Objective: To explore the influence of contextual factors on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which is sometimes used as an indicator of quality of care, we examined the association of neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) and trajectories of HRQoL after hospitalization for acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Methods: We studied 1481 patients hospitalized with acute coronary syndromes in Massachusetts and Georgia querying HRQoL via the mental and physical components of the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) (MCS and PCS) and the physical limitations and angina-related HRQoL subscales of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) during hospitalization and at 1-, 3-, and 6-month postdischarge. We categorized participants by tertiles of the neighborhood deprivation index (a residence-census tract-based measure) to examine the association of NSES with trajectories of HRQoL after adjusting for individual socioeconomic status (SES) and clinical characteristics. Results: Participants had mean age 61.3 (SD, 11.4) years; 33% were female; 76%, non-Hispanic white; 11.2% had household income below the federal poverty level. During 6 months postdischarge, living in lower NSES neighborhoods was associated with lower mean PCS scores (1.5 points for intermediate NSES; 1.8 for low) and SAQ scores (2.4 and 4.2 points) versus living in high NSES neighborhoods. NSES was more consequential for patients with lower individual SES. Individuals living below the federal poverty level had lower average MCS and SAQ physical scores (3.7 and 7.7 points, respectively) than those above. Conclusions: Neighborhood deprivation was associated with worse health status. Using HRQoL to assess quality of care without accounting for individual SES and NSES may unfairly penalize safety-net hospitals.


In this paper we exploit concepts of information theory to address the fundamental problem of identifying and defining the most suitable tools for extracting, in a automatic and agnostic way, information from a generic string of characters. We introduce in particular a class of methods which use in a crucial way data compression techniques in order to define a measure of remoteness and distance between pairs of sequences of characters (e.g. texts) based on their relative information content. We also discuss in detail how specific features of data compression techniques could be used to introduce the notion of dictionary of a given sequence and of artificial text and we show how these new tools can be used for information extraction purposes. We point out the versatility and generality of our method that applies to any kind of corpora of character strings independently of the type of coding behind them. We consider as a case study linguistic motivated problems and we present results for automatic language recognition, authorship attribution and self-consistent classification.


The pyrolusite (beta-MnO2)-mediated oxidation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) under nonaqueous conditions was investigated to assess the potential for abiotic transformations of chlorophenols and their transformation pathways when they are released to soils and the vadose zone. Lower rates of TCP oxidation were found at lower relative humidities, but the rates were still relatively high under near-dry conditions, with 86% of the TCP transformed within 24 h at less than 2% relative humidity. The rates of TCP transformation and soluble manganese formation at less than 2% relative humidity were not affected by atmospheric oxygen content. The manganese oxide-mediated oxidation of TCP resulted in the formation of 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone and dimers, including polychlorinated phenoxyphenols and at least one tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. The products are consistent with the proposed mechanism in which some of the TCP is transformed into trichlorophenoxy radicals that attack TCP and its transformation products. The present results demonstrate that naturally occurring manganese oxides have the potential to oxidize industrial compounds such as TCP; however, the transformation products may be more toxic and persistent than the parent compound.


The proliferation of the subtle and slippery nature of the new racism has made it increasingly difficult to define racism and to develop an effective anti-racist rhetoric with which to challenge it. To explore the implications of the new racism for anti-racist discourse, this article uses discourse analysis to examine the parliamentary speeches of politicians opposing Australia's new asylum-seeking laws for what these refugee advocates challenge and make accountable as racist. Using a corpus of the 2001 Australian Hansard speeches on the MV Tampa, amendments to the Migration Act, and the Border Protection Bill 2001 as data we identify four ways in which the government's representation of asylum seekers was constructed as racist. These included: the use of categorical generalizations in talk about asylum seekers, the unequal treatment of asylum seekers compared with other categories of `illegal' immigrants, talk about the nation and cultural-difference-talk. We demonstrate how articulating these constructions of racism in political discourse (and no doubt, in everyday talk) is a socially delicate conversational act that was carefully managed. We suggest that anti-racism strategies must take this issue of the complex nature of making an accusation of racism into account, and search for ways to articulate such accusations in a hostile political climate.


This article describes heroic consciousness – how heroes perceive, experience, and think about the world. I describe the transformation of consciousness from its pre-heroic state to its heroic state. Pre-heroic consciousness is characterized by nescient and maladaptive thinking, dualism, separation, mono-rationality, and a naïve sense of empowerment. Heroic consciousness is exemplified by nondualism, unity, transrationality, and the wisdom of tempered empowerment. Heroic consciousness is achieved via three routes: (1) traversing the hero's journey, (2) effective use of specific spiritual practices, and/or (3) participation in hero training programs. I discuss the implications of heroic consciousness for individual and global well-being.


Abstract The focus of this article is the critical role of management consultancy in providing a rich basis to understanding the mechanisms by which knowledge management and operations risk is influenced. This article raises vital questions as to how management consultants can successfully contribute to knowledge management and subsequently improve performance at all levels of the organization. I extended the literature by showing how management consultants can contribute to knowledge management, facilitating and fostering a firm's capabilities. Insufficient consideration of the impact of management consultancy on the effectiveness of knowledge management has been exposed and I attempt to address this concern for the first time.


Though there has been an upward rise in the number of publications on COVID-19, tourism and hospitality, researchers have turned a blind eye towards conducting a multifaceted stakeholder assessment of its impact on a given destination and the possible effects of recent developments on the destination's recovery. To address the latent gap, this study first attempts to assess the impact of COVID-19 on various aspects of a destination's businesses, workforce and the local community. Taking into consideration the recent pharmaceutical developments and ease in travel restrictions, it then explores the effects of such an intervention on the destinations' recovery process. 142 valid questionnaires were collected from employees of travel agents, tour operators, transport operators and hotels in the northern part of India. Subsequently, PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) was applied using SmartPLS to test the proposed hypotheses. Through two individual studies in September 2020 and November 2021 i.e. at different stages of the pandemic, this study not only offers insights into the current status of destination recovery but also tests the validity and applicability of recent publications, their proposed recommendations and future practices. Recovery at a destination was found to be a result of the recovery of its businesses, workforce and community. These factors also had positive and negative impacts on each other. The article further suggests the low transformational ability of the pandemic in the context of tourism and hospitality. It is amongst the first few studies to have carried out a temporal assessment of stakeholders for an investigation into the pandemic's impact on destinations in addition to their recovery.


BACKGROUND
Although influenza is a commonly encountered condition in primary care, and diagnosis is increasingly important given the availability of new treatments, there has been no systematic review of the evidence on clinical diagnosis.

METHODS
This was a systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis where appropriate. We included cohort studies and randomized trials that compared the history and physical examination with a reference laboratory test for the diagnosis of influenza A and/or B. The primary outcomes were the sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

RESULTS
Seven studies reported the sensitivity and specificity for a total of 59 variables. We combined studies of influenza A or B alone with those of influenza A and B. Rigors [likelihood ratio (LR) +7.2], the combination of fever and presenting within 3 days of the onset of illness (LR +4.0), and sweating (LR +3.0) were best at ruling-in influenza when present. When absent, the following decreased the likelihood of influenza: any systemic symptoms (LR -0.36), coughing (LR -0.38), not being able to cope with daily activities (LR -0.39), and being confined to bed (LR -0.50). Cough, nasal congestion, and fever (subjective or objective) had the highest calculable areas under the ROC curve.

CONCLUSIONS
Individual signs and symptoms are of limited value for the diagnosis of influenza. Development of clinical decision rules that systematically combine symptoms may be a more useful strategy.


This study looks at factors that influence user adoption of third-part-payment systems such as Alipay and PayPal. A research model and five hypotheses are proposed based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). These relate different factors to user adoption and form the basis of a survey which we present to a sample of 207 Chinese consumers. Our hypotheses are tested using a paired t-test with results revealing that, social influence, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions are the factors most likely to affect user adoption.


A long-term study has been conducted since 1979 to evaluate effects of various combinations of phosphorus(P) and potassium (K)fertilizer rates on soil-test values and grain yield of corn and soybeans grown in rotation. In 1979, the soil tested High for P (28 ppm,Bray-1 test) and borderline between Optimum and High for K (170 ppm, ammonium acetate test). The predominant soil is Kenyon loam and pH has been 6.2 to 6.8. Both crops are grown each year by alternating crops between two halves of the experimental area. Annual treatments consist of combinations of 0, 46, or 92 lb P2 O5/acre and 0, 72, or 144 lb K2 O/acre. Two other treatments (92 lb P2 O5/acre and 144 lb K2 O/acre) are applied every other year to corn or soybean. Granulated fertilizers(triple superphosphate and potassium chloride) are broadcast in the fall. Corn residue is chisel plowed in the fall, and both corn and soybean residues are disked or field cultivated in spring. Nitrogen rates of 150 to 180 lb N/acre are applied to all corn plots.


