Background Transmitted HIV-1 drug resistance (TDR) is an ongoing public health problem, representing 10–20% of new HIV infections in many geographic areas. TDR usually arises from two main sources: individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) who are failing to achieve virologic suppression, and individuals who acquired TDR and transmit it while still ART-naïve. TDR rates can be impacted when novel antiretroviral medications are introduced that allow for greater virologic suppression of source patients. Although several new HIV medications were introduced starting in late 2007, including raltegravir, maraviroc, and etravirine, it is not known whether the prevalence of TDR was subsequently affected in 2008–2009. Methodology/Principal Findings We performed population sequence genotyping on individuals who were diagnosed with acute or early HIV (<6 months duration) and who enrolled in the Options Project, a prospective cohort, between 2002 and 2009. We used logistic regression to compare the odds of acquiring drug-resistant HIV before versus after the arrival of new ART (2005–2007 vs. 2008–2009). From 2003–2007, TDR rose from 7% to 24%. Prevalence of TDR was then 15% in 2008 and in 2009. While the odds of acquiring TDR were lower in 2008–2009 compared to 2005–2007, this was not statistically significant (odds ratio 0.65, 95% CI 0.31–1.38; p = 0.27). Conclusions Our study suggests that transmitted drug resistance rose from 2003–2007, but this upward trend did not continue in 2008 and 2009. Nevertheless, the TDR prevalence in 2008–2009 remained substantial, emphasizing that improved management strategies for drug-resistant HIV are needed if TDR is to be further reduced. Continued surveillance for TDR will be important in understanding the full impact of new antiretroviral medications.


Online Material: Tables of static Coulomb failure stress variation and regression coefficients.

Probabilistic fault‐based and time‐dependent seismic‐hazard studies are commonly used to forecast the time between consecutive earthquakes; however, the correct evaluation of key parameters is critical for obtaining accurate results.

Probabilities of occurrence must be input to formulate seismic design maps and to develop national recommendations for building codes around the world (e.g., Field et al. , 2009; Stucchi et al. , 2011; Stirling et al. , 2012). The basic requirements for computing earthquake probabilities are the mean recurrence time and its variability. To understand the statistical behavior of earthquakes, data on long earthquake sequences is necessary. However, worldwide during the instrumental period (approximately the past century), no major active fault segment has entirely ruptured more than once. Additional information on the recurrence of such events can be found in historical documents and damaged archaeological structures. Surface ruptures can also be preserved in sedimentary deposits, leading to paleoseismological records. In many cases, the compilation of these data sources for a given fault segment may yield catalogs of large earthquakes that include 3–4 events, with exceptional examples reaching 15 events (e.g., the San Andreas fault system, Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities [WGCEP], 2007; the Jordan valley fault, Ferry et al. , 2011).

Therefore, considering that the period over which historical and palaeohistorical earthquake records are available is relatively short compared to the recurrence time of major earthquakes, synthetic catalogs generated from numerical simulation models are needed. Earthquake simulations model long earthquake histories using various approximations of what is known about the physics of stress transfer due to fault slip and the rheological proprieties of faults (Tullis, 2012a). Today, the scientific knowledge regarding earthquake dynamics is far from complete; moreover, a realistic simulation of a full earthquake cycle over sufficient …


Firms can choose a capital structure that maximises real risk-adjusted performance by matching nominal liabilities with nominal assets. In doing so, firms minimise the sensitivity of real risk-adjusted returns to unexpected inflationary shocks. We develop a model of real risk-adjusted performance as a function of nominal and real assets and liabilities and demonstrate the solution to the maximisation problem. We explore the empirical support for our theoretical prediction using a sample of US Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), as their regulated business model allows for a straight-forward distinction between real and nominal assets and liabilities. We find evidence that firms observe the predicted linear relationship between nominal assets and liabilities, and that real risk-adjusted returns to firm equity are inversely relate to deviations from the optimal nominal liability holdings, as are inflation hedging qualities of investments into the firms' equity. Lastly, firms' holdings of nominal debt appear to increase in times of higher inflation uncertainty, supporting the notion of nominal liabilities as a buffer against unexpected inflationary shocks.


In 2005, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced a £40 million investment in a new school support worker role, the Parent Support Adviser (PSA), for 20 English Local Authorities (LAs). A pilot project ran from 2006-08, and resulted in the establishment of 717 PSAs in 1,167 schools. The national evaluation of the project forms the evidential basis of this paper, with interviews conducted with 69 PSAs, 85 PSA line managers, and 105 parents, and a data base recording casework with nearly 21,000 parents. This paper focuses on the nature of the PSA role as the first centrally funded parent support role in English schools. The theoretical framework provided by the concept of 'emotional labour', and the development of the concept represented by the 4Ps typology, provides the conceptual structure. This paper argues that although the characteristics of the PSA role appear to place it within the category of work requiring emotional labour, PSAs, and parents, regard that aspect of the role in a positive light. For the PSAs, there was little evidence that emotional labour necessary for the role of PSA led to dissonance between role and worker, or alienation from the product of PSA labour.


We present an analysis of 10 ks snapshot Chandra observations of 12 shocked post-starburst galaxies, which provide a window into the unresolved question of active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity in post-starburst galaxies and its role in the transition of galaxies from active star formation to quiescence. While seven of the 12 galaxies have statistically significant detections (with two more marginal detections), the brightest only obtained 10 photons. Given the wide variety of hardness ratios in this sample, we chose to pursue a forward-modeling approach to constrain the intrinsic luminosity and obscuration of these galaxies, rather than stacking. We constrain the intrinsic luminosity of obscured power laws based on the total number of counts and spectral shape, itself mostly set by the obscuration, with hardness ratios consistent with the data. We also tested thermal models. While all the galaxies have power-law models consistent with their observations, a third of the galaxies are better fit as an obscured power law and another third are better fit as thermal emission. If these post-starburst galaxies, early in their transition, contain AGNs, then these are mostly confined to lower obscuration (N H ≤ 1023 cm−2) and lower luminosity (L 2−10 keV ≤ 1042 erg s−1). Two galaxies, however, are clearly best fit as significantly obscured AGNs. At least half of this sample shows evidence of at least low-luminosity AGN activity, though none could radiatively drive out the remaining molecular gas reservoirs. Therefore, these AGNs are more likely along for the ride, having been fed gas by the same processes driving the transition.


Identity-related issues play central roles in many current events, including those involving factional politics, sectarianism, and tribal conflicts. Two popular models from the computational-social-science (CSS) literature - the threat anticipation program and SharedID models - incorporate notions of identity (individual and collective) and processes of identity formation. A multiscale conceptual framework that extends some ideas presented in these models and draws other capabilities from the broader CSS literature is useful in modeling the formation of political identities. The dynamic, multiscale processes that constitute and transform social identities can be mapped to expressive structures of the framework.


Institutionally, significant advancements in rape law reform have occurred. Culturally, police officers sometimes fail to adopt these changes. A survey designed to assess acceptance of rape myths was administered to 891 police officers in two southeastern states. The study found that the majority of police officers view the overall crime of rape as a serious one, however, approximately 6% provided sexist feedback that supports rape myths. These findings indicate that more work is needed in altering the attitudes of police officers.


Sparse regression and variable selection for large-scale data have been rapidly developed in the past decades. This work focuses on sparse ridge regression, which considers the exact $L_0$ norm to pursue the sparsity. We pave out a theoretical foundation to understand why many existing approaches may not work well for this problem, in particular on large-scale datasets. Inspired by reformulating the problem as a chance-constrained program, we derive a novel mixed integer second order conic (MISOC) reformulation and prove that its continuous relaxation is equivalent to that of the convex integer formulation proposed in a recent work. Based upon these two formulations, we develop two new scalable algorithms, the greedy and randomized algorithms, for sparse ridge regression with desirable theoretical properties. The proposed algorithms are proved to yield near-optimal solutions under mild conditions. In the case of much larger dimensions, we propose to integrate the greedy algorithm with the randomized algorithm, which can greedily search the features from the nonzero subset identified by the continuous relaxation of the MISOC formulation. The merits of the proposed methods are elaborated through a set of numerical examples in comparison with several existing ones.


This article analyses occupational health and safety discourse, bringing special attention to dilemmas that emerge as employees name and negotiate particular risks and safety measures. The study is based on 46 interviews conducted with employees in three chemical factories, and combines Michel Foucault's conception of governmentality with a discursive psychology approach. The study demonstrates how dilemmas emerge when 1) respondents make others responsible for health and safety risks; 2) they personally assume responsibility as 'risky' workers; and 3) different rationalities – such as environmental and behavioural or hierarchical – appear in the same set of statements. Overall, occupational health and safety management tends to exclude egalitarian beliefs, which creates dilemmas that become visible as speakers find themselves compelled to excuse, ironize or systematically downplay discursive moves that may diminish or exclude themselves or others. Given that previous research suggests that behavioural approaches to health become increasingly widespread in working life, this article contributes by highlighting the presence of dilemmas that implies some flux and openness to change.


Treated With Buprenorphine Buprenorphine was significantly more effective than morphine in treating infants with neonatalabstinencesyndrome(NAS),according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Most infants with NAS are currently treated with morphine. The study randomly assigned 63 term infants who had been exposed to opioids in utero to either sublingual buprenorphine or oralmorphine.Infantswithuncontrolledsymptoms received adjunctive phenobarbital. Infants treated with buprenorphine required shorter treatment compared with infants given morphine (median 15 vs 28 days) and a shorter hospital stay (median 21 vs 33 days). Phenobarbital was administered in 15% of the buprenorphine group and 23% in the morphine group. Rates of adverse events were similar in the 2 groups.


