We provide a theoretical foundation for the claim that prolonged periods of easy monetary conditions increase bank risk taking. The net effect of a monetary policy change on bank monitoring (an inverse measure of risk taking) depends on the balance of three forces: interest rate pass-through, risk shifting, and leverage. When banks can adjust their capital structures, a monetary easing leads to greater leverage and lower monitoring. However, if a bank's capital structure is fixed, the balance depends on the degree of bank capitalization: when facing a policy rate cut, well capitalized banks decrease monitoring, while highly levered banks increase it. Further, the balance of these effects depends on the structure and contestability of the banking industry, and is therefore likely to vary across countries and over time.


This study used a mixed design (American Concrete Institute) ACI 211.1 That is done in the laboratory by using artificial coarse aggregate size is the size of coarse aggregate uniform artificial 10 and 40 mm. The sample used for each size of coarse aggregate uniforms made in numbered 30 samples.  The results of the overall test that the clay ex. Bengalon have a fairly high abrasion value is 60,08% in aggregate categories that can not be used as coarse aggregate for concrete structural class II and quality of K-125, K-175 and K-225 with abrasion condition (27-40%), a very high absorption values ranged 20,223% that control water demand in the concrete mix is relatively difficult, and low yields an average compressive strength of 28 days produced by the method ACI 211 for ukaran coarse aggregate 10 mm and 40 mm is 9,851 and 9,991 MPa of compressive strength of concrete were targeted (f'cr) = 25,7 MPa.


This paper outlines the use and evaluation of a recently developed smart device student response system (SDSRS) in an undergraduate engineering mathematics classroom. This unique SDSRS allows for a more flexible input than existing response systems, such as clickers, and thus offers students a mechanism for sketching graphs, writing equations and annotating figures. This type of information content is particularly relevant in mathematical-based modules, where the methodology is often more important than the answer itself. The SDSRS also allows the lecturer to instantly capture this real-time information from the students and, hence, obtain quick and valuable insight to the students' comprehension and use of the taught material. In turn, the lecturer can provide the students with immediate and arguably more useful feedback to address any apparent deficiencies in knowledge that may have arisen. The SDSRS was used in a first year Engineering Mathematics module in the School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University (DCU) to evaluate its potential usefulness to both the lecturer and the students. This paper outlines the evaluation study carried out and presents detailed feedback from both the lecturer and the students involved. It is worth noting that neither party had seen or used the SDSRS previously. Overall, highly positive feedback was obtained, as is summarised within.


Background. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity in a group of patients with Substance Use Disorders focusing the psycho-tropic drugs and the severity scores carried out from the European adaptation of the Addiction Severity Index (Europ-ASI). It is a naturalistic analysis on the first data from wider study with a control group and a follow-up. Methods. The present study becomes within the Experimental Project 'Psychiatric comorbidity substance use disorders' funded by the Region of Lombardy and managed by the Psychiatric Operative Unit and the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Pavia. Through cooperation between the Addicts outpatient centre, auxiliaries facilities for addicts and the Psychiatric ward of the General Hospital in Pavia a Psychiatric consultation service was arranged for patients with mental disorders and Substance Use Disorders. Every patient sent to this service, which gives multidimensional evaluation and psychiatric treatments, was recruited. In the sample there are 37 patients, almost all males, about thirty years old. For everyone a diagnostic clinic evaluation and a Global Functioning evaluation from the DSM IV criteria were carried out, as well as a semistructured evaluation of substance abuse and the social and relations-related aspects through the Europ-ASI. Results. We report high opioids use and a low rate of abstinence during the last 30 days, a low prevalence of 'false positives' reading psychiatric comorbidity, a homogeneous distribution of diagnostic subgroups and of Global Functioning scores, a high use of Methadone in the therapy in patients with Affective Disorders. The severity scores in every area of the Europ-ASI underline the importance of psychiatric and addiction-related problems, quite equally distributed within the diagnostic subgroups. Conclusions. We underline, as previous studies, the importance of symptom severity beyond the specific diagnosis.


Preface. 1. THE NATURE OF LAW AND LEGAL REASONING. Philosophy and the Law. What Is Law? Trial of Border Guards. Robert H. Jackson, Opening Address for the United States, Nuremberg Trials. Charles E. Wyzanski, Jr., Nuremberg: A Fair Trial? Statement of President Slobodan Milosevic on the Illegitimacy of the Hague "Tribunal." Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milosevic. Study Questions. Classical Theories of Law. Carlos Nino, Legality and Justice: A Fictional Case. John Austin, Legal Positivism. Brian Bix, Inclusive Legal Positivism and the Nature of Jurisprudential Debate. H. L. A. Hart, Positivism and the Separation of Law and Morals. Lon L. Fuller, Positivism and Fidelity to Law. Thomas Aquinas, What Is Law? From Summa Theologiae. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail. Study Questions. Modern Theories of Law. Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Path of the Law. Jerome Frank, A Realist View of the Law. Mark Tushnet, Critical Legal Studies: An Introduction to Its Origins and Underpinnings. Andrew Altman, Critical Legal Studies and Liberalism. 2. Ronald A. Dworkin, Law As Integrity. Study Questions. Contemporary Perspectives. Richard A. Posner, The Economic Approach to Law. Margaret Jane Radin, The Pragmatist and the Feminist. Angela P. Harris, Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, Hallmark Critical Race Theory Themes. Study Questions. Cases for Further Reflection. Riggs et al. v. Palmer. Herman Melville, Billy Budd. The Antelope. Lon L. Fuller, The Problem of the Grudge Informer. Constitutional Law: Interpretation and the First Amendment. Legal Reasoning and Constitutional Interpretation. Smith v. U.S. Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S. Antonin Scalia, The Role of U.S. Federal Courts in Interpreting the Constitution. Ronald A. Dworkin, Comment on Scalia. Robert Bork, The Right of Privacy. Study Questions. Boundaries of the Law: Freedom of Expression and Enforcing Morality. South Florida Free Beaches, Inc., v. City of Miami, Florida. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty. Patrick Devlin, The Enforcement of Morals. H. L. A. Hart, Law, Liberty, and Morality. Gerald Dworkin, Devlin Was Right: Law and the Enforcement of Morality. Cohen v. California. Joel Feinberg, A Ride on the Bus. Michael A. Newdow v. United States of America. Study Questions. Obscenity and Pornography. Ashcroft v. The Free Speech Coalition. American Booksellers Association v. Hudnut. Joel Feinberg, Obscenity as Pornography. Catherine MacKinnon, Pornography: On Morality and Politics. Study Questions. Cases for Further Reflection. Griswold v. Connecticut. Lawrence et al. v. Texas. Minersville School District v. Gobitis. Texas v. Johnson. People of the State of Michigan v. Timothy Joseph Boomer. Reynolds v. United States. 3. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS. Equal Protection Law, Racial Discrimination, and Affirmative Action. Barbara Grutter v. Lee Bollinger, et al. Peter Westen, Puzzles About Equality. Naomi Zack, What Is Race? Thomas Nagel, A Defense of Affirmative Action. Shelby Steele, Affirmative Action. House Resolution 40: Reparations to African Americans. Cato v. U.S. Study Questions. Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Equality. Baehr v. Lewin. Cass R. Sunstein, Homosexuality and the Constitution. Martha Minow, The Dilemma of Difference. Richard Wasserstrom, The Assimilationist Ideal. Kimberle Crenshaw, A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Law. Study Questions. Equality, Parenthood, and Family Law. Michael H. v. Gerald D. J. M. Balkin, A Critique of Michael H. v. Gerald D. Janet L. Dolgin, Family Law in Transition. Johnson v. Calvert. Alexander Morgan Capron, Too Many Parents. Study Questions. Cases for Further Reflection. 4. Bush v. Gore. Loving v. Virginia. U.S. v. Virginia. Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County. U.S. v. Clary. Criminal Law. What Is a Crime? People v. Dlugash. Douglas N. Husak, Intent. Sanford H. Kadish, The Criminal Law and the Luck of the Draw. Study Questions. Justification and Excuse. Paul H. Robinson, The Bomb Thief and the Theory of Justification Defenses. State v. Leidholm. Cathryn Jo Rosen, The Battered Woman's Defense. State v. Cameron. Norval Morris, The Abolition of the Insanity Defense. Stephen J. Morse, Excusing the Crazy: The Insanity Defense Reconsidered. Study Questions. Punishment and Responsibility. Lockyer v. Andrade. David Dolinko, The Future of Punishment. Jeremy Bentham, A Utilitarian Theory of Punishment. Michael Moore, The Argument for Retributivism. H. L. A Hart, Punishment and Responsibility. Study Questions. The Death Penalty. Atkins v. Virginia. Ernest van den Haag, The Death Penalty Once More. H. A. Bedau, A Reply to van den Haag. McCleskey v. Kemp. Randall Kennedy, Homicide, Race, and Capital Punishment. Study Questions. Cases for Further Reflection. Goldschmitt v. Florida. The Case of the Dog "Provetie." Payne v. Tennessee. Coker v. Georgia. Gregg v. Georgia. 5. THE LAW OF TORT. Justice, Compensation, and Tort. Holden v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., The Fault Requirement in Tort. Richard A. Posner, Wealth Maximization and Tort Law: A Philosophical Inquiry. Jules Coleman, Tort Law and Tort Theory. Roger Cramton, Individualized Justice and Mass Torts. Study Questions. Causation and Liability. Lynch v. Fisher. Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad. H. L. A. Hart and A. M. Honore, Tracing Consequences. Judith Jarvis Thomson, The Decline of Cause. Study Questions. Acts, Omissions, and the Duty to Rescue. McFall v. Shimp. Thomas Babington Macaulay, Against a Legal Duty to Rescue. Ernest Weinrib, The Case for a Duty to Rescue. Study Questions. Cases for Further Reflection. Quirke v. City of Harvey. Derdiarian v. Felix Contracting Corp. Summers v. Tice. Yania v. Bigan. Appendix 1: Legal Citations and Law Reports. Appendix 2: Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Appendix 3: Legal Resources on the Internet. Glossary.


