Objectives Fungal infections cause significant global morbidity and mortality. We have previously described the UK investments in global infectious disease research, and here our objective is to describe the investments awarded to UK institutions for mycology research and outline potential funding gaps in the UK portfolio. Design Systematic analysis. Setting UK institutions carrying out infectious disease research. Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome is the amount of funding and number of studies related to mycology research. Secondary outcomes are describing the investments made to specific fungal pathogens and diseases, and also the type of science along the R&D value chain. Methods We systematically searched databases and websites for information on research studies from public and philanthropic funding institutions awarded between 1997 and 2010, and highlighted the mycology-related projects. Results Of 6165 funded studies, we identified 171 studies related to mycology (total investment £48.4 million, 1.9% of all infection research, with mean annual funding £3.5 million). Studies related to global health represented 5.1% of this funding (£2.4 million, compared with 35.6% of all infectious diseases). Leading funders were the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (£14.8 million, 30.5%) and Wellcome Trust (£12.0 million, 24.7%). Preclinical studies received £42.2 million (87.3%), with clinical trials, intervention studies and implementation research in total receiving £6.2 million (12.7%). By institution, University of Aberdeen received most funding (£16.9 million, 35%). Studies investigating antifungal resistance received £1.5 million (3.2%). Conclusions There is little translation of preclinical research into clinical trials or implementation research in spite of substantial disease burden globally, and there are few UK institutions that carry out significant quantities of mycology research of any type. In the context of global health and the burden of disease in low-income countries, more investment is required for mycology research.


Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the degradation of heme to biliverdin, which is reduced by biliverdin reductase to bilirubin. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is inducible not only by its heme substrate, but also by a variety of agents causing oxidative stress. Although much is known about the regulation of HO-1 expression, the functional significance of HO-1 induction after oxidant insult is still poorly understood. We hypothesize and provide evidence that HO-1 induction serves to protect cells against oxidant stress. Human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549 cells) stably transfected with the rat HO-1 cDNA exhibit marked increases of HO-1 mRNA levels which were correlated with increased HO enzyme activity. Cells that overexpress HO-1 (A549-A4) exhibited a marked decrease in cell growth compared with wild-type A549 (A549-WT) cells or A549 cells transfected with control DNA (A549-neo). This slowing of cell growth was associated with an increased number of cells in G0/G1 phase during the exponential growth phase and decreased entry into the S phase, as determined by flow cytometric analysis of propidium iodide-stained cells and pulse experiments with bromodeoxyuridine. Furthermore, the A549-A4 cells accumulated at the G2/M phase and failed to progress through the cell cycle when stimulated with serum, whereas the A549-neo control cells exhibited normal cell cycle progression. Interestingly, the A549-A4 cells also exhibited marked resistance to hyperoxic oxidant insult. Tin protoporphyrin, a selective inhibitor of HO, reversed the growth arrest and ablated the increased survival against hyperoxia observed in the A549-A4 cells overexpressing HO-1. Taken together, our data suggest that overexpression of HO-1 results in cell growth arrest, which may facilitate cellular protection against non-heme-mediated oxidant insult such as hyperoxia.


Reliable seismic images of gas accumulations in the shallow subsurface beneath production platforms are mitigating drilling risks in the Forties oil field. Ocean-bottom nodes (OBN) were selected to record the seismic data due to their ability to operate safely and efficiently in busy and obstructed oil fields. The resulting seismic images allow extra care to be taken during drilling where gas is likely to be encountered. The resulting operations can therefore be optimized in terms of both safety and costs.


A mathematical model for the LMS learning curve under finite word length effects is presented in this paper. The impact of the finite word length effects on the LMS adaptive filter is a major concern during its implementation because it has repercussions on both the convergence speed and the stability of the adaptive filter. Two typical cases of quantization, such as rounding and two's complement truncation are considered. Explicit equations that allow to the designer accurately predict the behavior of the LMS learning curve under quantization errors are provided.


In recent years, many sorghum producers in the more marginal (<600mm annual rainfall) cropping areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales have used skip row configurations in an attempt to improve yield reliability and reduce sorghum production risk. This paper describes modi. cations made to the APSIM sorghum module to account for the difference in water usage and light interception between alternative crop planting configurations, and then demonstrates how this new model can be used to quantify the long-term benefits of skip sorghum production. Detailed measurements of light interception and water extraction from sorghum crops grown in solid, single and double skip row configurations were collected from on-farm experiments in southern Qld and northern NSW. These measurements underpinned changes to the APSIM-Sorghum model so that it accounted for the elliptical water uptake pattern below the crop row and the reduced total light interception associated with skip row configurations. Long-term simulation runs using long-term weather files for locations near the experimental sites were used to determine the value of skip row sorghum production as a means of maintaining yield reliability. These simulations showed a trade-off between long-term average production (profitability) and annual yield reliability ( risk of failure this year). Over the long term, the production of sorghum in a solid configuration produced a higher average yield compared with sorghum produced in a skip configuration. This difference in average yield is a result of the solid configuration having a higher yield potential compared with the skip configurations. Skip configurations limit the yield potential as a safeguard against crop failure. To achieve the higher average yield in the solid configuration the producer suffers some total failures. Skip configurations reduce the chance of total failure by capping the yield potential, which in turn reduces the long-term average yield. The decision on what row configuration to use should be made tactically and requires consideration of the starting soil water, the soil's plant-available water capacity (PAWC), and the farm family's current attitude to risk.


Based on the significant destructive effect of heavy vehicle on uneven roads, two simplified models of pavement unevenness and vehicle dynamic load were established in accordance with D'A lembert principle, and Matlab software was used to analyze the changing law of dynamic load under the conditions of different road unevenness, vehicle speed and load. The results show that vehicles running on uneven road may produce more cumulative damages than static load, and DLC (dynamic load coefficient) changes in wide range, maximum up to 2.0 or more; the effect of speed and load on dynamic load is complex, and due to multi-factor interaction, DLC doesn't consistently increase or decrease with speed and load increasing. Although the dynamic load level caused by high-speed heavy vehicle is not necessarily too high, its impact on the road can not be ignored.


This thesis investigates the learning issue for mobile robots playing the differential forms of the pursuit-evasion (PE) game by proposing different learning algorithms. The intended learning algorithms are used to reduce (1) the computational requirements as much as possible, without affecting the overall performance of the learning algorithm, (2) the learning time, and (3) the capture time and the possibility of collision among the pursuers, and to deal with multi-robot PE game with a single superior evader.
The computational complexity is reduced by examining four methods of parameter tuning for the Q-Learning Fuzzy Inference System (QFIS) algorithm to decide which parameters are the best to tune and which parameters have a little impact on the performance. Then, two learning algorithms are proposed to reduce the learning time. The first one uses a two-stage learning technique that combines the PSO-based fuzzy logic control (FLC) algorithm with the QFIS algorithm. The PSO algorithm is used as a global optimizer, whereas the QFIS algorithm is used as a local optimizer. The second one is a modified version of the fuzzy-actor critic learning (FACL) algorithm, which is called fuzzy actor-critic learning Automaton (FACLA) algorithm. It uses the continuous actor-critic learning Automaton (CACLA) algorithm to tune the parameters of the FIS.
After that, a decentralized learning technique is proposed to enable a group of two pursuers or more to capture a single inferior evader. It uses the FACLA algorithm together with the Kalman filter technique to reduce the capture time and to reduce the collision possibility among the pursuers. No communication among the pursuers is assumed. Finally, a decentralized learning algorithm is suggested and applied successfully for the case of multi-robot PE game with a single superior evader, in which all the players have similar speeds. A new reward function is suggested and used as a guide for the pursuer to move either to the intercepted point with the evader or to move in parallel with the evader depending on whether the pursuer can capture the evader or not. Simulation results show the feasibility of the proposed learning algorithms.


Erosional processes directly influenced by wildland fire include reduction or elimination of above- ground biomass, reduction of soil organic matter, and hydrophobicity. High fuel loads promoted by decades of fire suppression in the U.S. increase the duration and intensity of burning, amplifying these effects. The Cerro Grande fire (6-31 May 2000) consumed approximately 15 000 hectares around and within the town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA. Private and public infrastructure including Los Alamos National Laboratory are at continuing risk due to increased threats of upstream erosion. We use a geographic information system (GIS) based implementation of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to model pre- and post-fire soil loss conditions and aid erosion risk analysis. Pre- and post-fire vegetation cover data layers were generated from Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM) data. Based upon annual average rainfall amounts we estimate that subwatershed average pre-fire erosion rates range from 0.45 to 9.22 tonnes ha −1 yr −1 while post-fire erosion rates before watershed treatments range from 1.72 to 113.26 tonnes ha −1 yr −1 . Rates are approximately 3.7 times larger for 50 year return interval rainfall amounts. It is estimated that watershed treatments including reseeding will decrease soil loss between 0.34 and 25.98% in the first year on treated subwatersheds. Immediately after the fire an interagency Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) team produced initial estimates of soil erosion. Our estimates of average erosion rates by subwatershed were in general larger than those initial estimates.


The SIFT feature matching can overcome the influence of revolve and scale. It can recognize runway effectively under the complex flight environment, but its computation is heavy. In order to reduce the computation, this paper proposes a new fast method of SIFT feature extraction. This method uses a group of concentric squares to construct the Pyramid-feature-descrptor, calculates each seed vector of the Pyramid-feature-descrptor by using the recursion algorithm, and carries simple sort on the elements of each seed vector to maintain the revolving invariability. The experimental result of identifing the runway indicates that this algorithm not only can increase the speed, but also can identify the runway effectively in revolving and scale.


