Introduction: The use of guidelines in prescribing has become part of clinical practice in many countries around the world. Guidelines are considered to provide information based on scientific evidence from high quality research and hence are expected to lead to appropriate prescribing. Prescribing based on evidence is expected to improve morbidities and mortalities. Pharmacists in different parts of the world are acquiring a clinical professional identity especially in hospital settings where they have moved to bed-side roles to become an effective member of the patient–care team. They are thus expected to play an important role in assisting appropriate prescribing and have a positive impact on patient care. The influence of guidelines on prescribing and the practice of clinical pharmacy have not been studied in Sudan. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the use of guidelines (if any) for prescribing by doctors in the main cardiac hospitals in Sudan, and to explore the influence of availability (or non-availability) of guidelines on the new role of clinical pharmacy in hospitals in Sudan. Method: The study used a mixed method approach to examine the study questions. Interviews were conducted with the cardiology consultants in two of the main cardiac hospitals in Sudan. This was followed by a survey among all the doctors in the hospitals. Later on a focus group discussion was carried out with clinical pharmacists in the two hospitals followed by an online survey sent to the available email addresses of clinical pharmacists in Sudan. Results: Twelve prescribers were interviewed and 47 prescribers (60%) replied to the questionnaire that followed. The majority of the doctors relied on foreign guidelines to prescribe for their patients. The doctors acknowledged the limitation of using foreign guidelines in Sudan. Few prescribers were not in favour of following any guidelines as they perceived that the practice in Sudan does not allow implementation of guidelines. The prescribers were positive about the new role of clinical pharmacists in patient care but they seem not to be in contact with these clinical pharmacists. On the other hand, four pharmacists participated in one focus group and 51(34%) completed the on-line survey. Clinical pharmacists faced a number of obstacles that hindered their progress in practice and the unavailability of guidelines was considered to be one of these obstacles. Other obstacles were related to the pharmacists themselves, to the lack of senior clinical pharmacists for leadership, to the environment they were working in and to the training they received in clinical pharmacy. Conclusion: The making of guidelines is usually a tedious and costly process. Medical practice in places with limited resources has to rely on guidelines made in foreign countries if they want to get the benefits of these guidelines to their patients. The prescribers in Sudan had to find a way to adapt foreign guidelines to their patients and to the healthcare system they are working within. With regard to the clinical pharmacists in Sudan, they are faced with a number of obstacles that they will have to overcome in order to advance in their new role. The new clinical pharmacists will have to be the leaders to pave the way for clinical pharmacy in Sudan. However, they will require support from pharmacy educational institutions, other healthcare professionals and healthcare institutions.


ABSTRACT Verwaest, T.; Houthuys, R.; Roest, B.; Dan, S., and Montreuil, A.-L., 2020. A coastline perturbation caused by natural feeding from a shoreface-connected ridge (headland Sint-André, Belgium). In: Malvárez, G. and Navas, F. (eds.), Global Coastal Issues of 2020. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 95, pp. 701-705. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper explains how a local seaward perturbation, headland Sint-André, in the straight sandy coastline of Belgium can persist for centuries. The diffusive longshore transport gradients on the beach are counterbalanced by a sediment supply from off-shore via a shoreface-connected ridge. A UNIBEST-CL+ 1D coastline model is set up to describe the genesis of this coastline feature. From the size and shape of the perturbation and taking into account the diffusivity caused by the longshore transport gradients, the average sand supply from offshore is estimated to be 55,000 m3/year and it is hindcasted that the connection of the ridge to the coastline occurred between 300 and 400 years ago.


The need to reduce the dimensionality of a dataset whilst retaining inherent manifold structure is key in many pattern recognition, machine learning and computer vision tasks. This process is often referred to as manifold learning since the structure is preserved during dimensionality reduction by learning the intrinsic low-dimensional manifold that the data lies on. Since the inception of manifold learning much research has been carried out into the most effective way of tackling this problem. Two main streams emerged to tackle the task: local and global methods. Each aim to preserve either local or global properties of the data. However, in recent years a third stream of research has come forth: global alignment of local models, which aims to preserve local properties over a global scale. We present a framework to tackle this local/global problem that approximates the manifold as a set of piecewise linear models (Piecewise Linear Manifold Learning). By merging these linear models in an order defined by their global topology, we can obtain a globally stable, and locally accurate model of the manifold. Examining the local properties of the data also allows us to present a generalisation to one of the main open problems in manifold learning — the out-of-sample extension. This problem is concerned with embedding new samples into a previously learnt low-dimensional embedding. Our solution — GOoSE — exploits the local geometry of the manifold to project novel samples into a low-dimensional embedding independent of what manifold learning algorithm was initially used. The results obtained for both Piecewise Linear Manifold Learning and GOoSE are significantly improved over existing state of the art algorithms.


Examines the basis of Harold Pinter's tense comedy and how it functions in his plays as well as covering the major drama from The Room to Other Places. Diamond argues that the metaphysical fear and emptiness so characteristic of the Pinter situation are inseparable from his use and abuse of literary and popular comic traditions.


In patients with acute myeloid leukemia and low percentages of aldehyde-dehydrogenase-positive cells, non-leukemic hematopoietic stem cells can be separated from leukemic cells. By relating hematopoietic stem cell frequencies to outcome we detected poor overall- and disease-free survival of patients with low hematopoietic stem cell frequencies. Serial analysis of matched diagnostic and follow-up samples further demonstrated that hematopoietic stem cells increased after chemotherapy in patients who achieved durable remissions. However, in patients who eventually relapsed, hematopoietic stem cell numbers decreased dramatically at the time of molecular relapse demonstrating that hematopoietic stem cell levels represent an indirect marker of minimal residual disease, which heralds leukemic relapse. Upon transplantation in immune-deficient mice cases with low percentages of hematopoietic stem cells of our cohort gave rise to leukemic or no engraftment, whereas cases with normal hematopoietic stem cell levels mostly resulted in multi-lineage engraftment. Based on our experimental data, we propose that leukemic stem cells have increased niche affinity in cases with low percentages of hematopoietic stem cells. To validate this hypothesis, we developed new mathematical models describing the dynamics of healthy and leukemic cells under different regulatory scenarios. These models suggest that the mechanism leading to decreases in hematopoietic stem cell frequencies before leukemic relapse must be based on expansion of leukemic stem cells with high niche affinity and the ability to dislodge hematopoietic stem cells. Thus, our data suggest that decreasing numbers of hematopoietic stem cells indicate leukemic stem cell persistence and the emergence of leukemic relapse.


In this work, we present a systematic first-principles density-functional theory based study of geometry, electronic structure, and optical properties of armchair phosphorene nanoribbons (APNRs), with the aim of understanding the influence of edge passivation. Ribbons of width ranging from 0.33 nm to 3.8 nm were considered, with their edges functionalized with the groups H, OH, F, Cl, S, and Se. The geometries of various APNRs were optimized, and the stability was checked by calculating their formation energies. Using the relaxed geometries, calculations of their band structure and optical properties were performed. Pristine APNRs, as expected, exhibit significant edge reconstruction, rendering them indirect band gap semiconductors, except for one width (N = 5, where N is the width parameter) for which a direct band gap is observed. The edge passivated APNRs are found to be direct band gap semiconductors, with the band gap at the Γ-point, for all the functional groups considered in this work. To obtain accurate estimates of band gaps, calculations were also performed using HSE06 hybrid functional for several APNRs. Our calculations reveal that functional groups have significant influence on the band gaps and optical properties of narrower APNRs. For wider passivated ribbons, with the increasing ribbon widths, the gaps converge to almost the same value, irrespective of the group. We also performed calculations including the spin–orbit coupling (SOC) for hydrogen passivated APNRs with N = 5 and 11. We found that SOC has no significant influence on the band structure of the studied APNRs. However, for the broader APNR, a lowering of peak intensities was observed in the optical absorption spectrum beyond 5 eV.


We model EU-type carbon emissions control in a group of countries to explore the distributional incidence of mixed policies that consist of an emissions trading scheme (ETS) and of emissions taxes overlapping with the ETS. Such policies impact on national welfares through both the overlapping taxes and the distribution of national emissions caps. Our main proposition is an equivalence result stating that for every mixed policy, there exists an ETS policy without overlapping taxes yielding the same levels of national welfare as the mixed policy. We also suggest two measures of the net distributional incidence of mixed policies.


During planarian regeneration, dorsal and ventral tissues adhere to each other as a result of wound closure. To investigate the role of dorsoventral (DV) interaction in regeneration, dorsal and ventral portions were ectopically reoriented relative to each other by grafting. We sucked a small piece of planarian body into a Pasteur pipette, and then grafted the piece to the original position in DV-reversed orientation. 4 days after grafting, a blastema-like white region was formed on the boundary between the host and the graft. The region grew and formed a cup-shaped projection on both the dorsal and ventral sides of the worm after about 1 week. Histological analysis and in situ hybridization using dorsal and ventral markers revealed that the grafted piece maintained its original DV polarity. Analysis using DV boundary markers clearly indicated that a DV axis was newly established within the projection. Chimeric analysis using a strain-specific marker demonstrated that the projection grew on the DV boundary. Further analysis, using a marker specific for neoblasts and differentiating cells, showed that the projection was composed of neoblasts and/or neoblast-derived cells. Thus, ectopic DV interaction can cause blastema formation, outgrowth and establishment of a DV axis. In addition, staining with tissue- and region-specific markers showed that the projection appears to be identical to the structure from the grafted position to the most anterior or posterior tip. These results suggest that DV interaction evoked by wound closure has a important role in the onset of regeneration, especially for blastema formation and establishment of the DV axis during planarian regeneration.


