility domain, which we call the largest parallel domain. We extend Roberts' theorem to parallel domains, and use the generalized theorem to prove two impossibility results. First, any reasonable mechanism must be dictatorial when the type domain is quasi-linear together with any single non-parallel type. Second, for richer utility domains that still differ very slightly from quasi-linearity, every strategy-proof, onto and deterministic mechanism must be a dictatorship.


In this paper, we employ power-domain non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) to simultaneously transmit signals to both a primary user (PU) and a secondary user (SU) of a cognitive cooperative radio network (CCRN). Higher priority is given to the PU over the SU by keeping the power allocation coefficients at the base station (BS) and relay (R) above a certain threshold. In this way, similar as the interference power limit imposed by the PU in a conventional underlay CCRN, the power allocation coefficients at the BS and R of the CCRN can be controlled to maintain a given outage performance. Analytical expressions of the cumulative distribution function of the end-to-end signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratios at the PU and SU are derived and then used to assess the outage probabilities of both users. Numerical results are presented to study the impact of system parameters on outage performance of the CCRN with power-domain NOMA. In addition, it is illustrated that increased downlink performance can be obtained by combining power-domain NOMA with CCRNs.


Purpose: The aim of this study is to correlate tumor size of retinoblastoma tumor samples with blood vessel maturation to assess how these factors may affect vessel targeting therapy. Methods: Analysis was performed on retinoblastoma tumor specimens (n = 5) enucleated as primary treatment from May 2005 to February 2006. Tumor size was measured as the largest cross sectional area of the tumor, measured during pathologic assessment. Vessel density and heterogeneity was measured by immunohistochemical analysis. Total microvessel density was detected by staining endothelial cells using a lectin from Bandeira simplicifolia; novel vasculature was detected with the endothelial cell marker endoglin (CD105). Blood vessel basement membrane was detected with an antibody against type IV collagen. Vessel maturation was assessed by pericyte recruitment, detected with α smooth muscle actin (α-sma). Results: A statistically significant correlation was detected between tumor burden and age at enucleation (P = 0.008). All retinoblastoma tumor samples harbored a high degree of blood vessel heterogeneity containing both immature neovessels as well as pericyte-committed mature vasculature. There was a statistically significant correlation between type IV collagen and age at enucleation (P = 0.045). Conclusions: This study provides a framework for a better understanding of tumor and vessel development in retinoblastoma. Results of this study provide insight into the relationship between age and tumor burden in these tumors. Knowledge of the degree of heterogeneity detected in these tumors will aid in the selection of novel blood vessel targeting strategies for children with this disease and other diseases with pathologic neovascularization.


The Southern Ocean receives limited liquid surface water input from the Antarctic continent. It has been speculated, however, that significant liquid water may flow from beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and that this subglacial flow carries that water along with dissolved nutrients to the coast. The delivery of solutes, particularly limiting nutrients like bioavailable iron, to the Southern Ocean may contribute to ecosystem processes including primary productivity. Using a helicopter-borne time domain electromagnetic survey along the coastal margins of the McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, we detected subsurface connections between inland lakes, aquifers, and subglacial waters. These waters, which appear as electrically conductive anomalies, are saline and may contain high concentrations of biologically important ions, including iron and silica. Local hydraulic gradients may drive these waters to the coast, where we postulate they emerge as submarine groundwater discharge. This high latitude groundwater system, imaged regionally in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, may be representative of a broader system of Antarctic submarine groundwater discharge that fertilizes the Southern Ocean. In total, it has the potential to deliver tens of gigagrams of bioavailable Fe and Si to the coastal zone.


Inbreeding depression, the deterioration in mean trait value in progeny of related parents, is a fundamental quantity in genetics, evolutionary biology, animal and plant breeding, and conservation biology. The magnitude of inbreeding depression can be quantified by the inbreeding load, typically measured in numbers of lethal equivalents, a population genetic quantity that allows for comparisons between environments, populations or species. However, there is as yet no quantitative assessment of which combinations of statistical models and metrics of inbreeding can yield such estimates. Here, we review statistical models that have been used to estimate inbreeding load and use population genetic simulations to investigate how unbiased estimates can be obtained using genomic and pedigree‐based metrics of inbreeding. We use simulated binary viability data (i.e., dead versus alive) as our example, but the concepts apply to any trait that exhibits inbreeding depression. We show that the increasingly popular generalized linear models with logit link do not provide comparable and unbiased population genetic measures of inbreeding load, independent of the metric of inbreeding used. Runs of homozygosity result in unbiased estimates of inbreeding load, whereas inbreeding measured from pedigrees results in slight overestimates. Due to widespread use of models that do not yield unbiased measures of the inbreeding load, some estimates in the literature cannot be compared meaningfully. We surveyed the literature for reliable estimates of the mean inbreeding load from wild vertebrate populations and found an average of 3.5 haploid lethal equivalents for survival to sexual maturity. To obtain comparable estimates, we encourage researchers to use generalized linear models with logarithmic links or maximum‐likelihood estimation of the exponential equation, and inbreeding coefficients calculated from runs of homozygosity, provided an assembled reference genome of sufficient quality and enough genetic marker data are available.


Human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are the major cause of the common cold. HRVs were recently reclassified into the Enterovirus genus (HEV) in the Picornaviridae family. HRVs and other members of the HEV genus share many common features, including sense RNA genomes and partial nucleotide sequence identity. The aim of this study was to evaluate different HRV detection strategies. Samples from adults with acute respiratory infection (n = 291) who were treated in Sao Paulo Hospital (2001-2003) were tested using three assays. The first assay detected picornaviruses by RT-PCR and hybridization, the second detected rhinoviruses using RT-PCR/sequencing, and the third differentiated HRV from HEV using duplex semi-nested-RT-PCR. Analysis of the results obtained from the first two strategies revealed 83% concordance. Discordant samples were then evaluated by the third protocol, and 82% were negative. The picornavirus detection protocol was more sensitive but less specific than the rhinovirus detection protocols. The semi-nested protocol utilized in the present study was less sensitive and was not useful in differentiating HRV from HEV. Sequencing assays examining different genes would address the best strategy of confirming rhinovirus and enterovirus infections.


Both the right of indigenous peoples to cultural integrity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments and punishments are vital features of the character of modern international law. However, these two essential components of modern international law do not always appear to see eye to eye with regards to corporal punishment as a criminal sanction in indigenous communities. Practices such as flogging and the stocks would normally be considered to fall within the torture spectrum or at least some kind of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under the various international instruments covering such crimes. However, notions of cultural integrity and identity cause uncertainty as to what status these practices should actually have in the context of indigenous peoples' rights. This article seeks to explain and offer a way to solve this disagreement. Specifically, while claiming that indigenous corporal punishment should be judged under the same standard as any other form of corporal punishment, it also proposes that, instead of a merely punitive approach, states should seek to establish transitional consultation processes under ILO Convention 169 to seek to discourage indigenous practices that breach international standards.


BACKGROUND
In recent years, new information has been acquired regarding the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of acute otitis media (AOM). The Italian Pediatric Society, therefore, decided to issue an update to the Italian Pediatric Society guidelines published in 2010.

METHODS
The search was conducted on Pubmed, and only those studies regarding the pediatric age alone, in English or Italian, published between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2018, were included. Each study included in the review was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) methodology. The quality of the systematic reviews was evaluated using the A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) 2 appraisal tool. The guidelines were formulated using the GRADE methodology by a multidisciplinary panel of experts.