BACKGROUND:Locally advanced pelvic malignancy can be associated with disabling symptoms and reduced quality of life. If resectable with clear margins, a pelvic exenteration can offer long-term survival and improved quality of life. Its role in the palliation of symptoms has been described; however, the clinical outcomes and surgical indication are poorly defined. OBJECTIVE:This study describes the clinical and quality-of-life outcomes after palliative pelvic exenteration for advanced pelvic malignancy. DESIGN:Clinical data and patient-reported outcomes were collected for patients undergoing pelvic exenteration for symptom palliation. SETTINGS:This study was conducted at a tertiary referral center for pelvic exenteration. PATIENTS:All of the patients undergoing palliative pelvic exenteration for advanced primary rectal or recurrent cancer were included in our analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:Patient-reported quality of life and physical and mental health status were measured. Quality-of-life trajectories were modeled over the 12 months from the date of surgery using linear mixed models. RESULTS:A total of 39 patients underwent pelvic exenteration for symptom palliation. Although there were no in-hospital deaths, 34% experienced significant morbidity. Patient-reported quality of life reduced postoperatively and gradually declined thereafter. Overall median survival was 24 months, with a 1-year mortality rate of 31%. There was a significant survival difference for the 39 patients undergoing pelvic exenteration compared with those patients who only had a debulking/bypass procedure or were closed without definitive treatment (overall median survival = 24 versus 9 months; p = <0.02). LIMITATIONS:Disease and patient heterogeneity limit the interpretation of these results. CONCLUSIONS:Palliative pelvic exenteration is a technically demanding operation that can be performed safely in a dedicated exenteration center. However, no durable palliation of symptoms with associated improved or sustained quality of life was observed, and the role of palliation therefore remains highly controversial in this complex group of patients.


We report a facile approach to a cyclopropyl-fused pyrrolidine, which contains four stereogenic centers, by employing the N-O tethered carbenoid methodology. The synthesis was facilitated by the development of a direct Mitsunobu reaction of alcohols with N-alkyl-N-hydroxyl amides to give diazo precursors, which upon intramolecular cyclopropanation yielded a library of N-O containing cyclopropyl-fused bicyclic intermediates. Elaboration of the N-O moiety of one member of this library resulted in the formation of the desired pyrrolidine ring demonstrating the potential of this methodology for making cyclopropyl-fused heterocycles.


Caldesmon (CaD), a component of microfilaments in all cells and thin filaments in smooth muscle cells, is known to bind to actin, tropomyosin, calmodulin, and myosin and to inhibit actin-activated ATP hydrolysis by smooth muscle myosin. Thus, it is believed to regulate smooth muscle contraction, cell motility and the cytoskeletal structure. Using bladder smooth muscle cell cultures and RNA interference (RNAi) technique, we show that the organization of actin into microfilaments in the cytoskeleton is diminished by siRNA-mediated CaD silencing. CaD silencing significantly decreased the amount of polymerized actin (F-actin), but the expression of actin was not altered. Additionally, we find that CaD is associated with 10 nm intermediate-sized filaments (IF) and in vitro binding assay reveals that it binds to vimentin and desmin proteins. Assembly of vimentin and desmin into IF is also affected by CaD silencing, although their expression is not significantly altered when CaD is silenced. Electronmicroscopic analyses of the siRNA-treated cells showed the presence of myosin filaments and a few surrounding actin filaments, but the distribution of microfilament bundles was sparse. Interestingly, the decrease in CaD expression had no effect on tubulin expression and distribution of microtubules in these cells. These results demonstrate that CaD is necessary for the maintenance of actin microfilaments and intermediate-sized filaments in the cytoskeletal structure. This finding raises the possibility that the cytoskeletal structure in smooth muscle is affected when CaD expression is altered, as in smooth muscle de-differentiation and hypertrophy seen in certain pathological conditions.


The therapeutic efficacy of biochemotherapy in metastatic malignant melanoma still carries a low remission rate, but with some durable responses. It would therefore be of considerable importance if patients with a high probability of responding could be identified using predictive tests. The response to interferon-alpha (IFN-α) correlates with the occurrence of CD4+ lymphocytes identified by fine-needle aspirates from melanoma metastases (Håkansson et al, 1996). The present investigation studies a possible correlation between tumour-infiltrating CD4+ lymphocytes in malignant melanoma metastases and the therapeutic effect of biochemotherapy. A total of 25 patients with systemic and 16 with regional metastatic melanoma were analysed before initiation of biochemotherapy (cis-platinum 30 mg/m2 d.1–3, DTIC 250 mg/m2 d.1–3 i.v. and IFN-α2b 10 million IU s.c. 3 days a week, q. 28d.). A monoclonal antibody, anti-CD4, was used to identify tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes in fine-needle aspirates before start of treatment. The presence of these lymphocytes was correlated to response, time to progression and overall survival. A statistically significant correlation (P = 0.01) was found between the occurrence of CD4+ lymphocytes and tumour regression during biochemotherapy in patients with systemic disease. Out of 14 patients with moderate to high numbers of infiltrating CD4+ lymphocytes, 12 achieved tumour regression. In contrast, among patients with low numbers of these cells in metastatic lesions, 8 out of 11 had progressive disease. We also found a significantly longer time to progression (P < 0.003) and overall survival (P < 0.01) among patients with moderate to high numbers of these cells compared to patients with low numbers of these cells before initiation of biochemotherapy. Furthermore, in patients with regional disease, we found a significantly longer time to progression (P = 0.01) and a trend toward a longer overall survival time (P = 0.09). Based on these results and as previously shown with IFN-α therapy alone, there seems to be a need for CD4+ lymphocytes infiltrating the tumours before the start of biochemotherapy to make the treatment successful. Determination of these cells in fine-needle aspirates seems to be a method to predict responders to biochemotherapy, thus increasing the cost–benefit of this treatment strategy considerably, both in terms of patient adverse reactions and health care costs. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com


Abstract Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent disorder with a significant impact on quality of life. The presence of psychological symptoms in IBS patients such as catastrophic worry and behavioral avoidance suggests the possible efficacy of cognitive behavioral interventions. Exposure-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has proven to be a promising approach but has only been investigated in a few studies and mainly via the Internet. Therefore, the aims of this study were to extend and replicate previous findings and to evaluate whether an individual, face-to-face, exposure-based CBT leads to improvement in gastrointestinal symptoms, pain catastrophizing, avoidance behavior and quality of life in IBS patients. Thirteen patients with IBS according to Rome III criteria participated in a single-case experimental study using a five-week baseline and a subsequent twelve-session intervention phase focusing on psycho-education, mindfulness and in vivo exposure. Standardized measurement of gastrointestinal symptoms, pain catastrophizing, avoidance behavior and quality of life was conducted weekly during baseline as well as intervention phase and at six-month follow-up. Results showed that over 70% of patients improved significantly on gastrointestinal symptoms, pain catastrophizing, and quality of life. Effects on avoidance behavior were modest. These results strengthen and extend earlier findings and provide further support for the efficacy of exposure-based strategies for IBS.


The assembly of the enzyme activated Factor IX (FIXa) with its cofactor, activated Factor VIII (FVIIIa) is a crucial event in the coagulation cascade. The absence or dysfunction of either enzyme or cofactor severely compromises hemostasis, and causes hemophilia. FIXa is a notoriously inefficient enzyme, and needs FVIIIa to drive its hemostatic potential, by a mechanism that has remained largely elusive to date. In this study we employed Hydrogen-Deuterium eXchange-Mass Spectrometry (HDX-MS) to investigate how FIXa responds to assembly with FVIIIa in presence of phospholipids. This revealed a complex pattern of changes that partially overlaps with those that occur upon occupation of the substrate-binding site by an active site-directed inhibitor. Among the changes driven by both cofactor and substrate, HDX-MS highlighted several surface loops that have been implicated in allosteric networks in related coagulation enzymes. Inspection of FVIIIa-specific changes indicated that three helices are involved in FIXa-FVIIIa assembly. These are part of a basic interface that is also known as Exosite II. Mutagenesis of basic residues herein, followed by functional studies, indeed identified this interface as an extended FVIIIa-interactive patch. HDX-MS was also applied to recombinant FIXa variants that are associated with severe hemophilia B. This revealed that single amino acid substitutions can silence the extended network of FVIIIa-driven allosteric changes. We conclude that HDX-MS has the potential to visualize the functional impact of disease-associated mutations on enzyme-cofactor complexes in the hemostatic system.


The study examines the level of adoption of new farm technology and the factors responsible for that, under four major tenurial arrangements. The study is based on the data collected from a sample of 160 farm households from six villages in Burdwan district of West Bengal pertaining to the agricultural year 1993-94. The main question addressed in this paper is to examine how agrarian structure in the broadest sense shape technological development in the farm sector. The results highlight the significant differences in adoption across the tenurial arrangements and support the view that tenancy has a direct impact on adoption of modem farm technology. Size of holding, resource base of the farmer, regularity in rent payment to the landlord, irrigation and other infrastructural variables were also found to have important influence on adoption of new farm technology.


Manual image annotation is a tedious and time-consuming task, while automated methods are error prone and limited in their results. Human computation, and especially games with a purpose, have shown potential to create high quality annotations by "hiding the complexity" of the actual annotation task and employing the "wisdom of the crowds". In this demo paper we present two games with a single purpose: finding regions in images that correspond to given terms. We discuss approach, implementation, and preliminary results of our work and give an outlook to immediate future work.