The end of the Cold War helped to prompt new interest in the study of ideas in international politics. Once the province of a few dedicated researchers on the fringes of the discipline, scholarship on the role of ideas now occupies an important place in the mainstream of North American and especially European international relations research. The five articles in this special issue of the journal are intended to move the research agenda on ideas and the end of the Cold War to a new level of rigor. They develop new models of how ideas affected the outcome and, in so doing, take stock of this event to refine our understanding of how ideas work in international politics. Although we seek a deeper understanding of the end of the Cold War itself, we also use this seminal case to clarify and advance the debate over the role of ideas in international politics more generally.


Healthcare utilisation databases, and other secondary data sources, have been used with growing frequency to assess health outcomes and healthcare interventions worldwide. Their increased popularity as a research tool is due to their timely availability, the large patient populations covered, low cost, and applicability for studying real-world clinical practice. Despite the need to measure Italian National Health Service performance both at regional and national levels, the wealth of good quality electronic data and the high standards of scientific research in this field, healthcare research and public health policies seem to progress along orthogonal dimensions in Italy. The main barriers to the development of evidence-based public health include the lack of understanding of evidence-based methodologies by policy makers, and of involvement of researchers in the policy process. The CRACK programme was launched by some academics from the Lombardy Region. By extensively using electronically stored data, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, pharmacologists and clinicians applied methods and evidence to several issues of healthcare research. The CRACK programme was based on their intention to remove barriers that thwart the process of bridging methods and findings from scientific journals to public health practice. This paper briefly describes aim, articulation and management of the CRACK programme, and discusses why it might find articulated application in Italy.


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights establishes that everyone's dignity and freedom to develop as a person are secured through economic, social and cultural rights. This volume examines the origins of the article of the Declaration that introduced the purpose of economic, social and cultural rights in this way and recognized that every member of society is entitled to their realization through national effort and international cooperation. The article's concepts have been the subject of significant articulation and interpretation. Accordingly, the book analyzes the meaning and application of economic, social and cultural rights and the nature of the related obligations developed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and other international instruments. The book also explores the contribution of the article's legal concepts to philosophical theories of social justice and increasingly to the practice expected of States, individually and in cooperation with international organizations and non-state actors in development and other activities. This volume should provide a convenient tool for human rights advocates, practitioners, lawyers, scholars, and others involved with and interested in the role of human rights in seeking economic, social and cultural security for all.


Around 60 years after signing of the Treaty of Rome, which led to the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Union (EU) is struggling with the aftermath of eurozone and migration crisis and the rise of anti-EU and populist movements all across Europe. Britain's decision to move out of the EU, further adds to the challenges faced by the EU and put its regional integration in question. This paper tries to expose the factors that led to Brexit, analyses whether the EU is headed towards disintegration and what reforms are needed to save the EU model of regional integration from disintegration. Brexit was a complex interplay of factors such as a threat to national identity and sovereignty, rising inequality and economic insecurity and Euroscepticism. The results indicate that in post-Brexit, support for the EU has increased in member states. The economic losses and political chaos that Britain had to undergo post-Brexit has united the EU members despite the rise of populist movements across Europe. However, the EU needs to bring in some structural reforms and make the EU institutions more democratic and flexible in order to sustain as a model of regional integration.


Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects approximately one third of patients with epilepsy. Treatment with Continuous Positive Airway pressure (CPAP) is associated with improved seizure control, but is difficult for patients to tolerate. Patients with epilepsy and co morbid OSA may be at higher risk of recurrent seizures if they are noncompliant with CPAP. This study investigates short-term compliance with CPAP therapy in patients with OSA and epilepsy, as this can predict long-term adherence. Identifying factors influencing compliance rates in this population may help improve compliance and reduce seizure recurrence rate in this population. We also investigated the impact of epilepsy on sleep, and the possible effects this has on CPAP compliance.


Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are being used for low altitude remote sensing for thematic land classification using visible light and multi-spectral sensors. The objective of this work was to investigate the use of UAV equipped with a compact spectrometer for land cover classification. The UAV platform used was a DJI Flamewheel F550 hexacopter equipped with GPS and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) navigation sensors, and a Raspberry Pi processor and camera module. The spectrometer used was the FLAME-NIR, a near-infrared spectrometer for hyperspectral measurements. RGB images and spectrometer data were captured simultaneously. As spectrometer data do not provide continuous terrain coverage, the locations of their ground elliptical footprints were determined from the bundle adjustment solution of the captured images. For each of the spectrometer ground ellipses, the land cover signature at the footprint location was determined to enable the characterization, identification, and classification of land cover elements. To attain a continuous land cover classification map, spatial interpolation was carried out from the irregularly distributed labeled spectrometer points. The accuracy of the classification was assessed using spatial intersection with the object-based image classification performed using the RGB images. Results show that in homogeneous land cover, like water, the accuracy of classification is 78% and in mixed classes, like grass, trees and manmade features, the average accuracy is 50%, thus, indicating the contribution of hyperspectral measurements of low altitude UAV-borne spectrometers to improve land cover classification.


Abstract The source of starch may interfere with glycaemic control in dogs, but few studies have evaluated these aspects in diabetic dogs. This study compared the effects of two isonutrient diets with different starch sources, peas and barley (PB) v. maize (Mi), on diabetic dogs. The Mi diet was processed in order to generate a lower starch gelatinisation index. In all, fifteen adult diabetic dogs without other conditions were included. The animals were fed two dry extruded rations with moderate levels of fat and starch and high levels of protein and fibre using a random, double-blind cross-over design. Glycaemic curves over 48 h were developed via continuous glucose monitoring after 60 d on each diet and with the same neutral protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin dosage. The following were compared: fasting, mean, maximum and minimum blood glucose, maximum and minimum glycaemia difference, glycaemic increment, area under the glycaemic curve, area under the glycaemic increment curve and serum fructosamine concentration. Paired t tests or Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to compare the amount of food and nutrients ingested and the dietary effects on glycaemic variables between the diets. Dogs fed the PB diet presented a lower average mean interstitial glucose (P=0·01), longer mean hypoglycaemic time (P<0·01), shorter mean hyperglycaemic time (P<0·01) and smaller difference between maximum and minimum blood glucose levels (P=0·03). Thus, the processing applied to the Mi diet was not sufficient to achieve the same effects of PB on glycaemic control in diabetic dogs.


This paper presents a mathematical framework that is suitable for voice conversion and adaptation in speech processing. Voice conversion is formulated as a search for the optimal correspondances between a set of source-speaker spectra and a set of target-speaker spectra under a transform that compensates speaker differences. It is possible to simultaneously recover a bi-directional mapping between two sets of vectors that is a parametric mapping (a transform) in one direction and a non-parametric mapping (correspondences) in the reverse direction. An algorithm referred to as Matching-Minimization (MM) is formally derived with proven convergence and an optimal closed-form solution for each step. The algorithm is closely related to the asymmetric-1 variant of the well-known INCA algorithm [1] for which we also provide a proof within the same framework. The differences between MM and INCA are delineated both theoretically and experimentally. MM outperforms INCA in all scenarios. Like INCA, MM does not require parallel corpora. Unlike INCA, MM is suitable when only a few adaptation data are available.


Social network systems (SNSs) such as Facebook and Twitter have recently attracted millions of users by providing social network based services to support easy message posting, information sharing and inter-friend communication. With the rapid growth of social networks, users of SNSs may easily get overwhelmed by the excessive volume of information feeds and felt challenging to digest and find truly valuable information. In this paper, we introduce a personalized feed recommendation service for SNS users based on user interests and social network contexts. Our approach incorporates both the topical preference and topological locality of a user in determining a feed's relevance. We propose a popularity diffusion model to propagate feeds in social networks and support our recommendation service with a set of personalized indices for feed-based information retrieval. A suite of efficient index manipulation algorithms are developed in our framework to address the need of managing the dynamics in social networks. We conduct an extensive performance evaluation to compare our proposal with alternative solutions using both real and synthetic social network data, which suggests our proposal outperforms in both efficiency and relevance.


In recent years, insights from behavioral economics, which incorporates observed behavior of homo sapiens into analytical framework, has been increasingly applied to a wide range of issues. This framework which borrows from psychology and other disciplines has challenged many of the explanations of human behavior based on the traditional concepts of economic rationality. This paper analyzes the relevance of such insights for retirement financing in Asia. Rapid individual and population ageing have made achieving social security in old age among the major challenges facing Asia. Two questions of particular relevance for retirement financing in Asia are the following. First, to what extent are mandatory savings schemes, which enable retirement savings to be separated from other types of savings, and are consistent with psychological theories of savings, prevalent in many Asian countries? Second, what factors explain the investment behavior of households in Asia favoring short-run and speculative investments over long-term investments? The paper concludes with suggestions for enhancing retirement income security in Asia.