Advances in stem cell biology have challenged the notion that infarcted myocardium is irreparable. The pluripotent ability of stem cells to differentiate into specialized cell lines began to garner intense interest within cardiology when it was shown in animal models that intramyocardial injection of bone marrow stem cells (MSCs), or the mobilization of bone marrow stem cells with spontaneous homing to myocardium, could improve cardiac function and survival after induced myocardial infarction (MI) [1, 2]. Furthermore, the existence of stem cells in myocardium has been identified in animal heart [3, 4], and intense research is under way in an attempt to clarify their potential clinical application for patients with myocardial infarction. To date, in order to identify the best one, different kinds of stem cells have been studied; these have been derived from embryo or adult tissues (i.e. bone marrow, heart, peripheral blood etc.). Currently, three different biologic therapies for cardiovascular diseases are under investigation: cell therapy, gene therapy and the more recent "tissue-engineering" therapy . During my Ph.D. course, first I focalised my study on the isolation and characterization of Cardiac Stem Cells (CSCs) in wild-type and transgenic mice and for this purpose I attended, for more than one year, the Cardiovascular Research Institute of the New York Medical College, in Valhalla (NY, USA) under the direction of Doctor Piero Anversa. During this period I learnt different Immunohistochemical and Biomolecular techniques, useful for investigating the regenerative potential of stem cells. Then, during the next two years, I studied the new approach of cardiac regenerative medicine based on "tissue-engineering" in order to investigate a new strategy to regenerate the infarcted myocardium. Tissue-engineering is a promising approach that makes possible the creation of new functional tissue to replace lost or failing tissue. This new discipline combines isolated functioning cells and biodegradable 3-dimensional (3D) polymeric scaffolds. The scaffold temporarily provides the biomechanical support for the cells until they produce their own extracellular matrix. Because tissue-engineering constructs contain living cells, they may have the potential for growth and cellular self-repair and remodeling. In the present study, I examined whether the tissue-engineering strategy within hyaluron-based scaffolds would result in the formation of alternative cardiac tissue that could replace the scar and improve cardiac function after MI in syngeneic heterotopic rat hearts. Rat hearts were explanted, subjected to left coronary descending artery occlusion, and then grafted into the abdomen (aorta-aorta anastomosis) of receiving syngeneic rat. After 2 weeks, a pouch of 3 mm was made in the thickness of the ventricular wall at the level of the post-infarction scar. The hyaluronic scaffold, previously engineered for 3 weeks with rat MSCs, was introduced into the pouch and the myocardial edges sutured with few stitches. Two weeks later we evaluated the cardiac function by M-Mode echocardiography and the myocardial morphology by microscope analysis. We chose bone marrow-derived mensenchymal stem cells (MSCs) because they have shown great signaling and regenerative properties when delivered to heart tissue following a myocardial infarction (MI). However, while the object of cell transplantation is to improve ventricular function, cardiac cell transplantation has had limited success because of poor graft viability and low cell retention, that's why we decided to combine MSCs with a biopolimeric scaffold. At the end of the experiments we observed that the hyaluronan fibres had not been substantially degraded 2 weeks after heart-transplantation. Most MSCs had migrated to the surrounding infarcted area where they were especially found close to small-sized vessels. Scar tissue was moderated in the engrafted region and the thickness of the corresponding ventricular wall was comparable to that of the non-infarcted remote area. Also, the left ventricular shortening fraction, evaluated by M-Mode echocardiography, was found a little bit increased when compared to that measured just before construct transplantation. Therefore, this study suggests that post-infarction myocardial remodelling can be favourably affected by the grafting of MSCs delivered through a hyaluron-based scaffold 1. Orlic D, Kajstura J, Chimenti S, Limana F, Jakoniuk I, Quaini F, et al. Mobilized bone marrow cells repair the infarcted heart, improving function and survival. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001;98(18):10344-9 2. Orlic D, Kajstura J, Chimenti S, Jakoniuk I, Anderson SM, Li B, et al. Bone marrow cells regenerate infracted myocardium. Nature 2001;410:701-5 3. Beltrami A, Barlucchi L, Torella D, Baker M, Limana F, Chimenti S, Kasahara H, Rota M, Musso E, Urbanek K Adult cardiac stem cells are multipotent and support myocardial regeneration.bCell. 2003 Sep 19;114(6):763-76 4. Nadal-Ginard B , Anvera P, Kajstura J, Leri A Cardiac stem cells and myocardial regeneration. Novartis Found Symp 2005; 265: 142-54


A central problem in contemporary employment relations is the fragmentation of work. This process is occurring in health systems as they decentralize services from hospitals to outpatient centers. While some unions have maintained inclusive employment systems, others have not. What explains this variation? The authors address this question through a matched case comparison of healthcare unions in Rochester and Buffalo, New York. The cities share many similarities, but in Buffalo unions have expanded their power, while in Rochester they have not. The authors show how path dependency from institutional legacies of employer power has shaped union capacity in the current period.


Permission-based security models provide controlled access to various system resources. The expressiveness of the permission set plays an important role in providing the right level of granularity in access control. In this work, we present a methodology for the empirical analysis of permission-based security models which makes novel use of the Self-Organizing Map (SOM) algorithm of Kohonen (2001). While the proposed methodology may be applicable to a wide range of architectures, we analyze 1,100 Android applications as a case study. Our methodology is of independent interest for visualization of permission-based systems beyond our present Android-specific empirical analysis. We offer some discussion identifying potential points of improvement for the Android permission model attempting to increase expressiveness where needed without increasing the total number of permissions or overall complexity.


This paper describes two circular microphone arrays and a square microphone array which may be used for sound localization and sound capture. Sound capture by microphone array is achieved by Sum and Delay Beam Former (SDBF). A dedicated PCI 128-channel simultaneous input analog-to-digital (AD) board is developed for a 128-channel microphone array with a maximum sampling rate of 22.7 /spl mu/s/sample. Our 128-channel circular microphone array is under construction, but a 24 channel circular microphone array and a 128 channel square microphone array have been completed. The 24 channel circular microphone array can capture sound from an arbitrary direction. The 128-channel square microphone array can capture sound from a specific point. The 24-channel circular microphone array and the 128-channel square microphone array are evaluated by using frequency components of the sound. The 128-channel circular microphone array is evaluated by simulations of the sound pressure distribution. These microphone arrays will be used as the capture method of "a meeting system " which automatically takes minutes of a conference.


This paper presents the results of a feasability study that was carried out to evaluate the construction of Use Case Models by comparing the models with groups that used the GUCCRA techniques and groups that did not use them, that is, they only used their experience (Ad-Hoc). GUCCRA – Guidelines for Use Case Construction and Requirements document Analysis – is a set of two reading techniques that helps the elaboration of Use Case Models and, simultaneously, provides an opportunity to identify defects in the Requirements Document. The results of the study showed that applying a systematic and procedural technique to construct Use Case Models, a larger standardization may be reached and the construction process becomes more independent from the designer's subjectivity and experience.


Background In our large teaching hospital, Pre-Operative Assessments (POA) for general surgery patients are completed in a single visit by a multidisciplinary team comprising trained nurses, anaesthetist and junior doctors. Medicines reconciliation and completion of thromboprophylaxis risk assessment (TRA) are completed by junior doctors. For orthopaedic patients, these are completed by trained pharmacists. Missed doses as a result of incomplete POA for general surgery patients were identified as a major risk at our institution. Purpose We carried out a prospective study comparing the reliability of medicines reconciliation performed by junior doctors compared to pharmacists, before and after implementation of three interventions that are listed below. Materials and methods We collected data on completion rate of prescription charts and TRAs of all patients who attended POA for general surgery and orthopaedic for 2 weeks, and the number of missed doses for 2 weeks. Following that, the completion rate of all patients attending POA for general surgery was continuously monitored over a period of 22 weeks. A fishbone diagram was used to analyse the POA process and to identify possible targets for interventions. We implemented three interventions: All junior doctors receive a mandatory medicines reconciliation and TRA teaching session. Junior doctors to complete all prescription charts as a batch at the end of POA clinic. Patients were not permitted to be transferred to theatre without a complete prescription chart. Data were plotted in a run-chart for analysis. The attendance rate and reasons for nonattendance of junior doctors at POA were also recorded. Results The completion rate of prescription charts and TRA for general surgery and orthopaedic patients was 43% and 94% respectively. Over a period of one week, 18 cases of missed doses were recorded. Following the first two interventions, the completion rate of prescription charts for general surgery patients increased to 45% and to 51% after the third intervention. Junior doctors attended only 44% of POA clinics, with the majority being kept away by other clinical commitments. Conclusions Preventing medicines errors in elective surgical patients begins with accurate medicines reconciliation and completion of prescription charts at POA clinic. Our data revealed that junior doctors were not as reliable as trained pharmacists in completing prescription charts. Despite three interventions, the completion rate of prescription charts by junior doctors could not be raised to meet the standard of trained pharmacists. We therefore support the introduction of trained pharmacists to the POA clinics to manage medicines reconciliation and reduce medicines-related incidents. No conflict of interest.


The authors identify customers, termed "Harbingers of failure," who systematically purchase new products that flop. Their early adoption of a new product is a strong signal that a product will fail—the more they buy, the less likely the product will succeed. Firms can identify these customers through past purchases of either new products that failed or existing products that few other customers purchase. The authors discuss how these insights can be readily incorporated into the new product development process. The findings challenge the conventional wisdom that positive customer feedback is always a signal of future success.


