People regularly exert control over impulsive thoughts and behaviors in order to make appropriate decisions and take appropriate actions even when they are more di! cult or less pleasant than alternative choices. A common theme in mental illnesses characterized by impulsivity, such as ADHD and substance abuse, is an impaired self-control mechanism. " erefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying an intact control mechanism can not only shed light on how healthy people exert self-control over their thoughts and behaviors, but help us to understand what is impaired in patient populations as well. " e right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is a region in the brain that is commonly activated when people are exerting many di# erent forms of self-control. It is noted that other prefrontal regions also consistently activated when one exerts self-control, such as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and medial prefrontal cortex, may be recruited for other task demands and not self-control speci$ cally. Although the right VLPFC has been linked to other functions as well, this review will focus on the hypothesized general role that it plays during acts of self-control. " ere are in$ nite manners in which one can exert self-control. We limit our discussion to six forms of conscious, explicit control that are commonly addressed in the literature: motor response inhibition, suppressing risky behavior, delaying grati$ cation, regulating emotion, memory inhibition, and thought suppression. First, we review the literature exploring the involvement of the right VLPFC in each type of self-control separately. Next, we explore the small amount of literature comparing di# erent forms of self-control to each other and discuss the possibility that these forms of self-control are related constructs. We also discuss the anatomical positioning of the right VLPFC and point out that it is well suited to serving a key role in exerting self-control. Finally, we conclude that although more direct research must be conducted before $ rm conclusions can be made, there is evidence that the right VLPFC is utilized when exerting self-control regardless of the speci$ c domain of control.


In this work, we consider the almost-sure termination problem for probabilistic programs that asks whether a given probabilistic program terminates with probability 1. Scalable approaches for program analysis often rely on modularity as their theoretical basis. In non-probabilistic programs, the classical variant rule (V-rule) of Floyd-Hoare logic provides the foundation for modular analysis. Extension of this rule to almost-sure termination of probabilistic programs is quite tricky, and a probabilistic variant was proposed by Fioriti and Hermanns in POPL 2015. While the proposed probabilistic variant cautiously addresses the key issue of integrability, we show that the proposed modular rule is still not sound for almost-sure termination of probabilistic programs. Besides establishing unsoundness of the previous rule, our contributions are as follows: First, we present a sound modular rule for almost-sure termination of probabilistic programs. Our approach is based on a novel notion of descent supermartingales. Second, for algorithmic approaches, we consider descent supermartingales that are linear and show that they can be synthesized in polynomial time. Finally, we present experimental results on a variety of benchmarks and several natural examples that model various types of nested while loops in probabilistic programs and demonstrate that our approach is able to efficiently prove their almost-sure termination property.


Large scale, complex commercial construction projects today often utilize Owner-Controlled Insurance Programs (OCIPS, also referred to as "Wrap-Up" programs), which streamline various insurance coverages into a single consolidated program (the OCIP), where the owner, through the OCIP, establishes and administers insurance coverage for the general contractor and all the subcontractors on the project.OCIPs have been lauded for several reasons – efficient claims management, efficient coordination of the program, and potentially significant cost savings for the owner. Although the benefits of OCIPs have been cited in court decisions throughout the country, at least two courts have held that an owner, general contractor, or subcontractor participating in an OCIP program is not entitled to the exclusive remedy defense to bar a tort claim by the employee of a general contractor or subcontractor who would otherwise recover benefits for their injury through worker's compensation. However, at least two courts, including the Texas Supreme Court in HCBeck, Ltd. v. Rice, have held the exclusive remedy defense is available.This article contends that future courts should generally follow the HCBeck decision and hold the exclusive remedy defense is available to an owner, general contractor, or subcontractor who participates in an OCIP program. The decision sounds consistent with the intent of OCIP programs, which are designed to promote efficiency in insurance coverage and coverage of the lowest-tiered employees. The article concludes that future courts should rule that owners, general contractors, and subcontractors who participate in an OCIP program be permitted to successfully assert the exclusive remedy defense upon an evidentiary showing that it was an intention of all of the parties to the OCIP to provide an exclusive remedy with which a policy participant may seek compensation for injuries sustained while working on a project. Preserving the intention of the parties, one of the fundamental rules of construction of insurance contracts, would be best respected under such a rule – and also truly prevent a wrap up of insurance "wrap-ups."


ABSTRACT To elucidate genetic mechanisms of the species-specific parasitism of Magnaporthe grisea, a Triticum isolate (pathogenic on wheat) was crossed with an Avena isolate (pathogenic on oat), and resulting F(1) progeny were subjected to segregation analyses on wheat cvs. Norin 4 and Chinese Spring. We found two fungal loci, Pwt3 and Pwt4, which are involved in the specific parasitism on wheat. Pwt3 operated on both cultivars while Pwt4 operated only on 'Norin 4'. Using the cultivar specificity of Pwt4, its corresponding resistance gene was successfully identified in 'Norin 4' and designated as Rmg1 (Rwt4). The presence of the corresponding resistance gene indicated that Pwt4 is an avirulence locus. Pwt3 was assumed to be an avirulence locus because of its temperature sensitivity. We suggest that gene-for-gene interactions underlie the species-specific parasitism of M. grisea.


Fresh water consumption is of primary importance to the design of water systems in sustainable buildings and various benchmarks of water consumption have been developed for the indication of building sustainability. For rating probable water consumption performance in residential buildings, simple normalization with a single parameter might not be indicative and complicated benchmarking models could impose difficulties in general adaptation. In this study, a simple benchmarking model for residential buildings was developed using Monte-Carlo simulations. The model was tested in a case study based on an existing domestic water consumption survey in which the average water consumption distribution of 60 apartments in Hong Kong was the input of the simulation model. The distribution was compared with the Hong Kong global fresh water consumption patterns to derive the water consumption benchmarks for residential buildings in the region. This simple model could be useful for benchmarking the domestic water consumptions and for promoting sustainable building practices without inclusive measurements. Practical application: The proposed simple benchmarking model for water consumption of residential buildings could be useful for promoting sustainable building practices without inclusive measurements.


In this paper, we present computational models to predict Twitter users' attitude towards a specific brand through their personal and social characteristics. We also predict their likelihood to take different actions based on their attitudes. In order to operationalize our research on users' attitude and actions, we collected ground-truth data through surveys of Twitter users. We have conducted experiments using two real world datasets to validate the effectiveness of our attitude and action prediction framework. Finally, we show how our models can be integrated with a visual analytics system for customer intervention.


The lethal chicken mutation nanomelia leads to severe skeletal defects because of a deficiency of aggrecan, which is the largest aggregating chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan of cartilage. In previous work, we have demonstrated that nanomelic chondrocytes produce a truncated aggrecan precursor that fails to be secreted, and is apparently arrested in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In this study, we investigated the biosynthesis and extent of processing of the abnormal aggrecan precursor. The truncated precursor was translated directly in cell-free reactions, indicating that it does not arise post-translationally. Further studies addressed the processing capabilities of the defective precursor. We found that the mutant precursor was modified by N-linked, mannose-rich oligosaccharides and by the addition of xylose, but was not further processed; this is consistent with the conclusion that it moves no further along the secretory pathway than the ER. Using brefeldin A we demonstrated that the defective precursor can function as a substrate for Golgi-mediated glycosaminoglycan chains, but does not do so in the nanomelic chondrocyte because it fails to be translocated to the appropriate membrane compartment. These studies illustrate how combined cell biological/biochemical and molecular investigations may contribute to our understanding of the biological consequences and molecular basis of genetic diseases, particularly those involving errors in large, highly modified molecules such as proteoglycans.


Marked differences in bone marrow cellularity were observed between cattle affected with leukocyte adhesion deficiency (LAD) and control cattle. The number of nucleated cells in bone marrow was 2.9 to 8.8 times higher in cattle affected with LAD, compared with controls. The myeloid-to-erythroid ratio of bone marrow from 3 cattle affected with LAD ranged from 2.4 to 12. Deficient CD18 expression on neutrophils isolated from bone marrow of cattle with LAD was clearly detected by flow cytometric analysis. Neutrophils from bone marrow of cattle affected with LAD appeared round and not flat, after adherence to plastic wells under agarose, whereas neutrophils from bone marrow of clinically normal cattle were firmly spread on the surface of plastic wells. In the chemotaxis under-agarose assay, many pseudopodia were detected on bone marrow neutrophils from clinically normal cattle, but were not detected on bone marrow neutrophils from cattle with LAD. Activities of chemotactic movements and phagocytosis of neutrophils isolated from bone marrow of cattle affected with LAD were documented to be severely impaired.


Abstract On the path to an energy transition away from fossil fuels to sustainable sources, the European Union is for the moment keeping pace with the objectives of the Strategic Energy Technology-Plan. For this trend to continue after 2020, scientific breakthroughs must be achieved. One main objective is to produce solar fuels from solar energy and water in direct processes to accomplish the efficient storage of solar energy in a chemical form. This is a grand scientific challenge. One important approach to achieve this goal is Artificial Photosynthesis. The European Energy Research Alliance has launched the Joint Programme "Advanced Materials & Processes for Energy Applications" (AMPEA) to foster the role of basic science in Future Emerging Technologies. European researchers in artificial photosynthesis recently met at an AMPEA organized workshop to define common research strategies and milestones for the future. Through this work artificial photosynthesis became the first energy research sub-field to be organised into what is designated "an Application" within AMPEA. The ambition is to drive and accelerate solar fuels research into a powerful European field – in a shorter time and with a broader scope than possible for individual or national initiatives. Within AMPEA the Application Artificial Photosynthesis is inclusive and intended to bring together all European scientists in relevant fields. The goal is to set up a thorough and systematic programme of directed research, which by 2020 will have advanced to a point where commercially viable artificial photosynthetic devices will be under development in partnership with industry.