Developing accurate and extendable performance models for serverless platforms, aka Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) platforms, is a very challenging task. Also, implementation and experimentation on real serverless platforms is both costly and time-consuming. However, at the moment, there is no comprehensive simulation tool or framework to be used instead of the real platform. As a result, in this paper, we fill this gap by proposing a simulation platform, called SimFaaS, which assists serverless application developers to develop optimized Function-as-a-Service applications in terms of cost and performance. On the other hand, SimFaaS can be leveraged by FaaS providers to tailor their platforms to be workload-aware so that they can increase profit and quality of service at the same time. Also, serverless platform providers can evaluate new designs, implementations, and deployments on SimFaaS in a timely and cost-efficient manner. SimFaaS is open-source, well-documented, and publicly available, making it easily usable and extendable to incorporate more use case scenarios in the future. Besides, it provides performance engineers with a set of tools that can calculate several characteristics of serverless platform internal states, which is otherwise hard (mostly impossible) to extract from real platforms. We show how SimFaaS facilitates the prediction of essential performance metrics such as average response time, probability of cold start, and the average number of instances reflecting the infrastructure cost incurred by the serverless computing provider. We evaluate the accuracy and applicability of SimFaaS by comparing the prediction results with real-world traces from Amazon AWS Lambda.


Besides T helper (Th) cells, natural killer (NK) cells have also been described to participate in the shaping of dendritic cell (DC)-mediated adaptive immune responses. At present, it remains unclear to what extent the induction of these NK helper cell immune mechanisms is coupled with Th responses and whether both helper immune responses are induced by the same DC upon specific pathogen recognition receptor (PRR) stimulation. In this study, we demonstrate that maturation of DCs with a cocktail containing FMKp (membrane fragments of Klebsiella pneumoniae) mounts both Th cell and NK cell helper responses in a PRR-triggered dose-dependent manner as determined by the capacity of the helper cells to produce IFN-γ. Furthermore, by triggering an additional PRR pathway [FMKp in combination with poly(I:C) lyovec], we reveal that both approaches modulate the amount of DC-derived IL-12p70 and that this cytokine is the key determinant of the DC-induced Th1 and NK cell helper responses. Moreover, all PRR triggers able to induce IL-12-producing mature DCs are sufficient to induce these helper responses. We propose the existence of a single program used by DCs to induce potent cellular immune responses by stimulating both T helper and NK cell helper processes. This knowledge can help to select the proper PRR triggers in preventive and therapeutic vaccine design.


J. Ame "Abstract. The objective of this research was to develop an effective antitranspirant formulation for reducing transplant shock (transitory water stress) in bell pepper (Capsicm annuum L.) seedlings. A formulation with a paraffin wax emulsion (Folicote at 5%) and a spreader/sticker type surfactant (Biofilm at 0.5%) was effective as an antitranspirant. This formulation was less phytotoxic than other formulations tested. Application of the formulation led to increased leaf water potential ( Ψ w) i in transplanted seedlings for several days as compared with untreated transplants. When this, (relatively) nonphytotoxic formulation was used in a field study for 1 year, increased seedling Ψ w during a period of imposed water stress led to less leaf abscission and increased plant growth throughout the growing season. Chemical names used: alkylarylpolyethoxyethanol (Biofilm).


According to the kinetic theory for the build-up and elimination of haemoglobin (Hb) adducts, unstable Hb adducts are simultaneously eliminated by zero-order Hb turnover and first-order chemical instability. Thus, the elimination of unstable Hb adducts is non-linear with respect to time. Nonetheless, many studies of Hb adduct stability have characterized the elimination of Hb adducts using linear zero-order or linear first-order models. This paper demonstrates the use of non-linear regression to estimate the first-order rate constant of Hb adduct instability (k) using data on the elimination of Hb adducts in rats dosed with benzene or ortho -toluidine. Results obtained using non-linear regression models are compared with results from the more commonly employed zero- and first-order linear models. It is shown that exposure estimates based on measured levels of unstable Hb adducts can be severely biased if zero-order turnover is assumed. Furthermore, based on published data, estimates of k are subject to estimated relative biases in the range of -4% to 96% when first-order linear models are used to characterize Hb adduct instability.


Oxfam has come together with civil society organisations across the Sahel to assess how well countries are faring in their commitment to more effectively tackle food insecurity. In February 2012, governments across the Sahel and West Africa adopted a Charter for the Prevention and Management of Food Crises, which laid out key commitments for all actors involved – including national governments, regional organisations, UN agencies, NGOs and civil society.  The 2012 food crisis in the Sahel, the fourth time the region has been struck by crisis in just seven years,  provided the first critical test of the extent to which the Charter's principles would be upheld. The report provides a snapshot of current performance, as well as a roadmap for reform in the future. The analysis underlines that, although a number of steps forward have been taken, and in particular the humanitarian response in 2012 was more effective than past responses, there is still substantial room for improvement. The Charter and the report's findings underscore the important role to be played by governments. Yet, all too often, governments are prevented from playing this role as a result of a lack of consistent financial support, inadequate technical capacity and, crucially, insufficient political leadership. As a result, donors and international agencies respond to fill these gaps – playing a vital role in saving lives, but all too often in parallel to efforts by national actors, creating unnecessary duplication and failing to build national capacity for future responses. For an efficient and sustainable improvement in the way in which food crises are managed, a step change in the system of governance will be required.


Henry Melson Stommel, probably the most original and important physical oceanographer of all time, was in large measure the creator of the modern field of dynamical oceanography. He contributed and inspired many of its most important ideas over a 45–year period. Hank, as many called him, was known throughout the world oceanographic community not only as a superb scientist, but as raconteur, explosives amateur, printer, painter, gentleman farmer, fiction writer and host with a puckish sense of humour and booming laugh.


It is reported here that transfer by means of a conjugative process of an oncogenic plasmid from a virulent strain of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to a strain of that organism that had been cured of the plasmid is thermosensitive. Since the thermosensitive step found in the conjugative process appears similar in every respect to a thermosensitive step that is involved in the transformation of a normal cell to a tumor cell in the crown gall disease of plants, it is suggested that the observed results may reflect the existence of a thermosensitive step that is common to these two processes.


This article would like to offer a philosophical overview on the subject of the author in light of the evolution of technology and the explosion of computation with particular reference to their impact on the disciplines of architecture and design. Within this premise though, the scope of many of the presented concepts can be widened to encompass any form of creative process, human and non-human alike. The concept of authoriality, and the relation between design and making will be reviewed under the lens of computation and its evolution, from the relevant historical premises underlined by Carpo and the figure of Leon Battista Alberti to the raise of AI and its foreseeable potential.


Rheological investigations are reported for pure polyolefin and its clay-nanocomposites to establish structure-properties relationship with respect to filler concentration. Flow birefringence is performed through an engineering geometry slit-die to obtain centerline principal stress difference during elongational flow. The centerline stress profile of clay-nanocomposite revealed additional viscoelastic nature even at low silicate concentrations whereas at the slit entrance no exceptional strain hardening was reported. Effects of higher filler concentrations are further examined during the simple shearing flow where non-terminal low frequency strain hardening only at maximum concentration of clay exhibited pseudo solid like response with improved dynamic moduli. The increase in damping coefficient with increasing clay concentration shows polymernanocomposites are more strain sensitive. The Wagner exponential damping function could adequately describe the timestrain separability at all clay concentrations studied. The results of this investigation reveal that the polymers are time-strain separable at all clay concentrations during elongational and simple shearing flows. But different molecular orientations are possible according to layers alignment along the flow direction.


INTRODUCTION
Chronic pelvic pain (CPP) is a significant issue, and approximately 14% of women experience CPP once in their lifetime. While interdisciplinary pain management is considered the gold standard of treatment, few programs offer this type of treatment in Canada. The aims of this paper were to: 1) describe the development of an interdisciplinary CPP program; and 2) demonstrate changes in patient-related outcomes after attending an interdisciplinary CPP program.

METHODS
Referrals were received from community urologists and obstetricians/gynecologists, and pain physicians at the Michael G. DeGroote Pain Clinic. Patients attended an orientation session, completed an interdisciplinary assessment, and if appropriate attended an eight-day interdisciplinary CPP program. Each day consisted of group-based pelvic floor physiotherapy, psycho-education, goal-setting, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness. Psychometric questionnaires were completed pre- and post-program by patients, and paired sample t-tests were used to evaluate the changes in patient-related outcomes after attending the program.

RESULTS
Thirty-seven female patients completed the program, and results demonstrate that the CPP program was associated with significant improvements in impact of pelvic pain on quality of life, readiness for change, and pain-related self-efficacy, as well as decreases in pain catastrophizing and fear of pain/re-injury.

CONCLUSIONS
CPP is a complex condition that requires interdisciplinary management and care. The results of this study demonstrate the short-term benefits of an interdisciplinary CPP program and highlight the unique needs of women with CPP and implicate multiple factors for programming and treatment.


Virtualization is one of the key enabling technologies for cloud computing. Although it facilitates improved utilization of resources, virtualization can lead to performance degradation due to the sharing of physical resources like CPU, memory, network interfaces, disk controllers, etc. Multi-tenancy can cause highly unpredictable performance for concurrent I/O applications running inside virtual machines that share local disk storage in cloud. Disk I/O requests in a typical cloud setup may have varied requirements in terms of latency and throughput as they arise from a range of heterogeneous applications having diverse performance goals. This necessitates providing differential performance services to different I/O applications. In this paper, we present PriDyn, a novel scheduling framework which is designed to consider I/O performance metrics of applications such as acceptable latency and convert them to an appropriate priority value for disk access based on the current system state. This framework aims to provide differentiated I/O service to various applications and ensures predictable performance for critical applications in multi-tenant cloud environment. We demonstrate that this framework achieves appreciable enhancements in I/O performance indicating that this approach is a promising step towards enabling QoS guarantees on cloud storage.