The objectives of the research entitled "A Study on Students' Difficulties in Learning Vocabulary" were to find out kinds and factors of students' difficulties in learning vocabulary.  The subject of this study was the students of the first semester of English Education Department at IAIN who took vocabulary class. This study employed a qualitative research design, implementing characteristics of a case study. For gaining the data, the researcher used interview and questionnaire. All the data were analyzed descriptively. The findings showed that the students still faced the problems or difficulties in vocabulary learning. Kinds of difficulties faced by students in vocabulary learning were various. Kinds of difficulties faced by the students were (1) almost all of the students have difficulties in pronouncing the words, (2) how to write and spell, (3) the different grammatical form of a word known as inflections was one of causes of students difficulties in learning vocabulary. In addition, (4) the students found difficulties in choosing the appropriate meaning of the words and (5) also still confuse in using the word based on the context. The last, (6) the students were also still confuse when they found words or expression that were idiomatic. There were some factors that caused students' difficulties in learning vocabulary (1) the written form is different from the spoken form in English, (2) The number of words that students need to learn is exceedingly large, (3) the limitations of sources of information about words, (4) The complexity of word knowledge. Knowing a words involves much more than knowing its dictionary definition, (5) causes of lack of understanding of grammatical of the words, (6) the incorrect pronunciation is often caused by the lack of sound similarity between English and the students' native language.


The objective of this investigation is to study the rapid forming based on robot GMAW forming. The work may be divided into two sections. First study the modeling of weld bead profile. Self adaptive layered algorithm of variable direction is employed, which changes the forming direction on the basis of parts geometric character. In addition, the microstructure and performance characteristics of the formed parts are investigated. Its metallographic microstructure along the deposition direction shows obviously layered characteristic. The micro hardness values closely relate to the microstructure characteristics. The fracture mechanism of the part belongs to quasi-cleavage crack.


We report the mid-term results of a new patellofemoral arthroplasty for established isolated patellofemoral arthritis. We have reviewed the experience of 109 consecutive patellofemoral resurfacing arthroplasties in 85 patients who were followed up for at least five years. The five-year survival rate, with revision as the endpoint, was 95.8% (95% confidence interval 91.8% to 99.8%). There were no cases of loosening of the prosthesis. At five years the median Bristol pain score improved from 15 of 40 points (interquartile range 5 to 20) pre-operatively, to 35 (interquartile range 20 to 40), the median Melbourne score from 10 of 30 points (interquartile range 6 to 15) to 25 (interquartile range 20 to 29), and the median Oxford score from 18 of 48 points (interquartile range 13 to 24) to 39 (interquartile range 24 to 45). Successful results, judged on a Bristol pain score of at least 20 at five years, occurred in 80% (66) of knees. The main complication was radiological progression of arthritis, which occurred in 25 patients (28%) and emphasises the importance of the careful selection of patients. These results give increased confidence in the use of patellofemoral arthroplasty.


The proper functioning of the monocyte–macrophage system, an important unit of innate immunity, ensures the normal course of pregnancy. In this review, we present the current data on the origin of the monocyte–macrophage system and its functioning in the female reproductive system during the ovarian cycle, and over the course of both normal and complicated pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a crucial gestation disorder characterized by pronounced inflammation in the maternal body that affects the work of the monocyte–macrophage system. The effects of inflammation at preeclampsia manifest in changes in monocyte counts and their subset composition, and changes in placental macrophage counts and their polarization. Here we summarize the recent data on this issue for both the maternal organism and the fetus. The influence of estrogen on macrophages and their altered levels in preeclampsia are also discussed.


Spatial variability of soil hydraulics is a study of determining representative
infiltration rate parameters for use in modeling infiltration characteristics of soil under
tropical climate in terms of geostatistical analysis. This study deals with the spatial
variability of soil hydraulics properties at University Teknologi Petronas (UTP)
campus area. The proposed project allowed understanding and characterization of
small scale spatial variability nature of infiltration characteristics of tropical soil in the
UTP campus area. The aim of the study is to evaluate the variation in soil hydraulic
characteristics around the UTP campus area by performing the double ring
infiltrometer and make a comparison of infiltration rate for each location. Horton's
infiltration equation was calibrated with the data of 50 infiltration tests performed in
different locations. This allowed arriving at a generalized for of Horton's infiltration
equation for the UTP campus area. Variation in soil hydraulic characteristics and
determining field scale flow processes are difficult because of the spatial variability of
soil properties. Methodology of this modeling the spatial variability nature of
infiltration characteristics at UTP campus area includes three parts which are
determination of geogrid locations, field data experiments and computer analysis. The
statistical parameters from the infiltration tests will be presented in statistical and
geostatistical analysis.


Semiclassical asymptotics for linear Schr\"odinger equations with non-smooth potentials give rise to ill-posed formal semiclassical limits. These problems have attracted a lot of attention in the last few years, as a proxy for the treatment of eigenvalue crossings, i.e. general systems. It has recently been shown that the semiclassical limit for conical singularities is in fact well-posed, as long as the Wigner measure (WM) stays away from singular saddle points. In this work we develop a family of refined semiclassical estimates, and use them to derive regularized transport equations for saddle points with infinite Lyapunov exponents, extending the aforementioned recent results. In the process we answer a related question posed by P. L. Lions and T. Paul in 1993. If we consider more singular potentials, our rigorous estimates break down. To investigate whether conical saddle points, such as $-|x|$, admit a regularized transport asymptotic approximation, we employ a numerical solver based on posteriori error control. Thus rigorous upper bounds for the asymptotic error in concrete problems are generated. In particular, specific phenomena which render invalid any regularized transport for $-|x|$ are identified and quantified. In that sense our rigorous results are sharp. Finally, we use our findings to formulate a precise conjecture for the condition under which conical saddle points admit a regularized transport solution for the WM.


Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer related death in the Western world. The survival of patients with pancreatic cancer has not improved substantially over nearly 40 years with a current overall 5-years survival of only 7%. Surgical resection provides the best chance of survival. However, its aggressive tumor biology leading to early tumor infiltration in combination with late diagnosis, prevent successful surgical therapy as the majority of patients presents with an advanced stage. At presentation, 40-50% have distant metastases and 30-40% locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC). LAPC is defined as pancreatic cancer that has extended beyond the borders of the pancreas with extensive vascular involvement precluding upfront resection, in absence of distant metastases. The last decade gemcitabine monotherapy has been regarded as the most effective chemotherapy for patients with LAPC. However, it prolongs survival with only a few months and has a low response rate (<10%).This thesis outlines current research on improving survival of patients with LAPC. Part 1 and 2 emphasize the most important advances in treatment, by focusing on the potential benefit of FOLFIRINOX and local ablative therapies, respectively, with regard to feasibility, safety and efficacy. Part 3 highlights the importance of accurate CT-assessment in pancreatic cancer staging and treatment response as well as outlines the advances in treatment of relevance to the pathologist. Part 1. A systematic review of the literature on FOLFIRINOX treatment in LAPC, demonstrates that FOLFIRINOX provides a relatively high response rate of 29% and a promising survival benefit ranging between 8.9 and 25.0 months, with grade 3 and 4 toxicity (severe or life threatening complications) in 23% of patients with LAPC. Moreover, it can downstage LAPC to resectable disease in around one third of patients.In our own institution we reportedsimilar outcomes regarding response rate (25%) and median overall survival (14.8 months for LAPC). Moreover, we demonstrated that over 75% of complications related to FOLFIRINOX were resolved after dose reduction.Part 2. Regarding local ablative therapies, both radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and irreversible electroporation (IRE) were feasible and safe in LAPC, providing a median overall survival up to 25.6 months and 20.2 months, respectively, according to retrospective cohort studies. BothRFA and IRE used today, require the implementation of probes directly into and/ or around the tumor, by performing a laparotomy or direct percutaneous probe placement. Needle placement has some disadvantages, of which the occurrence of postoperative pancreatic fistula via the needle tracks is most important. We therefore investigated the use of plate electrodes placed in parallel fashion alongside the tumor, and proven the feasibility and safety of paddle-assisted IRE as new IRE-technique in healthy porcine pancreas. Feasibility, safety and efficacy have yet to be evaluated in pancreatic cancer tissue.Part 3 demonstrates the importance of the correct measurement of tumor extent and vascular involvement exposed on CT-imaging, as clinical decision-making is based on this CT-assessment. It appears however that delineability of LAPC is problematic and there is no consensus on the method to be applied.


Hydrogenomonas eutropha is known to accumulate lipid, comprised largely of polymerized β-hydroxybutyric acid, when maintained in nitrogen-deficient medium. This lipid was very poorly absorbed by mice from bacteria-containing diets, even though nitrogen absorption was adequate. The monomer, free β-hydroxybutyric acid, was well absorbed from purified diet. Rats fed the monomer or butyric acid ate less food and grew more slowly than rats fed corn oil.