Primary health centres (PHCs) across India provide antenatal, delivery and postnatal healthcare to expecting mothers. In case the expecting mother suffers from a pregnancy-related medical condition that cannot be treated at the PHC, she is referred to the nearest specialist or secondary hospital. The objective of this paper is to present a minimal, affordable and interoperable extensible markup language (XML)-based electronic referral (e-referral) prototype. The e-referral system transfers patient information from the PHC to a specialist at any hospital, for pregnancy-related medical problems. A subject matter expert (SME) panel was formed to identify the minimal dataset and an optimal format for e-referrals in the maternal use case. The data quality of the proposed e-referral information was measured. The e-referral data structures were proven to be complete. The interoperability level achieved by the e-referral prototype was quantified. The minimal e-referral is human processable or syntactically interoperable. The XML-based e-referral data can be very easily integrated with existing hospital information systems.


Diclofenac sodium was formulated as dual coated enteric spheres for Intestinal specific drug delivery using enteric polymers like cellulose acetate phthalate and ethyl cellulose. The dual coating was given using a new process composed of wet granulation and thermal change methods using both the polymers. The new process was analyzed for its capability to produce spheres of uniform size, good flow ability, uniform drug loading, and maximum entrapment efficacy and the absence of interaction between drug and process parameters as well as polymers. In vitro release study was carried out in simulated gastric fluid for first 2 h and In simulated intestinal fluid for next 6 h. The best formulation B3, which contained cellulose acetate phthalate and ethyl cellulose in the concentration of 10:90 at 1:1.5 drug-polymer ratio was further evaluated using in vivo models for its Pharmacodynamic efficacy and ulcerogenicity.


Growing genetic evidence including results of genome-wide
association studies and whole-genome sequencing is still perplexing scientists
in the fields of human complex traits and compels them to reconsider the
relationship between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. The
developmental trajectory of schizophrenia may be characterized by difficulties
in "theory of mind" tasks, poor insight or imagination, low empathy level, weak
executive function, failure in social judgments, delayed language
development, movement mannerisms, motoric rituals, strong preoccupation with
unusual objects, bizarre habits, and high intelligence. Most of these characteristics are associated with the standard criteria for ASD and all of them are
core domains or endophenotypes of ASD. The diagnosed ASD cases, which were
found in individuals with schizophrenia, have a significant tendency to be
highfunctioning and to have atypical age of ASD manifestation. Episodic
features including reality distortion, which can be seen in individual with
ASD, may be associated with hyperarousal conditions with cognitive hypersensitivity,
misattribution of negative experiences, and the perceptual thinking style.
Together with the emerging new genetic concepts concerning human behavioral
complex traits, the results and constructions of these recent studies may
further warrant that reconsideration of the relationship between ASD and psychotic
conditions is necessary. In addition, the possibility that psychotic conditions
are the secondary derivative states in individuals with ASD or in individuals
with subclinical ASD components should be constructively examined.


Objective: Binge eating disorder (BED) is frequently linked with obesity and related health risks like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial (RCT) was to determine the effectiveness of brief strategic therapy (BST) compared with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) 1 year after a two-phase inpatient and outpatient-telemedicine treatment for BED. Method: Italian women with BED and comorbid obesity were recruited from a self-referred inpatient treatment program for weight loss (N = 60) and randomly assigned to either the BST treatment condition (n = 30) or CBT treatment condition (n = 30). Inpatient psychotherapy sessions were conducted in person and outpatient telemedicine psychotherapy sessions were conducted over the telephone. Multilevel growth curve modeling was used to estimate average growth trajectories from baseline to 1 year after treatment for the following outcomes: binge eating frequency, weight, and global functioning. Results: One year after treatment, women in the BST condition decreased in binge eating frequency and women in the CBT condition did not, whereas women in both conditions improved in weight and global functioning. BST was statistically and clinically superior to CBT in improving binge eating frequency, weight, and global functioning. Conclusions: Examining BED, given the current obesity epidemic, is an important area of study. Findings suggest that BST is statistically and clinically more effective than CBT in treating BED, promoting weight loss, and improving global functioning among women with BED and comorbid obesity 1 year after treatment. Telemedicine may be instrumental in reducing attrition.


A sememe is defined as the minimum semantic unit in linguistics. Sememe knowledge bases (SKBs), which comprise words annotated with sememes, enable sememes to be applied to natural language processing. So far a large body of research has showcased the unique advantages and effectiveness of SKBs in various tasks. However, most languages have no SKBs, and manual construction of SKBs is time-consuming and labor-intensive. To tackle this challenge, we propose a simple and fully automatic method of building an SKB via an existing dictionary. We use this method to build an English SKB and a French SKB, and conduct comprehensive evaluations from both intrinsic and extrinsic perspectives. Experimental results demonstrate that the automatically built English SKB is even superior to HowNet, the most widely used SKB that takes decades to build manually. And both the English and French SKBs can bring obvious performance enhancement in multiple downstream tasks. All the code and data of this paper (except the copyrighted dictionaries) can be obtained at https://github.com/thunlp/DictSKB.


Purpose The purpose of this study is to report normative data and predict thresholds for a rapid test of spatial release from masking for speech perception. The test is easily administered and has good repeatability, with the potential to be used in clinics and laboratories. Normative functions were generated for adults varying in age and amounts of hearing loss. Method The test of spatial release presents a virtual auditory scene over headphones with 2 conditions: colocated (with target and maskers at 0°) and spatially separated (with target at 0° and maskers at ± 45°). Listener thresholds are determined as target-to-masker ratios, and spatial release from masking (SRM) is determined as the difference between the colocated condition and spatially separated condition. Multiple linear regression was used to fit the data from 82 adults 18–80 years of age with normal to moderate hearing loss (0–40 dB HL pure-tone average [PTA]). The regression equations were then used to generate normative functions that relate age (in years) and hearing thresholds (as PTA) to target-to-masker ratios and SRM. Results Normative functions were able to predict thresholds with an error of less than 3.5 dB in all conditions. In the colocated condition, the function included only age as a predictive parameter, whereas in the spatially separated condition, both age and PTA were included as parameters. For SRM, PTA was the only significant predictor. Different functions were generated for the 1st run, the 2nd run, and the average of the 2 runs. All 3 functions were largely similar in form, with the smallest error being associated with the function on the basis of the average of 2 runs. Conclusion With the normative functions generated from this data set, it would be possible for a researcher or clinician to interpret data from a small number of participants or even a single patient without having to first collect data from a control group, substantially reducing the time and resources needed. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.7080878


Background Young males (YMs) and especially young females (YFs) (age 15–24) in sub-Saharan Africa are at a higher risk of HIV infection compared to older adults. HIV testing of young individuals facilitates early identification of their 'HIV+' status, prompt ART initiation, and provision of male circumcision and PrEP. We hypothesise that youth-prioritised combination interventions could have substantial impact on HIV incidence among them and the wider adult population. Methods We constructed a mathematical model that represented HIV heterosexual transmission in Nyanza, Kenya and used local data to specify cross-generational sex, risk- and age-dependent behaviours, and school attendance. We estimated the impact of leveraging HIV testing and counselling for condom use among Nyanza youth, prompt ART initiation (at CD4≤ 350 cells/mm3) for those newly-found infected, and gender-specific interventions for YMs and YFs. The former reaching 80% circumcision among 'HIV-' YMs while the later reaching 40% PrEP coverage among 'HIV-' YFs not attending school and halving the proportion of partnerships that YFs attending school form with 20+ years-old men. Results We predict a reduction in HIV incidence over 10 years among youth by 38% (from 1.6%/person-years) and adults by 29% (from 1.2%/person-years), if the annual testing likelihood for youth increases to 90% with those newly-found infected increasing condom use by 30% and initiating ART promptly. The adult incidence is reduced 34% and 35% by further male and female specific interventions when applied separately. The full package with all interventions combined would decrease incidence among youth and adults by 59% and 40%, respectively, and reduce the lifetime HIV risk experienced by YFs by 24%. Conclusion In populations where young people are at the highest risk of HIV infection, carefully prioritised, gender-specific intervention can have a substantial impact on the risk of infection, both in that group and the overall population.


student may have some difficulty with 'power factor' which appears in a number of places with inadequate indexing. There are also a few typographical errors. A more general criticism is that the reference to 'electronic principles' in the title is somewhat overoptimistic since only about 30 pages can be regarded as falling into this category. However, despite these criticisms, the overall impression is of a very worthwhile book, particularly if adopted for class use where the lecturer can easily put right the relatively small number of points referred to. For that reason the book is certain to be used fairly extensively in colleges for the teaching of the relevant TEC and SCOTEC units. K. C. JONES, Head ofSchool ofEngineering, Merton Technical College, London


A great number of processes of the applied sciences can be modeled by means of evolution equations or systems. Nonlinear partial differential equations and systems exhibit a number of properties which are absent from the linear theories; these nonlinear properties are often related to important features of the real world phenomena which the mathematical model is supposed to describe; at the same time these new properties are closely connected with essential new difficulties of the mathematical treatment. The study of nonlinear processes has been a continuous source of new problems and it has motivated the introduction of new methods in the areas of mathematical analysis, partial differential equations and other disciplines, becoming a most active area of mathematical research.


