Background
Intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR) is one of the most effective therapies for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Understanding the influence of IVR on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choroidal thickness is helpful for us to choose the operative times and timing based on pharmacologic effects and tissue response.However, limited studies are available about quantitative analysis of RPE atrophic area and subfoveal choroidal thickness after IVR for nAMD.

Objective
This study was to report the changes of RPE atrophic area and subfoveal choroidal thickness after IVR for nAMD.

Methods
A prospective series cases-observational study was designed.Forty-one eyes of 41 consecutive patients with nAMD were enrolled in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from January 2015 to June 2015, and written informed consent was obtained from each patient prior to entering the cohort.The affected eyes received intravitreal injection of 0.05 ml ranibizumab (10 mg/ml) and then followed up monthly for 12 months.The RPE atrophy area around macula and subfoveal choroidal thickness were measured by a newly developed RPE analysis software spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) and enhanced depth imaging of SD-OCT (EDI-OCT), respectively, and the RPE atrophy area and choroidal thickness changes were compared before IVR and 3, 6 and 12 months after IVR.The correlation between RPE atrophy area and choroidal thickness before and after IVR was analyzed.

Results
All the patients finished the treating procedure and follow up.The visual acuity (logMAR) after IVR was considerably improved in comparison with before IVR (F=7.631, P 6 times and ≤6 times (r=0.297, -0.327), but these results were not statistically significant (P=0.248, 0.282, 0.103). At the end of the follow up, weak linear correlations were seen in RPE atrophy area change values and choroidal thickness change values with IVR times (rs=-0.266, 0.342), but these results were not statistically significant (P=0.148, 0.060).

Conclusions
IVR for nAMD can lead to subfoveal choroid atrophy instead of RPE atrophy.IVR does not accelerate the atrophy progression of both RPE and choroid.

Key words:
Antibodies, monoclonal, humanized/therapeutic use; Ranibizumab; Wet age-related macular degeneration/drug therapy; Choroidal neovascularization/drug therapy; Intravitreal injection; Pigment epithelium of eye; Choroidal thickness/drug effects; Tomography, optical coherence


This paper presents the concept of "genocide discourses", defined as a type of strategic narrative that shapes the way individuals and groups position themselves and others and act, playing a critical role in the production of violence and efforts to reduce it. Genocide discourses tend to present genocide as fundamentally a-political, and hold that genocidal systems are dislodged only when they are swept away through external violence. Secondly, genocide discourses are built on an assumption that the victims of genocide are necessarily moral innocents, not parties in conflict. These two factors make genocide discourses highly effective in conferring moral capital upon certain actors in a conflict. The two principles converge to produce strategic narratives that direct political and military actions in certain ways in the context of contentious conflicts and political violence, motivating humanitarian responses in defense of certain groups, or sustaining popular support for foreign wars. The paper illustrates the argument by examining two case studies between 2014 and 2017: the debates in the United States over Islamic State genocides, and the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.


Abstract Riccardia is a large genus of thalloid liverworts and notoriously difficult in terms of species recognition. Thirty six species were recognized in the tropical Andes but many of these are not well-defined. In this paper fourteen species are accepted for Colombia and Ecuador; eighteen species and two varieties are reduced to synonymy. Descriptions and illustrations are provided for the accepted species together with a key and data on types, synonymy, geographical distribution, habitat and differentiating characters. Riccardia palmata and R. multifida are excluded from the flora of Colombia and Ecuador. The new combination Riccardia latifrons subsp. parasitans (Steph.) Gradst. & Reeb comb. nov. is proposed and eighteen new lectotypifications are made.


Dynamic range usually refers to a range of levels within which a system can handle a signal with a specified
fidelity or accuracy. The constraints are set by uncontrolled energy, generated in the system itself, which
imposes uncertainties and sets limits on the possible range.
This uncontrolled energy is of two types. Firstly, there is always noise in the system which is simply added to any signal which passes through the system. Secondly, there is signal distortion; i.e. unwanted signal-dependent energy, which is also generated in the system. The two types of energy are usually referred to as:

1. system noise;
2. noise behind the signal.

Typical figures for a seismic instrument are: system noise -0.3uV rms; noise behind the signal-80 db below signal level for signals under 30 uV rms.
The recovery of hidden signals will be hampered when their levels fall below the system noise or below a certain threshold under the total signal level. This recovery is partly an absolute and partly a relative matter. The available technical specificatians of the hardware involved, such as the geophones, the cables and the instrument, enable us to easily assess the dynamic range of this hardware.
Things become more complex if environmental disturbances are taken into account. If, for example, the
source characteristics vary from shot to shot, if geophones have not been planted properly, or if differential statics are present within an array, then these perturbations will distort the ideal case.


Centella asiatica Linn. (Umbelliferae) or Pegaga has been widely used and studied as a wound healing, memory enhancer and anti-ageing agent. This plant contains high concentration of triterpene acids and saponins. This study aims to develop a reverse phase HPLC method for quantification of asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid in fifteen different samples of C. asiatica extracts. The method developed was validated at 200nm for selectivity, linearity, precision, accuracy and limits of detection and quantification. Selectivity was determined based on the retention time; linearity was in the range 0.2– 500 μg/ml at R>0.9999; the intraday and interday precision was determined as relative standard deviation of the peak area and retention time that was found to be (0.6±0.4)% and (0.6±0.3)%, respectively; the percentage recovery for madecassoside, asiaticoside, madecassic acid and asiatic acid were in the range (95.66±3.0)%–(96.04±4.3)%, (91.77±4.7)%–(100.85±5.6)%, (98.09±5.3)%–(106.38±2.9)% and (93.83±4.9)%–(95.97±4.0)%; the limits of detection were 0.28-0.29 μg/ml, 0.85-0.88 μg/ml, 0.09–0.10 μg/ml and 0.27–0.29 μg/ml, and the limits of quantification were 0.14–0.15 μg/ml, 0.41–0.44 μg/ml, 0.19–0.22 μg/ml and 0.58–0.65 μg/ml, respectively. The reported method was successfully applied for determination of the 4 marker compounds in 15 extracts of C. asiatica, and it could be considered as an important analytical tool for quality control, stability studies, pharmacokinetics, and standardization purposes. Preliminary study showed the correlation between principal component analysis (PCA) on the FTIR spectra and the chemical constituents. The extracts that have similar functional group can be clustered together in the same position.


Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for nearly 80% of diagnosed lung can- cers. Due to the predominantly late diagnosis of NSCLC and drug resistance in the targeted therapy approaches, the 5-year overall survival rate is still less than 19%. Thus, novel diagnosis and treatment approaches are needed. Many efforts have been made to achieve great progress in understanding the genomic landscape of NSCLC and the molecular mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts longer than 200 nucleotides with little or no protein-coding potential. They are encoded across the genome and are involved in a wide range of cellular and biological processes. Dysregulation of lncRNAs is associated with a number of cancer- related processes, including epigenetic regulation, microRNA silencing, and DNA dam-age. Furthermore, lncRNAs have been reported to have the potential as biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as the therapy targets. Here in this chapter, we review some well-characterized lncRNAs associated with NSCLCs and the potential of lncRNAs as biomarkers in the diagnosis and prognosis of NSCLCs.


Low-rate feedback schemes have recently provided a means to achieve near optimal performance in multiple-input multiple-output communications systems while reducing feedback overhead to acceptable levels. In this paper, a bit-error rate expression for precoded systems is derived as a function of the channel estimation uncertainty. Poor channel state estimates are shown to degrade error rate performance significantly; however, if the channel estimation uncertainty is taken into account when selecting feedback parameters, it is shown that target performance can be maintained without wasting resources.


Abstract The National Bank of Poland is an institution which, in conjunction with the government is responsible for the implementation of country's economic policy reinforces its democratic character. Provisions of its operation are governed by the Constitution of The Republic of Poland and by the Act on the National Bank of Poland. To this end, the objective of the present research is to analyse the proposed amendments in the Act on the NBP. The latter concerns the amendment procedures, term of office and the rotations and numbers of Monetary Policy Council. The remaining part of the analyses is dedicated to the issue of dismissal of a MPC's member in conjunction with the prohibition of occupying other positions, the adoption of the NBP's financial statements and the separation of instruments of monetary policy's instruments for stability of domestic financial system. Introduced changes in the proposed draft reduce the independence of the NBP while making it more subject to the Cabinet. Following the result of further consultations on the draft of Act on the NBP, provisions which reduce the independence of the NBP shall be partially removed.


This paper proposes a novel approach to batch Bayesian optimisation using a multiobjective optimisation framework with exploitation and exploration forming two objectives. The key advantage of this approach is that it uses a suite of strategies to balance exploration and exploitation and thus can efficiently handle the optimisation of a variety of functions with small to large number of local extrema. Another advantage is that it automatically determines the batch size within a specified budget avoiding unnecessary function evaluations. Theoretical analysis shows that the regret not only reduces sub-linearly but also by an additional reduction factor determined by the batch size. We demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithm by optimising a variety of benchmark functions, performing hyperparameter tuning of support vector regression and classification, and finally heat treatment process of an Al-Sc alloy. Comparisons with recent baseline algorithms confirm the usefulness of our algorithm.


Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I, and growth hormone (GH) are important regulators of physical growth and have been shown to play key roles in retinal angiogenesis and development. In premature infants, low serum IGF-I and high GH levels in the early postnatal period were reported to be associated with severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). We examined the ontogenic profile of VEGF, IGF-I and GH in rat vitreous fluid, retinal homogenates and systemic circulation from birth to 21 days postnatal age (weaning, P21). Sprague Dawley rats (litter size =15 pups) were sacrificed at P0, P7, P14 and P21 (3 litters/group). At sacrifice, the pups were weighed and measured for linear growth (nose to tail length). Vitreous fluid, retinal homogenates, and serum were analyzed for VEGF, IGF-I and GH by enzyme immunoassay. VEGF levels were 10-fold higher in the vitreous (pg/mL) than serum (pg/mL) at all stages of development. Vitreous and serum VEGF levels progressively declined at P7, P14 and P21 (p≤0.05 to p≤0.001) compared to term, however in the retinal homogenates, VEGF levels (pg/mg protein) increased with the highest concentration at P21 (p≤0.05 vs term). Vitreous IGF-I levels were decreased at P7 through P14 (p≤0.05) compared to term. Vitreous GH levels were 10-fold lower than serum levels and were decreased at P14 and P21 (p≤0.001) compared to P7. Despite a trend for increasing IGF-I and decreasing GH in retinal homogenates, no appreciable changes were detected with advancing postnatal age. Similarly, serum IGF-I levels increased with postnatal age (P14 and P21: p≤0.05 vs term), whereas serum GH levels were decreased at P7 (p≤0.05), P14 (p≤0.01), and P21 (p≤0.01) compared to term. In rats, retinal development occurs postnatally by P14. Our data demonstrate that during normal retinal development, VEGF, IGF-I and GH decrease in the vitreous; and VEGF and IGF-I increase, while GH decreases in the retinal homogenates. A quite different ontogenic pattern is noted in the systemic circulation. VEGF and GH decrease, while IGF-I increases with advancing physical growth. We therefore conclude that any future therapy for ROP should consider changes occurring in the eye rather than the systemic compartment.


OBJECTIVES
We investigated whether the central pain symptoms in fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) are related to defective top-down sensorimotor regulation. The pain matrix was activated in a top-down manner by presenting pictures of painful situations while recording brain activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG). We investigated alpha desynchronisation in FM patients and healthy controls in response to pictures depicting pain.

METHODS
19 FM patients and 14 age-matched healthy controls (age 20-60) were recruited. Participants were shown photographs of right hands and feet in situations depicting pain or of control situations with no depiction of pain. MEG was recorded in a whole-head 248-sensor system as subjects laid supine.

RESULTS
In healthy controls exposure to pictures depicting painful situations elicited a decrease in alpha activity (10Hz) at 100-500ms post-stimulus, which was significantly more pronounced than the one elicited by non-painful content mostly on sensors above the right sensorimotor cortex. However, FM patients did not show significant differences in alpha activity between responses to pain and no-pain pictures.

CONCLUSIONS
Consistent with previous findings, healthy participants displayed stronger alpha desynchronisation for pain pictures, indicating automatic disinhibition of the sensorimotor cortices in response to the observation of pain in others. We found evidence for a deficient modulation of sensorimotor cortex in FM patients. The lack of differential response suggests that they perceived relatively neutral pictures as potentially painful, at least in this setting. Our findings suggest that defective top-down regulation may play a role in the pathogenesis of FM.


A simple technique for the maintenance in vitro of mature Schistosoma mansoni is described and critically assessed at the ultrastructural level. Females were cultured for 4–6 days with no apparent ultrastructural change, but after this period changes appeared in the cells of the ovary and vitelline gland. At a later stage (10–12 days) lipid bodies appeared in the parenchyma cells. These changes occurred in worms which were active, paired with males and were egg–laying. Thus the activity, pairing behaviour and egg–laying characteristics are not adequate to reveal the true morphological condition and presumably the physiological and biochemical status of cultured worms. This technique was used to study the effect of Astiban on females and the results were compared with worms treated in vivo. Astiban concentrations greater than 30 µg/ml killed worms within 7–20 h and acted non–selectively. Astiban at low concentrations (10µg/ml) during short–term culture (1–3 h) resulted in a selective action of the drug on maturing vitelline cells. Thus, although the degree of cell damage caused by drug treatment was more severe and occurred earlier than the effects observed in worms cultured in vitro without drugs, both treatments resulted in differential cell death.


The natural frequencies of continuous systems depend on the governing partial differential equation and can be numerically estimated using the finite element method. The accuracy and convergence of the finite element method depends on the choice of basis functions. A basis function will generally perform better if it is closely linked to the problem physics. The stiffness matrix is the same for either static or dynamic loading, hence the basis function can be chosen such that it satisfies the static part of the governing differential equation. However, in the case of a rotating beam, an exact closed form solution for the static part of the governing differential equation is not known. In this paper, we try to find an approximate solution for the static part of the governing differential equation for an uniform rotating beam. The error resulting from the approximation is minimized to generate relations between the constants assumed in the solution. This new function is used as a basis function which gives rise to shape functions which depend on position of the element in the beam, material, geometric properties and rotational speed of the beam. The results of finite element analysis with the new basis functions are verified with published literature for uniform and tapered rotating beams under different boundary conditions. Numerical results clearly show the advantage of the current approach at high rotation speeds with a reduction of 10 to 33% in the degrees of freedom required for convergence of the first five modes to four decimal places for an uniform rotating cantilever beam.


Objective: To assess and compare 1-year cardiovascular events occurrence frequency and treatment cost among Chinese coronary heart disease (CHD) or angina pectoris patients who used salvianolate injection or non-user. Method: Data were obtained from electronic medical record (EMR) database between 2012.01.01~2017.12.31 covering medical encounter records from two tier-3 general hospitals from Shanghai and Guangzhou in China. Patients were followed 12 months after drug initiation. T-test, Chi-square test, negative binomial regression and generalized linear model adjusting for demographics, and baseline characteristics including cardiovascular event (myocardial infarction, angina, transient ischemic attack, stroke, etcs) rate, inpatient length of stay, and healthcare resource consumption were used to test the difference between two groups. Result: A total of 439 and 1848 patients were identified for salvianolate injection and control group, with mean (SD) age 75.42 (12.09) and 69.15 (12.79) (p<0.01) and male 43.28% and 52.38% (p<0.01), respectively. During baseline, the mean frequency of cardiovascular events were 2.05 and 5.82 times for treatment and control group respectively (p<0.01); the treatment cost for cardiovascular event were 4720.04 Chinese Yuan (CNY) and 3700.23 CNY for control group respectively (p=0.11). During the follow-up period, the average number of cardiovascular events were 0.26 and 5.87 times for treatment and control group respectively (p<0.01). Compared with non-user, mean per-year cost for salvianolate injection user was 29.58% lower (4069.21 vs. 5778.17 Chinese Yuan (CNY). Conclusion: Among Chinese coronary heart disease and angina pectoris patients, those who used salvianolate injection had lower per-year cardiovascular event rate and spent less on cardiovascular events treatment.


Background Emergency Medical Services personnel (EMSP) are recurrently exposed to chronic and traumatic stressors in their occupation. Effective coping with occupational stressors plays a key role in enabling their health and overall well-being. In this study, we examined the habitual use of coping strategies in EMSP and analyzed associations of coping with the personnel's health and well-being. Method A total of N = 106 German Red Cross EMSP participated in a cross-sectional survey involving standardized questionnaires to report habitual use of different coping strategies (using the Brief-COPE), their work-related stress, work-related self-efficacy, job satisfaction, as well as mental and physical stress symptoms. Results A confirmatory factor analysis corroborated seven coping factors which have been identified in a previous study among Italian emergency workers. Correlation analyses indicated the coping factor "self-criticism" is associated with more work-related stress, lower job satisfaction, and higher depressive, posttraumatic, and physical stress symptoms. Although commonly viewed as adaptive coping, the coping factors "support/venting", "active coping/planning", "humor", "religion", and "positive reappraisal" were not related to health and well-being in EMSP. Exploratory correlation analyses suggested that only "acceptance" was linked to better well-being and self-efficacy in EMSP. Conclusion Our results emphasize the need for in-depth investigation of adaptive coping in EMSP to advance occupation-specific prevention measures.


Hepatitis B infection is a major public health problem caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV). Factors associated with host immunity such as (HBV specific T- and/or B-cell) production and antigen presentation failure and viral determinants such as the HBV genotypes and their evolving variants, have largely contributed to and justified variations that occur in the HBV surface gene. Hepatitis B surface gene mutations may influence the accuracy of the results obtained with currently used serological diagnostic tests and may represent a great risk for the community, since neither hepatitis B vaccines nor hepatitis B immunoglobulin will prevent the infection by HBV. Out of 96 published papers from (1988 till 2016) downloaded from Google scholar and PubMed and evaluated according to the relevance of scientific data for the surface gene mutations of hepatitis B virus then52 papers of them were selected and included in this study, then we reviewed and evaluated the current published papers about the surface gene mutations worldwide in which G145R represents the most common hepatitis B surface gene mutation reported in the literature. Furthermore, we reviewed their clinical implications and their impact on hepatitis B vaccination and treatment.


The Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of Schiff base had been formed on oxidized surfaces of copper. Schiff base used in this paper is N-2-hydroxyphenyl- (3-methoxy-salicylidenimine), designated V-bso. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), polarization curves, electrochemistry impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the interface capacitance measurements have been employed to investigate the structure, formation and composition of these monolayers. XPS analysis show that the valence of the copper in the surface films is +2. The polarization curves and the EIS results indicate that the films of CuO, V-bso, and V-bso modified oxidized copper all have good corrosion inhibition efficiency. The IE of the V-bso modified oxidized copper is higher than that of the V-bso modified copper and the oxidized copper layer, just because the former has two layers. The results of the interface capacitance show that the self-assemble films of the V-bso on the oxidized copper surface have good potential stability.