At the International Workshop for Classification of Periodontal Diseases and Conditions in 1999, the classification of aggressive and chronic periodontitis that is presently used was introduced. A literature review of papers published in 2015 and having aggressive periodontitis in the title revealed that most studies use this terminology but it is questionable whether all established criteria were really applied correctly. Review of the literature showed no qualitative differences between aggressive and chronic periodontitis regarding bacterial and viral aspects. It is also unlikely that that there are major immunologic differences between aggressive and chronic periodontitis. Neutrophil function can be compromised in both conditions but may be more genetically related in aggressive periodontitis and be associated more with lifestyle factors in chronic periodontitis. In general, genetics plays a more important role in aggressive periodontitis than in chronic periodontitis. It is likely that periodontitis progresses by recurrent acute episodes during which invasion of bacteria into the connective tissue may occur. Two cases are presented for which invasive periodontitis is treated with systemic antibiotics, showing remarkable periodontal healing in terms of probing attachment gain, as well as radiographic bone gain. Periodontitis in an active state with bacterial invasion is probably accompanied with a significant increase in subgingival temperature. It is hypothesized that elevated subgingival temperature may help to distinguish between bacterial and nonbacterial invasive periodontitis. Scaling and root planing during a burst of disease activity may result in removal of connective tissue fiber attachment and down-growth of epithelium, thereby preventing the reattachment of connective tissue. Because the burst of disease is accompanied by an increase of temperature, assessment of the temperature may help in deciding whether or not to prescribe systemic antibiotics. When the use of systemic antibiotics is indicated, the antibiotic therapy may help to maintain the connective tissue attachment at the most possible coronal level. The above implies that the ability to diagnose bacterial invasive periodontitis is quite important, and future research is needed to determine if assessment of subgingival temperature may help in diagnosing invasive periodontitis. In addition, it is suggested that future classification systems of periodontitis include the item of bacterial invasive periodontitis.


We present a straightforward, call-by-value embedding of a small logic programming language with a simple complete search. We construct the entire language in 54 lines of Racket---half of which implement unification. We then layer over it, in 43 lines, a reconstruction of an existing logic programming language, miniKanren, and attest to our implementation's pedagogical value. Evidence suggests our combination of expressiveness, concision, and elegance is compelling: since microKanren's release, it has spawned over 50 embeddings in over two dozen host languages, including Go, Haskell, Prolog and Smalltalk.


We report on a patient with an interchromosomal duplication of 3p, from 3p21 to 3pter, which apparently arose de novo. The infant had multiple malformations including holoprosencephaly and cyclopia. It is possible that duplication 3p has a generalized effect on the holoprosencephalon or the cleavage of the embryonic forebrain. Fibroblasts from the patient are available from the NIGMS Human Genetic Mutant Cell Repository (GM 7216).


The Finned tube bundles in heat exchangers are susceptible to flow-excited acoustic resonance phenomena. During acoustic resonance, the flow field couples with the acoustic field generating very high-intensity noise. Characterizing the sound intensity and its underlying mechanism is critical to the design of heat exchangers. However, this characterization presents a challenging problem, as it is influenced by various fin parameters and its arrangement around the bare tube. For straight finned cylinders, several studies investigated the effect of the fin thickness, fin pitch as well as fin spacing on the flow-acoustic resonance phenomena whereas the effect of fin height is not studied. Thus, in this work, the effect of fin height is investigated experimentally. Finned cylinders with same fin thickness t = 1.5 mm, equispaced fins of pitch p =3 mm and three different diameter ratio D f /D r =1.5, 2, 2.5 were experimentally studied. In general, acoustic pressure from the finned cylinders was found higher and the onset of resonance was earlier compared to the equivalent diameter bare cylinders having same frontal area flow blockage. It is observed that increasing the Df/Dr i.e. the fin height results in the increase in acoustic pressure substantially. Moreover, increasing the height shifted the onset of acoustic resonance slightly earlier.


The concept of the bio-based economy has gained increasing attention and importance in recent years. It is seen as a chance to reduce the dependency on fossil resources while securing a sustainable supply of energy, water, and raw materials, and furthermore preserving soils, climate and the environment. The intended transformation is characterized by economic, environmental and social challenges and opportunities, and it is understood as a social transition process towards a sustainable, bio-based and nature-oriented economy. This process requires general mechanisms to establish and monitor safeguards for a sustainable development of the bio-based economy on a national and EU level. Sustainability certification and standardisation of bio-based products can help to manage biogenic resources and their derived products in a sustainable manner. In this paper, we have analysed the current status of sustainability certification and standardisation in the bio-based economy by conducting comprehensive desktop research, which was complemented by a series of expert interviews. The analysis revealed an impressive amount of existing certification frameworks, criteria, indicators and applicable standards. However, relevant gaps relating to existing criteria sets, the practical implementation of criteria in certification processes, the legislative framework, end-of-life processes, as well as necessary standardisation activities, were identified which require further research and development to improve sustainability certification and standardisation for a growing bio-based economy.


The so-called "Self-Illumination Effect" (SI) is described. Its appears when using luminescent paints like PSP. Correcting SI requires to address several problems: the paint emission model, the paint reflection model and the design of an appropriate algorithm. The emission and reflection models of a pyren-based paint are described. It comes out that the simplest model, which is the Lambertian model, matches quite well the calibration measurements made with a BRDF calibration rig. An algorithm has been implemented in the Onera's PSP software. It includes a new approach to decrease the size of the problem, which is based on the segmentation of the image in triangles. The algorithm handles the occlusions and can be used for wind-tunnel applications with an acceptable time penalty. It has been extended for real paint models. It provides a significant accuracy improvement, which is small compared to the computational effort. This leads to check the benefit of using a real model, especially for PSP applications, where the intensity method compensates for remaining errors.


This paper investigates turbulent velocity estimation using the full correlation analysis (FCA) of spaced antenna (SA) data, and its application to the routine FCA observations of the Buckland Park MF (BPMF) radar. The effects of transmitter beamwidths are investigated, confirming the suggestions of previous authors that wide transmit beam widths lead to an overestimation of the turbulent velocity. The annual variation of the turbulent velocity is investigated , revealing an increase in turbulent velocity with height, and equinoctal minima and solstice maxima observed below 80 km. Investigations of the turbulent velocities about the March diurnal tide maximum reveals a diurnal variation in phase with the zonal velocity. Harmonic analysis reveals this relationship exists between February and September. Descending power layers are also observed during this period. A number of mechanisms are proposed to describe these observations. Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; instruments and techniques) – Radio science (instruments and techniques)


When soil surfaces are exposed to high shear stresses induced by high-velocity water flows, they erode. Erosion consists of the detachment, entrainment and transport of soil particles. When exposed to high shear stresses the process of soil detachment is no longer given by the pick-up of individual particles but by the continuous shear failure of layers of soil. The understanding of how soil properties influence the detachment rate of soil is lacking. This paper presents how the bed shear stress, initial and critical porosity, hydraulic conductivity, and density influence the detachment rate of dilatant soils which are subjected to high-velocity flows. Based on the constitutive mass and momentum balance equations it is hypothesized that the exchange of mass and momentum during soil detachment corresponds with that situation for which the dilatancy induced shear resistance of the soil is maximum. The hypothesis is validated against high-velocity erosion experiments on sand.


Do the cognitive benefits of interleaving—the method of alternating between two or more skills or concepts during training—extend to foreign language learning? In four experiments, we investigated the efficacy of interleaved versus conventional blocked practice for teaching adult learners to conjugate Spanish verbs in the preterite and imperfect past tenses. In the first two experiments, training occurred during a single session and interleaving between tenses began during the presentation of introductory content (Experiment 1) or during randomly ordered verb conjugation practice trials at the end of the training session (Experiment 2). This yielded, respectively, numerically higher performance in the blocked group and equivalent performance in the interleaved and blocked groups on a 2-day delayed test. In Experiments 3 and 4, the amount of training was increased across 2 weekly sessions in which the blocked group trained on 1 tense per session and the interleaved group trained on both tenses per session, with random interleaving occurring during verb conjugation practice trials. Interleaving yielded substantially better performance on a 1-week delayed test. Thus, although interleaving did not confer an advantage over blocking under 2 different single-session training schedules, it improved learning when used to practice conjugating verbs across multiple training sessions. These results constitute the first demonstration of an interleaving effect for foreign language learning.


The study was done in March 2020 in Dusun Gojang Utara, Bontomarannu Village, Bontomanai Sub-district, Selayar Islands District, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, aiming at exploring the opportunity and feasibility of "Kenari Forest" as a tourist attraction. A descriptive-status approach was used in this study that was sought to answer questions about real-life situations, and in addition, the scoring of potential tourism object/attraction utilized the 2003 ADO-ODTWA Guideline. Overall, Dusun Gojang Utara has a high potency as a community-based tourism destination, although there are four criteria needed improvement, nanely: accessibility, surrounding conditions, management and services, and climate. Unfortunately, Dusun Gojang Utara as a tourist village is yet to be the priority of the local government,. Indeed, as part of the Bontomarannu Village, this dusun is included as an agro-tourism development area, but the potential of this dusun is not for agro-tourism, instead its tourism attraction resides in the local livelihood itself.