RESULTS
The importance of eliminating risk factors (passive smoking, environmental pollution, use of pacifier, obesity, limitation of day-care center attendance) and the promotion of breastfeeding and hygiene practices (nasal lavages) was confirmed. The importance of pneumococcal vaccination in the prevention of AOM was reiterated with regard to the prevention of both the first episode of AOM and recurrences. Grommets can be inserted in selected cases of recurrent AOM that did not respond to all other prevention strategies. Antibiotic prophylaxis is not recommended for the prevention of recurrent AOM, except in certain carefully selected cases. The use of complementary therapies, probiotics, xylitol and vitamin D is not recommended.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevention of episodes of AOM requires the elimination of risk factors and pneumococcal and influenza vaccination. The use of other products such as probiotics and vitamin D is not supported by adequate evidence.


Background: kidney scan is a diagnostic procedure in nuclear medicine center to diagnose kidney diseases. With all the benefits of nuclear medicine images, undoubtedly work with radioactive materials would create many problems. For this reason, the measurement of absorbed dose of each method is useful for assessing risk and profit. The purpose of this study was to calculate absorbed dose of kidneys, liver, spleen, and bladder organs in kidney scintigraphy. Materials & Methods: In this study, each of the patients were injected with 10 mCi of 99m Tc-EC. Imaging of patients obtained at 2, 30, 60, 180 minutes after injection by using gamma camera. In each of the time by drawing the ROI on any of the organs and then the activity was obtained by using the conjugate view method. Finally, absorbed dose was calculated by using the MIRD method. Results: Absorbed doses per administered activity for liver, kidneys, spleen, and bladder obtained 13±0.66, 2.1±0.24, 2.2±0.38, 335.43±3.3 mrad/mCi respectively. Conclusion: in this study, Bladder and liver received highest and lowest absorbed doses respectively. Also, the results of this study, showed good agreement with ICRP no.106 report.


Marhofer and colleagues Malenfant Rancourt and colleagues Site Ulnar nerve (volunteers) Posterior tibial nerve (volunteers) Medication 3 ml ropivacaine 0.75% 10 ml ropivacaine 0.5% Dose of adjuvant 20 mg dexmedetomidine 1 mg kg dexmedetomidine ( 50–70 mg) Results Sensory block 350(SD 54) min ropivacaine only(5.8 h) vs 555 (118) min ropivacaine+ dexmedetomidine (9.25 h) 972 (SD 120) min ropivacaine only (16.2 h) vs 1290 (SD 72) min ropivacaine+ dexmedetomidine (21.5 h) Side-effects No haemodynamic variations Noticeable decrease in blood pressure and lowered heart rate in certain volunteers Complications None None


This chapter in John McDaniel and Ken Pease (eds) Policing and Artificial Intelligence, forthcoming in 2020, explores the way that greater accountability is being developed within UK policing in relation to automated police intelligence analysis tools (APIATs). Two of the most high-profile types of intelligence retention and analysis practices used by the Metropolitan Police have recently been found to be unlawful. Notably, these were i) the indefinite retention of a peaceable individual's records on a specialist domestic extremism database, and ii) the overly-lengthy retention of disproportionately BAME citizens in London on a 'Gangs Matrix'. These two findings, from the European Court of Human Rights and the UK Information Commissioner's Office, respectively, have been indications that forces that would heed the call of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary in 2018 to devote more resources toward investment in 'AI' for policing purposes must do so carefully. Indeed, the new National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS) project, based within West Midlands Police, has recently been the subject of critical ethical scrutiny on a number of fronts. The West Midlands force has had its own offering of a data-driven 'Integrated Offender Management' tool delayed by the demands for more clarity from a bespoke ethics committee. This has possibly headed off a later finding of unlawfulness in the courts, as there could possibly have been a challenge by way of judicial review on administrative law principles as well as data protection law and human rights and equality law. As a result, this chapter seeks to draw out lessons for policymakers from these early skirmishes in the field of 'predictive policing'. This piece also concludes with some observations about the need for a set of minimum standards of transparency in a statutory authorization process for algorithmic police intelligence analysis tools (APIATs), in a mooted Predictive Policing (Technology) Bill.


Energy consumption in buildings contributes more greenhouse gas emissions than either the industrial or transportation sectors, primarily due to space cooling and heating energy use, driven by the basic human need for thermal comfort and good indoor air quality. In recent years, there has been a proliferation of air conditioning in both residential and commercial buildings especially in the developing economic areas of the world, and, due to the warming climate and the growing disposable income in several densely populated developing countries, the energy demand for space cooling is dramatically increasing.

Although several previous studies focused on thermal comfort, there are only a few works on asymmetrical environments or transient conditions, such as those expected when mixed mode ventilation or other low energy techniques such as elevated air movement generated by ceiling fans are adopted in the residential sector. Moreover, even fewer studies addressed the accuracy of computer predictions of human thermal comfort in non-uniform environmental conditions. However, focusing on non-uniform thermal environments is important because the space conditioning systems that generate them are often likely to be less energy consuming than those which provide more homogeneous conditions. This is due to the fact that these less energy-intensive space conditioning systems tend to condition the occupants, and not the entire room.

The aim of this research was to investigate human thermal comfort in non-uniform transient environmental conditions, focusing in particular on the capability of predicting human thermal comfort in such conditions in residential buildings. Furthermore, this research investigated the energy savings that can be achieved in residential buildings when the same level of thermal comfort is delivered using less conventional, but lower-energy, approaches.

In this research, a combination of computer based modelling, experimental work in controlled environments, and data from field studies was used. Computer modelling comprised CFD coupled with a model of human thermal physiology and human thermal comfort, and dynamic thermal modelling. In the experimental work, environmental chambers were used to collect data to validate the coupled CFD model. The data from field studies on real domestic buildings in India and in the UK was used to identify the most relevant configurations to be modelled using the coupled system.

This research led to three main conclusions concerning thermal comfort in non-uniform environments: (i) the coupled model is able to predict human thermal comfort in complex non-uniform indoor configurations, as long as the environment around the human body is accurately modelled in CFD, and is superior to the traditional PMV model as both temporal and spatial variation and non-uniform conditions can be taken into account; (ii) dynamic thermal simulation completed using a dynamic cooling set-point showed that the energy demand for space cooling can be reduced by as much as 90% in mixed mode buildings by using ceiling fans, without jeopardising occupants' thermal comfort; and (iii) the accurate and validated transient three-dimensional CFD model of a typical Indian ceiling fan developed in this research can be used for any study that requires the air flow generated by a ceiling fan to be modelled in CFD.


The aim of this research is to investigate whether and how Strategic Quality Management (SQM) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can have an effect on each other. The fulfilment of this aim was by investigating the different aspects of the relationship between SQM and CSR to find the common ground for the integration and studying how the integration would be perceived by certain Saudi Arabian organisations, in terms of levels, natures and methods of the integration. In addition, this research will study the benefits, barriers, opportunities and motivations of the integration from the point of view of Saudi Arabian organisations within the dominant Islamic culture.

To realise this aim and objectives, this author applied a multi qualitative multiple-cases study. The researcher conducted interviews and documentary analysis with some Saudi Arabian organisations as well as conducting a focus group with the experts in this domain in Saudi Arabia. The methodology of this study required special considerations in order to ensure its validity and reliability. The sampling of the cases that were selected for this research was according to the recognition of the Saudi Arabian Responsible Competitiveness Index, which were also awarded the King Khalid Responsible Competitiveness Award for their responsible practices and CSR applications. The final sample of this research consisted of organisations from the healthcare, manufacturing, petrochemical and service sectors.

The findings showed that SQM and CSR have significant similarities in theory and major overlaps in practice. More importantly, the results strongly suggested that the integration between SQM and CSR could be viable in general and, more specifically, for Saudi Arabian organisations. Moreover, there were some indications of a cultural readiness to accept this integration to be applied in Saudi Arabia that is consistent with the Islamic teachings.

