Prospective time-trend analyses on shifting etiology and trends of drug resistance in enteric fever are scarce. Using published and unpublished datasets from Nepal, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to understand the trends in etiology and resistance to antimicrobials that have occurred since 1993. Thirty-two studies involving 21 067 Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi (ST) and S. enterica serotype Paratyphi A (SPA) isolates were included. There was an increasing trend in enteric fever caused by SPA during the last 2 decades (P < .01). We observed sharply increasing trends in resistance to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin for both ST and SPA. In contrast, multi-drug resistance (MDR), resistance to traditional first-line antibiotics such as chloramphenicol and co-trimoxazole have significantly decreased for both organisms. The resistance to ceftriaxone has remained low, suggesting it is likely to remain useful as a reserve antibiotic for treatment. Trends in decreasing resistance to traditional first-line antibiotics and decreasing MDR provide an opportunity to reconsider these first-line antimicrobials as therapeutic options.


Serious concerns have been raised over the possible intentional use of synthetic biology approaches to engineer pathogenic organisms as well as the possible accidental environmental release of genetically engineered organisms. Scientists pursuing synthetic biology research must diligently consider issues such as these. As such, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) has developed a Synthetic Biology Internal Review process to assess, beyond technical and scientific merit, certain broader aspects (e.g. environmental, biocontainment, biosafety, or biosecurity) of the research proposals associated with the JGI's DNA synthesis program.


Transportation cyber-physical system (T-CPS) is a spatiotemporal discrete-continuous hybrid system. However, the hybrid T-CPSs have some analysis and modelling problems, especially the problems related to the spatiotemporal characteristics. Existing coloured Petri net approaches of traffic control cannot effectively analyse dynamic changes of cyber systems and physical entities in space and time. Moreover, some problems, related to the state space explosion and the large complex T-CPSs, have not been well solved. This study develops the innovative methods for T-CPS design and modelling via the development and application of coloured spatiotemporal Petri nets (CSTPNs). The proposed research ideas involve the CSTPN theory creation, the development of traffic intersection coordination control system using CSTPNs, the traffic simulation analysis and the implementation of T-CPS-based CSTPNs. The experimental results show that the new spatiotemporal theories and approaches of the traffic coordination control based on CSTPNs have excellent potentials to address the issues related to the spatiotemporal discrete-continuous characteristics of T-CPS. Moreover, these innovative methods with a good validity can be easily applied into practise for the development of T-CPS.


Purpose To compare the antitumor effect of adenoviruses that express mutant variants of the protein E7 from HPV-16 fused to calreticulin. Methods Recombinant adenoviruses were generated to express calreticulin fused to mutant versions of E7 (CRT/E7m and CRT/E7dm). Western blot and immunofluorescence assays were made to demonstrate protein expression. Antitumor assays were performed in C57BL6 mice injected with TC-1 cell line. Results When HEK293 cells were infected with these adenoviruses, we detected that all the recombinant proteins were expressed at endoplasmic reticulum, as expected. Next, the antitumor effect was tested on a murine tumor model established by inoculation of TC-1 cell line. We detected that both Ad CRT/E7m and Ad CRT/E7dm were capable of reducing the antitumor volume when compared to Ad LacZ, which was used as negative control. No significant difference was observed when compared to Ad CRT/E7, a positive control. Conclusions Here we demonstrated that the mutant versions of E7 HPV-16 fused to calreticulin generate similar antitumor effect than the wild type version.


This paper deals with distributed cosimulation for heterogeneous systems prototyping. Our VHDL/C cosimulation environment allows to handle all kinds of distributed architectures, any number of hardware or software modules, cosimulation at different abstraction levels and several cosimulation scenarious. This flexibility is obtained thanks to
an automatic cosimulation interface generation tool able to create the link between Hw and Sw simulation environments. The advantages of our cosimulation methodology and more precisely the automatic cosimulation interface generation tool will be described by examples.


Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric disorder that represents one of the main public health problems worldwide. It has been projected that for 2020 it will be the second cause of disability-adjusted life years just below ischemic heart disease. Quantitative electroencephalogram provides the opportunity to study cortical oscillatory activity across the different frequency bands. It constitutes an accessible tool to explore the clinical and neurophysiologic correlates underlying psychiatric disorders as well as the effect of diverse therapeutic options and the performance through cognitive tasks. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a technique that allows the stimulation of the cerebral cortex noninvasively, relatively painlessly and with fairly few side effects. The vast majority of rTMS studies target left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) based on imaging studies showing that left prefrontal cortex dysfunction is pathophysiologically linked to depression. However, there is some evidence implicating right PFC in the pathophysiology of depression. Comparison of antidepressant efficacy of diverse stimulation frequencies is relevant since a main concern around rTMS is its potential to induce seizures; hence we consider that frequency of stimulation is an important aspect to be studied. For this study we aimed to elucidate the clinical efficacy of rTMS comparing two groups of depressed patients stimulated over DLPFC, one over the left (at 5 Hz) and other over the right (at 1 Hz). We also meant to know if there were clinical and electroencephalographic differential long-term after-effects between those groups of treatment. We included twenty right-handed patients with a DSM-IVR diagnosis of MDD. They were assigned into two groups of treatment. Group 1 received 5Hz rTMS over the left DLPFC. Group 2 received 1Hz rTMS over the right DLPFC. We obtained two EEG measurements in order to analyze Z score of broad-band spectral parameters and cross-spectral. No statistical differences among groups were found in response to treatment after weekly comparisons of clinimetric scores and significant differences between baseline and final assessment by HDRS, MADRS, BDI and HARS. The major rTMS effect on EEG was observed in the group that received 1 Hz over the right DLPFC and no significant effects were observed for the group that received 5 Hz over the left DLPFC. Our results propose that administration of 15 sessions on either left (5 Hz) or right (1 Hz) rTMS over DLPFC is sufficient to reach response to treatment, assessed by HDRS, MADRS, BDI and HARS in subjects with MDD. Moreover, in both cases rTMS was able to induce an equivalent antidepressant effect. The major effect of rTMS on EEG was observed in the right 1 Hz rTMS group where changes were elicited mainly over frontal, central and temporal regions on alpha and particularly beta frequency bands. In a lesser extent for left 5 Hz rTMS group the main effect was observed on anterior regions for beta and particularly alpha frequency bands. We believe it is pertinent to continue exploring the therapeutic potential of lower stimulation frequencies, for what further research including larger samples is still necessary to confirm these trends.


Magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) have attracted notable credits in the development of smart isolators and absorbers due to their controllable stiffness and damping properties. For the purpose of mitigating unwanted structural and/or machinery vibrations, the traditional MRE-based isolators have been generally proven effective because the MR effect can increase the stiffness when the magnetic field is strengthened. This study presents a novel MRE isolator that experienced reduced stiffness when the applied current was increased. This innovative work was accomplished by applying a hybrid magnet (electromagnet and permanent magnets) onto a multilayered MRE structure. To characterise this negative changing stiffness concept, a multilayered MRE isolator with a hybrid magnet was first designed, fabricated and then tested to measure its properties. An obvious reduction of the effective stiffness and natural frequency of the proposed MRE isolator occurred when the current was continuously adjusted. This device could also work as a conventional MRE isolator as its effective stiffness and natural frequency also increased when a negative current was applied. Further testing was carried out on a one-degree-of-freedom system to assess how effectively this device could isolate vibration. In this experiment, two cases were considered; in each case, the vibration of the primary system was obviously attenuated under ON-OFF control logic, thus demonstrating the feasibility of this novel design as an alternative adaptive vibration isolator.


In Indian traditional medicine, various plants have been used widely as a remedy for treating snakebites. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Tamarindus indica seed extract on the pharmacological as well as the enzymatic effects induced by V. russelli venom. Tamarind seed extract inhibited the PLA2, protease, hyaluronidase, L-amino acid oxidase and 5′-nucleotidase enzyme activities of venom in a dose-dependent manner. These are the major hydrolytic enzymes responsible for the early effects of envenomation, such as local tissue damage, inflammation and hypotension. Furthermore, the extract neutralized the degradation of the Bβ chain of human fibrinogen and indirect hemolysis caused by venom. It was also observed that the extract exerted a moderate effect on the clotting time, prolonging it only to a small extent. Edema, hemorrhage and myotoxic effects including lethality, induced by venom were neutralized significantly when different doses of the extract were preincubated with venom before the assays. On the other hand, animals that received extract 10 min after the injection of venom were protected from venom induced toxicity. Since it inhibits hydrolytic enzymes and pharmacological effects, it may be used as an alternative treatment to serum therapy and, in addition, as a rich source of potential inhibitors of PLA2, metalloproteinases, serine proteases, hyaluronidases and 5′-nucleotidases, the enzymes involved in several physiopathological human and animal diseases. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The efficient analysis of wire antennas of arbitrary shape is presented. The exact kernel representations of Green's function are given in place of the thin-wire approximation kernel for the moment method solution of arbitrary wire antennas and scatterers with moderately large radius. The kernel expressions are exactly expanded on the basis of series summations so that the elements of the impedance matrix can be evaluated accurately and quickly. Some numerical examples are performed for validation of the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.