Integrated conservation and development objectives are increasingly sought with protected area - sustainable tourism partnerships, and related certifications are promising to deliver integrated targets. However, in this article we show that European wide PAN Parks certification seems not to be supporting integrated objectives from the point of view of traditional nature users in Oulanka National Park, Finland. We compared the actions and responses of the certification, park management and traditional nature users in relation to mutually recognised issues: reindeer herding, hunting and predator management. Park management worked in many respects as a successful boundary organisation maintaining traditional rights against threats posed by standardisation practises of the certification, which emphasises conservation of wilderness with 'sell nature in order to save it' - logic. While successful in maintaining traditional rights, problems in boundary work existed in relation to the use of concepts that see traditional nature uses as a threat by default, communication and transparency, and distribution of benefits and burdens. Through examining existing and potential positive roles that park managements can have as boundary organisations, we argue that state-based park managements can mediate neoliberal standardisation efforts and harness their benefits while decreasing potential negative development outcomes in protected area governance.


BACKGROUND
Indirect immunofluorescence (IIFT) on in house HEp-2 cell preparations revealed a novel antibody giving a granular cytoplasmic pattern not described before, which on two commercial cell preparations revealed a "rings and rods" pattern. This pattern was also observed in four HCV-RNA carriers and prompted the identification of the reactive antigen and the evaluation of the antibody prevalence in HCV-RNA carriers and control groups.

METHODS
The antigen's molecular weight was determined by radioimmunoprecipitation of 35S-methionine labeled cell proteins. Expression library screening and sequencing was performed by standard techniques using an oligo(dT)-primed human HeLa cell cDNA expression library. Antibodies against the novel antigen Inositol-5'-monophosphatdehydrogenase 2 (IMPDH2) were analyzed by IIFT, western blot, line blot, and radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA). IIFT was performed on commercial HEp-2 cells and cells cultivated in house for 24 - 60 hours, with or without the IMPDH2 inhibitors mycophenolic acid (MPA) or ribavirin, and subjected to various fixation conditions. Western and line blots were performed with IMPDH2 synthesized in E. coli, RIPA with 35S-methionine-IMPDH2 from in vitro transcription/translation products. Sera screened were positive for HCV-RNA (108), HBV-DNA (100), anti-mitochondrial (31), anti-actin (42), and anti-nuclear antibodies (51) and negative for HCV-RNA (100) and blood donors (100).

RESULTS
IMPDH2 is capable of considerable intracellular rearrangements (upon action of inhibitors like MPA and ribavirin), which explains the contrasting immunofluorescence patterns in cells from different sources. By RIPA, proven to be the sole assay suitable for screening of anti-IMPDH2 in human sera, autoantibodies were found in 35.2% of HCV-RNA carriers and in low concentrations in 31% of anti-actin positive patients suspicious of autoimmune hepatitis. Antibodies reacted preferentially with conformational epitopes. Compared to the low concentration of anti-IMPDH2 found in other disease groups, high antibody concentrations were observed in HCV-RNA carriers.

CONCLUSIONS
The common occurrence of anti-IMPDH2 in HCV-RNA carriers may be related to ribavirin therapy, causing intracellular aggregation of IMPDH2 thereby altering its immunogenicity. In this study the "rods and rings" immunofluorescence pattern observed could be ascribed to anti-IMPDH2. Anti-IMPDH2 may cause difficulties in interpretation of immunofluorescence patterns in routine autoantibody testing.


Pulmonary surfactant stabilizes the alveoli by lining the air-fluid interface with films that reduce surface tension to near 0 mN/m (γmin). Surfactant protein B (SP-B) enhances the surface activity of surfactant phospholipids. A captive bubble tensiometer (CBT) was used to study the properties of adsorbed films of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) with acidic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl- sn-glycero-3-[phospho- rac-(1-glycerol)] (POPG) or neutral 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl- sn-glycerol-3-phosphocholine with (7:3) and without 1% dimeric SP-B. SP-B enhanced the adsorption rate of DPPC-containing neutral or acidic lipid suspensions (1 mg/ml) to a similar extent. Quasi-static cycling of these films revealed that SP-B significantly decreased the film area reduction required to reach γmin for the acidic but not for the neutral system. The results obtained with DPPC-phosphatidylglycerol (PG)-SP-B were consistent with selective DPPC adsorption into the surface monolayer during film formation. Film area reduction required to reach γmin with this system (with and without calcium) approached that of pure DPPC, suggesting selective DPPC insertion and PG squeeze-out. Dynamic cycling of such films showed that larger film area reductions were required to reach γmin for the neutral than for acidic system, even after 20 cycles. Fluorescence microscopy of solvent-spread DPPC-POPG-SP-B planar films revealed highly condensed structures at ∼25 mN/m, although no specific PG phase-segregated structures could be identified. The study suggests that specific interactions of SP-B with acidic phospholipids of surfactant may be involved in the generation and maintenance of DPPC-rich films in the alveoli.


We investigate whether and how the complexity of derivatives influences analysts׳ earnings forecast properties. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that, relative to a matched control sample of non-users, analysts׳ earnings forecasts for new derivatives users are less accurate and more dispersed after derivatives initiation. These results do not appear to be driven by the economic complexity of derivatives, but rather the financial reporting of such economic complexity. Overall, despite their financial expertise, analysts routinely misjudge the earnings implications of firms׳ derivatives activity. However, we find evidence that a series of derivatives accounting standards has helped analysts improve their forecasts over time.


Sexual dysfunction has been identified in numerous controlled trials to be a frequent accompaniment to antihypertensive therapy. Issues of cause and effect are confused because hypertension itself can cause sexual dysfunction. It seems probable, however, that use of certain classes of blood pressure-lowering agents, notably non-cardioselective beta blockers such as propranolol, thiazide diuretics such as chlorthalidone and centrally-acting adrenergic agonists, is associated with an increased risk of sexual dysfunction. The implications of these data for compliance with antihypertensive therapy are considered.


Despite the enormous power of present-day computers, digital systems can not respond to real-world events in real time. Biological systems built with very slow chemical transistors, however, are very fast in such tasks like seeing, recognizing, and taking actions. The paper will discuss what we can learn from biological computing systems and how we can implement the principle using the state-of-the-art silicon technology. Intelligent LSI systems based on the psychological model of a brain are proposed. The system stores the past experience in non-volatile vast analog memories and recall the-most-similar event to a current input using the association processor working in the analogidigital-merged decision making principle.


During Intensive Observation Period 13 (15 to 16 October 2012) of the first Special Observing Period of the Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX), Southern Italy (SI) was affected by two consecutive heavy precipitation events (HPEs). Both HPEs were associated with multi‐cell V‐shaped retrograde regeneration mesoscale convective systems (MCSs). The life cycle of two MCSs in connection with their dynamic and thermodynamic environments were analysed using a combination of ground‐based, airborne and spaceborne observations and numerical simulations. Rain gauges revealed that heavy precipitation occurred in two phases: the first one from 1300 to 1700 UTC (35 mm h−1) was caused by a V‐shaped system initiating over the Tyrrhenian Sea in the early morning of 15 October. Convection was triggered by the low‐level convergence between the southwesterlies ahead of an upper‐level trough positioned over southeastern France and very moist southerlies from the Strait of Sicily. The convection was favoured by high convective available potential energy (1500 J kg−1) resulting from warm and moist conditions at low levels associated with high sea surface temperatures in the Strait of Sicily. In addition, humidity at mid‐level was enriched by the presence of an elevated moisture plume from tropical Africa, favouring the efficiency of the convection to produce more precipitation. The second phase of heavy precipitation (2300 UTC on 15 October to 0200 UTC on 16 October, 34 mm h−1) was caused by a MCS initiating over Algeria around 1300 UTC, which subsequently travelled over the Strait of Sicily toward Sicily and SI. Convection was maintained by the combination of large low‐level moisture contents and a marked convergence ahead of the cold front. Unlike other MCSs forming in the same region earlier on that day, this huge V‐shaped system did affect SI because the strong upper‐level flow progressively backed from southwesterly to south southwesterly.


Purpose To employ an Off-Resonance Saturation (ORS) method to measure the ferritin-bound iron pool, which is an endogenous contrast agent which can give information on cellular iron status. Methods An ORS acquisition protocol was implemented on a 7T preclinical scanner and the contrast maps were fitted to an established analytical model. The method was validated by correlation and Bland-Altman analysis on a ferritin-containing phantom. Ferritin-iron maps were obtained from post-mortem tissue of patients with neurological diseases characterized by brain iron accumulation, i. e. Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and aceruloplasminemia, and validated with histology. Transverse relaxation rate and magnetic susceptibility values were also obtained for comparison. Results In post-mortem tissue, the ferritin-iron contrast strongly co-localizes with histological iron staining, in all the cases. Quantitative iron values obtained via the ORS method are in agreement with literature. Conclusions Off-resonance saturation is an effective way to detect iron in grey matter structures, while mitigating for the presence of myelin. If a reference region with little iron is available in the tissue, the method can produce quantitative iron maps. This method is applicable in the study of brain diseases characterized by brain iron accumulation and complement existing iron-sensitive parametric methods.