The main goal of the pilot job is to assess the risks of production by horizontal wells and multilateral wells with a close gas cap above and water layers beneath the main formation. The objectives are to monitor the total producing length of the wells using temperature and pressure surveillance. The results of monitoring were analyzed at different stages of development.
 An analysis was carried out by combining pressure and temperature data obtained while monitoring the production of multilateral wells. The well properties were determined using RTA and PTA.
 To assess the inflow profile, distributed temperature sensors in the wells were analyzed for the entire period of appraisal production. A feature of the research was the low contrast of temperature anomalies associated with fluid inflow. In addition, it was also revealed that the DTS absolute readings at the depth of the formation were affected by surface temperature, which required corrections and the use of relative readings in the calculations instead of absolute ones.
 The main feature of the pressure analysis was the short period of production. With such well completion geometry and reservoir properties of the layer, the radial flow could not be achieved during the whole test period. Despite these limitations, the dynamics of the total producing length of the well was determined. The initial value of the producing length was about 70% of the drilled length, then there is a slight decrease after 7 to 10 months of well production.
 By analyzing the fiber-optic temperature profile, an inflow profile was assessed. Based on the analysis of changes in relative temperature anomalies, the shares of inflow from the sidetracks were estimated.
 Several memory temperature / pressure gauges set along the horizontal section were used as an additional data source to monitor well parameters during the whole period of production. The difference in their readings was due to, among other things, the average flow rate in the section between the sensors, which made it possible to give an independent assessment of the inflow profile.
 Based on the results of the job performed, a number of risks and uncertainties were removed, including information on the total flowing horizontal length dynamics, which is a valuable input for full-field development planning. In addition, an express method of DTS data analysis has been developed for assessing the wellbore producing length without significant temperature changes associated with intervals of inflow.


Two of the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), present significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide. While the etiologies of AD and PD differ, both diseases share commonalities in synaptic dysfunction, thereby focusing attention on the role of neurotransmitters. The possible functions that platelets may play in neurodegenerative illnesses including PD and AD are becoming more acknowledged. In AD, platelets have been investigated for their ability to generate amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides, contributing to the formation of neurotoxic plaques. Moreover, platelets are considered biomarkers for early AD diagnosis. In PD, platelets have been studied for their involvement in oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, which are key factors in the disease's pathogenesis. Emerging research shows that platelets, which release glutamate upon activation, also play a role in these disorders. Decreased glutamate uptake in platelets has been observed in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients, pointing to a systemic dysfunction in glutamate handling. This paper aims to elucidate the critical role that glutamate receptors play in the pathophysiology of both AD and PD. Utilizing data from clinical trials, animal models, and cellular studies, we reviewed how glutamate receptors dysfunction contributes to neurodegenerative (ND) processes such as excitotoxicity, synaptic loss, and cognitive impairment. The paper also reviews all current medications including glutamate receptor antagonists for AD and PD, highlighting their mode of action and limitations. A deeper understanding of glutamate receptor involvement including its systemic regulation by platelets could open new avenues for more effective treatments, potentially slowing disease progression and improving patient outcomes.


As community informationization is the extension of e-government, to perform informationization construction in city community construction could enforce community construction and management, perfecting community functions and improve community service quality. However, as there are differences in the environment, conditions and aims of community management both at home and abroad and among domestic cities, community construction can't adopt one same model or to copy entirely from others. Considering this, research on the development laws and model of community informationization is the necessary premise of successfully making community informationization construction. Through analysis on the present state of community informationization both at home and abroad and in major domestic cities, this paper makes a summary of community informationization construction and explores relevant development models, providing helpful references for government to make community informationization construction.


Escherichia coli O157:H7 can survive in low numbers in soil and on plants. Occasionally, conditions may occur in the field that lead to contamination of produce. Survival of enteric pathogens in the field is controlled to a certain extent by complex interactions with indigenous soilborne and seedborne epiphytes. Identifying these interactions may assist in developing strategies to improve produce safety. Two epiphytes were isolated from pathogen-contaminated plants that interact differently with E. coli O157:H7. Wausteria paucula enhanced the survival of E. coli O157:H7 six-fold on lettuce foliage grown from coinoculated lettuce seed. In contrast, Enterobacter asburiae decreased E. coli O157:H7 survival 20- to 30-fold on foliage. Competition also occurred in the rhizosphere and in plant exudate. This competition may be the result of E. asburiae utilization of several of the carbon and nitrogen substrates typically present in exudate and also used by E. coli O157:H7. Hence, competition observed on the plant may involve one or more nutrients provided by the plant. In contrast, a different mechanism may exist between E. coli O157:H7 and W. paucula since commensalism was only observed on foliage, not in the rhizosphere or plant exudate. Good agricultural practices that encourage the growth of competing bacteria, like E. asburiae, may reduce the incidence of produce contamination.


Process intensification of catalytic fixed-bed reactors is of vital interest and can be conducted on different length scales, ranging from the molecular scale to the pellet scale to the plant scale. Particle-resolved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to characterize different reactor designs regarding optimized heat transport characteristics on the pellet scale. Packings of cylinders, Raschig rings, four-hole cylinders, and spheres were investigated regarding their impact on bed morphology, fluid dynamics, and heat transport, whereby for the latter particle shape, the influence of macroscopic wall structures on the radial heat transport was also studied. Key performance indicators such as the global heat transfer coefficient and the specific pressure drop were evaluated to compare the thermal performance of the different designs. For plant-scale intensification, effective transport parameters that are needed for simplified pseudo-homogeneous two-dimensional plug flow models were determined from the CFD results, and the accuracy of the simplified modeling approach was judged.


The last fifteen years will certainly be counted as important in the history of the development of socialist thought. The extraordinary rebirth of Marxism has indeed been in contrast to the crisis of a dominant ideology stricken with sterility. This rebirth follows a long empty period marked by Stalinist dogmatism, tempered by the extraordinary attraction that the technocratic ideology of triumphant "apoliticism" exercised, at first covertly, then openly from 1953 on. The eclectic compromises of the fifties flourished briefly; since at least 1965 a vigorous Marxist thought has begun to leave them far behind.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


BACKGROUND
Stroke is the most relevant cause of acquired persistent disability in adulthood. The relationship between patient's weight during rehabilitation and stroke functional outcome is controversial, previous research reported positive, negative and no effects, with scarce studies specifically addressing working-age patients.

AIM
To evaluate the association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the functional progress of adult (<65 years) patients with stroke admitted to a rehabilitation hospital.

DESIGN
Retrospective observational cohort study.

SETTING
Inpatient rehabilitation center.

POPULATION
178 stroke patients (ischemic or hemorrhagic).

METHODS
Point-biserial and Spearman's correlations, multivariate linear regressions and analysis of covariance were used to describe differences in functional outcomes after adjusting for age, sex, severity, dysphagia, depression and BMI category. Functional Independence Measure (FIM), FIM gain, efficiency and effectiveness were assessed.

RESULTS
Participants were separated in 3 BMI categories: normal weight (47%), overweight (33%) and obese (20%). There were no significant differences between BMI categories in any functional outcome (total FIM (TFIM), cognitive (CFIM), motor (MFIM)) at discharge, admission, gain, efficiency or effectiveness. In regression models BMI (as continuous variable) was not significant predictor of TFIM at discharge after adjusting for age, sex, severity, dysphagia, depression and ataxia (R2=0.4813), significant predictors were TFIM at admission (β = 0.528) and NIHSS (β=-0.208). MFIM efficiency did not significantly differ by BMI subgroups, neither did CFIM efficiency. Length of stay (LOS) and TFIM effectiveness were associated for normal (r=0.33) and overweight (r=0.43), but not for obese. LOS and TFIM efficiency were strongly negatively associated only for obese (r=-0.50).

CONCLUSIONS
FIM outcomes were not associated to BMI, nevertheless each BMI category when individually considered (normal weight, overweight or obese) was characterized by different associations involving FIM outcomes and clinical factors.

CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT
In sub-acute post-stroke working-age patients undergoing rehabilitation, BMI was not associated to FIM outcomes (no obesity paradox was reported in this sample). Distinctive significant associations emerged within each BMI category, (supporting their characterization) such as length of stay and TFIM effectiveness were associated for normal weight and overweight, but not for obese. Length of stay and TFIM efficiency were strongly negatively associated only for obese.