While the field of wireless communication has developed dramatically over the past several decades, there are several notable applications of wireless technologies which impose constraints on power-consumption and form-factor that are not compatible with cutting edge technologies. These applications include implantable devices and remote monitoring devices. Using a well-defined set of functional needs and system restrictions, we have developed an ultra-compact and ultra-low-powered transponder which contains spread spectrum (SS) logic for wireless communications. The transponder chip was designed and built in the Jazz BiCMOS SiGe technology. The device is activated via a pure tone and emits a SS response which is modulated over the carrier with binary phase shift keying (BPSK). The SS signal is a gold-code generated from two 9-bit m-sequence generators. One of the m-sequences is seeded with a fixed value while the other 9-bit register is pinned out and can be a fixed ID or a bus to transmit data from a microcontroller. The data is received and decoded by a standard PC with a high-speed acquisition board. In order to support multiple devices at various distances, asynchronous decoding is applied. When active, the device draws less than 35 mA of current. Because the duty cycle of this device is likely less than 1%, the device can be powered for several hours using a very small coin battery. The device has been tested both in the lab and natural environment testing is underway. Future work will combine the device with a microcontroller in the field to achieve specific monitoring goals.


This study evaluated the biceps femoris (BF), rectus femoris (RF), and vastus lateralis (VL) activation and activation ratios of a variety of resistance training exercises characterized by knee extension, and determined if subject strength or gender affects these variables. The exercises evaluated included the leg extension, squat, deadlift, lunge, and step up. Subjects included 20 athletes and recreationally active college students. Electromyography (EMG) of the muscles expressed as a percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), as well as the BF to RF and BF to VL EMG ratio, were determined for each exercise. There was no significant interaction between gender and exercise type for the RMS EMG of the BF (p = 0.67), RF (p = 0.53), or VL (p = 0.06). Main effects were found for the RMS EMG of the BF (p = 0.00), RF (p = 0.00), and VL (p = 0.00), as well as the RMS EMG of the BF to RF activation ratio (p = 0.00) and BF to VL activation ratios (p = 0.003), between exercises. Peak RMS EMG was also assessed. Post hoc analysis identified specific differences in muscle activation and ratios between exercises. Clinicians should consider the magnitude of muscle activation and activation ratios when prescribing hamstring and quadriceps exercises.


Concrete is the most widely used in construction materials but plain concrete is porous, low in tensile strength and prone to crack. Recent development in concrete technology had invented a new technology namely bio-concrete. This study investigated the used of ureolytic bacteria UB and sulphate reduction bacteria (SRB) in improving concrete properties and producing self healing. UB and SRB were isolated from fresh urine and acid mine water respectively. Both bacteria were simulated in alkaline and anaerobic conditions during isolation process for ensuring their survival in concrete. Both bacteria were casted in 1%, 3% and 5% as water replacement in concrete mix. Physical and mechanical properties test namely, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, water penetration and carbonation were conducted. Self healing process was proven using scanning electronic microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX). The result showed that both UB and SRB are gram positive bacteria with coccus shape. The best performance observed with replacement ratio of 3% and 5% for UB and SRB respectively. Overall result of physical and mechanical properties showed that UB performed better than SRB. The addition of UB improve compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and reduce water penetration with the value of 23%, 14.2% and 10.34% respectively at 28 days. Furthermore, UB reduce carbonation depth with the value of 70% at 90 days. In the case of SRB, at 28 days the improvement are 13%, 10.7% and 8.5% for compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and water penetration respectively. Also, SRB reduce the carbonation depth with value of 60% at 90 days. SEM results showed the decrement of concrete pores size and coccus shape of the bacteria in concrete specimens. EDX results showed the increased of calcium content for both UB and SRB. This scenario proved the precipitation of calcium in bio-concrete. The statement above clear proved the ability of both UB and SRB improve concrete properties and self healing process.


Although no significant changes in the tuberculosis indicators have been registered in Brazil in recent years, there is a clear shift in the political scenario regarding the manner this disease has been tackled, with the appearance of civil society standing out. Considerations about the conditions that contributed to its emergence are made, such as the origin, composition, actions, partners and perspectives on social mobilization. Due to initiatives for tuberculosis control on an international level and attempts to encourage social mobilization on state and municipal levels, the Brazilian federal government began to engage in a more consistent and coherent policy, also including civil society in its actions. In spite of being an actor acknowledged by the public power and considered strategic for the success of tuberculosis control actions, community participation requires incentives and constant support from other sectors.


This doctoral dissertation deals with the development and evaluation of signal processing techniques for reducing the hardware complexity of MIMO systems. Despite their potential of dramatic improvements in terms of link reliability and spectral efficiency, the practical application of MIMO systems has been limited, mainly due to the increased manufacture cost and energy consumption of the RF chains. The research results of the dissertation are presented in two parts: In the first part, the performance analysis of HS/MRC receivers operating over independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) K fading channels is evaluated through a moments generating function based approach. The K distribution is known to accurately approximate the Rayleighlognormal distribution, which is commonly used to model fading over terrestrial mobile or land mobile satellite environments. In the second part, antenna subarray formation, a novel RF preprocessing technique for reducing the hardware complexity of MIMO systems, is developed and explored. With this method, each RF chain is allocated to a combined and complexweighted response of a subset of antenna elements. Therefore, the performance is dramatically improved with respect to conventional antenna selection and can even approach the performance of the fullcomplexity system. Novel, analytical, antenna subarray formation algorithms based on either instantaneous channel state information or longterm channel statistics, are introduced. The capacity performance of the proposed algorithms, as well as the system parameters effecting it, are thoroughly examined. Furthermore, the impact of hardware and signal processing nonidealities on the performance is examined. Finally, tight theoretical upperbounds on the ergodic capacity of the proposed technique in rich scattering environments are derived.


This paper tries to tackle the problem of providing retrofitting network QoS in clustered configurations. For this purpose, we designed a QoS manager which runs on each of the internal cluster nodes and controls network I/O of local interface cooperating with peer managers on other nodes towards a certain QoS policy. First, we show the design of control framework, contending that an end-host manager-based mechanism is a desirable approach, which utilizes an end-host oriented network control primitive, Netnice. Second, for flexibility of configuration, we propose object-oriented modeling of the QoS manager with event-handler based configuration mechanism, and show the design of an object-oriented configuration language that allow simple and flexible definition of QoS policies. Lastly, results from two simple experiments with a Web server cluster are analyzed.


This research examines the influence of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)'s implementation towards stock return in the companies that are listed in Kompas-100 index. The aim of this research is to investigate the variables that influence CSR's implementation and the extent of CSR's implementation along with Market aspect, Financial aspect and Macroeconomic aspect' influences on stock return. Financial aspect consist of Return On Assets (ROA) and Size (Total Asset), Market aspect consist of  Market to Book Ratio and Beta Stocks , while the Macro Economic aspect consist of  the Level of Economic Growth,and  Inflation Rate. The research is conducted on  financial and non-financial companies, which consistently include in the Kompas-100 Index in Indonesia Stock Exchange with 5 (five) years (2007-2011) range of time. The estimation model being used is regression analysis and panel data regression.The estimation results indicate that company's CSR is influenced by two factors, which are ROA and Size, while stock return is influenced by five factors, which are CSR, ROA, M/B, Ratio, , Inflation, and Economic GrowthOverall, this research has proven the Agency Theory in another form, which states that manager is not only responsible towards shareholder but also responsible towards all stakeholders. Similarly, the results are in favor of Signaling Theory, which argues that CSR is a form of positive signal to investor.


New evidence from cognitive development suggests that action selection is contingent not only on one's own mental states (e.g. beliefs, etc.), but may also be affected by one's representation of the beliefs of others (Kovacs et al. 2010). Herein, I propose a preliminary computational model accounting for the general pattern of results in the recent study by Kovacs et al. that is broadly simulation-theoretic in nature, and briefly discuss its implications for computational cognitive architecture.


Pulsed-signal self- and cross-switching operations in an all-semiconductor-optical-amplifier (SOA) nonlinear optical loop device are numerically investigated. The device consists of a loop amplifier, a multimode-interference waveguide amplifier (MMIWA), an input leg, and an output leg. With the combined mechanisms, including nonlinear coupling in the MMIWA, lateral field redistribution and amplification by the loop, and asymmetric gain-phase modulation between two counterpropagating signals in the loop, the device operates with efficient power-dependent switching. Simulations were conducted using a modified time-domain traveling-wave method for the interplay between the two counterpropagating signals in MMIWA and loop. Typical parameter values of GaAs-AlGaAs multiple quantum-well (MQW) optical amplifiers were adopted for simulating separately published experimental conditions. Numerical results of simulation agreed well in physical trend with the reported experimental data.


We are very pleased to welcome you to the 15 th Science of Aphasia conference, being held from September 19 till September 24, 2015 in the San Camillo Hospital in Venice, Italy. The 2014 program theme is:  Aphasiology: past, present and future. Invited speakers are: Ria De Bleser, Audrey Bowen, Marco Catani, Chris Code, Olga Dragoy, Hugues Duffau, David Howard, Peter Marien, Gabriele Miceli, Carlo Miniussi, Lyndsey Nickels, Carlo Semenza, Cynthia K. Thompson, Evy Visch-Brink, Frank Zanow. The SoA conferences are intended to bring together senior and junior scientists working in the multidisciplinary field Neurocognition of language and to deal with normal function as well as disorders. The size of the conference has a maximum of about 150 participants to ensure direct interaction between the participants. The focus of this year's conference is on the past, present and future of Aphasiology.