We applied DNA metabarcoding to evaluate the ecology of genetic variants within several diatom species that are important for biomonitoring. Benthic diatoms are widely used as bioindicators for biomonitoring programmes, including those for European rivers demanded by Water Framework Directive (WFD). Morphological identification of diatoms at species level is required for assessing the ecological status in biomonitoring programmes. However, this is a time-consuming task and requires expert knowledge. In addition, closely related species, which sometimes are scarcely distinguishable on the basis of their morphology, can show different ecological preferences; these may even vary within a single diatom species. Not being able to identify the different ecological preferences shown by the genetic variants of a single species or closely related species, might have consequences for biomonitoring programmes, especially if such differences occur within common species. The key diatom species that we studied were: Fistulifera saprophila (FSAP), widely regarded as a marker for elevated nutrient levels, organic pollution and hence poor ecological status; Achnanthidium minutissimum (ADMI), which usually indicates good ‡,§ ‡ | ‡,¶ © Pérez Burillo J et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. ecological status; and Nitzschia inconspicua (NINC) and N. soratensis (NSTS), two species that are widely separated phylogenetically but almost impossible to distinguish in the light microscope. Our dataset was based on high-throughput sequencing using a 312bp rbcL marker. We used the denoising pipeline DADA2 to infer amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) from 554 environmental samples from river biomonitoring campaigns in Catalonia (NE Spain) and France. Ecological groupings of ASVs were distinguished according to their environmental responses given by Threshold Indicator Taxa ANalysis (TITAN); the environmental parameters that most influenced the occurrence of these groupings were tested using boosted regression trees. We could distinguish three different ecological groupings of ASVs within ADMI and three within FSAP. In each species two of the groupings were clearly separated by their opposite responses to calcium and conductivity and boosted regression trees showed that for three out of four of these groupings, these two variables were among the most important variables for explaining the ASV distributions. The third grouping in FSAP had a negative response to total organic carbon and a positive response to altitude and hence was better represented in less organically polluted waters and higher ecological status than is generally assumed for FSAP. Our analyses did not identify ecological groupings of ASVs within NINC and NSTS but confirmed earlier studies, based on more limited sampling, that indicated different preferences of these species. Conductivity and calcium were the variables that most influenced the occurrence of NINC and NSTS, NINC being better distributed in waters with higher levels of calcium and conductivity than NSTS. Our findings indicate the potential use of DNA metabarcoding for distinguishing the ecological preferences of genetic variants within a single species or closely related species. This information, coupled with the broad knowledge generated over many years using traditional microscope-based identifications, will facilitate the development of more accurate biological indexes for the biomonitoring programmes of the future.


Background: As a part of a larger study for evaluating the effectiveness of a community-based family welfare program, this study assessed the contraceptive behavior of couples preceding sterilization and termination of pregnancies, if any during the interim period. Methods: During May–June 2013, a cross-sectional study was undertaken in three districts of Odisha, an eastern state of India with poor maternal health indicators. Using a 15 × 14 cluster design with probability proportionate to size sampling 15 village clusters from each district were selected. Seven beneficiaries from the catchment area of two Accredited Social Health Activist of the selected villages were interviewed (14 respondents from each village) using a pretested predesigned questionnaire. Results: A total of 630 clients with either of the partner having undergone sterilization were interviewed. Male partner having undergone vasectomy was < 1% (n = 3). The mean age (standard error mean [SEM]) of the respondent women was 34.54 ± 0.26 years. The mean age of the women at the time of sterilization was 27.12 (standard deviation [SD], 3.8, SEM 0.15 and median 26.83 years) years. Women as young as 22 years had undergone sterilization. Average family size was 2.81 with about 29 respondents (4.5%) having 5 or more children. The average duration between the last childbirth (LCB) to the date of sterilization was 18.37 months (range: 1–142 months, SD: 24 months, SE: 10 months). Seventy-two percent of the respondents did not use any method of contraception during this period. Methods adopted for contraception among the users was pill (20%) followed by condom (7%), and intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) was least used (0.2%). Ten percent of the women had undergone abortion before sterilization either once (7.9%) or more than once (2.1%). Conclusion: There was a gross delay in sterilization after LCB. Postpartum sterilization or IUCD were also not used frequently.


The Adaptive Comfort Standard in ASRHAE Standard 55 currently is applicable only to naturally ventilated buildings, and no guidance is given on its relevance to buildings that are mixed-mode (combining operable windows with mechanical cooling), or have other forms of personal comfort systems, such as workstation heaters, fans, or ventilators. For these types of buildings or systems, the extent to which people will find the conventional PMV-based or adaptive-based comfort zones acceptable has a lot to do with how the building is designed and how it is operated throughout the year. And this is simply not yet known. There is a need for more field studies in these types of buildings to assess the specific design and operating characteristics that might influence adaptive comfort. But to date there are no standardized methods for conducting such studies. The objective of this project was to identify a set of data collection protocols that would eventually allow us to investigate and potentially expand the adaptive comfort standards to account for mixed-mode and personal comfort system design strategies. To arrive at a proposal, we polled professionals for their own views on what data is needed, and also reviewed the literature comparing field methods used over the past decade that have expanded upon traditional thermal comfort field studies. We used two frameworks to organize the data. One was a "methods matrix", describing the ways in which data can be collected, organized by background vs. real-time information, and objective building characteristics and environmental measurements vs. different kinds of surveys. The second framework was a list of six high-level topics that represent unresolved issues that should be addressed by future data collection. These issues include the need for improved methods to describe the building, document available controls, account for perceived control and thermal expectations, account for utilized control, determine the influence of outdoor conditions, and (re)define "comfortable". This second framework is used for a lengthy discussing of the literature to to understand how far research has come in addressing these issues. This is later mapped onto the methods matrix in our proposal for new field study protocols.


The management of symptomatic neuromas is an unsolved problem. This article attempts to review the various management regimens that have been proposed in the past and their success rate. The authors propose an algorithm for the management of symptomatic neuromas based upon this information.


It is typically assumed that being hard-working or clever is a trait of the person, in the sense that it is always there, in a fixed manner. However, in an experiment with almost 600 boys in India, cues to one's place in the traditional caste order turn out to influence the expression of these traits. The experiment assigned students to different treatments with respect to the salience of caste and had them solve mazes under incentives. It turned out that making caste salient can reduce output by about 25 percent, which is equivalent to twice the effect on output of being one year younger. The channels through which this occurs differ by caste status. For the upper castes, the decline in performance under piece rates can only be explained by a shift in preferences regarding the provision of effort. When the ascriptive caste order is cued, upper-caste individuals may think,"I don't need to excel."In contrast, for the lower castes, which were traditionally"untouchables,"publicly revealing caste identity impairs the ability to learn and may lead individuals to think,"I can't (or don't dare to) excel."This paper provides a measure of the impact that ascriptive, hierarchized identities can have on preferences and performance after a society -- in its public pronouncements and legislation -- has adopted norms of equality in a formal sense. The findings are important because they suggest that when contexts cue identities founded on the superseded rules of a hierarchical institution, the effects on human capital formation and development can be first-order. Contexts that make traditional identities salient are an underemphasized source of impediments to institutional change.


Research is beginning to suggest that elevated levels of anger may influence responses in traditional cognitive tests of attention. To date research has focused upon nonforensic samples, and trait and state levels of anger. If individuals who are habitually aggressive demonstrate processing bias then it is likely that other constructs such as aggressiveness, hostility, and impulsivity will also be correlated with any bias performance. We attempted to extend the research by also considering the role of aggressive experience and impulsivity in such bias by using a group of offenders (n = 50) from prisons in the North of England and undergraduates (n = 30) from a university in the North of England. We hypothesised that violent offenders (as classified by their index offence) would demonstrate delayed responses when presented with aggressive stimuli as targets in a thematically primed version of the traditional dot-probe task, due to the activation of associated representational structures by a violently themed vignette when compared to a neutral vignette. We also hypothesised that the violent offenders would become distracted when searching for a neutral word target which was surrounded by aggressive words in a visual search task [Cohen et al., 1998] leading to delayed responses compared to a neutral word surrounded by negatively or positively themed emotion words. Finally, we hypothesised that undergraduates with elevated levels of aggressiveness would also show similar (albeit attenuated) biases for these materials. Violent offenders demonstrated significant response biases to aggression words in both tests. This effect was also found in the aggressive undergraduates (as classified by their scores on the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire). These data confirm the saliency of aggression words to aggressive individuals across populations. The objective nature of these tests, together with their resilience to deception, may offer a useful tool in the assessment and treatment of aggressive individuals.


This paper examines specific constructs for sustainable entrepreneurship as perceived in the Ugandan context using confirmatory factor analysis. This study is cross-sectional. Data were collected through a face to face survey of 384 small businesses in Kampala selected through stratified and simple random sampling. Data were analyzed through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. The study revealed that the constructs for sustainable entrepreneurship as perceived in the Ugandan context are production management, people and skills, ecosystem management, stakeholder, finance, strategy, marketing and sales. This suggests that seven factors with eigenvalues greater than one were identified, accounting for 63.23% of the total variance explained in sustainable entrepreneurship. This study presents initial evidence on the constructs of sustainable entrepreneurship that apply to the local context from the perspective of the business owners as opposed to the experts in the field. Implications on policy and practice were discussed.

 Key words: Sustainable entrepreneurship, confirmatory factor analysis, Uganda.