Most prior works in perceiving 3D humans from images reason human in isolation without their surroundings. However, humans are constantly interacting with the surrounding objects, thus calling for models that can reason about not only the human but also the object and their interaction. The problem is extremely challenging due to heavy occlusions between humans and objects, diverse interaction types and depth ambiguity. In this paper, we introduce CHORE, a novel method that learns to jointly reconstruct the human and the object from a single RGB image. CHORE takes inspiration from recent advances in implicit surface learning and classical model-based fitting. We compute a neural reconstruction of human and object represented implicitly with two unsigned distance fields, a correspondence field to a parametric body and an object pose field. This allows us to robustly fit a parametric body model and a 3D object template, while reasoning about interactions. Furthermore, prior pixel-aligned implicit learning methods use synthetic data and make assumptions that are not met in the real data. We propose a elegant depth-aware scaling that allows more efficient shape learning on real data. Experiments show that our joint reconstruction learned with the proposed strategy significantly outperforms the SOTA. Our code and models are available at https://virtualhumans.mpi-inf.mpg.de/chore


BACKGROUND New treatment indications and improved technique modifications have made ambulatory phlebectomy increasingly popular in the management of intermediate and large truncal varicosities. OBJECTIVE To describe a new technique of ambulatory phlebectomy that combines a multifocal incisional and endovascular cannulation approach. This study compares this newly described technique to the previously described "pulling maneuver." METHODS A double-blinded study consisting of 50 patients who were treated by the conventional pulling maneuver and 50 patients treated by the multifocal pull-through endovascular cannulation technique was conducted. This newly described technique was compared to the previously described "pulling maneuver" in terms of length of vessel avulsed per puncture site, intraoperative time, and complication profile. An average of 20 cm of diseased venous segment was avulsed in each patient subgroup. Results were analyzed utilizing the paired t test (P <.05). RESULTS A 36% increase in vessel avulsion length per puncture site was achieved in the endovascular pull-through cannulation subgroup compared to the classic pulling maneuver population. The number of puncture sites in the 20 cm segment of veins in the classic pulling maneuver population was 4.50 versus 3.04 in the multifocal pull-through subgroup. The mean operative time was 20% less in the pull-through cannulation population versus the classic pulling technique. Side effect profiles were similar in the two patient subgroups. CONCLUSION The multifocal pull-through cannulation technique allows extraction of large segments of diseases varicose veins with fewer puncture sites in a more efficient fashion than previously described techniques.


SIR,-Dr L K Ashman and his colleagues in their paper on carcinoembryonal antigen (CEA) assay in the diagnosis of cancer (28 June, p 721) draw attention to the fact that cancer-free hospital patients may be better suited for reference material than healthy young adults. To our knowledge it has not also been pointed out that sampling for plasma CEA assay should be restricted to fasting patients if basal levels are sought. As shown, for example, by Barton et all and Goebell,2 elevated serum levels of pancreatic lipase and amylase may be found after the administration of secretin and cholecystokinin (pancreozymin) to patients with pancreatic disease. We thought that a similar provocation test might be used to increase the sensitivity of the CEA test for pancreatic disease. Secretin and cholecystokinin (1 U/kg body weight of each peptide, obtained from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm) were given intravenously and plasma CEA concentrations were determined in duplicate with the Roche kit. Eight patients with pancreatic carcinoma, 10 with chronic pancreatitis, and six with other diseases (non-tropical sprue, ChristianWeber disease, cholelithiasis, liver disease, and non-specific diarrhoea) were studied. A varying but significant increase in plasma CEA concentration was noted after secretin and cholecystokinin administration in six patients with pancreatic carcinoma with slightly or moderately elevated basal CEA concentrations; of two patients with high basal levels, one did not respond (see figure). Similar results were noted in the patients with chronic pancreatitis, the single patient


We show that through the safe asset channel the excess liquidity created by QE can lead to higher sovereign bond spreads in the euro area. This unintended effect is most likely in stressed markets when excess liquidity spurs demand for tradeable safe assets, pushing down the interest rate of these assets, which widens risk spreads. Outcomes of a panel regression model estimated for individual euro area countries confirm that the excess liquidity created by QE had an upward effect on sovereign bond spreads. It indicates that the safe asset channel dominates the usual portfolio rebalancing channel. For monetary policy the results imply that QE is not an appropriate instrument to address country specific shocks.


The original Gaia Hypothesis proposed that life on Earth, along with the oceans, atmosphere and crust, forms a homeostatic system which reduces the effects of external perturbations, so that conditions are maintained to within the range that allows widespread life. Daisyworld is a simple mathematical model intended to demonstrate certain aspects of this planetary homeostasis. There have been a considerable number of extensions and developments to the original Daisyworld model. Some of this work has been produced in response to criticism of the Gaia Hypothesis and Daisyworld specifically and some has been produced by using Daisyworld as a testbed to explore a range of issues. This thesis examines the Daisyworld control system and in doing so explains how Daisyworld performs homeostasis. The control system is classified as a rein control system which is potentially applicable to a wide range of scenarios from physiological and environmental homeostasis to robotic control. A series of simple Daisyworld models are produced and aspects of the original Daisyworld are explained, in particular the inverse response to forcing: why temperature goes down on Daisyworld when the brightness of the star increases. The Daisyworld control system is evaluated within an evolutionary context. A key result is that environmental regulation emerges not despite of Darwinian evolution but because of it. Within an ecological context, it is found that increasing the complexity of a self-regulating ecosystem can increase its stability. An energy balance climate model is developed to assess the effects of non-equilibrium thermodynamic processes on the Daisyworld control system. Results are presented that support the hypothesis that when the system is in a state of maximum entropy production, homeostasis is maximised.


Soil bacteria are key to ecosystem function and maintenance of soil fertility. Leveraging associations of current geographic distributions of bacteria with historic climate, we predict that soil bacterial diversity will increase across the majority (~70%) of the Tibetan Plateau and northern North America if bacterial communities equilibrate with existing climatic conditions. This prediction is possible because the current distributions of soil bacteria have stronger correlations with climate from ~50 years ago than with current climate. This lag is likely associated with the time it takes for soil properties to adjust to changes in climate. The predicted changes are location specific and differ across bacterial taxa, including some bacteria that are predicted to have reductions in their distributions. These findings demonstrate the widespread influence that climate change will have on belowground diversity and highlight the importance of considering bacterial communities when assessing climate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.


Schools of architecture play a major role in motivating and inspiring students to gain competencies in sustainability through pedagogical practices. However, at the operational level, the incorporation of sustainability within architectural programmes needs to be integrated into both the curricula and teaching methods. There are few studies on how architectural programmes' curricula and pedagogical practices can be institutionally articulated, as well as on how the required coherency among components can be empowered operationally. Since the interrelation of the courses form the structure of the curricula and provide certain inputs for the students' knowledge and skill, any operational risk can harm the quality assurance. Therefore, an operational framework aimed for a coordinated incorporation of sustainability in architectural programmes is required. In order to achieve this, scrutinising substantial equivalence programmes could provide constructive outcomes for the improvement of the existing programmes and future experiences for students. In order to determine the articulation of sustainability issues in architectural education, in this research, a recently accredited school in the Eastern Mediterranean region was chosen as a case study. The study includes an analysis of course descriptions, teaching methods, and teacher and student perceptions about the incorporation of sustainability into the courses. Also, jury sessions' evaluation criteria are assessed as a pedagogical tool. Then, the horizontal and vertical articulation of courses within the curricula and their coordination were studied accordingly. The findings reveal that horizontal and vertical relations between different course types that share similar learning objectives are very important. However, this relation and continuum should be perceivable by students, tutors, and the relevant stakeholders; otherwise, any attempt would remain superficial. Accordingly, the association of sustainability with pre-defined evaluation criteria for grading is very important. The methodological tools and lessons from this study can assist young architecture programmes with the incorporation of sustainability into their programme without changing its spirit, through the coordination of courses within curricula and adopted pedagogical tools.


PURPOSE
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic nephropathy (DN) are serious microvascular complications of diabetes mellitus. Correlations between severity of DR and DN and computed heritability estimates for DR were determined in a large, multiethnic sample of diabetic families. The hypothesis was that (1) the severity of DR correlates with the presence and severity of nephropathy in individuals with diabetes mellitus, and (2) the severity of DR is under significant familial influence in members of multiplex diabetic families.

METHODS
The Family Investigation of Nephropathy and Diabetes (FIND) was designed to evaluate the genetic basis of DN in American Indians, European Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. FIND enrolled probands with advanced DN, along with their diabetic siblings who were concordant and discordant for nephropathy. These diabetic family members were invited to participate in the FIND-Eye study to determine whether inherited factors underlie susceptibility to DR and its severity. FIND-Eye participants underwent eye examinations and had fundus photographs taken. The severity of DR was graded by using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Classification (ETDRS). Sib-sib correlations were calculated with the SAGE 5.0 program FCOR, to estimate heritability of retinopathy severity.

RESULTS
This report summarizes the results for the first 2368 diabetic subjects from 767 families enrolled in FIND-Eye; nearly 50% were Mexican American, the largest single ethnicity within FIND. The overall prevalence of DR was high; 33.4% had proliferative DR; 7.5%, 22.8%, and 9.5% had severe, moderate, and mild nonproliferative DR, respectively; 26.6% had no DR. The severity of DR was significantly associated with severity of DN, both by phenotypic category and by increasing serum creatinine concentration (chi(2) = 658.14, df = 20; P < 0.0001). The sib-sib correlation for DR severity was 0.1358 in the total sample and 0.1224 when limited to the Mexican-American sample. Broad sense heritabilities for DR were 27% overall and 24% in Mexican-American families. The polygenic heritability of liability for proliferative DR approximated 25% in this FIND-Eye sample.

CONCLUSIONS
These data confirm that the severity of DR parallels the presence and severity of nephropathy in individuals with diabetes mellitus. The severity of DR in members of multiplex diabetic families appears to have a significant familial connection.