Objective: To report a case of fulminant shock and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema induced by intravenously administered dipyridamole. Case Summary: A 73-year-old woman presented to the office of her cardiologist for dipyridamole myocardial scintigraphy. Several minutes after administration of intravenous dipyridamole 0.57 mg/kg over 4 minutes she developed wheezing, followed by cardiovascular collapse and pulmonary edema requiring 100% oxygen and endotracheal intubation. She had never received dipyridamole before this, and no other medications or exposures were documented proximate to the collapse. On transfer to the hospital, she developed shock refractory to multiple vasopressors, which responded to continuous infusions of epinephrine. She also had severe pulmonary edema requiring invasive ventilation, 100% inspired oxygen, and 24 cm H2O positive end-expiratory pressure. An echocardiogram did not show new left-ventricular dysfunction and there were signs of right-heart underfilling, supporting a diagnosis of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema. Both shock and pulmonary edema resolved within 12 hours. Discussion: Dipyridamole-associated hypotension has been reported in a number of case series and registries. Detailed case descriptions, however, are not available in the literature to permit understanding of the mechanism of shock following hypotension resulting from dipyridamole myocardial scintigraphy. Our case is exceptional in that echocardiography results support a diagnosis of hypovolemic (rather than cardiogenic) shock. To our knowledge, this is the first case of severe (most likely noncardiogenic) pulmonary edema associated with intravenous infusion of dipyridamole. An objective causality assessment suggested that this patient's cardiopulmonary collapse was probably related to dipyridamole. Conclusions: While hypotension has been previously associated with intravenous use of dipyridamole, ours is the first report to suggest a noncardiogenic mechanism for shock. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of noncardiogenic pulmonary edema following dipyridamole infusion.


Abstract The morphologic variation in Yabeina columbiana (Dawson) was carefully studied using probable topotype specimens from the Marble Canyon-Hat Creek area, southern British Columbia, and the material was compared with related species of neoschwagerinids from various parts of the circum-Pacific region. In the five Marble Canyon-Hat Creek samples examined, we found considerable individual variation in important characters, such as the size of the proloculi, and shape and development of primary and secondary transverse septula in relation to the growth stage of the test. These differences gradually changing from specimen to specimen within and among samples are thought to represent intraspecific variation within this species. Wide individual variations are also found in three different species of Yabeina from Japan, Yabeina sp., Y. kaizensis (Huzimoto), and Y. globosa (Yabe). Most North American species of Yabeina, such as Yabeina columbiana, have morphological features such as the occurrence of primary and secondary transverse and axial septula in later whorls and the average size of proloculi that reasonably place them as early species in the genus Yabeina. Yabeina columbiana is neither a Lepidolina nor a Colania as some authors had previously thought. Evolved forms of Neoschwagerinidae in the western Cordillera of North America consist of Yabeina cordillerensis Ross, Y. cascadensis (Anderson), Y. columbiana (Dawson), Y. packardi Thompson and Wheeler, and Lepidolina dunbari (Skinner and Wilde). The earliest North American Yabeina is thought to be Y. cordillerensis from northwestern British Columbia where it is associated with Afghanella sp., Pseudodoliolina sp., and the Wordian ammonoid Waagenoceras. This assemblage is closely comparable to that in the lowest zone of the Midian Stage in the Tethyan realm, the Afghanella robbinsae and Yabeina archaica Zone. The remainder of the known North American Cordilleran species of Yabeina are assignable to the second zone of the Midian Stage, the Yabeina globosa and Lepidolina multiseptata Zone and to the Japanese Yabeina globosa Zone. This zone is considered equivalent to the Capitanian Stage at the top of the Guadalupian Series in southwestern North America. Morphological and faunal analyses of these North American Cordilleran species of Yabeina and Lepidolina and most of the associated species of schwagerinids (for example, Chusenella andersoni, C. atlinensis, and Schwagerina pavilionensis) suggest ages that range through the late Guadalupian. The highest zone of the Tethyan Midian lacks Yabeina and other neoschwagerinids and is based on the ammonoids Eoaraxoceras and Anderssonoceras. This zone is found in sediments of post-Capitanian (post-Guadalupian) age in northern Mexico.


Thank you very much for reading natural object recognition. As you may know, people have look hundreds times for their chosen readings like this natural object recognition, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they juggled with some harmful bugs inside their computer. natural object recognition is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can get it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Merely said, the natural object recognition is universally compatible with any devices to read.


Abstract In the field of collaborative action research (CAR), the quality of the collaborative partnerships between university researchers and practitioners has received much attention. Most accounts focus on three areas: the question how to organise and optimise the encounter of these 'worlds' of scientific and practical reasoning; the professional development and emancipation of practitioners; and the enhancement of the practical utility of a CAR-project. In this article, we look at CAR projects from a different angle and explore the question how theoretical concepts are co-constructed in CAR-projects, thereby acquiring both practical as well as scientific relevance. We have focused on the participatory process of conceptualization during a CAR project in primary education, in order to find out how a key concept in the considered project is co-constructed and operationalized in multidisciplinary communities of practices. Both the theoretical validity of the concept is evaluated as well as the validity of collaboration. An 'hourglass' model is introduced for analysing participation in CAR projects, holding a more relational and dialogic interpretation of participation than the 'Participation Ladder' model. Furthermore, a heuristic approach to conceptualization in CAR projects is proposed.


This integrative review compared anesthetic usage and its impact on the cancer patient. Immunosuppression from anesthesia can have major impacts on the human body's immune system and lead to a decrease in overall patient survival and an increase in cancer recurrence rates. A search was completed using electronic databases including CINAHL, PubMed Health, and Medline Plus. The studies were located with keyword searches and inclusion and exclusion criteria was used to locate a final 8 studies for the review. A critical appraisal was completed using Polit and Beck's critical analysis tables, displaying key characteristics of the studies chosen. Outcomes reviewed included overall survival rates, cancer recurrence rates, time to recurrence and biomarker identification. The findings presented more beneficial outcomes with regional anesthesia, but larger prospective randomized studies are needed to validate these findings. Regional anesthesia has shown to increase time to recurrence, decrease recurrence rates, and limit the increase in immune biomarkers. However, regional anesthesia does not fully support an increase in overall survival rates. More research and randomized control trials are warranted on this topic. Overall, this integrative review has supported the use of regional anesthesia for more positive outcomes in the oncological surgical patient over general anesthesia.


In this project the concept of Hands-on-Throttle and Stick (HOTAS) was applied to a general aviation (GA) aircraft. HOTAS had seen limited use in GA aircraft, but nothing that would compare to its use in military or commercial aircraft. The purpose of incorporating HOTAS was to give the pilot the ability to quickly and efficiently operate specific functions of the aircraft's avionics units without having to remove his/her hands from the stick (or control wheel) or throttle. This project followed the systems engineering approach to accomplish the conceptual design of the GA HOTAS system. Two representative GA aircraft were chosen along with the avionics units to be controlled. In-flight functions of the units were determined and broken down into their most basic functions. Hardware was identified for each function, and the best alternative was chosen for each function. A control layout was achieved and then integrated into the aircraft's existing controls. The project resulted in a conceptual GA HOTAS system that could be integrated into existing GA aircraft with existing avionics. Throughout the course of this project, the design proceeded with the needs and abilities of the pilot in mind. The HOTAS system was designed to be operable by pilots of various sizes and experience levels. The system was meant to be intuitive so that any pilot with experience in the aircraft's avionics could operate it; however, training and experience with the system was also required.


Post-editing (PE) of machine translation (MT) is becoming more and more common in the professional translation setting. However, many users refuse to employ MT due to bad quality of the output it provides and even reject post-editing job offers. This can change by improving MT quality from the point of view of the PE process. This article investigates different types of MT errors and the difficulties they pose for PE in terms of post-editing time and technical effort. For the experiment we used English to German translations performed by MT engines. The errors were previously annotated using the MQM scheme for error annotation. The sentences were post-edited by students in translation. The experiment allowed us to make observations about the relation between technical and temporal PE effort, as well as to discover the types of errors that are more challenging for PE.


In the presented work, the comprehensive evaluation index system of the repair and reinforcement technology carried on mortar perfusion machine is constituted by 24 indices. According to expert investigation data, entropy method and maximum membership degree are employed to determine the weight of each index and do comprehensive evaluation respectively. It could be found that the largest social benefit of this technology was achieved under the condition of an excellent overall efficiency. Finally, some policy recommendations are proposed based on the evaluation results of relevant technology.


The activity of SynBiocat Ltd, a small spin-off company, is related to various areas of synthetic chemistry, biotechnology and enzymology. This chapter gives an overview of the knowledge and technologies of the company covering the development of suitable biocatalysts and bioreactor solutions for synthetic biotransformations. In co-operation with Bioorganic Chemistry Group (BCG) at Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Fermentia Ltd, SynBiocat can offer a wide selection of enzyme immobilization methods for known or novel enzymes to select the most suitable variant for a desired technology. Our company also offers custom immobilization development as a service to develop the optimal immobilized form of the biocatalyst of customers. For immediate screening, kits of immobilization supports or immobilized enzymes such as lipases, proteases, ketoreductases (as whole-cell biocatalysts), phenylalanine ammonia-lyases, phenylalanine 2,3-aminomutases are accessible. To enable screening of continuous-flow biotransformations, a selection of immobilized biocatalyst-filled minireactors are available off-the-shelf.