Expression of a c-myc proto-oncogene product known as p62 (c-myc) was studied in 18 cases of stage I endometrioid (typical) adenocarcinoma of the uterus by immunohistochemistry and correlated with mucin production and other pathologic features. Cytoplasmic staining of tumor cells for c-myc product was seen in all cases and nuclear staining in three cases. Endometrial stromal cells were invariably negative and myometrial nuclear staining was seen in three cases. Within the tumor itself, whereas intense staining was frequent in high grade tumors with deep myometrial and vascular invasion, faint to moderate staining was frequent in well differentiated tumors with superficial myometrial invasion. A general tendency was also seen for greater staining in the myometrial component of the tumor than in tumor located in the endometrium. Whereas staining in the latter was frequently patchy in distribution, c-myc expression was invariably uniform in the myometrial component. Mucin production was somewhat greater in endometrial than myometrial components but did not correlate with c-myc expression or other pathologic features. This study demonstrates that c-myc is variably expressed in endometrial carcinoma and high c-myc expression can be associated with populations of tumor cells selectively capable of myometrial and vascular invasion.


The United States is in the midst of a rather severe housing crisis. Home prices have declined and foreclosures have increased in cities all over the country. The crisis began in 2007 and has continued into the fourth quarter of 2008. Some cities have been severely affected by the housing crisis while others have been able to maintain relatively healthy housing markets. This paper demonstrates the local nature of housing markets and the factors which shape them. Analyses of the local housing markets of Austin, TX, Atlanta, GA and Miami, FL comprise the bulk of this paper and demonstrate the broad spectrum of housing market conditions that exist today. The lessons learned from the three case studies finally lead to some recommendations for local planners which could prove effective for creating and maintaining healthy local housing markets.


In studies of hydrogenic systems via the recursive residue generation method (RRGM) the major bottleneck is the matrix vector product HC, between the Hamiltonian matrix H and a Lanczos vector C. For highly excited states and/or strong perturbations the size of H grows fast leading to storage problems. By making use of direct methods, i.e. avoidance of explicit construction of large Hamiltonian matrices, such problems can be overcome. Utilizing the underlying analytical properties of the Laguerre basis e- lambda rLk2l+2(2 lambda r) a direct RRGM (D-RRGM) for the unperturbed hydrogenic Hamiltonian is derived, changing the storage needs from scaling as N2 to 4N where N is the number of radial functions for each factorized H0(l,m) block with the possibility of parallel processing. A further computational simplification is introduced by putting the expression for the photoionization (PI) cross section in the rational form conventionally used in the representation of density of states (DOS). This allows the construction of the PI cross section directly from the tridiagonal Lanczos matrix avoiding the explicit calculation of individual eigenvalues and eigenvectors. To illustrate and verify the method the PI cross section for a hydrogen atom in a static electric field, for both pi and sigma polarization, was calculated for an electric field strength of F=5714 V cm-1. Sufficiently large basis sets could be employed so that good comparison with experiment and other theoretical work was obtained, including the field-induced modulations near the zero-field ionization limit.


The purpose of this paper is to analyze and compare the dynamic characteristics of various structure pressure sensors using the Improved Pressure Square Wave Generator (IPSWG). The developed IPSWG is a signal generator that creates pressure square waves as an excitation source. The dynamic characteristics of pressure sensor in hydraulic systems can be measured and evaluated effectively due to the high excitation energy. The method is also useful for dynamic testing and characterization for a high frequency range, which cannot be performed by the traditional methods, such as the hammer kit excitation, sweeping frequency pressure wave, and random frequency wave. Result shows that piezoelectric sensors (quartz) have a largest gain margin and overshoot. The strain gauge sensor has a smaller gain margin and overshoot. The piezoelectric sensor is more suitable for measuring dynamic pressure.


The study of quantitative easing (QE) policies has so far focussed on which assets the central bank should buy, and on how it can pursue its targets for real and financial stability. This paper emphasizes instead the funding of QE by central bank liabilities, with an eye on achieving the inflation target. Looking backwards, it shows evidence that post-QE1, the U.S. banking sector became saturated with reserves, so the central bank can control the size of the balance sheet independently of its interest-rate policy. Using options data for U.S. inflation, it shows that while QE1 had an effect on expected inflation, further rounds of QE did not. Looking forward, it estimates the feasibility of keeping the liabilities of the central bank at a high level in terms of a solvency upper bound. Finally, it argues that the central bank's interest-rate policy is not out of ammunition when it comes to targeting inflation, since there are radical proposals on the composition of its liabilities, their maturity and the way to remunerate them that could be employed.


This study explores the dynamic combination of structural factors domestic conditions, individual and social characteristics, and personal choices that produced episodes of homelessness among a representative sample of young adults (aged 20 to 45) in the city of Philadelphia in the late 1980s. Forty-three single adult homeless people (31 men and 12 women) were selected from a variety of shelter and nonshelter locations and interviewed in-depth about their experiences of becoming homeless. Statistics describing the residential transitions of the survey participants and a weighted distribution of the casual factors of their homelessness revealed the major significance of family relations, work and income, drugs (abuse, dealing, and environment), disabilities and previous institutional experiences. On the basis of written transcripts, combinations of these contributing factors have been identified. Interview selections are provided to illustrate these combinations, or the dynamic "pathways to homelessness" and the active decision-making processes of the participants. The study findings are interpreted as showing that, considered independently, neither reductionist models of homelessness that emphasize the causal influence of deviant behavior (primarily mental illness and substance abuse), nor the deterministic models of homelessness that examine structural factors independent of their biographical mediation (such as the housing and income crises), are sufficient for understanding the complex relationships that produce episodes of homelessness. While historical, social and economic factors determine the extent and demographic distribution of residential instability in the population, the mediation of those factors in the domestic conditions, personal experiences and restricted choices of men and women is critical to understanding how people become homeless. This study includes a chapter examining the historical, social and economic contexts of residential instability among young adults in Philadelphia. This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/spp_papers/139


The design of an energy-efficient memory subsystem is one of the key issues that system architects face today. To achieve this goal, architects usually rely on system simulators and trace-based DRAM power models. However, their long execution time makes the approach infeasible for the design-space exploration of next-generation exascale computing systems. Analytic models, in contrast, are orders of magnitude faster. In this paper, we propose a new analytic memory-scheduler-agnostic power model for DRAM, henceforth referred to as MeSAP. Similarly to state-of-the-art trace-based approaches, our analytic model achieves an average error of 20%, while being an order of magnitude faster. Furthermore, we integrate MeSAP into an analytic performance model of general-purpose processors and show its applicability to the design of a computing system targeting scientific image processing applications.


This article introduces a new dyadic dataset measuring formal diplomatic relations. These data were coded from the Europa World Yearbook annually from 1960 to 2013 for 18,317 unique country dyads, and include the level of diplomatic representation (whether the diplomatic connection is focused on a single or multiple target countries) as well as a summary measure that captures both directed and shared dyadic level of representation. We compare the new data with data gathered previously by the Correlates of War project and find significant specific discrepancies in the period between 1970 and 1985. We then test the new data by replicating Neumayer (2008) generally validating those findings: distance, power, and ideological affinity each matter when sending and receiving formal diplomatic relations. However, using the new annual diplomatic representation data, we demonstrate a different relationship between power, affinity, and probability of diplomatic connection: dyadic foreign policy affinity is a more important driver of diplomatic exchange if both the sending and receiving countries have average relative material capabilities and matters little if one or both countries in the dyad are very powerful or very weak relative to previous model results.


A Lagrangian formalism is developed for a general nondissipative quasiperiodic nonlinear wave with trapped particles in collisionless plasma. The adiabatic time-averaged Lagrangian density $\mcc{L}$ is expressed in terms of the single-particle oscillation-center Hamiltonians; once those are found, the complete set of geometrical-optics equations is derived without referring to the Maxwell-Vlasov system. The number of trapped particles is assumed fixed; in particular, those may reside close to the bottom of the wave trapping potential, so they never become untrapped. Then their contributions to the wave momentum and the energy flux depend mainly on the trapped-particle density, as an independent parameter, and the phase velocity rather than on the wave amplitude $a$ explicitly; hence, $\mcc{L}$ acquires $a$-independent terms. Also, the wave action is generally not conserved, because it can be exchanged with resonant oscillations of the trapped-particle density. The corresponding modification of the wave envelope equation is found explicitly, and the new action flow velocity is derived. Applications of these results are left to the other two papers of the series, where specific problems are addressed pertaining to properties and dynamics of waves with trapped particles.


Two data assimilation (DA) methods are compared for their ability to produce an accurate soil moisture analysis using the Meteo-France land surface model: (i) SEKF, a simplified extended Kalman filter, which uses a climatological background-error covariance, and (ii) EnSRF, the ensemble square root filter, which uses an ensemble background-error covariance and approximates random rainfall errors stochastically. In situ soil moisture observations at 5 cm depth are assimilated into the surface layer and 30 cm deep observations are used to evaluate the root-zone analysis on 12 sites in south-western France (SMOSMANIA network). These sites differ in terms of climate and soil texture. The two methods perform similarly and improve on the open loop. Both methods suffer from incorrect linear assumptions which are particularly degrading to the analysis during water-stressed conditions: the EnSRF by a dry bias and the SEKF by an over-sensitivity of the model Jacobian between the surface and the root-zone layers. These problems are less severe for the sites with wetter climates. A simple bias correction technique is tested on the EnSRF. Although this reduces the bias, it modifies the soil moisture fluxes and suppresses the ensemble spread, which degrades the analysis performance. However, the EnSRF flow-dependent background-error covariance evidently captures seasonal variability in the soil moisture errors and should exploit planned improvements in the model physics. Synthetic twin experiments demonstrate that when there is only a random component in the precipitation forcing errors, the correct stochastic representation of these errors enables the EnSRF to perform better than the SEKF. It might therefore be possible for the EnSRF to perform better than the SEKF with real data, if the rainfall uncertainty was accurately captured. However, the simple rainfall error model is not advantageous in our real experiments. More realistic rainfall error models are suggested.