Therefore the major contribution to knowledge of this research is the development of a framework and model that can be applied by Saudi Arabian organisations to integrate their SQM and CSR. The framework and model were developed upon several criteria and considerations that would make the integration appropriate for this specific context. Based on the research results and the development of the integration framework and model, some recommendations are made that would widen this effort at three levels for organisations, governments or authorities, and for further research.


Abstract. Soil reflectance signatures were modeled using the digital imaging and remote sensing image generation model and Blender three-dimensional (3-D) graphic design software. Using these tools, the geometry, radiometry, and chemistry of quartz and magnetite were exploited to model the presence of particle size and porosity effects in the visible and the shortwave infrared spectrum. Using the physics engines within the Blender 3-D graphic design software, physical representations of granular soil scenes were created. Each scene characterized a specific particle distribution and density. Chemical and optical properties of pure quartz and magnetite were assigned to particles in the scene based on particle size. This work presents a model to describe an observed phase-angle dependence of beach sand density. Bidirectional reflectance signatures were simulated for targets of varying size distribution and density. This model provides validation for a phenomenological trade space between density and particle size distribution in complex, heterogeneous soil mixtures. It also confirms the suggestion that directional reflectance signatures can be defined by intimate mixtures that depend on pore spacing. The study demonstrated that by combining realistic target geometry and spectral measurements of pure quartz and magnetite, effects of soil particle size and density could be modeled without functional data fitting or rigorous analysis of material dynamics. This research does not use traditional function-based models for simulation. The combination of realistic geometry, physically viable particle structure, and first-principles ray-tracing enables the ability to represent signature changes that have been observed in experimental observations.


Abstract The Lower Carboniferous Mobarak Formation in the Alborz Basin (northern Iran) was deposited along the northeastern margin of Gondwana in a carbonate ramp setting. This paper focuses on the Tournaisian stratigraphic interval of this formation that crops out at the Jaban section in the southwestern Central Alborz Basin. The following facies associations, representing different ramp palaeoenvironments, have been identified: (1) mudstone–wackestone outer-ramp facies; (2) crinoidal to skeletal grainstone–packstone mid-ramp facies; (3) peloidal to crinoidal grainstone–packstone inner-ramp facies; and (4) coastal facies, which include a variety of microbial laminated to oncoidal grainstones and mudstones with evaporitic pseudomorphs. This ramp profile was affected by frequent storms that were responsible for the formation of several skeletal to non-skeletal shoals in the distal mid-ramp to the most proximal inner-ramp areas. The development of the skeletal to non-skeletal shoals along the sea side of the ramp formed a semi-enclosed lagoon sensitive to the influence of both high tides and storm surges. The magnetic susceptibility (χin) of all the samples was measured and compared with that of the facies from which the sample was taken. There is a clear link between χin and the facies; the average χin values were higher for the distal facies than for the proximal facies. The χin profile of this Lower Carboniferous carbonate sequence reflects stratigraphic variations in response to relative changes in sea level and the input of detrital materials. In the context of the sequence stratigraphic framework, the average χin values for lowstand and transgressive systems tract deposits are higher than for the highstand systems tract deposits. The clear link between χin and facies indicates at least a partly preserved primary χin signal related to the detrital inputs. However, to obtain a better understanding of the nature and origin of the minerals carrying the χin, we performed hysteresis measurements on selected samples. It appears that the χin signal is mainly carried by low-coercivity ferromagnetic minerals such as magnetite, with a mixture of relatively coarse grains (detrital fraction) and ultra-fine grains (probably formed during diagenesis).


Television watching is a social experience. People watch the same TV programs and are talking about shows, movies, discussing, analyzing and recommending. With the rise of the Smart TV platforms the domain of Augmented Entertainment is changing. There are new ways to watch and discuss about television shows, to integrate the web experience with the TV one. There is an opportunity to involve the user and make it an active entity during or after the show. It could be automatically enhanced with related content from other shows or generated by other users. For example, the documentary about Second World War could be enhanced automatically with related and personal videos, images, blogs or testimonials.
There is a growing trend of using Internet while watching TV shows. There are already several reports concerning this new consumer behavior:
- 50% of US TV viewers watch TV and use Internet simultaneously every day (Clustalabs)
- 86% of US mobile internet users use their phone while watching TV (Yahoo).
- 72% of under 25's in the UK comment on programs via social networks (Digital Clarity)
- 30% of total iPad usage is while watching TV (Nielsen)
A second-screen e-learning platform will promote "personalized edutainment" and peer learning by collecting data from various sources in order to identify and provide personalized, relevant, appealing, informative content complementary to entertainment. It will facilitate e-inclusion and involvement for everybody, connecting people to the relevant information aggregated from various sources and offering it on easy to use platforms like the TV. Also, it will facilitate the user to enhance the TV show with personal multimedia content.


The hypothyroidism is the most commonly endocrinopathy in dogs, that occurs preferentially in middle-aged pure breed. The clinical signs associated with hypothyroidism are variable, many times non-specific, including metabolical, dermatological or cardiovascular. The main laboratorial findings are non-regenerative anemia and hypercholesterolemia. Hyponatremia, increase on alanine transferase and alkaline phosphatase activity also can be observed in a lower frequency. There are some reports of peripheral neuropathies caused by hypothyroidism, but the pathophysiology of this process is still unknown. There are specific diagnostic tests that can be used to help diagnose hypothyroidism, and those should be aligned together with the animal´s clinical symptoms. The thyroxine stimulating hormone, and free and total thyroxine concentrations are the most used tests. A Pit Bull dog, female, over weighted, was treated presenting left facial paralysis. Thyroid function tests confirmed hypothyroidism. The animal was treated with hormonal replacement and there was improvement in clinical signs in 40 days, confirming that hypothyroidism was facial paralysis' cause.


In many vehicle and space structures, friction in bolted joints is the primary source of energy dissipation during vibrations. Several simplified finite element models have proven their capacity to describe the energy dissipation owing to micro-slip in joints. However, these simplified models require extensive physical testing in order to extract model parameters. This paper proposes a methodology based on non-linear FE-analysis of the loading on joints for numerical evaluation of the energy dissipation due to micro-slip. The methodology is extended to allow for computation of modal damping in vibrating structures. Presented applications include studies of an isolated joint as well as a more complex structure subjected to dynamic excitation.


Inspired by Atul Gawande's bestselling Checklist Manifesto, many commentators have called for checklists to solve complex problems in law and public policy. We study a unique natural experiment to provide the first systematic evidence of checklists in law. In 2005, the Public Health Department of Seattle and King County revised its health code, subjecting half of inspection items to a checklist, with others remaining on a free‐form recall basis. Through in‐depth qualitative analysis, we identify the subset of code items that remained substantively identical across revisions, and then apply difference‐in‐differences to isolate the checklist effect in more than 95,000 inspections from 2001–2009. Contrary to scholarly and popular claims that checklists can improve the administration of law, the checklist has no detectable effect on inspector behavior. Making a violation more salient by elevating it from "noncritical" to "critical" status, however, has a pronounced effect. The benefits of checklists alone are considerably overstated.


Amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene encodes the short peptide fragment amyloid-beta-protein present in senile plaque cores, cerebrovascular amyloid, and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer disease (AD). Using in situ hybridization with biotin-labeled RNA probes, we found distinctive patterns of APP gene expression in different regions of postmortem human brain. Strong hybridization signal for APP messenger RNA (mRNA) was detected in specific classes of neurons, fascicular oligodendroglia, satellite glia, and presumptive microglia. Weaker signal was seen in other neuronal classes, fascicular astrocytes, and vascular endothelial cells, but no signal was seen in protoplasmic astrocytes. Human thymus also shows a restricted pattern of hybridization with high signal in reticular epithelial cells, and much lower signal in lymphocytes. In AD patients, neuronal hybridization for APP mRNA was specifically increased in hippocampus, but not cerebellar and visual cortex when compared to hybridization for neuron-specific enolase mRNA. Most neurons with neurofibrillary tangles had strong APP mRNA signal. These results suggest that APP gene expression is highly regulated in normal tissue, that many different cell classes in brain express the APP gene, and that neuronal expression may increase specifically in brain regions where widespread injury occurs in AD. Amyloid deposits in brains of AD patients might be explained by local production of precursor protein in endothelial cells, neurons or glia.


Abnormal formation of solid thrombus inside a blood vessel can cause thrombotic morbidity and mortality. This necessitates early stage diagnosis, which requires quantitative assessment with a small volume, for effective therapy with low risk to unwanted development of various diseases. We propose a micro-ultrasonic diagnosis using an all-optical ultrasound-based spectral sensing (AOUSS) technique for sensitive and quantitative characterization of early stage and whole blood coagulation. The AOUSS technique detects and analyzes minute viscoelastic variations of blood at a micro-ultrasonic spot (<100 μm) defined by laser-generated focused ultrasound (LGFU). This utilizes (1) a uniquely designed optical transducer configuration for frequency-spectral matching and wideband operation (6 dB widths: 7-32 MHz and d.c. ∼ 46 MHz, respectively) and (2) an empirical mode decomposition (EMD)-based signal process particularly adapted to nonstationary LGFU signals backscattered from the spot. An EMD-derived spectral analysis enables one to assess viscoelastic variations during the initiation of fibrin formation, which occurs at a very early stage of blood coagulation (1 min) with high sensitivity (frequency transition per storage modulus increment = 8.81 MHz/MPa). Our results exhibit strong agreement with those obtained by conventional rheometry (Pearson's R > 0.95), which are also confirmed by optical microscopy. The micro-ultrasonic and high-sensitivity detection of AOUSS poses a potential clinical significance, serving as a screening modality to diagnose early stage clot formation (e.g., as an indicator for hypercoagulation of blood) and stages of blood-to-clot transition to check a potential risk for development into thrombotic diseases.


Abstract The paper centres on the battle(s) that have been, and are being, fought over children's rights under the Irish Constitution. The author assesses whether the Irish Constitution, as it stands, qualifies as a 'children's rights constitution' under which children are afforded special recognition in terms of their rights rather than their welfare. The likelihood that any constitutional amendment proposed in the near future will succeed in bringing the Irish Constitution into the 'children's rights' category of constitution, is considered. The author addresses both the issue of the alleged desirability of a 'children's rights constitution' and the extent to which the Irish Constitution (or any constitution, in fact) can and should protect the various rights and interests of children.


Numerical simulations of the collapse and spreading of granular columns onto a horizontal plane using the Contact Dynamics method are presented. The results are in agreement with previous experimental work. The final shape of the deposit appears to depend only on the initial aspect ratio a of the column. The normalized runout distance has a power-law dependence on the aspect ratio a, a dependence incompatible with a simple friction model. The dynamics of the collapse is shown to be mostly controlled by a free fall of the column. Energy dissipation at the base of the column can be described simply by a coefficient of restitution. Hence the energy available for the sideways flow is proportional to the initial potential energy $E_0$. The dissipation process within the sideways flow is approximated well by basal friction, unlike the behaviour of the runout distance. The proportion of mass ejected sideways is shown to play a determining role in the spreading process: as a increases, the same fraction of initial potential energy $E_0$ drives an increasing proportion of the initial mass against friction. This gives a possible explanation for the power-law dependence of the runout distance on a. We propose a new scaling for the runout distance that matches the data well, is compatible with a friction model, and provides a qualitative explanation of the column collapse.


Pre-trained language models have been found to capture a surprisingly rich amount of lexical knowledge, ranging from commonsense properties of everyday concepts to detailed factual knowledge about named entities. Among others, this makes it possible to distill high-quality word vectors from pre-trained language models. However, it is currently unclear to what extent it is possible to distill relation embeddings, i.e. vectors that characterize the relationship between two words. Such relation embeddings are appealing because they can, in principle, encode relational knowledge in a more fine-grained way than is possible with knowledge graphs. To obtain relation embeddings from a pre-trained language model, we encode word pairs using a (manually or automatically generated) prompt, and we fine-tune the language model such that relationally similar word pairs yield similar output vectors. We find that the resulting relation embeddings are highly competitive on analogy (unsupervised) and relation classification (supervised) benchmarks, even without any task-specific fine-tuning. Source code to reproduce our experimental results and the model checkpoints are available in the following repository: https://github.com/asahi417/relbert


BACKGROUND
Type 2 diabetes mellitus may affect profoundly the quality of life of patients.

AIM
To assess health related quality of life among patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The Diabetes Quality of Life (DQOL) questionnaire was applied to 296 patients with diabetes mellitus aged 63 ± lO years (201 women) seen in primary health care centers.

RESULTS
The concern about the future effects of diabetes was the worst evaluated domain. Women perceived a lower health related quality of life than men. There was an inverse correlation between age and satisfaction with treatment, concern about vocational, social and future effects of the disease.

CONCLUSIONS
Type 2 diabetes affects health related quality of life, especially in some specific domains such as perception of the future.


Peritoneal lavage is an established emergency diagnostic tool in cases of suspected damage inside the abdomen due to blunt and occasionally penetrating abdominal trauma. This is a relatively safe procedure which is often useful in recognizing intra-abdominal bleeding requiring surgical exploration. The procedure requires careful patient selection and technique, together with awareness of the limitations of the procedure and the ability to interpret the returns of peritoneal lavage.


In this paper, the TiO2-based varistor ceramics added different donor additives were prepared and their propreties had been compared. The effects of added methods and added amounts of V2O5 (Nb2O5, or Ta2O5) on the microstructure, dielectric and varistor properties of TiO2 double functional ceramics were investigated. The ceramic phase and the microstructure of the disks were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The frequency dependences of the samples capacitance (C), the dielectric loss (tanδ) were determined on LCR meter, and the varistor voltage V1mA was measured by using FC-2G meter. It is found that the proper amount of V2O5, Nb2O5 or Ta2O5 additves can promote the growth of the crystal and the formation of the grain boundary layer at a different extent. Meanwhile, the proper addition amount can increases the nonlinear exponent and the dielectric constant, but decreases the breakdown voltage. It can also improve the sintering properties of the samples.


The colon is a site where both local and systemic delivery of drugs can take place. Local delivery allows topical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. However, treatment can be made effective if the drugs can be targeted directly into the colon, thereby reducing the systemic side effects. This review, mainly compares the primary approaches for CDDS (Colon Specific Drug Delivery) namely prodrugs, pH and time dependent systems, and microbially triggered systems, which achieved limited success and had limitations as compared with newer CDDS namely pressure controlled colonic delivery capsules, CODESTM, and osmotic controlled drug delivery which are unique in terms of achieving in vivo site specificity, and feasibility of manufacturing process.


