Do images exist? In this paper I argue that the notion of an image is ontologically empty – i.e., images are no more than a cultural invention akin to epicycles in astronomy. There are only flat objects engaged in various causal roles. In this paper I will defend the thesis that in visual culture, in the neurosciences, and in philosophy of mind, there is no convincing evidence in favor of their existence. Moreover, I will outline a series of arguments aiming at showing that images do not exist. I will discuss briefly discuss why many authors – from the iconic turn to the neurosciences – use the notion of image as though it were something real. I will conclude suggesting to drop the subject-object divide and to consider a completely flat ontology made only of (relative) objects.


The question of gender linguistic features has always been an interesting issue. Women are often depicted of having longer sentence than men. Women also tend to use standard form of language more often than men in social context.
It has been argued for some time that some consistent differences not only exist in speech but also in written media. Thus, the difference is also found in the use of language in the magazine's article since the articles of magazine is designed to reach certain target of reader, the language, therefore, must suit them. This study explores the different and similar language use particularly in the use of adjectives semantically between women's magazine InStyle and men's magazine Details. The aim of the study is to find out the type of adjectives semantically and the differences and similarities of the use of adjectives semantically in the articles of both InStyle and Details. To analyze the data, the writer uses qualitative method and employs 8 types of adjective semantically from 2 groups of adjective semantically, descriptor adjective: color, size, time, emotive, miscellaneous, and classifier adjective: relational, affiliative, relational. In particular, the writer finds that all the types of adjectives semantically are almost employed in each article of InStyle and Details magazine. There is a significant difference in the use of emotive and relational adjectives between InStyle and Details magazines. The writer also discovers that the articles of women's magazine tend to use color, size, time, emotive, miscellaneous descriptor, affilitive and topical classifier adjectives.
More generally, it is found that women's article exhibits greater consistency of women's language features proposed by Lakoff by using a lot number of empty adjectives and the precise color terms. Moreover, women's articles exhibit women's language characteristic for being detail in describing something. While,some findings indicate that men's articles have lessen the masculinity of men's language.

Copyrights:


We documented the outcome of an over 10‐year (2011–2021) effort to diagnose acute and early HIV infections (AEHI) in an Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic with limited resources. Of a total of 132, 119 HIV‐RNA tests were performed from 2017 to 2020, 12 cases were identified, using a simple algorithm: risk exposure of 6 weeks or less before the visit and/or symptoms compatible with acute retroviral syndrome 7–30 days after exposure and/or undetermined 3rd generation rapid diagnostic test or serology. AEHI diagnoses varied from 2.4% among asymptomatic to 25% for undetermined serology cases using this simple screening applicable to different settings.


Mangrove forests are active carbon sinks and important for nutrient cycling in coastal ecosystems. Restoration of degraded mangrove habitats enhances return of ecosystem goods and services, including carbon sequestration. Our objective was to assess the restoration of primary productivity of reforested mangrove stands in comparison with natural reference stands in Gazi Bay, Kenya. Litter fall data were collected in nine Rhizophora mucronata and Sonneratia alba monospecific stands by use of litter traps over 2 years. Litter was emptied monthly, dried, sorted, and weighed. The reforested and natural stands showed seasonality patterns only in the production of reproductive material. Leaves constituted the highest percentage to total litter fall. Litter productivity rates for the R. mucronata stands were not significantly different and ranged from 6.61–10.15 to 8.36–11.02 t ha−1 yr−1 for the restored and natural stands, respectively. The productivity of 5 years R. mucronata stands reached 5.22 t ha−1 yr−1 and was significantly different from other stands. Litter productivity rates for S. alba stands was 7.77–7.85 for the restored stands and 10.15 t ha−1 yr−1 for the natural stand but differences were not significant. Our results indicate that plantations of at least 11 years have attained litter productivity rates comparable to the natural forests. This suggests that productivity of replanted mangroves is likely to reach complete recovery by this age under the prevailing environmental conditions.