In order to make use of ocean renewable energy, a combination system of a bi-directional impulse turbine and a bi-directional flow collector for tidal current energy conversion is investigated in this paper. It is the advantage that this turbine system does not need an operation of orientation change according to the reversal of regular tidal orientation when fixed on the seabed. The experimental investigations by using both a circulating water tank and a towing tank showed that the turbine power output could be increased by adopting the flow collector proposed in this study. Then the flow collector with fixed spiral vane named spiral flow collector was investigated by both a circulating water tank test and CFD analysis. The experimental result of the spiral flow collector showed that the performance improvement was found on the increase of axial velocity in the turbine which contributed to the increase of the turbine power output. The results of CFD analysis showed that 180 deg of the skew angle of the fixed spiral vane was suitable in view of the angular moment at the turbine inlet in this case.


Much of human learning and inference can be framed within the computational problem of relational generalization. In this project, we propose a Bayesian model that generalizes relational knowledge to novel environments by analogically weighting predictions from previously encountered relational structures. First, we show that this learner outperforms a naive, theory-based learner on relational data derived from random- and Wikipedia-based systems when experience with the environment is small. Next, we show how our formalization of analogical similarity translates to the selection and weighting of analogies. Finally, we combine the analogy- and theory-based learners in a single nonparametric Bayesian model, and show that optimal relational generalization transitions from relying on analogies to building a theory of the novel system with increasing experience in it. Beyond predicting unobserved interactions better than either baseline, this formalization gives a computational-level perspective on the formation and abstraction of analogies themselves.


Gamma oscillations (30–100 Hz) reflect a fast brain rhythm that provides a fundamental mechanism of complex neuronal information processing in the hippocampus and in the neocortex in vivo. Gamma oscillations have been implicated in higher brain functions, such as sensory perception, motor activity, and memory formation. Experimental studies on synaptic transmission and bioenergetics underlying gamma oscillations have primarily used acute slices of the hippocampus. This study tests whether organotypic hippocampal slice cultures of the rat provide an alternative model for cortical gamma oscillations in vitro. Our findings are that 1) slice cultures feature well‐preserved laminated architecture and neuronal morphology; 2) slice cultures of different maturation stages (7–28 days in vitro) reliably express gamma oscillations at about 40 Hz as induced by cholinergic (acetylcholine) or glutamatergic (kainate) receptor agonists; 3) the peak frequency of gamma oscillations depends on the temperature, with an increase of ∼3.5 Hz per degree Celsius for the range of 28–36°C; 4) most slice cultures show persistent gamma oscillations for ∼1 hr during electrophysiological local field potential recordings, and later alterations may occur; and 5) in slice cultures, glucose at a concentration of 5 mM in the recording solution is sufficient to power gamma oscillations, and additional energy substrate supply with monocarboxylate metabolite lactate (2 mM) exclusively increases the peak frequency by ∼4 Hz. This study shows that organotypic hippocampal slice cultures provide a reliable model to study agonist‐induced gamma oscillations at glucose levels near the physiological range. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Tight glycemic control in critically ill patients became a therapeutic paradigm after the 2001 publication of a landmark single-center interventional trial in Leuven, Belgium, (ie, "Leuven 1") that targeted euglycemia in a population of mechanically ventilated patients in a surgical intensive care unit (ICU).1 A subsequent randomized trial from the same institution in medical patients2 (ie, "Leuven 2") was not as strongly positive for the benefits of intensive insulin therapy as the first study. Two later interventional studies were terminated prematurely by their respective institutional review boards and were underpowered to show any effect on mortality.3,4 Meta-analysis failed to demonstrate a survival benefit for tight glycemic control.5 Finally, in the large multicenter NICE-SUGAR (Normoglycemia in Intensive Care Evaluation—Survival Using Glucose Algorithm Regulation) trial, the control group with a moderate glycemic target range of 140 to 180 mg/dL had lower 90-day mortality than did the interventional group with a glycemic target range of 81 to 108 mg/dL.6 What went wrong?


Surgical treatment of isolate thyroid nodules has a twofold aim: 1) obtaining an accurate diagnosis of benignancy or malignancy, which remains impossible on an extemporaneous basis in 5 to 10% of cases for technical reasons; 2) tailoring tumor exeresis according to the histological nature of the tumor. Scheduled lobo-isthmectomy is typically the standard treatment for benign thyroid nodules. While thyroid surgery on a whole is very benign today, surgery for isolate thyroid nodules is the most benign of all types. There is no mortality, and morbidity requires only allowing for a risk of recurrent paralysis in 0 to 2% of cases. Secondary recurrence of the nodule on the remaining lobe or compensating hypertrophy of said lobe requires second surgery in 5% of cases. The cost of surgery for thyroid nodules is low, but this statement should be qualified by the requirements for regular medical follow-up of the patients after surgery. Surgery for isolate thyroid nodules is both preventive and curative. For benign nodules, it allows avoiding the development of functional impairment caused by an increase in the volume of the nodule. In case of malignant nodules, which generally correspond to differentiated cancers, it allows treating the cancer. General extension of this exeresis surgery has resulted in the regression and even eradication of anaplastic cancers over the past thirty years.


Acute and chronic lithium treatment reduces levels of brain myo-inositol in rats. Several biological effects of lithium can be reversed in vitro by addition of myo-inositol. The ability of myo-inositol to reverse behavioral effects of lithium was tested using chronic inositol administration or acute intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections. Chronic myoinositol elevated activity during the first 10 min in an open field, but did not reverse lithium-induced hypokinesia. Myo-inositol (i.c.v.) reversed the suppression of rearing behavior 24 hrs after an acute dose of lithium (5 mEq/kg) but did not attenuate hypokinesia 24 hrs after a high dose of lithium (10 mEq/kg). Myo-inositol, but not the inactive isomer chiro-inositol (i.c.v.), also significantly prolonged the latency to clonus in the lithium pilocarpine seizure model. These studies suggest that reduction of brain myo-inositol may be a critical mechanism for the behavioral effects of lithium.


This work proposes a model-reduction methodology that preserves Lagrangian structure (equivalently Hamiltonian structure) and achieves computational efficiency in the presence of high-order nonlinearities and arbitrary parameter dependence. As such, the resulting reduced-order model retains key properties such as energy conservation and symplectic time-evolution maps. We focus on parameterized simple mechanical systems subjected to Rayleigh damping and external forces, and consider an application to nonlinear structural dynamics. To preserve structure, the method first approximates the system's `Lagrangian ingredients'---the Riemannian metric, the potential-energy function, the dissipation function, and the external force---and subsequently derives reduced-order equations of motion by applying the (forced) Euler--Lagrange equation with these quantities. From the algebraic perspective, key contributions include two efficient techniques for approximating parameterized reduced matrices while preserving symmetry and positive definiteness: matrix gappy POD and reduced-basis sparsification (RBS). Results for a parameterized truss-structure problem demonstrate the importance of preserving Lagrangian structure and illustrate the proposed method's merits: it reduces computation time while maintaining high accuracy and stability, in contrast to existing nonlinear model-reduction techniques that do not preserve structure.


A potential new area of routine application for electroencephalography (EEG) is the brain-computer interface, which might enable disabled people to interact with their environment, based on measured brain signals. However, conventional electroencephalography is not suitable here due to limitations arising from complicated, time-consuming and error-prone preparation. Recently, several approaches for dry electrodes have been proposed. Our aim is the comparison and assessment of three types of dry electrodes and standard wet silver/silver-chloride electrodes for EEG signal acquisition. We developed novel EEG electrodes with titanium and polyurethane as base materials, which were coated with nanometer sized titanium-nitride films. Furthermore gold multi-pin electrodes were arranged on printed circuit boards. The results of the comparison of these electrodes with conventional wet silver/silver-chloride electrodes in terms of electrode impedances are presented, as well as open circuit potentials and biosignal measurements. Impedances were significantly higher for all dry electrode types compared to wet electrodes, but still within the measurement range of today's standard biosignal amplifiers. It was found that the novel dry titanium and polyurethane based electrodes show biosignal quality equivalent to conventional electrodes. In conclusion, the novel dry electrodes seem to be suitable for application in brain-machine interfaces.


Abstract. A modified method with a new noise reduction scheme that can reduce the noise distribution to a narrow range is proposed to distinguish clouds and other hydrometeors from noise and recognize more features with weak signal in cloud radar observations. A spatial filter with central weighting, which is widely used in cloud radar hydrometeor detection algorithms, is also applied in our method to examine radar return for significant levels of signals. Square clouds were constructed to test our algorithm and the method used for the US Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Program millimeter-wavelength cloud radar. We also applied both the methods to 6 months of cloud radar observations at the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University and compared the results. It was found that our method has significant advantages in reducing the rates of both failed negative and false positive hydrometeor identifications in simulated clouds and recognizing clouds with weak signal from our cloud radar observations.