Search engines answer users' queries by listing relevant items (e.g. documents, songs, products, web pages, ...). These engines rely on algorithms that learn to rank items so as to present an ordered list maximizing the probability that it contains relevant item. The main challenge in the design of learning-to-rank algorithms stems from the fact that queries often have different meanings for different users. In absence of any contextual information about the query, one often has to adhere to the diversity principle, i.e., to return a list covering the various possible topics or meanings of the query. To formalize this learning-to-rank problem, we propose a natural model where (i) items are categorized into topics, (ii) users find items relevant only if they match the topic of their query, and (iii) the engine is not aware of the topic of an arriving query, nor of the frequency at which queries related to various topics arrive, nor of the topic-dependent click-through-rates of the items. For this problem, we devise LDR (Learning Diverse Rankings), an algorithm that efficiently learns the optimal list based on users' feedback only. We show that after T queries, the regret of LDR scales as O((N - L) log(T)) where N is the number of all items. This scaling cannot be improved, i.e., LDR is order optimal.


It has been a decade since the concept of blockchain was invented as the underlying core data structure of the permissionless or public Bitcoin cryptocurrency network. Since then, several cryptocurrencies, tokens and ICOs have emerged. After much speculation and hype, significant number of them have become problematic or worthless! The public blockchain system Ethereum emerged by generalizing the use of blockchains to manage any kind of asset, be it physical or purely digital, with the introduction of Smart Contracts. Over the years, numerous myths have developed with respect to the purported utility and the need for public blockchains. The adoption and further adaptation of blockchains and smart contracts for use in the permissioned or private environments is what I consider to be useful and of practical consequence. Hence, the technical aspects of only private blockchain systems will be the focus of my SIGMOD 2019 keynote. Along the way, I will bust many myths associated with public blockchains. I will also compare traditional database technologies with blockchain systems' features and identify desirable future research topics.


Background: Inappropriate administering of antimicrobials has led to increased antibiotic resistance as well as burden of infectious diseases. Antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) help prevent resistance through improved utilization of antimicrobial agents while potentially decrease costs of treatment. Methods: We reviewed 186 infectious disease (ID) consultations from two internal disease wards in a tertiary center where ID specialists were asked to confirm carbapenem use in patients within 48 hours of initiation. The records were reviewed in terms of age, gender, and final decision about carbapenem use. The crude mortality rates during the 5-month period of the study (May to September 2016) as well as hospital spendings were compared with the same time of the year before the implementation of the ASP. Results: Of the 186 consultations conducted by the ID specialists, 28 (15%) consultations led to antibiotic change, 46 (25%) led to discontinuation, while 112 (60%) carbapenems were continued. An estimate of 14,000 € was saved based on the annual hospital costs during the 5-month period of the study. Although antimicrobial resistance patterns could not be evaluated, the crude mortality rate in the two IM wards was calculated to be 2.6% with no significant change compared to previous year (CMR: 2.9%). Conclusion: Based on findings of the present study, ASPs for carbapenems (as wide-spectrum agents) can lower costs with no increased mortality rates in a tertiary center located in a middle-income country.


We develop a partial one-sector model with capital, natural resources, and labor as production factors, and endogenous technological change through research. Production exhibits increasing returns to scale. We compare the response of output and resource use to a change in resource prices with and without induced technological change (ITC). It is shown that induced technological change is insignificant in reducing resource use when there is one representative technology and output demand is inelastic to prices. In contrast, substantial gains from ITC appear when we allow for two competing technologies that can be employed for production, while these technologies are good substitutes. Also, in case of two technologies, conditions are specified under which multiple balanced growth paths exist, and it is shown that because of ITC, a temporary resource tax can lock out the economy from a resource intensive path and lock in to a resource extensive path.


Carbon monoxide intoxication is an important public health problem, which may result in death. A 46-year-old male patient was found in an unconscious state at home and was transported to the emergency service by the patient's relatives. Relatives of the patients were indicated that there was gas leak from the stove. At first it was considered that the patient might be poisoned with carbon monoxide. The laboratory findings were, creatinine 2.5 mg/ dL and creatinine kinase 88.15 U/L. Carboxy hemoglobin level was 30.9%. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was commenced with the diagnosis of carbon monoxide intoxication. The laboratory values in the 2nd day of admission were, creatinine 5.8 mg/ dL, creatinine kinase 88.42 U/L. Then the patient underwent a hemodialysis. Hemoglobin levels decreased to 7.3 g/dL, platelet count dropped to 11.000/mm3. Peripheral blood smear showed erythrocyte fragmentation. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura was considered and methylprednisolone and plasmapheresis was started. After the 10th session of plasmapheresis, platelet value was over 150.000/mm 3 and plasmapheresis was discontinued. Platelet value was 285.000/mm 3 and creatinine 0.7 mg/dL. The patient was discharged. Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura which might have complication should be kept in mind in patients with carbon monoxide intoxication.


Accelerated life tests on avionic PWAs (printed wiring assemblies) showed no relationship between measles and premature electrical failures. For the study, test samples with measles and crazes bridging up to 100% of the distance between adjacent conductors were exposed to different combinations of thermal cycling, humidity and DC voltage bias. The exposures were designed to accelerate electrochemical failure processes such as CAF (conductive anodicfilament) growth between conductors. The study was conducted in two phases. In Phase I, measled and non‐measled sites on six modules (including both epoxy/fibreglass and polyimide/fibreglass PWBs were tested. Bias voltages of 10,100 and 200 volts DC were applied during 10‐day tests and currents were monitored to detect the appearance of electrical shorts between individual conductor pads. Microscopic examination revealed no detectable change in the size or appearance of the measles during the exposure. Currents measured during the exposure were generally in the nanoamp range. They were similar for both measled and control sites and all sites passed the minimum criterion for insulation resistance of 500 megohms. Two of the modules were then tested at 320 and 500 volts. Short circuit failures were produced, but metallographic examination revealed them to be artifacts associated with reworked solder pads. There was no correlation between the incidence of failure and the presence of measles. In Phase II, test sites on two new polyimide/glass modules were exposed at voltages up to 500 V for a series of 5‐ or 10‐day periods, interspersed with precise measurements of insulation resistance under ambient conditions. Although no failures were produced in these tests, the ambient measurements showed some loss in insulation resistance with exposure time. Further testing revealed that the loss of insulation resistance was reversible and was unrelated to the presence or absence of measles.


Abstract Objective: To perform a postmarketing surveillance study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of abatacept in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: Safety and effectiveness data were collected for all RA patients (at 772 sites) treated with intravenous abatacept between September 2010 and June 2011. Patients were treated by the approved dosing regimen according to the package insert. Treatment effectiveness was evaluated at baseline and at weeks 4, 12, and 24 using Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) according to erythrocyte sedimentation rate or serum C-reactive protein concentrations. Results: Overall, 3882 and 3016 abatacept-naïve RA patients were included in safety and effectiveness analyses, respectively. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were reported for 15.66% of patients and serious ADRs were detected for 2.52% of patients. The incidence of serious infections was 1.03% and these were mainly attributed to different types of bacterial pneumonia. Disease activity improved significantly over 6 months. Separate multivariate analysis identified predictors of severe ADR, and severe infections and factors predictive of clinically meaningful DAS28 improvement after 6 months of treatment with abatacept. Conclusions: Abatacept was efficacious and well tolerated in a clinical setting. No new safety concerns were detected.


Streamline based reservoir simulation has been used with great success in the petroleum industry for decades. Fast computational speed together with the fact that sensitivities can be computed analytically along streamlines makes streamline based methods efficient for history matching problems. The key idea for streamline based methods is to approximate 3D fluid flow by a family of 1D transport equations along streamlines. This is done by introducing a time-of-flight coordinate variable. In this thesis a method called generalized travel-time inversion (GTTI) will be discussed for history matching. The main idea behind GTTI is to combine amplitude matching with traveltime matching. The inverse problem associated with the amplitude matching is fully nonlinear and can therefore give unstable and non-unique solutions, while the travel-time inversion has quasilinear properties. GTTI is able to use all the data available and still preserve the quasi-linear properties of the travel-time inversion. Several authors has studied GTTI previously. In all these articles only the first order sensitivities are used in the history matching. Since the second order sensitivities can be computed along the streamlines at practically no cost, a method that includes information from the second order sensitivities will in theory show better convergence properties. Some synthetic examples shows that this is true for cases where almost no regularization is needed but not for more realistic and illposed problems. To further improve the convergence properties of the minimization a line search and a trust-region strategy is suggested. Both the line search strategy and the trust region method of Levenberg-Marquardt shows good performance. Both in the ability to reduce the objective function and in characterizing the permeability field. A method where the regularization parameters are chosen by the L-curve criteria is also considered and compared to the other methods. An advantage of this method is that the regularization term is reduced as the iterate enters into the neighborhood of the solution and less regularization is needed.


