In this paper, we propose an algorithm to estimate sleep quality based on a heart rate variability using chaos analysis. Polysomnography(PSG) is a conventional and reliable system to diagnose sleep disorder and to evaluate its severity and therapeatic effect, by estimating sleep quality based on multiple channels. However, a recording process requires a lot of time and a controlled environment for measurement and then an analyzing process of PSG data is hard work because the huge sensed data should be manually evaluated. On the other hand, it is focused that some people make a mistake or cause an accident due to lost of regular sleep and of homeostasis these days. Therefore a simple home system for checking own sleep is required and then the estimation algorithm for the system should be developed. Therefore we propose an algorithm to estimate sleep quality based only on a heart rate variability which can be measured by a simple sensor such as a pressure sensor and an infrared sensor in an uncontrolled environment, by experimentally finding the relationship between chaos indices and sleep quality. The system including the estimation algorithm can inform patterns and quality of own daily sleep to a user, and then the user can previously arranges his life schedule, pays more attention based on sleep results and consult with a doctor.


Populations of the copepod Acartia tonsa were fed a mixture of algal prey (diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, prymnesiophyte Emiliania huxleyi, dinoflagellate Aureodinium [Gymnodium]
pigmentosum) supplied at saturating concentrations, grown under either nitrogen-sufficient or nitrogen-deplete conditions, in order to study the impact of food quality on production and development throughout the life cycle of the copepod. Changes in predator population structure and biomass were recorded, along with consumption of each of the algal groups, permitting C and N growth efficiencies to be estimated. There was a clear difference in the Acartia tonsa population structure when fed
N-sufficient or N-deplete prey, with those fed N-deplete prey slower to develop and reproduce and laying fewer eggs. Algal nutrient status affected selectivity between the diatom and dinoflagellate, the latter being favoured under nutrient-deplete conditions, perhaps in part because their C:N ratio was
less susceptible to altered nutrient status. There was no clear difference in the N growth efficiency (N-GE, typically 5%) between N-sufficient and N-deplete prey, but certainly efficiency did not increase with N-deplete prey. C growth efficiency (C-GE) declined from 5 to 2% with N-deplete prey. However, while the ratio of N-GE:C-GE was clearly different between N-sufficient (1) and N-deplete (2.5) treatments, actual growth efficiencies increased with time during the progression to later life history
stages, culminating in highest efficiencies during active egg production. Caution should be exercised in assigning GE and predation rates in models incorporating zooplankton feeding on prey of variable nutrient status; these parameters are not constants and GE estimates from egg production
experiments are likely to significantly overestimate efficiencies over the whole copepod life cycle.


Media text may disseminate ideological aspects about gender based on the way that individuals are represented. Mainstream hip-hop songs are a form of music text, and therefore it is argued that the lyrical and visual material may assist in the construction of femininity through the manner in which women are represented. The main purpose of this research is to critically analyse and describe the ways in which mainstream hip-hop music, lyrics and videos construct femininity through the manner in which they portray women. The study is grounded in a critical inquiry paradigm, following feminist arguments' presented in third-wave/grrl feminism where sexism is problematised as an issue recurrent within mainstream hip-hop music. Moreover, the study is qualitative in nature, as the endeavour is to get an in-depth understanding of how femininity is constructed through the lyrical and visual portrayal of women in Afro-American and African mainstream hip-hop and to increase the knowledge concerning this research phenomenon. Thirteen Afro-American and African mainstream hip-hop songs were analysed, utilising discourse analysis for the lyrics and semiotic textual analysis for the videos. The themes utilised during the analysis were derived from marrying prior research with the three main theories utilised in this study: genre theory, symbolic interactionism and objectification theory. The main issues stem from third-wave/grrl feminism where it is argued that sexism in hip-hop music takes the form of the sexual objectification and labelling of women. Through an in-depth analysis it was found that sexism is exemplified through women being portrayed as sex-objects, materialistic, superficial and manipulative as well as malleable, which are themes consistent within the thirteen songs analysed. Traces of misogyny and hate speech were found in some of the lyrics and videos of the songs. Another prominent theme that arose from the data revolved around female sexual exploitation by the pimp, in the pimp-prostitute dynamic, where women's bodies are exploited for the pimps' personal gain. Moreover, sexual acts of sadomasochism and menages a trois are also consistent with some of the lyrics and videos, through which male domination and female subservience may be displayed. The relevance of the study stems from it adding to the knowledge about how femininity is constructed in Afro-American and African hip-hop, particularly in the African context where there has been very little research conducted in understanding mainstream hip-hop and the messages promulgated through the genre.


Research shows that school administrators' engagement is vital in creating a structure supportive of induction and mentoring for early career teachers. This article details a mixed-method research study that examined the role and impact of school administrators' engagement in four teacher induction programs in the United States (two statewide and two district-wide) supported by the New Teacher Center. The results identify administrator role expectations and participants' perceptions of the programs, and they indicate how vital school administrators' leadership and commitment are to a successful program. The article concludes with implications for theory, practice, policy, and further research.


In this paper, I present the results of a comprehensive survey of the public temples of the city of Varanasi in north India. Considering the city's total public temple environment, I argue that an emphasis on major centers of pilgrimage and other large temples has obscured the prevalence of the "tiny" temples which are far more numerous and widespread. These temples do much important work of Hinduism, bringing the power of divinity and the legal weight of the Hindu tradition to bear on the lives of their devotees as well as the many others who encounter them each day.


ABSTRACT A large number of neuron-specific genes characterized to date are under the control of negative transcriptional regulation. Many promoter regions of neuron-specific genes possess the repressor element repressor element 1/neuron-restrictive silencing element (RE1/NRSE). Its cognate binding protein, REST/NRSF, is an essential transcription factor; its null mutations result in embryonic lethality, and its dominant negative mutants produce aberrant expression of neuron-specific genes. REST/NRSF acts as a regulator of neuron-specific gene expression in both nonneuronal tissue and developing neurons. Here, we shown that heterologous expression of REST/NRSF inSaccharomyces cerevisiae is able to repress transcription from yeast promoters engineered to contain RE1/NRSEs. Moreover, we have taken advantage of this observation to show that this repression requires both yeast Sin3p and Rpd3p and that REST/NRSF physically interacts with the product of the yeast SIN3 gene in vivo. Furthermore, we show that REST/NRSF binds mammalian SIN3A and HDAC-2 and requires histone deacetylase activity to repress neuronal gene transcription in both nonneuronal and neuronal cell lines. We show that REST/NRSF binding to RE1/NRSE is accompanied by a decrease in the acetylation of histones around RE1/NRSE and that this decrease requires the N-terminal Sin3p binding domain of REST/NRSF. Taken together, these data suggest that REST/NRSF represses neuronal gene transcription by recruiting the SIN3/HDAC complex.


The biennial State of Working America (hereinafter SWA), written by economists at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., is the best compendium and analysis of U.S. labor market statistics there is.* In one convenient book, there are data on the distribution of income and wealth, all aspects of wages and benefits, employment and unemployment, poverty, regional labor markets, and international labor comparisons. In addition to the data, there are explanations for all of the major labor market trends. Does the stagnating minimum wage contribute to poverty? Is rising wage inequality the result of the growing educational requirements of jobs? Are trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) necessarily good for workers as mainstream economists keep telling us? Why do the wages and incomes of racial and ethnic minorities continue to lag behind those of whites? Does the labor market model of the United States, with its very limited regulation, deliver better results for workers than does the more institutionally-constrained model of most European nations? Mishel, Bernstein, and Allegretto analyze their data using sophisticated statistical techniques to give us answers to these and many other questions. A review of this book, along with some critical commentary, will give readers a good idea of how workers in the United States have been faring and what they can reasonably expect in the futureThis article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


A study of the inhibitory effect of 24 different combinations of brilliant green and bile salts concentrations was conducted, using seven species of microorganisms capable of fermenting mannitol. The inhibitory effect of brilliant green decreased as the bile salts concentration was increased. Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus rettgeri were inhibited by all test media. Escherichia coli was inhibited in all but two combinations of brilliant green and bile salts. Aerobacter aerogenes generally followed a pattern of growth similar to that of three species of salmonellae. Three of the 24 combinations of brilliant green and bile salts showed little or no inhibition of salmonellae but did inhibit the other organisms studied.