Thermal cauterization of the center of the rat cornea results in emigration of neutrophils into the extravascular limbal tissue and blood vessel growth into the cornea. In this study, 1.0 M sodium salicylate, 1.0 M sodium chloride, and ointment vehicle were administered to normal and cauterized rat corneas for periods of 6, 48, and 144 h. When applied to the normal cornea, salicylate resulted in a marked increase in neutrophils in the limbal tissue at 6 h, but an inhibition at 48 h. Similarly, for the cauterized corneas, administration of salicylate increased the extent of neutrophil emigration at 6 h, but this effect was not sustained at 48 h. Neither vehicle nor sodium chloride had any effect on the extravascular neutrophil population. After 6 days, administration of the vehicle resulted in a slight increase in vascular growth into the cornea, whereas sodium salicylate caused a decrease. These findings indicate that hypertonic (1 M) sodium salicylate does not inhibit the emigration of neutrophils from limbal vessels of cauterized rat corneas, but does appear to have a cytotoxic effect on the tissues and on blood vessel endothelial cells.


Background Reconciliation is the process of assessing a listing of the patients' previous medicines with the current prescription. Around 46% of medicines errors in hospitals are reconciliation errors. Purpose To evaluate the effectiveness of a method of integrated medicines reconciliation in an electronic prescribing programme (EPP). Materials and Methods Prospective study of 22 months. Within 24 hours of admission, a nurse records the patient's usual medicines in the EPP. The programme requires the doctor, before prescribing, to review the recorded home medicines. The programme suggests reconciliation for each drug, and the doctor must indicate if he accepts it. The home medicine automatically goes to the hospital prescription if the doctor accepts the suggestion, or he can suspend the drug or accept the therapeutic interchange that the programme offers him. In the case of a drug that is not available in the hospital or for which there is no therapeutic equivalent, the doctor must decide if he suspends it or if he asks the patient to bring it from his home, in which case the medicine is sent to the Pharmacy department to repackage and dispense through a unit dose system. All hospital beds were included in the study (450). Results About 65% of the patients were on drug treatment when they were admitted to hospital. The average number of drugs per patient was 3.5. Home medicines reconciliation at admission was performed in 95% of patients admitted. We found only 9.6% of discrepancies: of which 91.4% were justified. Of the unjustified discrepancies: 7% were due to mistakes in the record of the home medicine or unregistered drug, 1.4% home of medicines were suspended without justification and there were 0.2% unjustified duplications. Reconciliation at discharge was only performed in 20% of the patients, since the programme does not yet require the doctor to do it. Conclusions The implementation of medicines reconciliation in the EPP ensures it is done and reduces the discrepancies to 9.6%. No conflict of interest.


Education at the beginning of the twenty-first century is in crisis and contestation. The economic instability of capitalism—reflected in the slowdown in the economic growth trend since the mid-1970s, worsening financial crises, and the growth of draconian neoliberal policies—has had the effect of further compromising a capitalist educational system already beset with problems.… The conflict over the agenda of the powerful with respect to schools is increasingly apparent. On the one side we find: privatization; drastically lowered expectations for students and families; the demonization of teachers; zero-tolerance as a cat's paw for surveillance and control; sort-and-punish curricula; a culture of obedience and conformity; and narrowing definition of learning as job-training and education, i.e., as a product to be bought and sold in the market. On the other side we find: a growing fight-back based on the principle that all human beings are of incalculable value and that life in a just and free society must be geared toward and powered by a profoundly radical idea: that the fullest development of all human beings—regardless of race or ethnicity, origin or background, gender identity, ability or disability—is the necessary condition for the full development of each person; and, conversely, the fullest development of each is the condition for the full development of all. 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.


Summary Thirty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed 0.188% of N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl] formamide for 26 or 46 weeks. All of the rats survived 24 weeks or more and developed gross bladder carcinomas. Severe hyperplasia of the renal pelvis was observed in 19 rats, and carcinomas of the renal pelvis which invaded the kidney developed in 4 rats. The pathogenesis of these bladder carcinomas was studied in 70 female Sprague-Dawley rats fed 0.188% of N-[4-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide for 26 or 46 weeks. At frequent intervals, one rat from each group was sacrificed, and histologic comparisons of the bladder mucosa were made with bladders of rats fed the control diet. Hyperplasia of the transitional epithelium of the urinary bladder, developing in several areas of the mucosa, was observed 3 weeks after initiation of feeding the test compound. Squamous metaplasia and increased mucosal mitotic activity was seen after 8 weeks. Microscopic papillary or sessile transitional cell carcinomas were detected within 9 weeks, and small tumors localized all over the bladder mucosa were detectable grossly after 12 weeks. After 25 weeks the gross bladder tumors were 2 cm in diameter, and after 45 weeks they were 3–7 cm in diameter. One rat developed a metastatic pulmonary transitional cell carcinoma. Urinary bladder carcinomas which developed in male rats were transplanted s.c. into weanling female Sprague-Dawley rats. Grossly palpable tumors were present 3 weeks after transplantation, and the presence of squamous metaplasia increased the degree of transplantability. One recipient rat developed a metastatic pulmonary transitional cell carcinoma. N-[4-(5-Nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]formamide appears to be one of the most effective urinary bladder carcinogens for both male and female Sprague-Dawley rats, providing carcinomas exhibiting all criteria of malignancy.


Controlling a brain-computer interface (BCI) is a difficult task that requires extensive training. Particularly in the case of motor imagery BCIs, users may need several training sessions before they learn how to generate desired brain activity and reach an acceptable performance. A typical training protocol for such BCIs includes execution of a motor imagery task by the user, followed by presentation of an extending bar or a moving object on a computer screen. In this chapter, we discuss the importance of a visual feedback that resembles human actions, the effect of human factors such as confidence and motivation, and the role of embodiment in the learning process of a motor imagery task. Our results from a series of experiments in which users BCI-operated a humanlike android robot confirm that realistic visual feedback can induce a sense of embodiment, which promotes a significant learning of the motor imagery task in a short amount of time. We review the impact of humanlike visual feedback in optimized modulation of brain activity by the BCI users.


Liana (woody vine) abundance, height, diameter, and climbing mode were studied in the mature tropical moist forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI). Because lianas are capable of extended horizontal as well as vertical growth, sample plots were 100—m2 cylinders extending from the ground up to the treetops. The plots were randomly located in areas representing different stages of regeneration following treefalls. In order to examine canopy lianas closely, trees in or adjacent to the sample plots were climbed freehand or with the aid of mechanical rope ascenders. Lianas are abundant on BCI and play important roles in forest dynamics. A hectare of old—growth forest had 1597 climbing lianas distributed among 43% of the canopy trees. Trees with a least one liana has higher than random probability of having more than one liana, and individual lianas connected an average of 1.56 canopy trees. In the understory, 22% of the upright plants <2 m tall were lianas, and, depending on the species, between 15 and 90% of these plants were vegetative offshoots (ramets) and not true seedlings (genets). Lianas were most abundant in recent treefall gaps and decreased in abundance with time since last disturbance. Trellis availability was found to be a major factor limiting liana access to the forest canopy. Experimental manipulation of supports and experimental planting of Dioclea reflexa seedlings revealed that trellises consisting of small diameter, closely spaced supports are most abundant on the edges of treefall gaps. Tree and liana stems on the edges of treefall gaps provided a major pathway to the canopy for climbing plants. Trees carrying lianas suffered higher mortality rates and upon falling caused more other trees to fall than did liana—free trees. Few lianas died when their host tree fell, and many grew back to the canopy using the abundant trellises that occur on the edges of treefall gaps. Tree sapling growth rates in treefall gaps and Luehea seemannii growth rates in the canopy were slower where lianas were abundant.


Social norms exert a powerful influence on families. They shape major life decisions, such as whether to marry and how many children to have, as well as everyday decisions, such as how to discipline children and divide household labor. Emotion is a defining feature of these familial social norms, giving force and content to norms in contexts as varied as reproductive choice, parenting, and same-sex relationships. These emotion-laden norms do not stand apart from the law. Falling along a continuum of involvement that ranges from direct regulation to choice architecture, state sway over social norms through their emotional valence is an under-recognized aspect of the family-state relationship.Although scholars have explored aspects of familial social norms, current accounts offer an incomplete picture of both families and family law because they insufficiently account for the elemental relationship between social norms, emotion, and the state. By exploring the confluence of these forces, this Article makes two contributions to the literature. Descriptively, this Article identifies the centrality of emotion in creating and defining familial social norms. First, emotion is often the content of a familial social norm; therefore it is impossible to understand the norm without understanding emotion. Second, emotions can trigger social norms, with particular emotions leading to changes in behavior. Third, familial social norms carry tremendous emotional weight, which explains why the cost of noncompliance can be particularly high in the family context. Finally, the emotion-laden nature of familial social norms complicates any predictive enterprise for law and policy.Normatively, a more complete understanding of the operation of familial social norms allows for more effective regulation of families. The state should recognize that emotion is a powerful point of entry when it seeks to influence norms and shape behavior. There are risks to this influence, but exposing the uncomfortable reality that the law often tries to manipulate our affective lives creates an opportunity to use this dynamic for more appealing ends, such as cultivating greater tolerance for parental conduct that falls outside dominant norms.