Abstract Despite repeated appointments of technocratic governments in Europe and increasing interest in technocracy, there is little knowledge regarding citizens' attitudes towards technocracy and the idea of governance by unelected experts. This article revisits normative debates and hypothesises that technocracy and democracy stand in a negative relationship in the eyes of European citizens. It tests this alongside a series of hypotheses on technocratic attitudes combining country-level institutional characteristics with individual survey data. While findings confirm that individual beliefs about the merits of democracy influence technocratic attitudes, two additional important factors are also identified: first, levels of trust in current representative political institutions also motivate technocratic preferences; second, historical legacies, in terms of past party-based authoritarian regime experience, can explain significant cross-national variation. The implications of the findings are discussed in the broader context of citizen orientations towards government, elitism and the mounting challenges facing representative democracy.


The research aims to inform broader policies about healthy food access by focusing on the overlooked potential of street food vending. To reveal the spatiality and contents of street food vending regulations across Californian cities and counties, we reviewed municipal codes for all 58 counties and 213 cities in California. Recent legislation (SB 946, 2018) mandates that ordinances cannot regulate street food vendors for reasons beyond public health concerns. We found that the majority of California cities and counties are out of compliance and will need to update regulations. The majority of California cities (85% of those reviewed) and counties (75%) include street food vending regulations that go beyond public health rationale and include labor laws and restrictions on time and hours of operation. Previous studies have noted that such restrictions negatively impact the health of street food vendors while also potentially jeopardizing the health vending customers. This research highlights the need for policy change, and notes that broader legalization of street food vending offers a unique opportunity to reassess the associated health benefits reviewed in prior literature.


Suicide and self-mutilation are widespread societal issues, making them an important area of research. The interpersonal theory of suicide (ITS) and Shneidman's theory of psychache have each garnered substantial support in suicide research; however, to date, there have been no studies that combine the theories in hopes of creating a better model of suicide. There has also been very limited research that has applied these theories to self-mutilation, a behaviour highly correlated with suicide. It is expected that these two theories are compatible given that they both focus on unmet needs which create an undesirable state, and they both suggest that an additional factor is necessary for unmet needs to create suicidality. The current research also contributes theoretically to the literature by investigating previously unexplored possible antecedents to suicide and self-mutilation, namely adverse childhood experiences and early maladaptive schemas (unmet needs from childhood that influence an individual's interpretation of the world). Data were collected from two distinct populations: 428 university undergraduates and a community sample of 533 individuals. Participants completed questionnaires assessing the criterion measures of self-mutilation and suicidality and the psychological predictors of psychache, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability for suicide. Analyses revealed that, for both the university and community samples, the ITS model (interaction of thwarted belonging, perceived burdensomeness and acquired capability) and psychache each added unique variance to the prediction of suicide ideation, motivation, preparation, and non-suicidal self-injury. A combined model, however, was not better able to predict a past suicide attempt. Further, contrary to expectation, the ITS-self-harm relationship was not mediated by psychache. Explanations for these findings are provided. Overall, these results provide important theoretical and practical contributions to the literature suggesting the utility of a new, blended model of suicide. Limitations and future directions are discussed. Unmet needs and Self-Harm III


Endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) was described as a distinct clinicopathological entity in 1948 in Uganda.w1 Initially several terms were used to describe the disease. These included tropical endomyocardial disease, endocarditis parietalis fibroplastica, endocardial fibrosis, constrictive endocarditis and endocardial fibroelastose.

EMF is thought to be the most common type of restrictive cardiomyopathy worldwide.1 Although most studies have been reported from Uganda, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Brazil and India, the disease has been occasionally encountered outside the tropics.2 Geographic distribution of EMF is not uniform both in Africa and Asia.3 4 In the endemic areas of Africa, EMF is the second cause of admission for acquired cardiovascular disease in children and young adults, after rheumatic heart disease,5 w2 accounting for up to 20% of all causes of heart failure.

To date our knowledge of the prevalence of the disease is derived from hospital based studies with absence of data from systematic studies in the community. EMF affects predominantly children and adolescents, usually from low socioeconomic background. More than half the cases are seen in the first decade of life. Male preponderance was found in Kerala and Nigeria, while female preponderance has been described in Brazil and Uganda. A bimodal age distribution has been reported in some studies.5 w3

The aetiology of EMF remains unknown. Several hypotheses have been proposed and explored including cardiotoxicity of the eosinophil, infectious agents, autoimmune processes, genetic predisposition, ethnicity, diet, climate and poverty.

### Hypereosinophilia

EMF appears to share some pathogenic mechanisms with the hypereosinophilic syndromes, which comprise a heterogenous group of disorders characterised by peripheral eosinophilia for at least 6 months and end organ damage related to eosinophil infiltrations. These syndromes have been classified as idiopathic, clonal and reactive. The similarity of mechanisms responsible for EMF and the hypereosinophilic syndromes could have exciting therapeutic implications. …


Bovine milk alpha-lactalbumin (alpha-La) was mixed with soybean saponin, and the resulting mixture was hydrolyzed by trypsin. Saponin increased the tryptic-hydrolysis level of alpha-La only at relatively high phosphate buffer concentrations (> or = 0.05 M). T(1) experiments with acetylated soybean saponin demonstrated that there were some interactions between alpha-La and saponin not only at high concentrations of phosphate buffers but even at low concentrations as well. Circular dichroism spectra of alpha-La showed that the tertiary structure of alpha-La was changed through interactions with saponin only at high buffer concentrations. Furthermore, by analyzing the tryptic peptides from an alpha-La/saponin mixture, hydrolyzing rates at all or some of K5, R10, and K16 of alpha-La were accelerated by saponin interactions. The increase in the tryptic hydrolysis of alpha-La by saponin addition was considered due to modification of the tertiary structure of alpha-La by saponin.


Pair production is a key component of mass-energy equivalence yet the deeper processes whereby photons transform into matter-antimatter pairs are unknown. A theory is presented for the mechanics of pair production at the fundamental level. Physical realism was accepted at the outset. A theory was developed comprising internal structures (hidden variables) and discrete fields, called the Cordus theory. Logical inference was used to determine the mechanics for pair production under these assumptions. Particles are found to be defined by their field emissions, with rearrangement of those fields changing the particle's identity. The process mechanics are extracted from the theory, and successfully applied to explain remanufacture of the evanescent discrete fields of the photon into the electric fields of the electron and antielectron. The mechanics also explains recoil dependency on photon polarisation. Surprisingly, it also provides a physically natural explanation for electron holes. The ability to set out a mechanics for pair production at the foundational level is a novel advancement, as is the ability to explain in a physically natural way why the causality involves angular orientations of the inputs (polarisation) and outputs (recoil). There is further novelty in achieving this from the non-local hidden-variable sector of physics. Annihilation, which is the inverse process, has also been demonstrated within this same framework. An ontological explanation for mass-energy equivalence is now available by assuming physical realism and that particles have internal structures. These explanations are logically consistent with the rest of the Cordus theory for other phenomena. The hidden-variable sector is shown to have yielded an alternative theory of fundamental physics with excellent explanatory power under physical realism. It provides novel insights into processes at the next deeper level of physics, and shows a candidate route to a new physics.


Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is complication of premature birth characterised by stunted alveolar growth. Caffeine is a candidate for the management of BPD. We set out to assess the impact of caffeine administration on (i) inflammatory mediators, (ii) expression of components of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling machinery, and (iii) the development of the mouse lung in a hyperoxia-based mouse model of BPD. Our preliminary data indicate that daily administration of caffeine (25 mg/kg/day) to newborn mice over the first fourteen days of life did not impact the deleterious effects of hyperoxia on lung development, assessed by lung surface area (SA) in mice treated with room air (21% O 2 ) plus vehicle (physiological saline; SA approx. 152 cm 2 ); hyperoxia (85% O 2 ; SA approx. 105 cm 2 ); room air plus caffeine (SA approx. 142 cm 2 ); and hyperoxia plus caffeine (SA approx. 102 cm2). SA was assessed by a stereological approach. In contrast, caffeine administration normalized the body mass of caffeine-treated pups, in the background of hyperoxia exposure. Hyperoxia modulated tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-8, and IL-10 levels in the lung, however, concomitant caffeine administration did not impact the effect of hyperoxia on the expression of these inflammatory mediators . In contrast, caffeine administration did impact the expression levels of both bone morphogenetic protein and TGF-β receptors. These data suggest that caffeine administration in the hyperoxia model cannot correct stunted lung development, however, may impact growth factor pathways relevant to lung development.


. The epidemiology of epizootic haematopoietic necrosis virus (EHNV) infection was studied in farmed rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum). Estimates of mortality during five outbreaks on a commercial farm from 1986 to 1992 ranged from 0033 to 0.2% per day and total mortality did not exceed 3–4% in any outbreak. Affected fish were 0+ and less than 125 mm forklength. Clinical signs were non-specific, and laboratory examination was required to confirm the diagnosis. At the height of the outbreak in 1992, EHNV was demonstrated by virus isolation and antigen capture ELISA in 89% of clinically affected fish and 51% of dead fish, while the prevalence of infection in apparently healthy in-contact fish was 4%. Two and 4 months later the virus was not detected in a group of apparently healthy fish that had been affected earlier. Antibodies specific for EHNV were not found in rainbow trout from the infected farm; however, strong humoral responses were detected by ELISA in two immunized fish, indicating that the virus was immunogenic. These data suggested that EHNV was poorly infective but highly virulent in rainbow trout. Clinical EHNV infection was positively correlated with high rearing density and a low rate of water exchange, and therefore, with presumed poor water quality. Water temperature, which ranged from 11 to 17°C during outbreaks, did not appear to determine the incidence of clinical infection. EHNV infection in farmed rainbow trout was preceded by infection in free-living redfin perch, Perca fluviatilis L., in the water catchment, but it was uncertain whether this represented the source of infection for rainbow trout.