We discuss a continuous-wave (CW) multi-wavelength fibre laser operating in the L-band, which has applications to gas sensing. Multi-wavelength operation of between two to eight lasing peaks with a spacing of around 0.9nm between each peak was demonstrated by placing silicon wafers in a micro-optic cell in order to produce a Fabry-Perot effect. Tuning over a region of 1565 to 1595nm was done by adjustment of the attenuation within the laser cavity. For our system we are interested in wavelength tuning for the detection of gases such as Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2).


This thesis proposes improvements on techniques for the coherent control of photon-photon interactions mediated by a cloud of cold atoms. Atoms cooled and trapped in a MOT can be loaded into a hollow, photonic crystal waveguide to ensure light coupled into the waveguide is localized on the tightly confined atoms. The low temperature of the atoms decreases decoherence rates, and improves coherent light-matter interactions, such as electromagnetically induced transparency and slow light. Predictions are made for two future experiments using this system, modulating of the phase of a laser beam with a much weaker one, and modulating the transmission of a laser through two photon absorption. These predictions indicate that the phase of a 0.1μW laser beam can be modulated by as much as one milliradian per weak laser photon, and that a 800pW laser beam can modulate the transmission of a comparably powerful laser by as much as 60%. Both of these predictions would be improvements on results for similar experiments performed with warm atoms.


Matrix proteins are essential components of most negative-sense RNA, enveloped viruses. They serve a wide range of duties ranging from self-driven membrane budding and coordination of other viral components to modulation of viral transcription. The functional similarity between these proteins is striking, despite major differences in their structures. Whereas biochemical and structural studies have partly been hindered by the inherent aggregation properties of these proteins, their cellular functions are beginning to be understood. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on negative-sense RNA virus matrix proteins and their interactions with other viral and cellular proteins. We also discuss the similarities and differences in matrix protein functions between the different families within the negative-sense RNA viruses.


Measurements have been made showing the limitations a seawater medium imposes on the resolving power of underwater acoustic equipment. An interferometer was designed that is capable of measuring the "visibility"' of the interference fringes in the far field of an acoustic radiator. Phase and amplitude fluctuations of the divided acoustic wavefront are analyzed utilizing correlation techniques.


The importance of SMEs to the UK economy is overwhelming. Organizations employing less than 250 people make up 99.8% of companies and account for 52% of turnover and 55.6% employment in the private sector (DTI, 2003). Within current economic conditions, it is imperative that the SME and entrepreneurship community is prepared for the future and is equipped to survive in a recession and develop their business thereafter.
There has been a focus in recent SME literature on management and leadership development(Morrison, 2003; Perren and Grant, 2001).However, SME owners and entrepreneurs might derive more benefit from a programme specifically tailored to their needs and stage of growth.

Research design and methods of data collection and analysis or method of inquiry:
Newcastle Business School, funded by the Northern Leadership Academy, undertook a pilot study of North Eastern SMEs and their development needs. The research lasted six months during 2008 and adopted an Action Learning approach. Alongside a small group of peers, Action Learning establishes a link between reflecting on past events, making sense of actions and identifying new behaviours. Membership of a small group or 'set' provides participants with dedicated time and space to attend to this relationship between reflection and action (Brockbank and McGill 2006).
20 SME owner managers from varied backgrounds (including car dealership, PR, cleaning and media) were recruited to the pilot study. Initially, they met the facilitator to discuss needs, undertake some professional development and share experience. From this, a programme of CPD was developed for subsequent sessions. These were documented, and the data used to analyse learning needs of the group.

Main findings:
It was immediately apparent that the SME owner managers shared generic educational needs, including:
· Better knowledge of potential uses of IT and where to find reliable local support.


: Intramuscular or intravenous inoculation of 5 Columbia black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) with virus of epizootic hemorrhagic deer disease (EHD) did not produce overt clinical disease. Two white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exposed identically died in 5 to 6 days. There were no significant lesions in 1 black-tailed deer euthanatized on postinoculation day 5. The EHd virus was not isolated from the spleen of that deer. Seroconversion occurred in black-tailed deer, from zero EHD virus antibody titer before inoculation to titers of 1:128 to 1:256 after inoculation.


Purpose: Alcohol-related accidents and injuries occur disproportionately within young people – especially when gathering at social events. This study represents a partnership between a faith-based group of volunteers specifically trained to counsel and support young people to reduce their risk of alcohol-related harm, Adelaide City Council, and the South Australian Police Force aimed at reducing risk-related alcohol consumption in a metropolitan nightclub district area. It posits that supporting young people to party safely, alongside positive community engagement, may deter unsafe consumption practices – such as pre-loading and binge-drinking. Methods: Retrospective online survey evaluated the impact on attitudes of young people who received the intervention. Results: Findings suggest volunteers were perceived as positive role models who demonstrated a genuine sense of care and ability to support. As a result, one-third of respondents identified potentially more carefully pre-plan their drinking behaviour on their next night out. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that young people are responsive to positive interventions and that future pre-planning may become a more natural part of their party routine – resulting in less likelihood of alcohol-related risk. The outcome measure, that young people's intentions to moderate their drinking as a result of positive encounters, is an important one.


The Multiplicative Weights Algorithm * In the next couple lectures, we will devise modular, iterative algorithms for solving LPs and SDPs. " Multiplicative weights " is a retronym for the simple iterative rule underlying these algorithms; it is known by different names in the various fields where it was (re)discovered. Check out the survey by Arora, Hazan and Kale [AHK05]; our discussion will be based on their treatment. Due to its broad appeal, we will consider multiplicative weights in more generality than we need for solving LPs and SDPs. In this lecture, we'll introduce some strategies for playing a prediction game. We'll tweak the game to suit our optimization needs. Finally, we'll play the tweaked game with a strategy called Hedge. The following sequential game is played between an omniscient Adversary and an Aggregator who is advised by N experts. Special cases of this game include predicting if it will rain tomorrow, or if the stock market will go up or down. 1. Each expert i ∈ [N ] advises either yes or no. 2. Aggregator predicts either yes or no. 3. Adversary, with knowledge of the expert advice and Aggregator's prediction, decides the yes/no outcome. 4. Aggregator observes the outcome and suffers if his prediction was incorrect. Naturally, Aggregator wants to make as few mistakes as possible. Since the experts may be unhelpful and the outcomes may be capricious, Aggregator can hope only for a relative


We propose a simple and robust training-free approach for building sentence representations. Inspired by the Gram-Schmidt Process in geometric theory, we build an orthogonal basis of the subspace spanned by a word and its surrounding context in a sentence. We model the semantic meaning of a word in a sentence based on two aspects. One is its relatedness to the word vector subspace already spanned by its contextual words. The other is the word's novel semantic meaning which shall be introduced as a new basis vector perpendicular to this existing subspace. Following this motivation, we develop an innovative method based on orthogonal basis to combine pre-trained word embeddings into sentence representations. This approach requires zero training and zero parameters, along with efficient inference performance. We evaluate our approach on 11 downstream NLP tasks. Experimental results show that our model outperforms all existing zero-training alternatives in all the tasks and it is competitive to other approaches relying on either large amounts of labelled data or prolonged training time.


The use of Al-Mg-Si-(Cu) heat treatable 6xxx alloys is steadily increasing in the automotive industry. The possibility of weight reduction of the cars in combination with the good formability and high in-service dent resistance of these alloys, make them a favorable material for body panel applications. One of the most common, environment-friendly and easy to perform processes used to join aluminum sheets, is the hemming joining operation. This operation heavily relies on the bendability of the sheets, because they are bent to an angle of 180° over of a radius equal to their thickness. Tearing or cracking of the outer bent surface are often very common. In this study we attempt to understand the relations between the microstructural features of the sheets and their hemming behavior. The hemming experiments are performed in laboratory conditions and the results are discussed together with the data obtained from crystallographic, microstructural and textural investigations. Relations between the hemming appearance, chemical composition, natural aging time and dispersoid's density are found and discussed.


One of the major barriers to the integration of CAD, CAPP and CAM is insufficiency and incompatibility of product model data among various application systems. This paper presented an effective approach to achieve integrated process planning with CAD and CAM under a product data management environment based on 3D product models. The system architecture and the processes of an integrated process planning system (3D-IPP) were constructed using feature information and specific CAD/CAPP/CAM integration technologies based on feature. A feature-based product information model is designed as the information source for the 3D-IPP. A feature-based integrated process planning method was developed based on group technology, intelligent decision-making algorithms and parametric operation templates in numerically controlled (NC) programming. The procedures of intelligent process route planning and parametric NC operation planning were addressed. The 3D-IPP system and its implementation provide an effective solution to strive for complete information sharing among application systems of CAD, CAPP and CAM.


Image acquisition speed of optical coherence tomography (OCT) remains a fundamental barrier that limits its scientific and clinical utility. Here we demonstrate a novel multi-camera adaptive optics (AO-)OCT system for ophthalmologic use that operates at 1 million A-lines/s at a wavelength of 790 nm with 5.3 μm axial resolution in retinal tissue. Central to the spectral-domain design is a novel detection channel based on four high-speed spectrometers that receive light sequentially from a 1 × 4 optical switch assembly. Absence of moving parts enables ultra-fast (50ns) and precise switching with low insertion loss (-0.18 dB per channel). This manner of control makes use of all available light in the detection channel and avoids camera dead-time, both critical for imaging at high speeds. Additional benefit in signal-to-noise accrues from the larger numerical aperture afforded by the use of AO and yields retinal images of comparable dynamic range to that of clinical OCT. We validated system performance by a series of experiments that included imaging in both model and human eyes. We demonstrated the performance of our MHz AO-OCT system to capture detailed images of individual retinal nerve fiber bundles and cone photoreceptors. This is the fastest ophthalmic OCT system we know of in the 700 to 915 nm spectral band.