With the advancements of the human computer interaction field, nowadays it is possible for the users to use their body motions, such as swiping, pushing and moving, to interact with the content of computers or smart phones without traditional input devices like mouse and keyboard. With the introduction of gesture-based interface Kinect from Microsoft it creates promising opportunities for educators to offer students easier and intuitive ways to interact with the learning systems. The integration of Kinect based applications into classroom make students' learning experience very active and joyful. In this context, this paper proposes a system for assessment in a smart classroom environment. An interactive framework is designed using Microsoft Kinect sensor for virtual learning environment with new gesture-based questions supporting QTI-based assessment, and further a rich set of gesture commands are also introduced for practical usage in the classroom. Proposed system was experimented with teachers and students then collected feedback of the users using a usability questionnaire. The results show that the participants are satisfied with the system and it demonstrates that the proposed system is simple to use, provides better functionality and motivates student learning by assessment.


Aphids and ant species are both diverse and extremely succesful groups of insects and often share the same habitats and therefore both have many oportunities to interact with each other. It has been shown that aphid-ant relationships have been shaped by various factors particularly aphid host plant's physological features, honeydew composition, feeding position and so on. Despite there are more than 500 aphid species and about 315 ant taxon in Turkey, there are very few studies conducted on their mutual relationship. This study was carried out in the Trabzon, Rize and Artvin provinces of Turkey. As a result of the evaluation of samples, it was determined that 48 aphid species associated with 15 ant species. The most encountered ant species, which interacted with different number of aphid species, were Formica cinereofusca Karawaiew, 1929, Lasius turcicus Santschi, 1921 and Lasius emarginatus (Olivier, 1792). Among determined aphid species Aphis fabae Scopoli, 1763 had the highest ant attraction and then Brachycaudus cardui (Linnaeus, 1758), Aphis gossypii Glover, 1877, Aphis spiraecola Patch, 1914, Cinara pilicornis (Hartig, 1841) and Toxoptera aurantii Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1841 respectively. Determined aphid-ant associations are shaped by both ecological conditions of the study area, composition of aphid and ant populations and it was shown that there is no new aphid-ant species association. Findings of the presented study indicated that much more detailed study should be conducted to investigate aphid-ant mutualistic associations in Turkey.


AIM
To perform a comprehensive evaluation of association of common genetic variants in candidate genes in the dopaminergic pathway with schizophrenia in a sample from Croatian population.

METHODS
A case-control association study was performed on 104 unrelated patients with schizophrenia recruited from a psychiatric hospital in Zagreb and 131 phenotypically normal Croatian subjects. Forty-nine tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (tagSNPs) in 8 candidate genes in the dopaminergic pathway were identified from the HapMap database and tested for association. Genotyping was performed using the SNPlex platform. Statistical analysis was conducted to assess allelic and genotypic associations between cases and controls using a goodness of fit chi(2) test and trend test, respectively; adjustment for multiple testing was done by permutation based analysis.

RESULTS
Significant allele frequency differences between schizophrenia cases and controls were observed at 4 tagSNPs located in the genes DRD5, HTR1B1, DBH, and TH1 (P<0.005). A trend test also confirmed the genotypic association (P<0.001) of these 4 tagSNPs. Additionally, moderate association (P<0.05) was observed with 8 tagSNPs on SLC6A3, DBH, DRD4, SLC6A4, and COMT.

CONCLUSIONS
Common genetic variants in genes involved in the dopaminergic pathway are associated with schizophrenia in the populations of Caucasian descent.


It is easy to create new combinatorial games but more difficult to predict those that will interest human players. We examine the concept of game quality, its automated measurement through self-play simulations, and its use in the evolutionary search for new high-quality games. A general game system called Ludi is described and experiments conducted to test its ability to synthesize and evaluate new games. Results demonstrate the validity of the approach through the automated creation of novel, interesting, and publishable games.


Mediterranean heathlands with extremely low soil-nutrient concentrations (the fynbos of South Africa and the kwongan of Australia) have plant species diversities several times greater than one would expect from their areas. A combination of three factors provides a sufficient explanation for these diversities: First, poor soils favour shrubs that are killed by fire and reestablish from seed ('seeders'). Otherwise, the frequent fires in most mediterranean heathlands favour shrubs that can re-sprout ('sprouters'). Second, the numeric dominance of seeders on poor soil lowers their extinction rates. Third, seeders have relatively short generation times and thus increased speciation rates. Elevated speciation rates coupled with depressed rates of extinction lead to enhanced diversities. We elucidate this scenario and discuss evidence that favours the first factor. The evidence comes from 23 previously unanalysed sample plots surveyed by R.H. Whittaker and from two supplemental data sets. In mature fynbos and kwongan, 90 and 93% respectively of the shrub cover belongs to shrubs that re-seed after fire. In maquis (Israel), chaparral (California) and matorral (Chile), the proportion is considerably smaller. Mature strandveld, a South African shrubland superficially like fynbos but with richer soil, has only 29% seeders, although it is physically adjacent to fynbos. We suggest that nutrient-poor soil may favour seeders because the extra investment in underground organs is not worth the cost: pulses of nutrients released by fire lie mostly on top of the soil, inaccessible to new growth sprouting from subterranean lignotubers or epicormic buds.


Abstract. The permeability (K) of snow to air flow affects the transfer of energy, water vapor and chemical species between the snow and the atmosphere. Yet today little is known about the temporal evolution of snow permeability as a function of metamorphic regime. Furthermore, our ability to simulate snow permeability over the seasonal evolution of a snowpack has not been tested. Here we have measured the evolution of snow permeability in a subarctic snowpack subject to high temperature-gradient (TG) metamorphism. We have also measured the evolution of the same snowpack deposited over tables so that it evolved in the equi-temperature (ET) regime. Permeability varies in the range 31 × 10−10 (ET regime) to 650 × 10−10 m2 (TG regime). Permeability increases over time in TG conditions and decreases under ET conditions. Using measurements of density ρ and of specific surface area (SSA), from which the equivalent sphere radius r is determined, we show that the equation linking SSA, density ρ and permeability, K = 3.0 r2 e(−0.013 ρ) (with K in m2, r in m and ρ in kg m−3) obtained in a previous study adequately predicts permeability values. The detailed snowpack model Crocus is used to simulate the physical properties of the TG and ET snowpacks. For the most part, all variables are well reproduced. Simulated permeabilities are up to a factor of two greater than measurements for depth hoar layers, which we attribute to snow microstructure and its aerodynamic properties. Finally, the large difference in permeabilities between ET and TG metamorphic regimes will impact atmosphere-snow energy and mass exchanges. These effects deserve consideration in predicting the effect of climate change on snow properties and snow–atmosphere interactions.


When we think of the South Asian subcontinent, what associations come to mind? Images emphasizing the region's beauty and exoticism may dominate--for example, the spectacular, marble-laden Taj Mahal, the breathtaking Himalayan Mountains, pictures of sacred cows roaming the streets of big cities, or Hindu devotees bathing in the holy Ganges River. Such superficial knowledge offers Americans little understanding of the complex reality of a subcontinent with more than a billion people. Oversimplified views of South Asian women are also common. Westerners tend to think of South Asian women in terms of oppression, a stereotype that belies the diversity in women's conditions throughout this region. Although problems with human fights for women (and men) do exist, as in many other parts of the world, what often gets overlooked is the progress women have made over the past fifty years: * the many grassroots groups and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) created to empower women, such as SEWA, a trade union and social movement registered in India in 1972 that organizes poor, self-employed women workers; (1) * the success of the Grameen Bank, begun in Bangladesh in 1976, providing noncollateralized loans for women and men; (2) and * the elections to high office of women of more privileged class backgrounds--in 1960, Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, the first woman in modern history to be elected prime minister of a country; Indira Gandhi, prime minister of India from 1964 until 1977, and 1980 to 1984; and Benazir Bhutto, prime minister of Pakistan in 1988, the first female leader of a modern Muslim country. In this article, we consider South Asian women within the context of the history and geography of this region's religions and cultures and offer insights into the progress women have made over the past fifty years toward greater control of their lives. We challenge the notion that South Asian women's stories can be reduced to tales of oppression, and suggest sources teachers may find useful to convey the diversity of women's lives in this region. Many South Asian women have gained educations, joined the labor force, and held political power at local and national levels. We conclude our analysis by discussing the novel Shabanu, a popular means for teaching about South Asian women in social studies classrooms, a book that, unfortunately, may both reinforce stereotypes and treat Muslim gifts in an ethnocentric fashion. Brief Background on the Subcontinent Although the term South Asia often serves as shorthand for the three largest countries in the region, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the label also applies to a larger set, including Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, and the Maldive Islands. (3) Here, we concentrate on India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. With a population of more than a billion, India is much larger than its closest neighbors, Pakistan with a population of 145 million, and Bangladesh with a population of 140 million. (4) India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are all rich in cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity, the result of a long history reaching back almost five thousand years. Despite the distinct nations that have emerged in the twentieth century, in this region, histories, religions, and cultures are all intertwined. These nations trace their roots to what has been called the "Indo-Aryan" civilization, which came out of Central Asia and took hold in South Asia around the Indus River Valley. This civilization's identity has remained intact through repeated invasions, although many of the invaders' customs and beliefs have been integrated into South Asian culture. For thousands of years, ethnic groups headed by princes, or maharajas, maintained their sovereignty. Only gradually under British colonial rule dating from the eighteenth century did the idea of India as a nation emerge. India embraces cultural and linguistic differences as vast as those found within Europe. …