Possible formation mechanisms of massive close binary black holes that can merge in the Hubble time to produce powerful gravitational wave bursts detected during advanced LIGO O1 science run are briefly discussed. The pathways include the evolution from field lowmetallicity massive binaries, the dynamical formation in globular clusters and primordial black holes. Low effective black hole spins inferred for LIGO GW150914 and LTV151012 events are discussed. Population synthesis calculations of the expected spin and chirp mass distributions from the standard field massive binary formation channel are presented for different metallicities (from zero-metal Population III stars up to solar metal abundance). We conclude that that merging binary black holes can contain systems from different formation channels, discrimination between which can be made with increasing statistics of mass and spin measurements from ongoing and future gravitational wave observations.


: In obstructive lung diseases, airway inflammation leads to bronchospasm and thus resistive breathing, especially during exacerbations. This commentary discusses experimental evidence that resistive breathing per se (the mechanical stimulus) in the absence of underlying airway inflammation leads to lung injury and inflammation (mechanotransduction). The potential implications of resistive breathing-induced mechanotrasduction in COPD exacerbations are presented along with the available clinical evidence.


Mental set is observed when a familiar problem-solving strategy is applied to new problems that can be solved in simpler, more efficient ways. It is most famously illustrated in the water jar problems (Luchins, 1942). In these volume measurement problems, participants learn a rule to obtain an exact volume of liquid involving a complex combination of liquid transfer. Participants persevere in using this rule for new problems that can be solved with a much simpler rule. In two experiments presented here, participants completed the water jar task either in interactive conditions with actual water jars at a sink or in noninteractive conditions, with the problems presented on paper, as in the original Luchins procedure. Interactivity significantly reduced the degree of perseverance. In addition, participants' visuospatial skills significantly predicted the rate of perseverance (and the latencies to solution) in interactive but not in noninteractive conditions. These results underscore the importance of designing problem-solving experiments that engineer distributed cognitive systems in which participants coordinate internal and external resources in thinking.


In this paper, the application of peroxide: sodium percarbonate and hydrogen peroxide, in the chemical degumming process of ramie was discussed. Two kinds of effects of peroxide degumming process were analyzed. On the basis of that, the fiber properties of degummed ramie of oxidation degumming process and the traditional chemical degumming process were compared. The result showed that two kinds of peroxide can be effectively applied to the chemical degumming process of ramie. In comparison with the traditional chemical degumming process, there are many advantages in the oxidation degumming process, for example, short flow, saving in energy, less environmental pollution, high single fiber strength, high whiteness, less fiber strand and so on.


1. Introduction. Since I had the honour to communicate to the Society a paper on an "Adherent Form of Productus, &c."*, I have obtained evidence that the habit of clinging or attaching themselves by their spines was not simply confined to certain forms of Strophalosia and Productus, but, there is good reason to believe, was possessed also by a species of Chonetes. Before proceeding to describe the specimens upon which this belief is founded, I wish to make a few supplementary remarks on the adherent Productus. 2. Note on Productus complectens (mihi). Subsequent researches have shown that the geographical distribution of this species is much more extensive than was at first thought. Mr. James Bennie has obtained some well-preserved examples of the younger state of P. complectens at Scremerston Quarry, near Berwick, in Northumberland, on the south side of the Tweed, and he has also met with examples at one or two localities in Fifeshire. I think it not at all improbable that P. complectens will be found at one or other of the Lanarkshire localities ; for, by the kindness of Mr. J. Smith, Eglington Iron Works, Kilwinning, I have been able to examine two small fragments of Crinoid stems, on which are what appear to be portions of two or three of the small clasping spines, but too fragmentary to pass a definite opinion on. Soon after my description was published, I was favoured by Mr. J. Smith, through Mr. Bennie, with the loan of the subject of


Community empowerment program in Parigi Moutong district has not been effectively operated, that greater  effort to evaluate and develop the previously implemented program is needed. This research uses purposive  sampling method, i.e. the chosen sample method. The study result finds that the cause of the community  empowerment program that has been done is still not effective because the process of the determining  program is lacking of public participation. As a result, it creates a new helplessness, i.e. the dependence of  communities on the program with direct assistance. On the other hand, the regional tourism development  program has a good prospect and able to synergized with a more participative community empowerment  program that. The beauty of Parigi Moutong natural landscape and its possesion of various natural resources is  a great potential to create a tourism destination, and enhancing society's welfare around the area.


Human beings learn and accumulate hierarchical knowledge over their lifetime. This knowledge is associated with previous concepts for consolidation and hierarchical construction. However, current incremental learning methods lack the ability to build a concept hierarchy by associating new concepts to old ones. A more realistic setting tackling this problem is referred to as Incremental Implicitly-Refined Classification (IIRC), which simulates the recognition process from coarse-grained categories to fine-grained categories. To overcome forgetting in this benchmark, we propose Hierarchy-Consistency Verification (HCV) as an enhancement to existing continual learning methods. Our method incrementally discovers the hierarchical relations between classes. We then show how this knowledge can be exploited during both training and inference. Experiments on three setups of varying difficulty demonstrate that our HCV module improves performance of existing continual learning methods under this IIRC setting by a large margin. Code is available in https://github.com/wangkai930418/HCV_IIRC.


Most of countries start to restrict the emission gases of vehicles especially CO2 because of the global warming. Many vehicle companies including Toyota have launched various HEVs to satisfy the restriction laws and to improve the vehicle's efficiency. However, development for heavy-duty hybrid system is not plentiful rather than the passenger car. In this study, we choose the optimal size of engine, motor and battery for heavy-duty hybrid systems using dynamic programming. Also we analyze the correlation of the system's cost and efficiency because the added cost of vehicle to make the hybrid system is very important factor for the manufacturing companies. Finally, this study suggests a method to choose the appropriate system components size considering its performance and the cost. With this method, it is possible to select the component size for various systems.


Growing evidences support that androgen displays beneficial effects on cardiovascular functions although the mechanism of androgen actions remains to be elucidated. Modulation of endothelial cell growth and function is a potential mechanism of androgen actions. We demonstrated in the present study that androgens [dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone], but not 17β-estradiol, produced a time- and dose-dependent induction of cell proliferation in primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) as evident by increases in viable cell number and DNA biosynthesis. Real-time qRT-PCR analysis showed that DHT induced androgen receptor (AR), cyclin A, cyclin D1, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene expression in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The addition of casodex, a specific AR antagonist, or transfection of a specific AR siRNA blocked DHT-induced cell proliferation and target gene expression, indicating that the DHT effects are mediated via AR. Moreover, coadministration of SU5416 to block VEGF receptors, or transfection of a specific VEGF-A siRNA to knockdown VEGF expression, produced a dose-dependent blockade of DHT induction of cell proliferation and cyclin A gene expression. Interestingly, roscovitine, a selective cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, also blocked the DHT stimulation of cell proliferation with a selective inhibition of DHT-induced VEGF-A expression. These results indicate that androgens acting on AR stimulate cell proliferation through upregulation of VEGF-A, cyclin A, and cyclin D1 in HAECs, which may be beneficial to cardiovascular functions since endothelial cell proliferation could assist the repair of endothelial injury/damage in cardiovascular system.


A new method for the fabrication of an integrated microelectrode for electrochemical detection (ECD) on an electrophoresis microchip is described. The pattern of the microelectrode was directly made on the surface of a microscope slide through an electroless deposition procedure. The surface of the slide was first selectively coated with a thin layer of sodium silicate through a micromolding in capillary technique provided by a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microchannel; this left a rough patterned area for the anchoring of catalytic particles. A metal layer was deposited on the pattern guided by these catalytic particles and was used as the working electrode. Factors influencing the fabrication procedure were discussed. The whole chip was built by reversibly sealing the slide to another PDMS layer with electrophoresis microchannels at room temperature. This approach eliminates the need of clean room facilities and expensive apparatus such as for vacuum deposition or sputtering and makes it possible to produce patterned electrodes suitable for ECD on microchip under ordinary chemistry laboratory conditions. Also once the micropattern is ready, it allows the researchers to rebuild the electrode in a short period of time when an electrode failure occurs. Copper and gold microelectrodes were fabricated by this technique. Glucose, dopamine, and catechol as model analytes were tested.


We define in this paper how the causality between the use of technology of Intelligent Agents and the perception on the users arises and how information systems literature has already investigated this causal coherence. The aim of this article is to study the impact of use of intelligent agent technology on individual perception. To respond to this question we have tried to research for the relationship between the needs of this technology and the intensity of its usage. To examine this relationship, we have based our study to use the model of Task-Technology Fit (Goodhue & Thompson, 1995). To have data about intelligent agent users, we have mailed a survey to 750 companies of different sectors in France. This survey was oriented to diverse users (directors, designers, analysts...). We have received 155 responses that were found to be completed, and sound for use. A quantitative method can be used to process these data and conclude positive results. Among this study, we have tried to show the use of Intelligent Agents and their business applications. We indicate that the positive effect of task, technology characteristics on task-technology fit (TTF) constructs can be empirically attested, that these results are valid and reliable and how these findings affect the specific application domain.


The characteristics of convective clouds on infrared brightness temperature (BTIR) and brightness temperature difference (BTD) image were analyzed using successive Infrared and Visible Spin-Scan Radiometer (VISSR) data of FY-2, and an integrated detection method of convective clouds using infrared multi-thresholds in combination with tracking techniques was implemented. In this method, BT and BTD thresholds are used to detect severe convection and uncertain clouds, then the tracking technique including overlap ratio, minimum BT change and cross-correlation coefficient is used to detect convection activities in uncertain clouds. The Application test results show that our integrated detection method can effectively detect convective clouds in different life periods, which show a better performance than any single step in it. The statistical results show that the α-type clouds are mostly large-scale systems, and the β- and γ-type clouds have the highest proportion of general type. However, the proportion of weak convective cloud is higher than that of severe ones in γ-type cloud, and an opposite result is found in the β-type.