The German subjunctive mood ('Konjunktiv') is a grammatical feature that attests to the freedom of human beings to step out of the boundaries of their immediate situation and explore new possibilities in hypothetical scenarios. It therefore plays a pivotal role in advanced learner argumentative writing, but due to its highly complex nature regarding both form and usage, the 'Konjunktiv' challenges learners on virtually all levels of linguistic knowledge. This paper presents the first learner corpus-based study of this phenomenon with a two-pronged Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis approach: comparing learner data to native-speaker data and learner data at different levels of proficiency using the Corpus of Learner German (CLEG). The investigation seeks to explain the detected patterns of over-, under- and misuse and developmental paths by drawing on cognitive theories of second language acquisition.


This paper investigates the use of transverse-flux machines (TFMs) in a free-piston generator, an integration of a combustion engine and a linear electrical machine. For hybrid vehicles (the intended application), this integrated device has benefits in efficiency, emissions, reliability, etc. Conventional TFMs are dimensioned and their shortcomings illustrated. Several surface-mounted TFM designs are suggested. These designs, initially believed to be promising, are later discovered to be poor during the three-dimensional finite-element method (3-D FEM) analysis. These designs suffered from a large axial pole-to-pole armature-flux leakage in the stator. This problem is solved in the proposed buried-magnets TFM variants, for which patents have been filed as well. A 5-kW proof-of-concept prototype of one such design is dimensioned that allowed the near fulfilment of 3-D FEM verifiable system demands. One phase of this dimensioned three-phase prototype is built. Measurements on this prototype showed that the use of short pole lengths in the machine had led to manufacturing defects. Nevertheless, the electromagnetic viability of the design could still be approximately verified.


Engineering medical applications are enriched by the fabrication potential of the growing technology of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS). Within this technological expansion, device manufacturing costs, failure and long-term performance reliability are critical issues that have to be resolved using basic probabilistic design methodologies which are yet largely unexploited by industrial and service companies at the mature innovation level. Modeling and testing of high-performance MEMS is a promising route, based upon these methodologies, to enhancing reliability and preventing surface failure. In this paper, we focus on the modeling of the mechanical properties of MEMS, as exemplified by a capacitive accelerometer, using probabilistic techniques. The accuracy of these techniques is also evaluated for the accelerometer with regard to those parameters that affect mainly reliability and failure. The simulated analysis of the mechanical properties is performed with easy-to-use probabilistic software known as "NESSUS". It is concluded that probabilistic design methodologies are very effective and balanced for making design decisions that can, with both reliability and ease, ensure component or system efficiency.


This Article examines the extent of human rights protection under the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997 ("new Polish Constitution" or "Constitution"), adopted on April 2, 1997, by the Polish National Assembly and approved by the Polish people in a referendum on May 25, 1997. The Constitution, a lengthy document composed of 243 articles, came into force on October 17, 1997, and is one of the last constitutions to be adopted in Central and Eastern Europe since the start of the political and socio-economic transformations of the post-communist era. This Article emphasizes the importance of the new Polish Constitution in light of the long tradition of constitutionalism in Poland. Part I surveys some of the earlier constitutional texts, with particular focus on the provisions concerning the protection of human rights. After briefly discussing the difficulties encountered in drafting the new Polish Constitution, Part II analyzes the protection of rights and freedoms in the Constitution in light of the most recent developments. This part focuses on the general principles underlying rights and freedoms in the Constitution, certain prominent civil and political rights of particular importance in their specific Polish context, the debate surrounding the constitutionalization of economic and social rights, the protection of so-called "third-generation rights" such as the right to a clean and healthy environment, and limitations on rights and freedoms. One section is also devoted to the mechanisms adopted for the implementation and enforcement of these rights. This Article concludes that the system of protecting human rights in the new Polish Constitution is innovative and far-reaching and can serve as a useful model for developments elsewhere.


People underestimate how much their preferences will change in the future, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as a "presentism bias." Recently, we found that this presentism bias is attenuated when thinking about the preferences of other people. The aim of this study was to investigate whether predicting future preferences also differs depending on the level of social distance between self and other. A total of 67 participants completed a perspective-taking task in which they were required to think about their own preferences, those of a generic peer, and those of a close other both now and in the future. They were also asked to consider the preferences of an older adult now. Participants predicted less change between their current and future preferences than between the current and future preferences of a generic peer. Predicted change in preferences for a close other were similar, but not identical, to those made for the self. When considering relevant future preferences, participants predicted less change for themselves than for their close others and less change for close others than for generic peers. In other words, as social distance increases, the presentism bias decreases. Interestingly, participants estimated that both they and their peers would not change so much that they become similar to current older adults. Simulating the future perspectives of a generic peer or, even better, the current perspectives of an older adult may thus result in improved long-term decision-making, as it may enable a more realistic estimation of the magnitude of likely changes in the future.


The TOMO-ETNA experiment was planned in order to obtain a detailed geological and structural model of the continental and oceanic crust beneath Mt. Etna volcano and northeastern Sicily up to the Aeolian Islands (southern Italy), by integrating data from active and passive refraction and reflection seismic methodologies, magnetic and gravity surveys. This paper focuses on the marine activities performed within the experiment, which have been carried out in the Ionian and Tyrrhenian Seas, during three multidisciplinary oceanographic cruises, involving three research vessels ("Sarmiento de Gamboa", "Galatea" and "Aegaeo") belonging to different countries and institutions. During the offshore surveys about 9700 air-gun shots were produced to achieve a high-resolution seismic tomography through the wide-angle seismic refraction method, covering a total of nearly 2650 km of shooting tracks. To register ground motion, 27 ocean bottom seismometers were deployed, extending the inland seismic permanent network of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and a temporary network installed for the experiment. A total of 1410 km of multi-channel seismic reflection profiles were acquired to image the subsurface of the area and to achieve a 2D velocity model for each profile. Multibeam sonar and sub bottom profiler data were also collected. Moreover, a total of 2020 km of magnetic and 680 km of gravity track lines were acquired to compile magnetic and gravity anomaly maps offshore Mt. Etna volcano. Here, high-resolution images of the seafloor, as well as sediment and rock samples, were also collected using a remotely operated vehicle.


Ulcers in lower extremity are generally caused by venous insufficiency, arterial insufficiency, and diabetic neuropathy. Inflammatory ulcers are also difficult to diagnose because of underlying pathophysiology rests on inflammation and immunologic phenomena. Definitive diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment approach are needed to manage lower extremity ulcers. These ulcers may hamper the quality of life of patient. Here we reported a new case of post fracture of shaft of right tibia bone, presented with painful, hypertrophied, irregular shaped ulcer on anterior aspect of tibia gradually developing since 3 months. A male patient of 45 years old consulted to OPD with above complaint that was unable to bear weight on the effected leg (right limb). This case was managed with a local application of Thumari Gel and ulcers were almost healed within 6 weeks of wound care along with internal use of Ayurveda medicines. This case concluded that regular local application of Thumari Gel helpful in healing of chronic ulcer.


The incidence and mortality of brain tumors have not changed over the last 3 decades and pose a significant burden on the healthcare system of the United States. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the preferred chemotherapeutic agent for the treatment of brain tumors and base excision repair (BER) is a major mechanism for the repair of TMZ-induced DNA base lesions. BER inhibition, either by interrupting the delicate balance of the expression of key BER proteins or by chemical inhibitors, enhances cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic DNA damaging agents such as TMZ. Understanding the mechanisms of enhanced cytotoxicity brought on by BER inhibition has great public health significance. By using DNA polymerase s (Pols) deficiency as a model of BER inhibition, I report that DNA damage-induced cytotoxicity due to Pols deficiency triggers cell death dependent on PARP activation yet independent of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) or PAR-catabolite signaling. Cell death is rescued by the NAD+ metabolite NMN and is synergistic with inhibition of NAD+ biosynthesis demonstrating that DNA damage-induced cytotoxicity mediated via BER inhibition is primarily dependent on cellular metabolite bioavailability. I offer a mechanistic justification for the elevated alkylation-induced cytotoxicity of Pols deficient cells, suggesting a linkage between DNA repair, cell survival and cellular bioenergetics. Resistance to TMZ is partially attributed to efficient repair of TMZ-induced DNA lesions. Using the human glioma cell lines LN428 and T98G, I report here that potentiation of TMZ via BER inhibition (methoxyamine (MX), the PARP inhibitors PJ34 and ABT-888 or depletion (knockdown) of PARG) is greatly enhanced by increasing BER initiation via over-expression of MPG. I also show that MX-induced potentiation of TMZ in MPG expressing glioma cells is abrogated by elevated-expression of the rate-limiting BER enzyme Pols, suggesting that cells proficient for BER readily repair AP sites even in the presence of MX. This study demonstrates that increased initiation of BER via MPG over-expression, together with inhibition of repair following initiation, further sensitizes glioma cells to alkylating agent TMZ, suggesting that the expression level of MPG might be used to predict the effectiveness of BER inhibition-induced potentiation of TMZ in glioma cells.


Altmetrics can be used to understand impact beyond citations, particularly for digitized collections. As cultural institutions look to pursue more active engagement with communities of practice, altmetrics help archivists understand the conversations happening in real time that will allow them to provide access to the most relevant materials. Through the use of case studies, we aim to demonstrate how applying altmetrics while considering the curation of digital collections can allow archivists to stay engaged with target communities outside traditional channels, demonstrating both the applicability of altmetrics to legacy scholarly work and the value of digitization as an access method.