The response to ionizing radiation, at the cellular level, depends on a number of factors that may be grouped into those that are genetically controlled, radiation quality, dosage, and environmental factors. The biological effects of low levels of ionizing radiation, and regulatory measures to protect people from exposure to low doses, have come in for much scrutiny in recent years. The objective of this study is to examine the potential radioprotective properties of melatonin in exposed low dose irradiated mice. Kidney, is selected to study the effect of low dose gamma irradiation as it is a target organ of many other organs, which influence its function. Histopathological, and electron microscopical changes of the renal tubular structure of the kidney were studied in irradiated, and melatonin treated animals. Male adult albino mice were used in this experiment, they were divided into 5 main groups: the first was, served as control normal group. The 2nd was given-in a fractionated dose of gamma radiation at a dose level (½ Gy) twice a week for eight weeks, while the third were left 8 more weeks without radiation. The 4th group was given daily intraperitoneal, i.p. 10 mg/kg melatonin and irradiated by ½ Gy twice a week for eight weeks, and the 5 th was left 8 more weeks given melatonin only without irradiation. (All groups of animals were scarified at two time intervals 8 and 16 weeks). It could be observed that The intensity of the histological damage was more marked in the untreated irradiated group which irradiated for 8weeks than those which are irradiated and left 8 more weeks without radiation irradiated. Hydropic change in the renal tubule, degenerative, narcotizing changes, and areas of complete proximal tubular necrosis and autolysis break down were detected. The protection offered by pretreatment with Mel. is particularly dramatic. . The proximal tubules retain its normality and structure; the nuclei were rounded with welldeveloped nuclear membrane and chromatin. On the other hand the distal tubules were well designed with many mitochondria and healthy nucleus. It could be reported that 10 mg/kg melatonin given Intraperitoneal, (i.p.) Daily to the irradiated animals helped very much the kidney to be protected from radiation injuries. The radioprotective effects of melatonin against cellular damage caused by radiation oxidative stress and its low toxicity make it a potential supplement in the treatment or co-treatment in situations where the effects of ionizing radiation are to be minimized.


We discuss our findings on how well the Linux 2.4 and 2.5 TCPIP stack scales with multiple network interfaces and with the SMP network workloads on 100/1000 Mb Ethernet networks. We identify three hotspots in the Linux TCPIP stack: 1) inter-processor cache disruption on SMP environments, 2) inefficient copy routines, and 3) poor TCPIP stack scaling as network bandwidth increases. Our analysis shows that the L2 cache_lines_out rate (thereby memory cycles per instructionmCPI) is high in the TCPIP code path leading to poor SMP Network Scalability. We examine a solution that enhances data cache effectiveness and therefore improves the SMP scalability. Next the paper concentrates on is improving the "Copy_To_User" and "Copy_From_User" routines used by the TCPIP stack. We propose using the "hand unrolled loop" instead of the "movsd" instruction on the IA32 architecture and also discuss the effects of aligning the data buffers. The gigabit network interface scalability workload clearly shows that the Linux TCPIP stack is not efficient in handling high bandwidth network traffic. The Linux TCPIP stack needs to mimic the "Interrupt Mitigation" that network interfaces adopt. We explore the techniques that would accomplish this effect in the TCPIP stack. This paper also touches on the system hardware limitation that affects the gigabit NIC's scalability. We show that three or more gigabit NICs do not scale in the hardware environment used for the workloads.


Automatic inpainting is a mechanism which repairs damaged pictures using an approximation mechanism. The most difficult problem is to inpaint a large damaged area, without knowing its content. One possible solution is to use color interpolation or extrapolation on surrounding pixels. However, spatial characteristics such as edges and pixel continuations are hard to be restored. In this research, we propose a series of automatic algorithms, which is based on an analysis of color continuations. Large damaged blocks are repaired, before the rest smaller potions are repaired by a multiresolution inpainting algorithm. The mechanism is tested on more than 2000 images, including cartoon drawing, photos, Chinese painting, and western painting. Our results prove that, the proposed automatic mechanism fixes damaged image up to a certain degree of satisfaction from the users. The demonstration of our work is available at: http://www.mine.tku.edu.tw/demos/inpaint.


Thermal shock stability for ZrB2-SiCp-Graphite(ZSC) and ZrB2-SiCp-AlN (ZSA) was investigated by water quenching test. It indicated that ZSC may provide more stable thermal shock properties. As shown by SEM of ZSA, surface cracks appeared after it was cooled from 1200 , due to thermal shock instability of the material. Residual flexural strength of ZSA was improved by crack healing after it was cooled from 1450 . However, no surface crack appeared for ZSC after water quenching test. It provided a potential method for improving thermal shock stability of zirconium diboride ceramic matrix composites by introducing proper quantities of graphite.


This book, derived from Jose Principe and his group¿s 10 years¿ research in information theory and statistical learning, gives a comprehensive introduction, analysis and demonstration of almost all the major components required for understanding and developing the new theme of information-theoretical learning. The basic strategy utilized by the author is to apply information theory descriptors (namely entropy and divergence, in contrast to the statistical measures of mean and covariance)as nonparametric cost functions for the design of adaptive systems, thus creating a new paradigm of information theoretic learning. And like in statistical learning, unsupervised or supervised training modes are also fully explored.


Arsenic, commonly found in insecticides, herbicides, and industrial materials, is involved in the majority of heavy metal poisonings reported in the United States. Accidental poisoning appears to be most common in the pediatric age-group, whereas intentional and covert poisonings predominate in adults. Diagnosis is often difficult. The clinical presentations of arsenic poisoning, both acute and chronic types, represent a wide spectrum, largely dependent on route of exposure, chemical form, and dose. Because the patient or others providing the history may suppress information on exposure and because toxic levels of arsenic in the system drop rapidly in the first 24 hours, swift administration of diagnostic tests is important. Physician follow-up is determined by the route of exposure to arsenic and may involve referral to a social service network or a mental health facility. Language: en


Irregular flowering over years is commonly observed in fruit trees and is assumed to be, at least partly, under genetic control. This study aimed at
predicting genotype flowering behaviours and at detecting QTL associated to regularity, in a multi-family apple tree population. Successions of vegetative and floral annual shoots (AS) were observed along axes in trees belonging to five apple related full-sib families, observed at two experimental sites. Sequences were analysed using Markovian and linear mixed models including year and site effects.
Indices of flowering regularity, periodicity and synchronicity were estimated, at tree and axis scales. First indices were derived from the Biennial Bearing Index (BBI). A second index was the auto-regressive correlation coefficient between flowering in consecutive years. A third index quantified the synchronicity of meristems within the trees through the measure of differences in the predictability of flowering over years, from a probabilistic viewpoint. These three types of indices were used to predict tree behaviour and to detect QTL with a Bayesian pedigree-based analysis, using an integrated genetic map containing 6,849 SNPs. The combination of the three indices efficiently predicted and
classified the genotype behaviours despite few miss-classifications. Four common QTLs for BBIs and auto-regressive coefficient were highlighted (on LG4, 5, 8 and 10) and one for synchronicity (on LG9) in the integrated multi-family map, thus revealing the complex genetic architecture of the considered traits. This study proposes a posteriori sampling of axes within trees as a relevant and time-saving
method to estimate tree flowering behaviours. Coupled to appropriate statistical indices, it is efficient to evaluate the tree breeding values for flowering regularity.
In apple tree, biennial bearing appeared to result from high AS synchronism in flowering, i.e. with all axes alternatively flowering or not in a given year, whereas regularity resulted from either asynchronous alternating or regular flowering of AS.


ESSENTIALS OF ECONOMICS. By Charles William Heathcote, Ph.D., State Normal School, West Chester, Pa. Cloth. 266 pages. Boston: Riehard G. Badger. Dr. Heathcote has prepared a most wholesome text on "Essentials of Economics," dealing in a live way with live issues of men, women, and children and those who employ men. women and children. Everything is omitted that is out of date, everything is omitted that is visionary. and everything is faced squarely that needs present vigorous attention. Outgrown philosophies and impractical schemes are ignored. It is a mercilessly winnowed treatment of The Standards of Living, Capital, Labor, Wages, Profit Sharing. Women in Industry, Child Labor, Corporations and Trusts, Commerce, Transportation, Taxation. Immigration, Socialism, Municipal Government, and twenty other kindred economic subjects. Dr. Heathcote is no crank and no coward when it comes to the treatment of an issue that involves fundamental frankness. There is no better demonstration of the author's wisdom and fearlessness than his treatment of Child Lal>or. to OUR PHYSICAL WORLD. A Source Book of Physical Nature-Study, By Elliot Rowland Downing, Sehool of Education, University of Chicago. With a chapter on Radio Communication by Fred G. Anibel, Kansas City. Cloth. 367 pages. Wonderfully illustrated. The University of Chicago Press. The School of Education, University of Chicago. is not getting the credit due, and we realize that we have not done our part in keeping pace with its wonderful develop-ment in both the science of education and art of teaching. Its studies are always mature, always scholarly, always presented masterfully, and "Our Physical World" series in its first contribution, Professor Elliot Rowland Downing's Source Book of Physical Nature-Study, is in a class by itself among aU the publications along that line. It has none of the earmarks of a Bulletin, would never be suspected of being a university publication. for no publisher of books appealing to the public on its merits could make a more attractive book in binding, in" paper, in typography, or illustration than is given this famous study by Professor Downing. First of all the past is fully appreciated, scholarship i. highly respected for its service to the present while the outlook into the future is as clear a vision as we have seen by anyone whose professional venture is his stock in trade. While there are many books that an aspiring teacher should read here is one that he literally must read as a revelation of the latest knowledge of "Our Physical World." household is Dietrich, Gertrude's son. The girl and boy grow to maturity as inseparable companions. Dietrich follows his father's trade of saddler. and dreams of the day when he shall have a home of his own, with Veronica to grace it. The circle of Veronica's friends is skillfully drawn, al.. though by the seemingly simple touches for which Spyri. is noted. Dietrich and his companions; Gertrude and her neighbors; Veronica and the persons young and old who pay tribute to her sterling qualities-these and others pass across the pages like familiar faces; while back of them range the mountain heights, the valleys and the forests that this author has made peculiarly her own.