The challenges of improving efficiency and safety is a daunting task as workers are squeezed with an ever-dwindling resource pool and yet expected to deliver construction projects at optimum capacity. Improving efficiency and safety using telescopic cranes for the construction of Off-Site Manufacturing (OSM) timber kit homes is a viable option for the speedy delivery of new homes. An action research evaluated the maximization of the build and process efficiency and safety using a crane to erect wall panels, floors, and roofs. Data collection through direct observation assessed the labor uptime and downtime, including crane usage. A balanced score card was used by management for strategic organizational decision-making regarding the crane erection. The use of the crane reduced workplace manual handling of OSM panels, minimized the exposure of operatives to work at height risks, and eliminated alterations to scaffolds. However, the manual loading of thermal-insulated plasterboards to floor decks impacted the process efficiency and speed of installing the fixtures and increased the risk of musculoskeletal disorders. High labor downtimes were associated with the adverse weather conditions, which slowed the efficiency of the workforce during construction. The management's inability to adequately plan the work program further hindered aspects of lifting operations and the speed and number of houses built.


We study the impact of homeowning on the cognitive and behavioral outcomes of children. Using four waves of a comprehensive national panel data set, we control for many social, demographic and economic variables previously found to influence child outcomes. The data are a panel, allowing us to control for unobserved household- and child-specific factors. We use a treatment effects model to address the issue of possible sample selection bias caused by unobserved variables that influence both the parent's choice of whether to own or rent and whether to invest in their children. We find that owning a home compared with renting leads to a 13 to 23% higher quality home environment, greater cognitive ability and fewer child behavior problems. For children living in owned homes, math achievement is up to 9% higher, reading achievement is up to 7% higher, and children's behavioral problems are 1 to 3% lower. Copyright 2002 American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.


Background: The southern part of Namibia's terrain is highly inaccessible making it difficult to explore. Expeditions into difficult terrain can result in new biological discoveries for Namibia. Monsonia herrei has been recorded for South Africa, but has not previously been recorded for Namibia.Objectives: As part of updating the biodiversity records of Namibia, we report the occurrence of a species not previously recorded for the Namibian flora.Method: A botanical field trip was undertaken in September 2014 to the far south of Namibia in the Aussenkehr region along the Orange River. Plant identification was carried out based on herbarium vouchers, observation and photographic records. One collection constituted a new record of the species for Namibia. A voucher specimen of this new record was collected and deposited at the National Botanical Research Institute Herbarium (WIND). Plant identification was confirmed by experts on plants from the region.Results: One species not previously recorded for Namibia, namely Monsonia herrei (L. Bolus) F. Albers, was found during the exploration of the Aussenkehr area.Conclusions: This new record for Namibia confirms the need to update the inventory of the flora of Namibia.


In her book Women, Manuscripts and Identity in Northern Europe, 1350–1550, Joni M. Hand, assistant professor in art history at the Southeast Missouri State University, sets out to explore in which way illuminations in devotional manuscripts belonging to aristocratic women in the later Middle Ages reflect their religious, political, and/or genealogical concerns through portraits, coats of arms, marginalia, and texts. She also aims to incorporate how the same women respond to changes in religious doctrines, political life, and educational ideology in the same period – a great and ambiguous task.


A new bidentate Schiff base ligand has been synthesized with the use of 2,2,4,4-tetrahydroxybenzophenone and1naphthylamine. Its mixed ligand complexes of (MAQ) types [M= Mn (II),Co(II),Cu(II),Zn(II),Cd(II)and Hg(II); (HA)=Schiff base and (HQ)=8-hydroxy quinoline] . Ligand (HA) and complexes have been identified with the spectroscopic and analytical analyses including; microanalysis, thermal analyses, chloride content, conductance, magnetic susceptibility for complexes, UV-Visible, FTIR, and 1H,13C-NMR spectroscopy. The physico-chemical methods indicated the complexes which have been shown 4 and 6 coordinate structures in solution and solid states. The ligand (HA) binds with the ions of M(II) through azomethine and de-protonated phenolic group and ligand (HQ) binds via the azomethine in the ring and de-protonated phenolic group. Thermal analysis was used to confirm the existence of coordination H2O molecule in complexes structure. According to mentioned characterization methods, Mixed ligand complexes of bivalent ion of Mn(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) of the according to formula [M(A)(Q)] in which [M= Mn(II),Zn(II),Cd(II)and Hg(II)] and the formula [M(A)(Q)(H2O)2] in which [M= Co(II)and Cu(II)] in (1:1:1) of molar ratio. In vitro biological free ligand (HA) activities, 8-hydroxy quinoline (HQ) and their metal complexes were observed for bacteria, E. coli and S. aureus by well diffusion technique.


Long thought to be hypocoagulable, new evidence suggests cirrhosis patients have "rebalanced" coagulation in the setting of decreased synthesis of both pro- and anti-coagulant factors. Traditional testing like PT/INR reflects only the decreased synthesis of pro-coagulant factors and thus does not correspond to bleeding or clotting risk in this population. In this review, we discuss the use of viscoelastic testing (VET), an assay of global hemostasis in cirrhosis patients. We describe the technique and interpretation of commercially available VET and assess the application of VET in both transplant and non-transplant cirrhosis populations. VET largely correlates well with traditional testing including platelet count and fibrinogen level, however, is potentially less accurate in patients with low fibrinogen levels. VET may be useful in identifying patients at higher risk of hypercoagulable complications post-transplant and reflects changes in hemostasis in decompensated patients. While VET has been associated with decreased transfusion support in multiple studies, the lack of bleeding in patients who avoided prophylactic transfusion suggests a "rescue" rather than prophylactic approach to transfusion may be ideal and further studies with a "rescue" arm are needed. Additional prospective studies of VET should include clinically relevant endpoints of bleeding and thrombosis.


Though prevalence and awareness for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has steadily increased, a true understanding is hard to reach because of the behavior-based nature of the diagnosis and the heterogeneity of its manifestations. Parents and caregivers often informally discuss symptoms and behaviors they observe from their children with autism through online medical forums, contrasting the more traditional and structured text of electronic medical records collected by doctors. We modify an anchor word driven topic model algorithm originally proposed by Arora et al. (2012a) to elicit and compare the medical concept topics, or "themes" from both modes of data: the novel data set of posts from autism-specific online medical forums and electronic medical records. We present methods to extract relevant medical concepts from colloquially written forum posts through the use of choice sections of the consumer health vocabulary and other filtering techniques. In order to account for the sparsity of concept data, we propose and evaluate a more robust approach to selecting anchor words that takes into account variance and inclusivity. This approach that combines concept and anchor words selection seeds the discussion about how unstructured text can influence and expand understanding of the enigmatic disorder, autism, and how these methods can be applied to similar sources of texts to solve other problems. The code and its instructions can be found at https://github.com/jming/thesis. Any questions or comments can be directed to email@example.com.


The Community Health Center Jaten II was located in  Ngringo Village, Karanganyar,  the solidest village in Karanganyar. Amount of  W/PUS are 5396 while  just  364 of them have been screened by IVA test during 20 months. This result is similar with 8,43% from the Puskesmas's target that is 4316 W/PUS (80% of totally W/PUS). So most required  the breakthrough to solve this problem with follow-up Early Detection of Cervix Uteri Cancer by IVA Test. Early detecting, giving information about Cancer of Cervix Uteri, and motivating for the inspection of routine periodically to health facility. Patient screening with the Communication, Information and Education at PKK meeting, Posyandu cadre, inter sectoral. The population is  Woman / Fertile Age Couple ( W/PUS). Among 102 participants, there are 4 mothers with positive of precancer lesion, one a mother who was recovered and other has cancelled to follow because pregnant. Conclusion that after conducted by counselling and inspection of IVA test, there are improving of mother knowledge regarding early detection of cervix uteri cancer by inspection of IVA Test. Suggestion. Women who has active sexual should to IVA test. Once a year for men and adult society has been sexual active should support and motivate their women to intend IVA Test examination. To Community Health Center in order to increase of DDKLR.