Decision-making is a key aspect of contract administration, and includes duties such as certification. This process requires the contract administrator to exercise judgement on various matters arising from the performance of the contract. In the Republic of Ireland, the principle forms of main contract are the Royal Institution of Architects in Ireland (RIAI) 'Yellow Form' for private sector work and the Government Construction Contracts Committee (GCCC) Public Works Contract for public sector contracts. These contracts require the contract administrator to issue certain certificates. This study identifies these certificates and explains the relevance of each. The discussion describes the characteristics of certificates and examines whether liabilities may arise from their issue. The purpose, relevance and implications of the various certificates are explained. The study reveals that certificates are issued to provide cashflow, and to mark various routine and non-routine events which may, or may not, arise on a contract. Certificates are indicated to be conditions precedent to various duties such as payment and, with the exception of aspects of final certificates, are generally non-conclusive in nature. The study is intended as an aid to Irish students undertaking undergraduate and conversion masters courses in quantity surveying and construction management related disciplines.


Fire behavior modeling systems are playing an increasingly important role in identifying areas of the wildland– urban interface (WUI) that could support intense and fast-moving wildfires. The modeling systems also can be used to prioritize areas for fuels reduction treatments. We used forest inventory data to create custom fire behavior fuel models for the Anchorage, Alaska, WUI—an area strongly impacted by a recent spruce bark beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis) infestation. Eight custom fuel models were developed including a custom fuel model for a spruce bark beetle impacted forest type. NEXUS simulations indicate that the custom fuel models better describe forest structure and predict fire behavior than do parameterized standard fuel models previously used by local fire managers. Rate of spread and fireline ranged from 1–321 chains/hour and 1–2,549 Btu/ft per second, respectively, for the custom fuel models compared with 1–70 chains/hour and 1–7,929 Btu/ft per second, respectively, for the parameterized standard fuel models. Our study shows that it is both possible and feasible to create custom fuel models directly from fuels inventory data. This achievement has broad implications for land managers, particularly managers of the boreal forest, a region that is susceptible to wildfires but also home to a growing human population and increasing amounts of development.


The aim of this work is the experimental study of a fractured carbonate rock model for oil recovery evaluation. For this, a new experimental routine regarding petrophysical characterization was developed and validated. The evaluation of oil recovery was performed by mass balance. Also, the heterogeneity of the fractured rock model and the distribution of the saturations was calculated by X-ray computed tomography.

 An induced fractured was created adding a longitudinal spacer (Lie, 2013) at a reservoir carbonate rock plug from a Brazilian pre-salt reservoir. Drainage process was performed by forced displacement using synthetic formation water and oil from the same reservoir rock. The model was aged at 63°C for 28 days. X-ray computerized tomography was used for porosity and fluid saturations calculations. The initial injection rate was 0.1 cm3/min. After reaching the saturation plateau, the rate was decreased to 0.05 cm3/min to evaluate possible incremental recovery.

 The developed methodology allowed the construction of a porous media with an induced fracture representative from a naturally fractured reservoir. The rock sample was cut lengthwise with a metal saw. A POM spacer was used to represent the fracture, and glass beads filled the fracture in order to give a representative porosity to the fractured rock model. The petrophysical properties of the matrix and the fracture were obtained during each step of the fractured rock model construction. The matrices porosities obtained were 8% and 14%, and the permeabilities 68 mD and 40 mD, respective to each semicylinder of the plug. The fracture porosity and permeability obtained were 1.6% and 146 Darcy, respectively. For the entire fractured rock model, the porosity was 12.5% and the permeability 5 Darcy. The approach to mimic a drainage method reached an initial water saturation of 57%. The recovery factor obtained by the seawater injection at a 0.1 cm3/min flow rate was 30%. An increase of 3% was obtained when the flow was decreased to 0.05 cm3/min. The CT scan measurement yields additional information such heterogeneity of the model through the porosity profile in the fracture, matrix, and the entire fractured rock model.

 This work presents an innovative methodology to mimic a natural fractured reservoir model which provided a full routine for petrophysical properties evaluation of a physical model. Besides, computed tomography (CT) scans validated porosity values. Thus, a better understanding of the effects of the flow rate in oil recovery on fractured carbonates rocks and the potential of the model developed for this type of studies could be verified.


Thousands of risk variants underlying complex phenotypes (quantitative traits and diseases) have been identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, there are still several challenges towards deepening our understanding of the genetic architectures of complex phenotypes. First, the majority of GWAS hits are in non-coding region and their biological interpretation is still unclear. Second, most complex traits are suggested to be highly polygenic, i.e., they are affected by a vast number of risk variants with individually small or moderate effects, whereas a large proportion of risk variants with small effects remain unknown. Third, accumulating evidence from GWAS suggests the pervasiveness of pleiotropy, a phenomenon that some genetic variants can be associated with multiple traits, but there is a lack of unified framework which is scalable to reveal relationship among a large number of traits and prioritize genetic variants simultaneously with functional annotations integrated. In this thesis, we propose two statistical methods to address these challenges using integrative analysis of summary statistics from GWASs and functional annotations. In the first part, we propose a latent sparse mixed model (LSMM) to integrate functional annotations with GWAS data. Not only does it increase the statistical power of identifying risk variants, but also offers more biological insights by detecting relevant functional annotations. To allow LSMM scalable to millions of variants and hundreds of functional annotations, we developed an efficient variational expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for model parameter estimation and statistical inference. We first conducted comprehensive simulation studies to evaluate the performance of LSMM. Then we applied it to analyze 30 GWASs of complex phenotypes integrated with nine genic category annotations and 127 cell-type specific functional annotations from the Roadmap project. The results demonstrate that our method possesses more statistical power than conventional methods, and can help researchers achieve deeper understanding of genetic architecture of these complex phenotypes. In the second part, we propose a latent probit model (LPM) which combines summary statistics from multiple GWASs and functional annotations, to characterize relationship and increase statistical power to identify risk variants. LPM can also perform hypothesis testing for pleiotropy and annotations enrichment. To enable the scalability of LPM as the number of GWASs increases, we developed an efficient parameter-expanded EM (PX-EM) algorithm which can execute parallelly. We first validated the performance of LPM through comprehensive simulations, then applied it to analyze 44 GWASs with nine genic category annotations. The results demonstrate the benefits of LPM and can offer new insights of disease etiology.


We have presented density functional calculations of the electronic structures and magnetic properties of bimetallics nanoclusters Cu14-nMn (n=1-3) (M=Fe, Ni and Co) in the FCC crystal structure. For the calculations of the physical properties of the compounds, we have used the full potential linearized augmented plane wave method. The magnetic nature, semiconducting, half metallicity and metalloid of transition metals clusters in the FCC crystal structure are investigated. Results show that studied systems have ferromagnetic properties against Cu14Cluster. It is found that band gap of the clusters decreases with doping of atoms compared to pure cluster Cu14, Particularly for Fe. These calculations show that Cu14 and Cu12Co2 are metals, while Cu13Fe, Cu12Fe2, Cu13Co, Cu11Co3 and Cu11Ni3 are half-metals and Cu11Fe3 and Cu12Ni2 are metalloid. Between these clusters, Cu13Ni is semiconductor. The spin polarization and the magnetic moment of the systems are dependent on number and type of the host transition metal atoms. The Cu13Ni has maximum spin polarization and stability. These results provide a new candidate for applications this series of compounds as dilute magnetic clusters and half-metal in spintronic devices.


The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for constructing correct parallel processing programs from a problem description. The framework we adopt for this purpose is Equivalent Transformation Framework (ETF), which regards computation as transformation of definite clauses. In the framework, a problem's domain knowledge and a query are described in definite clauses, and its meaning is defined by a model of the set of definite clauses. Then meaning-preserving transformation rules for the query are generated. We propose a parallel processing method based on "specialization", a part of operation in the transformations, and discuss new parallel processing method based on the specialization that maintains correctness of the computation. The specialization is generalized notion of substitution in logic programming, and it allows more rich representation. We demonstrate the advantage of using specialization rather than substitution in constraint satisfaction problem solving.


Prolamins are the main part of proteins in the endosperm of cereals. These prolamins are called hordeins in barley and constitute about 40 % of all proteins. In relation to the European requirements for varietal identification, the polymorphism of storage proteins of all lines included in varietal testing is being investigated at Dobrudzha Agricultural Institute (DAI). The aim of the present study was to investigate the allelic variability in the hordein-coding loci Hor 1, Hor 2 and Hor 3 in promising malting barley lines developed at DAI. The observed polymorphism covered about 35 % of the variability in the UPOV catalogue (2003). Highest variation was observed in C hordeins, followed by the B fraction. Three out of five D hordein alleles were identified. The possibilities of using the polymorphism established in this study for improving the brewing qualities of barley were investigated.


Through an ethnography of the C4 Rice Project's sorghum experiment in the Philippines, this article analyzes particular practices in experimental rice fields and how rice researchers understand their work through specific material practices and engagements with the plants. Returning to the critiques of disembodied science, the author looks at the particular, situated, and subjective labor that researchers do in the fields to argue that these relationships offer different and richer ways to understand scientific knowledge production and practices. Drawing out a distinction between working on plants (the human as producer and plant as passive raw material) and working with plants (a process of humans and plants working together in a situated and particular relationship), the article offers an different approach to Marx's concept of labor by incorporating nonhumans as active and relational actors in the labor process. Labor, then, can be seen as a creative relationship between humans and nonhumans situated in particular times and places.


The daily life mode of urban residents is the basic content of the construction of low carbon city. The transformation of daily life mode reflects the values and the value orientation in the stages of the social development. For the innovation of reducing carbon emissions, the mode of public daily life must be transformed with a creative method. The paper reviews the traditional urban life mode, discusses the three aspects of construction of public value, extensive public participation, and low carbon life mode based on community, and proposes the methods and approaches of constructing the daily life mode of low carbon city.