This study aimed at studying the actual status of implementing transitional programs for deaf students at the secondary level in Al-Amal Institutes in Riyadh, the most important results of the study were: All the study sample agreed on the weak application of transitional programs in Al-Amal secondary institutes for deaf students. There were many obstacles that impacted negatively on the application of transitional programs, such as difficulties applying transitional programs relevant to teachers; difficulties applying transitional programs relevant to deaf students; difficulties applying technical and administrative transitional programs and difficulties of applying transitional programs relevant to establishments and companies and finally there was no statistically significant differences (p. 0.05) in the awareness of the actual status of the application of transitional program and the difficulties that face it from the point of view of teachers and specialists in Al-Amal Institutes for deaf students in Riyadh, due to qualification, years of experience, nature of work, specialty, gender, reading level and general knowledge.


range improved from 23% in 1976 to 68% in 1979. It seems likely. that more caesarean sections were performed, especially in this extremely low birthweight group, during the latter years of the study. The fact that both vertex and breech delivery in the 750-1000 g group carry an equally high mortality rate when compared with caesarean section lends further support to the suspicion that many factors other than breech presentation are responsible for the differences in survival rate. This paper does not strengthen the case for a policy of caesarean section for all cases of breech presentation from 26 to 34 weeks. It does, however, lend further support to the case for a randomised controlled trial of caesarean section for preterm breech presentation, which was called for in this journal in 1979.3 PATRICIA CROWLEY


Abstract. A systematic, semi-automatic method for imaging the cards from the widely used Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder is described. We show how the application of inexpensive commercial equipment and practices can simply and robustly build an archive of high-quality card images and manipulate them into a form suitable for easy further analysis. Rectified and registered digital images are produced, with the card's midday marker in the middle of the longest side, and with a temporal scaling of 150 pixels per hour. The method improves on previous, mostly manual, analyses by simplifying and automating steps into a process capable of handling thousands of cards in a practical timescale. A prototype method of extraction of data from this archive is then tested by comparison with records from a co-located pyrheliometer at a resolution of the order of minutes. The comparison demonstrates that the Campbell–Stokes recorder archive contains a time series of downwelling solar-irradiance-related data with similar characteristics to that of benchmark pyrheliometer data from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network. A universal transfer function for card burn to direct downwelling short-wave radiation is still some way off and is the subject of ongoing research. Until such time as a universal transfer function is available, specific functions for extracting data in particular circumstances offer a useful way forward. The new image-capture method offers a practical way to exploit the worldwide sets of long-term Campbell–Stokes recorder data to create a time series of solar irradiance and atmospheric aerosol loading metrics reaching back over 100 yr from the present day.


This issue of the Berkeley Planning Journal considers the interaction between technology and planning. Such discussions often focus some- what optimistically on the use of information technologies such as geo- graphic information systems (GIS), computer modeling, visual simula- tion software, or the Internet. The assumption is that these are simply tools that planners employ, or that, by extension, society in general em- ploys to meet particular needs. A related assumption is that these and other technologies are value-neutral, rather than actively shaping the goals and agenda of the profession. In this brief essay I would like to take a somewhat different perspective on the subject. I will argue that technol- ogy is a dynamic force that restructures both cities and the mindsets of city planning far more than we usually realize, and that we as planners must become better at stepping back from technology and putting it in its place. As Lewis Mumford warned in works such as Technics and Civilization (1934), much of the influence of technology in the past century was not for the good. It led to overly rapid urban expansion, an inhuman scale of development, sterile modernist architecture, unprecedented con- centrations of economic power, ecological devastation, and many other destructive phenomena. The challenge to planners in the twenty-first century then is to become more aware of the ways in which technology shapes our profession and cities themselves, better at managing the introduction of new technologies (for example new transportation systems), and more sophisticated at balancing technological methods of analysis with more basic tools such as common sense, direct observation, and compassion.


Almost all world faiths consider peace as a central issue and religions can be a site of reconciliation or at least have the potential to become sites to prevent and solve local and global conflicts. Peacebuilding activities grounded on faith require not only social sciences standards to be studied, but also religious and spiritual resources such as ritual, prayer and spiritual healing, (along with other peacebuilding tools shared with secular experiences). The spiritual and religious resources can be analysed with standard measures of sociology, but the analysis would still not be complete and deep enough to understand their role in the empirical experiences of faith-based peace builders. One must consider also the moral and ethical issues that ground the theologies of all major world Religions, specifically in the Monotheisms that are the focus of this paper.


This paper discusses emerging water crisis in India with the business as usual water use patterns and ways of averting it. Increasing reliance on groundwater has been contributing to pockets of unsustainable water use in many basins. This trend is likely to continue and many river basins will face severe regional water crisis in the next half century. However, proper understanding of the negative impacts of downstream water users, artificial recharge of groundwater could facilitate sustainable water use. Increasing water use efficiency, reducing uncontrolable pumping, increasing water productivity and crop diversification could help in mitigating the groundwater related water crisis. Growth in industrial, services and domestic sectors, water demand in the future shall outpace additional irrigation. This, coupled with increasing desire for a clean and reliable water supply in these sectors, and increasing focuses on environmental water needs shall demand large intra-or inter-basin water transfers


Just recently, the concept of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) over wireless has taken the entire 5G ecosystem by storm spurring an unprecedented interest from both academia, industry and others. Yet, the success of an immersive VR experience hinges on solving a plethora of grand challenges cutting across multiple disciplines. This article underscores the importance of VR technology as a disruptive use case of 5G (and beyond) harnessing the latest development of storage/memory, fog/edge computing, computer vision, artificial intelligence and others. In particular, the main requirements of wireless interconnected VR are described followed by a selection of key enablers, then, research avenues and their underlying grand challenges are presented. Furthermore, we examine three VR case studies and provide numerical results under various storage, computing and network configurations. Finally, this article exposes the limitations of current networks and makes the case for more theory, and innovations to spearhead VR for the masses.


Abstract : The results of evaluation are summarized of poly2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide, poly-2-methyl6-allyl-1,4-phenylene oxide, copolymers of 2,6dimethyl-4-bromophenol and 2-methyl-6-allyl-4bromophenol and epoxy derivatives of the allylcontaining polymers, poly-2-methyl-6-methallyl1,4-phenylene oxide, and copolymers of 2-methyl6-methallyl-4-bromophenol and 2,6-dimethyl-4bromophenol as high temperature adhesive base materials. Phase I of this project involved the synthesis and characterization of these new thermosetting polymers. Phase II involved evaluation of these new thermosetting polyphenylene oxides as high temperature adhesives. Attemped polymerizations of 2-methyl-4-bromophenol were carried out. Synthesis of bismethylene-2,2'dimethyl-4,4'-dibromophenol and attempted polymerizations to ladder type o-cresolnovolac polymer were made. Several triazine polymers were made. (Author)


BACKGROUND
Burn injuries are extremely common and may impose a serious load on public health around the world.

OBJECTIVES
To compare mortality rates and length of hospitalization according to the identified risk factors, extent of burn, gender and age.

METHODS
In this retrospective study, data from 558 archive files of hospitalization due to burns as the diagnosis in patients of all ages, between the years 2001 and 2002, were analyzed to identify the risk factors for mortality and length of hospitalization.

RESULTS
Males comprised 62.4% of the hospitalized burn patients. The mortality rate was 3.2% (n = 18) and among them 55.6% were women. Fifty percent of the fatality cases were over 48 years old, with statistically significant correlation of mortality rate and age. Most of the fatality cases (66.7%) had burns with total burn surface area (TBSA) larger than 40%. The multiple logistic regression model showed that leukocyte count on admission, TBSA, and age are the most important predictors of mortality. Smoke inhalation was not found to be an independent risk factor.

CONCLUSIONS
Using a statistical model for estimating the mortality rate, this study found that white blood cell count at admission, TBSA, and age were the most significant predictors of mortality.


BACKGROUND: In treatment of air using UV-irradiated titanium dioxide (TiO2), volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations mostly reach zero or decrease to a miniscule amount However, when acetaldehyde (AA) is treated by photocatalysts immobilized on silica or activated carbon (AC) particles, which have a high ability to adsorb VOCs, the AA concentration decreases rapidly initially, but decreases very slowly after AA has been decomposed to a certain low concentration To overcome this problem, the performances of photocatalysts immobilized on different supporting materials were investigated RESULTS: Computer simulations clarify that the slow decrease in the AA concentration in the final stage is due to the desorption of adsorbed AA, taking a much longer time to completely decompose AA The simulations also suggest two strategies to overcome the problem: using a support with a smooth surface and low adsorption ability, and increasing the photocatalytic activity The first strategy was tested by immobilizing TiO2 on glass tubes, PET film sheets and aluminum foil sheets with low adsorption abilities The experimental results indicate that the AA concentrations for these supports decrease at lower rates than for supports with high adsorption ability, but decrease steadily toward zero The second strategy was tested by increasing the amount of immobilized-photocatalyst particles with high adsorption abilities, resulting in a shorter time for the AA concentration to reach zero CONCLUSION: For completely decomposing AA by an immobilized photocatalyst in a short period of time, the use of supporting particles with a high adsorption ability should be avoided © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry


Sixteen months after the January 30, 2020 declaration by the World Health Organization of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the spread of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 had infected ~ 170 million humans worldwide of which > 3.5 million had died. We critically examine information on the virus origin, when and where the first human cases occurred, and point to differences between Chinese and later clinical presentations. The official patient Zero was hospitalized in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on December 8, 2019, but retrospective analyses demonstrate prior viral circulation. Coronaviruses are present in mammals and birds, but whether a wild animal (e.g. bat, pangolin) was the source of the human pandemic remains disputed. We present two contamination models, the spillover versus the circulation model; the latter brings some interesting hypotheses about previous SARS-CoV-2 virus circulation in the human population. The age distribution of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at the start of the epidemic differed between China and the USA–EU; Chinese hospitalized patients were notably younger. The first Chinese publications did not describe anosmia-dysgeusia, a cardinal symptom of COVID-19 in Europe and USA. The prominent endothelial involvement linked with thrombotic complications was discovered later. These clinical discrepancies might suggest an evolution of the virus.