Following Domenech and Gomez (2006), and using quarterly Peruvian data for 1970:1-2007:4, I estimate a model that exploits the information contained in the inflation, unemployment and private investment rates in order to estimate non-observable variables as output gap, the NAIRU and the core infflation. The unknown parameters are estimated by maximun likelihood using a Kalman filter initialized with a partially diffuse prior, and the unobserved components are estimated using a smoothing algorithm. The results suggest that only the inflation rate contains useful information in order to estimate the output gap. Estimates suggest poor performance for the unemployment and private investment rates. I explain this issue as related to the poor quality of the construction of these variables. In order to perform a sensitivity analysis, I estimate the output gap using other alternative methods. The correlations are very different and very far away from the estimates obtained in this paper. It is clear that estimates obtained from simple statistic filters gives poor approximations.


The placement of rectangular objects without overlapping on a bounded surface is a generic problem that may h a v e many applications. Space planning, chipset placement, cutting-stock problems, point-feature label placement, or the placement o f articles on a newspaper page, are all instances of this more abstract problem. All these applications are concerned with the insertion of rectangular objects on a part of a bounded free surface. It is therefore important to be able to eeciently model the free space of the bounded surface. In this article we present a method to compute free space. The method is based on an iterative insertion process. Our algorithm neither depends on the size of the object to insert, nor on the method of placement. The rst feature improves eeciency, while the second allows us to compare diierent placement methods, and to parameterize the placement system using resolution heuristics.


This research focuses on the study of the effective practices of risk assessment for the Omani electoral systems at the Ministry of Interior (MOI). In Oman, the assessment of risk in e-voting system is a crucial matter and it is very important to handle carefully. This is the risk associated with people working with MOI or to individuals associated with the election process in Oman. The problem is how to identify the most risky factors involved e-voting and how to mitigate or permanently resolve the perceived risks. The objectives of this study focus on the evaluation of e-voting risk management culture; the assessment the risks of the old and the new e-voting system and the development of an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) model to find the most risky elements of the old e-voting system. The method used was based on questionnaires, the risks relating with e-voting system was examined. Data pertaining to the old e-voting system was collected by questionnaire. Next step was the questionnaire conducted on risk assessment of the old e-voting system. After data analysis it was concluded four most risky factors involved in the voting were: Slow voting process, voter cheating by ink removal, voter cheating by using different machines and errors due to lack of knowledge. Next AHP method was used to develop a model for decision analysis on finding the risks factors that are more important than others. The new e-voting model which uses citizen ID has proven to be robust. The only weakness the results have indicated is: errors due to lack of knowledge; this can be the only risky issue for the new e-voting system. Results show that seventy nine (79) or 96. 3 % of the employees believe that errors will arise due to the Omani citizens` lack of knowledge of how to vote correctly with the e-voting. Voter cheating by using different machines; this was the second highest risk factor for the old e-voting system. However; it is almost not existent issues with the new e-voting system. Eighty two (82) of the respondents, which is 100%, claimed that they did not encounter any cheating by using different machines. The respondents indicate that the voting process is much faster in the new e-voting system when compared with old e-voting system. That is 100% of the respondents believe the system faster than its predecessor. And finally the number of respondents (employees of MOI and Election department) who agreed that paper work is good alternative is 80 individuals; which correspond to 97.6% of the employees. It is concluded that without creating solid risk assessment; the typical characteristics of sound e-voting system with minimum risks will be entirely absent.


Halogenated hydrophobic organic contaminants (HHOCs), such as chlorinated benzenes and polychlorinated biphenyls, are common soil contaminants. We propose a new method for treating soils contaminated by HHOCs by extracting the contaminants with a solvent, then destroying the contaminants catalytically, enabling the solvent to be reused. Here, we report on the assessment of this technology at the lab scale, operating in a semicontinuous mode where the solvent is recycled in a closed loop. The solvent employed was a mixture of water and ethanol, the catalyst was 1% palladium (Pd) on porous alumina, and hydrogen gas was used as the reductant. We tested the process on two soils: Texas sandy loam contaminated in the laboratory, and Florida sandy clay loam collected from a contaminated field site. The technology worked successfully on the Texas soil: over 90% of the contamination (pentachlorophenol and 1,2,4,5‐tetrachlorobenzene) could be extracted and destroyed within 1 week using a solvent flow rate of 0.005 L/(min‐kg soil) and a residence time of ∼3.5 min in the catalytic reactor. Seven batches of soil were treated (one week each) without needing to replace the solvent. Catalyst activity decreased over time but was recovered by cleaning the catalyst with a dilute solution of hypochlorite. However, the process was unsuccessful at treating the Florida soil because of rapid catalyst deactivation. We believe that the proposed technology (called remedial extraction and catalytic hydrodehalogenation, or REACH) is a promising "green" technology if we can protect the catalyst from deactivation; possible methods for achieving this are discussed. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2010.


The article by Yao and coworkers in this issue (Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 2008;39:7-18) reveals that the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21CIP1/WAF1/SDI1 (designated hereafter as p21), which has been linked to cell cycle growth arrest due to stress or danger cell responses, may modulate alveolar inflammation and alveolar destruction, and thus enlightens our present understanding of how the lung senses injury due to cigarette smoke and integrates these responses with those that activate inflammatory pathways potentially harmful to the lung. Furthermore, the interplay of p21 and cellular processes involving cell senescence and the imbalance of cell proliferation/apoptosis may provide us with a more logical explanation of how p21, acting as a sensor of cellular stress, might have such potent and wide roles in lung responses triggered by cigarette smoke. Molecular switches, ontologically designed for the protection of the host, are now hijacked by injurious stresses (such as cigarette smoke), leading to organ damage.


This paper uses a lifecycle model to study household finance in China, focusing on the high savings rate, the low stock market participation rate and the low share of stocks in wealth. We control for important regime changes in China in the estimation of structural parameters, and examine their impacts on household finance patterns. Relative to the US, the distinctive financial choices of households in China are driven by institutional factors, such as labor market risks and costs of asset market participation, as well as by differences in preferences. Specifically, large stock market participation and adjustment costs along with high stock market volatility in China lead to the relatively low stock market participation rate and the low share of stocks in wealth conditional on participation, but they contribute little to the high savings rate. The high savings rate in China is driven mainly by high labor market risks and the patience of households. Given the estimated differences between China and the US in preferences, the model predicts that households in China would continue to save more than their US counterparts even if institutional differences disappear.


Guaranteeing quality of service (QoS) is one of the most critical challenges in IEEE 802.11-based wireless networks. This study proposes an analytical framework to evaluate hybrid medium access control (MAC) scheduling mechanisms with distributed resource reservation (RR), that was proposed for the IEEE 802.11e-enhanced distributed channel access protocol for guaranteeing QoS. The hybrid MAC scheduling mechanisms split the airtime into service intervals with contention-free period for QoS guaranteed real-time sessions (RTSNs), and contention access period for other traffic sessions. The distributed RR ensures that the resources are allocated to RTSNs without the support of a centralised controller-this makes it suitable for ad hoc networking applications. The proposed analytical framework models the QoS (i.e. delay and throughput) performance of RTSNs with dedicated resources in a distributed environment, and also estimates the overall capacity of the network. Moreover, the derived models can be used to investigate the impact of changes to individual system parameters, such as service interval or size of transmission opportunity. The simulation results show that the proposed analytical framework precisely models the QoS performance of RTSNs and predicts the optimum resource allocation for improved network capacity.