Abstract— Methylene blue (MB+) is a well‐known dye in medicine and has been discussed as an easily applicable drug for topical treatment in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Methylene blue can potentially be used as a redox indicator to detect the important redox reactions that are induced during PDT. The kinetics of this process was analyzed on a subcellular level with confocal laser scanning microscopy. BKEz‐7 endothelial cells were incubated 4 h with 1 μM MB+. The fluorescence dynamics of MB+ during irradiation with 633 nm light was observed with subcellular resolution. Images were acquired at 0.5 s intervals (frame rate 1 image/0.5 s). Fluorescence was observed in the red channel of the laser scanning microscope. Synchronously, the phase‐contrast image was visualized with the green channel. Morphological changes could therefore be correlated with the dynamics of MB+. In addition, the light‐dose‐dependent phototoxicity at 633 nm irradiation was determined by viable cell counting. After an induction period (phase I), fast fluorescent spikes could be observed in the whole cytoplasm, which decayed with a time constant of about 20 s (phase II), followed by a period of nearly constant fluorescence intensity (phase III) and exponential photobleaching (phase IV). Phase II exhibits highly nonlinear kinetics, which is hypothesized to correlate probably with a nonlinear quantal production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Morphological cell changes were not observed during phase II. During phase III, a pycnotic cell nucleus developed. From the determination of viable cells we can conclude that a light dose applied within phase II was only sublethal in correlation with morphological observations. Overproduction of ROS leading finally to cell killing during phases III and IV is discussed.


The main objective of this study was to construct a double integrating sphere system and to verify its performance using Intralipid fat emulsion. The final goal was to be able to determine optical properties of various turbid suspensions with the proposed system. Online measurements even would have been possible as backscattering and forward scattering were measured simultaneously. The measured suspension was injected in a cuvette placed between two integrating spheres and illuminated with a laser through the first sphere. The diameter of the spheres was 8" and the diameter of the sample port could have been varied up to 2.5". The cuvette was made of plastic and optical grade glass and its diameter was sufficient to cover the sample port area. The sample thickness in the measurement cuvette was 5 mm. Optical powers were detected using fiber coupled photodiodes. There was one diode for each sphere and one for the unscattered light at the opposite end of the sphere system facing towards the laser. The measured optical powers were converted to absorption coefficient, scattering coefficient and if possible to anisotropy using an inverse adding-doubling method. The results measured for the Intralipid using the described system corresponded with those documented in published literature. A number of pulp samples with unknown optical properties were measured with encouraging results. However, the differences between different pulps and fillers are so small that, in the future, the focus will be in error source elimination to achieve reasonable accuracy.


A combined experimental and computational study on the fatigue of glass-fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) is presented, with particular emphasis on the effects of water saturation, for use in ocean energy structures. The experimental characterisation consisted (i) of immersion-aging of test specimens for a period of up to two years, using a moderate accelerated aging technique, designed to simulate longer-term seawater exposure of the material, and (ii) fatigue testing of aged and unaged specimens in immersed and nonimmersed conditions, with emphasis on identification of fatigue damage evolution. The computational methodology incorporates the development of a multiaxial fatigue damage user material subroutine, based on the static Puck approach, adapted for fatigue by combining (i) fatigue-induced fibre strength and modulus degradation, (ii) irrecoverable cyclic strain effects and (iii) inter-fibre fatigue. Finally the impact of water saturation on the fatigue life of a tidal turbine blade is assessed using a fatigue life model.


Spinal tumors are rare diseases of childhood. The initial symptoms are often very uncharacteristic and the diagnosis is delayed for a long time. From 1970-1983 31 children with intraspinal tumors were seen. The location of these tumors was 7 times intramedullar, 13 times extramedullar-intradural and 11 times extradural. History, findings and treatment of these patients are reported and compared with the available literature. Despite the well known diagnostic problems, early diagnosis and treatment are of the greatest importance for the prognosis.


Abstract. The Nioghalvfjerdsbræ (79NG) is a floating ice tongue on Northeast Greenland draining a large part of the Greenland Ice Sheet. A CTD profile from a rift on the ice tongue close to the northern front shows that Atlantic Water (AW) is present in the cavity below, with maximum temperature of approximately 1 °C at 610 m depth. The AW present in the cavity thus has the potential to drive submarine melting along the ice base. Here, we simulate melt rates from the 79NG with a 1D numerical Ice Shelf Water (ISW) plume model. A meltwater plume is initiated at the grounding line depth (600 m) and rises along the ice base as a result of buoyancy contrast to the underlying AW. Ice melts as the plume entrains the warm AW. Maximum simulated melt rates are 50–76 m yr−1 within 10 km of the grounding line. Within a zone of rapid decay between 10 km and 20 km melt rates drop to roughly 6 m yr−1. Further downstream, melt rates are between 15 m yr−1 and 6 m yr−1. The melt-rate sensitivity to variations in AW temperatures is assessed by forcing the model with AW temperatures between 0.1–1.4 °C, as identified from the ECCOv4 ocean state estimate. The melt rates increase linearly with rising AW temperature, ranging from 10 m yr−1 to 21 m yr−1 along the centerline. The corresponding freshwater flux ranges between 11 km3 yr−1 (0.4 mSv) and 30 km3 yr−1 (1.0 mSv), which is 5 % and 12 % of the total freshwater flux from the Greenland Ice Sheet since 1995, respectively. Our results improve the understanding of processes driving submarine melting of marine-terminating glaciers around Greenland, and its sensitivity to changing ocean conditions.


Active packaging of fruits and vegetables uses films that absorb molecules from or contribute molecules to the produce. The pilot application developed in this paper has resulted in the deposition of film to apples. A prospective application relates to replacing hot wax that is expensive and that lowers the textural quality of the apple. This was the early motivation of this paper. Moreover, the focus of this paper will be mostly on the reactor design and film evaluation. The cold-plasma zone was obtained by increasing the voltage on a needle-to-needle electrode structure until the electric field in the feed material (argon + monomer) was sufficiently high to yield electron avalanches and self-propagating streamers. The ¿corona onset criterion¿ was used to design the cold-plasma reactor. The apple was placed in a treatment chamber downstream from the activation zone (cold-plasma zone). Selected physical properties of the film were measured. Environmental scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared studies of samples were also performed to determine the presence of the film. Electromagnetic modeling was applied to the design of the cold-plasma reactor, and those results are presented in this paper.


In the opening pages of his 1971 study, Politics as Symbolic Action, Murray Edelman underlines his belief that "psychological characteristics, social interaction, and political acts are alternative expressions of the same phenomenon." In the discussion that follows, however, he tacitly privileges the political aspect of the transaction to an extent that quite undermines his initial image of an interdependent network of reactive/responsive processes. The bias is an understandable one, given his anxiety to counter the naive view of "governmental acts as reflections of people's cognitions." It is also, unfortunately, a problematic one, insofaras its implication of a self-consciously Machiavellian political leadership deliberately manipulating public affect to its own ends simply substitutes for one misapprehension another equally naive.


Images of Vesta taken by the Dawn spacecraft reveal large‐scale linear structural features on the surface of the asteroid. We evaluate the morphology of the Vesta structures to determine what processes caused them to form and what implications this has for the history of Vesta as a planetary body. The dimensions and shape of these features suggest that they are graben similar to those observed on terrestrial planets, not fractures or grooves such as are found on smaller asteroids. As graben, their vertical displacement versus length relationship could be evaluated to describe and interpret the evolution of the component faults. Linear structures are commonly observed on smaller asteroids and their formation has been tied to impact events. While the orientation of the large‐scale Vesta structures does imply that their formation is related to the impact events that formed the Rheasilvia and Veneneia basins, their size and morphology is greatly different from impact‐formed fractures on the smaller bodies. This is consistent with new analyses that suggest that Vesta is fully differentiated, with a mantle and core. We suggest that impact into a differentiated asteroid such as Vesta could result in graben, while grooves and fractures would form on undifferentiated asteroids.


State-of-the-art baggage handling systems transport luggage in an automated way using destination coded vehicles (DCVs). These vehicles transport the bags at high speeds on a network of tracks. Currently, the DCVs are routed through the system using routing schemes based on preferred routes. These routing schemes respond to the occurrence of predefined events. We do not consider such predefined preferred routes. Instead, we develop advanced control methods to determine the optimal routing in case of dynamic demand. In order to optimize the performance of the system, we first develop and compare efficient centralized, decentralized, and distributed predictive methods. Next, to reduce the computational requirements, we also propose some heuristic methods. Finally, to assess the performance of the proposed control approaches, the methods are compared for several scenarios on a benchmark case study.


Recent advancements in wearable medical technologies have streamlined health monitoring with simple, non-invasive measurements. These devices, however, are rarely capable of monitoring all the necessary parameters for an accurate measure of health, such as blood pressure, and can cost the user hundreds to thousands of dollars. The objective of this project was to design an affordable, user-friendly, wearable device capable of monitoring multiple parameters: body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, and body positioning. By combining wearable sensors with Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) technology, the data from many sensors can be transmitted while maintaining a compact size for a wearable. In parallel with this device, a mobile application was designed as an interface to receive real-time comprehensive measurements. This device could be used to reduce monitor application time in emergency medical settings and monitor patients in rural communities who are often hours away from the nearest medical centers.