This comparative study was designed to assess the efficacy of Reading A-Z, an online reading program with differentiated reading levels from kindergarten to sixth grade, on first through third grade Latino students. Ten Virginia elementary schools in a single school district participated in this study of tutoring services offered to lowperforming, Spanish-speaking students. Increases in individual instructional reading levels (IRL) and word recognition in isolation (WRI), as measured by Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) assessment, were documented using pretest scores collected in fall 2007 with posttest scores collected in spring 2008. An independent t-test was used to determine if differences in the treatment and control groups occurred prior to the intervention being implemented. An independent t-test was also used to determine if differences in the posttest scores of the two groups were prevalent after the intervention. No significant differences were found, and a paired sample t-test was used to calculate increases in IRL and WRI of the 46 Latino students in this study. Results suggest that increases were recognized in both the treatment and control groups for IRL and WRI. The increase in scores using Reading A-Z was no greater than with normal and accepted forms of remediation.


In this study, changes in climatological conditions around the Korean Peninsula are estimated quantitatively using various types of high order statistical analyses. The temperature data collected from Incheon station have been analyzed for the assessment of the climate variation. According to our analysis,the climate changes observed over the Korean Peninsula for the last century are similar to the global observational data in many respects. First of all, the warming trend [+1.5℃ (100 yr)-1] and the overall evolving pattern throughout the century are quite similar to each other. The temperature change in the Korean Peninsula is about two to three times larger than that of the global scale which may partially be ascribed to the influence of urbanization at mid and high latitudes. In this work, a new Winter Monsoon Index (WMI) is suggested based on the European continental scale circulation index (EU1) pattern. Our WMI is defined as the normalized sea level pressure (SLP) difference in the winter period between the centers of the East Sea and west of Lake Baikal in Siberia, the two eastern centers of the EU1 action patterns. A strong similarity is found between the time series of the WMI and surface air temperature at Incheon. The WMI has decreased gradually since the 1920s but has shifted to a rapid increasing trend in the last two decades; it was in fact accompanied by a weakening of the Siberian High and a decreasing of the northerly during winter. Our findings of the close correlations between the surface air temperature at Incheon and the WMI strongly indicate that our newly suggested index is unique and can be used as an efficient tool to predict climate variability in Korea.


Social media technology provides different services for the greater benefit of citizens. Like many other developing nations, Pakistan has a low level of social media technology adoption in the public sector. The purpose of this study is to investigate the obstacles and hindrances of the adoption of social media from the public sector's point of view. In this study, a changed variant of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) demonstration is utilised to examine the factors impacting the take-up of social media by the public sector in Pakistan. The outcomes demonstrate that the factors affecting the adoption of social media in Pakistan are identified as: usability, value, social impact, innovation issues, lack of proper training and human resource, information security, and trust. Suggestions for online services providing e-organisations and information regarding the government top management approach are likewise considered in this study.


Understanding about human origins informs our understanding of what it means to be human. It is reasonable, therefore, to consider that an evolutionary perspective can provide insight into the nature and processes of human learning and education. This article reviews how ideas about evolution have influenced educational thinking in the past. It then considers how understanding of brain development and function is helping to inspire ''new thinking'' about evolution. The review converges on a range of benefits that may arise from the inclusion of evolutionary concepts within the field of mind, brain, and education. These benefits include scrutiny of evolutionary neuromyth, reconsideration of the cultural and political status of education, insight into notions of individual difference, and help with stimulating and directing research efforts aimed at improving educational outcomes.


In this article, I situate a seemingly fantastic series of events in Nigeria in a context that renders them meaningful and acknowledges their intimate connection to everyday issues of wealth, power, and inequality. Focusing on popular stories of the occult circulating in the wake of a widely publicized case of ritual killing, I argue that these stories depict popular discontent over inequality, but also Nigerians' ambivalence about and critical awareness of their own role in maintaining patron-clientism. [Nigeria, patronage, inequality, witchcraft]


Kennedy's disease is an X-linked form of motor neuron disease caused by an expanded polyglutamine repeat in the androgen receptor. While the expansion mutation causes some loss of transcriptional activity by the androgen receptor, the predominant effect of expansion is probably a toxic gain of function, similar to the mechanism of other polyglutamine expansion diseases. Features of the neurodegenerative phenotype of Kennedy's disease have now been reproduced in transgenic animals and neuronal cell culture. Nuclear inclusions of mutant androgen receptor protein are found in these model systems and in autopsy samples from patients with Kennedy's disease.


Abstract. Numerical modelling of thermospheric temperature changes associated with periods of high geomagnetic activity are often inaccurate due to unrealistic representation of nitric oxide (NO) densities and associated 5.3-μm radiative cooling. In previous modelling studies, simplistic parameterisations of NO density and variability have often been implemented in order to constrain thermospheric temperature predictions and post storm recovery timescales during and following periods of high auroral activity. In this paper we use the University College London (UCL) 3-D Coupled Thermosphere and Middle Atmosphere (CMAT) General Circulation Model to simulate the 11-day period from 23 October to 3 November 2003, during which the Earth experienced some of the largest geomagnetic activity ever recorded; the so called "Halloween storm". This model has recently been updated to include a detailed self consistent calculation of NO production and transport. Temperatures predicted by the model compare well with those observed by the UCL Fabry Perot Interferometer at Kiruna, northern Sweden, when changes in solar and auroral activity are taken into account in the calculation of NO densities. The spatial distribution of predicted temperatures at approximately 250-km altitude is also discussed. Simulated NO densities at approximately 110 km are presented. Large quantities of NO are found to be present at to the equator, one to two days after the most intense period of geomagnetic activity. This is the first 3-D GCM simulation of NO production and transport over the 2003 Halloween storm period.


Because various parts of an object are different distances from an observer, and light takes a finite time to reach the observer, the appearance of a relativistically moving object will be very different from that given by the Lorentz contraction. We derive equations that can be applied to a photographic image so that the Lorentz contraction can still be observed. We also give equations that quantify the apparent deformation of the object and plots that show the apparent speed of the object as a function of time. In particular, as an object approaches, its apparent speed can be much greater than the speed of light. In addition, we derive equations that can be applied to photographic images to show how a relativistically moving image will appear. This transformation is applied to photographic images that demonstrate the changes in appearance of a relativistically moving object. The dominate effect is that of appearing to be rotated, that is, the Terrell effect.


Metamodeling process supports the effort of creating flexible process models. The purpose of process models is to document and communicate processes and to enhance the reuse of processes. Thus, processes can be better taught and executed. Results of using metamodel process are an increased productivity of process engineers and an improved quality of the models they produce. However, most useful metamodels are activity-oriented, and the required concepts of safety lifecycle, such as validation, can not be easily modeled through these metamodels. In this paper, we propose a safety-oriented process metamodel to support all the requirements of safety control. As a proof of concept, we examine a process model that has several safety lifecycle requirements: the IEC 61508 safety lifecycle Vmodel standard. Keywords-Safety lifecycle, Development process, Modeling, Process metamodel


Abstract. Allium naqabense Al-Eisawi & Omar is described and illustrated from Ras al-Naqab in southern Jordan. The new species is assigned to Allium L. sect. Molium G. Don of Allium subg. Amerallium Traub. Allium naqabense differs from the closely related species A. erdelii Zucc., A. papillare Boiss., A. qasyunense Mouterde, and A. negevense Kollmann by having glabrous leaves and by the pale yellow anthers and style that are included within the perianth. The most closely related species, A. erdelii, has leaves that are pilose on both surfaces and anthers that are exserted and yellow. Allium naqabense has glabrous leaves and included stamens. The new species is assessed as Endangered (EN), according to IUCN criteria.


Venous thromboembolism is a common disease in the community and the most frequent preventable cause of hospital death. Acquired and inherited risk factors for thrombosis have been extensively studied over the past two decades. These factors and the clinical setting allow the stratification of most hospitalized patients into low-, moderate, and high-risk groups. For patients in the moderate-and high-risk categories, routine thromboprophylaxis can decrease the morbidity and mortality from thromboembolic complications as well as reduce patient care expenditures. Low-dose heparin is generally the most appropriate prophylaxis for moderate-risk patients, and either low molecular weight heparin or adjusted-dose warfarin is generally the most appropriate for high-risk patients.


Introduction: Variety of liver diseases including alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is responsible for liver related morbidity and mortality in India. Distinguishing ALD from non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and viral hepatitis may not be easy. The history of alcohol intake may be unreliable. Clinico-pathological findings may not yield the correct diagnosis. So aim of our study was a) To compare the patients of ALD with those of NASH and acute viral hepatitis by biochemical parameters like serum Cholinesterase, Lactate dehydrogenase and Albumin/Globulin ratio and b) To assess the utility of these parameters in differentiating patients of ALD from NASH and acute viral hepatitis. Materials and Method: Study was carried out on 50 patients of ALD, 35 patients of NASH and 35 patients of acute viral hepatitis. All the patients were in the age group of 20-70. Selection criteria were history of alcohol, clinical examination, raised serum bilirubin levels and viral studies. Blood sample analysis was done for bilirubin, cholinesterase, lactate dehydrogenase, total protein and albumin by Diazo, kinetic, biuret and BCG method respectively on fully automatic analyser. Statistical analysis was done by Student unpaired 't' test. Results: The patients of NASH and acute viral hepatitis had normal serum ChE, albumin and LDH levels compared to patients of ALD who had lower serum ChE and albumin with higher LDH levels. These differences in the findings were statistically significant (P<0.05).Lowered serum ChE and albumin levels with A/G ratio reversal might be because of long term alcohol induced hepatic injury resulting in lowered synthetic capacity. Increased LDH in ALD might suggest a hypoxic injury and a progression towards necrosis. Normal serum ChE, A/G ratio and LDH in patients of NASH as well as acute viral hepatitis suggested that hepatic synthetic capacity is intact with no hepatocyte hypoxia. Conclusion: So our study concluded that NASH and viral hepatitis patients had less hepatocyte injury and fair prognosis as compared to ALD patients who had more hepatic loss with worse prognosis. Further our study has drawn a conclusion that we can biochemically differentiate NASH and acute viral hepatitis from ALD on the basis of parameters like ChE, LDH and A/G ratio. This finding can be used by clinicians to support their diagnosis whenever clinical dilemma occurs.