Research into building-physics in the UK over the last 15 years has demonstrated the significant constraints to the extent to which the energy efficiency of historic buildings can sensibly be improved. While some of these include risk to character and heritage significance, others are linked to moisture movement, mould growth and the comfort of building fabric and users. In parallel with this research and project work, the UK has signed the Paris Accord and committed to delivering zero-carbon by 2050. Although there may be alternative sources of energy, such as hydrogen, to deliver the decarbonisation of industry and transport it seems unlikely that these will make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of building energy use. In these circumstances electricity will be the sole zero-carbon energy supply for the heating, ventilation and lighting of all existing and new buildings. This dependence suggests that any supply-side limitations on the energy available will inform or impose a requirement for improved performance and thus on the scale and nature of retrofit measures required to each building. This paper establishes potential energy allowances for existing residential buildings from the published future energy supply scenarios and cross references these with the existing metrics for retrofit and with the available post-occupancy performance data on completed retrofit projects for historic residential buildings. This analysis provides an indication of the nature and extent of the level of retrofit that will be required to existing buildings in order for the UK to deliver on its zero-carbon commitment and suggests the kind of approach and methodology that should be adopted for retrofit in order to avoid the fabric risks identified above.


This study examined the influence of religion on the political Parties' affiliation and elections in Iganga District. The study used a cross-sectional survey research design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study used 700 respondents identified using simple random, purposive and snow ball sampling techniques. These included religious leaders, political and traditional leaders, and voters. Data was analysed using Chi-square test of goodness of fit and thematic analysis. The study discovered that Political party affiliation is not linked to religion apart from the traditional political parties, and religious leaders and their institutions are turned into mobilization centers consequently influencing them politically. The study recommended that religious leaders should try to unite the people in the region amidst confusion and divisionism caused by politics. In addition, Religious leaders and political leaders should therefore desist from activities which compromise with their religious and leadership ethics, thus campaigns or political gatherings should take place entirely out of the worship centers. They should not allow religion to be politicized.


Chatbots are emerging as a promising platform for accessing and delivering healthcare services. The evidence is in the growing number of publicly available chatbots aiming at taking an active role in the provision of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services. This article takes a closer look at how these emerging chatbots address design aspects relevant to healthcare service provision, emphasizing the human–AI interaction aspects and the transparency in AI automation and decision making.


Procedures for lowering the production of mycotoxins in cereals before harvest are not available. Breeding of cereal varieties which are resistant to fusaria is a promising approach. Development of storage fungi and fusaria after harvest can be inhibited by drying with warm or ambient air, refrigerated storage, chemical preservation (e.g. by propionic acid, urea), and airtight storage. For the quantitative determination of fungal growth in feedstuffs a chemical indicator such as ergosterol must be determined. A preservation procedure can be regarded as effective only if it is able to inhibit mold growth completely. This is concluded from the observation that an initial toxin-free phase of growth which has been found in mold cultures with liquid medium could not be detected during refrigerated storage of wheat. Under these conditions the production of ochratoxin A and other mycotoxins by Penicillium strains started simultaneously with the production of ergosterol. For an effective ambient air drying of cereals the depth of the whole bulk and the velocity of air must afford complete drying within 8-10 days. During refrigerated storage of cereals maximal storage periods which depend on moisture content and temperature should not be exceeded. Maximal storage periods based on ergosterol determinations are described for wheat with an initial moisture content between 18 and 26% and storage temperatures of 4 and 10 degrees C. The effect of propionic acid concentration on the development of molds is described, recommendations for selecting optimal acid dosages are given.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The aim of this study is to understand how teenagers use Internet forums to search for information. The activities of asking for and providing information in a forum were explored, and a set of messages extracted from a French forum targeting adolescents was analyzed. Results show that the messages initiating the threads are often requests for information. Teenagers mainly ask for peers' opinions on personal matters and specific verifiable information. The discussions following these requests take the form of an exchange of advice (question/answer) or a coconstruction of the final answer between the participants (with assessments of participants' responses, requests for explanations, etc.). The results suggest that discussion forums present different advantages for adolescents' information‐seeking activities. The first is that this social medium allows finding specialized information on topics specific to this age group. The second is that the collaborative aspect of information seeking in a forum allows these adolescents to overcome difficulties commonly associated with the search process (making a precise request, evaluating a result).


Of 59 cases of vertebrobasilar junction aneurysms diagnosed and treated from January 1977 to April 1986, 21 (35.5%) saccular aneurysms arose in a fenestration of the proximal basilar artery. Defects of the media at the junctures of the fenestrated segments, as well as the possible presence of turbulent flow at the vertebrobasilar junction, may explain the high incidence of vertebrobasilar aneurysms associated with proximal basilar artery fenestration.


Absolute capacity for IL2 production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was studied using 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA) and calcium ionophore A23187, which act synergistically, to induce lymphokine synthesis. Culture parameters were optimized for the TPA/A23187 stimulation such that maximal IL2 titers were produced with a high degree of reproducibility. Thus, using a synthetic medium, TPA/A23187 at 20/50ng/ml respectively, and a cell concentration of 2.5 X 10(6)/ml, IL2 titers in the cultures increased linearly over a period of 96h, reaching values at least 15-fold higher than with lectin stimulation. This allowed for determinations of IL2 synthetic capacity in individual blood samples. Large fluctuations in normal IL2 production (range 1775-10654 BRMP U/ml at 48h) were observed among 23 normal persons. A statistically significant lower IL2 productive capacity was observed in the age group above 40 as compared to those under 40. The lower rates of IL2 synthesis in a group of patients with Hodgkin's disease was seen only among those who had undergone immunosuppressive therapy; newly diagnosed cases fell within the normal range.


Preparation of size‐tunable ultrathin W18O49 nanowires by an alcohol‐assisted solvothermal decomposition of tungstic acid is reported. The synthesis of ultrathin W18O49 nanowires can be achieved at large scale and low cost, while changing the molecular size of the used alcohols can control the nanowire morphology. With increasing the molecular size of the alcohol, the synthesized W18O49 nanowires have smaller diameters and longer lengths. The as‐prepared blue W18O49 nanomaterials show a very strong visible light absorption caused by oxygen defects and an aspect ratio‐dependent photocatalytic activity on the degradation of pollutant rhodamine B (RhB) under simulated solar light irradiation. It is found that the W18O49 nanowires with highest aspect ratio show the highest activity in the photodegradation of RhB, which could be related to their higher density of oxygen surface defects in combination with a higher adsorption capability of RhB. This new synthetic route of size tunable ultrathin W18O49 nanomaterials will enlarge their potential applications and can be possibly used in the pyrolyzing synthesis of other metal oxide nanomaterials.


The emerging publish/subscribe communication paradigm for building large-scale distributed event notification systems, has been shown to exhibit excellent performance and scalability characteristics. Moreover, some work also focus on providing reliability and availability guarantees in the face of node crash and link failures. Such publish/subscribe systems are commonly used in cloud computing infrastructures. However, addressing the dependability concern due to malicious attacks or unintentional software errors, which can potentially corrupt the system, has largely been left untouched by researchers. In this paper, we first identify some of the potential problem areas related to Byzantine behavior in the publish/subscribe paradigm. Secondly, we propose several directions of research for designing a Byzantine fault-tolerant publish/subscribe system suitable for use as a cloud computing infrastructure.


PMR investigations on the diastereomeric phosphate methyl protons of the dinucleoside ethyl phosphotriesters Tp(C2H5)T, dA, and dIp(C2H5)dI have been used to study the conformational changes of these dimersin solution. In D2O (273°K), the diastereomeric phosphate‐methly groups of Tp(C2H5)T appear as a triplet. The methyl resonances of dIp(C2H5)dI and dAp(C2H5)dA appear as two sets of triplets and their chemical shift differences (δ1 − δ2), decrease with increasing temperature, finally becoming zero at 292°K and 333°K, respectively. The same phenomenon is observed for dAp(C2H5)dA in CD3OD; in this detacking solvent, the difference (δ1 − δ2) diminishes to zero at a lower temperature (261°K). At room temperature in D2O, the chemical shift of the phosphate methyl of Tp(C2H5)T appears at lower field than those of dIp(C2H5)dI or dAp(C2H5)dA. The differences between the chemical shifts of these groups (δI − δT or δA − δT) increase with increasing temperature, and reach maximal values at 301°K and 333°K, respectively. The results suggest that at low temperature the largest fraction of the dimer population exists in a stacked state, with the phosphate‐ethyl groups outside the stack. Increasing temperature causes an oscillation of the bases and a shift in the dimer population away from the stacked state. Finally at high temperature, the planar bases rorate with respect to one another and in the case of dIp(C2H5)dI and dAp(C2H5)dA, the ethyl groups experience shielding by the anisotropic ring current of the five‐membered ring of the bases. Thus, the current pmr studies and those reported earlier from our laboratory support an "oscillation‐rotation model" for the unstacking process of the dimers. The relationship of this model and the "two‐state model" is discussed.


Antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (APS) is a disorder caused by circulating antibodies reacting with biological membranes and characterized by recurrent thrombosis, chronic thrombocytopenia and miscarriages. It has been reported to occur either as a primary syndrome or secondary to systemic autoimmune disorders. We describe a case of primary APS in a young patient, in whom the clinical course was particularly severe and complicated by a respiratory distress syndrome. The patient was resistant to a number of treatments, and eventually responded to intravenous high dose corticosteroids.


The purpose of this research is to determine the level of using the reading strategies by the students who study in the department of Turkish Language and Literature Teaching in Buca Education Faculty. 200 students, who continue study in Dokuz Eylul University Buca Education Faculty in 2011-2012, participated in the research. Translated by Cogmen from Taraban, Kerr, Rynearsan (2004), MRSS (Meta-Cognitive Reading Strategies Scale) was applied to the students. Reliability coefficient of the scale was obtained as 0,81. For two dimension and whole of the scale of reading comprehension strategies used by the students there is no significant difference between the usage level of MRSS according to their gender, department, level of class and high school graduation of the students on the research. According to the number of books read by each student, a significant difference was obtained.


