Purpose of the article: Cyber security has become a key factor in determining the success or failure of companies that rely on information systems. However, this entails considerable investment. Typical investments in information technology aim to create value, while investments in cyber security aim to minimise losses caused by cyber-attacks. In the case of investment in cyber and information security, therefore, we must evaluate the amount of loss that will never actually occur. This is a complicated problem, and several approaches have been proposed over the years to estimate the cost-benefit balance of security investments.Methodology/methods: This paper is based on previous research (Podešva et al., 2021), where two most used methods of the ROI / ROSI (Bojanc, 2008) and Gordon-Loe model (Gordon, Loeb, 2002) were identified in the field of investments in cyber and information security. Both methods are described and the advantages and limitations for further research are identified.Scientific aim: The main goal is to select the most suitable method for further research in the field of investment in cyber and information security.Findings: ROI / ROSI does not seem suitable for further research because it only tells us what percentage of return on in-vestment will be provided during a given period. The separate use of this method (ROI / ROSI) provides us with very limited results and it is necessary to combine it with other methods. On the other hand, the Gordon-Loeb model is much more complex despite several limitations, especially for coefficients ʎ and t. Further research will therefore focus on the constant t (probability of attack on a given information set) and its value will be modelled based on the SIR epidemic model on network with standard incidents (Podešva, Koch 2019).Conclusions: At present, there is no standardised approach to decision-making and the size of investments in cyber and in-formation security. This is a very complex issue, and it is very difficult to find one universal model. Nevertheless, there are several models that help in this decision-making process, and as the most appropriate method for further research is Gordon Loe model


Background: Readmission to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is associated with a high risk of in-hospital mortality and higher health care costs. Previously published tools to predict ICU readmission in surgical ICU patients have important limitations that restrict their clinical implementation. We sought to develop a clinically intuitive score that can be implemented to predict readmission to the ICU after surgery or trauma. We designed the score to emphasize modifiable predictors. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we included surgical patients requiring critical care between June 2015 and January 2019 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, MA, USA. We used logistic regression to fit a prognostic model for ICU readmission from a priori defined, widely available candidate predictors. The score performance was compared with existing prediction instruments. Results: Of 7,126 patients, 168 (2.4%) were readmitted to the ICU during the same hospitalization. The final score included 8 variables addressing demographical factors, surgical factors, physiological parameters, ICU treatment and the acuity of illness. The maximum score achievable was 13 points. Potentially modifiable predictors included the inability to ambulate at ICU discharge, substantial positive fluid balance (>5 liters), severe anemia (hemoglobin <7 mg/dl), hyperglycemia (>180 mg/dl), and long ICU length of stay (>5 days). The score yielded an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 (95% CI 0.74-0.82) and significantly outperformed previously published scores. The performance of the underlying model was confirmed by leave-one-out cross-validation. Conclusion: The RISC-score is a clinically intuitive prediction instrument that helps identify surgical ICU patients at high risk for ICU readmission. The simplicity of the score facilitates its clinical implementation across surgical divisions.


The present study aims to evaluate the histopathological changes induced by recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (follitropin alpha) on reproductive organs as well as the liver and kidneys of female rats. The experiment was done on 24 white female rats (Rattus norvegicus) sexually mature weighing 150-200 gram, divided into 4 equal groups of 6 animals: control group which was given distilled water. Single dose group, double dose group and triple dose groups which were injected by 0.5 iu.,1 iu. and 1.5 iu of recombinant FSH respectively. The drug was given subcutaneously during the pro-estrous phase for ten consecutive cycles, then animals from each group were sacrificed to study the histopathological changes. The histopathological examination of the ovaries, uterus, liver, and kidneys revealed variable changes in different organs.The ovarian sections showed many Graafian follicles without ova and many corpus luteal cysts, fibrosis, and thickened granulosa cell layer, and the ovary was surrounded by excessive adipose tissue. The uterus in single and double doses showed dilated cavity, thin endometrium, thin muscular layer and diminished endometrial glands while in triple dose showed atrophy of endometrial lining and glands, hypertrophied muscular layer with slit like endometrial cavity and formation of multiple endometrial cyst. The liver sections showed few changes like dilated central vein, congestion of sinusoids, vacuolation of hepatocytes, with moderate degree of fatty degeneration A few hepatocytes appeared necrotic but without inflammatory response. The kidneys in single and double doses showed unremarkable changes, while in triple dose glomerular congestion, congested vessels, hemorrhage, and degeneration and necrosis of proximal tubules were found.


The lack of validated tools to predict how
long sow farms will remain PRRS virus-free following successful elimination of
the virus has deterred veterinarians and producers from attempting to eliminate
the PRRS virus from sow farms. The aim of this study was to use the database of
PRRS Risk Assessments for the Breeding Herd in PADRAP to develop and validate
an objective risk scoring system for predicting the likelihood of virus
introduction in PRRS virus-free sow farms in the US. To overcome the
challenges of dealing with a large number of variables, group lasso for
logistic regression (GLLR) was applied to a retrospective dataset of PRRS Risk
Assessment for the Breeding Herd surveys completed for 704 farms to develop the
risk scoring system. The validity of the GLLR risk scoring system
was then evaluated by testing its predictive ability on a dataset from a
long-term prospective study of 196 sow farms to assess risk factors associated
with how long PRRS virus-free sow farms remained PRRS virus-free. Receiver
operator characteristic(ROC) curves were estimated to compare the performance
of the GLLR risk scoring system to the risk scoring system based on expert
opinion (EO), currently used in the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd, for
predicting whether herds remained PRRS virus-free for 130 weeks. The GLLR risk
scoring system (AUC, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.67 - 0.84)
performed significantly better than the EO risk scoring system (AUC, 0.36; 95%
CI, 0.27 - 0.46) for predicting whether to sow farms in the
prospective study survived for 130 weeks (p 0.001). Dividing
farms into 3 risk groups (low, medium and high) using a low and high cutoff
values for the GLLR risk score was informative as the differences in the KM
survival curves for the 3 groups were both clinically meaningful and
statistically significant. The GLLR risk scoring system used in conjunction
with the PRRS Risk Assessment for the Breeding Herd survey delivered through
PADRAP appears to have the potential to help veterinarians predict the
likelihood of virus introduction in PRRS virus-free sow farms in the US.


Background and Purpose: It is not known whether short functional performance tests used in aging research are appropriate for use in healthy older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate age-group differences (sixth decade vs seventh decade) in selected functional performance tests and the association between lower extremity strength and functional performance. Methods: One hundred fifty-nine (18.2% [n = 29] male) healthy older adults (mean (standard deviation) age 60.4 (5.3) years), adults were recruited from the University of Limerick Campus Community. Knee extensor (KE) peak torque (PT) was assessed from a maximal voluntary isometric contraction. Subsequently, participants completed 10-m maximal and habitual gait speed tests, 5 repetition and 30-second chair rise tests, and a 900-m gait speed test. Results and Discussion: There was no difference in 10-m gait speed between those in the sixth and seventh decades (P > .05). Compared with the sixth decade, those in the seventh decade required an extra 39 seconds to complete 900 m, an extra 0.6 seconds to complete 5 chair rises and performed 2 fewer chair rises in a 30-second time period (P < .05). All tests had a weak association with KE strength (r = 0.226-0.360; P < .05), except for 900-m gait speed that had a moderate association (r = −0.537; P < .001). Our findings suggest that gait speed tests of 10 m or less cannot detect age-related difference in functional capacity when used in healthy older adults. Conclusion: Extended physical performance tests should be used in aging research on healthy older adults.


Why do men and women think differently? Why do they behave differently in stressed situations? Why do women act more emotionally as compared to men? Why do men and women excel at different types of tasks? Why do boys like to play with cars and trucks and superman? These are the common questions which arise commonly in minds.The human brain is a highly complex organ. Studies of perception, cognition, memory and neural functions have found apparent gender differences. These differences may be attributed to various genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors and do not reflect any overall superiority advantage to either sex. Both sexes are equal in intelligence, but tend to operate differently. Men and women appear to use different parts of the brain to encode memories, sense emotions, recognize faces, solve certain problems and make decisions. Indeed, when men and women of similar intelligence and aptitude perform equally well, their brains appear to go about it differently, as if nature had separate blueprints. Sex differences in the brain may play a role in learning processes, language development, and progression of neurologically- based diseases. Sex differences need to be considered in studying brain structure and function and may raise the possibility of sex-specific treatments for neurological diseases. In this article it is reviewed that how does the brain of a male look and function differently from a female's brain, and what accounts for these differences?


Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is the most common of the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias. It has a poor prognosis with a median survival of approximately 3 years, and whilst new therapies are finally beginning to offer hope of improved survival, most patients will require palliation of symptoms as their disease progresses. Whilst all patients with IPF complain of breathlessness, up to 80% develop a distressing cough, which is detrimental to their quality of life and difficult to treat. This article examines the possible causes of cough in the wider context of current theories of the pathogenesis of IPF and its associated comorbidities, which may also cause or exacerbate cough. We examine the evidence for increased cough sensitivity in patients with IPF and neuroplasticity in animal models of lung pathology. Finally, we discuss new therapies that are becoming available to treat cough in IPF and their possible mechanisms of action, and which highlight the need for further, appropriately powered studies that include objective measures of cough as an outcome.