For some firms, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity is part of a normal growth strategy in a competitive environment. Such firms accumulate a body of M&A knowledge that can be employed for the benefits of organisational continuity. Despite the significant risks associated with M&A failure, they are able to approach each new event with a set of experiential learnings that can better inform their actions. For other firms however, M&A represent rare occasions in the company's lifecycle. Valuable integration knowledge is inherently fragmented, making these firms especially vulnerable to M&A risks. A case study was undertaken in a firm that matches this latter category. A Task-based Knowledge Management approach provided a framework for inquiry. Our focus was on knowledge work associated with the post-acquisition integration task of an acquirer. The findings reveal substantial M&A learnings, which if harnessed adequately, can enhance firm's competitive advantage and mitigate against associated M&A risk.


The majority of the farmers I meet, that are interested in organic farming are financially driven. It is important that the message on financial returns from organic farming is clear.
In cattle production systems when we look at the figures, the majority of cattle farmers are making a positive gross margin but are spending some of the premia cheque to cover fixed costs. In the organic situation costs are generally lower but so is gross output. The net margin delivered on organic beef farms is on average higher than the average beef farmer. The targets I have set on the paper that I believe are achievable on the majority of organic beef farms and should be profitable enterprises.
When the financial analysis is completed on organic dairy farms, it must be noted that when measured in net margin achieved per litre or per cow the results are as good as the best dairy farmers in the country, however the key issue is stocking rate. Only dairy farmers stocked up to about 1.7 livestock units per hectare will increase net margin. Farms stocked higher than this will loose out unless the milk price gap widens significantly.
In the tillage sector my colleagues produce crop budgets each year, last year the budgets went out the window as harvest returns disastrous due to the weather. The organic tillage budget produced in the paper shows excellent returns for organic tillage crops. The cost of imports and lack of supply is keeping the price up, the weakening of sterling may have an effect later on, however even if organic grain prices drop significantly, the returns are mush better than conventional tillage. This is an option Irish tillage farmers should be exploring.


Lawrence R. Klein (September 14, 1920 – October 20, 2013), Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences in 1980, was one of the leading figures in macro-econometric modeling. Although his contributions to forecasting using simultaneous equations macro models were very well known, his contributions to nowcasting and real-time forecasting, that he worked on in the last 30 years of his life, were generally overlooked by many researchers. The reasons for the miss are related to the ambiguity in terminology, specifically, the terms nowcast or nowcasting, and the empirical, though very significant, nature of his contributions. This paper reviews L. R. Klein's guiding principles on modeling and his contributions to nowcasting and real-time forecasting, and discusses the connection of these contributions to the present state of fast evolving disciplines, such as economics, econometrics, statistics, data science, and machine learning. In so doing, we argue that L. R. Klein indeed expertly developed pioneering ideas and methodology for nowcasting and real-time forecasting; and the principles and contributions put forward by him are even more relevant now than ever.


On the basis of recent observations that immunoglobulin (Ig) E antibodies specific for bacterial antigens occur in the serum of persons with chronic respiratory tract disease, we used bovine epsilon chain-specific antiserum to investigate the possibility that IgE antibodies are induced in cattle infected with Pasteurella. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting techniques, we studied bovine sera to detect and quantitate the presence of IgE antibodies specific for antigens of Pasteurella. Immunoglobulin E antibodies reactive with whole formalinized P haemolytica, potassium thicyanate, and saline solution extracts were detected in serum of calves with bronchopneumonia, feedlot steers with interstitial pneumonia, as well as nonaffected penmates, and adult dairy cows. The role of parenteral vaccination in eliciting an IgE response was examined in healthy calves; vaccination with a Pasteurella bacterin failed to induce an IgE response. Adsorption studies were done to demonstrate the specificity of the antibodies for Pasteurella. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay absorbance values were significantly decreased by adsorption with P haemolytica, whereas adsorption with other gram-negative bacteria only moderately decreased serum absorbance values. To begin identification of the antigen(s) to which the IgE binds, Western blotting of P haemolytica extract with sera from calves with bronchopneumonia was done. A dense band of protein (approximately 60,000 daltons) reacted strongly with IgE in the highest titer sera. These results indicate that Pasteurella-specific IgE antibodies are not readily induced by parenteral vaccination, but can be found in serum of some cattle, possibly induced by existing or previous infection.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The structure and electronic activity of several types of dislocations in both hexagonal and cubic GaN are calculated using first-principles methods. Most of the stoichiometric dislocations investigated in hexagonal GaN do not induce deep acceptor states and thus cannot be responsible for the yellow luminescence. However, it is shown that electrically active point defects, in particular gallium vacancies and oxygen-related defect complexes, can be trapped at the stress field of the dislocations and may be responsible for this luminescence. For cubic GaN, we find the ideal stoichiometric 60° dislocation to be electrically active and the glide set to be more stable than the shuffle. The dissociation of the latter is considered.


The literature relating to the effects of pediculosis on cattle, particularly classification and general biology, lifecycles, distribution of louse eggs on host pelage, feeding mechanisms, seasonal changes affecting host pelage, effect on host blood profile, effect on host liveweight gains, control methods, effects of host grooming and effect on host skin, have been reviewed. Blood profiles and liveweight gains were followed in two experiments using housed calves. Blood sampling was carried out every 14 days along with the weights of the animals being noted. The blood samples were used to determine red blood cell count, white blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, packed cell volume, reticulocyte counts, eosinophil counts, total serum protein determination and total serum albumin determination. Lice counts were also conducted on the blood sampling days. This consisted of parting the hair five times on the shoulders of each calf and counting the number of lice revealed at each hair parting. In experiment A there were significantly greater values in the louse infested calves for haemoglobin concentration (10 weeks of age), lymphocyte count (7 weeks) and monocyte counts (30 weeks) with significantly lower values for monocyte counts (6 weeks), serum albumin determination (20 weeks) and weight (8 weeks). For experiment B significantly greater values for the infested animals were observed for leucocyte counts (7 and 8 weeks), monocyte counts (8 weeks), reticulocyte counts (7 weeks) and total serum protein (22 weeks) with significantly lower values for lymphocyte counts (24 weeks) and erythrocyte counts (12 weeks). However, all of the significant results for both experiments fell within the accepted normal range observed by Schalm, Jain and Carroll (1975) for normal animals. There was only one occasion when weight gain was significantly lower in the infested calves which occurred at 8 weeks in experiment A. The lice population was found to be slight throughout the duration of the experiments with only a few Isolated Instances of moderate or severe counts being noted. Due to the infestation being slight there was no overall significant effect on the blood profile or liveweight gains in the calves infested with L. vituli lice. The blood content of lice was investigated using 51Cr, 59Fe and 125I radioactive isotopes. Each animal received 15 MBq 51Cr, 15 MBq and 125I and 12 MBq 59Fe using a jugular catheterisation technique. Blood samples were taken at regular intervals. Blood and plasma were prepared from each of the blood samples for radioactivity determination. Packed cell volume was also measured from each of the blood samples with serum albumin, protein and iron determinations also being made. All faeces produced over a 24 hour period were weighed and random duplicate (8) 10 g samples taken for radioactivity determination. Urine produced over a 24 hour period was also collected and weighed with random, duplicate (2) samples taken for radioactivity determination. On the last two days of the experiment 600 lice were manually removed from each infested animal, weighed and their radioactivity determined. Using these radioisotopes circulating red cell volumes and plasma volumes were not significantly different between infested and control calves so ensuring that the total blood volume in infested calves was not significantly different from control animals. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. fertilization, integrated fruit production, iron chlorosis, nitrogen, soil testing SUMMARY. Most deciduous fruit crops in Italy are grown in the north and especially in the eastern part of the Po River Valley (mainly in the Emilia Romagna and Veneto regions) and in the Adige River Valley (South Tyrol and Trento provinces) . Soils in the wide Po River Valley, where pear (Pyrus communis), peach and nectarine (Prunus persica), kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa), plum (Prunus domestica and P. insititia), apricot (Prunus armeniaca), cherry (Prunus avium), and apple (Malus domestica) are grown, are alluvial, generally fertile, fine textured, alkaline, often calcareous and well enriched with Ca. Apple plantings are concen- trated in the Adige Valley and located on a variety of soil types, including sandy loam, loamy sand soils or sandy clay, sometimes calcareous. Integrated fruit production is gaining impor- tance and represents more than 80% of apple production in South Tyrol and about 60% of peach and nectarine production in Emilia Romagna. Under these conditions, the main objec- tives of mineral nutrition are to reconcile production and environmental concerns (minimize nutrient leaching, soil pollution, volatile emissions). In particular, fertilization aims to improve external and internal fruit quality and storage ability, reduce production costs, maintain soil fertility, avoid nutrient deficiency and excess and control tree vigor. Nitrogen applications have strongly decreased in recent years and there is a need to improve the efficiency of N fertilizers while avoiding deficiencies. Research is focussing on application technology, timing of N uptake, internal cycling of N and methods for assessing the need for N application (e.g., using estimates of native soil N availability). Early diagnosis of bitter pit is recommended for guiding applications of Ca sprays. Iron deficiency and chlorosis is a major problem in pear, peach and kiwifruit grown in alkaline and calcareous soils and Fe chelates are usually applied annually to the soil or to the canopy. Current research is focused on agronomic means for controlling the problem and on developing rootstocks tolerant to Fe deficiency.