Brucellosis is an important zoonotic disease of nearly worldwide distribution. The occurrence of the infection in humans is largely dependent on the prevalence of brucellosis in animal reservoirs, including wildlife. The current vaccine used for cattle Brucella abortus strain RB51, has proven ineffective in protecting bison (Bison bison) and elk (Cervus nelsoni) from infection and abortion. To test possible improvements in vaccine efficacy, a novel approach of immunization was examined from April 2004 to November 2006 using alginate composite microspheres containing a nonimmunogenic, eggshell-precursor protein of the parasite Fasciola hepatica (Vitelline protein B, VpB) to deliver live vaccine strain RB51. Red deer (Cervus elaphus), used as a model for elk, were vaccinated orally (PO) or subcutaneously (SC) with 1.5×1010 viable organisms per animal. Humoral responses postvaccination (immunoglobulin G [IgG] levels), assessed at different time points, indicated that capsules containing live RB51 elicited an anti-Brucella specific IgG response. Furthermore, the encapsulated vaccine elicited a cell-mediated response that the nonencapsulated vaccinates failed to produce. Finally, red deer were challenged with B. abortus strain 19 by conjunctival exposure. Only animals that received encapsulated RB51 vaccine by either route exhibited a significant reduction in bacterial counts in their spleens. These data suggest that alginate-VpB microspheres provide a method to enhance the RB51 vaccine performance in elk.


CEOs have a conflict of interest when their company is the target of an acquisition attempt: They can bargain for private benefits, such as retention by the acquirer, rather than for a higher premium to be paid to their shareholders. We find that target CEO retention by the bidder does not appear to be driven by the CEO bargaining for his own interests at the expense of shareholders. Retention is not associated with a lower premium. Retention is more likely when it is more valuable to the bidder in running the merged firm, in that the CEO is more likely to be retained when she has skills and knowledge that bidder executives do not have and when the incentives of target insiders are well aligned with those of target shareholders. Regardless of retention, shareholders of acquired firms whose CEO is at retirement age receive lower premiums than shareholders of acquired firms with younger CEOs. This lower premium seems to be explained by the apparent reduced acquisition value of firms led by retirement age CEOs rather than by the target CEO conflict of interest.


Nerve growth factor (NGF) and other neurotrophins support survival of neurons through processes that are incompletely understood. The transcription factor CREB is a critical mediator of NGF-dependent gene expression, but whether CREB family transcription factors regulate expression of genes that contribute to NGF-dependent survival of sympathetic neurons is unknown. CREB-mediated gene expression was both necessary for NGF-dependent survival and sufficient on its own to promote survival of sympathetic neurons. Moreover, expression of Bcl-2 was activated by NGF and other neurotrophins by a CREB-dependent transcriptional mechanism. Overexpression of Bcl-2 reduced the death-promoting effects of CREB inhibition. Together, these data support a model in which neurotrophins promote survival of neurons, in part through a mechanism involving CREB family transcription factor-dependent expression of genes encoding prosurvival factors.


TCSC is one of the most appropriate devices to improve the transient stability of power systems. Since in today's competitive environment, investments in power systems need to be cost-effective, in this study, a procedure is presented to determine whether using TCSC for transient stability improvement is cost-effective or not. To this purpose, the transient instability risk is estimated both with and without TCSC. Afterwards, a comparison is made between the amount of improvement made in transient instability risk and the investment cost of TCSC. In the proposed procedure, the probabilities of transient instability and its cost are used to estimate the transient instability risk. To calculate the transient instability probability, a conditional method is used. This method is applied on the IEEE 9-bus as well as New England test systems. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed procedure is capable of determining the cost–benefit size and number of TCSC units. Furthermore, results indicate that in some cases, installing TCSC to only improve transient stability is devoid of monetary value.


Robust and accurate positioning techniques with seamless integration between indoor and outdoor environments have been receiving considerable attention for applications of location-based services (LBSs). Regarding positioning systems based on wireless network services, the location inaccuracy is caused by radio signals being jammed and/or shielded in outdoor environments and reflected and/or attenuated in indoor environments. As wireless positioning systems do not provide customers with adequate accuracy, inertial sensing positioning techniques can be used to deal with the inaccuracy problems for LBS applications. Consequently, in this study, we obtain displacement information by the relative positioning techniques according to the dead-reckoning (DR) approach to estimate the location of a mobile device (MD) for indoor and outdoor environments. Furthermore, instead of an MD mounted on a fixed place on a human body, the inertial measurement unit (IMU) is taken as a handheld MD (such as a smartphone) for positioning systems. In terms of the approach combining the DR algorithm with the heading and delta-velocity information extracted from an IMU sensor, the experimental results demonstrate that the positioning technique can recover and operate in a short period of time as the radio-based approaches cannot provide tailored accuracy for real-time LBS applications.


Autonomous shuttles are becoming a widely used form of public transportation. While autonomous shuttles have advantages to improve safety, potential riders have expressed concerns about falls and injuries sustained during braking events. In the current study we investigated the effects of multiple warning design parameters, including the modality and the temporal aspects of the warning stimulus, on balance maintenance during a simulated hard braking event. Two warning stimuli were used — an auditory stimulus and a visual stimulus. We investigated the effect of the timing of the warning in an attempt to determine how differences in warning time affect preparation for a simulated hard braking event and subsequent maintenance of balance throughout the event. The warning stimuli were presented 200–750 ms prior to the simulated hard braking. We found that participants had more time to prepare for the simulated braking event when presented with the auditory stimulus versus the visual stimulus. We also found that a minimum of a 600 ms warning was required to produce a significant difference in the amount of time to prepare for the simulated breaking event. The results of this current study suggest that given a future automated shuttle that can detect the surrounding environment and reliably predict conditions, then there is a benefit of presenting preemptive warnings for the purpose of maintaining balance and avoiding falls.


In this paper we are considering an autonomous robot moving purposefully in a crowd of people (a marketplace). The robot should take into consideration the social costs of its movement, expressed in terms of violation of the personal space of the humans, blocking their path or even making physical contact with them. On the other hand, the full avoidance of any social cost might jeopardize the mission of the robot - in a sufficiently dense crowd, movement is impossible without violating at least some social norms. The individuals in the crowd, including the robot, periodically encounter micro-conflicts where they need to change their behavior to avoid large social costs (such as bumping into each other). We model the resolution of micro-conflicts as a series of games where the payoffs integrate the social and mission costs of the action choices. We show that human behavior corresponds to a strategy which is not necessarily optimal on a single-game basis; instead, it reflects the personality and social status of the person and the psychological requirement of consistency in behavior. We describe a robot behavior which classifies the strategy used by the opponent in the micro-conflict and chooses an appropriate counter-strategy which takes into account the urgency of the robot's mission.


The main objective of this research was to investigate the Korean food (Hansik) Curriculum of Culinary Art & Science related department of mainly four-year universities in Korea. To accomplish this study, we performed an analysis regarding curriculum data from the homepage of nine universities. The method of this research was conducted by content analysis. The classification according to content analysis was conducted to 1) current status regarding Korean Food related curriculum, 2) a study on the Korean food related theoretical curriculum, and 3) a study on the Korean food related practical curriculum. As a result of this study, the most common opened curriculum was 'a study on the Korean food related practical curriculum'. The largest curriculum among 'a study on the Korean food related practical curriculum' was the Korean cooking skill of basic and intermediate. The following curriculum was the Korean traditional and royal cuisine related curriculum. These two curriculum were found based on data of Culinary related departments of mainly four-year universities in Korea. To summarize these results, in the cases of the general culinary-related departments, Korean food-related classes will need expansion. In addition to Korean food-related departments, increasing the opening of classes to learn regarding Korean foods will be needed.


it has been shown to be much less tiring than any of the manual methods. Finally, as demonstrated in emergencies and in experimental situations, lay persons without any previous training can perform this technique. The very term " mouth-to-mouth " has proved to be Very useful in bringing the method to the attention of the public at large, and because of its simplicity little additional training is required to ensure that many laymen become expert in carrying out this efficient first-aid procedure. A useful way of teaching the public would be to use a short teaching film during programme intervals on TV, just as road-safety films are being shown at the moment. -I am, etc., Department of Physiology and CHARLES G. INGRAM. Biochemistry, Bute Medical Buildings, St. Andrews, Fife. REFERENCE Symposium on Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation, J. Amer. med. Ass., 1958, 167, 317.


Dense high-rise cities offer some advantages in terms of sustainability but have considerable downsides. Low-dense and medium-rise typologies have been shown to offer good social qualities; their potential energy and carbon advantages have received less attention. As the energy consumption, emissions of cities and heat island effects increase; we question whether dense, high-rise cities offer optimal sustainability. We discuss seven areas where medium density and lower rise typologies offer advantages in terms of energy and climate including: land use/density; microclimate/green space; energy supply; transports; operational energy/carbon; embodied energy/carbon; and resilience.
 The aim is to discuss the cumulative importance of these areas in the context of sustainable energy use and climate emissions. These areas are subject to ongoing research and are only discussed briefly, since the overarching synthesis perspective for urban planning is our focus. The picture that emerges when these points are seen together, suggests that medium density and lower rise options—like traditional European typologies—may offer, in addition to social qualities, very significant advantages in terms of energy, carbon and climate emissions.