The objective of this study was to describe the patterns of heliox use in critical care units of an academic medical center. The design was a prospective case series involving 7 critical care units of an academic medical center. All patients receiving heliox therapy over a 4-year period were studied, with prospective recording of patient demographics and the location, mode, indication for, and duration of heliox use. Use pattern comparisons based on anatomic location (upper vs lower airway) and age group (pediatric vs adult) were performed by α2 analysis and unpaired Student t test. Eighty-nine patients, aged 17.4 ± 20.9 years, received heliox for 30.5 ± 44.6 hours on 92 occasions. Pediatric (≤ 18 years) applications accounted for 72.8% of heliox use. Use was greater in frequency and scope during the final 2 study years, particularly in adults. Applications were split between upper airway (47%) and lower airway (53%) disorders. Airway manipulation was required in more adults (7/16) than in children (3/27) with upper airway obstruction (P < .05). The use patterns mirrored current literature emphases on postextubation stridor and asthma. This is the first description of heliox use patterns in the tertiary care critical care environment. Heliox use may be as dependent on practitioner experience as on published data. As a benign and relatively inexpensive therapy, heliox use should continue to be attractive, although ongoing study regarding efficacy in a number of settings is indicated.


The influence of social and economic factors on competencies of Italian students. A multilevel analysis of data PISA 2006 - This work aims to investigate the existence and the size of territorial differences in Italian students' scientific competencies. The "Programme for International Student Assessment" (PISA) survey, carried out by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) three-yearly, is a rigorous and wide international comparative work on fifteen yearold students' school performance. The survey makes use of very advanced methodologies and allows both to evaluate the students'performance and to gather data about their families and their socio-economic context which, together with several institutional factors, may influence the results of the educational process. Methods and Results The paper provides a multilevel analysis of the way that test scores are associated with individual and family background information and with characteristics of the school of the 15 year old respondents to the survey. Conclusions We find that school level context variables are very relevant and the economicsocial- cultural status plays a very important role to explain the low performance of Southern Italy students. JEL: C3, I21 Keywords: multilevel analysis, OECD-PISA, students assessment, socio-economic context, CIPP model, territorial differences Parole chiave: analisi multilivello, OECD PISA, valutazione degli studenti, contesto socioeconomico, CIPP model, divari territoriali


Sera from 16 of the 25 patients with PNH were found to exhibit anti-γC globulin activity as demonstrated by their ability to agglutinate human red cells sensitized with certain incomplete Rh antibodies. Of the 16 active sera, 9 agglutinated human FII-coated tanned sheep cells and 5 FII-coated latex particles in significant titer. Only one serum exhibited anti—Gm specificity. In 3 cases serum anti-γG globulin activity was found prior to transfusion of the patient, suggesting that isoimmunization is not in all cases responsible for this phenomenon. The chromatographic behavior of the serologically active substances and their inactivation by treatment with 2 ME suggest that they are γM globulins related to the rheumatoid factors. The possible role of these antiglobulin factors in the lysis of the PNH erythrocyte is discussed.


Background Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an acute disease of short duration with mild symptoms and with estimated incidence in children is approximately 1.9 to 6.4 cases per 100,000 per year. The management of acute ITP of childhood has generated controversy for many years. Although most children can be managed by careful monitoring, a small proportion of children will suffer from bleeding.1 The Aim The aim of our study is to characterise bleeding severity, platelets count, the management over the past 2 years. Material and methods All patients diagnosed with ITP, with a first visit to King Abdelaziz University Hospital Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during last2 years will eligible for this study. Demographic, laboratory, and treatment data were collected through a questionnaire. Result The mean age of the patients was 6.5 years (range, 1 month to 16 years), 18 boys and 14 girls. The mean plateletcount at presentation was 22.3 × 109/L (range, 1 to 108 × 109/L). Bleeding symptoms were found in 22 cases (68.80%). 19 (59.40%) had skin bleeding, 15 (46.9%)had mucosa bleeding, and 4 (12.50%) had organs bleeding. Bone marrow aspiration and laboratory tests (antinuclear antibodies,human immunodeficiency and hepatitis C virus) were performed for18 (56.30%)children.26 (81.1%) of patients received Immunoglobulin, and 9 (28.10%) received corticosteroids. Conclusion Most children with ITP treated by paediatrician received Immunoglobulin, we recommend that physician should follow the new guideline tools on ITP diagnosis and management to reduce the number of children requiring intervention and possible drug-induced side effects.


In order to gain a deeper insight into the role of 5 alpha-reductase in the growth of beards in men, we studied some kinetic properties of the enzyme in cell homogenates of cultured human dermal papilla cells from beard and occipital scalp hair. When cell homogenates were incubated with [3H]-testosterone, the 5 alpha-reductase of beard dermal papilla cells exhibited an optimum activity at pH 5.5, whereas the enzyme of dermal papilla cells from occipital scalp hair showed a broad and low plateau between pH 6.0 and 9.0, without a sharp peak. The apparent Michaelis constant of 5 alpha-reductase was 3.3 x 10(-7) M in dermal papilla cells from beard and 2.4 x 10(-5) M in those cells from occipital scalp hair. The apparent Km of 5 alpha-reductase for NADPH was 2.8 x 10(-5) M and 7.6 x 10(-4) M in beard and occipital scalp hair dermal papilla cells, respectively. There were no significant differences in the substrate specificity between these two types of cells. The 5 alpha-reductase activity was recovered mainly in the nuclear fraction of beard dermal papilla cells. By contrast, it was widely distributed among the individual subcellular fractions of dermal papilla cells from occipital scalp hair. These results strongly suggest that these two kinds of dermal papilla cells have different types of 5 alpha-reductase, and that the enzyme in beard dermal papilla cells is similar in characteristics to that in the androgen target organs such as prostate.


Research that focuses on participation in the field of journalism remains undertheorized and overused to explain whatever type of relation with the audience. This tension leads to a shortage of a solid theoretical construct to explain the processes of sharing online content in journalism. This article frames the audience studies in a new paradigm, which is linked to the key concept of sharing. It argues for an unresolved issue between the users' abundant social activities with media content and the lack of explicit strategies by the media to take advantage of how and why people share news on the internet. This article deals with a theoretical framework for journalism built on the convergence of audience studies, the research on participation and the management of online communities. All these approaches converge in the activity of sharing content, which remains undervalued within the academic and scientific field of journalism studies. This article recovers the paradigm of a media landscape made by information flows –instead of information stocks. Therefore, the act of sharing –by the audience– becomes strategic for the media. What it means in the field of research in journalism for the coming years is the main issue of this theoretical article. As part of the final results, the article summarises some research lines that are useful to develop a new framework around audiences and sharing content. We hope this work contributes to the theoretical awareness within a distinct segment of journalism studies influenced by the audience's online activities with media content.


Stag hunt and chicken games are canonical representations of two kinds of strategic interactions. In stag hunt, aggression feeds on itself, and mutual fear escalates into conflict. Chicken is a model of preemption and deterrence. With complete information, these games have multiple Nash equilbria. Using standard arguments from the Industrial Organization literature, we find sufficient conditions under which payoff uncertainty generates a unique equilibrium. These conditions encompass information structures ranging from independent types (as in our previous work) to highly correlated types (as in global games).


OBJECTIVE
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients and renal transplant recipients (RTRs) are characterized by aberrant body composition such as muscle wasting and obesity. It is still unknown which is the most accurate method to estimate body composition in CKD. We investigated the validity of the Hume equation and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as an estimate of body composition against dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in a cohort of nondialysis dependent (NDD)-CKD and RTRs.

DESIGN AND METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study with agreement analysis of different assessments of body composition conducted in 61 patients (35 RTRs and 26 NDD-CKD) in a secondary care hospital setting in the UK. Body composition (lean mass [LM], fat mass [FM], and body fat% [BF%]) was assessed using multifrequency BIA and DXA, and estimated using the Hume formula. Method agreement was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), regression, and plotted by Bland and Altman analysis.

RESULTS
Both BIA and the Hume formula were able to accurately estimate body composition against DXA. In both groups, the BIA overestimated LM (1.7-2.1 kg, ICC .980-.984) and underestimated FM (1.3-2.1 kg, ICC .967-.972) and BF% (3.1-3.8%, ICC .927-.954). The Hume formula also overestimated LM (3.5-3.6 kg, ICC .950-.960) and underestimated BF% (1.9-2.1%, ICC .808-.859). Hume-derived FM was almost identical to DXA in both groups (-0.3 to 0.1 kg, ICC .947-.960).

CONCLUSION
Our results demonstrate, in RTR and NDD-CKD patients, that the Hume formula, whose estimation of body composition is based only upon height, body mass, age, and sex, may reliably predict the same parameters obtained by DXA. In addition, BIA also provided similar estimates versus DXA. Thus, the Hume formula and BIA could provide simple and inexpensive means to estimate body composition in renal disease.


As the demand for miniature products has increased significantly, so also has the need
for these products to be produced in a rapid, flexible and cost efficient manner. The
application of electroplasticity shows significant potential to produce the components by using
powder materials. Nevertheless, previous research has shown that there are still significant
challenges to be met in order to achieve increased relative densification of product samples
and simplification of the processes. The process concept in this study comprises the
combination of electrical-field activated sintering and forming processes. Therefore, the aims
of the research were to develop the process concept for the manufacture of microcomponents
and to design the die sets along with other tooling for machine setup to enable
the forming of micro-components from powder materials. A comprehensive literature review
on micro-manufacturing, size effects, powder metallurgy and the electroplasticity process has
been conducted. The development of the die sets for the process has been described,
followed by a series of experiments. The FE thermal-electrical analysis was also carried out to
study the heating flows of the die sets development during the process. In this research,
titanium (Ti) and titanium tin alloy (90Ti10Sn) have been selected for the main powder
materials tested for both vacuum and open-air process environment by using a Gleeble® 3800
testing system and Projection Welding machine respectively. Meanwhile, for the additional
experiment, copper (Cu) has been selected to be tested in the open-air process environment
by using a Projection Welding machine with die sets prepared by the Micro-FAST project.
Based on the data collected, this efficient process has the potential to produce components
with a high relative density of around 98%. Changes of the particles concerning deformation
and breaking are crucial in the course of achieving the densification which differs from a
conventional sintering process.


Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) aims at facilitating program comprehension and maintenance in the presence of crosscutting concerns. Aspect code is often introduced and extended as the software projects evolve. Unfortunately, we still lack a good understanding of how faults are introduced in evolving aspect-oriented programs. More importantly, there is little knowledge whether existing metrics are related to typical fault introduction processes in evolving aspect-oriented code. This paper presents an exploratory study focused on the analysis of how faults are introduced during maintenance tasks involving aspects. The results indicate a recurring set of fault patterns in this context, which can better inform the design of future metrics for AOP. We also pinpoint AOP-specific fault categories which are difficult to detect with popular metrics for fault-proneness, such as coupling and code churn.


Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by clonal expansion of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow and their egress into peripheral blood with progression to plasma cell leukemia. Our previous study defined a functional role of CD40 activation in MM cell homing and migration. In this study, we examine signaling events mediating CD40-induced MM cell migration. We show that cross-linking CD40, using either soluble CD40L (sCD40L) or anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody (mAb), induces phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) activity and activates its downstream effector AKT in MM.1S cells. CD40 activation also activates the MAP kinase (MEK) pathway, evidenced by phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK), but not c-jun amino-terminal kinase (JNK) or p38, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Using pharmacologic inhibitors of PI3K and MEK, as well as adenoviruses expressing dominant-negative and constitutively expressed AKT, we demonstrate that PI3K and AKT activities are required for CD40-induced MM cell migration. In contrast, inhibition of ERK/MEK phosphorylation only partially (10%-15%) prevents migration, suggesting only a minor role in regulation of CD40-mediated MM migration. We further demonstrate that CD40 induces nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B activation as a downstream target of PI3K/AKT signaling, and that inhibition of NF-kappa B signaling using specific inhibitors PS1145 and SN50 completely abrogates CD40-induced MM migration. Finally, we demonstrate that urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), an NF-kappa B target gene, is induced by CD40; and conversely, that uPA induction via CD40 is blocked by PI3K and NF-kappa B inhibitors. Our data therefore indicate that CD40-induced MM cell migration is primarily mediated via activation of PI3K/AKT/NF-kappa B signaling, and further suggest that novel therapies targeting this pathway may inhibit MM cell migration associated with progressive MM.


Argumentation schemes can be described as abstract structures representing the most generic types of argument, constituting the building blocks of the ones used in everyday reasoning. This paper investigates the structure, classification, and uses of such schemes. Three goals are pursued: 1) to describe the schemes, showing how they evolved and how they have been classified in the traditional and the modern theories; 2) to propose a method for classifying them based on ancient and modern developments; and 3) to outline and show how schemes can be used to describe and analyze or produce real arguments. To this purpose, we will build on the traditional distinctions for building a dichotomic classification of schemes, and we will advance a modular approach to argument analysis, in which different argumentation schemes are combined together in order to represent each step of reasoning on which a complex argument relies. Finally, we will show how schemes are applied to formal systems, focusing on their applications to Artificial Intelligence, AI & Law, argument mining, and formal ontologies.


Electron transfer from iron or copper ions to oxygen is an important example of cellular free radical initiation. Oxygen-derived free radicals have been implicated as mediators of cellular injury in several model systems. To evaluate the importance of iron, copper, and zinc levels on lipid peroxidation in peritonitis, we measured peritoneum malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of lipid peroxidation, zinc, copper, and iron levels during an animal model of intraperitoneal sepsis. Additionally, the effects of free radical scavenger alpha-tocopherol administration were studied. The peritoneum MDA, iron, copper, and zinc levels were increased after induction of peritonitis with Escherichia coli. The treatment with alpha-tocopherol decreased peritoneum MDA, iron, and copper levels significantly but not the zinc levels. Additionally, the treatment with alpha-tocopherol 3 days prior to injection of E. coli decreased MDA, copper, and iron levels more than treatment with alpha-tocopherol at the time of injection of E. coli. Our results indicate that copper, iron, and zinc have important effects on peroxidation events in E. coli-induced peritonitis and that alpha-tocopherol treatment can improve the oxidant status. J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med. 15:79–84, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


This study presents a secondary analysis of real-time data of mobile phone usage in Israel during two recent wars – with the Lebanese Hezbollah in 2006 and with the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza in 2008/9. The data, provided by Cellcom Israel, the country's largest mobile operator, enabled an analysis of real behavior patterns rather than relying on memories of people who may have been under stress or traumatized during the hostilities, hence unable to accurately recollect this information later on. During both wars, significant changes were noted in the way people used their mobile phones: There was a substantial decrease of calls originating from within a 10-kilometer region along the Israel-Lebanon border and mobile users also made significantly longer calls. However, the decrease in calls during the Lebanon War was more than double that of the decrease in the comparable region along the Gaza border. There was no significant change in the calling patterns of Israelis living outside the directly affected regions. These supposed differences in reaction to a crisis situation (which are congruent with previous mobile phone usage studies following suicide bombings) are analyzed, and questions regarding the validity of the myth of solidarity and bonding among Israelis are raised.


UNLABELLED
The objective of this study is to evaluate the results after surgical treatment of malignant tumors arising from the peripheral nerves of the thorax under consideration of adjuvant therapy modalities.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Between 1988 and 1998, 9 patients (6 males, 3 females) underwent surgical treatment for MTNSO and 35 pts. for benign neurogenic tumors. The mean age in patients with malignant tumors was 45 years (range, 25 to 73 years). 3 pts. with MTNSO (33.3%) had neurofibromatosis (von Recklinghausen's syndrome) compared to 8.6% (3/35) in patients with benign neurogenic tumors.

RESULTS
In patients with MTNSO partial chest wall resections (n = 4) including sternectomy (n = 1), lung resections (n = 2), paravertebral (n = 1) and mediastinal tumor resection (n = 1) and palliative resection of pleural recurrence (n = 1) were performed. Radical resection was achieved in 5 pts. (55.5%). There was no postoperative mortality. 3 patients (33.3%) had postoperative complications: wound infection (n = 2) and wound dehiscence due to fall with consequent pleural infection (n = 1). Adjuvant therapy was performed in two pts. (adjuvant radiotherapy/chemotherapy for metastatic disease n = 1; adjuvant chemotherapy/adjuvant radiotherapy after resection of recurrent tumor n = 1). Early recurrence is documented in 2 pts. (after 3 and 6 months). Two pts. are alive and free of disease at three years, and the patient after sternectomy with recurrent disease at 20 months. Three pts. died 8, 9 and 26 months after the primary surgical procedure. The first postoperative examination (at three months) in the remaining patient showed no evidence for recurrent disease.

CONCLUSION
Patients with MTNSO have an unfavourable prognosis and local recurrence is frequent even after radical surgical therapy. Therefore an adjuvant treatment in these patients may be justified, even if the value of these therapy modalities is not proved yet. A tumor-free long-term survival especially after complete surgical resection is possible in selected cases.


Increased vascular stiffness is fundamental to hypertension, and its complications, including atherosclerosis, suggest that therapy should also be directed at vascular stiffness, rather than just the regulation of peripheral vascular resistance. It is currently held that the underlying mechanisms of vascular stiffness in hypertension only involve the extracellular matrix and endothelium. We hypothesized that increased large-artery stiffness in hypertension is partly due to intrinsic mechanical properties of vascular smooth muscle cells. After confirming increased arterial pressure and aortic stiffness in spontaneously hypertensive rats, we found increased elastic stiffness of aortic smooth muscle cells of spontaneously hypertensive rats compared with Wistar-Kyoto normotensive controls using both an engineered aortic tissue model and atomic force microscopy nanoindentation. Additionally, we observed different temporal oscillations in the stiffness of vascular smooth muscle cells derived from hypertensive and control rats, suggesting that a dynamic component to cellular elastic stiffness is altered in hypertension. Treatment with inhibitors of vascular smooth muscle cell cytoskeletal proteins reduced vascular smooth muscle cell stiffness from hypertensive and control rats, suggesting their participation in the mechanism. This is the first study demonstrating that stiffness of individual vascular smooth muscle cells mediates vascular stiffness in hypertension, a novel concept, which may elucidate new therapies for hypertension and for vascular stiffness.


DESCRIPTION
The Women's Preventive Services Initiative (WPSI), a national coalition of women's health professional organizations and patient advocacy representatives, developed a recommendation for counseling midlife women aged 40 to 60 years with normal or overweight body mass index (BMI; 18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2) to maintain weight or limit weight gain to prevent obesity with the long-term goals of optimizing health, function, and well-being. This recommendation is intended to guide clinical practice and coverage of clinical preventive health services for the Health Resources and Services Administration and other stakeholders. Clinicians providing preventive health care to women in primary care settings are the target audience for this recommendation.

METHODS
The WPSI developed this recommendation after evaluating results of a systematic review of the effectiveness and harms of interventions to prevent weight gain and obesity in women aged 40 to 60 years without obesity. Seven randomized clinical trials including 51 638 participants and using various counseling and behavioral interventions were included. Trials indicated favorable weight changes with interventions that were statistically significantly different from control groups in 4 of 5 trials of counseling, but not in 2 trials of exercise. Few harms were reported.

RECOMMENDATION
The WPSI recommends counseling midlife women aged 40 to 60 years with normal or overweight BMI (18.5 to 29.9 kg/m2) to maintain weight or limit weight gain to prevent obesity. Counseling may include individualized discussion of healthy eating and physical activity.