Introduction: Subglottic stenosis is a narrowing of the airway just below the vocal cords. This narrowing can cause serious breathing difficulties. Subglottic stenosis can be congenital or acquired. Frequent or long-term intubation is the most common cause of acquired subglottic stenosis. Case Summary: In this case report, adjuvant homoeopathic treatment helped prevent tracheal stent implantation surgery, otherwise deemed necessary in such a state and improved the overall general state. This case report gives ground to further investigate the extent to which individualised Homoeopathy may be applied in postintubation subglottic stenosis.


Learning structural representations of node sets from graph-structured data is crucial for applications ranging from node-role discovery to link prediction and molecule classification. Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have achieved great success in structural representation learning. However, most GNNs are limited by the 1-Weisfeiler-Lehman (WL) test and thus possible to generate identical representation for structures and graphs that are actually different. More powerful GNNs, proposed recently by mimicking higher-order-WL tests, only focus on entire-graph representations and cannot utilize sparsity of the graph structure to be computationally efficient. Here we propose a general class of structure-related features, termed Distance Encoding (DE), to assist GNNs in representing node sets with arbitrary sizes with strictly more expressive power than the 1-WL test. DE essentially captures the distance between the node set whose representation is to be learnt and each node in the graph, which includes important graph-related measures such as shortest-path-distance and generalized PageRank scores. We propose two general frameworks for GNNs to use DEs (1) as extra node attributes and (2) further as controllers of message aggregation in GNNs. Both frameworks may still utilize the sparse structure to keep scalability to process large graphs. In theory, we prove that these two frameworks can distinguish node sets embedded in almost all regular graphs where traditional GNNs always fail. We also rigorously analyze their limitations. Empirically, we evaluate these two frameworks on node structural roles prediction, link prediction and triangle prediction over six real networks. The results show that DE-assisted GNNs outperform GNNs without DEs by up-to 15% improvement in average accuracy and DE-assisted GNNs also significantly outperform other state-of-the-art baselines particularly designed for those corresponding tasks.


Background: Extremity battlefield injuries from Operation Iraq and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) requiring multiple limbs salvaged with tissue transfers in the same patient are an understudied population. This study aimed to report the limb salvage outcomes in patients requiring multiple flap procedures for two or more concurrent extremity injuries. Methods: A retrospective cohort comparison of warfare-related extremity injuries treated for limb salvage from 2003 through 2012 at the National Capital Consortium was completed. Number of single and multiple flap limb salvages, Injury Severity Score, success rates, and complications were analyzed. Results: A total of 359 limb salvage reconstructive procedures were performed, consisting of 311 cases of single extremity salvage and 48 cases of multiple flap or multiple extremity salvage. The Injury Severity Score was significantly higher in the multiple extremity group (23) than in the single extremity group (17; p < 0.001). Primary flap failure rate was 9 percent in single and 12 percent in multiple limb salvage cases (p = 0.390). The subgroup flap failure rate in the multiple limb salvage cohort was 8 percent, 7 percent, and 25 percent for pedicle flaps, pedicle/free flaps, and free flaps, respectively (p = 0.361). The total complication rate was 26 percent and 33 percent for single and multiple limb salvage cases, respectively (p = 0.211). Conclusion: Limb salvage requiring multiple flap procedures in the polyextremity-injured patent is safe and equally effective when compared with a single-limb-injured cohort despite a significantly higher injury severity score. Overall complication rates were not significantly different, although subgroup analysis demonstrated a trend toward increased flap failure in the multiple free flap cohort. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.


Six species of Tobago frogs (including the stream frog Mannophryne olmonae ) from 11 sites across the northeast of the island were tested in 2016 for the presence of the pathogenic chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis . No chytrid was detected in any of the 176 samples (20-39 frogs per species). These results contrast with a 2006 survey which found chytrid in 25% of the M. olmonae individuals sampled, though none in smaller samples of four other species. Together with similar results from Trinidad, our findings indicate that the infection may have died out or be at a very low level in Trinidad and Tobago. However, there is a need to sample from the south of Tobago and from two threatened species not yet assessed.


Blockchain records track information about financial payments, movements of products through supply chains, identity verification information, and many other assets. Analytics on this data can provide provenance histories, predictive planning, fraud identification, and regulatory compliance. In this paper, we describe analytics engines connected to blockchains to provide easy-to-use configurable dashboards, predictive models, provenance histories, and compliance checking. We also describe how blockchain data can be combined with external data sources for secure and private analytics, enable artificial intelligence (AI) model creation over geographically dispersed data, and create a history of model creation enabling provenance and lineage tracking for trusted AI.


We present a technique for efficiently synthesizing images of atmospheric clouds using a combination of Monte Carlo integration and neural networks. The intricacies of Lorenz-Mie scattering and the high albedo of cloud-forming aerosols make rendering of clouds---e.g. the characteristic silverlining and the "whiteness" of the inner body---challenging for methods based solely on Monte Carlo integration or diffusion theory. We approach the problem differently. Instead of simulating all light transport during rendering, we pre-learn the spatial and directional distribution of radiant flux from tens of cloud exemplars. To render a new scene, we sample visible points of the cloud and, for each, extract a hierarchical 3D descriptor of the cloud geometry with respect to the shading location and the light source. The descriptor is input to a deep neural network that predicts the radiance function for each shading configuration. We make the key observation that progressively feeding the hierarchical descriptor into the network enhances the network's ability to learn faster and predict with higher accuracy while using fewer coefficients. We also employ a block design with residual connections to further improve performance. A GPU implementation of our method synthesizes images of clouds that are nearly indistinguishable from the reference solution within seconds to minutes. Our method thus represents a viable solution for applications such as cloud design and, thanks to its temporal stability, for high-quality production of animated content.


Abstract. The coupled system COSTRICE is developed for the first time in order to reproduce the interactions and feedbacks between atmosphere, ocean and sea-ice in a two-way online coupled model system containing three component models for regional climate simulations over Baltic Sea and North Sea regions. The regional climate model CCLM1 is coupled to the regional ocean model TRIMNP1 and the sea ice model CICE1 via the coupler OASIS3. In this study, CCLM is setup with a horizontal grid mesh size of 50 km and 32 vertical atmosphere layers and driven by the 6-h ERA-interim reanalysis data as initial and boundary conditions. TRIMNP is setup with a horizontal grid mesh size of 12.8 km and 50 vertical ocean levels. CICE calculates ice in 5 categories and runs with the same horizontal resolution as TRIMNP but only over the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat Bay of the North Sea. In a two-way online coupling process, CCLM is linked to TRIMNP through sea surface temperature (SST) as lower boundary condition every 3 h and TRIMNP is driven by 1-h atmospheric state variables and fluxes of CCLM. The data exchange processes between TRIMNP and CICE as well as from CCLM to CICE take place with an interval of 3 h. The coupled model is applied in a study for climate simulations over Baltic Sea and North Sea regions in 1997. The coupled system is set up to run in parallel on the super computing system IBM-power 6 at the German Climate Computing Center (DKRZ). 1 See Table A1.


Aggregate surgical expenditures in the US amounted to about 5.2% of the Gross Domestic Product in 2010, and are projected to increase. About 42% of hospitals' revenues are generated by their operation rooms (ORs), yet the average OR runs at only 68% capacity. While OR management has many aspects, the most important and challenging issues are centered on surgery scheduling. Advance surgery schedules improve OR efficiency; however, days of surgeries rarely go as planned, and rescheduling is performed in practice as uncertainties unravel. Surgery scheduling involves sequential decision-making; advance scheduling and day-of-surgery rescheduling must account for subsequent rescheduling to achieve better OR efficiencies over myopic decision-making. This dissertation focuses on the integration of proactive and reactive decision-making in surgery scheduling. We present stochastic programs with chance-constrained recourse for surgery scheduling and rescheduling: minimizing the total expected OR underutilization subject to probabilistic overtime constraints, where surgery durations and occurrences are random. We demonstrate how our approach outperforms the surgery scheduling and rescheduling policies used in practice at a hospital, and we provide some insights on further improvements that can be made at the operational, tactical, and strategic decision-making levels.