Deep neural networks are often applied to medical images to automate the problem of medical diagnosis. However, a more clinically relevant question that practitioners usually face is how to predict the future trajectory of a disease. Current methods for prognosis or disease trajectory forecasting often require domain knowledge and are complicated to apply. In this paper, we formulate the prognosis prediction problem as a one-to-many prediction problem. Inspired by a clinical decision-making process with two agents - a radiologist and a general practitioner - we predict prognosis with two transformer-based components that share information with each other. The first transformer in this framework aims to analyze the imaging data, and the second one leverages its internal states as inputs, also fusing them with auxiliary clinical data. The temporal nature of the problem is modeled within the transformer states, allowing us to treat the forecasting problem as a multi-task classification, for which we propose a novel loss. We show the effectiveness of our approach in predicting the development of structural knee osteoarthritis changes and forecasting Alzheimer's disease clinical status directly from raw multi-modal data. The proposed method outperforms multiple state-of-the-art baselines with respect to performance and calibration, both of which are needed for real-world applications. An open-source implementation of our method is made publicly available at https://github.com/Oulu-IMEDS/CLIMATv2.


Since the sequencing of the human genome and the development of high throughput genotyping techniques, many genes have been identified that are associated with a variety of diseases through their SNPs and mutations. For example, in lung cancer, mutations in the gene encoding epidermal growth factor reporter (EGFR) can confer either positive therapeutic response or drug resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Additionally, mutations in the BRAF gene are strongly associated with cancerous thyroid nodules. In the early and post-treatment stages of cancer or in prenatal diagnostics, the proportion of the mutant allele is typically low within a background of wild-type. Even after amplification by standard PCR, the low levels of the minority allele that are present in tumor tissue or in plasma circulating DNA are not sufficient to permit genotyping or sequencing. Mutation detection plays a key role in several areas of medicine including diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. In cancer-related gene mutation diagnostics, low-level ( A snapback primer is a tail at the 5′ end of a primer that is complementary to its own extension product. When intramolecular hybridization is favored over intermolecular pairing, a hairpin is formed whose stem melting behavior depends on sequence. Rapid cycle PCR with a short extension time (0 sec) and an extension temperature lower than the Tm of the hairpin of the wild-type, perfectly matched allele obstructs primer extension while mismatched alleles denature, thus providing the competitive advantage and preferential amplification of minority alleles. Minority alleles down to 0.1% (1:1000) can be detected. Even greater detection sensitivity can be achieved using allele specific PCR, probe blocking and melting analysis. Unlabeled probes, dual hybridization probes, or molecular beacons can be used. Allele-specific competitive blocker PCR (ACB-PCR) was modified by using asymmetric PCR and melting analysis to increase the sensitivity. The probe serves as both a blocker and produces the probe melting curve to implement detection. Mutation detection by probe melting curve analysis is more reliable than PCR quantification because only the specifically amplified allele produces the melting curve associated with the target. Quantitative PCR with dsDNA dyes cannot distinguish the intended PCR product from primer dimers and other non-specific PCR products. In contrast, when using probe melting curves to detect mutations, the melting temperature and overall melting profile of probe melting curves specifically identify the known mutant target. Additionally, based upon probe melting temperatures of wild-type and mutant hybrids, a precise annealing temperature between these Tms guarantees that the PCR selectively amplifies the minority allele. Low allele specific primer concentrations (asymmetric PCR) further increase the sensitivity and increase the probe signal allowing a sensitivity of 0.001% (1:105) mutant to wild-type genomic DNA, or just a single copy in a 500 ng genomic DNA. Methods that do not require labeled probes (snapback primer and unlabeled probes) can be used to selectively amplify minority alleles by methods that are rapid (less than 20 minutes), easy to design, inexpensive and reliable. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2011;4(10 Suppl):A23.


Two general population studies examined the association of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) with the Aggression Questionnaire, and any sex differences in this relationship. SDO and RWA were both associated with aggression; however, contradictory sex differences were found. In Study 1 (N = 270), SDO and aggression was associated for females but not males; the opposite was found in Study 2 (N = 178). A model of the relationships between SDO, RWA, sex, hostility, anger and physical aggression was constructed and evaluated for Study 1. Study 2 included additional measures including instrumental/expressive aggression, femininity/masculinity, gender group identification and sexism. SDO was related to instrumental aggression, suggesting that social dominators use aggression instrumentally. Masculinity/femininity did not have a major effect on the aggressionSDO/RWA relationship; however, gender identity mediated the relationship between sex and SDO, replicating previous challenges of the invariance hypothesis


To the Editor. —Clinical allergy's most distressing problem is its inability to validate solid clinical observations with any degree of scientific validity. This relates to the editorial by Schwartz 1 in the August Archives. Dr Schwartz refers to skin tests as "validating" clinical observations. Skin tests are never quantitative and experience indicates that they are only corroborative. When the skin test result disagrees with clinical facts it should be disregarded. A patient who is clearly clinically sensitive whether to hymenoptera, to an animal pet, to pollen, or any other allergens may have a negative skin test just as a positive skin test may be seen in the absence of clinical evidence. It would be impossible to practice effectively without accepting such a dictum. Believe the patient, not the skin test, should be axiomatic unless the test is corroborative. I would not question the effectiveness of venom in testing and


Prospective measures of risk factors for partner abuse were obtained from a large birth cohort in 4 domains: socioeconomic resources, family relations, educational achievements, and problem behaviors. Partner abuse outcomes were measured at age 21. Results showed that antecedents of abuse included risk factors from all 4 domains. Risk factors were similar for men and women. Some age 3 antecedents were significant, but the strongest correlations were from age 15. In multivariate analyses, the most consistent predictor was the presence of early problem behaviors. In a cross-validation tests, abuse was moderately predictable by the same antecedents, whether the outcome measure was self-report or reports from partners of sample members. Findings suggest that theories of partner abuse should account for developmental influences from multiple life domains and that primary prevention of partner abuse should begin in adolescence.


Long-QT syndrome is a potentially lethal cardiac channelopathy that can be mistaken for palpitations, neurocardiogenic syncope, and epilepsy. Delayed diagnosis of long QT syndrome is frequent. Symptoms are often attributed to alternative diagnoses, most commonly seizure disorders. Long QT syndrome has significant mortality, which is reduced with appropriate management. We aim to underline the importance of clinical awareness and correct management to reduce the fatal cases of this syndrome.


Modular products and reconfigurable testing processes are crucial in modern manufacturing. This paper discusses the concept of product modularity, test modules of increased reusability and exchangeability, and some aspects of design for testability. A methodology for design of modular products for testability in the presence of testing modules is developed. An integrated approach to design of modular products and test processes is discussed. The relationship between product modularity and design for testability is explored. This paper focuses on digital circuits which may be difficult to decompose into modules. The impact of testability on module sizes is considered. The testability points are identified at the circuit level while modular testing is considered at the board and system level. The main contribution of this paper is in the development of a formal approach to modularize products, and to assess the impact of modularity on the design process and testability.


[1] This study presents surface wave dispersion maps across the contiguous United States determined using seismic ambient noise. Two years of ambient noise data are used from March 2003 through February 2005 observed at 203 broadband seismic stations in the US, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. Cross-correlations are computed between all station-pairs to produce empirical Green functions. At most azimuths across the US, coherent Rayleigh wave signals exist in the empirical Green functions implying that ambient noise in the frequency band of this study (5–100 s period) is sufficiently isotropically distributed in azimuth to yield largely unbiased dispersion measurements. Rayleigh and Love wave group and phase velocity curves are measured together with associated uncertainties determined from the temporal variability of the measurements. A sufficient number of measurements (>2000) is obtained between 8 and 25 s period for Love waves and 8 and 70 s period for Rayleigh waves to produce tomographic dispersion maps. Both phase and group velocity maps are presented in these period bands. Resolution is estimated to be better than 100 km across much of the US from 8–40 s period for Rayleigh waves and 8–20 s period for Love waves, which is unprecedented in a study at this spatial scale. At longer and shorter periods, resolution degrades as the number of coherent signals diminishes. The dispersion maps agree well with each other and with known geological and tectonic features and, in addition, provide new information about structures in the crust and uppermost mantle beneath much of the US.