Non-robust tests for path delay faults (PDFs) have gained importance in industry as a high percentage of PDFs are non-robustly testable in comparison to robustly testable PDFs. In this paper we present a novel function-based method to generate test patterns for the non-robust testable PDFs under the launch-off-capture (LOC) scan architecture. In contrast to a recently proposed function-based method (Flanigan, 2007) which generates LOC tests for the robustly testable paths, the proposed approach presents a new framework which simplifies the test functions and has simpler algorithms for LOC test generation. Experimental results show that the proposed method has less space and time complexity when compared to (Flanigan, 2007), and is scalable to path intensive designs


In this work, nano-sized nickel particles were dispersed on multi-walled carbon nanotubes using multi-step impregnation method, to use them as hydrogen storage media. The dispersion degree of nickel particles on multi-walled carbon nanotubes is inversely proportional to the nickel concentration of solution. It was observed that the low nickel concentration is efficient to decorate nickel particles into the inner space. Multi-step impregnation method of MWNTs through several times with low nickel concentration is more efficient to manufacture Ni-MWNTs having well dispersed metallic nickel particles.


The hemodynamic changes accompanying experimental neurogenic hypertension due to sinoaortic denervation were measured in unanesthetized dogs for 3 weeks with chronically implanted arterial catheters and aortic flow transducers. Hypertension was modest, the average increase in mean arterial pressure being 31 ± 5 (SE) mm Hg. In about half of the dogs it was due predominantly to increase in cardiac output and in the others to increase in peripheral resistance; one factor or the other tended to maintain the hypertension in each dog throughout the experiments. Arterial pressure became extremely labile during the first few days after denervation and remained so during the entire experiment. This lability was closely correlated with environmental stimuli; rather minor distractions caused a sharp fall in pressure due variably to decrease in both cardiac output and peripheral resistance; greater distractions or physical activity caused a rise in pressure due usually to increase in peripheral resistance. Mean arterial pressures were higher when measured by transcutaneous puncture of a femoral artery, presumably because of the necessity of restraint and the discomfort associated with passage of a needle. Before sinoaortic denervation, arterial pressures fell to basal levels during sleep. After denervation, unexpectedly and for an undetermined cause, pressures rose to very high levels during sleep; the rises were consistently due to increase in peripheral resistance. Awakening was accompanied by a sharp fall in pressure and peripheral resistance.


Aimed at the frequent accidents of conveyor belt and the the lower level of belt fracture protection in coal mine, this paper introduces a novel device equipment, the Eectro-hydraulic type Blt Cpture Dvice (Eh-BCD) to achieve safe and reliable working of steel cord conveyor belt. Firstly, after analysed the typical capture device existing on the market and researched the mechanical properties of the instant belt, an electro-hydraulic control type capture device solution was put forward, its work principle and main modules were introduced also. Secondly, main parts force of capture device calculated using Newtonian mechanics, designed and calculated the mechanical structure of the device, and determined key parameters such as installation space. Finally, after kinematic model built and analysed, device response time parameters the electro-hydraulic controlling capture was estimated.


We introduce a framework for designing primal methods under the decentralized optimization setting where local functions are smooth and strongly convex. Our approach consists of approximately solving a sequence of sub-problems induced by the accelerated augmented Lagrangian method, thereby providing a systematic way for deriving several well-known decentralized algorithms including EXTRA arXiv:1404.6264 and SSDA arXiv:1702.08704. When coupled with accelerated gradient descent, our framework yields a novel primal algorithm whose convergence rate is optimal and matched by recently derived lower bounds. We provide experimental results that demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm on highly ill-conditioned problems.


average screening rate in months prior to the use of Viz RECRUIT ICH Volume was 5.4 patients per month. After implementation, average screening rate increased to 7.6 patients per month. The average enrollment rate prior to the use of Viz ICH VOLUME was 0.29 patients per month, which increased to 0.82 after implementation. This equated to an increase in trial enrollment of 213%. Conclusions Artificial intelligence based programs such as Viz RECRUIT ICH Volume may help increase RCT screening and enrollment by identifying potential candidates automatically and alerting medical professionals quickly.


Previous research has shown that stainless steel (SS) adhesions form in about half of new SS trim spring operated pressure relief valves (SOPRV). These adhesions require an additional force (beyond the spring force) to be applied by the process fluid to the disc in order for the valve to lift. This additional force may cause the SOPRV to fail its proof test (FPT) or even to fail to open (FTO) in the presence of excess process pressure. This paper expands on the previous findings to show how seat width relates statistically to whether or not these SS adhesions form and, if they do, whether or not they are of sufficient size to cause FPT or FTO.The findings show it is statistically significant that SOPRV in the study population with seat widths greater than 0.030 inches (in.) formed adhesions more often than SOPRV with seat widths less than or equal to 0.030 in. Furthermore, for this population it is statistically significant that all FPT and FTO occurred on SOPRV with seat widths greater than or equal to 0.030 in. The ramifications of these findings to the safety performance of SS trim SOPRV are discussed.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


We show that there is no fermion sign problem in the Hirsch and Fye algorithm for the single-impurity Anderson model. Beyond the particle-hole symmetric case for which a simple proof exists, this has been known only empirically. Here we prove the nonexistence of a sign problem for the general case by showing that each spin trace for a given Ising configuration is separately positive. We further use this insight to analyse under what conditions orbitally degenerate Anderson models or the two-impurity Anderson model develop a sign.


Through various pathways of cell death, degradation, and regulated extrusion, partial or complete genomes of various origins (e.g., host cells, fetal cells, and infiltrating viruses and microbes) are continuously shed into human body fluids in the form of segmented cell-free DNA (cfDNA) molecules. While the genetic complexity of total cfDNA is vast, the development of progressively efficient extraction, high-throughput sequencing, characterization via bioinformatics procedures, and detection have resulted in increasingly accurate partitioning and profiling of cfDNA subtypes. Not surprisingly, cfDNA analysis is emerging as a powerful clinical tool in many branches of medicine. In addition, the low invasiveness of longitudinal cfDNA sampling provides unprecedented access to study temporal genomic changes in a variety of contexts. However, the genetic diversity of cfDNA is also a great source of ambiguity and poses significant experimental and analytical challenges. For example, the cfDNA population in the bloodstream is heterogeneous and also fluctuates dynamically, differs between individuals, and exhibits numerous overlapping features despite often originating from different sources and processes. Therefore, a deeper understanding of the determining variables that impact the properties of cfDNA is crucial, however, thus far, is largely lacking. In this work we review recent and historical research on active vs. passive release mechanisms and estimate the significance and extent of their contribution to the composition of cfDNA.


Purpose
The purpose of this study is to apply the incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics (ISPH) method to simulate the natural convection flow from an inner heated Y-fin inside Y-shaped enclosure filled with nanofluid.

Design/methodology/approach
The dimensionless governing partial differential equations are described in the Lagrangian form and solved by an implicit scheme of the ISPH method. The embedded Y-fin is kept at a high temperature Th with variable heights during the simulations. The lower area of Y-shaped enclosure is squared with width L = 1 m and its side-walls are kept at a low temperature Tc. The upper area of the Y-shaped enclosure is V-shaped with width 0.5 L for each side and its walls are adiabatic.

Findings
The performed simulations revealed that the height of the inner heated Y-fin plays an important role in the heat transfer and fluid flow inside the Y-shaped enclosure, where it enhances the heat transfer. Rayleigh number augments the buoyancy force inside the Y-shaped enclosure and, consequently, it has a strong impact on temperature distributions and strength of the fluid flow inside Y-shaped enclosure. Adding more concentration of the nanofluid until 10% has a slight effect on the temperature distributions and it reduces the strength of the fluid flow inside Y-shaped enclosure. In addition, the average Nusselt number is measured along the inner heated Y-fin and it grows as the Rayleigh number increases. The average Nusselt number is decreasing by adding more concentrations of the nanofluid.

Originality/value
An improved ISPH method is used to simulate the natural convection flow of Y-fin embedded in the Y-shaped enclosure filled with a nanofluid.


This study was planned to assess the effectiveness of natural anti heat stressors on the broilers during hot climate. Three hundred one day old broiler birds were divided into four treatments groups, yoghurt, garlic powder and mint and a control group. After two weeks of rearing, data were recorded for growth performance, carcass and visceral organ yield and immune response against Newcastle Disease. Statistical analysis revealed that growth performance (weight gain, carcass weight and cumulative feed conversion ratio (FCR) was significantly improved with garlic powder, but feed intake remained non-significant. Dressing% and breast% were also significantly higher in garlic fed birds and similar effect was observed for intestinal length. Among visceral organs, liver% was improved upon garlic supplemented broiler but heart and gizzard were not influenced by dietary treatments. Additionally, garlic powder in feed also resulted in significantly higher antibody titer against Newcastle disease. It was concluded that garlic as natural anti-heat stressor has significant positive influence on the performance of heat stressed broilers.


With respect to the social embeddedness of a market, economic sociological research has suggested that every market actor is confronted with general coordination problems due to uncertainty about the value of a product, its potential success in a competitive market, and because of the several social risks associated with market exchange. The market of Fair Trade in the Federal Republic of Germany, emerging in the 1970s, was confronted with these problems in a particular way. The actors had certain, partially contrasting, aims which they tried to achieve. These aims affected the value ascribed to the products which helped Fair Trade to carve a niche, but, at the same time, also caused certain difficulties which conventional trade would not have had to deal with. This will be shown by the example of the first Fair Trade coffee. All in all, it becomes evident that the development of Fair Trade becomes comprehensible only with the analysis of its social embeddedness.