Malignant tumors with an intimate mixture of cellular components from two germ layers, such as epithelium and mesothelium, in varying proportions, are of special interest because of their rarity, and because their tissues contain surprising and bizarre combinations of cell structures. Such tumors originating in the thyroid gland, in the mammary gland, and elsewhere, have been reported as carcinosarcomas (Mason and Wells; Kuchens; Saltykow). Wegelin9s recent review of these tumors of the thyroid mentioned only a few, and the structure of these varied considerably. Antedating Wegelin9s review by several years was the report by Schuppisser in which he stated, as have others, that true carcinosarcomas of the thyroid are rare. He mentioned the two tumors reported by Forster, those reported by Kocher, Jr., Simmonds, Albrecht, and Schmorl, and one in a dog reported by Wells. These summarizing statements and those in the recent account by Mason and Wells indicate how few indeed are the reports of malignant mixed cell tumors of the thyroid. The variations in histologic structure seem to depend upon the degree of differentiation of the epithelial and mesothelial tissues and the proportion of each entering into the composition of the primary growth and its metastases. Some of the accounts report a fairly complete separation of the tissue derivatives in the primary growth, in the recurrence, or in the metastases, so that in these various places elements of only one of the two germ layers were found.


According to the information reported by the WHO, the genetically modified (GM) products that are currently on the international market have all passed risk assessments conducted by national authorities. These assessments have not indicated any risk to human health. In spite of this clear statement, it is quite amazing to note that the review articles published in international scientific journals during the current decade did not find, or the number was particularly small, references concerning human and animal toxicological/health risks studies on GM foods. In this paper, the scientific information concerning the potential toxicity of GM/transgenic plants using the Medline database is reviewed. Studies about the safety of the potential use of potatoes, corn, soybeans, rice, cucumber, tomatoes, sweet pepper, peas, and canola plants for food and feed were included. The number of references was surprisingly limited. Moreover, most published studies were not performed by the biotechnology companies that produce these products. This review can be concluded raising the following question: where is the scientific evidence showing that GM plants/food are toxicologically safe?


This paper deals with the creation of the Old Irish oblique relative conjunct particle -(s)aN- (e.g., dianepir "for which he says" = do-(s)aN-epir) as the outcome of the internalization of a demonstrative form used as a light head, which initially stood as a morphologically independent form. The initial step of this change was the grammaticalization of that demonstrative as the oblique element of a paradigm of relative-clause type forms in which the subject and object functions of the antecedent of the relative are also distinguished. Internalization is defined as an abrupt morphological change creating grammatical elements; its specific mechanism is the mirror image of externalization and must be distinguished from other morphological changes such as incorporation.


The resources in this guide reflect current business development activities including marketing, project management & management. Networking, leading, inspiring, motivating and managing people and teams.


Objectives The primary aim of this study is to describe depression and physical function in nursing home residents with dementia, as well as to examine the associations between depression and balance function, lower limb muscle strength, mobility and activities of daily living. The secondary aim is to examine the differences in physical function between the groups classified as depressed and not depressed. Design The study has a cross-sectional design. Setting A convenience sample of 18 nursing homes in, and around, Oslo, Norway, participated. Participants We included 170 nursing home residents aged 60–100 years with mild or moderate degree of dementia defined by a score of 1 or 2 on the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR). Outcome measures Assessments used were Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), 'the 6-metre walking test' (walking speed), 30 s Chair Stand Test (CST) and the Barthel Index (BI). Results Nursing home residents with dementia are a heterogeneous group in terms of physical function and depression. By applying the recommended cut-off of ≥8 on CSDD, 23.5% of the participants were classified as being depressed. The results revealed significant associations between higher scores on CSDD (indicating more symptoms of depression) and lower scores on BBS (95% CI −0.12 to −0.02, p=0.006), 30 s CST (95% CI −0.54 to −0.07, p=0.001) as well as maximum walking speed (95% CI −4.56 to −0.20, p=0.003) (indicating lower level of physical function). Conclusion Better muscle strength, balance and higher walking speed were significantly associated with less depressive symptoms. The potential interaction of dementia with poor physical function and depression indicates an area to explore in future epidemiological studies with a prospective design. Trial registration number NCT02262104.


One of numerous available methods is described for synthesizing a network to have a specified transient response, with emphasis placed on the actual procedure of solution. This method, which is based upon the use of orthogonal exponential functions, is carried out prin- cipally by time-domain rather than the more common frequency- domain operations. It enjoys a broader applicability than most other solutions to the transient synthesis problem, each of which suffers from one or more of several disadvantages: lack of control over the approximation error in time; severe mathematical complexity; net- works with many more circuit elements than are necessary; or net- works conveniently realizable only in a fixed form (e.g., lossless lat- tices, resistance-capacitance chains, networks without parasitic ca- pacitance, etc.). Several examples are presented.


The dissertation examines the salience of race over the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. In contrast to the first decade of the epidemic, AIDS is now increasingly seen as a disease of color; black Americans are central objects of U.S. public health efforts to prevent the spread of the disease. Additionally, black Americans' activism and advocacy is an important and influential feature in the contemporary configuration of the HIV prevention field. While it may be reasonable to assume that the changing racialization of the HIV/AIDS discourse and the prevention field was simply inevitable given advancements in epidemiological and scientific knowledge of the disease, this explanation is insufficient. The dissertation focuses on the practices and politics of public health and biomedicine, media, sexuality and race that are intimately intertwined with producing and constructing responses to HIV/AIDS. The dissertation finds that a discursive and bureaucratic shift prompted by multiple sources--including, black Americans' activism and advocacy--occurred in the early 1990s. This shift is conceptualized as demarcating two disease regimes of HIV/AIDS in relation to black American experience: the regime of exclusion (1981-early 1990s) and the regime of inclusion (early 1990s-present day). Within the first regime, dominant images, practices and discourses of public health, biomedicine and the media constructed a representation of HIV/AIDS, which effectively rendered black Americans excluded or, virtually missing. Conversely, the regime of inclusion designates an ongoing period where black Americans are central actors, and black Americans' concerns and cultural products are increasingly incorporated, within the HIV/ AIDS discourse, and more specifically in the field of HIV prevention. Building on a wide range of scholarship in the social and cultural studies of HIV/AIDS, race studies, science studies; and governmentality studies, the dissertation documents and analyzes a multiplicity of socio-political and cultural forces that helped to transform the HIV/AIDS disease regime of black American exclusion to one of black American inclusion. The dissertation is based on data derived from content and discursive analysis of public health publications, media and secondary scholarly sources; interviews with public health administrators and black American HIV/AIDS activists in Atlanta, Georgia; and participant observation at HIV/AIDS conference


Every stream on the planet is one of a kind. Some are tenderly bended, others are wind, and some others are generally straight and skewed. The extent of stream geometry additionally changes from segment to area longitudinally because of various pressure driven and surface conditions called non-prismatic channel. A significant part of the examination work are observed to be done on prismatic compound channels. There has additionally been an advancement of work found for winding channels. However, a time which has been dismissed is that of the work for non-prismatic compound channels. An exertion has been made to investigate the examination business related to non-prismatic directs in various sorts of stream conditions. A trial perception has been made to examine the speed appropriation, limit shear stress dispersion and vitality loss of a compound channel with merging surge plain. The computation of Depth normal speed, vitality misfortune, limit shear stress in non-prismatic compound channel stream is more perplexing. The expectation of the stream qualities in compound channels with prismatic and non-prismatic floodplains is a testing assignment for power through pressure engineers because of the three dimensional nature of the stream Basic traditional methodologies can't foresee the aforementioned stream attributes with adequate precision, subsequently here can effortlessly implementable system the Artificial Neural Network can be utilized for forecast, approval and investigation of the stream parameters specified. The model performed entirely agreeable when contrasted and the other traditional strategies.


Early diagnosis and
complete treatment are the most important components of the malaria control program, which have a direct bearing on prevention of mortality and reduction in the morbidity, therefore, follow-up of
the patient treatment is an important aspect of monitoring disease in the
community. Aims: To assess treatment
compliance among confirmed malaria cases in Gandhinagar District and to
determine the proportion of cure rate with complete treatment as per the
national drug policy. Study Variables: Exploratory-rural and urban areas;
outcome-compliance, cure rate. Analysis:
Percentage, proportions. Results: Compliance among 192 subjects under
the study conducted in 2008 i.e. confirmed that malaria cases were 88%
even after the introduction of 14 day therapy for "Plasmodium vivax" cases,
while 100% cure rate was observed on the follow-up till the 28th day among "P. vivax"
and "P. falciparum" cases which helped in reducing malaria incidence in the
rural area by 50% as compared to the preceding year of
the study. Conclusion: Follow-up of the treatment given to malaria patients has
enhanced compliance and cure rate, which in turn contributed towards interruption
of transmission. Therefore, a better cure rate through the administration of
effective antimalarial drugs as per the drug policy in combination with other
containment measures is the right strategy to keep morbidity and mortality due
to malaria under effective control.