The normal gut microbiota has several important functions in host physiology and metabolism, and plays a key role in health and disease. Bifidobacteria, which are indigenous components of gastrointestinal microbiota, may play an important role in maintaining the well-being of the host although its precise function is very difficult to study. Its physiological and biochemical activities are controlled by many factors, particularly diet and environment.
Adherence and colonization capacity are considered as contributing factors for immune modulation,
pathogen exclusion, and enhanced contact with the mucosa. In this way, bifidobacteria would fortify the microbiota that forms an integral part of the mucosal barrier and colonization resistance against pathogens.
Bifidobacteria are not only subjected to stressful conditions in industrial processes, but also in nature, where the ability to respond quickly to stress is essential for survival. Bifidobacteria, like other microorganisms, have evolved sensing systems for/and defences against stress that allow them to withstand harsh conditions and sudden environmental changes.
Bacterial stress responses rely on the coordinated expression of genes that alter various cellular processes and structures (e.g. DNA metabolism, housekeeping genes, cell-wall proteins, membrane composition) and act in concert to improve bacterial stress tolerance. The integration of these stress responses is accomplished by regulatory networks that allow the cell to react rapidly to various and sometimes complex environmental changes. This work examined the effect of important stressful conditions, such as changing pH and osmolarity, on the biosynthesis of cell wall proteins in B. pseudolongum subsp. globosum. These environmental factors all influence heavily the expression of BIFOP (BIFidobacterial Outer Proteins) in the cell-wall and can have an impact in the interaction with host. Also evidence has been collected linking the low concentration of sugar in the culture medium with the presence or absence of extracromosomal DNA.


Because of unanswered questions about reference values for single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) in Chinese, standardized DLCO measurements were carried out in a selected sample of 257 healthy nonsmoking Chinese aged 20-70 years. The methods of measurement essentially followed the American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommendations. The measured DLCO was corrected to a standard hemoglobin value. Observed mean values for DLCO were 25.87 +/- 5.64 mL/min/mmHg in men and 21.16 +/- 3.88 mL/min/mmHg in women. Correlations of DLCO indices with anthropometric variables revealed that DLCO was best correlated with age in both sexes (r = -0.71 for men and r = -0.61 for women, p < 0.001). For alveolar volume (VA), the most significant correlation was found with height. For specific diffusing capacity (DLCO/VA), there was a significant negative relationship with age. Reference equations using age and body surface area (BSA) as independent variables for DLCO, VA and DLCO/VA were derived separately for men and women. An analysis of the distribution of residuals was Gaussian with simple linear regressions. Predicted values for DLCO and VA, as estimated in the present study, were much lower than equations derived from Caucasian populations. On the contrary, DLCO/VA values, as predicted by the present set of equations, were comparable to those of Caucasian equations. Therefore, differences in DLCO values between Chinese and Caucasians may be explained by differences in lung volume rather than by ethnic variations in the inherent characteristics of the alveolar capillary membrane. Predicted values for Chinese should be obtained from equations established from this study rather than extrapolated from those of Caucasians. The results of this study will be of value to clinical laboratories dealing with pulmonary function testing for Chinese patients.


As gun control once again becomes a hot political issue, one rare point of ostensible unanimity has been the success of the Eastern District of Virginia United States Attorney's Office's "Project Exile," which (at least until recently) has targeted gun violence in the Richmond area by funneling all gun arrests made by state and local authorities to federal court, if at all possible under federal firearm statutes. Republicans have proposed extending the program nationwide. For Democrats, the lesson is the need for more ATF agents. Beneath the bipartisan plaudits lies a fierce debate over Exile's negative implications ? the degree to which federal firearms enforcement efforts should go beyond such programs. The purpose of this essay is to go beyond the gun debate, however, and explore the implications of Exile politics as a new stage in the devolution of federal enforcement power. An inevitable consequence of the now longstanding presidential interest in episodic violent crime has been to shift control over federal enforcement assets from Washington to U.S. Attorneys' Offices - the entities best suited to assess and target local problems and to obtain the cooperation of local authorities in the effort. The commitment of federal resources in this area has been highly discretionary, however, varying by district, and balanced against the needs of more national programs. Only time will tell whether Republican efforts to extend Exile nationwide are just a peculiar brand of gun control rhetoric or whether they mark an new phase in efforts of legislators to put federal enforcement resources at the disposal of state and local authorities. If the latter proves true, then the legacy of Project Exile ? itself an innovative federal initiative ? may be a serious challenge to the idea of federal enforcement policy in the areas where federal, state and local authority most overlap.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the prevalence of medical and nonmedical use of 4 classes of prescription drugs (opioid, stimulant, sleeping, and sedative or anxiety) and to assess probable drug abuse among 4 mutually exclusive groups of medical and nonmedical use of prescription drugs.

DESIGN
In 2005, a Web survey was self-administered by a probability sample of 3639 college students (68% response rate).