This study attempts to explore the impact of renewable energy, nonrenewable energy, trade openness and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in the selected South Asian countries over the period 1990 to 2014. The study used Panel Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) for analyzing the relationship between renewable energy, nonrenewable energy, trade openness, urbanization, and carbon dioxide emissions. The results from the FMOLS show that renewable energy is negatively associated with CO2 emissions, whereas nonrenewable energy is positively associated with CO2 emissions. Furthermore the empirical estimation revealed that the increase in trade openness increases co2 emissions. Interestingly, urbanization decreases carbon dioxide emissions in our analysis of selected South Asian region. It implies that increasing the use of renewable energy is an effective policy to mitigate global warming in the South Asian region.


A common belief among marketing practitioners is that increasing the vividness of a message enhances its persuasiveness. This belief has received support in experimental investigations, but vividness also has been found to undermine persuasion or to have no effect. The authors extend a current view of memory operation to predict when and how vividness will affect persuasion. According to this view, the favorableness of available information determines the persuasive effect of vividness. This assertion is tested and supported in a series of experiments. The findings are discussed in terms of strategies for controlling vividness effects.


Tittle: Image Stitching Algorithm Based On Feature Extraction This paper proposes a novel edge-based stitching method to detect moving objects and construct mosaics from images. The method is a coarse-to-fine scheme which first estimates a good initialization of camera parameters with two complementary methods and then refines the solution through an optimization process. The two complementary methods are the edge alignment and correspondence-based approaches, respectively. The edge alignment method estimates desired image translations by checking the consistencies of edge positions between images. This method has better capabilities to overcome larger displacements and lighting variations between images. The correspondence-based approach estimates desired parameters from a set of correspondences by using a new feature extraction scheme and a new correspondence building method. The method can solve more general camera motions than the edge alignment method. Since these two methods are complementary to each other, the desired initial estimate can be obtained more robustly. After that, a Monte-Carlo style method is then proposed for integrating these two methods together. In this approach, a grid partition scheme is proposed to increase the accuracy of each try for finding the correct parameters. After that, an optimization process is then applied to refine the above initial parameters. Different from other optimization methods minimizing errors on the whole images, the proposed scheme minimizes errors only on positions of features points. Since the found initialization is very close to the exact solution and only errors on feature positions are considered, the optimization process can be achieved very quickly. Experimental results are provided to verify the superiority of the proposed method. Ansari Mohd Manzoor Maqsood Rehana(12CO65) B.E. (Computer Engineering) University of Mumbai. iv


Software development faces challenges from high expectation of software qualities, complexity of software and long development cycle. While Domain Specific Modeling (DSM) is helping developers overcome many of these challenges in many domains, it is not generally applied in the computer game domain. DSM can be hard to apply in the computer game domain because of the complexity of computer game domain knowledge and the peculiarity of traditional computer game development process. Without fully understanding these issues and properly solving them, the strength of DSM approaches will be constrained and game developers will be reluctant to use DSM. In this article, we investigate the development process and explore the feasibility of fitting DSM tasks in traditional computer game development in a compact way to lower cost and improve software quality. We introduce the workflow and illustrate the usage of it by presenting a case study. Further, we discuss the benefits and costs of involving DSM solutions in computer game development. Finally, we present the limitations and future work.


In this paper a fixed-frequency quasi-sliding control algorithm based on switching surface zero averaged dynamics (ZAD) is reported. This algorithm is applied to the design of a Buck-based inverter, and implemented in a laboratory prototype by means of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), taking into account processing speed versus computational complexity trade-off. Three control laws, namely sliding control (SC), fixed-frequency quasi-sliding ZAD and PWM-based control have been experimentally tested to highlight the features of the proposed algorithm. According to the experimental results presented in the paper, the ZAD algorithm fulfills the requirement of fixed switching frequency and exhibits similar robustness properties in the presence of perturbations to those of sliding control mode.


Abdominal obesity and hyperinsulinemia play a key role in the development of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Dietary-induced weight loss and the administration of insulin-lowering drugs, such as metformin, are usually followed by improved hyperandrogenism and related clinical abnormalities. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of combined hypocaloric diet and metformin on body weight, fat distribution, the glucose-insulin system, and hormones in a group of 20 obese PCOS women [body mass index (BMI) > 28 kg/m2] with the abdominal phenotype (waist to hip ratio >0.80), and an appropriate control group of 20 obese women who were comparable for age and pattern of body fat distribution but without PCOS. At baseline, we measured sex hormone, sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and leptin blood concentrations and performed an oral glucose tolerance test and computerized tomography (CT) at the L4-L5 level, to measure sc adipose tissue area (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue area. All women were then given a low-calorie diet (1,200-1,400 kcal/day) alone for one month, after which anthropometric parameters and CT scan were newly measured. While continuing dietary treatment, PCOS women and obese controls were subsequently placed, in a random order, on metformin (850 mg/os, twice daily) (12 and 8, respectively) or placebo (8 and 12, respectively), according to a double-blind design, for the following 6 months. Blood tests and the CT scan were performed in each woman at the end of the study while they were still on treatment. During the treatment period, 3 women of the control group (all treated with placebo) were excluded because of noncompliance; and 2 PCOS women, both treated with metformin, were also excluded because they became pregnant. Therefore, the women cohort available for final statistical analysis included 18 PCOS (10 treated with metformin and 8 with placebo) and 17 control women (8 treated with metformin and 9 with placebo). The treatment was well tolerated. In the PCOS group, metformin therapy improved hirsutism and menstrual cycles significantly more than placebo. Baseline anthropometric and CT parameters were similar in all groups. Hypocaloric dieting for 1 month similarly reduced BMI values and the waist circumference in both PCOS and control groups, without any significant effect on CT scan parameters. In both PCOS and control women, however, metformin treatment reduced body weight and BMI significantly more than placebo. Changes in the waist-to-hip ratio values were similar in PCOS women and controls, regardless of pharmacological treatment. Metformin treatment significantly decreased SAT values in both PCOS and control groups, although only in the latter group were SAT changes significantly greater than those observed during the placebo treatment. On the contrary, visceral adipose tissue area values significantly decreased during metformin treatment in both PCOS and control groups, but only in the former was the effect of metformin treatment significantly higher than that of placebo. Fasting insulin significantly decreased in both PCOS women and controls, regardless of treatment, whereas glucose-stimulated insulin significantly decreased only in PCOS women and controls treated with metformin. Neither metformin or placebo significantly modified the levels of LH, FSH, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, and progesterone in any group, whereas testosterone concentrations decreased only in PCOS women treated with metformin. SHBG concentrations remained unchanged in all PCOS women; whereas in the control group, they significantly increased after both metformin and placebo. Leptin levels decreased only during metformin treatment in both PCOS and control groups. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)


Lymph node metastases in pharyngolaryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma are the clinical finding that most precisely condition prognosis. Sometimes the presence of subclinical metastases modifies the initial therapeutic strategy because they are not detected by physical exploration or imaging techniques. We tried to establish a relationship between the tumor's intrinsic aggressiveness and the development of metastases through tumoral DNA damage. Aneuploidy and the S phase were more frequent in tumors of the larynx, particularly supraglottic tumors, that developed lymph node metastases (72%) than in diploid tumors with a normal S phase (18%). In pharyngeal tumors, no differences could be established because most were aneuploid with a high S phase and metastases. Flow cytometry is highly sensitive, but not sufficiently specific for routine clinical use. However, it is a useful point of departure for our line of research, which will continue with a search for more specific genetic or molecular markers of metastases among the general DNA abnormalities.


Olga I. Babina - Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Management of Business Processes, Institute of Business Processes Management and Economics, Siberian Federal University Address: 26a, Kirenskogo street, Krasnoyarsk, 660074, Russian Federation. E-mail: email@example.com Simulation is an effective tool, which may be applied for warehouse systems planning and management. Using of simulation is related with development of a computer program and carrying out a series of experiments, allowing to define optimal scenarios of warehousing processes. During the past ten years the concept of simulation optimization was developed. Using the concept optimization software is integrated into simulation systems, allowing users to find optimal solutions automatically. A simulation optimization model can be defined as a process of discovering the best set of initial variables of the model for assessment of each of possible solutions, without participation of users. The main objective of simulation optimization modeling of a warehousing system is gaining of information about the system that is critical for efficient decision making regarding minimization of resources used in the warehouse. The article describes a practical case study of building simulation and optimization models for a warehouse of an industrial concrete enterprise. Warehouse system processes are modeled in ExtendSim environment, and enterprise profit is optimized with the use of evolutionary algorithm. The optimization model has been executed by means of Optimizer software integrated into ExtendSim. The modeling purpose is to examine the impact of stock management strategies parameters on warehouse performance and to maximize enterprise profit from product sales. The paper presents the description of the model building process and simulation outputs. The simulation optimization model in warehouse activity planning enables to increase the accuracy of accounting of materials and warehouse operations, to reduce the level of warehouse stocks, to reduce costs of material storage, to increase labor productivity in a warehouse and to analyze quantitative indicators of warehouse performance.