This paper investigates the end facet roughness of multimode polymer channel waveguides fabricated on FR4 printed circuit boards, PCBs, when cut at right angles to their optical axis by milling routers for optical butt-coupling connectors and compares it with that resulting from dicing saws and polishing and proposes a novel end facet treatment. RMS surface roughness of waveguide end facets, measured by AFMs, are compared for a range of rotation speeds and translation speeds of a milling router. It was found that one-flute routers gave significantly less rough surfaces than two or three-flute routers. The best results were achieved for a one-flute router when the milling bit was inserted from the PCB side of the board with a rotation speed of 15,000 rpm and a translation speed of 0.25 m/min which minimized the waveguide core end facet RMS roughness to 183 ± 13 nm and gave input optical coupling loss of 1.7 dB ± 0.5 B and output optical coupling loss of 2.0 dB ± 0.7 dB. The lowest RMS roughness was obtained at chip loads of 16 μm/revolution. High rotation speeds should be avoided as smearing of the end facet occurs possibly due to polymer heating and softening. For the first time to our knowledge, channel waveguide optical insertion loss is shown to be linearly proportional to the ratio of the waveguide core end facet RMS roughness to its autocorrelation length. A new fabrication technique for cut waveguide end facet treatment is proposed and demonstrated which reduces the insertion loss by 2.60 dB ± 1.3 dB which is more than that achieved by the closest available index matching fluid which gave 2.23 dB ± 1.2 dB. The new fabrication method gives a more robust end facet for use in commercial products.


This study is a preliminary attempt to reassess and redefine the aims that inspired the philological work of the Mekhitarist Fathers of Venice, particularly their volumes devoted to archaeology and historiographic geography, in the light of the so-called Orien- talist and Post-colonial studies. The Author aims to show the 'ideological' relation between the historiographic works of some renowned Mekhitarist fathers, namely Ghukas Inchichian, Ghewond Alishan and Sukʿias Efrikian, and the Father of the Armenian historiography, Movsēs Khorenatsʿi, particularly concerning the methodological approach to the historiographic description and discourse. The concept of ethnic 'nation' elaborated by Movsēs Khorenatsʿi, as well as the theory of dialectical relation between centre and periphery, is one of the most entrenched and productive values of the Armenian identity. In this light, the author tries to reconsider also the intellectual and spiritual motivations behind the monumental work of the three Mekhitarist figures that should not be encompassed by a (post-) Foucaldian lecture of the 'nationalistic' philological movements, as recently proposed by some scholars.


After nearly a century when electric lighting has dominated the design of building interiors, a return to the use of daylight as the main ambient light source is motivated by energy, environmental, and health considerations. Good daylighting of building interiors not only promotes low energy use, it has the potential to (re)connect humans to the natural cycle of day and night, which promotes health and well-being. Light is especially important to people in the Nordic countries because it is scarce for a large part of the year and over-abundant around the summer solstice. The unique character of daylight provided by the Nordic sky – with its weak intensity in the winter and low sun angles in the summer – demands careful study and attention, as it is more precious than in any other location.The current context of densifying cities makes it increasingly difficult to provide sufficient amounts of daylight in buildings under Nordic sky conditions, especially in winter. Analyses using advanced building simulation programs are often needed to predict daylight levels and adjust the building design accordingly. The relevant building regulations and certification schemes need to be understood in depth if they are to be followed by design practitioners. In addition, state-of-the-art electric lighting technologies such as LEDs and advanced control systems require a good integration with daylighting design. Addressing these issues, this book provides the essential knowledge and background to students and practicing professionals who wish to tackle the challenging endeavor of illuminating buildings under a Nordic sky using daylight as the main ambient light source, supplemented by energy-efficient electric lighting systems. (Less)


In August and September 2010, we established 10x10m plots in five populations of both S. ciliata and A. caespitosa distributed along an altitudinal gradient in the in the orophyllous cryophilic pastures of Sierra de Guadarrama, a mountain range located in central Spain. In each study plot, we mapped every S. ciliata and A. caespitosa reproductive plant and seedling using a high-resolution Differential Global Navigation Satellite System (DGNSS) (Viva GS15, Leica, Switzerland) with an accuracy of 5 cm for x and y coordinates. We also measured plant diameter and the number of inflorescences of every reproductive plant. To account for potential seedling sources outside the study area, we also recorded the location, diameter and number of inflorescences of reproductive plants in a buffer zone of two meters around the plots.


The temporal sequence of coronavirus plus-strand and minus-strand RNA synthesis was determined in 17CL1 cells infected with the A59 strain of mouse hepatitis virus (MHV). MHV-induced fusion was prevented by keeping the pH of the medium below pH 6.8. This had no effect on the MHV replication cycle, but gave 5- to 10-fold-greater titers of infectious virus and delayed the detachment of cells from the monolayer which permitted viral RNA synthesis to be studied conveniently until at least 10 h postinfection. Seven species of poly(A)-containing viral RNAs were synthesized at early and late times after infection, in nonequal but constant ratios. MHV minus-strand RNA synthesis was first detected at about 3 h after infection and was found exclusively in the viral replicative intermediates and was not detected in 60S single-stranded form in infected cells. Early in the replication cycle, from 45 to 65% of the [3H]uridine pulse-labeled RF core of purified MHV replicative intermediates was in minus-strand RNA. The rate of minus-strand synthesis peaked at 5 to 6 h postinfection and then declined to about 20% of the maximum rate. The addition of cycloheximide before 3 h postinfection prevented viral RNA synthesis, whereas the addition of cycloheximide after viral RNA synthesis had begun resulted in the inhibition of viral RNA synthesis. The synthesis of both genome and subgenomic mRNAs and of viral minus strands required continued protein synthesis, and minus-strand RNA synthesis was three- to fourfold more sensitive to inhibition by cycloheximide than was plus-strand synthesis.


How do children develop their abilities and become adults? This chapter will consider the role of child development during the school years. We will focus on the development of cognitive, language and social skills. We begin by discussing factors that influence children's development within the school environment and how the environment plays a fundamental role in refining our understanding of how children continue to develop throughout their school years. Following on from Chapter 13, we will discuss theories of cognitive development, including the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, and the implications of these theoretical approaches for children's learning and their schooling. The chapter will then consider children's language development and changes that occur in children's theory of mind and social reasoning, all of which are important for the development of social skills in lager years. We will aslo discuss the skills that children learn whilst they are at school and the processes that underlie the development of language and reading ability. Finally, in this chapter we will consider how the social world of children changes as they enter school and how this is reflected in the importance of peer relationships, friendships and experiences of bullying.


International Journal of Humanities and Education (IJHE) is a reviewed journal started to be published in 2015, including theoretical and/or empirical studies that can contribute to the related field. With the publication policy it follows, it aims to contribute to the formation of the infrastructure required for the formation of intellectual links between the related disciplines, establishment and development of new cooperation opportunities, realization of transfer from theory to practice and more effective arrangement of educational settings. There are many national and international well-known academicians among our reviewers and publication board. The journal is planned to be published electronically twice per-year in April and October. The journal articles are published in Turkish (including extended abstracts) and in English.


OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate an asthma knowledge questionnaire for use in adult asthma patients in Brazil.

METHODS
A 34-item self-report questionnaire was constructed and administered to adult asthma patients and adult controls. The maximum total score was 34.

RESULTS
The questionnaire was shown to be discriminatory, with good reliability and reproducibility. The mean score for asthma patients and controls was, respectively, 21.47 +/- 4.11 (range: 9-31) and 17.27 +/- 5.11 (range: 7-28; p < 0.001). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.53, and the Bartlett's test of sphericity demonstrated a satisfactory suitability of the data to factor analysis (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the total scores obtained in the first and in the second application of the questionnaire within a two-week interval (p = 0.43). The internal consistency reliability (KR-20 coefficient) was 0.69.

CONCLUSIONS
This study has validated an asthma knowledge questionnaire for use in Brazil.


This essay seeks to define and conceptualize cinematic quotation against scholarship that positions the auteur as the locus of meaning for a given film, especially with respect to any intertextual references. By troubling a reliance on frameworks of pathological, singular control and revealing their inability to define the specific characteristics of quotation - beyond merely thinking of it as one form of allusion or intertextuality - this essay argues that an ontological friction is inherent to instances of cinematic quotation. By utilizing Jean-Luc Nancy's ontology, I am able to reveal the problematic nature of positing a singular, authorial voice in cinema or, more broadly, of assuming a singular subject at all. What is at stake in instances of cinematic quotation, as this essay shows, is the revelation that our being cannot be thought of in singular terms because we are always already both singular and plural, despite our attempts to escape such knowledge.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the utility of the DURR (dynamic urethral resistance factor) in the evaluation of prostatism.

METHODS
248 patients with prostatism were evaluated by the detrusor pressure-flow rate test, perineal and periurethral EMG and voiding videocystography. The Audit software program was utilized to process the data from the pressure-flow studies to obtain the parameters for urethral resistance (PURR), bladder contractibility (Wmax) and DURR.

RESULTS
The presence of DURR correlated significantly with abdominal voiding pressure and voluntary voiding, and constrictive obstruction, although a higher incidence of stenosis in patients with a positive DURR was not demonstrable on videocystography. No correlation was observed between EMG activity and a positive DURR.