Due to the widely use of composite materials in aerospace vehicles, the poor impact resistance of such materials may cause serious degradation of aircraft structures. Aiming at monitoring impact online for large scale aircraft composite structures, a wireless impact monitoring network based on digital wireless impact monitors has been developed. However, the digital localization method adopted in the network only works in single monitor, resulting in the localization confliction among multiple monitors and the false impact localization result of mid-region. In order to meet the needs of wireless impact networking monitoring, this research puts forward an energy-weighted factor based localization method with the ability of solving localization confliction and locating mid-regions. To verify the performance of the method, a wireless impact monitoring network based on a number of monitors are built and conducted on a composite unmanned aerial vehicle structure. Experimental results show that the method performs well. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/4


Although structure, biologic activities, and expression of the low‐affinity IgE receptor (FceRII, CD23) have been investigated, the diagnostic value for allergies of this molecule and its soluble circulating fragment (sCD23) remains unclear. Therefore, serum sCD23 levels were measured in 203 blood donors. They were divided into atopic and nonatopic subjects by allergy history, physical findings of allergic symptoms, and corresponding specific circulating IgE antibodies. The group consisting of nonatopic subjects was divided into four age categories in order to exclude age‐dependent variations in the expression of the low‐affinity IgE receptor. In our study population, sCD23 serum levels were not influenced by age. Furthermore, no significant differences, especially no decrease in serum sCD23 levels, between the four nonatopic age groups were detected. There was no significant increase of sCD23 serum levels in atopic subjects in comparison with nonatopic blood donors. In addition, no correlation between total IgE levels and sCD23 serum levels could be detected, in either the group of atopic donors or the group of nonatopics. Our data suggest that the circulating low‐affinity IgE receptor does not appear to be an additional general marker for the diagnosis of allergies, as previously suggested.


Purpose:
English construction, a particularly litigious industry, saw adjudication introduced in 1996 to
improve cash flow and provide time-efficient, cost-effective dispute resolution. The industry
perception is that adjudication no longer provides this. Mediation is a successful dispute resolution
method used in many areas. It could be beneficial in construction disputes; however, there is
limited evidence of significant implementation in England. The purpose of this research is to
establish the current use of mediation in English construction, whether it is appropriate, and the
requirements to encourage greater use.
Method:
A mixed-method approach through case studies (20) followed by interviews (10) with key
stakeholders, obtained qualitative data to develop a conceptual model. This informed the design of
a cross-industry questionnaire, providing quantitative data to triangulate the findings.
Findings:
The results demonstrated that the majority of disputes are adjudicated at a significant cost often
with unpredictable outcomes. Little use was made of mediation. However, when used mediation is
successful in resolving construction disputes, enabling negotiated outcomes. In addition, most
users of adjudication and mediation would prefer to use mediation, where appropriate. The
research also identified significant barriers, including a lack of understanding of mediation and the
contractual requirement to use adjudication. The resistance to mediation was highest from subcontract
organisations rather than larger contractors. Sub-contractors are generally suspicious of
an offer of mediation from the main contractor. There was strong support for mediators being
experts in the field of the dispute.
Conclusion:
The identified barriers need to be removed to enable greater use of mediation. Parties to the
projects (stakeholders) need to receive training in mediation, contacts need to encourage its use
and mediators need to be easily accessible. Work is now ongoing, following this study, to develop
this training, influence the bodies that draft standard contacts and make mediators accessible.


My research interest lies at the interaction between human-computer interaction (HCI) and geoinformatics. I am interested in developing new methods and novel user interfaces to navigate through spatial information. This article will give a brief overview on my past and current research topics and streams. Generally speaking, Geography is playing an increasingly important role in computer science and also in the field of HCI ranging from social computing to natural user interfaces (NUIs). At the same time, research in geography has focused more and more on technologymediated interaction with spatiotemporal phenomena. By bridging the two fields, my aim is to exploit this fruitful intersection between those two field and develop, design and tests user interfaces that help people to solve their daily tasks more enjoyable and/ or effectively.


This study was performed in order to analyse the prevalence, clinical characteristics and mortality of heavy drinkers among hospitalized patients during a 2-year period. Chronic excessive alcohol consumption (daily intake >80 g of ethanol for ma les and >40 g for females) was found in 278 of 2913 hospital admissions and was strongly associated with the male sex (90.69%). Hea vy drinkers were significantly younger than other admissions (15 and 10 years for men and women, respectively), but showed similar mortality rates to other admissions, despite a much earlier age at death (19.5 years for men and 22 years for women). There was a trend towards higher mortality rates among severe alcoholic women than severe alcoholic men and non-alcoholic women. Liver cirrhosis was the entity most frequently observed in the heavy drinkers, and was significantly more prevalent in alcoholic women.


Industrial Internet of Things is focused to improve the performance of smart factories through automation and scalable functions. IoT paradigm, information and communication technology, and intelligent computing are assimilated as a single entity for industrial automation, optimization, sharing and security, and scalability. In a view of the security requirement in smart industry data sharing through IoT, this article introduces a blockchain-assisted secure data sharing (BSDS) model. This model is responsible for administering inbound and outbound security in data acquisition and dissemination. The inbound acquisition is first classified using recurrent learning to identify adverse sequences in data dissemination. In the outbound security measure, end-to-end authentication based on the blockchain information of reputation and sequence differentiation is engaged. The blockchain paradigm controls the data gathering and dissemination instances through the classification and integrity verification in both the industry and processing terminals. For this purpose, the functions of the blockchain are riven for data gathering and monitoring in the smart industry whereas integrity and sequence verification is performed by the nonmining blockchain terminal in the processing environment. The integrated security measures are capable of maximizing the response rate by confining false alarm progression, failure rate, and time delay. Statistical analysis shows that the BSDS achieves a 5.67% high response rate and reduces the failure rate by 2.14%. Further, it achieves 3.12%, maximizes response rate by 6.63%, and reduces delay by 11.91%, respectively.


The potential strengths and weaknesses of a Foucauldian critique of education are discussed and evaluated. The article focuses specifically on the value of Foucault's work for critiquing social and political ideologies prevalent in education, which is understood as a societal institution, and hence, as a modern regime of institutional power. In terms of strengths, the ability to raise issues of knowledge, power and contestation that are traditionally ignored in educational theory is addressed. In terms of weaknesses, Foucault's problematic use and understanding of power and his apparent rejection of objective truth are investigated. The critique develops at the hand of influential, but competing, interpretations of Foucault's contribution to the field of education in particular, and philosophy in general. It is argued that these influential readings of Foucault gain traction within specific discourses (such as education), and should thus be subjected to critical scrutiny. Keywords: critique; education; Foucault; institution; power; truth


Hypothermia is an important threat in trauma patients. The prevention of accidental hypothermia requires a thermal steady state. A simple mathematical model describing thermal steady state is introduced. When applied to trauma patients the model seems sensitive to changes in temperature of intravenous fluids. To simulate possible strategies to prevent hypothermia in the trauma patient the mathematical solution needs to be extended to describe situations where steady state does not exist. From these simulations it can be concluded that infusion heating devices are mandatory in patients with high fluid requirements. Language: en


Recent X-ray observations of galaxies with ROSAT, ASCA, and Chandra have revealed numerous bright off-center point sources which, if isotropic emit-ters, are likely to be intermediate-mass black holes, with M ∼ 10 2−4 M ⊙. The origin of these objects is under debate, but observations suggest that a significant number of them currently reside in young high-density stellar clusters. There is also growing evidence that some Galactic globular clusters harbor black holes of similar mass, from observations of stellar kinematics. In such high-density stellar environments, the interactions of intermediate-mass black holes are promising sources of gravitational waves for ground-based and space-based detectors. Here we explore the signal strengths of binaries containing intermediate-mass black holes or stellar-mass black holes in dense stellar clusters. We estimate that a few to tens per year of these objects will be detectable during the last phase of their inspiral with the advanced LIGO detector, and up to tens per year will be seen during merger, depending on the spins of the black holes. We also find that if these objects reside in globular clusters then tens of sources will be detectable with LISA from the Galactic globular system in a five year integration, and similar numbers will be detectable from more distant galaxies. The signal strength depends on the eccentricity distribution, but we show that there is promise for strong detection of pericenter precession and Lense-Thirring precession of the orbital plane. We conclude by discussing what could be learned about binaries, dense stellar systems, and strong gravity if such signals are detected.