The head-capacity curves for pumps developed by the pump manufacturer are based on tests of a single pump operating in a semi-infinite basin with no close walls or floors and with no stray currents. Therefore, flow into the pump intake is with no vortices or swirling. However, pump station designers relying on these curves to define the operating conditions for the pump selected sometimes meet the reductions of capacity and efficiency, as well as the increase of vibration and additional noise, which were caused by air-entered flow in the pump station. From this background, the authors are carrying out a systematic study on the flow characteristics of intakes within a sump of pump station model. Multi-intake sump model with anti-submerged vortex device basin is designed and the characteristics of submerged vortex is investigated in the flow field by numerical simulation. In this study, a commercial CFD code is used to predict the vortex generation in the pump station accurately. The analysed results by CFD show that the vortex structure and effect of anti-submerged vortex device are different at each pump intake channel.


Acute abdominal pain is characterized by pain arising from the abdominal area, of non-traumatic origin with a maximum duration of five days and represents a true medical emergency. It is also one of the most common reasons for referral to an emergency department and the most common cause for no trauma-related hospital admissions. Hematologic disorders represent the 0.3% of all admissions for acute abdominal pain. We report a rare case of retroperitoneal bulky mass due to anaplastic large T-cell lymphoma. This entity represents a rare tumor and early diagnosis leads to a correct diagnosis of the origin of the acute abdominal pain and chemotherapy is vital to ensure good prognosis.


Universities and Higher Education institutions have created different platforms that provide digital environments with private access. These digital spaces simulate physical spaces for teaching and learning, allowing interaction between participants. The interactions are stored in the platforms so data can be analyzed to reveal behaviors and preferences. The literature shows different patterns in student's behavior and it has been demonstrated that different clusters obtain different academic performances, as well as the importance of the virtual spaces.
Human Histology is a second-year compulsory subject of the Medicine Degree at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. It lays the foundation for Pathology learning in the third-year. Practice classes are focused on the observation of histological slides so students learn general and differential microscopic characteristics of organs. Students are expected to identify each organ under the microscope. Some years ago, teachers decided to make the evaluation a continuous process through minitests, short tests with projected images, and a teamwork consisting in making a notebook with freehand drawings showing the different organs and histological staining procedures. The final practice mark was obtained as the addition of the continuous activities (minitests 20% and teamwork 25%), the final exam (45%), and class attendance (10%).
In the virtual space created for managing Histology practices, different resources were offered such as scripts for each session, histological images file and URLs that link to histological atlas and other web sites. We present in this paper the results obtained when processing the logs of the virtual space with a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics named RStudio, an integrated development environment for R. A total of 25583 logs corresponding to the registered activity in course 2018/19 were refined and subsequently analyzed. The quantitative measures chosen were the number of total logins in the virtualized course per day, the average of the login frequency per each day of the week and per each hour of the day, the number of entries in resources per day and the number of entries in URLs per day. Also, a statistical analysis of the data was performed with SPSS 25 software, comparing the use of virtual campus to academic performance. Non-parametric Spearman correlation tests and decision trees with two cut criteria were obtained.
Results show that the activity in virtual campus is clearly conditioned by due dates (dates of minitests and final exam and deadline to submit the teamwork). Decision trees reveal different clusters of students according to the variables number of visits, number of entries to resources and to URLs, and that these clusters get different marks in both the minitests and the final exam in addition to the final mark.


The library profession is at a cross roads. Computer technology coupled with the Internet have changed the way content is created, maintained, evaluated, and distributed. While the core principles of librarianship (collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination) are still very much apropos to the current milieu, the exact tasks of the profession are not as necessary as they once were. What is a librarian to do? In my opinion, there are three choices: 1) creating services against content as opposed to simply providing access to it, 2) curating collections that are unique to our local institutions, or 3) providing sets of services that are a combination of #1 and #2. This presentation elaborates on these ideas and demonstrates some of the possibilities.


Permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM) are very popular in many industrial
applicationssuchasinmechatronics, automotive, energy storage flywheels, centrifugal compressors, vacuum
pumps, and robotics. This paper proposes Sensorless control for a PMSM speed drive which is based on
aclosedloopcontrol system using a proportional and integral (PI) controller that is designed to operate in flux weakening regions under a constant torque angle.This Sensorless elementwasadopted for best estimating the PMSM rotor position based on its performance characteristicseliminatingthe need for speed sensorswhich are
usually required insuchcontrol applications. To achieve this goal, apulse width modulation (PWM) control scheme was developed to work in conjuction with a field oriented motor
controldriveusingSimulink.Thisinnovative control system was simulated assuming realistic circuit components to maximize the accuracy of the proposed model.Finally, simulation results obtained under different operation conditions at below and above the rated speed of the motorwere presented and discussed in this paper.


Resistance of staphylococci to methicillin is important especially in the case of Staphylococcus aureus isolates. Its impact in veterinary medicine is not exactly specified in coagulase-negative staphylococci; however, these staphylococci may represent an important reservoir of resistance genes. The study aimed at detecting resistance to methicillin in coagulase-negative staphylococci from raw materials and foodstuffs of animal origin and assessing the tests frequently used to determine this resistance. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (198 isolates of 12 species) were tested. Resistance to methicillin was determined by the disk diffusion method using oxacillin and cefoxitin disks, microdilution method, detection of PBP2a and the mecA gene. Of the tested isolates, 109 (55.1%) were classified as resistant by the diffusion test with oxacillin, 32 isolates (16.2%) by the test with cefoxitin and 50 isolates (25.3%) on the basis of oxacillin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). No resistant isolates were incorrectly identified as susceptible when using the disk diffusion method with oxacillin (sensitivity of 100%). However, apart from 22 correctly classified resistant isolates, another 87 isolates were incorrectly identified as resistant as well (specificity of 50.6%). The test with cefoxitin showed the lowest (45.5%) sensitivity in determination of resistant isolates. By contrast, this test was the most precise in classification of resistant isolates (specificity of 87.5%). When using the microdilution method, resistant strains were identified with the sensitivity and specificity of 68.2% and 80.1%, respectively . The results revealed substantial variability of methicillin-resistant isolates ranging from 16.2% to 55.1%, depending on the phenotyping methods and recommended interpretation criteria used. Therefore, it is advisable to reconsider the current interpretation criteria in the case of coagulasenegative staphylococci of animal origin (with the exception of S. epidermidis).


Carbon nanodots (CNDs) have many fascinating properties, such as optical properties (UV-Visible absorption and fluorescence emission), which make them good candidates in many applications, such as photocatalysts for the degradation of several organic pollutants. This study aims to synthesize CNDs from olive solid wastes at different carbonization temperatures from 300 to 900 °C and study the effect on the optical properties of the CNDs, such UV-Vis, fluorescence, quantum yield, and energy bandgap, in addition to the influence on the photoactivity of the CNDs as photocatalysts for the degradation of methylene blue (MB). CNDs were prepared from olive solid wastes (OSWs) by pyrolysis at different temperatures (300–900 °C) for conversion to carbonized material, and then oxidized chemically in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). It was found that an increase in the carbonization temperature of the OSWs leads to an increase in the product yield with a maximum value at 500 °C, and it then decreased dramatically. On the other hand, a decrease in fluorescence due to the diminishment of oxygen groups and the destruction of the surface of the CNDs was observed. The higher quantum yield (5.17%) and bandgap (2.77 eV) were achieved for CNDs prepared from OSWs that carbonized at 300 °C. The rate and degradation efficiency of MB were studied with the different synthesized CNDs, and it was found that an increase in the carbonization temperature leads to a decrease in the rate and degradation efficiency of MB, with the highest degradation rate of 0.0575 min−1 and degradation efficiency of 100% after 120 minutes of light irradiation being realized for the sample carbonized at 300 °C.


This guide contains links to online databases and information about other resources for research projects on English and American Literature.


We designed a study to compare the healing levels found with intramuscular pethidine with those found with intrathecal local anesthetic treatments. The urinary bladder is suggested to be the most useful tissue in the evaluation of the effects of the drugs. Nineteen male, Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200–300 g were used in this study. A sagittal section was made in the urinary bladder after suitable anesthesia and laparotomy. Bladders were closed with 5-0 plain catguts 5 min later. There were nine rats in the control group and pethidine (0.5 g/kg) was administered intramuscularly in the gluteal muscle region to treat pain after the operations. There were 11 rats in the study group and each received a spinal injection of 0.25% bupivacaine after the operation. Rats were followed for 7 days to define pain. Specimens, particularly the incised region of the bladder, were evaluated for inflammation and fibrosis. Grading scales were used for this purpose. Statistical analyses of the data were performed using the Chi-square test. Statistical analyses were nonsignificant for inflammation (p ≤ 0.151) and nonsignificant for fibrosis (p ≤ 0.105). The treatments may have the same effects on organ healing mechanisms. Statistical difference is not shown in this study, but use of other combinations of pain treatments to evaluate the healing may demonstrate which of these possibilities is true.


A combined field integral equation (CFIE)-based multisolver scheme is presented for electromagnetic modeling of objects with complex structures and materials. In this scheme, an object is decomposed into multiple bodies based on its material property and geometry. To model bodies with complicated materials, the finite element-boundary integral (FE-BI) method is applied. To model bodies with homogeneous or conducting materials, the method of moments is employed. Specifically, three solvers are integrated in this multi-solver scheme: the FE-BI(CFIE) for inhomogeneous objects, the CFIE for dielectric objects, and the CFIE for conducting objects. A mixed testing scheme that utilizes both the Rao–Wilton–Glisson and the Buffa–Christiansen functions is adopted to obtain a good accuracy. In the iterative solution of the combined system, the multilevel fast multipole algorithm is applied to accelerate computation and reduce memory costs, and a preconditioner based on an absorbing boundary condition is employed to speed up the convergence. In the numerical examples, the individual solvers are first demonstrated to be well conditioned and highly accurate. Then, the validity of the proposed multisolver scheme is demonstrated and its capability is shown by solving scattering problems of electrically large missilelike objects.