The absence of written evidence from prehistoric periods makes it difficult to understand the origins of sacrifice or offering ceremonies. Archaeological finds from prehistoric periods are the only solid evidence for these acts and rituals. One probable case of animal sacrifice or offering in the Neolithic period has been found at the site of Tepecik-Çiftlik Höyük in central Turkey. This study is focused on a single unique pit, which contained only animal bones and was found in an open space. The contents clearly indicate that this pit can not be interpreted simply as mixed kitchen garbage since an almost complete cattle skeleton as well as sixteen left front leg remains from sheep were placed in the pit after a social, or more specifically, ritual act. Similar pit with similar content was found neither in the close region to Tepecik-Çiftlik nor within Anatolia. The main aim of this study is to introduce a special archaeological find group, those were left after certain prehistoric activity.


Background Rituximab is a chimeric anti-CD20 antibody approved in a few indications apart from oncology (rheumatoid arthritis, polyangiitis and Wegener's granulomatosis). The French funding system allows the off-label use of rituximab if the therapeutic indication is argued by the prescriber (scientific societies' guidelines, case series, case reports, patient's clinical data). This information is discussed with hospital pharmacists before the therapeutic decision, on a case to case basis. Purpose The aim of this study was to analyse the off-label use of rituximab, outside of oncology indications, in a French university hospital. Material and methods A retrospective study of rituximab prescriptions was performed between 1 December 2015 and 1 June 2016 by extracting data from computerised physician order entry and pharmacy management software (Pharma, Computer Engineering). Off-label prescriptions were analysed through literature analysis and clinical evidence provided by physicians. In parallel, clinical trials involving off-label use of rituximab in progress in France were identified from the European Union clinical trials register. Results Between 1 December 2015 and 1 June 2016, 188 patients were treated with rituximab for indications apart from oncology (286 courses). 175 (93%) patients were treated for off-label indications of this drug (264 courses). For 128 patients (68%), medical justification was documented, with pertinent bibliography in 98% of cases. The most common indications were multiple sclerosis (83 patients; 50%) and neuromyelitis optica (23 patients; 13%). In total, 26 off-label indications were used during this period. 14 clinical trials were in progress in France including 7 for those indications. None of the patients studied here was included in a clinical trial. Conclusion Rituximab is an innovative drug with restricted approved indications, besides oncology. In this context, in our university hospital, we observed wide use (more than 90%) of rituximab off-label, especially in multiple sclerosis. The process of drug delivery applied in our hospital enables follow-up of a massive cohort of patients treated with rituximab off-label, providing real life data on efficacy and toxicity. The introduction of temporary use recommendations approved by the French Health Agency could enable this data collection, facilitating approval of new indications. References and/or acknowledgements IGAS, 2012'Evaluation du dispositif de financement des médicament en sus'. No conflict of interest


Background: Medical house officers are at increased risk for stress related symptoms leading to professional burnout. Aims: Measure burnout in house officers and establish whether utilization of a psychotherapeutic tool individually by physicians reduces symptoms characteristic of burnout. Method: Two groups of pediatric house officers at the University of California Davis Health System completed a Maslach Burnout Survey (MBS) at the beginning and end of a three-month period in 2003. An Intervention group (7 of 15 enrolled) was trained in the use of a self-administered psychotherapeutic tool. Outcome Measures were MBS scores and a qualitative interview of intervention group members. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups, prior to the study or over time. Qualitative interviews revealed that subjects experience stressors in relation to their professional activities, but already utilize some elements of the tool and were too busy to implement the entire tool systematically. Conclusions: Pediatric trainees did not seem to manifest burnout symptoms based upon the MBS; interviews suggested that some do experience significant stress, although manifestations and responses were varied, some may be at risk. Methods identifying individuals at risk for burnout, and interventions to cope with stress may be valuable to their training.


Compact laser sources with long coherence lengths in the visible spectral region are sought for many applications. This letter presents distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) ridge-waveguide (RW) lasers with an emission wavelength at 633 nm and an optical output power >20 mW. The DBR-RW lasers exhibit a technical linewidth at full width at half maximum of ~1 MHz. The emission line can be tuned via current and temperature >200 GHz. At 14 mW, the lasers show a preliminary lifetime 4000 h.


Upper airway diseases decrease sleep time and/or quality, which leads to excessive day time sleepiness, fatigue, and lack of concentration. Upper airway diseases can be classified into two groups: upper airway resistance syndrome and sleep apnea syndrome. Sleep apnea syndrome is a disease, which occurs during sleeping, characterized by apneic and hypopneic events, low oxygen levels in lungs, blood oxygen desaturation, sleep arousal, and/or awakening. It increases morbidity and mortality of the patients. Sleep apnea syn drome has three types: central, mixed, and obstructive. Central and mixed apnea can be treated only by medical practitioners. But in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea, orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons have an important role. The aim of this chapter is to present current information about etiology, diagnostic tools, and treatment alterna-tives of obstructive sleep apnea and to introduce dental sleep medicine to orthodontists.


A bacterium which utilizes 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) as a sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from soil. The bacterium, designated strain GP1, was identified as an Azotobacter sp. TCP was the only chlorinated phenol which supported the growth of the bacterium. Resting cells transformed monochlorophenols, 2,6-dichlorophenol, and 2,3,6-trichlorophenol. Phenol and a number of phenolic compounds, including 4-methylphenol, all of the monohydroxybenzoates, and several dihydroxybenzoates, were very good carbon sources for Azotobacter sp. strain GP1. The organism utilized up to 800 mg of TCP per liter; the lag phase and time for degradation, however, were severely prolonged at TCP concentrations above 500 mg/liter. Repeated additions of 200 mg of TCP per liter led to accelerated degradation, with an optimum value of 100 mg of TCP per liter per h. TCP degradation was significantly faster in shaken than in nonshaken cultures. The optimum temperature for degradation was 25 to 30 degrees C. Induction studies, including treatment of the cells with chloramphenicol prior to TCP or phenol addition, revealed that TCP induced TCP degradation but not phenol degradation and that phenol induced only its own utilization. Per mol of TCP, 3 mol of Cl- was released. 2,6-Dichloro-p-benzoquinone was detected in the resting-cell medium of Azotobacter sp. strain GP1. By chemical mutagenesis, mutants blocked in either TCP degradation or phenol degradation were obtained. No mutant defective in the degradation of both phenols was found, indicating separate pathways for the dissimilation of the compounds. In some of the phenol-deficient mutants, pyrocatechol was found to accumulate, and in some of the TCP-deficient mutants, 2,6-dichlorohydroquinone was found to accumulate.


We present evidence for a near-resonant mechanism of charge transfer in short peptide nucleic acid (PNA) duplexes obtained through electrochemical, STM break junction (STM-BJ), and computational studies. A seven base pair (7-bp) PNA duplex with the sequence (TA)(3)-(XY)-(TA)(3) was studied, in which XY is a complementary nucleobase pair. The experiments showed that the heterogeneous charge transfer rate constant (k(0)) and the single-molecule conductance (σ) correlate with the oxidation potential of the purine base in the XY base pair. The electrochemical measurements showed that the enhancement of k(0) is independent, within experimental error, of which of the two PNA strands contains the purine base of the XY base pair. 7-bp PNA duplexes with one or two GC base pairs had similar measured k(0) and conductance values. While a simple superexchange model, previously used to rationalize charge transfer in single stranded PNA (Paul et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 6498-6507), describes some of the experimental observations, the model does not explain the absence of an enhancement in the experimental k(0) and σ upon increasing the G content in the duplexes from one to two. Moreover, the superexchange model is not consistent with other studies (Paul et al. J. Phys. Chem. B 2010, 114, 14140), that showed a hopping charge transport mechanism is likely important for PNA duplexes longer than seven base pairs. A quantitative computational analysis shows that a near-resonant charge transfer regime, wherein a mix of superexchange and hopping mechanisms are expected to coexist, can rationalize all of the experimental results.


Conciliarity is a feature (or mark) of the church that has not received its proper share of attention from Methodists, despite its apparent links with such Wesleyan themes as "conference" and "connection." An important aspect of a conciliar understanding of the church is a principle that has come to be known as subsidiarity. Subsidiarity denotes a relationship between a larger community or political entity and the smaller communities and individuals it includes, in which the larger community does not assume the tasks and responsibilities that rightly belong to the smaller communities and individuals that constitute it, but rather provides them assistance when needed, and coordinates their efforts in achieving together those proper ends that they cannot achieve—or cannot as readily achieve—on their own. In this article, I aim to provide a brief exposition of conciliarity and subsidiarity as ecclesiological concepts, to consider the vital role a principle of subsidiarity has to play in any adequate embodiment of a conciliar vision, and to explore some factors that either hinder or foster the realization of that vision.


Monocular 3D human-pose estimation from static images is a challenging problem, due to the curse of dimensionality and the ill-posed nature of lifting 2D-to-3D. In this paper, we propose a Deep Conditional Variational Autoencoder based model that synthesizes diverse anatomically plausible 3D-pose samples conditioned on the estimated 2D-pose. We show that CVAE-based 3D-pose sample set is consistent with the 2D-pose and helps tackling the inherent ambiguity in 2D-to-3D lifting. We propose two strategies for obtaining the final 3D pose- (a) depth-ordering/ordinal relations to score and weight-average the candidate 3D-poses, referred to as OrdinalScore, and (b) with supervision from an Oracle. We report close to state-of-the-art results on two benchmark datasets using OrdinalScore, and state-of-the-art results using the Oracle. We also show that our pipeline yields competitive results without paired image-to-3D annotations. The training and evaluation code is available at https://github.com/ssfootball04/generative_pose.