Stereo reconstruction is challenging in scenes with many similar-looking objects, as matches between features are often ambiguous. Features matched incorrectly lead to an incorrect 3D reconstruction, whereas if correct matches are missed, the reconstruction will be incomplete. Previous systems for selecting a correspondence (set of matched features) select either a maximum likelihood correspondence, which may contain many incorrect matches, or use some heuristic for discarding ambiguous matches. In this paper we propose a new method for selecting a correspondence: we select the correspondence which minimises an expected loss function. Match probabilities are computed by Gibbs sampling, then the minimum expected loss correspondence is selected based on these probabilities. A parameter of the loss function controls the trade off between selecting incorrect matches versus missing correct matches. The proposed correspondence selection method is evaluated in a model-based framework for reconstructing branching plants, and on simulated data. In both cases it outperforms alternative approaches in terms of precision and recall, giving more complete and accurate 3D models.


Wind power is a fast-growing industry (GWEC, 2013) and already accounts for seven percent of the total electricity consumption in the EU. The largest market in the EU, and the third largest in the world, is Germany, with an installed base of 31 GW onshore. This master"s thesis has examined the German onshore wind power market from a developer perspective, through a market study based on existing literature and semi-structured interviews with industry experts, a case study of a developer competing in the market and a survey, with the aim of investigating the sourcing models used as well as the success factors and challenges the developers are facing. The study has found that Germany is a large, growing market with a generous feed-in tariff based support scheme, offering low-risk investments in wind power. However, there are many challenges for wind power developers, such as limited availability of designated areas for wind power development, non-uniform regulations, fierce competition and acceptance issues. The authors believe that the future growth of the German onshore market will come from repowering and that having local contacts and credibility offer distinct advantages in the highly competitive arena.


On-line partial discharge (PD) detection and location has proven to be a valuable tool for assessing the condition of medium-voltage (MV) power cables in service. A few advances are discussed in this paper. It is of importance to know all factors affecting PD activity in order to judge its severity. Cable temperature, more specifically its variation due to load cycling, is one key parameter. From the variation of the signal propagation velocity along the cable it is shown that the temperature can be monitored within one degree centigrade accuracy. The PD activity was found to respond upon temperature cycling caused by load variation. Moreover, data gathered from years of field experience has led to more insight in the predictability of upcoming faults based on (trends in) PD activity. It is possible now to identify the time between the moment partial discharges appear (or reach a certain level) and a final breakdown for different types of cable insulation. Occasionally, cable faults occur without being preceded by PD activity. For distribution network operators, a quick location of a MV cable fault, either a direct complete fault or a self-healing (or intermittent) fault, will contribute to reduce the outages both in duration and frequency. The earlier applied PD location technique is extended to capture also faults based on first arrival of the associated transients. This fault pinpointing is possible for any MV power cable type within 1% of the cable length, independent of the network grounding and whether a fault is a permanent one or a self-healing one. This paper presents the various techniques and results from test cases and a real captured field fault.


The creation of value-added services by automatic composition of existing ones is gaining a significant momentum as the potential silver bullet in service-oriented architecture. However, service composition faces two aspects of difficulties. First, users' needs present such characteristics as diversity, uncertainty and personalisation; second, the existing services run in a real-world environment that is highly complex and dynamically changing. These difficulties may cause the emergence of nondeterministic choices in the process of service composition, which has gone beyond what the existing automated service composition techniques can handle. According to most of the existing methods, the process model of composite service includes sequence constructs only. This article presents a method to introduce conditional branch structures into the process model of composite service when needed, in order to satisfy users' diverse and personalised needs and adapt to the dynamic changes of real-world environment. UML activity diagrams are used to represent dependencies in composite service. Two types of user preferences are considered in this article, which have been ignored by the previous work and a simple programming language style expression is adopted to describe them. Two different algorithms are presented to deal with different situations. A real-life case is provided to illustrate the proposed concepts and methods.


A spontaneous B cell leukemia (BCL1) grew progressively in normal BALB/c mice after injection of tumor cells but did not grow in splenectomized recipients. Despite the absence of progressive tumor growth, residual tumor cells with malignant potential were found in the peripheral blood of the splenectomized animals. Splenectomy performed after injection of tumor cells but before the development of marked leukocytosis also prevented progressive tumor growth and death of the host. Thus the spleen appears to be necessary for progressive proliferation of this lymphocytic leukemia early after passage in vivo.


Using as example twelve novels by Robert Bober, Michel Houellebecq and Yasmina Khadra, the dissertation discusses the aesthetic and pragmatic implications of integrating didactically historical reference in fictional narrative and personal theme. Rather than reducing the works of Bober, Houellebecq and Khadra to tendency novels sculptured to pass on a predetermined message, the study discusses the aesthetic values created by didactical play. Not only does historical reference form the setting of the novels but the feelings and ideas expressed by the characters also point outwards, challenging journalistic discourse and historical fact. After underlining the obvious heritage from social realism, litterature engagee and Tendenzliteratur, the study points to the possibility of a reading mode that uncannily marries self forgetting imaginary and historical learning. Finding no comprehensive description within existing theories of genre, the thesis proposes the neologism "didafiction" for a subcategory to the novel that, by systematic interdiscursive play, call for engagement without subscribing to pre-existent doctrines. The lessons given by this literature, rather than operating through a traditionally pedagogic rhetoric, work through sophisticated artistic procedures that integrate encyclopaedia and ethics in a personal theme structure.


Context: The number of maturity models proposed in the area of Business Process Management (BPM) has increased considerably in the last decade. However, there are a number of challenges, such as the limited empirical studies on their validation and a limited extent of actionable properties of these models in guiding their application. These challenges hinder the widespread usage of the maturity models in the BPM field. Objective: In order to better understand the state of the research on business process maturity models (BPMMs) and identify opportunities for future research, we conducted a systematic literature review. Method: We searched the studies between the years 1990 and 2014 in established digital libraries to identify empirical studies of BPMMs by focusing on their development, validation, and application. We targeted studies on generic models proposed for business process maturity, business process management or orientation maturity, and selected 61 studies out of 2899 retrieved initially. Results: We found that despite that many BPMMs were proposed in the last decade, the level of empirical evidence that reveals the validity and usefulness of these models is scarce. Conclusion: The current state of research on BPM maturity is in its early phases, and academic literature lacks methodical applications of many mainstream BPMMs that have been proposed. Future research should be directed towards: (1) reconciling existing models with a strong emphasis on prescriptive properties, (2) conducting empirical studies to demonstrate the validity and usefulness of BPMMs, and (3) separating the assessment method used to evaluate the maturity level from the maturity model which acts as the reference framework for the assessment.


Background:The banking industry is today evolving in a mature market, with a strong competition. Banks' situation is forcing them to constantly innovate in order to keep their customers and to stay attractive for prospects. This environment is particularly true in Sweden.Purpose:All long this research the authors have explored the way Swedish banks are innovating today. Comparing their practices to customers' opinions on how they would like their banks to implement innovations, the authors mainly focused on innovation strategies for banks in order to satisfy their customers.Method:First of all the authors have made a literature review in order to explore previous researches conducted on innovation strategies and customers satisfaction. This has firstly been used in order to make hypotheses, then in order to build the interviews guides for banks as well as the quantitative questionnaire for customers. Then, a comparison has been made between customers' opinions and banks' practices, all of this combined with the theoretical part in order to draw conclusions on the topic.Results and conclusions:Results of this research have shown a difference of point of view from both parts. This difference is not very strong, but could be at the origin of innovation success for Swedish banks understanding it


Aims. Given that in most cases just thermal pressure is taken into account in the hydrostatic equilibrium equation to estimate galaxy cluster mass, the main purpose of this paper is to consider the contribution of all three non-thermal components to total mass measurements. The non-thermal pressure is composed by cosmic rays, turbulence and magnetic pressures. Methods. To estimate the thermal pressure we used public XMM-Newton archival data of five Abell clusters to derive temperature and density profiles. To describe the magnetic pressure, we assume a radial distribution for the magnetic field, B(r) ∝ ρ α . To seek generality we assume α within the range of 0.5 to 0.9, as indicated by observations and numerical simulations. Turbulent motions and bulk velocities add a turbulent pressure, which is considered using an estimate from numerical simulations. For this component, we assume an isotropic pressure, Pturb = 1 ρg(σ 2 + σ 2 ). We also consider the contribution of cosmic ray pressure, Pcr ∝ r −0.5 . Thus, besides the gas (thermal) pressure, we include these three non-thermal components in the magnetohydrostatic equilibrium equation and compare the total mass estimates with the values obtained without them. Results. A consistent description for the non-thermal component could yield a variation in mass estimates that extends from 10% to ∼30%. We verified that in the inner parts of cool core clusters the cosmic ray component is comparable to the magnetic pressure, while in non-cool core clusters the cosmic ray component is dominant. For cool core clusters the magnetic pressure is the dominant component, contributing more than 50% of the total mass variation due to non-thermal pressure components. However, for non-cool core clusters, the major influence comes from the cosmic ray pressure that accounts for more than 80% of the total mass variation due to non-thermal pressure effects. For our sample, the maximum influence of the turbulent component to the total mass variation can be almost 20%. Although all of the assumptions agree with previous works, it is important to notice that our results rely on the specific parametrization adopted in this work. We show that this analysis can be regarded as a starting point for a more detailed and refined exploration of the influence of non-thermal pressure in the intra-cluster medium (ICM).