Public Complaint and Aspiration Service (LAPOR!) was initially a program spearheaded by the Presidential Work Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UK4). This program is associated with the administration of public services by all government agencies. Furthermore, it is used by the Mataram City Government as a medium to facilitate public aspirations and complaints. Therefore, this research aims to comprehend the factors influencing the community in applying the LAPOR! Application in the Mataram city in 2019. This is a mixed method research with data obtained from 70 user communities through interviews with related agencies and by distributing questionnaires, with the PLS and SPSS applications used for analysis. The results showed that the variable performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence significantly affect behavioral intention. Meanwhile, facilitating condition and behavioral intention has a positive and significant impact on the utilization of LAPOR! Application. These were indicated by the P-value <0.005 and the T statistical value> 1.96, thereby concluding that each hypothesis proposed in this study is accepted.


This month's update is by the Research in Emergency care, Avon Collaborative Hub. We used a multimodal search strategy, drawing on free openaccess medical education resources and literature searches. We identified the five most interesting and relevant papers (decided by consensus) and highlight the main findings, key limitations and clinical bottom line for each paper. The papers are ranked as: ► Worth a peek—interesting, but not yet ready for prime time. ► Head turner—new concepts. ► Game changer—this paper could/ should change practice.


This article consists of the study and investigative analysis of the effects of burns by radiation in humans. Cases of nuclear accidents, such as Chernobyl (ionizing radiation) and the effects of non-ionizing radiation such as infrared and microwave radiation are detailed. It is examined cases of injuries and burns by ionizing radiation due to irradiation (diagnostic equipment and medical treatment: X-rays, radiotherapy) or contamination (nuclear accidents, wars). Injuries and burns are also caused by nonionizing radiation, such as visible light (laser), ultraviolet, radiofrequency. There are numerous biological issues in the case of tissues, the ionizing radiation (ionizing particles and electromagnetic radiation: X-rays, gamma rays and high energy ultraviolet) can cause damage mainly in the DNA. This can cause mutations in its genetic code and cancer 5. In addition, damage to other tissues and organs can occur, as well as burns, erythema and lesions. The biological effects of nonionizing radiation are currently under investigation. Burns, erythema and lesions can also occur due to the following types of radiation: low energy ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, microwave, radiofrequency, electromagnetic fields. The purpose of this article is to provide an exhaustive analysis of all types of both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation and their effects on living beings. Finally, it is important to follow all safety and radiation protections against both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation.


Object detectors often suffer from the domain gap between training (source domain) and real-world applications (target domain). Mean-teacher self-training is a powerful paradigm in unsupervised domain adaptation for object detection, but it struggles with low-quality pseudo-labels. In this work, we identify the intriguing alignment and synergy between mean-teacher self-training and contrastive learning. Motivated by this, we propose Contrastive Mean Teacher (CMT) - a unified, general-purpose framework with the two paradigms naturally integrated to maximize beneficial learning signals. Instead of using pseudo-labels solely for final predictions, our strategy extracts object-level features using pseudo-labels and optimizes them via contrastive learning, without requiring labels in the target domain. When combined with recent mean-teacher self-training methods, CMT leads to new state-of-the-art target-domain performance: 51.9% mAP on Foggy Cityscapes, outperforming the previously best by 2.1% mAP. Notably, CMT can stabilize performance and provide more significant gains as pseudo-label noise increases.


This study presents a chemical protocol for simultaneous purification of silicon and magnesium from a single aliquot of rock sample. The procedure is based on a new silicate digestion technique in Teflon vial and a combination of two-step cation exchange chromatography using AG 50W-X8 (200–400 mesh) resin. The robustness of the protocol has been established by checking the accuracy of Si and Mg isotopic values in seven USGS rock reference materials. All isotopic analyses have been carried out in the interference free plateau of pseudo high-resolution mode of a Thermo Neptune MC-ICPMS to resolve 30Si and 26Mg peaks from their 14N16O and 12C14N+ interferences respectively. The total variation of δ30Si among all terrestrial rock samples analyzed in this study lies in a limited range from −0.28‰ to −0.21‰. The long-term reproducibility assessed by repeated measurements of Si standard solutions and reference materials is better than ±0.09‰ (±2σ) for δ30Si. The Mg isotopic ratios of the analyzed rock samples range from −0.12 to −0.87 and the external precision is better than ±0.08‰ (±2σ) for δ26MgDSM-3. The level of precision achieved allows us to distinguish the limited fractionation of Si and Mg that occurs at high temperature. Simultaneous determination of Si and Mg isotopic patterns from a single aliquot of rock sample has the potential to open up a range of new studies in widely different fields of science including geological, cosmo-chemical, bio-geochemical and environmental studies.


5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(4-carboxyl phenyl)porphyrin (Por) modified Co(OH)2 deposited on the surface of GO nanocomposites (Por/Co(OH)2/GO) were prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and XRD. For the first time, H2TCPP/Co(OH)2/GO is found to have enhanced peroxidase-like activity and catalyze the oxidation of the substrate 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Notably, the colorless TMB rapidly transformed into blue oxTMB in just 60 s, which was easily observed visually. The catalytic kinetics of H2TCPP/Co(OH)2/GO is in accord with the Michaelis-Menten equation. The catalytic mechanism of H2TCPP/Co(OH)2/GO nanocomposites is attributed to hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), due to decomposition of H2O2, which is verified by using terephthalic acid as a fluorescent probe. What's more, H2O2 can be detected in a wide linear detection range from 5 to 35 mM with a detection limit of 0.385 mM. Furthermore, based on the excellent peroxidase-like activity of H2TCPP/Co(OH)2/GO, a colorimetric sensor is established to sensitively detect glutathione (GSH) in a linear range from 10 to 300 μM with a low detection limit of 9.5 μM.


Abstract Two teacher educators describe their efforts to design and deliver online graduate courses for practicing teachers that meet psychological needs for belonging, freedom, power and fun (Glasser, 1999). Strategies to promote belonging include welcome letters, icebreaker and cooperative learning activities, personal Web pages, liberal office hours, private e-mail messages, and personalized responses to student postings, and public acknowledgement of student accomplishments. To ensure freedom for all participants the authors use minimum participation requirements, clear but flexible deadlines, multiple project options, Internet links, and access to all students' work and projects. To empower their students, the authors provide ample technical support, a course bulletin board, performance assessments, and frequent opportunity to apply course material to experiences. To enhance the excitement of online learning, authors use an inviting welcome page, humor, contests and games, group projects, multimedia, and emoticons.


Great strides have been made in the synthesis and understanding of \(N\)-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). This has led to tremendous success in their use in catalytic transformations, either directly or as ligands for transition metals. Although NHCs spanning a vast range of \(N\)-heterocycle classes are known, those derived from imidazolium and benzimidazolium frameworks are especially popular for their steric and electronic tunability. The two \(N\)-substituents constitute major sites for structural modification, and currently, NR,NR (R = alkyl, aryl), NR,NH, NH,NH and naked N,NR substitution patterns are known.
This work attempts to expand the scope of free benzimidazolium-derived NHCs to include NM,NR (M = metal) types. These free NM,NR NHCs may possess capabilities for dual catalysis as a result of the proximal Lewis acidic metal centre and Lewis basic free carbene. A modular \(N,N',N'',N'''\)-tetradentate bis(benzimidazolyl) ligand framework "MeRLH\(_2\)" (R = bridging group) designed specifically for the demonstration of proof-of-concept would coordinatively saturate the metal centre, preventing its migration to the adjacent carbene site and thus preserving the α-\(N\)-metallated free NHC motif. The figure below illustrates the proposed formation of the target NHC from a precursor MeRLH\(_2\) complex, with the desired free NM,NR NHC motif highlighted in blue.

(Figure not included but can be viewed in the thesis PDF).

Synthetic pathways towards a C\(_2\)-symmetric ethylene-bridged bis(benzimidazolyl) ligand Me(en)LH\(_2\) from three different precursors, namely 2-amino-3-nitrophenol, 2-amino-3-nitrotoluene and methyl 2-amino-3-nitrobenzoate, are described. An efficient protocol for the multigram-scale synthesis of Me(en)LH\(_2\) was successfully established. The preparation of its respective cyclohexyl- and phenylene-bridged analogues, MeCyLH\(_2\) and MePhLH\(_2\) are also discussed. The challenges encountered during attempts to prepare them as free ligands are circumvented using metal-templated condensation of the cyclic diamines and key precursor aldehyde.
A series of nickel(II), copper(II), cobalt(II), silver(I), zinc(II) and palladium(II) complexes of these novel \(N,N',N'',N'''\)-tetradentate bis(benzimidazolyl) ligands was synthesised. Their suitability as precursors to the free NM,NR NHC was assessed based on their stability, solubility, geometric and spectroscopic properties. In accordance with initial predictions, the palladium(II) complexes were shown to be the prime candidate for further studies, as they consistently exhibited square planar coordination geometries, diamagnetic behaviour, and in some cases, greater stability compared to their nickel(II), copper(II), cobalt(II) or silver(I) counterparts. Counterion effects in the nickel(II), copper(II) and cobalt(II) complexes and the structural impacts of bridging group variations in the nickel(II) and palladium(II) complexes of MeRLH\(_2\) are also discussed.
NMR-scale deprotonation trials using a range of inorganic and organic bases were conducted on the palladium(II) suite of complexes [PdMeRLH\(_2\)](OTf)\(_2\) (R = en, Cy, Ph). The results suggest that the NM,NR NHC decomposes too rapidly to be observed or isolated. Increasing the rigidity of the bridging group between the imine donor atoms failed to prevent decomposition. However, base-assisted deuterium exchange experiments with [PdMe(en)LH\(_2\)](OTf)\(_2\) support the transient existence of the NM,NR NHC. It is suspected that competitive deprotonation at the aldimines and the limited solubility of these complexes in inert solvents both contributed to the formation of complex product mixtures. Alternative approaches to the NM,NR NHC such as simultaneous complexation/deprotonation with alkylmetal reagents or stepwise deprotonation-then-complexation were found to be unsuccessful.
These findings suggest that future endeavours to isolate a free NM,NR NHC may benefit from replacing the benzimidazolyl core structure with imidazolyls, which have more acidic C2 protons; increasing steric bulk around the ligand for improved solubility, and eliminating other potential deprotonation sites on the ligand.