SETTING
A large, midwestern 4-year university.

PARTICIPANTS
The sample had a mean age of 19.9 years, and respondents were 53.6% female, 67.4% white, 12.1% Asian, 6.0% African American, 4.2% Hispanic, and 10.2% other racial categories.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Medical and nonmedical use of prescription drugs was measured. Probable drug abuse was assessed using a modified version of the Drug Abuse Screening Test, Short Form.

RESULTS
A total of 40.1% of respondents reported no lifetime use of at least 1 of 4 classes of prescription drugs, 39.7% reported medical use only, 15.8% reported both medical and nonmedical use, and 4.4% reported nonmedical use only. The odds of a positive screening result for drug abuse were greater among medical and nonmedical users (adjusted odds ratio, 5.5; 95% confidence interval, 3.4-7.3) and nonmedical users only (adjusted odds ratio, 6.5; 95% confidence interval, 4.0-10.6) compared with nonusers. The odds of a positive screening result for drug abuse did not differ between medical users only and nonusers.

CONCLUSIONS
Nonmedical users of prescription drugs are at heightened risk for drug abuse, whereas medical users without a history of nonmedical use are generally not at increased risk. Drug abuse screening should be routine for college students, especially among individuals with any history of nonmedical use of prescription drugs.


Thirty years of systematic study reveal that many major corporations experience a strange cyclicality in their internal corporate venturing (ICV) activity: Periods of intense activity are followed by periods of shutting down such activities only to be followed by a new cycle a few years later. Based on analysis of both historical and more recent examples of the ICV cyclicality phenomenon we construct a framework of some of the root causes that drive companies at different times to treat ICV as an orphan activity, to engage in an all-out ICV drive, to dismiss ICV as irrelevant, or to desperately seek ICV. We also examine some of the key drivers of these "on-off" commitments (beyond economic cycles) and some of the forces that determine the length of these cycles. We propose that making top management more aware of the forces that drive ICV cyclicality may help improve the strategic management of ICV programs. Realizing that ICV activity is actually hard to completely stamp out may increase top management's motivation to learn to better manage it. This is beneficial because ICV is an important potential driver of profitable growth and/or can serve as a foresight generating activity. Also, such raised awareness may help avoid the biases engendered by an all-out ICV drive and/or the potential dangers associated with desperately seeking ICV. We also offer some suggestions for building a company's strategic leadership capability for managing ICV: Making ICV an integral part of the strategy-making process, rationalizing resource allocation, expanding the available array of organizational arrangements (including incentives and executive development), and making ICV the responsibility of all of the company's senior executives.


This chapter poses a direct challenge to theories of the risk society in both the developed and developing world. It highlights the complex impacts of multiple vulnerabilities and argues that accounts of risk, vulnerability and insecurities need to take more account of empirical context. Using case studies in North America and the Caribbean, the author highlights how historic and contemporary risks can coincide as do the varied combined effects of global risks and local hazards and change. This builds on the author's previous work on clusters of injustice to highlight how risk containment in developed countries is often the consequence of the export of environmental degradation and other problems to the ends of the global supply chain, in developing countries.


Background: Ganoderma lucidum from Ganodermataceae family is a kind of mushroom known to have various therapeutic properties such as lowering high blood sugar and high blood pressure, boosting the immune system as well as its antibacterial and antioxidant effects. Materials and Methods: this study investigated the oxidative stability, microbial and sensory properties of sausage at three different treatments; (i) 1% w/w Ganoderma lucidum powder (GLP) without nitrite as a food preservative (P), (ii) 0.5% w/w GLP with 80 ppm nitrite (N + P), and (iii) sausage with 120 ppm nitrate (N). Lipid oxidation was evaluated using peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive species. Antimicrobial properties were assessed by total plate count (TPC), yeasts and molds, coliforms, Clostridium perfringens, and Staphylococcus aureus. Sensory assessment was evaluated by nine-point hedonic procedure. Results: Samples in N + P treatment showed lower PV than other treatments at the storage period with no significant difference in 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) between N and N + P. The P group showed the highest TBA value (P < 0.01). TPC remained below maximal permissible limit recommended by ISIRI during 30 days of storage in all sausage formulations (6.9798 log CFU). There was not found any coliforms bacteria, Clostridium perfringens, and S. aureus. The sensory evaluation indicated that there is no significant difference between samples in texture, taste, and smell. The color and overall acceptability of N group were higher and N + P group was closer to N group. Conclusion: The results suggest that G. lucidum powder might be considered as a potential natural preservative for meat products.


Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Internet of Thing (IoT) generate large amounts of data spurring the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based smart applications. Driven by rapid advancements in technologies that support smart devices, agriculture and farming sector is shifting towards IoT connected ecosystem to balance the increase in demand for food supply. As the number of smart farms reach critical mass, it is now possible to include AI assisted systems at a cooperative (co-op) farming level. Today, in the United States alone there are about 1,871 co-ops serving 1,890,057 member farmers. Hence, such advanced technologies and infrastructure when incorporated in the co-op farming ecosystem can immensely benefit small member farmers who operate and maintain these independent co-op entities. In this paper, we develop a connected cooperative ecosystem which defines sensors and their communication among different entities along with cloud supported co-op hub. We develop member farm and co-op ontologies to capture data and various interactions that happen between shared resources, member farms, and the co-op that are stored in the cloud. These can then help generate AI supported insights for farmers and the cooperative. Several co-op farming use case scenarios have been discussed to demonstrate the functioning of our smart cooperative ecosystem. Finally, the paper describes various AI applications that can be deployed at the co-op level to aid member farmers.


The densities and viscosities of nicotinium dichromate with DMSO and methanol have been measured at 303.15K. The values are used to calculate the apparent molar volume ( ) Vf , limiting molar volume ( ) 0 Vf , excess molar volume ( E ) m V , viscosity deviation (Dh ) and excess Gibb's free energy of viscous flow ( ) E DG* . The viscosity results have been computed to calculate Falkenhagen coefficient (A) and Jones-Dole B coefficient. The main aim of the study is to correlate the excess properties with molecular interactions present in the solution. The strength if interaction is related to the nature of solvents.


We build a framework using tools from Bayesian data analysis to evaluate models explaining the periodic variations in spin-down and beamwidth of PSR B1828?11. The available data consist of the time-averaged spin-down rate, which displays a distinctive double-peaked modulation, and measurements of the beamwidth. Two concepts exist in the literature that are capable of explaining these variations; we formulate predictive models from these and quantitatively compare them. The first concept is phenomenological and stipulates that the magnetosphere undergoes periodic switching between two metastable states as first suggested by Lyne et al. The second concept, precession, was first considered as a candidate for the modulation of B1828?11 by Stairs et al. We quantitatively compare models built from these concepts using a Bayesian odds ratio. Because the phenomenological switching model itself was informed by these data in the first place, it is difficult to specify appropriate parameter-space priors that can be trusted for an unbiased model comparison. Therefore, we first perform a parameter estimation using the spin-down data, and then use the resulting posterior distributions as priors for model comparison on the beamwidth data. We find that a precession model with a simple circular Gaussian beam geometry fails to appropriately describe the data, while allowing for a more general beam geometry provides a good fit to the data. The resulting odds between the precession model (with a general beam geometry) and the switching model are estimated as 102.7±0.5 in favour of the precession model.


PURPOSE
Bioluminescence imaging is a research tool for studying gene expression levels in small animal models of human disease. Bioluminescence light, however, is strongly scattered in biological tissue and no direct image of the light-emitting reporter probe's location can be obtained. Therefore, the authors have developed a linear image reconstruction method for bioluminescence tomography (BLT) that recovers the three-dimensional spatial bioluminescent source distribution in small animals.

METHODS
The proposed reconstruction method uses third-order simplified spherical harmonics (SP3) solutions to the equation of radiative transfer for modeling the bioluminescence light propagation in optically nonuniform tissue. The SP3 equations and boundary conditions are solved with a finite-difference (FD) technique on a regular grid. The curved geometry of the animal surface was taken into account with a blocking-off region method for regular grids. Coregistered computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) images provide information regarding the geometry of the skin surface and internal organs. The inverse source problem is defined as an algebraic system of linear equations for the unknown source distribution and is iteratively solved given multiview and multispectral boundary measurements. The average tissue absorption parameters, which are used for the image reconstruction process, were calculated with an evolution strategy (ES) from in vivo measurements using an implanted pointlike source of known location and spectrum. Moreover, anatomical information regarding the location of the internal organs and other tissue structures within the animal's body are provided by coregistered MR images.