It is becoming increasingly important for consumers to know exactly what kind of foods they consume, while it is increasingly vital for food producers to excel from the competition in the global market. This requires a great deal of information exchange between these two market players. The most common way to do this is through various food labels. I have focused on one group of such labels in my research, trying to find out as much useful information as possible about the geographical indications (GI) of the European Union. I was looking for answers to the following questions: 1, How well-known are the labels of EU GI products among Hungarian consumers, and how well do they know their meaning? The awareness of the GI labels in Hungary is definitely low (in the best case, it was 31%), even if this number is not much lower than the average in the EU. This number is probably too low for these labels to be effective marketing tools for producers. It also includes the fact that only 50% of those who said they know the label know at least approximately the meaning of the label. Can you build a marketing campaign currently on these markings? Probably not an effective one, but what gives hope is that awareness of the labels compared to previous surveys is constantly increasing. The EU focuses on GI products, so this growth is expected to be continued. So far, the EU has completed more than 30 international agreements, which allow the recognition of many EU GI outside the boundaries of the EU and the recognition of non-EU GI inside the territories of the EU. GIs represent an increasingly important aspect of trade negotiations between the EU and other countries. The Commission separates around €50 million year after year to support quality products in the EU and all over the world. Taking this into account, these labels can play an important role in the food markets in the near future. 2, What is the level of trust in the labelling of EU GI products, and what influences this trust? About half of the respondents said that they trust the logo. When we analysed the possible variables, which can influence trust, we concluded that knowledge of logos is important because if someone knows the label, they have more than three times the chance to trust them, while in terms of meaning, the chance is almost double. Based on the research, we can say that gender, education, and age do not affect trust in EU GI labels. In the case of place of residence, it can be said that someone who lives in a more urban environment trusts less in GI labels. All in all, consumer education is most needed to build confidence in GI, as those who recognize the labels on food packaging or are aware of what those labels mean will treat these products with much greater confidence. 3, How often do consumers buy EU GI certified products, and what affects it? More than 35% of those surveyed are regular customers of GI-labelled products. The frequency of purchases is mostly determined by consumer confidence (the result is not significant for the PDO). Women become much fewer regular customers (not significant for the PGI). In terms of age, the older a consumer is, the less likely it is to become a regular buyer (not significant for PDO), while residents of rural, smaller settlements are more loyal buyers of PGI products. The highest level of education has no detectable effect here either. So, in this topic also, we have to repeat that the most important thing is to inform consumers as widely as possible. 4, In the Hungarian market, what is the market size of products with geographical indication, examining the example of discount stores? The number of GI products available in Hungarian discount stores is limited, with an average of 11 products per store. The supply is fairly constant; however, even though there are only a limited number of GI products on the shelves, they are at least always available to consumers and are part of the chains 'core product portfolio. However, the number of GI products usually increases during the thematic days (e.g., Greek days). We can see that the supply is very limited for GI products, so buyers rarely meet face to face with the label, they are even less likely to find out about the meaning of the markings on their own. Targeted information on GI labels is needed for consumers, and for that they start to appreciate them. 5, In Hungarian discount stores, what is the price premium of products with a geographical indication compared to their direct substitutes, estimated from below? The average price premium for GI products is 29% in the Aldi, 46% in the Penny Market and the highest was in Lidl with 54%. Overall, the average premium was around 43%. It is also important to mention that in addition to supply, prices did not really change during the observations. Although the price of some products may also change during promotional periods, consumers can plan to purchase GI products in advance. On the other hand, discount stores provide a continuous market for producers as well. 6, Are geographical indications positively related to comparative advantages in the beer market? Our results show that the number of GI-registered beers is positively related to comparative advantages. Countries with traditional beer products closely linked to their place of origin are usually with a higher level of comparative advantages as the number of GI beers positively determines SRCA indices. From this, it can be concluded that it is not pointless to promote the increase in the number of GI products and devote resources to GI labels.


Background The concept of non-atherosclerotic coronary artery pathology in sudden cardiac death (SCD) has not been given the attention it deserves. Objective To determine the incidence of non-atherosclerotic coronary artery pathology in SCD and raise awareness among cardiologists and pathologists alike. Design Retrospective non-case-controlled analysis. Setting Cardiac pathology centre at the National Heart and Lung Institute and Royal Brompton Hospital. Subjects Between 1994 and 2008, the hearts of 1647 people undergoing SCD were referred for pathological assessment to ascertain the precise aetiology of SCD. Results Fifty (3.0%) of the 1647 cases of SCD were associated with non-atherosclerotic coronary pathology (31 male subjects (62%) and 19 female subjects (38%, age range (8 weeks–71 years)). Twenty four of the 50 cases had anomalous coronary arteries (48%); eight cases had coronary artery dissection (16%); six cases had coronary artery vasculitis (12%); six cases had coronary artery spasm (12%); three cases had idiopathic arterial calcification of infancy (6%); two cases had fibromuscular dysplasia (4%) and one case had a benign tumour occluding the left coronary ostium (2%). Only 20 of the 50 patients (40%) were documented to have experienced cardiac symptoms such as syncope, chest pain on exertion or breathlessness before their SCD. Twelve of the patients (24%) died during or immediately after physical exertion. Conclusion Non-atherosclerotic coronary disease is associated with sudden death in all age groups, particularly younger, male patients. Cardiologists need to be aware of these entities and investigate any patient who has cardiac symptoms especially with exertion.


An emerging literature in the field of income distribution suggests that inequality may persist in the long run. U.S. father and son income data extracted from the PSID support the hypothesis that the distribution of earnings of children raised in privileged environments welfare-dominates that of children of disadvantaged backgrounds. We provide the following explanations for this finding: (i) children raised in privileged backgrounds tend to have higher average earnings and more equally distributed incomes than children originated from disadvantaged environments, (ii) class inheritance is substantial for the less privileged group. On the whole though, the probability matrix of intergenerational earnings mobility exhibits a pattern of symmetry with transitions from class i to class j equally likely as movements from class j to class i.


Media-streaming applications require smooth patterns of data transmission and also benefit from efficient resource utilization. System-wise, the underlying congestion control mechanism should achieve fairness and maintain TCP-friendliness. In this context, we optimize Additive Increase Multiplicative Decrease (AIMD) congestion control for multimedia applications, within the framework of bandwidth efficiency, smoothness, and inter-protocol fairness. We assume Scalable Streaming Video Protocol (SSVP) as the underlying congestion control mechanism. Departing from SSVP's throughput model and based on the concepts of the knee and the cliff as defined in (4), we provide an analysis of AIMD congestion control, taking into account the role of the bottleneck queue. We observe that although multiplicative decrease is necessary to achieve fairness, it does not necessarily sacrifice the system throughput, as long as the system operates between the knee and the cliff. The proposed AIMD mechanism introduces congestion control parameters adaptable to current network conditions, preventing the system from operating below the knee, where a fraction of the available bandwidth is not utilized and smoothness is compromised as throughput fluctuates.


The most existing studies in the facial age estimation assume training and test images are captured under similar shooting conditions. However, this is rarely valid in real-worlds applications, where training and test sets usually have different characteristics. In this paper, we advocate a cross-dataset protocol for age estimation benchmarking. In order to improve the cross-dataset age estimation performance, we mitigate the inherent bias caused by the learning algorithm itself. To this end, we propose a novel loss function that is more effective for neural network training. The relative smoothness of the proposed loss function is its advantage with regards to the optimisation process performed by stochastic gradient descent (SGD). Compared with existing loss functions, the lower gradient of the proposed loss function leads to the convergence of SGD to a better optimum point, and consequently a better generalisation. The cross-dataset experimental results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method over the state-of-the-art algorithms in terms of accuracy and generalisation capability.


Unsymmetrically 1,1'-disubstituted 4,4'-bis-1H-1,2,3-triazoles 4 have been prepared from 4-ethynyl-1,2,3-triazoles 5 and azides. Following a "double-click" strategy, two complementary approaches were implemented for the preparation of the key 4-ethynyltriazole intermediates 5: (a) the stepwise Swern oxidation/Ohira-Bestman alkynylation of readily available 4-hydroxymethyl-1,2,3-triazoles 8 and (b) the stepwise cycloaddition of TMS-1,4-butadiyne 9. The method is highlighted by its compatibility with orthogonally protected and functionalized saccharide-peptide hybrids and its ability to be extended to the trisubstituted counterparts 12.


Aim: To identify and characterization of klebsiella pneumoniae in different clinical samples in tertiary care hospital, Lahore Methodology: These 90 samples include 12 sputum samples, 21 tracheal swab, 30 pus and 27 urine samples from LGH, Lahore. Sample size: 90 subjects Duration: 6 months i.e. 01-07-2022 to 31-12-2022 Study place: LGH, Lahore Gram staining, microscopy, sputum, tracheal swab, pus, and urine cultures, biochemical tests, and antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed for all samples. Statistical analysis was performed by using SPSS Software. Results: Among the 90 clinical samples, 50 (55.6%) were positive for K. pneumoniaand10 cases (11.1%) with other bacteria. 30 (33.3%) cases showed no growth. Colistin, meropenem, amikacin, and imipenem (8.3%) were sensitive to sputum samples. Colistin 38.1%, ceftazidime 4.7%, meropenem 4.7%, amikacin 9.5%, sulfamethoxazole 4.7%, gentamycin 9.5%, and imipenem 28.5% were sensitive in tracheal swab samples. Conclusion: The highest sensitivity was observed incefoperazone, cefotaxime, and ceftriaxone (53.3%) isolates in pus samples. Keywords: Klebsiellapneumoniae, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, sensitivity patterns.


In this study, modeling of a helicopter fuselage panel with active vibration control is carried out. In order to represent the helicopter body shell, a cabin panel clamped from four edges is designed. Piezoelectric patches are attached on the body according to the literature. The dynamic characteristics of the structure are obtained by finite element based modal analysis and exporting of state space matrices. The numerical model of the cabin panel is characterized with regard to active vibration control loop. Vibration data obtained from the helicopter operational tests is applied as a distortion. Positive position feedback (PPF) which is collocated controller design is implemented on the system and system performance is verified by evaluating the strain responses at the controlled points. Active vibration control studies are carried out in simulation. The results show that the designed system can decrease the vibration at desired level.


In this paper we describe eBird, a citizen science project that takes advantage of human observational capacity and machine learning methods to explore the synergies between human computation and mechanical computation. We call this model a Human/Computer Learning Network, whose core is an active learning feedback loop between humans and machines that dramatically improves the quality of both, and thereby continually improves the effectiveness of the network as a whole. Human/Computer Learning Networks leverage the contributions of a broad recruitment of human observers and processes their contributed data with Artificial Intelligence algorithms leading to a computational power that far exceeds the sum of the individual parts.