The purpose of this study was to realize the cognition and practice of sports education concepts from all walks of life in China, and eliminate the barriers of traditional systems and mechanisms, it will point out the direction for the training of Chinese competitive sports reserve talents to get out of the predicament and move towards high-quality development. The cultivation of reserve talents for competitive sports in China has gone through three stages: "combination of sports and education," "combination of education and sports," and "integration of sports and education." Through analysis, it is concluded that the problems encountered by high-level sports teams in Chinese colleges and universities in the process of talent training. First, the sports department mainly cultivated reserve talents in the past, and the evaluation of athletes paid more attention to medals and honors. However, the main focus of the work of the education department is to enhance the physical fitness of the students and promote the physical and mental health of the students. Secondly, the lack of investment in training by universities leads to low coaching level and ability of coaches, which is the main factor restricting the training of athletes. Finally, in actual campus life, athletes spend most of their time in daily competitions and training, and their cultural performance is not good, which leads to their inability to truly master the cultural knowledge of their chosen major during their studies, it is challenging to choose a career as an elite in related industries after graduation. First, the main body of implementing the training of competitive sports talents in the new era in the sports department and the education department. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the coordination, communication and cooperation between the two departments to realize the sharing and sharing of resources between them. Secondly, universities should provide athletes with diversified teaching projects and practice forms. The teachers' team is divided into two categories: physical education teachers and physical education coaches. Teachers are responsible for daily classroom teaching work to achieve the goal of coordinated development of physical exercise and cultural learning. The coach is responsible for sports training, through scientific and systematic training to enable students to reach a specific level of competition. Finally, universities should adopt learning planning guidance for athletes to help them complete their learning tasks, improve their cultural literacy, and enable them to master sports skills without delaying their normal study life.


In this article, we describe the language and code generator ControlH. The development of ControlH is being supported by the ARPA domain-specific software architectures (DSSA) program. The language is designed for describing guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) algorithms in a concise yet rigorous manner. Both textual and graphical syntaxes exist. The code generator generates high-quality, modular Ada or C from ControlH specifications. Together, the language and the code generator provide software reuse and configuration at the level of the GN&C algorithm specification. >


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Knowledge of commonly encountered fungi infecting the mare's reproductive tract and their respective drug susceptibilities should improve treatment efficacy in mares with fungal endometritis. This is particularly important when practitioners need to start empiric treatment before culture results are complete.

OBJECTIVE
To report the spectrum of fungal isolates from uterine samples from mares with reproductive problems and their respective antifungal susceptibilities.

METHODS
Equine uterine samples submitted to the Cornell University Animal Health Diagnostic Centre for fungal culture between July 1999 and June 2011 were reviewed. Each mare's reproductive history, fungal culture results, antifungal susceptibilities and concurrent aerobic culture results were evaluated. Patterns of antifungal susceptibility and resistance were assessed over time.

RESULTS
One hundred and two fungal isolates were cultured from 92 uterine samples from mares with reproductive problems. Yeast (69%) and mould with septated hyphae (26%) were the most common isolates. Ninety-five to 100% of all fungal isolates were susceptible to the polyenes, while response to the azoles varied with 47-81% of fungal isolates displaying susceptibility. Yeast isolates were 100% susceptible to the polyenes and least susceptible to miconazole (48%) while isolates of mould with septated hyphae were most susceptible to natamycin (100%) and least susceptible to fluconazole (0%). From July 1999 to June 2005 and July 2005 to June 2011, yeast demonstrated increasing resistance to miconazole, while mould with septated hyphae demonstrated increasing resistance to ketoconazole.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Results from this study suggest that polyenes are effective against uterine fungal isolates in vitro and may be the empiric treatment of choice for fungal endometritis. Isolate resistance to specific azoles increased over time.


Background: Prior radiation therapy to the chest, in theory, has a detrimental impact on the recipient vessels in breast reconstruction and may impact microvascular success. The purpose of this study was to determine whether prereconstruction radiation therapy affects the rate of vascular complications in free flap breast reconstruction. Methods: This was a retrospective review of free flap breast reconstruction performed between 2005 and 2009 by the senior authors. In addition to medical and surgical history, vascular complications were recorded, including intraoperative and postoperative thromboses and technical difficulties resulting in a variation of the standard approach. Results: In total, 226 flaps were placed into an irradiated field, whereas 799 were transposed into a radiation-naive defect. Vascular complications as a whole were more prevalent in the irradiated group (9.6 percent versus 17.3 percent; p = 0.001). In regression modeling, radiation therapy was identified as an independent risk factor (odds ratio, 1.68; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.04 to 2.70). In subanalysis, there is a significantly higher rate of intraoperative vascular complications (7.6 percent versus 14.2 percent; p = 0.003), although individual outcomes did not reach formal significance. Previous irradiation had no effect on delayed vascular complications, flap loss, fat necrosis, infection, skin flap necrosis, hematoma, seroma, or delayed wound healing. Conclusions: Prereconstruction radiation therapy increases the rate of vascular complications in free flap breast reconstruction, the majority of which appear intraoperatively. Although radiation does not hinder the overall success of reconstruction or contribute to postoperative complications, surgeons should be aware that working in a previously irradiated field carries additional technical risk.


Background: Optimal surgical management of patients presenting with primary shunt failure in the era of neuroendoscopy remains complex. The value of replacing the entire shunt system as opposed to a single shunt component has not been assessed extensively. Methods: In a retrospective study, the records of all patients who underwent their first shunt revision due to mechanical obstruction between September 2007 and December 2011 were reviewed. Shunt revisions were classified as total (entire shunt replaced) or partial (only malfunctioning component replaced). Patients having a minimum follow-up of 1 year after primary shunt revision were included in the study. Kaplan-Meier (shunt survival curves) and log-rank analysis were used to compare failure rates between partially and totally revised shunts. Results: Records of 62 patients in whom cause of primary shunt failure was obstruction (P roximal or distal) were analyzed retrospectively. At the end of follow-up period, 26 out of 28 partial revision group and 22 out of 34 total revision group had shunt failure. The median survival of the shunt in the partial revision and total revision groups was 60 and 270 days, respectively. The method (partial/total revision) related difference in shunt survival duration was statistically significant as shown by log-rank analysis (log-rank test value = 5.94 and P < 0.05). Conclusion: Partial revision of shunt predisposes to accelerated shunt failure as compared with total revision in cases of obstructed ventriculoperitoneal shunt.


Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma is a rare neoplasm (comprising about 1% of pancreatic tumours). We studied three cases (61-year-old female; 42-year-old male; 57-year-old male), whose survival after diagnosis ranged from 1 year 2 months to 6 years 8 months. There were widespread metastases in each case. The tumours had acinar, trabecular and solid growth patterns. By immunohistochemistry, pancreatic acinar cell markers including carboxyl ester lipase, pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor and pancreatic phospholipase A2 (group I PLA2) gave a strong positive reaction in all three cases. By electron microscopy, zymogen granules were seen in the cytoplasm of the tumour cells. Immunostaining for prostate-specific antigen was positive in all three cases. Above-normal concentrations of pancreatic PLA2 were measured in the serum of one patient and the values decreased during chemotherapy concomitantly with the reduction in the size of the tumour mass. In conclusion, immunohistochemical demonstration of the secretory products of acinar cells including the new marker pancreatic PLA2 is useful in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma. Determination of the concentration of pancreatic group I PLA2 in serum may be helpful in the evaluation of therapy.


Exploring cellular mechanisms underlying beneficial adaptive processes and detrimental responses to hypoxia represents the object of the present study. Signaling molecules controlling adaptation to hypoxia (HIF-1α), energy balance (AMPK), mitochondrial biogenesis, (PGC-1α) and the regulation of autophagic/apoptotic processes, combined with proteomic dysregulation were assessed. Responses to normobaric acute (48 hrs FiO
 2
 = 0.08) and chronic (10 days FiO
 2
 = 0.08) hypoxia in mouse heart proteome were detected applying 2-D DIGE, mass spectrometry and antigen antibody reactions. Both in acute (AH) and chronic (CH) hypoxia, results indicated a deregulation of proteins related to sarcomere stabilization and muscle contraction. Neither in AH nor in CH HIF-1α stabilization was detected. In AH, the metabolic adaptation to oxygen lack is controlled by AMPK activation and sustained by the massive up-regulation of adenosylhomocysteinase and of acetyl coenzyme A synthetase. AH is also characterized by an up-regulation of Bnip 3 which is known to induce mitophagy and decreasing oxidative damage. PGC-1α, a master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis, was down- regulated. CH was characterized by up-regulation of enzymes involved in antioxidant defense, in aldehyde bio-product detoxification and in misfolded protein degradation. In addition, a massive down-regulation of enzymes controlling anaerobic metabolism was observed. After 10 days of hypoxia, cardioprotective molecules were substantially decreased whereas pro-apoptotic signals were correlated with the increment of apoptotic program and sustained by the down-regulation of specific target proteins. In conclusion, differential analysis provided new insight into target molecules sensing lack of oxygen in vivo and could open new possibilities for protection from damages induced by long term hypoxia exposure.