Dr. G.J.M. Gerrits was stationed on the Trobriand Islands as the Medical Officer between 1968 and 1971. In this period he collected approximately 3000 artefacts from the Trobriand Islands and the surrounding region. Approximately two-thirds of these objects are presently held in museums in Europe, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

The study places Gerrits' collection into a historical context of Trobriand collecting encounters and gains insights into ethnographic collection formation, considering various aspects of collecting. These include a collector's multiple motives (Grijp, 2006), the desire to collect (complete) series of objects and unique pieces (Baudrillard 1994, Elsner and Cardinal, 1994) and differences between stable and mobile collecting (O'Hanlon, 2000: 15). The study utilises Gerrits' documentation, the collections of artefacts and photographs, conversations with Gerrits, Trobriand Islanders and other collectors, and draws on the literature on collecting research and publications containing information on Trobriand Island contact history.

Being situated in the 1960s and 1970s, this work contributes an alternative perspective to collecting research which mainly thematises early 20th century and earlier collections. Also, ethnographic collecting has so far hardly been addressed within the extended body of Trobriand Island research. This study helps fill this gap and hopes to inspire further research into Trobriand collecting history.

Gerrits is shown to be probably the only collector within Trobriand collecting who established a comprehensive and well documented ethnographic collection. He included those Western influences which he perceived as being creative and innovative, with specific differences between his collections of artefact and photographs. Two key factors in shaping the collection are his wish to establish a comprehensive ethnographic collection and his wish to capture and preserve a Trobriand world, which has an element of salvage collecting but beyond that also has an emotional component. Within the colonial context, collecting connected people but also kept them apart, allowing individuals to belong without belonging.

Gerrits' register of acquisitions is shown to be conscientious, but some of its categories to be ambiguous and partially biased. Gerrits' case is of broader relevance here, as these concepts are used more generally in collecting and research. Indigenous agency is shown to be present in the documentation.

Gerrits collected a great variety of object types with significant differences between numbers of objects per type. These differences reflect differences in availability, Gerrits' interests and budgetary limits, and thus the intertwining of agencies. Other circumstances more generally shaped the collection, such as Gerrits' attitudes towards indigenous people and Westerners, and the Trobriand context as a relatively homogenous cultural region with some variety.

Approximately 57 % of the acquisitions came from Kiriwina, the main Trobriand Island, 53 % originate from the surrounding region. Differences between these areas are due to differences between stable and mobile collecting, but also due to differences in material culture (for example different canoe types) and the fact that certain practices had been abandoned in Kiriwina but not in more remote places. Collections from different areas complemented each other to form comprehensive museum collections.


H 2 - and 1 3 C-breath tests are valuable non-invasive diagnostic tools for gastroenterological diseases. H 2 -breath tests are clinically established for the diagnosis of carbohydrate intolerance resulting from malabsorption (H 2 -breath tests with lactose, fructose, saccharose, sorbitol), of bacterial overgrowth (glucose H 2 -breath test) and for measurement oforcoceal transit time (lactulose H 2 -breath test). The 1 3 C-urea breath test is regarded as the "gold standard" procedure for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection. Moreover, 1 3 C-breath tests for measurement of gastric emptying can be considered as clinically established, meanwhile. 1 3 C-breath tests for the evaluation of pancreatic exocrine function or liver function can also be used clinically; however, they currently offer no substantial advantage over other diagnostic procedures. A major disadvantage of all breath tests is that they lack standardization although modifications of the test meal or solution, of the test performance and of the evaluation of data may markedly influence the results. Thus, this article presents the recommendations of the German Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility and of the German Society of Digestive and Metabolic Diseases for clinically relevant H 2 - and 1 3 C-breath tests. Indications for the examinations, the procedures to be followed, the analysis of the obtained data and the conclusions to be drawn are delineated. The literature on which the recommendations are based is reviewed. However, personal experience of the authors is also taken into account since numerous questions regarding optimal test performance are not clarified by adequate studies.


The present study examines whether the chaetotaxy of the costal vein in the calyptrate families Fanniidae and Muscidae deserves more attention in phylogenetic and taxonomic contexts. An overview of the macrotrichia and their arrangement on wing vein C is given. Special attention is given to the presence/absence of ventral and dorsal setulae on the costal sectors CS1‒3. This is described as one variable character (A) with nine states (A0‒A8). Specimens of both sexes (when possible) of each species belonging to 4 of a total of 5 fanniid genera and 115 of a total of 179 muscid genus-group taxa were examined and scored for character A. It was found that the presumed ancestral state of character A differs between the two families. It is further shown that the main transformational trend in character A in Muscidae has been bi-directional, leading either to the loss of ventral setulae or the gain of dorsal setulae. The utility of character A in the Fanniidae and Muscidae is many-sided and involves taxa ranging from species to family. It is concluded that character A and other aspects of costal chaetotaxy deserve more attention in morphology-based studies of calyptrate flies.


Aarhus in Denmark, Adelaide in Australia, Saskatchewan in Canada, Bristol in England and Limerick in Ireland were chosen as representing five different systems for improving the dental health of children. Fluoridation apart, the system of dental care delivery seems to have little influence on the level of dental disease, but appears to have remarkable cost implications. The most expensive system employs salaried dentists to carry out all the operative procedures. Employing dental therapists to do the simple operative procedures reduces costs materially, but utilizing private dentists in an insurance scheme that encourages efficient practice may be less expensive still. The results of this study highlight the need for more detailed comparison of delivery systems, in order to advise public dental health authorities on the most effective and efficient systems for children.


In this paper, we describe our mUlti-task learNIng for cOmmonsense reasoNing (UNION) system submitted for Task C of the SemEval2020 Task 4, which is to generate a reason explaining why a given false statement is non-sensical. However, we found in the early experiments that simple adaptations such as fine-tuning GPT2 often yield dull and non-informative generations (e.g. simple negations). In order to generate more meaningful explanations, we propose UNION, a unified end-to-end framework, to utilize several existing commonsense datasets so that it allows a model to learn more dynamics under the scope of commonsense reasoning. In order to perform model selection efficiently, accurately, and promptly, we also propose a couple of auxiliary automatic evaluation metrics so that we can extensively compare the models from different perspectives. Our submitted system not only results in a good performance in the proposed metrics but also outperforms its competitors with the highest achieved score of 2.10 for human evaluation while remaining a BLEU score of 15.7. Our code is made publicly available.


The reflectivity of a novel InAs/GaAs 1-D resonant photonic crystal (RPC), consisting of 400 periods of InAs quantum dot (QD) layer and GaAs barrier layer, is theoretically investigated by using the transfer matrix method. In our calculations, both a homogeneous broadening (phonon-induced broadening) associated with temperature and other inhomogeneous broadening, rising from the QD size fluctuations in the QD layer, are taken into consideration. Numerical results show that the stopband reflectivity of the QD-RPC is very sensitive to both temperature and size fluctuations. The QD-RPC, as an all optical switch, has a high extinction ratio that can be up to 25 dB for a signal pulse duration of 60 ps at a temperature 10 K, and can be in excess of 10 dB at 70 K by using a pump (control) pulse less than 1 MW/cm2 for a given standard deviation of relative size fluctuation 0.2%. Also, the switch is characterized by spin-independent polarizations of both the signal and pump lights.


This qualitative study examines the risk of homelessness amongst recent immigrant and refugee populations in the Greater Toronto Area by analyzing the various barriers which hinder newcomer access to adequate and affordable housing. This study incorporates the framework of Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) to understand the oppression, marginalization, and exclusion that many recent immigrants and refugee claimants experience within Toronto's housing and rental markets and subsequently, how this initiates their cycle of homelessness. The findings of this study are informed by two semi-structured, informal interviews with housing and settlement workers in order to provide a working insight onto the issues that are affecting their newcomer clients on a daily basis. This study identifies challenges within Toronto's housing market and highlights solutions put forth by housing and settlement workers. Similarly, this study examines initiatives put forth by the municipal government to address the barriers to accessing adequate and affordable housing.


Multiple testing problems (MTPs) are a staple of modern statistical analysis. The fundamental objective of MTPs is to reject as many false null hypotheses as possible (that is, maximize some notion of power), subject to controlling an overall measure of false discovery, like family‐wise error rate (FWER) or false discovery rate (FDR). In this paper we provide generalizations to MTPs of the optimal Neyman‐Pearson test for a single hypothesis. We show that for simple hypotheses, for both FWER and FDR and relevant notions of power, finding the optimal multiple testing procedure can be formulated as infinite dimensional binary programs and can in principle be solved for any number of hypotheses. We also characterize maximin rules for complex alternatives, and demonstrate that such rules can be found in practice, leading to improved practical procedures compared to existing alternatives that guarantee strong error control on the entire parameter space. We demonstrate the usefulness of these novel rules for identifying which studies contain signal in numerical experiments as well as in application to clinical trials with multiple studies. In various settings, the increase in power from using optimal and maximin procedures can range from 15% to more than 100%.