AIM
To evaluate the effectiveness of specialist nurse interventions in the care of women with breast cancer BACKGROUND: Nurses perform a crucial role in physical and psychosocial support of women with breast cancer. However, only few reviews have explored and discussed the roles and interventions carried out by specialized nurses in breast cancer care.

DESIGN
Systematic review based on PRISMA guidelines.

METHODS
A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, IndMed and Shodhganga databases for articles published in English language from 1980 to 2018.Only RCTs were included. Quality assessment, data extraction, and analysis were completed on all included studies.

RESULTS
Sixteen papers were assessed for methodological quality. Due to methodological heterogeneity of the papers, a meta-analysis was not performed. The reviewers categorized the main outcomes under different domains like physical problems, psychological problems, patient satisfaction, patient needs, quality of life and cost data.

DISCUSSION
This review provides evidence on specialist nurses' role in breast cancer care. The methodological aspects of studies in this review vary in different aspects. More studies with rigorous scientific methods are needed to provide robust evidence on effectiveness of specialist nurses' role.

CONCLUSION
Even though specialist nursing interventions can contribute to health outcomes of women with breast cancer, there is limited number of studies reported from developing countries. This warrants the need for specialist nurse interventions in breast cancer care from developing countries. Relevance to clinical practice Offering a specialist nurse service helps the patients to meet their informational and educational needs, supportive care and coordination of care. Specialist breast nurse services can be integrated into hospital setting to improve patient care and treatment adherence.


Chemical tests concluded that Zamzam water is absolutely good and suitable for drinking as it has very high percentage of sodium, calcium, magnesium, and many other minerals. The purpose of this study was to test the effect of Zamzam water on the microhardness of permanent teeth enamel.Teeth samples (n= 30) with artificially initiated carious lesions were divided randomly into three groups, study group treated with Zamzam water (n= 10), control positive treated with sodium fluoride (n=10), and control negative treated with deionized water (n=10). Teeth were subjected for microhardness assessment before and after pH cycling and treatment with the three agents.The microhardness of enamel surfaces treated with Zamzam water is shown statistically significant increase in the values following demineralization which was not different from that of sodium fluoride.Zamzam water cause an increase in the microhardness of the enamel surface after pH-cycling.


Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) method achieved revolutionary improvement in the past a few years, yet the orientation recovery for each particle remains computational challenging. Orientation determination can be solved using Bayesian approach, through which a model can be constructed to best match a whole set of experimental projections at their 'correct orientations'. Without considering the centering of each particle projection, there are three degrees of freedoms (three Euler angles) that need to be fixed, usually resulting a computational complexity O(n3) where n is the number of discretization for each rotation angle. Here, we propose a method based on Maximum Likelihood approach with angular auto-correlation function of each projection, which is utilized to decouple the determination of three Euler angles to stepwise determination of two Euler angles and the subsequent third angle, the in-plane rotation. This approach reduces computational complexity from O(n3) to O(n2). Using simulation data, the accuracy and speed of the method is compared with the original maximum likelihood approach. We also investigated the impact of noise to the performance of this proposed method.


Drug hypersensitivity reactions are a significant cause of patient morbidity and mortality. They are difficult to predict in the clinic and during the drug development process. This is because mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. In fact, recent data using T-cells cloned from hypersensitive human patients have questioned the long-standing hapten concept, which states that a drug must bind irreversibly to protein to initiate a T-cell response. The work described herein was performed to investigate the chemical and cellular mechanisms of β-lactam-induced skin and liver injury and in particular to understand the relationship between drug-protein adduct formation and the activation of antigen-specific T-cells.
 Β-lactam antibiotics, such as piperacillin, provide the cornerstone of treatment and reduce the rate of decline in lung function in patients with cystic fibrosis, but use is limited by a high frequency of hypersensitivity reactions. Using the lymphocyte transformation test, drug-responsive lymphocytes were found in approximately 70% of clinically diagnosed piperacillin hypersensitive patients. By cloning over 400 antigen-specific CD4+, CD8+ and CD4+CD8+ T-cells, the T-cell proliferative response and cytokine secretion to piperacillin was shown to be concentration-dependent and highly drug-specific. Mass spectrometry revealed irreversible binding of piperacillin to selective lysine residues on albumin and a synthetic albumin conjugate stimulated piperacilin-specific clones via a processing-dependent pathway. These results describe the cellular processes that underlie piperacillin hypersensitivity.
 Approximately 20% of hypersensitive patients with cystic fibrosis develop multiple reactions that restrict therapeutic options. To explore the mechanistic basis of multiple β-lactam hypersensitivity, albumin binding profiles and T-cell responses against three commonly prescribed drugs; piperacillin, meropenem and aztreonam, were studied. PBMC responses were characterized using the lymphocyte transformation test and IFN-γ ELIspot. Clones were generated and found to proliferate and release cytokines following stimulation with all three drugs. However, crossreactivity with the different drugs was not observed. Each compound formed distinct haptens with lysine residues on albumin, which may explain the highly drug-specific T-cell response. These data indicate that multiple β-lactam reactions are instigated through priming naive T-cells against the different drugs.
 The role of the adaptive immune system in reactions that target liver has not been defined. For flucloxacillin, a delay in the reaction onset and identification of HLA-B*57:01 as a susceptibility factor are indicative of an immune pathogenesis. Thus, flucloxacillin-responsive CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were characterized from patients with liver injury. Clones expressed the gut-homing chemokine receptors CCR4 and CCR9 and secreted IFN-γ, Th2 cytokines and cytolytic molecules following drug stimulation. In contrast to the piperacillin clones, flucloxacillin clones were activated with several structurally-related β-lactam antibiotics. Furthermore, naive CD8+ T-cells from volunteers expressing B*57:01 were activated with flucloxacillin when dendritic cells presented the drug antigen. Activation of CD8+ cells from patients and volunteers was processing-dependent and restricted by HLA-B*57:01, which effectively links the genetic association to the iatrogenic disease.
In conclusion, the studies described herein provide novel insight into the way in which β-lactam antibiotics interact with protein and activate T-cells that are thought to be the ultimate mediators of drug hypersensitivity reactions in skin and liver.


In this study the use of an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) following the direct chemical extraction of a recombinant viral coat protein, from the cytoplasm of Escherichia coli, is evaluated. The driving force is the need to establish an economically-viable process for the manufacture of a vaccine against human papilloma infection. The partition behaviour of recombinant L1 protein, the major structural protein of the virus, and DNA was investigated in a polyethylene glycol (PEG)phosphate system. An evaluation of system parameters including PEG molecular mass and the concentrations of PEG and phosphate was conducted, to estimate conditions under which the L1 protein and DNA partition to opposite phases. ATPS extraction comprising a volume ratio of 1.00, PEG 1000 (18.0%(w/w)) and phosphate (15.0%(w/w)) provided the conditions for accumulation of DNA into the bottom phase and concentration of L1 protein into the opposite phase (ie partition coefficient of DNA; In K-DNA 2.5). The findings reported here demonstrate the potential of ATPS to recover recombinant protein released from E coli by direct chemical extraction. (C) 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.


The year 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of modern ultrafast optics, since the demonstration of the first Kerr lens modelocked Ti:sapphire laser in 1990 (Spence et al 1990 Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO, pp 619–20) heralded an explosion of scientific and engineering innovation. The impact of this disruptive technology extended well beyond the previous discipline boundaries of lasers, reaching into biology labs, manufacturing facilities, and even consumer healthcare and electronics. In recognition of such a milestone, this roadmap on Ultrafast Optics draws together articles from some of the key opinion leaders in the field to provide a freeze-frame of the state-of-the-art, while also attempting to forecast the technical and scientific paradigms which will define the field over the next 25 years. While no roadmap can be fully comprehensive, the thirteen articles here reflect the most exciting technical opportunities presented at the current time in Ultrafast Optics. Several articles examine the future landscape for ultrafast light sources, from practical solid-state/fiber lasers and Raman microresonators to exotic attosecond extreme ultraviolet and possibly even zeptosecond x-ray pulses. Others address the control and measurement challenges, requiring radical approaches to harness nonlinear effects such as filamentation and parametric generation, coupled with the question of how to most accurately characterise the field of ultrafast pulses simultaneously in space and time. Applications of ultrafast sources in materials processing, spectroscopy and time-resolved chemistry are also discussed, highlighting the improvements in performance possible by using lasers of higher peak power and repetition rate, or by exploiting the phase stability of emerging new frequency comb sources.


This paper proposes a novel prediction model for photovoltaic (PV) system output current. The proposed model is based on cascade-forward back propagation artificial neural network (CFNN) with two inputs and one output. The inputs are solar radiation and ambient temperature, while the output is output current. Two years of experimental data for a 1.4 kWp PV system are utilized in this research. The monitored performance is recorded every 2 s in order to consider the uncertainty of the system's output current. A comparison between the proposed model and other empirical and statistical models is done in this paper as well. Moreover, the ability of the proposed model to predict performance with high uncertainty rate is validated. Three statistical values are used to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed model, namely, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), mean bias error (MBE), and root mean square error (RMSE). These values are used to measure the deviation between the actual and the predicted data in order to judge the accuracy of the proposed model. A simple estimation of the deviation between the measured value and the predicted value with respect to the measured value is first given by MAPE. After that, the average deviation of the predicted values from measured data is estimated by MBE in order to indicate the amount of the overestimation/underestimation in the predicted values. Third, the ability of predicting future records is validated by RMSE, which represents the variation of the predicted data around the measured data. Eventually, the percentage of MBE and RMSE is calculated with respect to the average value of the output current so as to present better understating of model's accuracy. The results show that the MAPE, MBE, and RMSE of the proposed model are 7.08%, −0.21 A (−4.98%), and 0.315 A (7.5%), respectively. In addition to that, the proposed model exceeds the other models in terms of prediction accuracy.