We show that the use of non-interest terms in bank loans is a way to maintain the borrowers' flexibility to prepay freely. If voluntary prepayments are penalty-free, as widely observed for bank loans in practice, over time good borrowers prepay their loans while bad borrowers stay. This reclassification effect leaves the lender with bad borrowers only. Increasing the interest rate is not sufficient to compensate the lender for the prepayment risk, so the bank resorts to non-interest credit rationing. In addition to non-price instruments such as collateral, a non-linear pricing approach, in which the loan price is split into the interest and the upfront fee, can be employed. The model predicts that: higher loan prices and lower refinancing costs are associated with higher upfront fees; secured loans use higher upfront fees, but performance-sensitive loans use lower. Empirical evidence supports these predictions. Using a sample of 29,510 term loans to U.S. firms between 1992 and 2011, we find that a 100 basis points increase in the loan spread leads to an average increase in the upfront fee by over 15 basis points. Loans with higher refinancing costs, unsecured loans and performance-sensitive loans are in general associated with lower upfront fees.


Studying the old Cathedral Library of Messina, whose holdings are today preserved mostly in Madrid (BNE), we have focused on the presence of at least two "Atlantic" Bibles and some non-biblical manuscripts with a format similar to that of the Bibles. The production of these books can be located in Central Italy, perhaps in Rome, since they share features of this region. They transmit mostly biblical commentaries or patristic writings, such as those of Augustine and Gregory the Great. Why were these manuscripts included in the holdings of the Cathedral Library and when? Three hypotheses will be pursued. First, someone from the cathedral staff could have commissioned them, as was the case for the manuscripts of the diocese of Troia, commissioned by Bishop William. Second, the manuscripts could have been bought by the clerics of the cathedral for liturgical needs; third, the manuscripts could have been left as gifts by a donor (one or more clerics) who had arrived in Sicily with his own books. Why was this format chosen for these books? Two hypotheses will be explored. First, the intent to declare the intellectual and political dependency of at least one part of the diocese of Messina on papal power as opposed to other political forces. Or, second, the need to provide books for liturgical and ecclesiastical uses, drawing from the books available in the Norman kingdom or in other lands. In the latter case, the presence of manuscripts with this format might be explained as a preference for book production other than that of Southern Italy, because it seems Norman readers did not have a taste for Southern Italian books in the Beneventana script.


of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Professor Jerald S. Ault. No. of pages in text. (199) Movement patterns and space use by mature fishes are critical in determining the effectiveness of marine reserves in conserving spawning stock biomass and/or providing biomass to adjacent fisheries through 'spillover'. Home range sizes, activity patterns, site fidelity and habitat preferences were determined for acoustically-tagged snappers and groupers using a rigorously-calibrated array of omnidirectional hydroacoustic receivers deployed in the diverse coral reef environments of a no-take marine reserve (NTMR) network in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. An individual-based localizing tendency model of reef fish movement was parameterized from fine-scale acoustic telemetry data and integrated into a Spatial Management Performance Assessment (SMPA) simulation model for reef fish populations developed to quantitatively evaluate performance of notake marine reserves in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Spatially-explicit SMPA models were parameterized for three overfished stocks in the lucrative snapper-grouper fishery: red grouper (Epinephelus morio), black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci), and mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis). SMPA models were used to evaluate the impacts of a variety of life histories, movement strategies and speeds, and management regulations upon long-term stock sustainability, as measured by annual changes in spawning potential ratio (SPR), and long-term stock productivity, as measured by annual changes in fisheries yield-inweight per recruit (Yw/R). Under assumptions of constant regional fishing pressure, constant recruitment, and 'realistic' fish movement, SMPA simulation runs from initial conditions in 2000 suggested that by 2014, the Tortugas NTMR network should function to restore red grouper populations to 30% SPR, a Federal management benchmark for sustainability. Mutton snapper were the most mobile of the species investigated; if mutton snapper movements are ignored, their population is predicted to attain 30% SPR by 2014, but given 'realistic' mobility, they may not attain this target by 2021 without additional protections. Black grouper are currently fished at over 9 times sustainable levels. SMPA simulations suggest coupling an increase in minimum size at capture of 20 – 25 cm with NTMR implementation would result in substantial short term losses in yield, but would restore both black grouper and mutton snapper populations to 30% SPR by 2021 and lead to increased long-term yields. Although marine reserve sites are often chosen opportunistically, these findings strongly suggest that reserve designs (e.g. proper sizes and configurations) must take into account the scales and patterns of movement exhibited by the exploited stocks they are intended to protect. These modeling efforts also suggested reserves are not a panacea; in order to promote sustainability for severely depleted stocks, they must be accompanied by an overall reduction in fishing capacity. Although important questions remain concerning the movements of reef fish in response to habitat and density dependent processes, our analyses of realistic reef fish behaviors suggest that the NTMRs of the Dry Tortugas promote substantial gains in SPR, promoting long-term stock sustainability and enhanced egg production. Increased rates of movement diminish these benefits, but may also mitigate short-term losses in yield associated with NTMR establishment.


The rough surfaces and non-uniform thicknesses of chemically vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond films and substrates affect their industrial application. In recent years, many polishing and planarization methods have been reported, but each method has its relative merits. This paper reviews the necessity for processing of the CVD diamond films first. Then the processing mechanism of micro-cracking and the characteristics of mechanical polishing of diamond films are discussed. The remove form of the material and surface characteristics are compared by three mechanical polishing method, including free abrasive polishing, fixation abrasive polishing and membrane on the membrane polishing method. No matter what form of mechanical polishing process is adopted, because of its inherent characteristics and the principles of processing, mechanical polishing CVD diamond films can only be as polish processing to remove large residual. The macro-surface roughness of processing is about the 2μm. The micro-rough surface roughness is for the 40nm or so. The material removal rate is 10nm/h.


Author(s): LIU, XIAOYI | Advisor(s): Jafarkhani, Hamid | Abstract: In this dissertation, the potential of limited feedback in multiuser/multinode networks is explored, and our goal is to design efficient and practical quantizers to mitigate the perfor- mance loss brought by limited feedback. For the multiple amplify-and-forward relay network, we propose variable-length quantizers (VLQs) with random infinite-cardinality codebooks in contrast to the fixed-length quantizers (FLQs) with finite-cardinality codebooks that cannot attain the full-channel-state-information (full-CSI) performance. We validate through both theoretical proofs and numerical simulations that the proposed VLQs can achieve the full- CSI outage probabilities with finite average feedback rates. We also apply the idea of VLQ to the multicast network, and show that the global VLQ can achieve the minimum full-CSI outage probability with a low average feedback rate. For the two-user interference network where interferences are treated as noise, we introduce the idea of cooperative quantization to allow multiple rounds of feedback communication in the form of conferencing between receivers. For both time-sharing and concurrent transmission strategies, the proposed co- operative quantizers are able to achieve the full-CSI network outage probability of sum-rate and the full-CSI network outage probability of minimum rate, respectively, with only finite average feedback rates. For non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) which is recognized as a key technique for 5G, we propose efficient quantizers using variable-length encoding, and prove that in the typical application with two receivers, the losses in the minimum rate and outage probability decay at least exponentially with the minimum feedback rate. In addition, a sufficient condition for the quantizers to achieve the maximum diversity order is provided. For NOMA with K receivers where Kg2, the minimum rate maximization problem is solved within an accuracy of e in time complexity of O(K*log(1/e)).


Data-driven methods for fault detection and diagnosis of air handling units (AHUs) have attracted wide attention as they do not require high-level expert knowledge of the system of concern. This paper presents a decision tree based data-driven diagnostic strategy for AHUs, in which classification and regression tree (CART) algorithm is used for decision tree induction. A great advantage of the decision tree is that it can be understood and interpreted and therefore its reliability in fault diagnosis can be validated by both testing data and expert knowledge. A steady-state detector and a regression model are incorporated into the strategy to increase the interpretability of the diagnostic strategy developed. The proposed strategy is validated using the data from ASHRAE 1312-RP. It is shown that this strategy can achieve a good diagnostic performance with an average F-measure of 0.97. The interpretation of the diagnostic ir handling unit ault diagnosis nterpretability decision tree using expert knowledge showed that some diagnostic rules generated in the decision tree comply with expert knowledge. Nevertheless, the interpretation also indicated that some diagnostic rules generated are not reliable and some of them are only valid under certain operating conditions, which indirectly demonstrated the importance of the interpretability of fault diagnostic models developed using data-driven methods. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.


Plasma high density lipoproteins (HDL) are small, dense, protein-rich particles compared with other lipoprotein classes; roughly half of total HDL mass is accounted for by lipid components. Phospholipids predominate in the HDL lipidome, accounting for 40–60% of total lipid, with lesser proportions of cholesteryl esters (30–40%), triglycerides (5–12%), and free cholesterol (5–10%). Lipidomic approaches have provided initial insights into the HDL lipidome with identification of over 200 individual molecular lipids species in normolipidemic HDL. Plasma HDL particles, however, reveal high levels of structural, compositional, and functional heterogeneity. Establishing direct relationships between HDL structure, composition, and atheroprotective functions bears the potential to identify clinically relevant HDL subpopulations. Furthermore, development of HDL-based therapies designed to target beneficial subspecies within the circulating HDL pool can be facilitated using this approach. HDL lipidomics can equally contribute to the identification of biomarkers of both normal and deficient HDL functionality, which may prove useful as biomarkers of cardiovascular risk. However, numerous technical issues remain to be addressed in order to make such developments possible. With all technical questions resolved, quantitative analysis of the molecular components of the HDL lipidome will contribute to expand our knowledge of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.