Biospectroscopy offers the ability to simultaneously identify key biochemical changes in tissue associated with a given pathological state to facilitate biomarker extraction and automated detection of key lesions. Herein, we evaluated the application of machine learning in conjunction with Raman spectroscopy as an innovative low-cost technique for the automated computational detection of disease activity in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated glomerulonephritis (AAGN). Consecutive patients with active AAGN and those in disease remission were recruited from a single UK centre. In those with active disease, renal biopsy samples were collected together with a paired urine sample. Urine samples were collected immediately prior to biopsy. Amongst those in remission at the time of recruitment, archived renal tissue samples representative of biopsies taken during an active disease period were obtained. In total, twenty-eight tissue samples were included in the analysis. Following supervised classification according to recorded histological data, spectral data from unstained tissue samples were able to discriminate disease activity with a high degree of accuracy on blind predictive modelling: F-score 95% for >25% interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy (sensitivity 100%, specificity 90%, area under ROC 0.98), 100% for necrotising glomerular lesions (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%, area under ROC 1) and 100% for interstitial infiltrate (sensitivity 100%, specificity 100%, area under ROC 0.97). Corresponding spectrochemical changes in paired urine samples were limited. Future larger study is required, inclusive of assigned variables according to novel non-invasive biomarkers as well as the application of forward feature extraction algorithms to predict clinical outcomes based on spectral features.


Law enforcement agencies have to constantly make decisions about which crime problems to tackle. In the context of policing organised crime, these decisions can be extremely complex as strategic decision-makers have to make proactive judgements about priorities in a politically charged environment with finite resources. Yet most studies on this topic are concerned with intelligence products and their presentation in threat assessments, and they tend to downplay the significant role of a wide array of factors that influence strategic decisions. This perspective also overlooks the role of processes of social construction in setting priorities and how they can explain rises and falls of organised crime problems within strategic agendas. This study's main aim is to explore how police organisations set strategic priorities to tackle organised crime. In doing so, it employs a multi-method research design and a longer-term perspective. By applying Best's (2016) natural history model of social problems' process the study examines changes and developments in the construction of organised crime problems over time, as well as the factors that drive these changes.
A historical review of British organised crime policing reveals trends of centralisation and amalgamation, as well as a pattern of frequent institutional changes. These changes, however, facilitate ongoing processes of organisational inheritance which renders each agency dependent on its predecessors' priorities and activities. Content analysis of annual reports published from 1993-2017 by the four national organised crime fighting agencies in the UK is used to map out patterns and trends of change in strategic priorities; interviews with former strategic decision-makers are then used to illuminate behind-the-scenes processes of change. Findings demonstrate the various pathways of crime problem construction: some problems emerge and develop into high priorities, some remain persistent (in either high or low ranks) through time, and some fall from strategic agendas; crucially, these are not clear, linear trends but reinforce Best's assertion of (2016) 'cycles of concern' across time. Finally, findings from a thematic analysis of interviews and media highlight complexities in decision-making processes by unveiling and discussing factors that shape priority-setting in national agencies (legislation, political pressure, signal crimes, mass media, performance indicators, organisational path dependency, intra-organisational dynamics). Importantly, the thesis yields policy-relevant results as both its empirical findings and conceptual approach can be useful for critically assessing new problems.


Background: Cases of haemothorax are seen in primary practice. Given the range of potential aetiologies, a structured approach to diagnosis is important. Aim of the article: This article reviews the causes of haemothorax and outlines the approach to diagnosing this condition in practice, as well as how to treat cases.


This article examines the changing practices of the Dutch highest courts, the Hoge Raad and the Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State, under the influence of globalisation, and the constitutional implications of this development. The increasing intertwinement of legal systems and the increasing possibilities for judges to interact with courts in foreign jurisdictions have stimulated the consideration of foreign legislation and case law in judicial decision-making in individual cases. An empirical study clarifies how the Dutch judges perceive the usefulness of legal comparisons in this context and how foreign law is used in deliberations and judgments. The constitutional implications of the changing practices of the courts are analysed in light of three aspects of the constitutional normative framework for judicial decision-making: the democratic justification of judicial decisions; legal tradition and the nature of cases; and the effectiveness and efficiency of judicial decision-making.


Introduction. The paper deals with the concepts of a term and terminology as they considered both in classical general theory of terminology and cognitive linguistics. The field of English economic terminology provides extensive material for the terminologists to develop and clarify theoretical guidelines helping to understand the nature of scientific and professional nominations that constitute the aim of presented reseach. The processes of term formation viewed through the cognitive approach are considered in connection with conceptualization and categorization and help to reveal the creative nominative models of marketers as it is seen vital within an antropocentric focus of linguistic studies.Methodology and sources. A general theory of terminology is based upon the approach in which the nature of concepts, conceptual relations, the relationships between terms and concepts and assigning terms to concepts are of prime importance. But in fact, terminology is closely linked to an activity carried out within the field of knowledge and thus it is inseparable from its social context and its obvious applications. Methods of cognitive analysis applied for the study of terminilogies are supposed to overcome contradictions of the previous century of terminology studies. English marketing terms under consideration were extracted from the professional dictionaries and handbooks. The thematic group chosen as the illustrative example is consumer terminological group.Results and discussion. Nominative originality of marketing terminology has been revealed within the idea of continually changing specific autonomous and self-sufficient consumer models reflected in micro-systems of terms nominating and verbalizing holistic concepts of the authors. Nomination of the typical individuals (customers) by the terms discussed in the presented paper reflects deep and various psychological characteristics of individuals. As it seems, all these parameters form the foundation of the professional domain of modern markets in accordance with the existing conceptual knowledge, verbalized by terms.Conclusion. The study is relevant since the research of conceptualization and categorization in the professional fields of knowledge seems to be an understudied area. The more interdisciplinary is the area of professional knowledge, the more integrated are specific features of terminological nomination, and the more sophisticated is the termformation used by the experts.


With the increasing focus for New Zealand teachers on reflective practice, initial teacher educators must take increasing responsibility in scaffolding students' critical writing, developing reflection skills for working in schools, the teacher registration process and ongoing professional learning. This article reports a study of journal writing practices of a sample of student teachers in their first year of an undergraduate degree at the University of Waikato. Of particular interest in the findings are the sophistication of the students' writing, choice of topic for each entry and the impact of feedback and support provided.


This study focussed on the fate of cyanobacteria cells and associated metabolites during the sludge management processes that follow the conventional drinking water treatment train. The topic is of importance, as the release of metabolites during sludge treatment may pose a risk to water quality if supernatant is recycled to the head of the plant. The study of the kinetics of cell damage and metabolite release into the supernatant is complicated by simultaneous and rapid natural removal processes. In this study, the release of organic material from cyanobacterial sludge was monitored simultaneously with secondary metabolites (microcystins (MCs), cylindrospermopsin (CYN), and geosmin (GSM)) as an additional parameter to aid in understanding the range of processes occurring in sludge. Only GSM produced by Dolichospermum circinale was found to represent a low risk, as the compound is readily degraded. In contrast, the metabolites CYN and MC were shown to increase in concentration during simulated sludge treatment, suggesting that this could occur within full scale sludge treatment facilities with a range of cyanobacteria species, metabolites and water quality. A generic risk matrix was developed, incorporating the type of cyanobacteria, metabolite production, and the treatment processes available to water utilities for the mitigation of the identified risks.


The study determined the prevalence of non-adherence to medication, self monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), clinic visits and the associated factors among out-patient type 2 adult diabetics at a tertiary hospital in Enugu State Nigeria. Using a descriptive cross-sectional design, 200 patients was purposively selected. Researcher-developed questionnaire was tool for data collection. Analysis was done in proportions, percentages and logistic regression (alpha level was P=0.05). Respondents' mean age was 60.1±10.6; 88% were married and females were 63.5%. Overall prevalence of non adherence to drugs was 24.5%; that varied from 26.9 to 11.8% depending on drug combinations. Majority (57.5%) of the respondents had no glucometer for SMBG at home; 86.1% on oral hypoglycaemic agents did not monitor their blood glucose level 2-3 times weekly; 78.9% on injection insulin combined with tablets did not monitor their blood glucose level at least once daily. Non-adherents to clinic visits were 49.0%. Age <50 years (P= 0.006) and being married (P= 0.025) were associated with drug non-adherence. Cost of transportation (P= 0.000), discouraging attitudes of health workers (P= 0.003) and late commencement of clinic activities (P= 0.006) were associated with clinic visit non-adherence. There was non adherence to diverse self care activities among diabetic patients in this study therefore factors that contribute to non adherence should be addressed by healthcare providers.

 Key words:  Non-adherence, self-care actions, diabetic management regimen, adults with type 2 diabetes.