What does authority mean under international law? There are various actors with different forms of authority, but no overarching concept of what characteristic endows an actor with authority, and even less of a coherent conception of legitimacy as a requirement for such authority. In fact, international law recognizes different authorities for different causes and different contexts, allocated to different actors, who base their authority on different characteristics (state legitimacy, representativity, military power, control). After disaggregating the concept of authority and outlining some of the consequences that follow from each type, this article highlights a number of different actors and describes the various authorities each has under international law. For instance, under jus in bello, nonstate actors can create a state of armed conflict in which they can often continue to use military means without legal sanction. While jus ad bellum may still in principle require legitimacy (in the formal sense of being a state), current jus in bello covers a range of non-state actors. Thus, from a practical point of view, the jus in bello regulations undermine any jus ad bellum requirement of legitimate authority.


Molecular regulators of osteoclast formation and function are an important area of research due to the central role of osteoclasts in bone resorption. Transcription factors such as MITF are essential for osteoclast generation by regulating expression of the genes required for cellular differentiation and resorptive function. We recently reported that histone deacetylase 7 (HDAC7) binds to and represses the transcriptional activity of MITF in osteoclasts, and that loss of HDAC7 in vitro accelerated osteoclastogenesis. In the current study, we extend this initial observation by showing that conditional deletion of HDAC7 in osteoclasts of mice leads to an in vivo enhancement in osteoclast formation, associated with increased bone resorption and lower bone mass. Expression of multiple MITF target genes is increased in bone marrow derived osteoclast cultures from the HDAC7 knockout mice. Interestingly, multiple regions of the HDAC7 amino-terminus can bind to MITF or exert repressive activity. Moreover, mutation or deletion of the HDAC7 conserved deacetylase catalytic domain had little effect on repressive function. These observations identify HDAC7 in osteoclasts as an important molecular regulator of MITF activity and bone homeostasis, but also highlight a gap in our understanding of exactly how HDAC7 functions as a corepressor.


Abstract Shifts in surface ocean pCO2 and pH are important controls governing global climate. Based on the linear relationship of observed surface pH and pCO2 with sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS) and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) multiple linear regression equations were developed. Based on remote sensing SST, Chl-a and model-derived SSS, pH and pCO2 data were derived from 1998 to 2015. Overall warming of BoB is noticed at the rate of 0.004° to 0.03 °C/y whereas cooling is found in the northwestern BoB during winter and spring seasons associated with an increase in atmospheric dust. Decrease in SSS is noticed during all seasons due to melting of Himalayan ice cover associated with increase in fresh water flux due to increase in atmospheric temperature. Increase in pH is observed in the eastern and southern Bay during all seasons associating with warming and decrease in salinity. In contrast, decrease in pH (−0.001 y−1) and pCO2 increase (+0.1 to +0.7 µatm y−1) is noticed in the western and head Bay during winter and spring seasons due to deposition of atmospheric pollutants. This study suggests that increase in freshwater input due to melting of Himalayan ice cover and deposition of atmospheric pollutants are dominant controlling factors on surface ocean pH and pCO2 in the BoB between 1998 and 2015 and this region is acting as a stronger sink for the atmospheric CO2 in the present than that in the past two decades. The global coastal regions are significantly influenced by river discharge and atmospheric deposition of pollutants and they are not part of the global models leading to ill-reproduction of seasonal variability in pH and pCO2. Inclusion of these processes may improve prediction of pH and pCO2 in the regions heavily influenced by discharge/deposition from land and atmosphere.


The development of a versatile platform for the synthesis of 1,2-difunctionalized bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes to potentially mimic ortho/meta-substituted arenes is described. The synthesis of useful building blocks bearing alcohol, amine, and carboxylic acid functional handles has been achieved from a simple common intermediate. Several ortho and/or meta-substituted benzene analogues as well as simple molecular matched pairs have also been prepared using this platform. In-depth biological and computational studies are currently in progress to validate the ortho and/or meta-character of these new bioisosteres. Results of these investigations will be reported in due course.


Plants are able to adapt to changing environments and thus survive droughts. However, most land surface models produce unrealistically low ecosystem resiliency to droughts, degrading the credibility of the model‐predicted ecohydrological responses to climate change. We aim to enhance the Noah‐MP modeled ecosystem resilience to droughts with an explicit representation of plant water storage supplied by dynamic root water uptake through hydrotropic root growth to meet the transpiration demand. The new model represents plant stomatal water stress factor as a function of the plant water storage and relates the rate of root water uptake to the profile of model‐predicted root surface area. Through optimization of major leaf, root, and soil parameters, the new model improves the prediction of leaf area index, ecosystem productivity, evapotranspiration, and terrestrial water storage variations over most basins in the contiguous United States. Sensitivity experiments suggest that both dynamic root water uptake and groundwater capillary rise extend the plants' "memory" of antecedent rainfall. The modeled plants enhance their efficiency to use antecedent rain water stored in shallow soils mainly through more efficient root water uptake over the U.S. Southwest drylands while use that stored in deep soils and aquifers with the aid of groundwater capillary rise in the Central United States. Future plant hydraulic models should not ignore soil water retention model uncertainties and the soil macropore effects on soil water potential and infiltration.


Reducing yarn hairiness is the greatest ascendancy for compact spinning. Based on the test of fiber length distribution, the hairiness of compact yarn is simulated in order to study the rule of hairiness producing. The hairiness of different fineness yarn is simulated by changing the twist factory and the diameter of yarn and the hairiness of different kinds of yarns such as compact yarn and ring spinning yarn are simulated by changing the transition probability of fiber. The simulation data are in accordance with the experimental data. It can make prediction about yarn hairiness according to the fiber length distribution in order to guide production.


A novel approach to camera calibration by vanishing lines is proposed. Calibrated parameters include the orientation, position, and focal length of a camera. A hexagon is used as the calibration target to generate a vanishing line of the ground plane from its projected image. It is shown that the vanishing line includes useful geometric hints about the camera orientation parameters and the focal length, from which the orientation parameters can be solved easily and analytically. And the camera position parameters can be calibrated by the use of related geometric projective relationships. The simplicity of the target eliminates the complexity of the environment setup and simplifies the feature extraction in relevant image processing. The calibration formulas are also simple to compute. Experimental results show the feasibility of the proposed approach. >


nylon 11 nanocomposites with different montmorillonite loadings were successfully prepared by melt compounding. XRD and TEM show the exfoliated nanocomposites are formed at low montmorillonite concentration(less than 2wt%) and the intercalated nanocomposites are obtained at higher montmorillonite contents. TGA shows that the thermal stability of the nanocomposites is improved by 27°C when the montmorillonite content is only 2wt%. Mechanical testing shows that the Izod impact strength of all nanocomposites are higher than that of the neat nylon 11, but the tensile strength of the nanocomposites decrease at low nanofiller concentrations (less than 8wt%) and than increased, when the montmorillonite content is 10wt% ,the tensile strength of the nanocomposite is 5% improved than neat nylon 11. This is may be due to the strong interaction between the nylon 11 matrix and the montmorillonite interface.


High-brightness X-ray radiation produced by third-generation synchrotron light sources (TGLS) has been used for numerous time-resolved investigations in many different scientific fields. The typical time duration of X-ray pulses delivered by these large-scale machines is about 50-100 ps. A growing number of time-resolved studies would benefit from X-ray pulses with two or three orders of magnitude shorter duration. Here, techniques explored in the past for shorter X-ray pulse emission at TGLS are reviewed and the perspective towards the realisation of picosecond and sub-picosecond X-ray pulses are discussed.


In recent decades there was a robust boom ininvestment sector in Lithuania, as more people chose toinvest money in investment funds rather than keep money inthe closet. The Baltic States Market turnover has increasedfrom 721 MEUR in 2000 to 978 MEUR in 2008 (with peak2603 MEUR in 2005). When difficult period appeared inglobal markets, a lot of attention was dedicated towards themanaging of investments. Investment management firms inLithuania gain significance in personal as well as inbusiness section increasingly; even though these firms areconsiderably young (the first one in Lithuania wasestablished in year 2000).Successful investment begins with the financialanalysis of stock, asset or index, which you are going toinvest. Professionals can be divided into two groups as faras this point is concerned: supporters of fundamentalanalysis and the supporters of technical analysis.Fundamental analysts try to determine a company's valueby looking at the balance sheet, cash flow statement andincome statement. Technicians, on the other hand, assumethat all these fundamentals are accounted for in the stock'sprice and analyses charts of price movements and variousindicators derived from the price and volume. Technicalanalysis suffered major criticism when Fama (1965)presented his efficient-market hypothesis (EMH), whichstates that past prices cannot be used to profitably predictfuture prices. However, many researches showed thatEMH is not adequate in many aspects. With thisbackground the "Quantitative Behavioral Finance" theorywas introduced (see recent works of Gunduz Caginalp,Vernon Smith, David Porter, Don Balenovich, VladimiraIlieva, Ahmet Duran, and Ray Sturm). This theory includessome topics of classical theories, but mainly it is based onbehavioral analysis of market agents and helps tounderstand behavioral biases in conjunction withvaluation. This means that there is no reason to criticizethe technical analysis, but in difficult cases (e.g. crises) itshould be supplemented by behavioral analysis of agents.In this paper some methods of technical analysis are usedto create an investment strategy trading in Baltic Statesstock market.The main objectives of this research are: adaptBollinger Bands to the Baltic market, determine whichinvestment period with – long term or short term –Bollinger Bands is more efficient, research the efficiency ofBollinger Bands depending on the parameters. In thispaper the optimal parameters are calibrated and theexpected profit is estimated without the information aboutthe transaction costs."Bollinger plotter" was developed using the mostpopular mathematical toolbox MatLab in order to solvestated problems. Application is capable of chartingBollinger Bands and 6 other technical indicators withdesired period of time. This software is not a fullyautomated decision making system, as decisions areusually made based on value judgment.Since the stock returns usually have distributions withfat tails, then less than 95% of data fit in the Bollingertrading channels. However the Bollinger bands tradingsignals were supported by additional indicators (e.g. %b),so the loss of data is not significant.Our calibration results show that short term investorshould apply 10 days moving average and use a tradingchannel with the width of 1.8 standard deviations, for theBollinger bands.