Abstract In the migmatitic dome of the Montagne Noire Axial Zone (Variscan French Massif Central), mafic eclogites yield zircon and rutile U–Pb SHRIMP and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) ages of c. 315–308 Ma. These 'young' dates, obtained in two different laboratories, do not comply with the geological constraints available for the study area that suggest an older age of the high-pressure–low-temperature (M1) metamorphism. Nevertheless, the Sm–Nd age of the same rock at c. 358 Ma appears in better agreement with the geological constraints, and therefore might reflect the age of the high-pressure (HP) event. Similar 357–352 Ma monazite U–Th–Pbtot ages are obtained from relict grains in the Axial Zone kinzigites that represent restites enclosed in migmatites. Furthermore, monazite grains from biotite–garnet–staurolite micaschists from the dome envelope and Axial Zone kinzigites yield U–Th–Pbtot ages in the range 340–320 Ma. These dates are in good agreement with previously documented zircon and monazite ages from the migmatite and anatectic granites that represent a high-temperature–low-pressure (M2) event. The significance of the zircon and rutile ages in the eclogites is discussed in terms of hydrothermal circulations. A crustal-scale model considers: (1) a north-directed intracontinental subduction, responsible for the high-pressure–low-temperature (M1) metamorphism, coeval with kilometre-scale south-vergent recumbent folds in the Palaeozoic non-metamorphic cover, followed by (2) a high-temperature–low-pressure (M2) event, coeval with the development of the Axial Zone migmatitic dome, and upright folding in the Palaeozoic non-metamorphic series.


Many interactive medical devices are less easy to use than they might be, and do not fit as well as they could in their contexts of use. Occasionally, the deficiencies lead to serious incidents; more often, they have a less visible effect on the resilience and efficiency of healthcare systems. These issues remain largely invisible as they are not reported and have rarely been studied. In this paper, we report on the use of DiCoT as an approach to representing and reasoning about medical work, and about the role of device design within that work. We focus in particular on the design and use of infusion devices. This work highlights the value of observational studies for engineering interactive medical devices, and illustrates the value of a systematic approach to gathering and analyzing qualitative data.


ABSTRACT Airborne laser scanning (ALS) and image matching are the two main techniques for generating point clouds for large areas. While the classification of ALS point clouds has been well investigated, there are few studies that are related to image matching point clouds. In this study, point clouds of multiple resolutions from high-resolution aerial images (ground sampling distance, GSD, of 6 cm) over the city of Vienna were generated and investigated with respect to point density and processing time. Three different study sites with various urban structures are selected from a bigger dataset and classified based on two different approaches: machine learning and a traditional operator-based decision tree. Classification accuracy was evaluated and compared with confusion matrices. In general, the machine learning method results in a higher overall accuracy compared to the simple decision tree method, with accuracies of 87% and 84%, respectively, at the highest resolution. At lower-resolution levels (GSDs of 12 cm and 24 cm), the overall accuracy of machine learning drops by 4% and that of the simple decision tree by 7% for each level. Classifying rasterized data instead of the original point cloud resulted in an accuracy drop of 5%. Thus, using machine learning on point clouds at the highest available resolution is suggested for classification of urban areas.


The term of international politics has been categorized states from its power and population. Qatar with the lack of security power and less of population named as small state, and its behaviour tends to be low profile in order to minimize the threat to its nation. While the nation keep steady in its condition, the government must overcome the situation to improve their foreign policy because the need of interaction with its national, regional and international society is the one thing that a nation cannot resist. Secret diplomacy of Qatar through Al-Jazeera Television, Qatar' mass media, is the way that Qatar choose to support their foreign policy. State branding, that media could afford to its owner, is the form of secret
diplomacy for a small state like Qatar to survive and compete in international politics arena without harming the nation but also improving its diplomacy. This research using qualitative method as the analysis technique and choose descriptive method as the type of the research, it
means that the research done by describing data and analyze the role of Al-Jazeera for diplomacy of Qatar. The result shows that Al-Jazeera, that been used for creating the new
image of Qatar as democratic and non-aligned country, requires in supporting Qatari diplomacy in international arena. Qatar was able to make an agreement in security and
defense aspect with its biggest neighbor country, Saudi Arabia, and superpower country, United State of America, even if this two actor always feel irritated by Al-Jazeera appearance and existence. Al-Jazeera plays a bargaining role in its relations with this two important countries. Another significant role of Al-Jazeera in achieving success diplomacy for Qatar was the fact that Qatar has been choosen to be a host in many international event and
conferences. Besides, the success branding of Qatar as neutral party in every conflict, put this small state as a mediator in many important cases around the world.


Thin-film filters used for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) applications are processed by a variety of deposition techniques, including ion-beam sputtering. Ion-beam sputtering produces high-quality coatings and provides flexibility of coating materials. However, DWDM filters consisting of oxide films that are reactively deposited by ion-beam sputtering, as in most sputter techniques, typically exhibit high levels of compressive stress. This affects the thermal characteristics of the filters. We have identified three thermal effects: center wavelength drift with temperature, center wavelength creep, and permanent center wavelength shift. The latter two are strongly dependent on the stress state of the filter. Models are presented that support the data that were taken.


This paper reports the electrowetting (EW) properties of silica layers. Rough silica layers were deposited on a Si substrate by the electrospraying of SiO2 for different times (10 s–10 min) and subsequently Teflon coated with different thicknesses (35 and 625 nm). The surface roughness measurements revealed an increase in roughness with increasing electrospraying time. A thinner (35 nm) Teflon-coated layer showed better EW properties and was selected for subsequent studies. By applying different voltages (0–200 V) to the thinner Teflon-coated rough SiO2 layers, the water contact angle (WCA) decreased continuously and the SiO2 layer that had been electrosprayed for 20 s showed the maximum decrease in WCA in air, whereas the wetting behavior changed from hydrophobic to hydrophilic under a voltage of 200 V. In addition, the EW behavior of the SiO2 layers in oil ambient was studied and it was found that under the maximum applied voltage (150 V), both 20 and 30 s electrosprayed layers exhibited hydrophilic behavior. These results showed that electric leaking currents, which are largely ignored, can be used to tailor the relationship between the WCA and applied voltage: from a non-linear (V2) to a linear (V) function. In particular, a decrease in the WCA equals the applied voltage normalized to the maximum (or breakdown) external voltage. This study opens a new research field in materials chemistry with regards to the coupling of electrochemical, thermodynamic and mechanical interactions.


Individual space time patterns of serial burglary offenders: mapping risk for operational responses

This paper reports on research into the space-time behaviour of burglary crime, in particular that of individual serial offenders, and on an extension to the use of the near repeat phenomena in operational policing in Bournemouth as reported at last years' conference. Analysis appertaining to serial burglary offending over a period of several years was undertaken with access to full offending histories. Little research has been undertaken on this issue with the use of individual offender data, previous work predominantly utilising recorded crime data with reference to crime scene behavioural indicators. Two stages were involved, the first of which can be described as 'area analysis', the purpose being to ascertain if space-time clusters (or 'near repeats') were manifest in recorded crime data for the study area. The results were used to inform the second stage comprising of crime series' analysis of identified prolific burglary offenders to establish their propensity to commit offences close in space and close in time. The work required the development of a new methodology to ascertain and describe potential space-time patterns of individuals. Closest offending behaviour of individuals was established in terms of both time and distance and descriptive statistics with measures of skewness utilised as indicators of overall behaviour. The results add to previous academic findings in the field of crime prevention, providing further evidence that current 'repeat offence' crime reduction policies need reviewing and expanding to take account of the element of contagious risk apparent in burglary crime. Concerning individual offending behaviour indications from this work are that most serial burglary offenders commit 'near repeat' burglaries, there is a common range of time spans and distance bands within which such offending is carried out. The result of this recent research strongly suggests that serial offenders identify minimum distances from previous offences within which they will prefer not to offend further until a certain minimum time has elapsed. In other words offenders mentally place spatial and temporal buffers around past crime locations and avoid offending within the spatial buffer until the time buffer has 'expired'. In an effort to retain an operational output the author further developed empirical analysis of serial offending patterns in order to identify small space spatial behaviour of active serial burglary offenders. Simple spreadsheet functions are used in such a way that a serial offender's personal space-time buffers can be determined as his/her series of crimes develops. This in turn suggests areas and time spans where an offence is unlikely to take place and therefore conversely where the risk of offending is greater. Such mapping therefore creates both enforcement and reduction opportunities that are empirically led. Dorset Police are currently utilising this new analytical method in order to enhance identification and linking of crime series and provide additional evidence led pro-active enforcement opportunities. To date it has proved to be a useful and valid tool, in particular for planning both overt and covert patrol/observation strategies that will be exampled within the presentation.


A SINGLE SPECIES OF PODOCARPACEAE (PODOCARPUS REICHEI) IS REPORTED FROM THE MEXICAN STATE OF HIDALGO. A DESCRIPTION OF THE GENUS AND SPECIES, GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT INFORMATION IN THE STATE, AND THE REFERENCE OF THE HERBARIUM SPECIMENS EXAMINED ARE PROVIDED. IN HIDALGO, THIS SPECIES IS DISTRIBUTED ONLY IN THE SIERRA MADRE ORIENTAL BIOGEOGRAPHIC PROVINCE.