Abstract Newer, selective insecticides with few negative impacts on natural enemies and competitor species are needed for effective, sustainable management of the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impacts on natural enemies and competitor thrips species of insecticides used for control of western flower thrips in fruiting vegetables. Trials with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and with pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) were conducted to evaluate insecticide treatment effects on western flower thrips and natural enemies at the North Florida in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. A number of insecticides from different classes showed moderate to high efficacy against western flower thrips. The broad-spectrum insecticides acetamiprid, methomyl, and tolfenpyrad demonstrated activity against the pest, while also reducing populations of the key predator of thrips in pepper, Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae). Insecticides that showed little impact on populations of O. insidiosus were cyantraniliprole, flonicamid, spirotetramat, and terpenes. Although only moderately active against the western flower thrips, they would be valuable additions to existing management programs for pepper. Insecticides with activity against western flower thrips also showed activity against Frankliniella tritici (Fitch). This non-damaging congener species is a beneficial because it out-competes the western flower thrips, especially in tomato where O. insidiosus is not a major factor in western flower thrips management. Numerous insecticides were identified with activity against the western flower thrips that are suitable for use in integrated pest management programs of fruiting vegetables.


The causes of the various social changes that OCcurred during the Neolithic-Copper Age transition in ccntral-eastern Europe have been debated since Childe (1929: 214) outlined a series of invasions from the east into the region at the end of the Neolithic. One of the best areas to study this transition is the Great Hungarian Plain, where nucleated Neolithic tells (c. 5500-4500 cal BC) were replaced by small, dispersed Early Copper Age sites (ECA, c. 4500-3900 cal RC; see BognarKutzian 1963; 1972; Kalicz & Rnczky 1987; Parkinson 1999; Sherratt 1983; 1984). Despite a long, rich, tradition of archaeological research in the region, our understanding of these socioeconomic changes remains impeded by a lack of systematically excavated ECA Tiszapolgar sites. The Koros Regional Archaeological Project (http://www.anthro.fsu.edu/koros/) was initiated to study ECA settlement organization and collect information on land-use and subsistence. In 2000, Hungarian and American archaeologists tested a Tiszapolgh settlement at VBszto-Bi keri (VBszto" 20), located south of the tell at V6szto"-MBgor (Hegedds & Makkay 1987) on a rise overlooking a palaeochannel of the Koros River (FIGURE 1). The site was identified during the Magyarorszag Regge'szeti Topografiaja (Archaeological Topography of Hungary) program (Ecsedy et aI. 1982) and unlike most Tiszapolgar settlements where cultural deposits were disturbed by ploughing, the surface materials at VBsztB-Bikeri retained their spatial integrity suggesting that sub-surface features remained intact. Test cxcavations in 2000 confirmed this, and three small wattle-and-daub structures were exposed in three 2x2-m test units. In 2001, larger block excavations continued to expose two of these structures, which had been burned and levelled in antiquity. The structures were marked by a layer of daub fragments in a clay matrix overlying a thin cultural deposit of burnt daub flecks, ECA ceramics, burnt bone, lithic artefacts and charcoal flecks. Flat-lying sherds and a burned, crushed vessel (FIGURE 2) were found between these levels. No postholes or foundation trenches were associated with the structures. All datable material associated with the structures belonged to the TiszapolgAr Culture except an intrusive Hungarian Conquest Period burial, dated to the 10th century AD. One structure in Block 2 contained several dozen small burned tanged and hollow-base arrow points made of bone and antler, and some bone debitage (FIGURE 3). Bonelantler points have not been recovered at ECA cemeteries in Hungary (Bognhr-KutziBn 1963; 1972), and they do not have parallels in Neolithic and Copper Age assemblages from surrounding areas. Another structure in Block 3 contained fewer complete vessels and flat-lying sherds. Only one bondantler point was recovered, but several spindle whorls and loom weights (FIGURE 4) were found. It is possible that segregation of domestic activities accounts for the spatial patterning of the points and weaving artefacts, lending support to models of increasing specialization and intensified production at the end of the Neolithic in the region (see Kaiser & Voytek 1983).


Watch the VIDEO here. The transition to a more far-reaching OA and Open Science is often very much dependent on services and on an infrastructure embedded in workflows to deliver on policy. However, the sustainability of Open Access or Open Science services is often a long way from being assured. A relatively new global coalition called SCOSS will enable the international research community, through its institutions and funding organisations, to take responsibility for sustaining those services. It will do this by providing a new co-ordinated cost-sharing framework to ensure that non-commercial OS services that underpin the development of wider global Open Access and Open Science are sustained in the future. The SCOSS group makes recommendations on what to fund and why based on a rigorous evaluation procedure where services are invited to apply and provide extensive information to the SCOSS group. Applicants provide information on the service's value to communities such as funders, universities, libraries, authors, research managers, repositories, etc.; information on the governance structure, the technical solution, costs, sustainability measures, and their plans for the future. SCOSS is currently in the middle of a pilot to test the concept. Current SCOSS members include the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG), the Council of the Australian University Librarians (CAUL), LIBER, EIFL and SPARC Europe with other organisations following the pilot and advising such as the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), the European Research Council (ERC), the European University Association (EUA), and others. This presentation will outline the Terms of Reference of the coalition, the case, the SCOSS governance structure, experience with the pilot and challenges to date. This session is of interest to those who are interested in helping the user community to sustain an Open Access and Open Science infrastructure to help implement policy goals, and finding out how they can contribute to making that happen.


This article aims to discuss on the cooperation and associative organization, its benefits and its main hindrances for a bigger consolidation of this type of organization. It also discusses the sudden and consequent development in the beekeeping sector. Therefore, it is set out as objective, to analyze whether the associative beekeeping is relevant regarding to the articulation and development capacity of the sector. In order to reach this objective, the research has used information obtained trough a seminary, in which debates about beekeeping occurred; non structured interviews, with representatives of Confederacao Brasileira de Apicultura - CBA, Federacao Apicola do Rio Grande do Sul – FARGS, beekeeping associations, and with specialists of the area. It was intended to approach to the beekeeping activity relevance, its history, and its contributions to the agribusiness development, concerning not only to the external market problem in face of the embargos, but also, internal problems related to the consumption and commercialization of the bee products. It was possible to note that, even the associativism present problems which demands to advance and to be overcome, such as the lack of commitment and the opportunism of some associates in face of the associative organization, the group realizes the collective strength they have, being capable to articulate the sector aiming its development, as well as the potential market development.


Six Sigma tools and methodologies have innovated a solution for quality improvement. In Auto Mount Department of Sony Technology Malaysia in Bangi, Selangor, MY machine defective reduction project was performed as part of quality
improvement efforts. Six Sigma tools and methodology were employed to conduct this project. This involved four simple but rigorous steps called Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (MAlC) where tools such as Process Map, Measurement System Analysis (MSA), Cause and Effect Diagram, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FT A), Design of Experiment (DOE) and Statistical Process Control (SPC)
were used. The objective was to obtain knowledge about sources of variability that cause the defects and then to improve process capability to attain Six Sigma capability. The sources of variability are the machine input factors such as nozzle, z-carriage, feeder cassette, XY table and head unit to generate corresponding outputs (i.e. defectives). Upon identifying the variables, actions were taken to eliminate and to control the identified variability contributors. The project provides excellent insight into the power of Six Sigma as a process improvement tools. It provides significant process knowledge based on facts and data and facilitates the information sharing. As a result, the machine improved by more than 50%, which accounts for the annual savings of more than RM50,000.


A major obstacle to forming posterior distributions in machine learning is the difficulty of evaluating partition functions. Monte-Carlo approaches are unbiased, but can suffer from high variance. Variational methods are biased, but tend to have lower variance. We develop an approximate inference procedure that allows explicit control of the bias/variance tradeoff, interpolating between the sampling and the variational regime. We use a normalizing flow to map the integrand onto a uniform distribution. We then randomly sample regions from a partition of this uniform distribution and fit simpler, local variational approximations in the image of these regions through the flow. When a partition with only one region is used, we recover standard variational inference, and in the limit of an infinitely fine partition we recover Monte-Carlo sampling. We show experiments validating the effectiveness of our approach.


In 1978, a simplified technique for peritoneal dialysis (PD) using plastic bags and glucose as osmotic agent allowed PD to become accepted as a home-based renal replacement therapy. However, PD was marred by complications including peritonitis and loss of function of the peritoneal membrane. Both complications may be favored by the bioincompatibility of PD solutions. The composition of PD solutions has evolved over the years, building on a better understanding of the biocompatibility and of technical advances that enable the commercial viability of certain solutions. The main osmotic agent used to obtain ultrafiltration is glucose. Conventional glucose-containing PD solutions are lactate-buffered, acidic pH solutions presented in single chambered bags. The use of new manufacturing techniques, buffer presentation, and new osmotic alternatives to glucose have resulted in more biocompatible glucose containing PD solutions that have a lower concentration of glucose degradation products (GDP) and a neutral, more physiological pH, as well as in glucose-free solutions.


Policymakers worldwide increasingly rely on the funding of innovation intermediaries in order to remedy failures in their innovation systems, including firms' lack of information about sources of external knowledge and opportunities, lack of adequate competences and skills, lack of productive connections and the lack of formal and informal institutions in the system. To induce intermediaries to satisfactorily address the system failures they are called to confront, policymakers often make their funding conditional on their performance. Building on a case study of publicly funded innovation intermediaries in Tuscany (Italy), we identify several challenges in setting up appropriate performance-based incentives for intermediaries. These involve (i) failure to clearly articulate policy objectives in terms of system failures; (ii) failure to measure the achievement of all policy objectives; and (iii) failure to clearly link performance indicators with policy objectives. Based on the lessons learned from this case, we derive some implications for policy design.