Objective: This study aimed to describe the hybrid lid crease approach in conjunction with functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) for lateral frontal sinus disease with orbital extension. Study Design: Retrospective case review. Methods: Patients undergoing hybrid lid crease approach with FESS for frontal sinus disease were reviewed retrospectively. Surgical indications consisted of inverting papilloma with extension into the frontal sinus (n = 1) and frontal sinus mucocele (n = 2). Inclusion criteria included presence of disease in the lateral frontal sinus with extension into the orbital space and erosion of the superior orbital rim. Preoperative and postoperative parameters included complete ophthalmologic exam, endoscopic exam, and computed tomography scan. Results: We were able to access the frontal sinus and orbit in all 3 cases and address sinus pathology of the lateral frontal sinus and orbit using the lid crease approach with FESS. All patients had improvement in ophthalmologic symptoms and interval disease resolution and were satisfied with their postoperative lid crease incision. Conclusion: The lid crease approach offers direct access to the frontal sinus with minimal dissection through a well-hidden incision. In our case series of lateral frontal sinus pathology with orbital extension, the hybrid lid crease approach with FESS allowed complete eradication of disease without recurrence.


Project) developed at the University of Leon (Spain) for identifying instances of low-quality rendering of grammatical features when translating from English into Spanish using translation universals. The analysis provides information about: i) the resources available (or absence thereof) in each of the languages to express a given meaning and their relative centrality; ii) the solutions favored by translators to bridge the cross-linguistic disparities and/or gaps; iii) the erroneous or non-existent uses and structures transferred from the source language into the target language. These results can be systematized in terms of simplification, interference, or unique grammatical features. Additional areas that can benefit from this type of research are translation practice, translator training and foreign language teaching (FLT).Assessing translation quality is generally seen as a difficult task because of the inadequacy of the tools available. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of a corpus-based contrastive methodology (ACTRES


Many Embedded Systems are supposed to run continuously, which includes recovering from errors by adapting their configuration or their architecture to changing conditions in their environment. The design of such systems has to relate some high-level extra-functional properties to some low level ones such as memory or CPU consumption by defining some complex feed-back loops for the dynamic adaptation of the system. However, the design of such feed-back loops (also called "adaptation policies") is still a very complex endeavour if you want to go beyond predefined fall- back modes. Since the expression of extra-functional properties and the design of adaptation policies are complex activities, they are generally delayed down to implementation time. Adaptation policies are then implemented without either high level design nor dedicated tests, which may lead to costly roll-back operations in the design process. To avoid such roll-back operations, we suggest a model-driven process based on new executable meta-modelling techniques. At modelling time, designers have to complement the architectural description with some sensors and actuators related to the involved extra-functional properties. It allows designers to specify in a consistent way the related adaptation policies. Then since the model is executable, some simulations of the adaptation policies can be performed at design time to evaluate their performances with respect to some relevant test scenarios. Then, using model-driven transformations, it allows the generation of code skeletons for real-time embedded platforms. In this article we illustrate our approach with a simple case study based on a mobile video player that is able to adapt its architecture to varying conditions, such as bandwidth evolution or low battery conditions.


A 73-year-old lady with underlying diabetes presented with acute loss of central vision in the left eye. Examination revealed visual acuity of 6/60 in the left eye with positive relative afferent pupillary defect and optic disc swelling with macular oedema. Right eye visual acuity was 6/12 with unremarkable findings. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed elevated macular with ceacocentral field defect on Humphrey visual field. Connective tissue screening and tubercular screening were negative. Serological screening for Toxoplasma sp and Bartonella sp were positive. She was diagnosed as neuroretinitis secondary to both infections and started on oral azithromycin 500 mg once a day and oral corticosteroid. Her final vision improved to 6/12 with normal optic disc and resolved macular oedema.


In this paper, we propose a method to support content-based search, one of the challenges in Peer-to-Peer file sharing system. The proposed method is based on a hybrid structure, which is a combination of a Chord ring and a balanced tree. The tree is used to aggregate and classify terms while the Chord ring is used to index terms of nodes in the tree. At every node in the tree, the system classifies terms as either important or unimportant. Important terms of a node, which can distinguish the node from its neighbor nodes, are indexed in the Chord ring while unimportant terms that are either popular or rare terms are aggregated to higher level nodes. Based on the classification, the system can process queries on the fly without the need of global knowledge. Therefore, our system can avoid the problem of bottleneck at nodes keeping global knowledge and the expensive cost of synchronization global knowledge among these nodes. We have done extensive experiments to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposal.


repetitively Q-switched Nd; YAG laser. The pulsewidth was 150 ns. Current data indicate that such a system is scalable to 300 W of 0.53 pm output with  a 2percent wall-plug efficiency. These solutions to power-handling problems that have limited the applications of FD can be extended to other high-power nonlinear processes where phase-match stability  and thermal profile present a problem. The result will be new sources for many laser applications.


Concurrent programming supports multiple threads of concurrent execution. It
is a suitable paradigm for interaction with the outside world, where many inputs
(e.g. network packets, key-presses, mouse-clicks) may arrive at any time and need
to be dealt with at the same time. Concurrent execution also potentially allows
for parallel speed-up; multicore machines are now the standard for new PCs, but
the quest to take full advantage of the available parallelism continues.

One approach to concurrent programming is process-oriented programming,
which uses message-passing and is based on Hoare and Roscoe's Communicating
Sequential Processes (CSP). CSP is a process calculus centred on concurrent processes that communicate with each other via synchronous channels. This is used
as a formal underpinning for process-oriented programming, either directly (proving behaviours of programs with a CSP model checker) or indirectly (providing
sound design principles and patterns).

Process-oriented programming has previously been provided in programming
languages such as occam-? and libraries for other mainstream languages such as
Java and C++. However, as yet process-oriented programming has failed to gain
much traction via these implementations; occam-? is rooted in the much older
language occam and thus lacks powerful data structures (among other features)
which are standard in most modern languages { while languages such as Java
and C++, where data is mutable and easily shared, can be an awkward fit to
process-oriented programming.

Haskell is a functional programming language that is notable for its purity,
type-classes, monads and lazy evaluation: modern features that provide interest-
ing and powerful ways to program, including good support for imperative pro-
gramming. Like other functional languages, it eliminates mutable data -- which
immediately removes a whole class of problems in concurrent programming.

This thesis contends that CSP and process-oriented programming ?t well with
Haskell. The thesis details the creation of a CSP library for Haskell (Commu-
nicating Haskell Processes: CHP) { which features powerful support for process
composition { and its further augmentation with capabilities such as support for
a new concurrency primitive (conjunction), tracing and the ability to generate
formal models of CHP programs. This allows programmers to build concurrent
message-passing systems with a strong formal underpinning in a modern program-
ming language, with more features and less complications than process-oriented
libraries for other languages.


Surveillance scholarship has long been focused on surveillance technologies in strong states. This article explores the technological challenges of governing Afghanistan, a weak state, where reliable population data do not exist. In assessing the ways governance is practiced in a country of "ghosts," I show that the failure of the state in Afghanistan is linked to a chronic poverty of reliable information on the country's population and geography. A weak state with limited access to reliable population data must use force instead of knowledge to govern the country. I also argue that the digital technologies of surveillance practiced by the Afghan state and the U.S. military to substitute for the lack of traditional forms of government data are not effective and cannot strengthen the state's capacity to deliver services. In contributing to debates on surveillance and security, this article provides a technological critique of state failure in Afghanistan by highlighting the costs of poor population information.


type="main" xml:id="ecor12208-abs-0001"> Unobserved sector-wide common shocks cause the issue of cross-sectional dependence (CSD) in panel data modelling of stock returns. In this study we apply two econometric techniques: the seemingly unrelated regression approach and a Bayesian estimator for panel data models with factor structural errors, to allow for CSD within a particular sector. By applying these models to monthly stock returns of S&P100 companies from six sectors over 10 years, we can capture and measure the heterogeneous impacts of not only observed individual company accounting fundamentals and market-wide common shocks, but also unobservable sector-wide common shocks. Results from the empirical study show that the impacts from both observed factors and unobserved sector-wide common shocks vary markedly across companies. After controlling for observed accounting fundamentals and market-wide common factors, a considerable proportion of the variation in stock returns can be attributed to unobservable sector-wide common shocks.


The article is devoted to the issues of instruction of computer arrangement to students with strong vision impairment. The author of the publication has developed the original methodology discussed in the article which refl ects the content-based and practical elements of the process of instructing music students with vision impairment the discipline of "Computer Musical Arrangement" at the Kursk Musical Boarding College for the Blind. The special conditions for realizing the process of instruction of the course of "Computer Musical Arrangement" adapted for blind and partially sighted, as well as the methodological recommendations compiled for the instructors who carry out the educational process in the specialized musical boarding college comprise the crucial moments of the research carried out by the author. The results of the work expounded in the article elucidate the paths for solving the problem connected with the search for new educational methodologies conducive to the process of rehabilitating invalid students with serious vision impairments, as well as the problems of their social adaptation in the cotemporary highly technological educational and artistic musical space.