CONCLUSIONS
A positive DURR indicates the effect of active urethral resistance changes on the voiding dynamics. These active changes can be caused by contraction of the periurethral muscles (EMG activity), although not all of the cases showing EMG activity have a positive DURR. Furthermore, in some DURR positive cases, the EMG is silent, indicating that the urethral smooth muscles are involved in the active changes of urethral resistance. The DURR data do not always coincide with the perineal EMG findings and therefore do not supplant each other.


Graphical solution methods are particularly valuable for the insight given the student being introduced to the subject of nonlinear systems analysis. The author has found the δ-method to be one of the most attractive methods to his students, because of its conceptual simplicity. The δ-method, however, appears to be somewhat less than ideal, in the following sense. The solution to the system equation is obtained as a sequence of circular arcs, but the approximate solution only matches the slope of the actual solution at a number of points. The graphical information which the curvature of the arcs can convey is not being utilized. If circular arcs are to be used, then it is exceedingly reasonable to seek a modification to the δ-method which provides an approximate solution that matches both the slope and the curvature of the actual solution at a number of points. The following note provides a development of the δ-method which is amenable to modification and a presentation of the modification which adds curvature matching to the solution process.


The study was carried out to assess the impact of access to extension services on fish farming in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study investigated the socio – economic characteristics of fish farmers, information disseminated to fish farmers, attributes of extension agents, and farmers' access to extension services and farmers profitability. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect information from the farmers and a sample size of 90 fish farmers was selected from the six local government selected. Analysis of data was carried out using frequency and percentage tables and Gross Margin analysis was used to determine the profitability of the farmers. There was relationship between farmers' access to extension services and their profitability. It was recommended that extension agents should intensify their efforts in reaching farmers and passing useful information to them in order to increase farmers' profitability.


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Neuromuscular electrical stimulation finds application in several fields, from basic neurophysiology, to motor rehabilitation and cardiovascular conditioning. Despite the progressively increasing interest in this technique, its State-of-the-Art technology is mainly based on monolithic, mostly wired devices, leading to two main issues. First, these devices are often bulky, limiting their usability in applied contexts. Second, the possibility of interfacing these stimulation devices with external systems for the acquisition of electrophysiological and biomechanical variables to control the stimulation output is often limited. The aim of this work is to describe the design and development of an innovative electrical stimulator, specifically developed to contend with these issues. The developed device is composed of wireless modules that can be programmed and easily interfaced with third-party instrumentation. Moreover, benefiting from the system modular architecture, stimulation may be delivered concurrently to different sites while greatly reducing cable encumbrance. The main design choices and experimental tests are documented, evidencing the practical potential of the device in use-case scenarios.


Julio Sotelo's proposal for pharmaceutical research to be organised by a Collegiate Research Council (CRC) funded by drug companies [1] is one of several alternatives that deserve debate [2].

The Sotelo proposal has advantages, but if the CRC is a single international monopoly how could the risk of corruption and inefficiency be managed? Alternatively, if there were competing CRCs, they would be under pressure to compromise to win more contracts, as happens already with contract research organisations.

Fiona Godlee has proposed that pharmaceutical manufacturers be banned from researching their products [3]. She suggests that "to get their products licensed [drug companies] would contribute to a central pot for independent, publicly funded clinical trials." She did not specify what percentage of the "central pot" would be funded by taxpayers versus pharmaceutical companies. If the funding was mostly from pharmaceutical companies then her proposal is similar to Sotelo's. If not, how will governments to be persuaded to allocate adequate funds?

My organisation, Healthy Skepticism Inc., advocates a more comprehensive alternative that will also reduce the harms currently caused by misleading promotion, biased industry funding of education, and high drug prices. Our alternative is politically achievable because implementation can be achieved without increasing costs for pharmaceuticals currently paid by individuals and/or third party payers (governments or insurance companies) whilst securing long-term competitive return on investment for the pharmaceutical industry.

Pharmaceutical companies currently have four main functions: manufacturing, research, promotion, and education. Performance of those functions is currently distorted by incentive systems that reward only activities that increase sales of more expensive drugs regardless of the impact on health care. We recommend that these four functions be paid for separately by government agencies via iterative open competitive public tender. This would allow the relevant divisions and subcontractors of pharmaceutical companies to compete with universities and other non-profit organisations for funding to provide each function separately. Incentives can then to be aligned to reward quality performance at each function separately. If a company performed poorly, e.g., committed research fraud or provided misleading promotion, then it would not get funding for that function in the next tender round. Drug prices would no longer include a premium for research, promotion, and education. Consequently, drug companies would no longer fund those functions from drug sales. Lower prices would make drugs more cost-effective for larger numbers of people.

Our recommendations can be implemented quickly or slowly by gradually reducing prices and transferring the savings to organisations that fund research (e.g., the United Kingdom Medical Research Council); education (e.g., medical schools and specialist colleges); and promotion (e.g., Best Practice Advocacy Centre, New Zealand). We also recommend improving regulation of pharmaceutical companies and improving education, incentive systems, and regulation for health professionals[4–7].


Feature Recognition (FR) in Computer-aided Design (CAD) models is central for Design and Manufacturing. FR is a problem whose computational burden is intractable (NP-hard), given that its underlying task is the detection of graph isomorphism. Until now, compromises have been reached by only using FACE-based geometric information of prismatic CAD models to prune the search domain. Responding to such shortcomings, this manuscript presents an interactive FR method that more aggressively prunes the search space with reconfigurable geometric tests. Unlike previous approaches, our reconfigurable FR addresses curved EDGEs and FACEs. This reconfigurable approach allows enforcing arbitrary confluent topologic and geometric filters, thus handling an expanded scope. The test sequence is itself a graph (i.e., not a linear or total-order sequence). Unlike the existing methods that are FACE-based, the present one permits combinations of topologies whose dimensions are two (SHELL or FACE), one (LOOP or EDGE), or 0 (VERTEX). This system has been implemented in an industrial environment, using icon graphs for the interactive rule configuration. The industrial instancing allows industry based customization and itis faster when compared to topology-based feature recognition. Future work is required in improving the robustness of search conditions, treating the problem of interacting or nested features, and improving the graphic input interface.


Purpose : This study aimed to determine the factors affecting Service Learning (SL) in Elementary school students in Tehran. Methodology : The present descriptive survey research was conducted in terms of the goal as basic with mixed approach, exploratory categorization. In the qualitative part, in addition to using specialized texts in the field of SL, Teachers and specialists active in the field of service learning were interviewed; participants in quantity part included elementary school teachers in the same city. In the qualitative section, the sample included 30 people who were selected by targeted sampling method, considering 5-15 people for each variable, and in quantitative one, 309 people were randomly selected via single-stage cluster. To collect data in the qualitative part, analysis of texts related to service learning, and semi-structured interview, and in the quantitative part of the study, the researcher-made questionnaire were used. Findings : For data analysis in the qualitative part, content analysis and in quantitative, exploratory factor analysis were administered. The results showed that five factor categories affect the implementation of service learning in schools, which were respectively (based on factor load value) at the following: Conclusion : In general, in order to increase students' orientation of service learning, the competency and capability of teachers should be improved through new software methods and technology, furthermore, the school space should be appropriately enriched in terms of content, curriculum and educational programs to meet students' basic needs and to establish effective relation between the school, and influential factors in the society.


Effective coordination can dramatically reduce radio interference and avoid packet collisions for multi-station wireless local area networks (WLANs). Coordination itself needs consume communication resource and thus competes with data transmission for the limited wireless radio resources. In traditional approaches, control frames and data packets are transmitted in an alternate manner, which brings a great deal of coordination overhead. In this paper we propose a new communication model where the control frames can be "attached" to the data transmission. Thus, control messages and data traffic can be transmitted simultaneously and consequently the channel utilization can be improved significantly. We implement the idea in OFDM-based WLANs called hJam, which fully explores the physical layer features of the OFDM modulation method and allows one data packet and a number of control messages to be transmitted together. hJam is implemented on the GNU Radio testbed consisting of eight USRP2 nodes. We also conduct comprehensive simulations and the experimental results show that hJam can improve the WLANs efficiency by up to 72% compared with the existing 802.11 family protocols.


Organic and inorganic amendments are added to soil with the aim of improving the crop yield. The present study investigated the effect of three types of soil amendments; organic (cow dung, chicken droppings) and inorganic (NPK-fertilizer) on trace metals (Cu and Zn) uptake and growth rate performance of greenhouse cultivated Lycopersicon esculentum . Thirty-two pot-plants were used for the study, each containing mixture of soil and weighed different amendments for the cultivation of L. esculentum . The fruits were harvested at maturity and later analysed for trace metal concentrations using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study revealed significant differences in heights, stem girths and canopy sizes, as well as the concentrations of Zn. The growth performance and yield results were in the order of NPK fertilizer > chicken droppings manure > cow dung manure > control. The mean concentrations of trace metals indicated that the highest concentrations for trace elements were recorded for both Cu and Zn in Lycopersicon eculentum cultivated in cow dung amended soil. There was no significant difference in the concentrations of Cu in tomato fruits across the amendments. However, there was a significant difference in the concentrations of Zn recorded for the L. esculentum across the group (p<0.05). The transfer factor of metals for this study showed that tomato fruits did not bioaccumulate the trace metals, and therefore the study revealed that these types of manures and fertilizer are safe to be used as soil amendments without increasing the trace metals elevated levels of phytotoxicity.