This study is aimed at analysing biochemical and genetic endpoints of toxic effects after administration of adrenaline. For this purpose, the study was carried out on Wistar rats and three doses of adrenaline were used: 0.75 mg/kg, 1.5 mg/kg, and 3 mg/kg body weight. To achieve these aims, we investigated the effects of adrenaline on catalase (CAT), Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite (NO2-), carbonyl groups (PCC), and nitrotyrosine (3-NT). Total activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), its relative distribution (LDH1-LDH5) activity, level of acute phase proteins (APPs), and genotoxic effect were also evaluated. The obtained results revealed that all doses of adrenaline induced a significant rise in CAT activity, MDA level, PCC, NO2 -, and 3-NT and a significant decrease in SOD activity compared to control. Adrenaline exerted an increase in total activity of LDH, LDH1, and LDH2 isoenzymes. Further study showed that adrenaline significantly decreased serum albumin level and albumin-globulin ratio, while the level of APPs (α 1-acid glycoprotein and haptoglobulin) is increased. The micronucleus test revealed a genotoxic effect of adrenaline at higher concentrations (1.5 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg body weight) compared to untreated rats. It can be concluded that adrenaline exerts oxidative and nitrative stress in rats, increased damage to lipids and proteins, and damage of cardiomyocytes and cytogenetic damage. Obtained results may contribute to better understanding of the toxicity of adrenaline with aims to preventing its harmful effects.


It has generally been assumed that warningly coloured organisms pay a cost associated with their increased visibility, because naive predators notice and eat them. This cost is offset by their enhanced protection from educated predators who associate the colour pattern with unprofitability. However, some studies have suggested that avoidance of novel prey by avian predators ("dietary conservatism") can actually place novel colour morphs at a selective advantage over familiar ones, even when they are highly conspicuous. To test this idea, we experimentally simulated the appearance of a single novel-coloured mutant in small populations (20 individuals) of palatable artificial prey. The colour morph frequencies in each "generation" were determined by the relative survival of the previous generation under predation by birds. We used wild-caught European robins Erithacus rubecula foraging on pastry "prey" of different colours. The aim was to test whether prey selection by predators prevented or facilitated the novel colour morph persisting in the prey population over successive generations. We found that the novel colour morph quickly increased to fixation in 14/40 prey "populations", and at least once each in 8 of the 10 birds tested. Novel mutants of the classic aposematic colours (red and yellow) reached fixation most frequently, but even the green and blue novel morphs both increased to fixation in 2/40 trials. Novel colours reached fixation significantly faster than could be accounted for by drift, indicating active avoidance by the birds. These results suggest that a novel colour morph arising in a prey population can persist and increase under the selective pressure imposed by predators, even to the local exclusion of the original morph, despite being fully palatable. The consequences of this finding are discussed in relation to receiver psychology, the evolution of aposematism and the existence of polymorphism in Mullerian mimics.


Hydrogen embrittlement sensitivity of austenitic stainless steels, SUS316L and SUS310S exposed to high compressed hydrogen gas atmospheres was evaluated by means of a slow strain rate testing (SSRT) in air. Hydrogen evolution behavior during tensile deformation and fracture was also investigated by using a testing machine equipped with a quadrupole mass spectrometer installed in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber. When the SUS 316L specimen with hydrogen gas charging were deformed at a very slow crosshead speed of 1.67 nm/s, local deformation was promoted as compared to the specimen without hydrogen gas charging. On the other hand, no decrease of the ductility was observed in the SUS310S specimen with hydrogen gas charging even in the SSRT. In the hydrogen charged SUS316L specimen, the amount of continuous hydrogen evolution throughout deformation was much higher than that in the specimen without hydrogen gas charging. In addition, sudden hydrogen evolutions were sometimes identified in the SUS316L specimen with hydrogen gas charging during the deformation.


Studies of human–human interactions indicate that relational dimensions, which are largely nonverbal, include intimacy/involvement, status/control, and emotional valence. This paper devises codes from a study of couples and strangers which may be behavior-mapped on to next generation android bodies. The codes provide act specifications for a possible benchmark of nonverbal intimacy in human–robot interaction. The appropriateness of emotionally intimate behaviors for androids is considered. The design and utility of the android counselor/psychotherapist is explored, whose body is equipped with semi-autonomous visceral and behavioral capacities for 'doing intimacy.'


SYNOPSIS: Historically, accounting standard-setters have not been successful in defining net income. Nor have they been successful in justifying the use of other comprehensive income (OCI) and recycling. This paper proposes the definitions of net income and comprehensive income and an approach to measurement based on the proposed definitions. Net income and comprehensive income should be defined as two separate elements of financial statements, with OCI being the linkage factor that reconciles the two elements. Recycling of all OCI items is required for both elements to have the characteristic of all-inclusiveness. Net income should represent the irreversible outcomes of an entity's business activities, and it follows that the measurement basis of current value should be used from the perspective of reporting an entity's financial performance only when an asset (or a liability) is readily converted to cash (or settled) and the entity's business activity does not legally, contractually, or economically res...


The Erd\H{o}s-Ginzburg-Ziv constant $\mathfrak{s}(G)$ is the smallest $s$ such that every sequence of $s$ (not necessarily distinct) elements of $G$ has a zero-sum subsequence of length $\operatorname{exp}(G)$. For a prime $p$, let $r(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$ denote the size of the largest subset of $\mathbb{F}_p^n$ without a three-term arithmetic progression. Although similar methods have been used to study $\mathfrak{s}(G)$ and $r(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$, no direct connection between these quantities has previously been established. We give an upper bound for $\mathfrak{s}(G)$ in terms of $r(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$ for the prime divisors $p$ of $\operatorname{exp}(G)$. For the special case $G=\mathbb{F}_p^n$, we prove $\mathfrak{s}(\mathbb{F}_p^n)\leq 2p\cdot r(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$. Using the upper bounds for $r(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$ of Ellenberg and Gijswijt, this result improves the previously best known upper bounds for $\mathfrak{s}(\mathbb{F}_p^n)$ given by Naslund.


Although commonly accepted as the dominant emotional reaction to functional loss, the reported occurrence of depression in rehabilitation patients varies widely. Rather than focusing solely on depressive symptoms, this study furthers our understanding of emotional distress following a functional loss by assessing a range of psychiatric symptoms. A series of rehabilitation patients admitted to an urban hospital inpatient unit is used as the sample (n = 48). Demographic, neuropsychological, and a functional independence measure were included as independent variables. The statistical analysis revealed that-although age was not correlated with years of education, functional status, or neuropsychological impairment-there was a significant inverse relationship between age and reported emotional distress. Utilizing MANCOVA to explore the impact of age and gender on specific groups of psychiatric symptoms revealed that both younger and male patients tended to express psychiatric symptoms more frequently. The importance of considering age and gender in evaluation of emotional distress in rehabilitation is supported in this comprehensive study of psychiatric symptoms.


An analysis is presented of simulated ENSO phenomena occurring in three 1000-yr experiments with a lowresolution (R15) global coupled ocean‐atmosphere GCM. Although the model ENSO is much weaker than the observed one, the model ENSO's life cycle is qualitatively similar to the ''delayed oscillator'' ENSO life cycle simulated using much higher resolution ocean models. Thus, the R15 coupled model appears to capture the essential physical mechanism of ENSO despite its coarse ocean model resolution. Several observational studies have shown that the amplitude of ENSO has varied substantially between different multidecadal periods during the past century. A wavelet analysis of a multicentury record of eastern tropical Pacific SST inferred from d18O measurements suggests that a similar multidecadal amplitude modulation of ENSO has occurred for at least the past three centuries. A similar multidecadal amplitude modulation occurs for the model ENSO (2‐7-yr band), which suggests that much of the past amplitude modulation of the observed ENSO could be attributable to internal variability of the coupled ocean‐atmosphere system. In two 1000-yr CO2 sensitivity experiments, the amplitude of the model ENSO decreases slightly relative to the control run in response to either a doubling or quadrupling of CO2. This decreased variability is due in part to CO 2-induced changes in the model's time-mean basic state, including a reduced time-mean zonal SST gradient. In contrast to the weaker overall amplitude, the multidecadal amplitude modulations become more pronounced with increased CO2. The frequency of ENSO in the model does not appear to be strongly influenced by increased CO 2. Since the multidecadal fluctuations in the model ENSO's amplitude are comparable in magnitude to the reduction in variability due to a quadrupling of CO2, the results suggest that the impact of increased CO2 on ENSO is unlikely to be clearly distinguishable from the climate system ''noise'' in the near future—unless ENSO is substantially more sensitive to increased CO2 than indicated in the present study.


Immune precipitation analysis of pulse-labeled proteins present in subcellular fractions of mouse embryo cells infected with Moloney murine leukemia virus showed the presence of anti-gp70 serum-precipitable viral envelope gene products mainly in the microsomal fractions of these cells. In contrast, anti-p30 serum-specific gag (group specific antigen) gene products were found to be distributed in similar amounts in both the microsomal and postmicrosomal supernatant fractions of pulse-labeled cells.


Memorizing Mathematics: The Failure to Apply Mathematical Axioms Within Restrictive Models Rony Patel Rutgers University Jennifer Jacobs Rutgers University Rochel Gelman Rutgers University Abstract: Arithmetic, along with all mathematics, is built on axioms. Mathematical education, however, favors mathematical models or algorithms without appeal to the axioms they depend on. Our series of studies demonstrate adult subjects' inability to take advantage of the knowledge embodied in arithmetic axioms. It is likely that students' ability to master generative proofs is related to the reliance on restrictive models. Our first set of studies focused on subjects' ability to apply the addition-rule (mutually exclusive events) and the multiplication-rule (independent events) with multiple rational number representations (percentages, decimals, fractions, etc.). A second set of studies tested the understanding of group theory properties, exploiting the effect of the order of numbers (commutativity) and the effect of the digit zero (additive identity) on the long multiplication model (LMM). All studies conducted revealed participants ability to accurately perform arithmetic on chosen representation, but poor performance on choosing representation.