(...) A simple technique is presented to prepare unencased-intact soil cores collected with a hydraulic sampling probe for laboratory physical analyses. The methodology has been used to determine the hydraulic properties of samples collected as deep as 6 m in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. The hydraulic conductivity results and dye leaching tests have indicated that boundary flow does not occur at the interface of the soil and paraffin coating. The procedure has many advantages over sampling by hammer-driven devices. It is fast and economical, and can be used to obtain high quality samples from the B and C horizons.


Executive summary
1. The personal health budget initiative is a key aspect of personalisation across health care services in
England. Its aim is to improve patient outcomes, by placing patients at the centre of decisions about
their care.
2. In 2009 the Department of Health invited PCTs to become pilot sites to join a programme which would
explore the opportunities offered by personal health budgets. The Department of Health
commissioned an independent evaluation to run alongside the pilot programme to provide
information on how personal health budgets are best implemented, where and when they are most
appropriate, and what support is required for individuals.
3. Two pilot sites within the pilot programme explored whether personal health budgets had an impact
on outcomes and experiences compared to conventional service delivery among individuals with
substance misuse problems.
Study design and methodology
4. The evaluation adopted a longitudinal approach, and included people with drug and/or alcohol
addiction.
5. The study used a controlled trial with a pragmatic design to compare the experiences of people
receiving a personal health budget with the experiences of people continuing under the current
substance misuse treatment support arrangements. After applying initial selection criteria, in one pilot
site people were randomised into the personal health budget group or a control group. In the second
pilot site, the personal health budget group was recruited from patients of those health care
professionals in the pilot offering budgets, and a control group was recruited from patients of nonparticipating
health care professionals.
6. A mixed design was followed where both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to
explore patient outcomes and experiences, service use and costs, as well as the experiences of those
implementing the initiative. In total, an active sample of 166 participants was recruited: 119 in the
personal health budget group and 47 in the control group. Within the active study sample, 55
participants had drug and alcohol addictions and 111 participants had an alcohol addiction only.
7. The qualitative analysis involved interviews with personal health budget holders and organisational
representatives. Data were analysed using the framework approach, with the data organised by
themes according to the topic guides used in the interviews.
8. The difference-in-difference approach was used to explore whether personal health budgets had an
impact on an individual's quality of life and relapse rates. The analysis subtracted an individual's
follow-up outcome scores from their baseline score. Due to the small sample size, the analysis did not
include exploring difference-in-difference multivariate models and therefore we were unable to
control for confounding baseline differences.
The content of support plans
9. Among the personal health budget group, 103 support plans were returned from the two pilot sites.
In terms of the size of the budget, 41 budgets were worth between £1,000 and £5,000 per year, while
4 budgets were worth more than £10,000.
2
10. The majority of care/support plans were managed notionally. While one of the pilot sites did have
approval to offer direct payments, we did not find evidence this deployment was offered during the
pilot programme.
11. Residential detox was the largest single cost category. The more innovative uses of the personal
health budget included driving lessons, alternative therapies, leisure activities and educational
courses. Enabling people to access community detox rather than residential detox could also be
regarded as an innovative use of their budget.
The impact of personal health budgets on relapse rates, quality of life and service quality
12. The shortened version of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) was used to detect
signs of hazardous and harmful drinking. Difference-in-difference analysis indicated that individuals
in the personal health budget group had reduced their excessive drinking at follow-up compared to
those in the control group. Similar results were found with the change in drug consumption at followup.

13. Difference-in-difference analysis indicated that there were greater improvements in care-related
quality of life (ASCOT) and psychological well-being (GHQ12) for individuals in the personal health
budget group compared to those in the control group, although the difference was not statistically
significant.
14. Individuals in the personal health budget group were more satisfied with the help paid for by the
budget and the care/support planning process than those receiving conventional services.
15. While the quantitative results highlighted the positive impact of receiving a personal health budget,
firm conclusions around the impact of personal health budgets compared to conventional service
delivery could not be made, due to the small sample size.
Views from patients
16. Qualitative in-depth interviews indicated that personal health budgets had a positive impact on
service quality, relationships with health professionals and views on what could be achieved
compared with conventional service detox delivery.
17. The importance of effective implementation was highlighted, both in terms of providing the necessary
information to enable budget holders to make an informed choice and also to minimise any delays in
the process of obtaining and using a budget. Individuals reported that delays could potentially lead to
anxiety and distress.
18. A list of suggestions of possible uses of personal health budgets would have been useful during the
support/care planning stage.
19. Personal budget holders reported a lack of after-care services available with this treatment route
which could potentially have a longer-term impact on relapse rates. This desire for post-detox care to
prevent relapse was especially prevalent at follow-up, when patients had completed their
detoxification and required relapse prevention services.
20. Individuals receiving conventional detox services expressed more negative views of the relationship
they had with health professionals and their experiences of services.
Views from the system
21. Organisational representatives believed that personal health budgets had a positive impact on
outcomes for budget holders: the way they accessed services, and to a certain extent the content or
3
quality of those services. Organisational representatives attributed these impacts to the personal
health budgets enabling: increased choice and control for budget holders; increased flexibility;
encouraging innovation and creativity; greater 'person-centred' care/support planning; and the
opportunity to reduce costs by accessing alternative services or providers of services.
22. A number of challenges within the implementation process were mentioned by organisational
representatives. These included: the length of time required to conduct the care/support planning
process; the time point at which a personal health budget should be introduced; deciding what can
and cannot be included, in particular considering whether the budget should be used for relapse
prevention; managing attitudes to risk and the cultural change required for patients in the system; the
logistics of managing multi-agencies involved in a person's care; and establishing integration between
services and creating a jointly-funded budget.
Recommendations for policy and practice
23. A number of recommendations can be made regarding a possible roll-out of personal health budgets
within the area of substance misuse from the results of this study:
 Personal health budgets increased service satisfaction, facilitated a positive relationship with
health professionals and improved quality of life supporting a wider roll-out.
 The budget-holders we interviewed emphasised the value of information and guidance from
operational representatives about the size and operation of their budgets, including what services
were covered.
 Direct payments were viewed as playing a critical role in the success of personal health budgets
for people with substance misuse problems. However, managing the anxiety and practical
challenges around offering this deployment option may need consideration.


Advanced materials are more convenient and safe for human use. In this case, a novel idea for the preparation of safer cables was proposed. A kind of self-healing conductive hydrogel (SHCH) was synthesized based on a dynamic Schiff base cross-linkage between the amine groups of chitosan and the benzaldehyde groups of aldehyde-modified PEG. Since there were many chemical cross-linking networks and conductive polypyrrole nanostructure in the hydrogel, it possessed bulk conductivity, mechanical and electrical self-healing properties. Because of the combination of the electrical conductivity and self-healing properties, the SHCH can be used as the conductor part of a cable. This cable can be directly powered off and restored easily at any time.


Chest pain is a common presenting symptom in emergency departments, and a typical manifestation of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Recognition of ECG changes in AMI is essential for timely diagnosis and treatment. Right bundle branch block (RBBB) may be an isolated sign of AMI, and was previously considered as a criterion for fibrinolytic therapy. Since the most recent European Society of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines in 2013, RBBB alone is no longer considered a diagnostic criterion of AMI, even if it occurs in the context of acute chest pain, as RBBB does not usually interfere with the interpretation of ST-segment alteration. Our case illustrates an acute septal myocardial infarction with an isolated RBBB, and thus the importance of recognising this pattern in order to permit timely diagnosis and treatment.


Background: The respiratory system is constantly exposed to particulate matter suspended in the inhaled air and one among the efficient mechanisms to trap and expel the particulate substances is the nasal and bronchial mucociliary clearance mechanism. This mucociliary clearance mechanism is influenced by both physiological and pathological factors that alter the functioning of the respiratory cilia and the overlying mucosal layer that traps the particulate agents. As Body mass index (BMI) determines the health of a person by influencing various physiological parameters, this study has been planned to study the effect of normal and abnormal BMI (overweight and obese range) on the nasal mucociliaryclearance (NMC). Aim: To evaluate the effect of BMI on nasal mucociliary clearance (NMC). Materials &Methods: NMC was measured in 20 volunteers with normal BMI (18.5-22.9 Kg/m2) and 20 volunteers with BMI in overweight and obese range (23 Kg/m2 and above). The NMC time was recorded by the time the volunteers appreciated the sweet taste following the placement of ¼ of saccharin tablet (1mm x 1mm) in the nostril referred as saccharin transit time(STT).Results: NMC was found to be prolonged in overweight and obese population and BMI has positive correlation with NMC as calculated by Pearson correlation with r value of 0.591 and p value 0.001 which is statistically significant. Conclusion:NMC time is prolonged in abnormal BMI referring to the impairment in the mucociliary escalator mechanism thus predisposing to disease states.