HLOŽEK, M. (2014): Horizontal channel development on the upper Jizera and the upper Vltava Rivers between 1938 and 2012. Geografie, 119, No. 2, pp. 105–125. – Through the use of orthophotomaps from 1938 and 1952, this paper examines the development of horizontal channels of selected rivers in mountain areas of the Bohemian Massif. Two study sites in northern and southern part of Bohemian Massif were analysed in order to evaluate changes in river channels under similar natural conditions. Developments on the Upper Jizera River and its tributary, the Jizerka River, were investigated for the time period of 1938–2012. The Upper Vltava (Moldau) river, along with its tributaries, was studied in regards to developments taking place over the period of 1952–2012. Historical orthophotomaps were georeferenced and river banks were subsequently determined through the use of ArcGIS software. Both sites are situated in wide valleys with a low gradient, representing an exceptional relief in generally mountainous regions. Channel changes are documented via fluvial lakes, paleomeander remnants and meander cut-offs. Together with high precipitation rates in both basins, periods of extreme floodings seem to have a significant influence on channel development and transformation. Lateral erosion is somewhat less intense when compared to other rivers in similar natural environments across Central E urope. The estimated maximum lateral erosion in the Upper Jizera River basin is 0.5 m.year, whereas in the Vltava River basin, the lateral erosion reaches up to 1.1 m.year.


The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) unspliced transcript is used both as mRNA for the synthesis of structural proteins and as the packaged genome. Given the presence of retained introns and instability AU-rich sequences, this viral transcript is normally retained and degraded in the nucleus of host cells unless the viral protein REV is present. As such, the stability of the HIV-1 unspliced mRNA must be particularly controlled in the nucleus and the cytoplasm in order to ensure proper levels of this viral mRNA for translation and viral particle formation. During its journey, the HIV-1 unspliced mRNA assembles into highly specific messenger ribonucleoproteins (mRNPs) containing many different host proteins, amongst which are well-known regulators of cytoplasmic mRNA decay pathways such as up-frameshift suppressor 1 homolog (UPF1), Staufen double-stranded RNA binding protein 1/2 (STAU1/2), or components of miRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC) and processing bodies (PBs). More recently, the HIV-1 unspliced mRNA was shown to contain N6-methyladenosine (m6A), allowing the recruitment of YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2), an m6A reader host protein involved in mRNA decay. Interestingly, these host proteins involved in mRNA decay were shown to play positive roles in viral gene expression and viral particle assembly, suggesting that HIV-1 interacts with mRNA decay components to successfully accomplish viral replication. This review summarizes the state of the art in terms of the interactions between HIV-1 unspliced mRNA and components of different host mRNA decay machineries.


Objectives The aims of this study were to 1) evaluate the impact of eight common chronic conditions and multimorbidity on preference-based health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and 2) estimate the minimally important difference (MID) in the general population of Hong Kong (HK). Design Data were analyzed using secondary data analysis based on a cross-sectional, population-based validation study of HK's general population. Participants A representative sample was recruited across eighteen geographical districts in HK, and 1,014 HK Chinese residents aged 18 years and older participated in the survey. The prevalence of chronic conditions among the respondents was 30.3%. Interventions The HRQoL was assessed using the locally validated version of EQ-5D-5L. The five-dimension descriptive system, and the utility scores of EQ-5D-5L were used as the dependent variable in the study. Eight common chronic conditions, multimorbidity, and demographic characteristics were defined as predictors in the analysis. Chi-squared test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), logistic regression, and Tobit regression models were used to analyze the data. A simulation-based approach was used to calculate the MID based on instrument-defined single level transitions. Results The findings indicated that respondents with physical disabilities were more likely to report problems on all five dimensions of the EQ-5D-5L than those with other chronic conditions. In addition, respondents with multiple chronic conditions were more likely to report health problems and lower utility scores of EQ-5D-5L. The mean of MID estimates among the respondents in HK was 0.093 (standard deviation = 0.001), which is higher than in other Asian countries. Conclusions The findings suggest that having more chronic conditions is strongly associated with a lower HRQoL. Healthcare reforms to address foreseeable challenges arising as more patients live with chronic conditions and multimorbidity could improve the HRQoL of HK citizens.


Word embeddings (WE) have received much attention recently as word to numeric vectors architecture for all text processing approaches and has been a great asset for a large variety of NLP tasks. Most of text processing task tried to convert text components like sentences to numeric matrix to apply their processing algorithms. But the most important problems in all word vector-based text processing approaches are different sentences size and as a result, different dimension of sentences matrices. In this paper, we suggest an efficient but simple statistical method to convert text sentences into equal dimension and normalized matrices Proposed method aims to combines three most efficient methods (averaging based, most likely n-grams, and word's mover distance) to use their advantages and reduce their constraints. The unique size resulting matrix does not depend on language, Subject and scope of the text and words semantic concepts. Our results demonstrate that normalized matrices capture complementary aspects of most text processing tasks such as coherence evaluation, text summarization, text classification, automatic essay scoring, and question answering.


Since 1970, housing's relative price, share of expenditure, and ``unaffordability'' have all grown. We estimate housing demand using a novel compensated framework over space and an uncompensated framework over time. Our specifications pass tests imposed by rationality and household mobility. Housing demand is income and price inelastic, and appears to fall with household size. We provide a numerical non-homothetic constant elasticity of substitution utility function for improved quantitative modeling. An ideal cost-of-living index demonstrates that the poor have been disproportionately impacted by rising relative rents, which have greatly amplified increases in real income inequality.


This paper presents a multi-dimensional approach for conducting an evaluation of a project for school social work. Concretely, the methodological approach of a formative and summative eval- uation is described. The methodological approach is based on a multi-dimensional research approach which includes three areas: (1) 'multi-informant approach', (2) 'multi-method approach', and (3) 'multi-evaluation-level approach'. The 'multi-informant approach' was realized by the different target groups in the evaluation sample (school social workers, teachers, and students), the 'multi-method ap- proach' by the different research methods (e.g. interviews, questionnaires, direct change measurement, indirect comparison measurement), the 'multi-evaluation-level approach' by the Kirkpatrick and Kirk- patrick four-stage model (2006) implementing the summative evaluation. Both the methodological ap- proach and the results of the evaluation are illustrated through selected examples and discussed taking into account the specifi c situation of school social work in Austria.


In this paper, we present a new multilevel circuit partitioning algorithm (dhml) which is guided by design hierarchy. In addition to flat netlist hypergraph, we use user design hierarchy as a hint for partitioning because it already has some implications on connectivity information between logical blocks in the design. Using design hierarchy in partitioning is nontrivial since hierarchical elements in design hierarchy does not necessarily have strong internal connectivity, hence we need to determine whether it is preferable to break up or preserve the hierarchical elements. In order to identify and select the hierarchical elements with strong connectivity, Rent exponent is used. Then, the selected hierarchical elements are used as effective clustering scopes during multilevel coarsening phase. The scopes are dynamically updated (enlarged) while building up a clustering tree so that the clustering tree resembles the densely connected portions of the design hierarchy.We tested our algorithm on a set of large industrial designs in which the largest one has 1.8 million cells, 2.8 million nets, and 11 levels of hierarchy. By exploiting design hierarchy, our algorithm produces higher quality partitioning results than the state-of-the-art multilevel partitioner hMetis [7]. Furthermore, experimental results show that dhml yields significantly more stable solutions, which is helpful in practice to reduce the number of runs to obtain the best result.


Only a limited number of studies dealing with the epidemiology and therapy of central sleep apnea syndrome (CA) are available. The treatment strategies are poorly defined and not well evaluated. The aim of our present study was to treat selected CA patients with low dose acetazolamide (ACET) for a longer time period than has been done before. Previous studies were performed with high dose ACET provoking severe metabolic acidosis, not for more than 1 wk or only in obstructive apnea patients. Referred patients with suspicion of sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) were included in the study if, after a first selection night, their central apnea index (CAI) was > 5 or their apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) > 10 and their obstructive apnea index (OAI) < 5. Of 327 screened patients, 14 (4.3%) fulfilled these criteria. Patients were then treated with ACET (250 mg, 1 h before sleep): Polysomnography was repeated once after one single dose (N2) and twice after 1-mo chronic treatment without (N3) and with (N4) additional ACET administration. After each study night, arterial blood gases and chemical drive were measured. CAI (25.5 +/- 6.8 at N1) already decreased during N2 (13.8 +/- 5.2) and further during N3 (6.6 +/- 2.9) and N4 (6.8 +/- 2.8) p < 0.01). OAI remained unchanged. Total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency index (SEI) did not change significantly. The number of arousals decreased from 62 +/- 11 at N1 to 40 +/- 5 at N3 (p = 0.019).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Two methods are described for determination of Doxophylline in a solid dosage form. The first method was based on ultraviolet (UV)-spectrophotometric determination of the drug. It involves absorbance measurement at 274 nm (λmax of Doxophylline) in 0.1 N hydrochloric acid. The calibration curve was linear, with the correlation coefficient between 0.99 and 1.0 over a concentration range of 0.20–30 mg/ml for the drug. The second method was based on high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation of the drug in reverse-phase mode using the Hypersil ODS C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 mm). The mobile phase constituted of buffer acetonitrile (80:20) and pH adjusted to 3.0, with dilute orthophosphoric acid delivered at a flow rate 1.0 ml/min. Detection was performed at 210 nm. Separation was completed within 7 min. The calibration curve was linear, with the correlation coefficient between 0.99 and 1.0 over a concentration range of 0.165–30 mg/ml for the drug. The relative standard deviation was found to be <2.0% for the UV-spectrophotometry and HPLC methods. Both these methods have been successively applied to the solid dosage pharmaceutical formulation, and were fully validated according to ICH guidelines.