In this paper we discuss recent experiments performed to characterize the energy relaxation of charge carriers in self-organized QDs. We find several interesting phenomena in these QDs, including a QD size dependence in the relaxation time. While large InGaAs QDs with closely spaced energy levels show relaxation times from the QD wetting layer to the 0-dimensional ground state of /spl sim/1 ps, smaller InAs QDs with more widely spaced energy levels show relaxation times of /spl sim/7 ps. In addition, an interesting pump dependence exists for the relaxation time (as measured by the radiative emission) for the first excited radiative transition to the ground state transition.


One of the most important goals of pervasive systems is to help users in their daily life by automating their behaviour patterns. To achieve this, pervasive services must be dynamically coordinated, executed and adapted to context according to user behaviour patterns. In this work, we propose a model-driven solution to meet this challenge. We propose a task model and a context ontology to design context-adaptive coordination of services at a high level of abstraction. This design facilitates the coordination analysis at design time and is also reused at runtime. We propose a software architecture that interprets the models at runtime in order to coordinate the service execution that is required to support user behaviour patterns. This coordination is done in a context-adaptive way and decoupled from service implementation. This approach makes the models the only representation of service coordination, which facilitates the maintenance and evolution of the executed service coordination after deployment.


We investigate the performance and reliability characteristics of Cu interconnects with Ta-based barrier layers and Co wetting layers at 7nm node dimensions with a focus on the impacts of reducing the Co thickness from 30Å down to 10Å. We demonstrate that while reducing Co liner thickness significantly reduces RC delay, there is a significant reduction in electromigration reliability below a thickness of 20Å if used in conjunction with a PVD (physical vapor deposition) TaN barrier. However, if the PVD treatment is followed by deposition of a thin ALD (atomic layer deposition) TaN, the Co layer thickness can be scaled down to 10Å without any penalty in either electromigration or time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB.) The combined PVD/ALD process with 10Å Co enables a 14% reduction in RC delay relative to our control split.


Failure mode and effect analysis is a widely accepted and useful technique for the practitioners, which explicitly exposes the failures and their mod in a specific system, besides the technique critically analyses the relationship between the causes and effect of the failures. In this study, it is tried to draw a framework for process improvement in managerial accounting courses by using FMEA model. FMEA is used for identifying the risk factors and determining the risk priority numbers of the potential risks in terms functional and characteristic bases. In the study, most risky main factor (subject) in managerial accounting courses was "Measuring relevant costs and revenues for decision making". This main factor includes of three sub-factors respectively; lack of analytic abilities, lack of managerial thinking, lack of fundamental accounting capabilities. These three sub-factors are subjected to the process improvement; reminding of mathematical rules, reminding of basic managerial subjects and reminding of basic accounting principles. Additionally, more questions are solved during the course about the subject. This first step improvement positively affected the success of students. In the light of actual improvement an estimation of further improvement results projected at the end of the study. Hence this study a framework is drawn for improvement in managerial accounting courses which can be modified to the other courses easly for risk assements and the improvements. It is believed that study can increase the academicians' knowledge (for increasing efficiency in the courses) and control capacity.


The aim of the study was to define the strawberry leaf surface and ambient air temperature differences in night frost conditions. The study was carried out at the commercial strawberry field in late autumn at a specific natural climatic situation, corresponding to night frost conditions. Thermal camera FLIR P660 was used for obtaining thermal images and corresponding visual colour images of the strawberry leaves. The images were taken at ten-minute interval. The ambient air temperature, relative humidity, dew point, solar radiation and wind speed data were obtained by Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station. It was estimated that the surface temperature of the specific leaf is comparatively similar at different parts of the specimen and changes noticeably with the variation of solar radiation intensity. The speed of temperature changes was also analysed. During all the measurement period, the considerable difference between the temperature of the leaf and the ambient air temperature was established, especially in absence of solar radiation. The difference of the leaf surface and ambient air temperature reached 8 study showed that in night frost conditions the plants might be endangered by low temperatures even at the air temperatures above 0 to the sky. It is suggested that the thermal imaging or infrared radiation measurement should be used simultaneously with air temperature measurements for more exact timing of night frost prevention measures at strawberry cultivation.


This article provides an overview of research on social contagion in the context of education. We highlight the importance of students' social interactions in school, considering contagion between peers and contagion from teachers to students, using a motivation perspective. The framework of contagion is introduced broadly, followed by a focused review on social contagion in school environments, both peer and teacher related. Then we introduce methodology for mapping behavior change to networks that are a direct representation of school cohorts. We argue that these different lines of research can be coherently interpreted from a motivation perspective, suggesting the critical role of motivation in social contagion, in the context of education. We highlight the limited amount of research on positive contagion effects and we call for further investigation into ways in which to increase the contagion of positive, academic behaviors. Finally, the neuroscience behind social contagion, both for the mechanisms and the interactions, is discussed.


This research empirically examines the macroeconomic determinants of 'pull' factors of international migration in South Africa. Using the neoclassical economic model of international migration, an Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression was run on time-series data from the World Bank database for the period 1990-2012. Relevant data from the South African Department of Home Affairs' Annual Reports were also used. GDP per capita, inflation rate, real interest rate, employment rate and public health expenditure were found to be the key determinants which entice migrants away from their countries and direct them to "better off" destinations. The country's public education system, on the other hand, is not a significant attraction for foreign migrants. The study concludes that the South African government urgently needs to implement not only skilled workerattractive immigration policies, but also appropriate fiscal and monetary restructuring policies aimed at growing the economy and creating employment opportunities.


ABSTRACT: Chevre-style goat cheeses were characterized by descriptive sensory analysis as exhibiting sweet dairy flavors as well as a characteristic waxy/animal flavor. Aroma-active compounds (> 80) with high intensities identified by gas chromatography/olfactometry and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry included 2,3-butanedione (buttery), 1-octen-3-one (mushroom), o-aminoacetophenone (grape), lactones (coconut, peach), octanoic acid (sour/waxy), as well as 4-methyl and 4-ethyl octanoic acids (waxy/animal). Subsequent sensory analysis with model cheese systems confirmed that 4-methyl and 4-ethyl octanoic acids were responsible for the characteristic waxy/animal flavor.


This paper presents the basis for using groundwater circulation wells (GCWs) for removal actions focused on contaminated domestic water supplies. A properly placed GCW could be used to pretreat water before it enters a domestic well. Commercial software was used to develop a model for GCWs installed at a Nebraska Superfund site to perform a feasibility study of a GCW-based removal action. Deterministic capture zone analysis provided guidance for locating vertically installed GCW up-gradient of an existing domestic well at the site. A deviation of up to 7.6 m off-center of the hydraulic gradient may be permissible. A GCW flow rate range to provide a sufficiently large recharge zone to protect a typical domestic well was identified for the site. Stochastic analysis indicated that the system was sensitive to horizontally variable hydraulic conductivity. Modeling results indicate that a GCW may both reduce contaminant mass in the aquifer, and act as a water supply replacement alternative to point of use treat...


This study evaluated the effects of two canal preparation methods on leakage in endodontically treated teeth, comparing the relative leakage rates for conventionally prepared teeth and those instrumented and obturated with the Ultradent Endo-Eze system. Two groups (n=11) of freshly extracted human premolars (and some canines) with closed apices and single roots were used. The roots in the first group were instrumented with conventional stainless steel hand files and obturated with gutta-percha and Sealapex. The experimental group were instrumented and obturated using the Ultradent Endo-Eze system. Radiographic examination showed no difference in the level or quality of root canal fill for teeth prepared conventionally and those prepared using the Endo-Eze system. Leakage followed a linear trend for both groups of teeth but the rate of leakage increase was approximately twice as high (that is, 80% greater) for the conventional group than for the Endo-Eze teeth. This difference was not statistically significant due to the wide variability in the conventional group data. It was noted that canal preparation time for the Endo-Eze teeth was approximately 50% shorter than that required for conventional root canal therapy.


The cortical collecting tubule (CCT) is an important nephron segment for Na+, K+, water and acid-base transport. Differential loading characteristics of the pH sensitive dye 2',7'-bis-(2-carboxyethyl)-5(and-6)carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) and basolateral Cl- removal were used to identify and study intracellular pH (pHi) regulation in each of three cell types involved in this transport. Both principal cells and beta-intercalated cells were found to have a basolateral Na+/H+ exchanger based on the Na+ and amiloride sensitivity of pHi recovery from acid loads. Intercalated cells demonstrated abrupt pHi changes with basolateral Cl- removal. alpha-intercalated cells alkalinized; beta-intercalated cells acidified. In the beta-intercalated cells, luminal Cl- removal blocked changes in pHi in response to changes in luminal HCO3- or peritubular Cl-, providing direct evidence for a luminal Cl-/HCO3- exchanger. In principal cells, brief removal of either peritubular or luminal Cl- resulted in no change in pHi; however, return of peritubular Cl- after prolonged removal resulted in a rapid fall in pHi consistent with a basolateral Cl-/HCO3- exchanger, which may be relatively inactive under baseline conditions. Therefore, Cl-/HCO3- exchange is present in all three cell types but varies in location and activity.