This thesis is concerned with the inventory control of items that can be considered independent of one another. The decisions when to order and in what quantity, are the controllable or independent variables in cost expressions which are minimised. The four systems considered are referred to as (Q, R), (nQ,R,T), (M,T) and (M,R,T). Wiith ((Q,R) a fixed quantity Q is ordered each time the order cover (i.e. stock in hand plus on order ) equals or falls below R, the re-order level. With the other three systems reviews are made only at intervals of T. With (nQ,R,T) an order for nQ is placed if on review the inventory cover is less than or equal to R, where n, which is an integer, is chosen at the time so that the new order cover just exceeds R. In (M, T) each order increases the order cover to M. Fnally in (M, R, T) when on review, order cover does not exceed R, enough is ordered to increase it to M. The (Q, R) system is examined at several levels of complexity, so that the theoretical savings in inventory costs obtained with more exact models could be compared with the increases in computational costs. Since the exact model was preferable for the (Q,R) system only exact models were derived for theoretical systems for the other three. Several methods of optimization were tried, but most were found inappropriate for the exact models because of non-convergence. However one method did work for each of the exact models. Demand is considered continuous, and with one exception, the distribution assumed is the normal distribution truncated so that demand is never less than zero. Shortages are assumed to result in backorders, not lost sales. However, the shortage cost is a function of three items, one of which, the backorder cost, may be either a linear, quadratic or an exponential function of the length of time of a backorder, with or without period of grace. Lead times are assumed constant or gamma distributed. Lastly, the actual supply quantity is allowed to be distributed. All the sets of equations were programmed for a KDF 9 computer and the computed performances of the four inventory control procedures are compared under each assurnption.


An integrated stratigraphic study of reefal deposits on the Caribbean side of the Isthmus of Panama (Limon, Costa Rica) has discovered a significantly earlier first appearance of the major reef-building coral Acropora palmata . A. palmata is here reported from the early late Pliocene, constrained in age to within the Gauss chron (ca. 3.6–2.6 Ma). This coral was previously thought to have originated in the earliest Pleistocene and has subsequently been used as a Quaternary marker throughout the Caribbean and the Bahamas. An earlier appearance in the southern Caribbean implies a diachronous first appearance datum relative to the northern Caribbean. This older age also places A. palmata well within the transition phase of a Pliocene (4–1 Ma) faunal turnover that was marked by widespread extinction and origination of Caribbean coral species. An early late Pliocene origination is coincident with formation of the Isthmus, climate reorganization, and frequent sea-level changes associated with onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciations. The rapid growth and accumulation rates that characterize A. palmata may therefore be adaptive to these fluctuating environmental conditions, enabling its success during the subsequent Pleistocene glacial cycles.


In recent years, universities have been involved in developing new strategies to promote widening participation in higher education, and consequently they have been focusing on increasing the variety of support offered to students with disabilities for a more inclusive and widely accessible learning environment. However, there is a common feeling amongst practitioners and learners that learning disabilities are harder to recognise than physical disabilities, and therefore less prioritised. Such is still the case with dyslexia, a learning difference (term chosen here by the authors to describe a difficulty in the cognitive processing of information), which unlike most physical disabilities, is not always identified and therefore addressed with appropriate dyslexia-friendly learning materials and approaches. Furthermore, the staggering growth in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education raises questions about how the new technologies can support an inclusive learning approach. This case study provides an outline of the Dyslexia in Modern Language Learning (DMLL) collaborative project, aimed at bridging the gap between language learning and learning differences (specifically dyslexia) in an online distance learning framework.


In this study, we applied the Denitrification and Decomposition model to predict the greenhouse gas (GHGs; CO2 and N2O) emissions and cabbage yields from 8072 cabbage fields in Korea in the 2020s and 2090s. Model outputs were evaluated as a function of tillage depth (T1, T2, and T3 for 10, 20, and 30 cm) and fertilizer level (F1, F2, and F3 for 100, 200, and 400 kg N ha−1) under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 climate change scenario. For both time periods, CO2 emissions increased with tillage depth, and N2O emissions were predominantly influenced by the level of applied N-fertilizers. Both cabbage yields and GHGs fluxes were highest when the T3F3 farming practice was applied. Under current conventional farming practices (T1F3), cabbage yield was projected at 64.5 t ha−1 in the 2020s, which was close in magnitude to the predicted cabbage demand. In the 2090s, the predicted cabbage supply by the same practice far exceeded the projected demand at 28.9 t ha−1. Cabbage supply and demand were balanced and GHGs emissions reduced by 19.6% in the 2090s when 94% of the total cabbage farms adopted low carbon-farming practices (e.g., reducing fertilizer level). Our results demonstrate the large potential for Korean cabbage farms to significantly contribute towards the mitigation of GHGs emissions through the adoption of low-carbon farming practices. However, in order to incentivize the shift towards sustainable farming, we advise that lower yield and potential economic losses in farmlands from adopting low-carbon practices should be appropriately compensated by institutional policy.


Air pollution and hot temperatures present two major health risks, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and people with pre-existing conditions. Episodes of high ozone concentrations and heat waves have been registered throughout Europe and are expected to continue to grow due to climate change. Here, several different heat and ozone wave definitions were applied to characterize the wave-type extremes for two climatically different regions, i.e., Portugal (South Europe) and Bavaria (Central Europe), and their impacts were evaluated considering each type of hazard independently but also when they occur simultaneously. Heat and ozone waves were analyzed with respect to the underlying atmospheric circulation patterns and in terms of their association with human mortality. Heat waves were identified as the most frequent wave type and, despite different climate settings, a comparable exposure to heat and ozone waves was found in Central and South Europe. Waves were associated with in-situ built-up as well as with advection of air masses. However, in Bavaria waves showed the strongest connection with autochthonous weather conditions, while for Portugal, the strongest relationship appeared for eastern and north-eastern inflow. The most severe events, as measured by excess mortality, were always associated to compound heat-ozone waves.


We consider the problem of digital communication in a fading environment using the multi-carrier CDMA technology. By incorporating the effect of the pulse-shaping filter in the channel estimation and signal detection modules, we develop new estimator and detector structures which significantly outperform the commonly used time-domain equalizers and matched filter detector. Our simulation results demonstrate the elimination of some of the error floors which one would experience if usual time-domain techniques were used to cancel the effect of non-ideal pulse-shaping filter.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Full practice authority for nurse practitioners (NPs) is optimal for high-quality, cost-effective health care. However, a complete picture of utilization after states have adopted full practice authority needs to be determined. The purpose of this examination was to review the evidence regarding practice-level utilization (PLU) of NP PLU in comparison to state-level regulations (SLRs).

METHODS
Studies published in English and based on US populations were identified through PubMed, CINAHL, and Scopus (January 1, 1989-December 31, 2018), and bibliographies of retrieved articles. Of the 419 articles identified with these limits, 19 (5%) met all inclusion and exclusion criteria.

CONCLUSIONS
Four categories of PLU were identified: billing practices, level of supervision, privileges, and prescriptive authority. Significant differences were seen between urban versus rural NPs and primary care versus specialty NPs. Thirteen of the 19 studies did not specifically address the SLR of the included sample.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
No studies described the type of NP certification, practice specialty, and utilization, and compared all to the SLR. There is a need for more evidence concerning PLU of NPs across the tiers of SLR. Only then can health care organizations, political leaders, and other stakeholders have the information needed to proceed with beneficial practice-model changes.


Abstract Jagim, AR, Camic, CL, Kisiolek, J, Luedke, J, Erickson, J, Jones, MT, and Oliver, JM. Accuracy of resting metabolic rate prediction equations in athletes. J Strength Cond Res 32(7): 1875–1881, 2018—The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of 5 different resting metabolic rate (RMR) prediction equations in male and female athletes. Twenty-two female (19.7 ± 1.4 years; 166.2 ± 5.5 cm; 63.5 ± 7.3 kg; 49.2 ± 4.3 kg of fat-free mass (FFM); 23.4 ± 4.4 body fat (BF) percent) and 28 male (20.2 ± 1.6 years; 181.9 ± 6.1 cm; 94.5 ± 16.2 kg; 79.1 ± 7.2 kg of FFM; 15.1 ± 8.5% BF) athletes were recruited to participate in 1 day of metabolic testing. Assessments comprised RMR measurements using indirect calorimetry, and body composition analyses using air displacement plethysmography. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance with follow-up paired t tests were selected to determine differences between indirect calorimetry and 5 RMR prediction equations. Linear regression analysis was used to assess the accuracy of each RMR prediction method. An alpha level of p ⩽ 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance. All the prediction equations significantly underestimated RMR while the Cunningham equation had the smallest mean difference (−165 kcals). In men, the Harris-Benedict equation was found to be the best prediction formula with the lowest root-mean-square prediction error value of 284 kcals. In women, the Cunningham equation was found to be the best prediction equation with the lowest root-mean-squared error value of 110 kcals. Resting metabolic rate prediction equations consistently seem to underestimate RMR in male and female athletes. The Harris-Benedict equation seems to be most accurate for male athletes, whereas the Cunningham equation may be better suited for female athletes.


OBJECTIVE
We compared the sound transmission using different types of total ossicular replacement prostheses (TORP); we then studied the performance of a new TORP that we designed inspired by the columella, the single ossicle found in birds.

METHODS
Stapedial vibrations were measured on nine freshly frozen human temporal bones with laser Doppler vibrometry. We then compared the performances of eight common TORP positions or designs as well as the new silver prototype of bird-type prosthesis, designed also according to our digital holography patterns of the human tympanic membrane (TM).

RESULTS
The TORPs placed in lateral contact with both the TM and the malleus handle outperformed, at most frequencies, those placed only in contact with the TM.The new bird-type prosthesis performed equally well or better than all other prostheses.

CONCLUSION
If the malleus handle can be retained when placing a TORP, the best sound transmission can be achieved by placing the TORP in contact with both the distal part of the malleus handle and the TM. The good performance of our bird-type prosthesis suggests that there is still room for future improvement of prosthesis design to further optimize hearing outcomes after surgery.