Reducing water loss through bursts is a major challenge throughout the developed and developing world. Currently burst lifetimes are often long because awareness and location of them is time- and labor-intensive. Advances that can reduce these periods will lead to improved leakage performance, customer service, and reduce resource wastage. In water-distribution systems the sensitivity of a pressure instrument to change, including burst events, is greatly influenced by its own location and that of the event within the network. A method is described here that utilizes hydraulic-model simulations to determine the sensitivity of potential pressure-instrument locations by sequentially applying leaks to all potential burst locations. The simulation results are used to populate a Jacobian matrix, quantifying the different sensitivities. This matrix may then be searched to identify different instrument locations to achieve required goals: maximising overall sensitivity to all potential events or selective sensitivity to events in different network areas. It is shown here that by searching this matrix to optimize such selective sensitivity, while minimising instrument numbers, it is possible to provide useful burst-localization information. Results are presented from field studies that demonstrate the practical application of the method, showing that current standard network models can provide sufficiently accurate quantification of differential sensitivities and that, once combined with event-detection techniques for data analysis, events can effectively be localized using a small number of instruments.


Morphogen gradient theories have enjoyed considerable popularity since the beginning of this century, but conclusive evidence for a role of morphogens in controlling multicellular development have been elusive. Recently, work on three secreted signalling proteins. Activin in Xenopus, and Wingless and Dpp in Drosophila, has strongly suggested that these proteins function as morphogens. In order to define a factor as a morphogen, it is necessary to show firstly, that it has a direct effect on target cells and secondly, that it affects the development of target cells in a concentration-dependent manner. With these criteria in mind, the evidence available for a variety of proposed morphogens is discussed. While the evidence is not conclusive in most of the cases considered, there is a strong case in favour of the three proteins mentioned above, which suggests that morphogens are potentially of general importance in controlling the development of multicellular organisms.


Mechanisms involved in the production of visually guided reaching movements have been extensively investigated, but little is known on the motor control of wrist rotation. In two independent experiments, we examined the adaptation of wrist motor control to new visuomotor gain in rotation in a task where subjects were asked to adjust the orientation of a virtual teapot using a force feedback robot arm without time constraints. We manipulated the visual feedback to assess how feedback affects the mechanisms employed by the motor system to compensate for the imposed visuomotor gain. In the first experiment, continuous visual feedback was provided to subjects during the learning phase with the new visuomotor gain. In a second experiment, which used a different design, only terminal feedback was provided, also as a visual teapot. We tested whether adaptation to yaw (flexion/extension) wrist rotations could transfer to pitch (ulnar/radial) rotations, as suggested by earlier work. We showed that in conditions close to robotic arm manipulations by teleoperators (when continuous visual feedback is available and the movement duration is not limited), novel visuomotor gains of wrist rotations are spontaneously taken into account without the need for adaptation. Nevertheless, an internal model of the new visuomotor gain was constructed in parallel, since limited, but significant, aftereffects were observed. For the second experiment, for which visual feedback was only provided after the manipulation, a clear adaptation with an internal model updating to new visuomotor gain was observed. This adaptation was transferrable to another wrist axis. However, after the transfer of the adaptation, subjects spontaneously and rapidly returned to a gain of 1.


The behavior of cooperative teacher's for integration into
professional life was largely influenced by human relationships with other teachers
and administrative staff. Firstly, our studies aimed to identify the interactions
developed during the presence of cooperative teacher's (CT) in the preparatory training
for working life. Secondly, we ask to know how the masters of the course actually
help to integrate training against the constraints that
were imposed on his entourage. For this reason
we base our analysis on a questionnaire consisting of ten questions that are the elements that make up the scale
to clarify the latent construct "the integration of CT in professional life" and
semi-directive interviews. The value of Cronbach alpha index is 0.772. Therefore,
we can say that we get to this scale that consists of ten questions, satisfactory internal consistency. Our data were
collected in the end of the course and interviews with ten physical education student
teachers (PE-STs) at the Higher Institute of Sport and Physical Education (ISSEP)
in Tunisia. They all mixed classes of Level 1 and 2 (first and second year of secondary
school) teach. These interviews were semi-structured (30 minutes) and gave the PE-STs
opportunity to distribute their views on major issues such as the satisfaction of
the integration, management, as well as more succinct topics such as difficulties
that occurred all along the path of integration. The data were analyzed using a constant
comparison. However, three main issues have emerged of responses that illustrate
the PE-STs' satisfactions, and it's their integration into
working life, the definition of the objectives of the course and the role of CT (monitors and internship supervisor). This study revealed
three major advanced by PE-STs conceptions: 1) the satisfaction of the
integration (45%); 2) supervision (51.2%); and 3) knowledge of the objectives
of the course (28.8%). The issues addressed in this paper will encourage educators
to reflect on their own coaching practices and to include them in the process of
accompanying PE-STs.


A visual navigation system for autonomous land vehicles has been designed at the Computer Vision Laboratory of the University of Maryland. This system includes several modules, among them a 'knowledge-based reasoning module' that is described. This module utilizes domain-dependent knowledge (in this case, 'road knowledge') to analyze and label the visual features extracted from the imagery by the image processing module. Knowledge and general hypotheses are given. The reasoning module itself is described and results are presented. Some conclusions and future extensions are proposed. >


Introduction: Burnout is a syndrome containing three dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduction of personal accomplishment. Nurses are exposed to professional burnout (PB) due to their exposure to physical, mental, and emotional stressors, which can lead to numerous complications in their personal, social, and organizational life. This study aimed to define the prevalence of PB amongst nurses working in hospitals in Tabriz and to detect its related effective factors in 2010. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional analytical study conducted on all selected nurses working in hospitals in Tabriz. The questionnaires were filled and returned by 712 subjects after taking their consent. The data were collected by a questionnaire including questions on demographic characteristics and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Independent t-test was employed to compare mean quantitative variables in two groups of individuals with and without PB. Chi-square test was also adopted to compare the prevalence of PB in levels of qualitative variables. Logistic regression test was employed for multiple analyses of PB related factors. In this analysis, variables in level of 0.2 which had an association with PB as a single variable were entered to the model. Results: Among the nurses taking part in the study, 156 (21.9%, CI 95%: 19.0-25.1) suffered from PB based on its definition. The risk of burnout is increased by 1.12-folds for each overwork night shift. Higher education increases professional burnout by 3.17-folds. Conclusion: The prevalence of burnout among nurses in Tabriz was revealed. Night shift and education level were shown to have an association with professional burnout.


Nowadays cloud infrastructures allow storing and processing increasing amounts of scientific data. However, most of the existing large scale data management frameworks are based on the assumption that users deploy their data-intensive applications in single data center, few of them focus on the inter data centers data flows. Managing data across geographically distributed data centers is not trivial as it involves high and variable latencies among sites which come at a high monetary cost. In this report, we introduce an uniform data management system for disseminating scientific data across geographically distributed sites. Our solution is environment-aware, as it monitors and models the global cloud infrastructure, and offers predictable data handling performances for transfer cost and time. In terms of efficiency, it leverages for applications the possibility to set the tradeoff to be done between money and time and optimizes the transfer strategy accordingly. A prototype of our system has been implemented in the Windows Azure Cloud, and we obtain some encouraging results from the extensive evaluations.


Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a chronic granulomatous disease of unknown aetiology with a variable clinical course and prognosis. There is a growing need to identify non-invasive biomarkers to differentiate between clinical phenotypes, identify those at risk of disease progression and monitor response to treatment. Objectives: We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the utility of breath-based biomarkers in discriminating sarcoidosis from healthy controls, alongside correlation with existing non breath-based biomarkers used in clinical practice, radiological stage, markers of disease activity and response to treatment. Methods: Electronic searches were undertaken during November 2017 using PubMed, Ebsco, Embase and Web of Science to capture relevant studies evaluating breath-based biomarkers in adult patients with sarcoidosis. Results: 353 papers were screened; 21 met the inclusion criteria and assessed 25 different biomarkers alongside VOCs in exhaled breath gas or condensate. Considerable heterogeneity existed amongst the studies in terms of participant characteristics, sampling and analytical methods. Elevated biomarkers in sarcoidosis included 8-isoprostane, carbon monoxide, neopterin, TGF-β1, TNFα, CysLT and several metallic elements including chromium, silicon and nickel. Three studies exploring VOCs were able to distinguish sarcoidosis from controls. Meta-analysis of four studies assessing alveolar nitric oxide showed no significant difference between sarcoidosis and healthy controls (2.22 ppb; 95% CI −0.83, 5.27) however, a high degree of heterogeneity was observed with an I2 of 93.4% (p < 0.001). Inconsistent or statistically insignificant results were observed for correlations between several biomarkers and radiological stage, markers of disease activity or treatment. Conclusions: The evidence for using breath biomarkers to diagnose and monitor sarcoidosis remains inconclusive with many studies limited by small sample sizes and lack of standardisation. VOCs have shown promising potential but further research is required to evaluate their prognostic role.