Photonic crystals have great potential for use as laser-driven accelerator structures. A photonic crystal is a dielectric structure arranged in a periodic geometry. Like a crystalline solid with its electronic band structure, the modes of a photonic crystal lie in a set of allowed photonic bands. Similarly, it is possible for a photonic crystal to exhibit one or more photonic band gaps, with frequencies in the gap unable to propagate in the crystal. Thus photonic crystals can confine an optical mode in an all-dielectric structure, eliminating the need for metals and their characteristic losses at optical frequencies. We discuss several geometries of photonic crystal accelerator structures. Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are optical fibers which can confine a speed-of-light optical mode in vacuum. Planar structures, both two- and three-dimensional, can also confine such a mode, and have the additional advantage that they can be manufactured using common microfabrication techniques such as those used for integrated circuits. This allows for a variety of possible materials, so that dielectrics with desirable optical and radiation-hardness properties can be chosen. We discuss examples of simulated photonic crystal structures to demonstrate the scaling laws and trade-offs involved, and touch on potential fabrication processes.


Behavioral economics lacks empirical evidence on some foundational empirical questions. We adapt standard elicitation methods to measure multiple behavioral factors per person in a representative U.S. sample, along with financial condition, cognitive skills, financial literacy, classical preferences and demographics. Individually, B-factors are prevalent, distinct from other decision inputs, and correlate negatively with financial outcomes in richly-conditioned regressions. Conditioning further on other B-factors does not change the results, validating common practice of modeling B-factors separately. Corrections for low task/survey effort modestly strengthen the results. Our findings provide bedrock empirical foundations for behavioral economics, and offer methodological guidance for research designs.


The polyol process has been used to synthesize metal and alloy nanoparticles over a couple of decades. Its potential has been demonstrated through the synthesis of metallic nanoparticles with various sizes and shapes. However, although one of the roles of polyol is to act as a reducing agent, research studies related to the investigation of the redox reaction mechanism have been scarce. In this study, we report the results of a detailed study undertaken to investigate the polyol oxidation and metal reduction for the cobalt(II)–ethylene glycol system with the possible addition of a base (Na) to the system using several physico-chemical techniques such as NMR, FT-IR, ESI-TOFMS and XRD. The results suggested that in the reduction reaction, ethylene glycol first reacts with the base to produce the ethylene glycol monoanion, hereinafter denoted as EG−. This reaction not only occurs between ethylene glycol and the base, but also occurs with Co2+ species. In such a case, the formation of Co alkoxide and the subsequent reduction could progress even in the presence of a weak base such as acetate ion or any other solvent that has a lone pair of electrons such as oxygen in ether. On the other hand, in the case of oxidation of ethylene glycol, first the base attacks one of the two α-protons in Co alkoxide and along with the electron transfer to Co2+, ethylene glycol gets oxidized to aldehyde. Then, the aldehyde thus formed undergoes bond exchange with the neighboring coordinated ethylene glycol and an ester is formed. The above steps are repeated and the hydrogen atoms coordinated with Co get detached with the evolution of hydrogen gas, while ethylene glycol is oxidized to polyglycolic acid. The analytical techniques and the results obtained in this study could be used to enhance the properties of metals and alloy nanoparticles synthesized using the polyol process.


This paper focuses on sampling techniques to rebalance class distribution in a way that major and minor classes reach to almost equal number of the samples. A novel iterative over-sampling technique has been proposed which initially induces the missing values on the set of samples of the minor class and, then, imputes the missing scores to generate new synthetic samples of the minor class, in order to re-balance the class distribution. Two variations of the proposed oversampling framework have been developed which make use of the Expectation Maximization and k-Nearest Neighbors imputation strategies. Moreover, the proposed over-sampling technique, which generates new samples for the minor class, has been integrated with a random under-sampling technique, which aims to simultaneously reduce the number of samples for the major class to speed up the process. The proposed sampling procedures have been used along with the ensemble of classifiers forming a diagnostic system. The constructed diagnostic scheme can efficiently diagnose multiple bearing defects in induction motors under class imbalanced condition.


Vestiges of Vulnerability: Helen Post's Photographs of 20th Century Navajo Carlyle Delia Schmollinger Department of Comparative Arts and Letters, BYU Master of Arts Helen Post (1907-1978) was a twentieth century American photographer, whose images of the Navajo offer sensitive insight into the lives of individuals residing on the reservation from 1938-1942. An employee at the time for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Post traveled to the West on numerous excursions, each time gaining perspective and understanding into the intricacies of Native life. Her ability to portray the Navajo in unguarded and intimate moments stands as a significant contribution to discourse on visual records of American Indians. Examining Post's work provides an opportunity to not only reexamine her work, which has largely been overlooked, but also acknowledge misrepresented facets of the Navajo. Unlike other well-known white photographers working prior to and concurrent with Post, she avoided portraying her sitters in the common tropes, instead choosing to humanize the Navajo. Theoretically this examination utilizes Post-colonial theory in order to better understand Post's position as both outsider and friend to her sitters. It also explores the social interactions and cultural differences between photographer and subject. She emphasized rather than neglected the many complexities evident among the Navajo in the late 1930s to early 1940s. Post documented the effects of crucial reform policies and by so doing comprised a poignant collection of images. In her photographs of the Navajo, one sees a celebration of character and emotion, underscored by the simplicity of Post's thoughtful compositions. As stated by John Collier, Sr., Post's employer and former commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Post was one who, "willed above all that the Indian spirit...should live on."


In recent years, an increasing number of papers have focused on the cell selection problem. However, previous papers fail to consider the actual problems of performing cell selection in the after placement and CTS optimization stages of industrial designs. This paper discusses the obstacles found when applying state-of-the-art Lagrangian relaxation-based cell selection in a real industrial flow. Solutions to such obstacles are presented, filling the gap in previous literature. We propose a new method to find a suitable set of initial Lagrange multipliers based on the initial gates sizes in the netlist. Fast convergence in the presence of small timing violations is achieved by a novel Lagrange multiplier update method. Our new timing-constrained formulation incorporates and balances both power and area as optimization objectives. We also present a ranking method to reduce sign-off timer calls that gives a 10x speed up in the cell selection process. Experimental results show quality improvements on a set of already deeply timing, power and area-optimized high-performance industrial microprocessor blocks with very tight constraints. Leakage power reduction of up to 18.2% is achieved (10.8% total and 7.2% on average), while timing, area and dynamic power are also improved.


Collaborative filtering (CF) mainly suffers from rating sparsity and from the cold-start problem. Auxiliary information like texts and images has been leveraged to alleviate these problems, resulting in hybrid recommender systems (RS). Due to the abundance of data continuously generated in real-world applications, it has become essential to design online RS that are able to handle user feedback and the availability of new items in real-time. These systems are also required to adapt to drifts when a change in the data distribution is detected. In this paper, we propose an adaptive collaborative topic modeling approach, CoAWILDA, as a hybrid system relying on adaptive online Latent Dirichlet Allocation (AWILDA) to model newly available items arriving as a document stream and incremental matrix factorization for CF. The topic model is maintained up-to-date in an online fashion and is retrained in batch when a drift is detected using documents automatically selected by an adaptive windowing technique. Our experiments on real-world datasets prove the effectiveness of our approach for online recommendation.