The objective of the paper is to study the intra-generational mobility of income and poverty in Argentina to understand the reasons of the stagnation in the pace of poverty reduction since 2011. Furthermore, the paper tries to characterize and quantify the movements of individuals, and therefore it analyzes poverty duration, consecutive versus transient poverty, and the probability of reentering poverty. To this effect, synthetic panel methodology is applied and two periods, which are characterized by different evolutions of the headcount ratio, are compared: 2004-2007 and 2011- 2014. The main results are four-fold: 1) the stagnation was driven by a lower exit poverty rate; 2) the individuals who are moving along the income distribution are the ones who were poor at the beginning of the periods under study; 3) in comparison with the first period, between 2011-2014 a higher proportion of individuals was poor for two or three years and transient poverty prevailed over consecutive poverty; and, 4) the probability of reentering poverty was higher during 2011-2014. Moreover, the paper validates the methodology by using the panel structure of Argentina´s household survey and estimates two of the most relevant parameters necessary to employ the synthetic panel approach.


Our knowledge about males' perceptions about causes of eating disorder is very limited, but can be useful in the treatment planning for males. The aim of this study was to describe how male former patients perceived causes of onset of their eating disorder. Fifteen males previously treated for eating disorders and now considering themselves as recovered where interviewed at ages 19 - 52. All interviews were recorded and analyzed qualitatively using a phenomenographic approach. Three categories of perceived causes of onset of eating disorders were found. The first category: self-dissatisfaction, was presented with three conceptions: "High achievements and demands", "Body-dissatisfaction" and "Low self-esteem". The second category: family environment, comprised the two conceptions: "Difficulty in family interaction and communication" and "Excessive expectations from family members". The third category was stressful events outside the family, and consisted of the three conceptions: "Bullying, bad situation at school", "Moving to new places/separation from friends" and "Societal ideals". Males' perceptions of causes of onset of their eating disorder were in many aspects similar to those earlier described for women. In treatment, it is important that the clinicians show a sincere interest in perceived causes, since it may facilitate a good working alliance with the patient.


To examine the effect of level of expertise on the flight phase of the straddled Tkatchev we analysed six male gymnasts (mass = 64.0 +/- 3.0kg, height = 1.67 +/- 0.06m) split into three proficiency levels Elite, Intermediate and Beginners.  The preparation phase, flight phase and re-grip phase were sub-divided into ten steps that focussed on three different angularities (bar, shoulder and torso). Angular dimensions between the shoulder and torso and leg were measured using digitised points at the shoulder, trochanter major and lateral malleolus using Sportscode Elite (V10, Sportstec, Australia). A one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine differences between the groups. The results found different angles and body positions influence the flight phase of the Tkatchev. A late flexion in the downward phase with a straight position at the vertical line below the high bar influences the following movement of the Tkatchev positively. An early-piked position with a late straight/hyperextension upward phase increases the energy of the gymnast to reach a greater height above the bar. Both come with a shorten time of preparing and increased time during flight phase. By staring the preparing phase of Tkatchev before reaching the handstand position the gymnast also shorten the time of the giant swing. But then the athlete has to be faster in each execution for each segment, especially in hip flexion during the countermovement. The best time of re-grasping the bar is with a bonded body position and at an angle degree of 412°


Sumi (also known by its exonym 'Sema') is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Nagaland, North-east India. It is one of the major languages of the state, with an estimated 242,000 speakers living primarily in Zunheboto district, as well as in the major cities of Kohima and Dimapur. Bradley (1997) places Sumi (referred to as Sema), among the 'Southern Naga' languages, which include Angami (also known as Tenyidie) and Ao, in contrast to the 'Northern Naga' languages such as Konyak and Nocte. Burling (2003) offers a more conservative classification, placing Sumi (referred to as Simi) in an 'Angami-Pochuri' group containing Angami, Chakhesang (Chokri and Kheza) and Mao. Four main dialects of Sumi have been identified: the Western dialect, the Eastern dialect, the Chizolimi dialect, and the Central dialect. The Central dialect is the standard dialect used in published works of Sumi (Sreedhar 1976: 4–5).


The objective of momentum accounting is to improve strategic management accounting practices, enumeration and corporate disclosure for governance purposes. This accounting theory introduces new measurement units: momentum and force. The key development is to see momentum as a rate or the speed of the earning capacity of a firm and to account for the change in momentum with economic and financial forces. Yuji Ijiri developed the so-called framework of triple-entry and momentum accounting, or TEMA in short, that is composed of three informational accounting dimensions: wealth, momentum and force. This book offers evidence in support of the TEMA framework to validate its relevance, explanatory and predictive power. Annual and quarterly financial statements data was used to investigate the AEX and Dow Jones component companies. Spectramap decomposition of TEMA variables of a single firm as well as the complete panel of Dow component companies provided further evidence that the TEMA framework discloses new and relevant accounting information. TEMA variables of the Dow component companies decomposed to Spectral Map factors also showed explanatory and predictive power for the Dow Jones.


Listeners are often required to attend to speech in background noise. Coherent prosodic structure has been found to facilitate speech processing (Cutler, Dahan & Donselaar, 1997). The aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent these prosodic cues, in particular fundamental frequency (FO), aid speech intelligibility in noise. Experiments measured Speech Reception Thresholds for sentences with different manipulations of their FO contour. These manipulations involved either a scaled reduction in FO variation, or the complete inversion of the FO contour. Experiments reported in Chapter 2 investigated the impact of these FO manipulations against speech-shaped noise and single-talker interferers. Inverting the FO contour was found to significantly degrade target speech intelligibility for both types of interferer, although a larger effect was observed with the single-talker interferer. No effect of altering the FO contour of the interferer was found. Low-pass filtering the FO contour (Chapter 3) showed that the most important frequencies lay at or below the syllable rate of speech, highlighting the importance of syllabic and suprasegmental fluctuations within the FO contour. Experiments in Chapter 4 compared synthesised and natural targets. Synthesised speech was found to be considerably less intelligible than natural speech. No consistent effect of FO inversion was noted for synthesised FO contours. However neither natural FO nor duration contours improved the intelligibility of the synthesised speech. Similar experiments using non-native English speakers (Chapter 5) showed a greater detriment to the perceived intelligibility of the speech with FO manipulations than for native speakers. Results are explained in terms of FO contours highlighting important content words. Intrinsic vowel pitch is also argued to contribute. Further study is required to determine why speech interferers caused listeners to rely more heavily on FO cues, and to investigate the influence of other prosodic cues on speech intelligibility.


Background The use of robotic systems is expected to significantly decrease the risk of operators being exposed to cytotoxic substances, as the most critical operations are performed in a closed area under negative pressure. Although robotic systems are already in use in several international centres, very few systematic studies on workplace contamination, comparing manual and robot-assisted drug preparation have been performed. Purpose To compare environmental contamination with cyclophosphamide (CP) during one week of drug compounding by the manual procedure in a biological safety cabinet (BSC) and automated preparation with an APOTECAchemo robot. Material and methods Over four consecutive days, similar numbers of infusion bags containing cyclophosphamide were prepared by both techniques in a cross-over design. Wipe samples (49 for BSC, 50 for APOTECAchemo robot) were taken at several locations (gloves, infusion bags, trays, BSC-benches, floor) in the pharmacy and analysed by GCMSMS (LOD 0.2 ng/sample). Results We detected contamination in 70% of samples in BSC versus 15% in robotic samples. During manual preparation, contamination with CP was below 0.001 ng/cm2 at most locations, but significant on gloves (0.0004–0.0967 ng/cm2) and the majority (70%) of infusion bags (<0.0004–2.89 ng/cm2). During robotic preparation, gloves (1 of 8: 0.0007 ng/cm2) and infusion bags (3 of 20: 0.0005, 0.0019, 0.0094 ng/cm2) were considerably less contaminated. Residual contamination was found on the surface under the dosing device in the compounding area (0.0293–0.1603 ng/cm2) inside the robotic system. Conclusion Compared to outcomes from other studies, our results underline the good manufacturing procedures in this pharmacy with low contamination for both techniques. However, comparison of the two procedures confirmed that the overall CP contamination was lower when the production was carried out by the robotic system inside a closed and controlled system. This was also underlined by minimally or even non-contaminated external surfaces of compounded bags and gloves when the APOTECAchemo robot was used. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Chemokines contribute to themaintenance of cartilage homeostasis. To evaluate the role of CXC chemokines CXCL8 (interleukin-8), CXCL10 (interferon-gamma-inducible protein-10), CXCL12 (stroma-derived factor-1) and CXCL13 (B-cell attracting chemokine-1) and their receptors, respectively CXCR1-2, CXCR3, CXCR4, and CXCR5, during chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stromal cells (h-MSCs), we used a well-defined in vitro model. Chondrogenic differentiation was analyzed on h-MSCs grown on hyaluronic acid–based biomaterial in the presence or absence of transforming growth factor-b, and the expression and modulation of CXC chemokines and receptors were evaluated at different time points. Realtime polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze their expression at the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) level, and immunohistochemistry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to evaluate their expression at the protein level. Human articular cartilage biopsies were used to evaluate chemokine and receptor expression in normal tissue. We found no expression of CXCR1, CXCR2, CXCR3, or CXCL10 at themRNA level. CXCL8mRNAwas down-modulated, whereas at the protein level, we found greater release of this chemokine. CXCR4 and its ligand CXCL12 were down-modulated during chondrogenesis. By contrast, CXCR5 was up-regulated, whereas its ligand CXCL13 was lower. These data were also confirmed on human articular cartilage. These findings show that, during in vitro h-MSC chondrogenic differentiation, chemokine and receptor expression was specifically induced or repressed. This was in line with what the authors also found in normal articular cartilage, suggesting a role in differentiation and maturation of a cartilage-like structure in vitro and consequently the regulation of cartilage homeostasis.