Objective: To evaluate safety and efficacy data for potassium-binding resins in renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS)-associated hyperkalemia. Data Sources: A search of MEDLINE (EBSCOhost; 1946 to February 2016) was conducted using the terms hyperkalemia, rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, angiotensin receptor blocker, aldosterone antagonists, resin, and binder. Results were limited to human trials in English language journals. References of identified articles were reviewed to identify other relevant articles. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Concurrent potassium-binding agents and RAAS inhibitor use literature were reviewed. Inclusion criteria a 2-week minimum therapy duration with hyperkalemia or high-risk patients receiving concurrent RAAS-inhibiting agents. Seven articles met inclusion criteria: 1 retrospective case series for sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS), 1 noncontrolled study using patiromer, and 5 randomized, placebo-controlled trials using 3 different agents—2 patiromer, 2 sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC), and 1 cross-linked polyelectrolyte (CLP). Data Synthesis: SPS efficacy data are limited to a mean potassium reduction of 1.8 mEq/L in a 14-patient uncontrolled case series. CLP did not reduce hyperkalemia incidence compared with placebo. Patiromer effectively maintained potassium at 0.45 to 0.72 mmol/L lower than placebo while allowing spironolactone dose titration in more patients (91% vs 74%, P = 0.019). SZC also safely and effectively normalized and maintained potassium levels in patients receiving RAAS inhibitors (71%-85% vs 48% for placebo, P < 0.01). Conclusions: Currently, the literature does not support SPS and CLP for preventing RAAS inhibitor–associated hyperkalemia. Patiromer and SZC safely and effectively lower serum potassium and prevent hyperkalemia redevelopment in patients receiving RAAS inhibitors for up to 4 and 8 weeks,0 respectively.


This article examines the importance of information giving and its role in gaining informed consent from patients with sickle cell disease requiring exchange blood transfusion for the management of stroke. The rationale for the use of exchange blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease who have had a stroke is explained. The impact of stroke on cognition is highlighted and the implications for informed decision making are considered. Other factors such as communicating risk are discussed.


ABSTRACT National uniform legislation exists in federations to implement national reforms where the central government does not have the direct authority to legislate under the Constitution. The State jurisdictions must work together on legislation to address urgent issues of national concern, national uniform legislation. Developing and drafting national uniform legislation are complicated and complex because they require the cooperation of many units with asymmetrical knowledge, competing priorities, limited budgets and timeframes, and at times irreconcilable differences. Empirical data analysis and statistics could provide an aid for decision-making in these circumstances. On examination of a large body of legal information on the 69 most significant Australian national reforms, this article finds factors that inhibit or promote sustainable uniformity of enacted legislation by using ordinal regression for the first time. This work provides significant evidence-based insights into the process of harmonisation in federations. Overall, our findings contradict the general belief that the uniformity is mostly dependent on structures alone (referred, applied, mirror, and hybrid). If sustainable uniformity is the goal,the decision-makers must allow resources for establishing the national regulator, ensure maximum uptake by the majority of the nine Australian jurisdictions, support the development of national uniform legislation through the National Cabinet, and be prepared for the second wave of national reforms through consecutive reforms. These findings have valuable strategic implications for policymakers, law reform agencies, and legislative drafters who intend to rely on evidence for future decision-making in terms of the most important national reforms. This paper provides recommendations for governments intending to ensure the sustainability of uniformity and adaptability of the Australian legislation for any future changes without losing the important consensus that has been achieved. The findings are also important for other federations seeking to implement harmonised legislation.


Changing the English textbook of the first grade junior high school at Iran's public schools after 27 years has sparked researchers' interests in conducting evaluations of the new English textbook to get insights into its strengths and weaknesses. In line with this trend, this study aimed at evaluating the new textbook (Prospect 1) from teachers' perspectives. To attain this objective, 30 junior high school teachers were interviewed and the data were then analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that from teachers' perspectives, there were some pitfalls with the new textbook such as applying an unsuitable method of literacy instruction; over-attention to the communication skills at the expense of literacy skills; over-localization of the content; overlooking the development of intercultural competence in students; and lack of authenticity in the presentation of the content. Finally, as the central figures in the process of educational change, the participant teachers offered some suggestions to amend the new textbook with the hope that their voices be heard by the pertinent authorities.


This study explores a phenomenon that has over the years attracted little systematic investigation and has never been addressed from the dual perspectives of client and therapist in a working therapeutic dyad. This original contribution provides knowledge on how an imposed change of therapist can impact individuals, relational dynamics and therapeutic outcome. The research took place in a substance misuse agency with four therapeutic dyads composed of client and replacement therapist. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews was used to capture individual client and therapist experiences of the phenomenon, then paired client and therapist interviews were analysed for dyad material. The client experience of the imposed ending and change to a different therapist involved the activation of the attachment system and the possibility of change in substance use or the fear of relapse. For clients there was an accumulation of losses linked to the relationship with the departing therapist, the work done in that relationship and the hope of an outcome from that work. The experience of the therapist working with an imposed change client is documented in their approach to working as the replacement therapist and a presence in the relationship of the first therapist. In the four dyad accounts the findings from individuals are seen to shape the development and trajectory of this second relationship and therapy outcome. From the findings, the importance of acknowledging and working with this phenomenon is discussed and recommendations are made for both practitioners and organisations to benefit client, therapist and organisation. The data not only fills a gap in knowledge but also opens the way for further investigation into the relationship that ended due to the therapist's departure and the phenomenon's impact in different clinical settings.


The middle reaches of the Nile River play a key role in the current models about the diffusion of modern Humans out of Africa, nevertheless the Early and the Middle Stone Age (Early Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic) in central Sudan are poorly known. On-going investigation at al-Jamrab (White Nile region) highlights the archaeological potential of the central Sudan and illustrates the importance of an integrated approach combining archaeological excavation and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for understanding cultural site formation and post-depositional dynamics. The stratigraphic sequence at al-Jamrab includes a thick cultural layer rich in Early and Middle Stone Age artefacts, preserved in a deeply weathered palaeosol developed on fluvial sediments. The cultural layer includes a two-fold human occupation covering the Middle Stone Age, with Acheulean and Sangoan bifacial artefacts, although an Early Stone Age/Middle Stone Age transitional phase cannot be excluded. The artefact-bearing unit is attributed to the Upper Pleistocene based on preliminary OSL dating, the local palaeoenvironmental context, and strong pedogenetic weathering. Considering the paucity of archaeological data for the Pleistocene of Sudan and the importance of this region in the study of human dispersal out of Africa, this preliminary work on a new site and its associated stratigraphic context provides insights into the early peopling of Sudan and adds one more tessera to the Eastern Africa picture.


Neonatal meningoencephalitis caused by Bacillus cereus is rare. In most cases, the infection is fatal because of extensive damage and necrosis of infected tissue caused by the toxins produced by B. cereus. We report on a 17-day-old preterm neonate who developed B. cereus bacteraemia and severe haemorrhagic meningoencephalitis. The infant survived. The ultrasound, CT and MRI images showed pattern of haemorrhagic and early cavitating, selective white matter destruction. The interval from the time of recognition of illness to irreversible damage of the central nervous system was short which demonstrates a need for increase awareness, early diagnosis, and more-effective therapy. We describe the clinical course and a distinct neuroimaging characteristic for this organism.


The Paso Otero Locality is a cluster of archaeological sites within the middle Río Quequén Grande basin located in the northern coastal plain of Argentina. The valley fill is Holocene alluvial, eolian, and palustrine sediment, including the top of the Guerrero Member (∼10,000 14C yr B.P.), upper Río Salado Member (∼3000 14C yr B.P.), and lower La Postrera Formation (∼2400 14C yr B.P.). Regional soils include the Puesto Callejón Viejo (10,000 to 9400 14C yr B.P.) and the Puesto Berrondo (∼4800 14C yr B.P.). Radiocarbon sampling of buried A‐horizons on both sides of the river produced 17 dates considered reliable. The geoarchaeological information allows exploration of the implications for the formation of the archaeological record. Similar geological processes of differential intensity have resulted in contexts of different archaeological resolution and integrity. The Paso Otero Locality provides both a local and regional view of late Quaternary events and processes for the middle basin of the Río Quequén Grande.


A rotating target has been developed that has the potential for providing an initial yield of 1013 neutrons per second by the T(d,n) He4 reaction, and a useable lifetime in excess of 600 hours. This yield and lifetime are indicated for a 300 KV and 30 mA deuteron accelerator and a 30 ?m thick titanium tritide film formed of the stoichiometric compound TiT2. The potential for extended lifetime is made possible by incorporating a sputtering electrode that permits use of titanium tritide thicknesses much greater than the deuteron range. The electrode is used to remove in situ depleted titanium layers to expose fresh tritide beneath. The utilization of the rotating target as a source of fast neutrons for cancer therapy is discussed.


This work is based on the Mexico 2000 meeting under the auspices of ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics) and INTSORMIL (International Sorghum and Millet Collaborative Research Support Program). Sorghum and millet are very important agronomic crops in many parts of the world, specifically in the semi-arid regions in warm areas. The crops are of great significance in supplying food and feed in the developing areas of Latin America, Africa, and Asia.