The inherently high storage densities available using magneto-optic (MO) recording systems can be further enhanced by application of partial response signaling. In order to achieve this, equalization of the read channel is required to shape the channel to give the desired class 1 partial response. A number of analog and digital (FIR) equalizer functions are derived, and their performances assessed in terms of improved SNR due to increased resolution of the signaling. It is concluded that FIR filtering is superior to the low pass analog filtering used. Given typical figures for noise levels within a MO drive, it is verified that it is possible to push the recording density of the system up to the maximum achievable with this technique and still retain reasonable soft error rates.


Background: To report a fatal condition following commonly performed gastric bypass surgery for obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Methods: 62 years old patient underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2014. She had lost significant amount of weight. She had no complications following her surgery. She had been recently admitted to another hospital with coma and died there.
 Results: Investigation of her death and post-mortem study confirmed hyperammonemic encephalitis.
Conclusion: Awareness and early treatment of this rare condition may prevent high mortality.


We introduce a mild photochemically driven strategy for the synthesis of fluorescent cellulose copolymers using filter paper as the starting material. Thermoresponsive behaviour in water is imparted to the brush-like structures by grafting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) side chains. All reactions take place in homogenous solutions, allowing the design of novel advanced materials from renewable resources.


This thesis contains three chapters exploring the implications of strategically biased information on political outcomes.

The first chapter studies how a politically motivated media outlet misreports information in order to endorse its preferred candidate during an election. The task of identifying the reporting strategy through which an interested outlet can influence the decision of voters is non-trivial as there are many ways in which this can be done. I show that there is only one plausible equilibrium, where the media outlet ``pools'' information in a way that sways the decision of the median voter -- and therefore of a majority of electors.

The second chapter investigates how media bias skews electoral competition and produces distortions in the process of policy formation. I develop a model of communication with endogenous policy-making. Candidates running for office know that information passes through the lens of an interested media outlet before reaching the electorate. This generates tension between pandering to the voter with a populist policy, or pleasing the outlet with a biased policy. I show that the implications of media bias are not confined to distortions of the voters' choice at the ballot box, but they propagate back to the process of policy-making.

In the third chapter, I study to what extent competing forces in the market for news are beneficial for voters. I explore a model where (i) media outlets compete for influence by providing alternative views of the same stories, and (ii) relevant information spreads quickly, and eventually voters listen to all viewpoints. In equilibrium, both media outlets reveal their private information with positive probability, and misreport otherwise. I find that even though competition triggers more news distortions, it always outperforms monopoly: ``diversity of opinion'' has a value independently of the additional media outlet's bias -- even if it is extremely biased.


Supply chain innovation has become the new pre-requisite for the survival of firms in developing capabilities and strategies for sustaining their operations and performance in the market. This study investigates the influence of supply and demand competence on supply chain innovation and its influence on a firm's operational and relational performance. While the former competence refers to production and supply management related activities, the latter refers to distribution and demand management related activities. The current investigation further explores how well supply chain management processes are internally executed by the firm's employees i.e. process compliance is observed as an enabler (moderator) on the relationship between supply chain competences and supply chain innovation. Further the model also explores the moderating influence of environmental uncertainty on the linkage between supply chain innovation and firm performance. The model is empirically validated based on perceptual data collected from 166 supply chain professionals through web based survey. Implications for both managers as well as practitioners are also provided.


Person re-identification (ReID) focuses on identifying people across different scenes in video surveillance, which is usually formulated as a binary classification task or a ranking task in current person ReID approaches. In this paper, we take both tasks into account and propose a multi-task deep network (MTDnet) that makes use of their own advantages and jointly optimize the two tasks simultaneously for person ReID. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to integrate both tasks in one network to solve the person ReID. We show that our proposed architecture significantly boosts the performance. Furthermore, deep architecture in general requires a sufficient dataset for training, which is usually not met in person ReID. To cope with this situation, we further extend the MTDnet and propose a cross-domain architecture that is capable of using an auxiliary set to assist training on small target sets. In the experiments, our approach outperforms most of existing person ReID algorithms on representative datasets including CUHK03, CUHK01, VIPeR, iLIDS and PRID2011, which clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


The $DK$ interaction is relevant to the interpretation of the $D_{sJ}(2317)$. We dynamically investigate $S$-wave $DK$ interactions in the chiral SU(3) quark model by solving the resonating group method equation. The numerical results show an attraction between $D$ and $K$, which is from boson exchanges between light quarks. However, such an attraction is not strong enough to form a $DK$ molecule. Meanwhile, $S$ partial wave phase shifts of $DK$ elastic scattering are obtained. The case of $S$-wave $D^*K$ is rather similar to that of $DK$. To draw a definite conclusion whether a molecular state exists in $DK$ or $D^*K$ system, more details of dynamics should be considered in further study.


Inbound tourist arrivals into China have been declining in recent years, possibly in response to increasing levels of urban air pollution. To examine Westerners' contemporary views on China as a travel destination, with a particular focus on air pollution, this research surveyed 600 US and Australian residents. An online panel survey collected data on cognitive and affective destination image, cognitive and affective risk perceptions, intention to visit China and key demographic variables. The findings show that, while China's cognitive image attributes were perceived positively, potential travelers expressed negative views about travel risks in China in general and about air quality in particular. Importantly, feelings towards the risk of air quality had a significant negative impact on destination image as well as intention to visit China. The research contributes to theory by highlighting the importance of considering affective risk perceptions in destination image studies. While some market segments seemed less sensitive to air pollution than others, this paper concludes that unless China proactively addresses the problem of air pollution, for example by seeking to stimulate positive feelings, international arrivals may continue to be compromised.


The airway epithelium is a complex physicochemical barrier to inhaled irritants, allergens, pathogens and noxious substances. It is now clear that bronchial epithelium, in addition to acting as a barrier, plays a crucial role in initiating and augmenting pulmonary tissue defence by contributing various epithelial repair mechanisms. The pulmonary repair process by the contribution of epithelial cell functional transition is tried to be explained by epithelial-mesenchymal transition hypothesis. It is widely accepted that the relation of the epithelium with other submucosal cells such as dendritic cells, smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts has a sentinal role in the initiation and development of various pulmonary diseases. The recent evidence shows that some different repair mechanisms or altered repair process might play role in pathogenesis of pulmonary diseases including acute respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The purpose of this review is to revise the literature about the role of tissue repair mechanisms in the pathogenesis of various pulmonary diseases.


Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging technology used to visualize distribution of particular ligands inside living organisms. The ligand is labeled by a positron-emitting isotope, such as 11C, 15O, 13N and 18F, and injected into subjects. By detecting γ-rays emitted from the ligand, in vivo biodistribution and kinetics of the ligand can be depicted with high sensitivity. By altering the target ligand for PET, one can see different distributions and time courses of the target. PET provides several biological and functional images inside the body, rather than simply an anatomical image. Therefore, PET can potentially detect biological changes that occur long before anatomical changes begin. PET has been widely used for neuroreceptor and neurotransmitter studies by tracing radioligands, which have selective affinity for a particular site. For example, the dopamine and serotonin receptors are highly related to brain disorders. By analyzing the pharmacokinetics of these ligands using PET, it is possible to noninvasively detect abnormalities in the brain. However, signals from PET contain many different types of information, and it is important to interpret the signals appropriately and choose the proper technique to analyze PET data. This chapter discusses several analytical methods for PET data.


ABSTRACT This article studies the commemoration and ceremonial culture surrounding the inauguration of new waterworks in British municipalities during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It analyses how new waterworks could be seen as a symbol of a progressive civic government, and how the commemoration of their opening could be used to enhance a city's image. The article also studies the ways in which ideas concerning the purity of new water supplies were constructed. An examination is made of how ceremonial culture and publications reflected the particular politics of waterworks in individual localities, and how such commemoration could serve as a vehicle for the promotion of civic unity.


Background: Although demands on family physicians (FP) are to a large extent similar in the European Union, uniform assessment standards for family medicine (FM) specialty training and assessment do not exist. Aim of this pilot study was to elicit and compare the different modalities and assessment methods of FM specialty training in five European countries. Methods: A semi structured survey was undertaken based on a convenient sample in five European countries (Denmark, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom). The respondents were asked to respond to ten items about aspects of FM specialty training and assessment methods in their respective countries. If available, this data was completed with information from official websites of the countries involved. Results: FM specialty training is performed heterogeneously in the surveyed countries. Training time periods range from three to five years, in some countries requiring a foundation program of up to two years. Most countries perform longitudinal assessment during FM specialty training using a combination of competence-based approach with additional formative and summative assessment. There is some evidence on the assessments methods used, however the assessment method used and costs of assessment differs remarkably between the participating countries. Conclusions: Longitudinal and competence-based assessment is the presently preferred approach for FM specialty training. Countries which use less multifaceted methods for assessment could learn from best practice. Potential changes have significant cost implications.