RESULTS
First, the authors recovered the wavelength-dependent absorption coefficients (average error of 14%) with the ES under ideal conditions by using a numerical mouse model. Next, they reconstructed the average absorption coefficient of a small animal by using an artificial implanted light source and the validated ES. Last, they conducted two in vivo animal experiments and recovered the spatial location of the implanted light source and the spatial distribution of a bioluminescent reporter system located in the kidneys. The source reconstruction results were coregistered to CT and MR images. They further found that accurate bioluminescence image reconstructions could be obtained when segmenting a voidlike cyst with low-scattering and absorption parameters, whereas inaccurate image reconstructions were obtained when assuming a uniform optical parameter distribution instead. The image reconstructions were completed within 23 min on a 3 GHz Intel processor.

CONCLUSIONS
The authors demonstrated on in vivo examples that the combination of anatomical coregistration, accurate optical tissue properties, multispectral acquisition, and a blocking-off FD-SP3 solution of the radiative transfer model significantly improves the accuracy of the BLT reconstructions.


The long start-up period of fluidized bed biofilm reactors is a serious obstacle for their wide installation in the anaerobic treatment of industrial wastewater. This paper presents the results of an anaerobic inverse turbulent bioreactor treating distillery wastewater during 117 days of operation at a laboratory scale. The pre-colonized bioparticles for this work were obtained from a similar reactor processing the same wastewater and which had a start-up period of 3 months. The system attained carbon removal efficiency rates between 70 and 92%, at an organic loading rate of 30.6 kg m x3 d x1 (chemical oxygen demand) with a hydraulic retention time of 11.1 h. The results obtained showed that the start-up period of this kind of reactors can be reduced by 3 using pre-colonized bioparticles.


Aims and objective: Impact of sex-related differences in patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and treated with new P2Y12 inhibitors is not adequately characterized. We aimed to analyze gender-based differences in dual antiplatelet therapy, and adverse cardiovascular events. Materials and methods: Prospec-tive-observational study of the consecutive ACS patients treated with stent from July 2015 to January 2016, with a follow-up of 1 year. Results: We examined 283 patients, 75 (26.5%) women and 208 (73.5%) men. Women were older than men (71 ± 13 vs. 66.5 ± 13 years). There were 44% of women and 52% of men presenting with ST-elevation ACS (p = 0.21). Women had a higher bleeding risk (CRUSADE), without differences in the ischemic risk (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events and thrombolysis in myocardial infarction). More women were treated with drug-eluting stent (88.9 vs. 75.5%, p = 0.04). There was a lower rate of ticagrelor prescription in women (42.6 vs. 50.9%, p = 0.29), in favor of clopidogrel. No differences were observed in the prasugrel prescription. No significant differences were observed after a year of follow-up, but women had a tendency toward lower mortality (1.4 vs. 6.7%, p = 0.19) and higher bleeding rates (23.3 vs. 17.4%, p = 0.27). Conclusions: In our study of patients presenting with ACS treated with stent, clopidogrel was preferred in women, whereas ticagrelor was the most frequent prescription in men. No significant differences were noted in clinical outcomes, but women experienced a tendency toward less mortality and more bleeding events.


Background: The adrenaline–β-adrenoreceptor–cAMP–protein kinase A signaling pathway regulates heart rate and contractility. Although changes in contractility are associated with cardiovascular disease, surprisingly few drugs are available that modulate the cardiac myocyte cAMP system. β-blocking agents reduce cAMP levels only by 50%. Objective: Compounds that interfere with the pathway at other levels are wanted as they may provide new tools for treatment of heart failure used alone or together with β-blockers and may make therapy more potent and/or more targeted and avoid side effects. Methods: Original findings and strategies for targeting protein–protein interactions are reviewed. Results/conclusion: We have shown that A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP)18δ is important for organizing the molecular machinery that mediates adrenergic control of calcium reabsorption into sarcoplasmic reticulum. Calcium reabsorption is essential for relaxation and filling of the heart and is the rate-limiting step for making the heart beat faster in response to adrenaline or noradrenaline. We conclude that targeting AKAP18δ may have application in manipulating calcium reabsorption and protecting the heart from adrenergic pacing at the level of specific signaling events in heart failure patients.