Abstract. The traditional way of doing science has been changing with the recent movements on open science, open data and the world-wide spread of volunteer activities. With the help of technological advancements, in particular mobile technologies, do-it-yourself kits and free online education sources, ordinary citizens may contribute to scientific processes based on their interest and abilities. Citizen Science (CitSci) is an active research agenda which draws the interest of scientists from different disciplines. It investigates the various contributions that citizens could do to improve scientific process. These contributions are utilized in diverse areas ranging from biology to environmental monitoring to classification of galaxies, all of which have a spatiotemporal dimension. The emerging developments in spatial information science allow the public to understand their environment better and efficiently. In this way society would have the means to deal with complex modern problems including but not limited to water/air pollution monitoring and mapping a region after a natural disaster to aid relief and recovery efforts. In addition, there is a growing public demand for research projects involving CitSci; because such collaborative efforts can be critical to achieve sustainability goals. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview on the state-of-the art methods and applications where CitSci is a crucial component in different phases of disaster management, from environmental protection to risk analysis and aid provision. Use of CitSci methods in disaster situations can be vital for different reasons, such as acquisition of local and most current information, organization of help during emergency, development of instant rescue plans, accurate information dissemination, and monitoring of the post-disaster influences to the society and the environment. Open issues on the use of CitSci methods in disaster management, such as data quality, technical and management-related barriers, open-standards and interoperability, and volunteer engagement, will also be discussed.


Despite having been endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) almost a decade ago, and its widespread adoption as a model of "best practice" for school health promotion throughout the world, the Health Promoting Schools framework has not been subjected to widespread evaluation in a way that fully recognises its core tenets. Most evaluations have focused on individual targeted interventions addressing students' health behaviours, or implementation issues such as school health policies or access to services. No evaluations of this approach could be found which investigated the impact of the HPS model on teachers, as a critical factor influencing the school climate, or on organisational processes associated with employee wellbeing within the school setting.

There is a vast literature pertaining to conditions of the work environment that affect employee health, including work-related stress. Teaching is considered a highly stressful occupation, and as social pressure continues to place teachers and schools in the role of "in loco parentis" for the socialisation of children, it seems timely to identify those characteristics of the school environment that promote positive health and wellbeing for all. In theory, the HPS model provides a set of principles and procedures that aim to promote health and wellbeing for all members of the school community, yet the impact on school staff has yet to be demonstrated.

This thesis reports on research investigating the extent to which adoption of the HPS approach creates a positive work environment for teachers, through enhanced organisational and social capital, and whether selected work environment variables impact on teachers' physical and mental wellbeing, health risk behaviours, job stress, and job commitment.

After conducting a statewide audit of health promotion activities in Queensland primary schools, two samples of schools that differed significantly in the extent to which they were implementing organisational strategies consistent with the HPS approach were selected, one sample of 20 schools actively implementing HPS strategies, and a comparison sample of 19 schools not implementing the approach. Schools were matched on geographic location (rural/urban), school size (number of student enrolments), and socio-economic rank (IRSED). A cross-sectional design using a mail-out survey to 1,280 teachers was conducted, and statistical comparisons of the two groups were conducted.

Apart from providing the samples of schools for the main research, the statewide audit provided a profile of health promotion activity in Queensland primary schools. Urban, rather than rural schools, and those with higher student enrolments, were most frequently implementing HPS strategies. Socio-economic ranking did not have any statistical bearing on adoption of these strategies. Implementation of school health policies was the most common strategy, although the social and physical environments were also addressed to some extent. The instrument designed for the study, the HPS Audit Checklist, proved effective in distinguishing a continuum of HPS "total scores" and demonstrated good psychometric properties.

With respect to differences in measures of the school environment, mean scores for all 11 dimensions of school organisational health, and all 4 dimensions of school social capital, were statistically higher in High HPS, although differences between the two groups were not outstanding. Trends in the results did, however, confirm that schools actively adopting a HPS approach provide a more positive work environment than non-health promoting schools. Effect size was most significant for School Morale, Decision Authority, and Co-worker Support. Both organisational and occupational commitment was higher for teachers in High HPS, and Turnover Intention (plans to leave the workforce/workplace) was lower for teachers in High HPS.

Teachers in High HPS reported less job strain and higher skill discretion, despite slightly greater job demands (work pressure) in these schools. They also reported significantly less general psychological distress on 5 measures, and significantly better self-rated mental and physical health. Job strain was most strongly associated with co-worker support, appreciation, and school morale in High HPS, but in Low HPS strain was most strongly associated with leadership style, school morale, and role clarity, suggesting more subtle differences between the two sets of schools. No statistically significant differences were found between teachers in High and Low HPS on self-reported weight, daily dietary habits, dental check-ups, preventive health screenings, alcohol consumption, smoking, cholesterol, BP and exercise.

Although this research was limited by its dependence on self-report measures, the high response rate suggests that the results provide a valid profile of the health and psychological wellbeing of teachers in Health Promoting Schools in Queensland. These results also suggest that the HPS approach creates a more positive school environment through building social and organisational capital, and this is reflected in better mental health and stronger job commitment of the teaching workforce.

Implications of these results for human resource management within the education sector are discussed. In addition, the implications of a healthier "learning environment", including less stressed and more connected teaching staff, for children's psychosocial and educational outcomes are considered in light of potential future directions for this research.


Cell printing has been popularized over the past few years as a revolutionary advance in tissue engineering has potentially enabled heterogeneous 3‐D scaffolds to be built cell‐by‐cell. This review article summarizes the state‐of‐the‐art cell printing techniques that utilize fluid jetting phenomena to deposit 2‐ and 3‐D patterns of living eukaryotic cells. There are four distinct categories of jetbased approaches to printing cells. Laser guidance direct write (LG DW) was the first reported technique to print viable cells by forming patterns of embryonic‐chick spinal‐cord cells on a glass slide (1999). Shortly after this, modified laser‐induced forward transfer techniques (LIFT) and modified ink jet printers were also used to print viable cells, followed by the most recent demonstration using an electrohydrodynamic jetting (EHDJ) method. The low cost of some of these printing technologies has spurred debate as to whether they could be used on a large scale to manufacture tissue and possibly even whole organs. This review summarizes the published results of these cell printers (cell viability, retained genotype and phenotype), and also includes a physical description of the various jetting processes with a discussion of the stresses and forces that may be encountered by cells during printing. We conclude the review by comparing and contrasting the different jet‐based techniques, while providing a map for future experiments that could lead to significant advances in the field of tissue engineering.


We used data from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey to examine the potential role of dental care in reaching untested individuals at self-reported risk for HIV. An estimated 3.6 million Americans report that they are at significant HIV risk yet have never been HIV tested. Three quarters of these people have seen a dentist within the past 2 years. Dental care offers opportunities to serve at-risk individuals who are otherwise unlikely to be tested or to receive preventive care services.


Drug-eluting stents (DES) have gained great popularity because of extraordinarily low rates of restenosis. Despite these superior clinical outcomes, several cases regarding the severe multi-vessel coronary spasm, although rare, after the placement of first generation DES have been reported. We report a case of severe, multi-vessel coronary spasm that occurred two occasions after placement of a zotarolimus-eluting stent, one of the second generation DES, in a 42-year-old man with unstable angina. The first incidence was relieved by intracoronary nitroglycerin alone, and second incident, which had combined fixed stenosis was treated with intracoronary nitroglycerin and everolimus-eluting stent.


ABSTRACT Purpose: Repetitive task practice after stroke is important to improve function, yet adherence to exercise is low. The aim of this study was to determine whether using the internet, a tablet application, and a chair sensor that connected to a therapist was feasible in monitoring adherence and progressing a functional exercise at home. Methods: Ten participants with stroke completed a 4-week sit-to-stand exercise using the technology at home (ACTRN12616000051448). A therapist remotely monitored exercise adherence, progressed goals, and provided feedback via the app. Measures of feasibility (design, recruitment/withdrawals, adherence, safety, participant satisfaction and estimates of effect on function) were collected. Results: Participants' mean age was 73.6 years [SD 9.9 years]. The system was feasible to deliver and monitor exercise remotely. All participants completed the study performing a mean 125% of prescribed sessions and 104% of prescribed repetitions. Participants rated the system usability (78%), enjoyment (70%) and system benefit (80%) as high. No adverse events were reported. The mean pre- and post-intervention difference in the total short performance physical battery score was 1.4 (95% CI 0.79, 2.00). Conclusions: It was feasible and safe to prescribe and monitor exercises using an app and sensor-based system. A definitive trial will determine whether such technology could facilitate greater exercise participation after stroke.


Multispectral imaging (MSI) significantly reduces metal artifacts. Yet, especially in techniques that use gradient selection, such as slice encoding for metal artifact correction (SEMAC), a residual ripple artifact may be prominent. Here, an analysis is presented of the ripple artifact and of slice overlap as an approach to reduce the artifact.