Chalcones have been reported to present various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitubercular, antibacterial activities. It is a basic moiety of many heterocyclic systems containing oxygen, sulphur and nitrogen. Nitrogen containing heterocyclic derivatives synthesized from chalcones have exhibited antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antitubercular, antibacterial activities. An attempt has been made to synthesize chalcones by the reaction of 4-acetylpyridine with various aromatic and heteroaromatic aldehydes. Further, chalcones derivatives were cyclised to pyrimidine analogs by using thiourea, urea and guanidine hydrochloride. The newly synthesized pyrimidine derivatives have been characterized by UV, IR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR, Mass spectra and elemental analysis and evaluated for their anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antitubercular and antibacterial activities. It was found that 2-amino pyrimidine analog bearing 4-fluoro substitution on phenyl ring (3d) has exhibited excellent antitubercular activity at lowest concentration in the series moreover it has also exhibited good anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities.


Recommender systems are present in many web applications to guide purchase choices. They increase sales and benefit sellers, but whether they benefit customers by providing relevant products remains less explored. While in many cases the recommended products are relevant to users, in other cases customers may be tempted to purchase the products only because they are recommended. Here we introduce a model to examine the benefit of recommender systems for users, and find that recommendations from the system can be equivalent to random draws if one always follows the recommendations and seldom purchases according to his or her own preference. Nevertheless, with sufficient information about user preferences, recommendations become accurate and an abrupt transition to this accurate regime is observed for some of the studied algorithms. On the other hand, we find that high estimated accuracy indicated by common accuracy metrics is not necessarily equivalent to high real accuracy in matching users with products. This disagreement between estimated and real accuracy serves as an alarm for operators and researchers who evaluate recommender systems merely with accuracy metrics. We tested our model with a real dataset and observed similar behaviors. Finally, a recommendation approach with improved accuracy is suggested. These results imply that recommender systems can benefit users, but the more frequently a user purchases the recommended products, the less relevant the recommended products are in matching user taste.


Incentives are capable of creating favourable environments in which peace processes can make progress. This is especially true for mega incentives, which can assist in overcoming political and socio-psychological barriers to peace. In Israeli–Arab peacemaking, incentives have not yet proven efficient. To date, they have been used in a limited and inefficient manner. In 2010, the US offered Israel incentives in return for an extension of Israel's settlement freeze. This move failed due to unfavourable political conditions and scepticism regarding its ability to bring about a major breakthrough. Nevertheless, it signaled that incentives are now an integral tool in US diplomacy and could serve as a step towards crafting a multi-national mega incentive package for Middle East peace.


Variation in ring width in tree ring series of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) was analyzed and related to climate and herbivory. The effects of different defoliation levels were studied from natural outbreaks of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) and from experimental defoliations. Short-term variation in ring width was mainly positively correlated with the current year July followed by June temperature. A warm May resulted in wider rings, probably due to earlier budburst. Low defoliation levels (<12%) and 50% experimental defoliation had no effect on ring widths. The remaining foliage in the experiment showed increased photosynthetic capacity related to increased nitrogen content; this is presumably an important factor in maintaining growth performance after defoliation. Even after a defoliation level of 84% only a one-year reduction in stem growth was observed, but a slightly higher defoliation level (93%) resulted in a growth reduction during at least 4 years, which indicates that the defoliation-growth relationship is non- linear. Tree ring series display long-term dynamics characterized by regular periods of increased growth. These growth increases are preceded by outbreaks of Epirrita with complete defoliation and mortality of old stems and branches, and subsequent rejuvenation by means of sprouts at the tree base and new branches in the crown. This results in a long period of better growth of the surviving and new stems. The period of rapid growth is followed by a growth decline. Competition between stems within trees seems to be an important factor causing this decline, together with other consequences of tree size. It is suggested that an increased stem and branch surface area/leaf area ratio makes old stands susceptible for Epirrita outbreaks.


Through the use of a perturbation approach, explicit expressions are derived for the changes in the electromagnetic field structure that occur when a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode on a coaxial transmission line enters a bend in the line. All of these changes are evaluated to at least first order in the inverse of the radius of curvature of the first nonvanishing correction term of the propagation constant (which is found to be of second order). Graphical results for the variation of the propagation constant as a function of curvature and other parameters characteristic of the coaxial line are presented. >


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believe that adequate funding of tobacco control programs by all 50 states would reduce the number of adults who smoke by promoting quitting, preventing young people from ever starting, reducing exposure to secondhand smoke, and eliminating disparities in tobacco use among population groups. CDC has established guidelines for comprehensive tobacco control programs, including recommended funding levels, in Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (CDC 1999; hereafter called Best Practices). Recommendations are based on best practices in nine program elements: community programs to reduce tobacco use, chronic disease programs to reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases, school programs, enforcement, statewide programs, countermarketing, cessation programs, surveillance and evaluation, and administration and management. CDC recommends annual funding per capita to range from 87 to $20 in smaller states (population less than 3 million), $6-817 in medium-sized states (population 3-7 million), and $5-$16 in larger states (population more than 7 million). CDC (2002) estimates that total expenditures of $861.9 million in 2002 were allocated to tobacco control from national and state sources in the United Sates, or $3.16 per capita. Actual spending in all states was roughly 56 percent of the "lower-bound" or minimum Best Practices funding recommendation for that year, with only six states (Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Ohio) meeting or exceeding minimum recommendations, and 18 states providing less than 33 percent of recommended floors (CDC 1999). CDC called for more than $3 billion in additional tobacco control spending in each of 2001 and 2002 to meet minimum Best Practices recommendations. This article examines whether state tobacco control programs lowered both adult tobacco consumption and youth smoking during 2001 and 2002 using newly available data published in CDC (2001, 2002) on expenditures of these programs. A secondary issue is whether or not divergence of actual funding from minimum Best Practices recommendations explains any of the differences between tobacco consumption in the states. That is, does the fact that a state funds above or below minimum levels indicate anything about tobacco consumption in that state relative to other states'? The informational content of the Best Practices funding guidelines has not been previously examined. This study examines whether spending expansion along the lines of the Best Practices guidelines provides a useful benchmark based on past effectiveness of those programs in controlling tobacco consumption. Previous Literature Studies of the impact of tobacco control programs often focus on consumption changes following a particular policy event such as a new control program. Manley et al. (1997) concluded that per capita monthly sales fell in states participating in the ASSIST (American Stop Smoking Intervention Study) program relative to states not participating. Pierce et. al. (1998) reported that California control programs significantly lowered tobacco use. While these and other studies show falling tobacco use following implementation of new tobacco control programs, they fail to control for factors that may also cause consumption to fall. Tobacco control programs themselves therefore may or may not be causing observed declines in tobacco use and, even if in fact they do contribute, studies overstate impacts of control programs on tobacco use when they do not properly control for other contributing factors. Three studies control for one or more factors outside of the tobacco control programs themselves. Hu, Sung, and Keeler (1995a) control for state excise taxes and tobacco firm media expenditures when concluding that state media expenditures, or counteradvertising, exert a negative impact on cigarette consumption. The authors measured tobacco control expenditures as "media placement expenditures" by the Tobacco Control Section of the California Department of Health Services and calculated that California spent almost $20 million over the 1980-93 study period. …


Matrix models of discrete-structured population dynamics became a traditional tool in plant and animal demography, aided with developments in the proper mathematics and wide spread of software products, which greatly facilitate creating models in the man-machine dialogue mode, but leave behind the scenes the issue of whether the methods applied are adequate to the problem posed. A principal discrepancy of this kind does appear in a problem to calibrate the projection matrix on observation data of the "identified individuals with uncertain parents" type: simplifying recipes from an ecological software package contradict the idea of polyvariant ontogeny as an adaptation mechanism. The problem becomes solvable if we substitute an extremal adaptation principle for the uncertainty in data as follows: the unknown reproduction rates are assumed to distribute among the reproductive groups in such a way that maximizes the potential growth rate of the model population under the current conditions. In combination with findings from mathematical analysis of a wide class of matrix models, this principle turns the model into a reliable tool to test research hypotheses. Considered as an example is a matrix model (published elsewhere) for the population dynamics of Calamagrostis canescens woodreed, a perennial clonal plant species with a complex, age-stage-based population structure.


From the Publisher:
Michael Sipser's philosophy in writing this book is simple: make the subject interesting and relevant, and the students will learn. His emphasis on unifying computer science theory - rather than offering a collection of low-level details - sets the book apart, as do his intuitive explanations. Throughout the book, Sipser - a noted authority on the theory of computation - builds students' knowledge of conceptual tools used in computer science, the aesthetic sense they need to create elegant systems, and the ability to think through problems on their own. INTRODUCTION TO THE THEORY OF COMPUTATION provides a mathematical treatment of computation theory grounded in theorems and proofs. Proofs are presented with a "proof idea" component to reveal the concepts underpinning the formalism. Algorithms are presented using prose instead of pseudocode to focus attention on the algorithms themselves, rather than on specific computational models. Topic coverage, terminology, and order of presentation are traditional for an upper-level course in computer science theory. Users of the Preliminary Edition (now out of print) will be interested to note several new chapters on complexity theory: Chapter 8 on space complexity; Chapter 9 on provable intractability, and Chapter 10 on advanced topics, including approximation algorithms, alternation, interactive proof systems, cryptography, and parallel computing.