Effects of immersion chilling on the microbiological quality of poultry carcasses and cross contamination of Salmonella were studied. Levels of aerobic mezophilic bacteria, coliform, Escherichia coli and the incidence of Salmonella were determined prechill and postchill. The level of coliform and E. coli were reduced by immersion chilling (P 0.05) but there was an increase in Salmonella incidence in carcasses exiting the immersion chiller indicating that this may be the point of most significant cross contamination in broiler processing plants. Experiments on microbial decontamination of poultry carcasses with lactic acid were performed. The microbial levels of poultry car- casses were reduced significantly by lactic acid treatment (P<0.05). Treatment with lactic acid (1%) resulted in a 1.259, 1.685 and 2.023 logaritmic unit reduction in colony forming units of aerobic mezophilic bacteria, coliform and E. coli. Other treatments with lactic acid (3%) resulted in a 2.502, 3.876 and 3.820 logaritmic unit reduction in colony forming units of aerobic mezophilic bac- teria, coliform and E. coli compared with the control samples. Salmonella was not isolated from decontaminated broiler carcasses with 1% and 3% of lactic acid solutions. Lactic acid can be used eliminate Salmonella from poultry carcasses and extend the shelf life of processed broilers. However unde- sirable organoleptic characteristics may occur when it is used at high concentrations.


Background: Androgen receptor (AR) expression has been observed in up to 77% of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–positive (HER2+) breast cancer (BC). References: 1 Enzalutamide (ENZA) is a potent AR inhibitor approved for patients (pts) with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. In vitro, ENZA enhances antitumor activity of trastuzumab in HER2+ AR+ cell lines and inhibits proliferation in trastuzumab-resistant HER2+ cell lines. 2 Methods: Pts with metastatic or locally advanced BC that was HER2+ AR+ by local or central laboratory assessment were enrolled in a single-arm, Simon 2-stage phase 2 study (NCT02091960). Key eligibility criteria included availability of a tissue sample, presence of measurable or evaluable disease per RECIST v1.1, progression on prior trastuzumab and ≥1 prior line of anti-HER2 therapy as the most recent regimen. Brain metastases and history of seizure were exclusionary. Evaluable pts were those with centrally confirmed nuclear AR expression≥10% by immunohistochemistry who received ≥1 dose of ENZA and had ≥1 postbaseline tumor assessment. Pts received ENZA 160 mg daily and trastuzumab 6 mg/kg every 21 days until disease progression. The primary objective was clinical benefit rate at 24 weeks (CBR24), defined as complete or partial response (CR or PR) or stable disease (SD) for ≥24 weeks in evaluable pts. Additional endpoints included safety and progression-free survival (PFS). CBR24 in ≥3 of 21 evaluable pts was required to continue to stage 2 and enrollment of up to 66 evaluable pts total. This design yields a 1-sided type 1 error of 5% and 90% power when the true response is 25%. Results: Here we present results from stage 1 (data cutoff: Mar 23, 2016), with 22 evaluable pts enrolled (pts 21 and 22 enrolled simultaneously); 18 had received ≥4 prior lines of therapy. Median duration of ENZA exposure was 144 days (range, 22-495), mean number of complete trastuzumab infusions was 6.5. CBR24 was 27.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.7-50.2); 2 confirmed PR and 4 SD ≥24 weeks. Median PFS was 108 days (95% CI, 56-144). All pts experienced ≥1 adverse event (AE) any grade; 5 pts experienced AEs grade ≥3. ENZA-related AEs were reported in 16 pts (72.7%), the most common (in ≥10% of pts) were fatigue (22.7%), nausea (18.2%), diarrhea (13.6%) and arthralgia (13.6%). Serious AEs were reported in 6 pts (27.3%; 2 each of infection and back pain, 1 each of abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, pyrexia, urinary retention and pulmonary edema). Two pts discontinued due to drug-related AEs: 1 related to both drugs, 1 related to trastuzumab. One on-study death from pulmonary edema was reported, which was not considered related to either drug. Conclusion: Stage 1 met its primary objective. No new safety signals were identified, and the safety profile in this study was similar to that in men with prostate cancer and women with other BC subtypes treated with ENZA. These results are encouraging for a heavily pretreated population with advanced HER2+ AR+ BC. Enrollment in stage 2 continues with the combination of ENZA and trastuzumab. 1. Micello D et al. Virchows Arch. 2010;457:467-476. 2. Richer J. Presented at AACR Advances in Breast Cancer, San Diego, CA, 2013. Citation Format: Krop I, Cortes J, Miller K, Huizing MT, Provencher L, Gianni L, Chan S, Trudeau M, Steinberg J, Sugg J, Liosatos M, Paton VE, Peterson A, Wardley A. A single-arm phase 2 study to assess clinical activity, efficacy and safety of enzalutamide with trastuzumab in HER2+ AR+ metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-22-08.


Based on the analysis of problems and difficulties in apparel quotation system, this paper puts forward the combination of BPM and SOA as a new idea for analysis of apparel quotation system, according to their advantages in business goals and requirements analysis, and the corresponding services' definition, extraction, optimization and integration. Through the combination, system flexibility, rapidity and accuracy could be achieved. The establishment of Service Repository according to the business requirements, is a crucial part in the architecture, however there are no definite rules for service extraction. In this paper, the detailed activities and steps, as well as a specific establishment case is illustrated. At last, architecture based on BPM and SOA for the apparel trade quotation is put forward, and its composition and implement are also analyzed.


In this study, the volume-acceleration model was introduced to determine the initial condition for bubble motion during underwater explosion. Subroutines, which defined the initial and boundary conditions of the fluid field, were developed based on MSC.DYTTAN software. Numerical simulations were compared with the results of validated experimental data. From the basic phenomenon of interaction between a bubble and a vertical rigid wall, the dynamic behavior of a bubble near a vertical rigid wall was simulated and analyzed. The dynamic behavior of bubble and the jet were studied systematically and summarized relative to the law that both of the motion of bubble and water jet are closely related with the standoff distance parameter. The results of this study have valuable implications for correlative theory research and engineering calculation.


Abstract Nitrogen influx was identified in the Harghita Bãi area, where the mechanism of NH4+-fixation in illitic clays is relevant for the N-input budget estimation. The nanotextural features of K-illite (K-I), NH4,K-I and NH4-illite-smectite (NH4-I-S) mixed layers observed in argillic-altered andesitic rocks from the hydrothermal area of Harghita Bãi (East Carpathians) were studied by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and transmission and analytical electron microscopy (TEM-AEM). The texture of undisturbed argillic-altered andesite rocks exhibits chaotic intergrowths of randomly oriented and curved illitic packets with abundant pore spaces and high porosity between packets. The TEM images of K-I and NH4,K-I intergrowths show subparallel packets with clear contacts, exhibiting a diffuse contrast across layers. The thicknesses of K-I and NH4,K-I packets range from 150 to 500 Å, and 1Md and 1M polytypes were identified by selected area electron diffraction patterns. Crystal chemistry of K-I, NH4,K-I and NH4-I-S was carried out by AEM. A third interlayer cation Na+ beside K+ was detected in several NH4,K-I packets. The NH4,Na,K-I packets interleaved with NH4,K-I or NH4-I-S (12% smectite layers) packets were also identified by TEM. The thicknesses of NH4,Na,K-I packets range from 300 to 1200 Å, with abundant lenses and lenticular layer separation along the boundaries between them. The 1Md polytype dominates the NH4,Na,K-I packets. Straight and parallel packets, continuous 00l layers and collapsed swelling layers at the boundary of individual NH4-I (5% smectite layers) packets with thicknesses ranging from 20 to 95 Å were observed. The nanotextural observations indicate direct crystallization of NH4-I crystals within a NH4-I-S series from a pore fluid, where NH4-I packets occupy void spaces previously occupied by fluids.


What does it mean to bootstrap a compiler, and why do it? This paper reports on the first bootstrapping (i.e., a compiler can compile itself) of a full-scale EOO (Equation-based Object-Oriented) modeling language such as Modelica. The Modelica language has been modeled/implemented in the OpenModelica compiler (OMC) using an extended version of Modelica called MetaModelica. OMC models the MetaModelica language and is now compiling itself with good performance. Benefits include a more extensible maintainable compiler, also making it easier to add functionality such as debugging support. This work is in line with the recently started Modelica 4 design effort which includes moving implementation of language features from the compiler to a Modelica Core library, allowing compilers to become smaller while increasing correctness and portability. A number of language constructs discussed for Modelica 4 are already supported in some form by the bootstrapped compiler. Future work includes adapting language constructs according to the Modelica 4 design effort and extracting and restructuring parts of the Modelica implementation from the OMC compiler to instead reside in a Modelica Core library, making the compiler smaller and more extensible.


Few public transport debates come to terms with the questions of what constitutes public transport, of what is it for, and exactly how it differs from private transport, individual transport, and collective transport. For some engaged in these debates, public transport is supported because of its contribution to net social welfare or to welfare of segments of society; public transport is therefore held as being in the public interest. Although this proposition is most certainly true as a generalisation, it reduces the understanding of public transport to essentially an expression of social values and suffers from being considered as purely subjective when tackling questions such as when and where public transport is to be preferred over its alternatives. Classical economics has traditionally explained the role of public transport as being necessary because free markets cannot be efficient and effective in providing a transport system. Public transport is necessarily provided by states because of the market failures arising from transport being a collective good, having costs and benefits that can't be captured by markets (i.e., externalities), and because of the problems of monopoly and associated potential abuse of market power. This view can be broadened by considering whether public transport is a common pool resource. This paper discusses these issues and identifies criteria which define public transport. A number of policy implications are discussed and it addresses the issues of why collective modes do not necessarily constitute public transport and why private transport cannot fully substitute for public transport.