Abstract
Background: Eccentric Exercise has been shown to be more effective in building muscle and healing damaged tissue than concentric or isometric exercise. It has also been shown to be effective in increasing motor control. But the duration of therapeutic exercise in physical therapy is limited by insurance to 30-60 minutes a day.
Objectives: Four standard therapy eccentric exercises of the lower limbs were compared (toe raise, ball exercise, side lying eccentric exercise and incline board exercise) to a trainer called the BTE Eccentron to see if the efficiency of exercise could be increased using one exercise session to meet or beat the four individual exercises.
Subjects and Methods: The study examined eight randomly selected participants with no known medical conditions (neurological or orthopedic) that would preclude their participation (age=24.1+/-2.1 years height=168.9+/-6.4 cm BMI=23.2+/-3.2). EMG was used to assess muscle recruitment in each exercise. The muscles studies were the gastrocnemius, hamstring, hip adductors, and quadriceps muscles.
Results: Muscle use on the eccentron was almost double that of the other exercises. Thus, making therapy more efficient. One single exercise bout showed more muscle activation during eccentric exercise than the other four exercises, with an average muscle use almost 4 times higher on the eccentron.
Conclusion: The Eccentron offers a considerable advantage for clinical treatment making exercise and neuromuscular training more efficient.


Title of dissertation: DEVELOPMENTS IN LAGRANGIAN DATA ASSIMILATION AND COUPLED DATA ASSIMILATION TO SUPPORT EARTH SYSTEM MODEL INITIALIZATION Luyu SUN Doctor of Philosophy, 2019 Dissertation directed by: Professor James Carton and Stephen Penny Department of Atmosphere and Oceanic Science The air-sea interface is one of the most physically active interfaces of the Earth's environments and significantly impacts the dynamics in both the atmosphere and ocean. In this doctoral dissertation, developments are made to two types of Data Assimilation (DA) applied to this interface: Lagrangian Data Assimilation (LaDA) and Coupled Data Assimilation (CDA). LaDA is a DA method that specifically assimilates position information measured from Lagrangian instruments such as Argo floats and surface drifters. To make a better use of this Lagrangian information, an augmented-state LaDA method is proposed using Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF), which is intended to update the ocean state (T/S/U/V) at both the surface and at depth by directly assimilating the drifter locations. The algorithm is first tested using "identical twin" Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) in a simple double gyre configuration with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) Modular Ocean Model version 4.1 (MOM4p1). Results from these experiments show that with a proper choice of localization radius, the estimation of the state is improved not only at the surface, but throughout the upper 1000m. The impact of localization radius and model error in estimating accuracy of both fluid and drifter states are investigated. Next, the algorithm is applied to a realistic eddy-resolving model of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) using Modular Ocean Model version 6 (MOM6) numerics, which is related to the 1/4-degree resolution configuration in transition to operational use at NOAA/NCEP. Atmospheric forcing is first used to produce the nature run simulation with forcing ensembles created using the spread provided by the 20 Century Reanalysis version 3 (20CRv3). In order to assist the examination on the proposed LaDA algorithm, an updated online drifter module adapted to MOM6 is developed, which resolves software issues present in the older MOM4p1 and MOM5 versions of MOM. In addition, new attributions are added, such as: the output of the intermediate trajectories and the interpolated variables: temperature, salinity, and velocity. The twin experiments with the GoM also show that the proposed algorithm provides positive impacts on estimating the ocean state variables when assimilating the drifter position together with surface temperature and salinity. Lastly, an investigation of CDA explores the influence of different couplings on improving the simultaneous estimation of atmosphere and ocean state variables. Synchronization theory of the drive-response system is applied together with the determination of Lyapunov Exponents (LEs) as an indication of the error convergence within the system. A demonstration is presented using the Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter on the simplified Modular Arbitrary-Order Ocean-Atmosphere Model, a three-layer truncated quasi-geostrophic model. Results show that strongly coupled data assimilation is robust in producing more accurate state estimates and forecasts than traditional approaches of data assimilation. Developments in Lagrangian Data Assimilation and Coupled Data Assimilation to Support Earth System Model Initialization


The authors review treatment and results in 45 cases of medulloblastoma arising in childhood. The surgical mortality rate observed was 11%. Of those completing postoperative cerebrospinal irradiation at this institution, 53% have survived for 3 years, 41% for 5 years, and 22% for 10 years. The extent of surgical resection of the cerebellar tumor had no significant bearing on the prognosis. Those cases remaining free of recurrent disease had received significantly higher doses of postoperative irradiation, approaching 5000 rads to the whole brain or posterior fossa and 4000 rads to the spinal axis. Repeat irradiation and chemotherapy (vincristine, the nitrosoureas, and methotrexate) provided good palliation in most cases and significantly extended the survival time. However, 28 of 29 patients who developed locally recurrent or metastatic disease have died. Vincristine was considered the chemotherapeutic drug of choice and in 14 cases its use was associated with remissions lasting 2 to 18 months. The combination of chemotherapy and repeat irradiation was followed by remissions of longer duration compared to retreatment by irradiation alone when the disease recurred within 2 years. The inherent value of ventricular shunting procedures and steroid therapy for recurrent intracranial disease could not be ascertained. The findings in this study suggest that the primary treatment of medulloblastoma should be extended to include chemotherapy and optimum radiation therapy, since once recurrent disease develops retreatment is essentially palliative and a fatal outcome is virtuallly certain.


China has been experiencing a profound and massive social transition from a rigid socialism to a more diverse and fragmented society since 1978. To strengthen the state control of the grassroots society in the increasingly fragmenting society, the central government launched a nationwide 'community construction movement' in the 1990s with the rationality of es¬¬tablishing a street-level administration system in order to better implement reformed urban policies. Urban community (she-qu) has been designated as a new government technology to implement state control. The Chinese central government's 2006 'building a harmonious society' strategy further demonstrated that 'community' is targeted as an important approach to develop a more 'governing-at-a-distance' administrative mechanism at neighbourhood level.

The main objectives of this study are to explore Chinese street-level governments' shifting governing technologies and to map the changing dynamic of power relations between the government and social actors in the grassroots Chinese society. Drawing on Foucault's 'governmentality', this study looks at both the Chinese government's changing governing discourses and daily practices and the citizens' reactions to these technologies, or the process of 'subjectification'. An in-depth case study of a Beijing city-centre neighbourhood is carried out and data is collected according to qualitative methods including document analysis, interview and participant observation. The findings indicate that the Chinese government is changing its governing mode to explore more soft and covert control on society. The 'expertise' of specialists, professional institutions and non-government organisations is in many occasions used by the government as a tool to legitimise its objectives and practices. The terms 'public participation' and 'traditional morality' are widely used in government discourses to cultivate politically active and disciplined citizens and facilitate social mobilisation. The findings also suggest that living in pervasive discourses of 'harmony', Chinese citizens demonstrated multifaceted and ambivalent subjectivities: while in language many citizens express apathy or aversion as resistance to the government discourses, in daily life most of them still choose to obey the conventional norms and rules to be morally integrated and politically safe persons.

This study develops a new conceptual framework for understating the Chinese government's shifting governing approaches in China's social transition. It contributes to the knowledge of Chinese urban governance and the Chinese state-society relations by revealing the changing dynamics of power relations between the lowest level of Chinese government and the public in everyday neighbourhood lives. Meanwhile, it contributes to the theory of governmentality by opening discussions on government rationalities, technologies and the exercise of bio-power in non-western and non-liberal contexts. This study appeals to scholars who are interested in China's changing statehood, the landscape of Chinese urban governance and the power interactions between the Chinese government and the public.


This paper measured the breaking strength of nonwoven shopping bag, which sampled from 5 kinds of fabric weight with 5 kinds of seam density and 2 types of seam methods. Based on the result of orthogonal experiment,the load bearing model is established by three-element non-linear model with two variables—fabric weight and elongate ratio of the nonwoven. Model verification shows the maximum relative error is lower than 10%. This model is proper to be applied to calculate the load bearing of 100% Polypropylene nonwoven shopping bag.


Density functional theory (DFT) calculations, combined with a constrained minima hopping algorithm (global minimum search while preserving the molecular identity), have been performed to investigate important reaction intermediates for the heterogeneously catalyzed β-O-4′ bond cleavage in lignin derivatives. More specifically, we have studied the adsorption properties of a keto tautomer (1-methoxypropan-2-one) and its enol form on a catalytically active Pd(111) surface. In agreement with experiments, we find that for the gas-phase molecules the keto tautomer is the most stable. Interestingly, the enol tautomer has a higher affinity to the Pd catalyst than the keto form, and becomes the most stable molecular form when adsorbed on the catalyst surface. The global minimum complex found on the metal surface corresponds to an enolate structure formed when the enol tautomer chemisorbs onto the surface and donates its π-electrons from the C═C region to two adjacent palladium atoms. The actual formation of a chem...


Duodenocaval fistula is a type of digestive fistula rarely described in the literature. It usually manifests by sepsis associated with gastrointestinal bleeding. The treatment is surgical and the prognosis usually not favorable. We describe the case of a woman admitted to our hospital with sepsis, having been diagnosed with a duodenocaval fistula secondary to perforation of the digestive tract by a foreign body. Surprisingly, the fistula sealed by itself, without the need of surgery, and with a favorable evolution.