Platform as a Service (PaaS) is becoming a differential product for big technology companies. It delivers hardware, software tools and other resources for application development and hosting, as a service. Its users are developers who need to build and deploy new applications. Besides computational power, PaaS environments (PaaSE) offer services, development tools or even complete apps to be putted together in final applications. These pieces of software can be developed by different parties, presenting a significant challenge from the HCI perspective. Semiotic Engineering (SemEng) views HCI as computer-mediated communication between designers and users at interaction time. In the PaaS context, several designers communicate with PaaSE's users (developers). In this paper, we apply SemEng concepts to analyze diverse software artifacts involved, showing evidence of communication breakdowns between designers and users. Our goal is to provide a better understanding of existing metacommunication processes in PaaSE, offering specific suggestions to emphasize communication boundaries.


This paper presents application experiences of real-time simulation (RTS) techniques for harmonic and flicker studies of an industrial power system, where the system and nonlinear loads are properly modeled. A PC-cluster-based real-time parallel simulator is implemented under MATLAB/SIMULINK, where the studied system consists of an ac electric arc furnace, dc and ac motor-drive loads, and the static var compensator. Guidelines for model partition of the studied system and the solver settings under an RTS environment are reported. In addition, the most commonly used offline simulation with variable-step solver and the actual field measurements are included for comparison. Results indicate that the RTS achieves satisfactory solution accuracy within much less execution time and can be applied for more complicated studies such as installing new nonlinear loads with different levels of model complexities or designing/tuning mitigation devices of power-quality disturbances, where the repeated time-consuming analysis is required.


OBJECTIVE
To estimate the incidence rates of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in hospitalized patients and to compare these with incidence rates in community residents.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of the complete medical records from a population-based inception cohort of patients who resided in Olmsted County, Minnesota, and had an incident DVT or PE from 1980 through 1990.

RESULTS
From 1980 through 1990, 911 Olmsted County residents experienced their first lifetime event of definite, probable, or possible venous thromboembolism. Of these residents, 253 had been hospitalized for some reason other than a diagnosis of DVT or PE (in-hospital cases), and 658 were not hospitalized at onset of venous thromboembolism (community residents). The average annual age- and sex-adjusted incidence of in-hospital venous thromboembolism was 960.5 (95% confidence interval, 795.1-1125.9) per 10,000 person-years and was more than 100 times greater than the incidence among community residents at 7.1 (95% confidence interval, 6.5-7.6) per 10,000 person-years. The incidence of venous thromboembolism rose markedly with increasing age for both groups, with PE accounting for most of the age-related increase among in-hospital cases. Incidence rates in the 2 groups changed little over time despite a reduction in the average length of hospital stay between 1980 and 1990.

CONCLUSIONS
Venous thromboembolism is a major national health problem, especially among elderly hospitalized patients. This finding emphasizes the need for accurate identification of hospitalized patients at risk for venous thromboembolism and a better understanding of the mechanisms involved so that safe and effective prophylaxis can be implemented.


Store brands play many beneficial roles for retailers. While some roles such as creating a quality image for the retailer require relatively strong store brands, other roles such as segmentation of customers by income require lesser strong store brands. This paper shows another role of store brand that requires a relatively less strong store brand. Specifically, in a setting in which national brand manufacturers selling to a retailer attempt to engage in non-cooperative tacit pricing collusion among one another, we show that having a very strong store brand can hurt the retailer by increasing the likelihood of national brand manufacturers sustaining tacit collusion.


The French State, and political elites operating within it, have a long tradition of involvement in the
production, management and even the control of language and culture. This has been - and remains
- important in terms of the construction and definition of a State-led model of French identity.
Against this background, the present thesis examines conceptions of French identity held by
political elites, the agents of the State, in relation to language and cultural issues prominent on the
policy-making agenda in the 1990s. The thesis specifically considers the possibility that elite
visions of identity may be changing under the influence both of new approaches to French cultural
policy-making introduced from the 1980s by the Socialists, and specifically the Ministry of Culture
led by Jack Lang, and of a series of potentially destabilising challenges to French models of cultural
policy and identity which have been debated in the 1990s.
In order to examine these issues, the thesis takes three case studies, focusing on political
debates in the public arena surrounding a number of language and cultural policy issues which have
been perceived as symbols of French identity. The regulation and promotion of the French
language, audiovisual broadcasting policy and the Internet are selected as case study areas, which
reveal these perceptions, and point to anxieties about identity in the debates which surround them.
Thus these debates are used as a means of reexamining contemporary elite perceptions of French
identity. This examination is carried out through the close reading of contributions to the debates,
made by political figures of significance in each case study area. The term 'political elites' is used
in the sense of Pareto's definition (1935, in Parry, 1969, pp. 34,46) of the elite as a 'governing elite', composed of all political 'influentials', whether or not they act for the State, as part of a
government, or indirectly as part of the wider polity, in opposition.
The cases tudiesd emonstrateth at elite conceptions of identity in France of the 1990s, whilst
disturbed by contemporary challenges to French cultural policy-making, did not change in any
fundamental way. Instead, they illustrated a reversion to traditional, rigid conceptions of identity,
rather than the welcoming of more dynamic and hybrid ones.


ABSTRACT NATO has successfully adjusted itself in the political and security environment of the post-Cold war era through enlargement, focusing on conflict prevention, crisis management and peacekeeping. Currently, the most important challenge to NATO comes from within. Under businessman-turned-U.S. President Donald J. Trump who focuses his attention on 'making America great again', the issue of burden sharing has dominated NATO's agenda. President Trump has pressured European countries to increase their defense spending to meet the 2% of GDP defense spending objective of NATO. While the previous U.S. presidents also pressured European states with regard to burden sharing, President Trump's rhetoric differs from his predecessors by associating American commitment to the Alliance directly to the defense spending of NATO's European members. Importantly, this article shows that despite Trump's skepticism of NATO and his rhetorical pressure on its member states regarding the issue of burden sharing, there is no change in the American approach to NATO at the policy level.


Background and purpose: Chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP) is associated with decreased lumbar Multifidus (LM) muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and Transverse abdominis (TrA) muscle strength which highly predispose the person to recurrent occurrence of disease. We compared the Pilates (PL) and McKenzie (MK) methods on LM CSA and TrA strength in these patients. Materials and methods: In this clinical trial, 47 female patients, mean age 39.7 years, with CNLBP were allocated to one of three groups including PL training (n=16), MK exercises (n=15), and control (n=16). The measurements of LM CSA and TrA muscle strength were performed using imaging ultrasonography and Bent Knee Lowering Test, respectively at baseline, following a 6-week intervention program, and a follow-up of one month. To evaluate the changes of outcome measurements over time, repeated measures ANOVA test was applied at P< 0.05 in SPSS V. 21. Results: Compared with MK exercises, PL training could significantly increase right and left LM CSA at L5 level (P< 0.001), while there were no significant effects on this factor in other lumbar segments (P> 0.05). Additionally, PL method significantly increased TrA muscle strength (P< 0.001), however this efficiency was not observed for MK exercises (P> 0.05). The changes were not significantly different after a one-month follow-up (P> 0.05). Conclusion: PL training can lead to increase in LM CSA and also TrA muscle strength. These effective changes are persistent following one month. (Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT201406169440N4)


Abstract Electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves can be used to cause muscle contraction, to activate reflexes, and to modulate some functions of the central nervous system (neuromodulation). If applied to the spinal cord or nerves controlling the lower urinary tract, electrical stimulation can produce bladder or sphincter contraction, produce micturition, and can be applied as a medical treatment in cases of incontinence and urinary retention. This article first reviews the history of electrical stimulation applied for treatment of bladder dysfunction and then focuses on the implantable Finetech-Brindley stimulator to produce bladder emptying, and on external and implantable neuromodulation systems for treatment of incontinence. We conclude by summarizing some recent research efforts including: (a) combined sacral posterior and anterior sacral root stimulator implant (SPARSI), (b) selective stimulation of nerve fibers for selective detrusor activation by sacral ventral root stimulation, (c) microstimulation of the spinal cord, and (d) a newly proposed closed-loop bladder neuroprosthesis to treat incontinence caused by bladder overactivity. [Neurol Res 2002; 24: 413-430]


As-grown Sr2SiO4:Eu thin films on Si (100) substrates have been reduced by hydrogen plasma reaction which was carried out by using radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system. The photoluminescence spectra, the crystal structure and the surface morphologies of the plasma-reduced films were measured and compared with those of the as-grown films. At as-grown state, Eu3+ and Eu2+ ions co-exist so that the photoluminescence spectra of the films reveal several emission bands between 350 and 650 nm. They were due to f-f and f-d transitions within Eu3+ and Eu2+ ions. After the plasma-reduced process, the photoluminescence spectra of the films show a remarkable increase of blue-green emission from the transitions of Eu2+ ions and decrease of red emission from the transitions of Eu2+ ions.