In current dynamic optical networks with cascaded filters and amplifiers, the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) can vary significantly from channel to channel. Under such uncertainty, OSNR prediction for unestab-lished channels becomes indispensable but remains a big challenge. For protective network planning purposes such as margin threshold setting or wavelength assignment, it is desirable to evaluate the worst OSNR performance of each network link. Such exploration will unavoidably employ active monitoring probes, which may cause interruptions to the network. An efficient active monitoring strategy that optimizes the choice of probes or monitoring trials is needed. We propose a "self-learning" monitoring strategy integrated at intermediate nodes. Our method can intelligently select the channel to be monitored in order to search for the target global maxima of OSNR degradation for a specific link. Our monitoring scheme detects intermediate node OSNR in the linear regime. It is shown that our method can predict the target OSNR value with only 0.5 dB error while reducing the required monitoring data by up to 91% compared to conventional methods.


Many philosophers have endorsed G. E. Moore's principle of organic unities – according to which the value of a whole must not be assumed to be the same as the sum of the values of its parts – claiming this principle to be of fundamental importance to ethics. In this paper, I cast doubt on the principle. In Section 1, I provide a provisional reformulation of the principle of organic unities and contrast such unities with mere sums of value. In Section 2, I do some groundwork in order to arrive at an account of the part–whole relation with which the principle of organic unities is concerned. In so doing, I provide some further reformulations of that principle. In Section 3, I discuss the isolation method that Moore proposes for determining the value of something, and then, in Section 4, I begin an extended discussion of a particular example of an alleged organic unity, namely, Schadenfreude. I explain why some philosophers claim that such pleasure constitutes an organic unity, but I also present reasons for denying this claim. In Section 5, I pursue one of these reasons in particular, a reason that appeals to the concept of what I call evaluative inadequacy, and, in Section 6, I seek to motivate this appeal by drawing on the relation between value and fitting attitudes. In so doing, I provide still further reformulations of the principle of organic unities. In Section 7, I entertain objections to my account of Schadenfreude, one of which requires one final reformulation of the principle of organic unities, and then, in Section 8, I discuss the more general objection that, even if my reasons for denying that Schadenfreude constitutes an organic unity are cogent, these reasons do not extend to other alleged organic unities, such as the related phenomenon of Mitleid. In the final section, I address the significance of the debate about whether the principle of organic unities is true.


In this thesis, I take a theoretical dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) approach to investigate optimal aggregate dividend policy. I make the following contribution: 1. I extend the standard DSGE model to incorporate a residual dividend policy, external financing and default and find that simulated optimal aggregate payouts are much more volatile than the observed data when other variables are close to the values observed in the data. 2. I examine the sensitivity of optimal aggregate dividend policy to the level of the representative agent's habit motive. My results show that, when the habit motive gets stronger, the volatility of optimal aggregate payouts increases while the volatility of aggregate consumption decreases. This is consistent with the hypothesis that investors use cash payouts from well diversified portfolios to help smooth consumption. 3. I demonstrate that the variability of optimal aggregate payouts is sensitive to capital adjustment costs. My simulated results show that costly frictions from changing the capital base of the firm cause optimal aggregate dividends and real investments to be smooth and share prices to be volatile. This finding is consistent with prior empirical observations. 4. I run simulations that support the hypothesis that optimal aggregate dividend policy is similar when the representative firm is risk averse to when it has capital adjustment costs. In both cases, optimal aggregate dividends volatility is very low. 5. In all calibrated DSGE models, apart from case 4, optimal aggregate payouts are found to be countercyclical. This supports the hypothesis that corporations prefer to hold more free cash flows for potential investment opportunities instead of paying dividends when the economy is booming, but is inconsistent with observed data.


BACKGROUND
Abnormal heart rate recovery (HRR) is predictive of cardiac mortality. Autonomic abnormalities in beta-thalassemia major (TM) patients have been reported in previous studies. However, the importance of low HRR in exercise stress test in TM patients has not yet been ascertained. Therefore, this study will be the first of its kind in the literature.

METHODS
Exercise stress test was performed on 56 TM patients who were being treated at the Thalassemia Center of our hospital, along with 46 non-TM iron deficiency anemia (IDA) patients as a control group. Values for HHR were recorded at 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 min, and HRR was calculated by the difference of heart rate at peak exercise and at a specific time interval following the onset of recovery.

RESULTS
All HRR values were found to be lower in TM patients compared to those in the IDA group. Exercise capacity [metabolic equivalents (METs)] was also found to be low in these patients (p < 0.001) as well. Total exercise time was significantly lower in the TM group compared to the IDA group (8.40 ± 1.7 min vs. 11.17 ± 1.51 min, p < 0.001). Exercise capacity (METs) was also lower in the TM group compared to the IDA group. Mean T2* value was 28.3 ± 13.7 ms in TM patients on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In addition, there are 18 TM patients with T2* value was < 20 ms.

CONCLUSIONS
This study found that TM was independently associated with low HRR. Such a condition is an indicator of autonomic dysfunction in TM patients, since abnormal HRR is related to impaired autonomic response. In addition, impaired HRR may be a marker of early cardiac involvement in patients, whose T2* value is high on MRI. Modifying HRR with a cardiac rehabilitation program in TM patients with impaired HRR is a field open for further investigation.


Blood coagulation is an extremely complex biological process in which blood forms clots to prevent bleeding, following by their dissolution and the subsequent repair of the injured tissue. The process involves different interactions between the plasma, the vessel wall and platelets with a huge impact of the flowing blood on the thrombus growth regularization. A new mathematical model and some numerical results for thrombus development will be presented in this talk. The cascade of biochemical reactions interacting with the platelets, resulting in a fibrin-platelets clot production and the additional blood flow influence on thrombus development will be discussed. Two main aspects will be considered. The first one is the mathematical model reduction in terms of biochemical reactions to simplify the model complexity, allowing results in agreement with experimental data. Therefore, the process will be initiated at the propagation phase, when the dominant part of thrombin and fibrin are produced. That requires an appropriate choice of the initial and boundary conditions to guarantee the prospective process development. A virtual equation to maintain the reliable prothrombinase production and additional platelets impact to the blood clot evolution is also included. The second feature of the model is to include the slip velocity and the consequent supply of activated platelets in the clot region, showing its importance on the whole blood coagulation process. The model consists of a system of 13 nonlinear convection-reaction-diffusion equations, describing the cascade of biochemical reactions, coupled with a non-Newtonian model for the blood. Numerical results will be presented in a three-dimensional blood vessel, using the finite element method. Blood clot formation, due to platelets supply and its evolution affected by blood flow will be discussed. Moreover, several cases of coagulation disorders leading to system perturbations will be presented and compared with experimental results. The main objective of this study is to build a blood coagulation model able to predict effects of specific perturbations in the hemostatic system that can't be obtained by laboratory tests, and assist in clinical diagnosis and therapies of blood coagulation diseases.


3D printing manufacturing process has the possibilities to produce individual medical devices, especially implants and prosthesis with short production time. The aim of this study is to design a 3D printable Energy Storage and Return (ESAR) foot prosthesis for transtibial amputees with a novel geometry. The criteria of the prosthesis were 3D printable, low cost, simply geometry and satisfying mechanical properties for low activity use. The finite element analysis of the designed foot prosthesis was conducted in each of the three support phases of the walking cycle (controlled plantarflexion, controlled dorsiflexion, powered plantarflexion or push-off phase). Besides of the simulations the prototype was printed by fused deposit modeling (FDM) technology, used ABS material and the produced prototype was investigated in quasi-static and cyclic compression. It can be stated after the investigation (simulation and test) that the 3D printed prototype fulfill the requirements and it can be used as passive ESAR foot prosthesis.


Graphene is a promising candidate for making next-generation nanoelectronic devices. Developing methods to produce large sized graphene with high yield is the key for graphene applications. Here, we report a simple method for large-scale production of ultra-large single-layer graphene sheet (up to 50 microm) reduced from graphene oxides by hydrazine in the presence of aromatic tetrasodium 1,3,6,8-pyrenetetrasulfonic acid (TPA) which efficiently disperse the resulting graphene sheet in aqueous solutions. Field-effect transistors can be readily fabricated using such large reduced graphene oxide sheets. It was found that the mobility of the reduced graphene oxide increases with the temperature of subsequent thermal reduction and reaches 3.5 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) after reduction at 1000 degrees C. Such solution-processable method is of great potential in printable fabrication of graphene-based devices.


The role of advocacy in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is debated among practitioners. Concerns revolve around whether engaging in advocacy undermines objectivity and credibility. While there is agreement that dissemination of findings and recommendations is necessary, there is a spectrum of activities that can be undertaken in an HIA, one end of which might be considered advocacy. In this Perspective from the Field, We posit that in conducting an HIA, practitioners are choosing to advocate for a set of causes that may include improved health, decreased inequity, and increased democracy. We come to the table with these values and the intent to advocate for them. For any HIA to be relevant and effective at advancing these causes in decision-making contexts, practitioners must use the best available evidence and a range of strategies to communicate evidence to policy audiences, including deliberate tactics with community organizations, decision makers, and others that can aid in addressing power imbalances. Though we believe that HIA practice cannot reach its full potential without embracing advocacy, practitioners must make decisions given their context, including local power dynamics as to how far into the advocacy spectrum they venture in any given HIA. This paper is geared towards HIA practitioners and others who want to understand the opportunity advocacy provides. We begin by describing the underlying values of HIA that inspire this perspective, including those in the 1999 Gothenburg Consensus Paper on HIA (Quigley et al., 2006). After briefly describing concerns HIA practitioners may have with advocacy, particularly that it undermines the objectivity and credibility of the HIA process, we then discuss common advocacy activities practitioners might undertake, and ways to address risks these activities may pose. These opportunities to undertake advocacy include partnering with diverse stakeholders, developing advisory committees, gauging the power and policy context, and thinking broadly about the best tactics to effectively communicate findings. We conclude with a case study describing how advocacy was used in the Treatment Instead of Prison HIA in Wisconsin to advance health, equity, and democracy.