The article analyzes organisational management peculiarities of the public sector organizations, paying a special attention to sports as a public sector. The development of Lithuanian, as well as of the other postSoviet countries has caused sport system to go through the immense multimeaningful change. Structural changes inside the system, inside and outside judicial environment, the expansion of the market relations are an everyday success guarantee for every sport organisation. Dynamic development of sports requires timely and qualified decisions in a constantly changing environment of opportunities. The top sport manager plays an ideological role in the post-Soviet system. Top manager plays a crucial role in the modern sports world by putting his/her knowledge and capabilities to have the organisational goals met by striving for quality and meeting the needs of the members and market. The quest for higher performance by public organizations is a central and recurring theme in government policies and academic research (Boyne, Farrell, Law, Powell, Walker, 2003; Pollitt, Bouckaert, 2000). For complex and permanent modernization of public sector, a complex strategy of modernization is required (vision, mission, provisions, and concepts of modernization) (Skietrys, Raipa, Bartkus, 2008). An effective strategy formation capability is a complex organizational resource – a dynamic capability that should lead to superior performance (Slater, Olson, Hult, 2006). Although the notion of strategy has its origins in the military arena, strategic planning in recent years has been primarily focused on private sector organizations and much of the theory assumes that those in executive control of an organization have the freedom to determine its direction. Strategic planning is a means to an end, a method used to position an organization, through prioritizing its use of resources according to identified goals, in an effort to guide its direction and development over a period of time (Wilkinson, Monkhouse, 1994). Research on the general topic of organizational performance in the public sector is limited in quantity and quality (Boyne, 2003), so it is hardly surprising that the reversal of organizational decline has received little serious academic attention. Interest in the subject has come largely from practitioners rather than researchers (Borins, 1998; Moore, 1995). It is important to stress at the outset that public and private management are significantly different in several respects. For example, public organizations are generally more bureaucratic, public managers have less discretion over organizational missions and personnel, and the staff in public organizations is less likely to be motivated by financial incentives (Nutt, Backoff, 1993).


S W. Kaufmann's attempt more than half a century ago (Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, [N]1950) to rehabilitate Nietzsche as a progressive thinker there has been a lively debate about the relation between Nietzsche's philosophical and political positions. According to some, Nietzsche's "reactionary politics" follow naturally from his doctrines of Will to Power and the Overman. (Bruce Detwiler argues for this position in: Nietzsche and the Politics of Aristocratic Radicalism [D], 1990.) Others maintain that, properly interpreted, Nietzsche's philosophical views imply a progressive political position which Nietzsche could not arrive at because he was captive of a number of misguided assumptions. (Mark Warren in Nietzsche and Political Thought [W], 1988; and William E. Connolly in Political Theory and Modernity [C], 1988, take this position.) I am going to defend a version of W. Kaufmann's thesis that Nietzsche's teachings on the Overman and the Will to Power ought not to be interpreted in (traditional) political terms. However, in contrast to Kaufmann, I will argue that in his middle period Nietzsche does put forth a fairly coherent political position and, furthermore, I will argue that his doctrine of Will to Power does have some political implications. In opposition to Kaufmann's Nietzsche's Anti-democratic Liberalism


The population protocol model has emerged as an elegant paradigm for describing mobile ad hoc networks, consisting of a number of nodes that interact with each other to carry out a computation. One essential property of self-stabilizing population protocols is that all nodes must eventually converge to the correct output value, with respect to all possible initial configurations. It has been shown that fairness constraints play a crucial role in designing population protocols. The Process Analysis Toolkit (PAT) has been developed to perform verifications under different fairness constraints efficiently. In particular, it can handle global fairness , which is required for the correctness of most of population protocols. It is an ideal candidate for automatically verifying population protocols. In this paper, we summarize our latest empirical evaluation of PAT on a set of self-stabilizing population protocols for ring networks. We report one previously unknown bug in a protocol for leader election identified using PAT.


Consider an economy where infinite-lived agents trade assets collateralized by durable goods. We obtain results that rule out bubbles when the additional endowments of durable goods are uniformly bounded away from zero, regardless of whether the asset's net supply is positive or zero. However, bubbles may occur, even for state-price processes that generate finite present value of aggregate wealth. First, under complete markets, if the net supply is being endogenously reduced to zero as a result of collateral repossession. Secondly, under incomplete markets, for a persistent positive net supply, under the general conditions guaranteeing existence of equilibrium. Examples of monetary equilibria are provided.


In this paper we present a model of tied aid to shed light on the dispute between Kemp and Kojima (1985) and Schweinberger (1990) and to complement their analyses. We show that if the households of the recipient country are not informed of the transfers at their consumption decision, they have an incentive to trade the purchased goods from their domestic production income whenever transfer paradoxes occur. We also demonstrate that when they are aware of the transfers and can trade the purchased goods from their production income, there are no transfer paradoxes under the normality condition of commodities.


The most common cancer in women worldwide is breast cancer. To avoid tissue damaging while axillary surgery in BC we aim to develop a new sentinel lymph node biopsy methode using superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIOs) and magnetic particle imaging. It is well known from i.v. SPIO application in magnetic resonance imaging that macrophages (MP) are key role player in processing of SPIOs causing a drop of signal intensity. Nevertheless, knowledge lacks concerning enrichment processes of SPIOs after injection in breast tissue, the adjacent lymphatic tissues and associated cells, especially in BC and metastatic lymph nodes. Previously we evaluated the distribution of SPIOs in an in vivo healthy and tumor mouse model. Based on these studies we investigate the processing of the SPIOs in MP. To evaluate SPIO processing we established a tumor bearing mouse model as we previously published. Tumor tissue was than analyzed by conventionally hematocylin histology combined with Berlin blue staining and autofluorescence multiphoton microscopy. Additionally, the MP cell line J774A.1 was incubated either by Resovist in culture medium, or culture medium only as control. This process was observed in vivo by multiphoton microscopy. Detection of SPIOs was realized by excitation at 1200 nm. Resovist showed no toxic effects on macrophages after incubation. MP showed activity in phagocytosis of Resovist after incubation in multiphoton microscopy. SPIOs were detectable within tumor tissue by conventional hematoxylin microscopy as well as particle processing by 3-photon microscopy. The cell associated SPIO processing signal was detected by in vivo imaging. After injection of Resovist into tumor tissue the SPIOS can be detected well distributed within the tissue by conventional histology and by a 3-photon device in a bio-medical context. System wide scanning is known (MRI, MPI), but now we are also able to identify the link to subcellular processing and localization of SPIOs. Further processing of SPIOs in MP is under development.


According to recent statistics from the World Health Organization, 23% of people aged 18 years and over are not sufficiently physically active. Strangely, this is at a time when, due to the improvement in sensor technology, physical activity programs that track physical activity have become popular. However, some participants who enroll in these programs cheat by manipulating the data they enter. This can be discouraging for other participants, also invalidating the overall accuracy of program outcomes. Therefore, detecting these participants and discarding their manipulated entries is important in order to maintain the quality of the program. Currently, most of these physical activity programs use manual processes to detect and reject fraudulent step entries by reviewing the participant's demographic profiles along with their longitudinal step count performance data. In this study, a process, including two parallel models for detecting person of interest characteristics and abnormal step count entries, is developed. The first model uses the penalized logistic regression with Synthetic Minority Over‐sampling Technique subsampling to address the imbalance in the proportion of genuine and persons of interest. Having a highly imbalanced distribution between genuine and person of interest profiles makes this task more challenging. The second model uses a variety of outlier detection methods to detect and reject abnormal step entries based on previously entered data. This process will be more efficient and productive compared to the current manual system and will support better decision‐making in the future. The proposed system can be applied for other fraud detection applications after suitable adjustments.


ABSTRACT Winter in the northern Bering Sea brings a drastic reduction in terrestrial runoff and a substantial decrease in air-sea momentum transfer (wind and waves) owing to the formation of shorefast and pack ice. Despite these changes, quantities of suspended silt and clay over the Yukon prodelta in the winter of 1978 were essentially the same as those observed during fair weather summer periods, when the sediment discharge of the Yukon River is at its maximum and there is no ice layer to inhibit surface waves. Furthermore, the regional transport pattern involving northward mean flow across the prodelta in Norton Sound remains unchanged in the winter. Bottom current and light scattering measurements obtained during the summer of 1977 showed that spring tides are capable of resuspending fine sediment at depths of about 18 m on the prodelta in the absence of significant surface wave action. We conclude that during the winter the suspended matter transport system is driven by tidal current reworking of sediments which were introduced by the Yukon River during the previous summer.


Abstract This paper evaluates and compares the performance of a CO2 and Nd:YAG laser for the selective laser sintering (SLS) of a commercial hydroxyapatite reinforced polyethylene (HA-HDPE) bioactive ceramic polymer composite material. Single-line and layer specimens were produced to compare the effects of different lasers on the material sintering. It was found that the processing window was much larger for the CO2 laser as compared to the Nd:YAG laser. Furthermore, the Nd:YAG processing window was highly dependent on the pulse width and pulse repetition rate parameter settings. Furthermore, the processing windows for both the laser systems were affected by the particle size of the HA-HDPE powders. The degree and mechanism of particle fusion existing in the composites layers were greatly influenced by the laser source and particle size. The results presented in this work clearly indicate that the CO2 laser would present a better performance than the Nd:YAG laser for the SLS of HAPEX® in terms of operation range, speed, processing efficiency, and, subsequently, greater potential as an SLS processing method for bioactive implant products.