PurposeThis study aims to explore and identify the factors that affect Saudi Arabia's decision concerning the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and particularly the resistive factors that delay full IFRS adoption. It identifies the way in which Saudi Arabia's social, political, educational and religious context influence the adoption of IFRS and the delay in doing so.Design/methodology/approachA mixed methodology is used in this research, including both quantitative (questionnaires) and qualitative (semi-structured interviews) data analysis. Whereas, using mixed methods led to enhance the results.FindingsThe findings show that globalisation, accounting bodies and political circumstances were found to be positively related to IFRS adoption in Saudi Arabia. In contrast, culture and accounting development were found to have a negative impact on the IFRS adoption. Interestingly, the results showed that religion has no effect on IFRS adoption in Saudi Arabia.Practical implicationsThis paper can be of use to both researchers and practitioners interested in investigating more resistive factors that could affect future IFRS adoption in developing countries. Moreover, the findings could be useful to senior managers and legislators in Saudi Arabia firms, in relation to decisions about enhancing the quality of adopting IFRS.Originality/valueThis research provides an important contribution to the existing literature by using a comparative method to present an in-depth exploration of the factors that affect countries, drawing on the framework of the neo-institutional perspective in a developing country.


This study examined exposure to violence and risk for lethality in intimate partner relationships as factors related to co-occurring MH problems and use of mental health (MH) resources among women of African descent. Black women with intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences (n = 431) were recruited from primary care, prenatal or family planning clinics in the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Severity of IPV was significantly associated with co-occurring MH problems, but was not associated with the use of MH resources among African-American women. Risk for lethality and co-occurring problems were also not significantly related to the use of resources. African Caribbean women with severe physical abuse experiences were significantly less likely to use resources. In contrast, severity of physical abuse was positively associated with the use of resources among Black women with mixed ethnicity. Severe IPV experiences are risk factors for co-occurring MH problems, which in turn, increases the need for MH services. However, Black women may not seek help for MH problems. Thus, social work practitioners in health care settings must thoroughly assess women for their IPV experiences and develop tailored treatment plans that address their abuse histories and MH needs.


Background—Prior studies have associated low social support (SS) with increased rehospitalization and mortality after acute myocardial infarction. However, relatively little is known about whether similar patterns exist for other outcomes, such as health status and depressive symptoms, and whether these patterns vary by sex. Methods and Results—Using data from 2411 English- or Spanish-speaking patients with acute myocardial infarction enrolled in a 19-center prospective study, we examined the association of SS (low, moderate, high) with health status (angina, disease-specific quality of life, general physical and mental functioning) and depressive symptoms over the first year of recovery. Overall and sex-stratified associations were evaluated using mixed-effects Poisson and linear regression, adjusting for site, baseline health status, baseline depressive symptoms, and demographic and clinical factors. Patients with the lowest SS (relative to those with the highest) had increased risk of angina (relative risk, 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10, 1.48); lower disease-specific quality of life (mean difference [β]=−3.33; 95% CI, −5.25, −1.41), lower mental functioning (β=−1.72; 95% CI, −2.65, −0.79), and more depressive symptoms (β=0.94; 95% CI, 0.51, 1.38). A nonsignificant trend toward lower physical functioning (β=−0.87; 95% CI, −1.95, 0.20) was observed. In sex-stratified analyses, the relationship between SS and outcomes was stronger for women than for men, with a significant SS-by-sex interaction for disease-specific quality of life, physical functioning, and depressive symptoms (all P<0.02). Conclusions—Lower SS is associated with worse health status and more depressive symptoms over the first year of acute myocardial infarction recovery, particularly for women.


Floating bridges are economical means for crossing water bodies, especially in times of emergency or war. A special type of floating bridge, a ribbon pontoon floating bridge, is designed, built, and stocked by the military and emergency management organizations to be deployed in times of need. Lightweight and quickly erected, such bridges use the buoyancy of water to support their weight and imposed traffic loads. With increasing vehicular weights and the need for fast traversing times, analytical tools capable of designing and analyzing floating bridges are necessary. This development is ideal for optimizing vehicle weights and spacing to achieve greater economic efficiency. An analytical and experimental research program designed to study the dynamic behavior of ribbon pontoon floating bridges under two-axle vehicular loading is presented. This analytical method yielded maximum bridge displacements comparable to the experimental results. In most cases, analytical results were higher than experimental results; this difference provided a level of conservatism for design. Midspan displacements were accurately predicted as the vehicle traversed the floating bridge. However, at heavier vehicle weights, the analytical model failed to predict midspan displacement accurately at axle locations beyond midspan.


We derive and analyze a new, efficient, pool-based active learning algorithm for halfspaces, called ALuMA. Most previous algorithms show exponential improvement in the label complexity assuming that the distribution over the instance space is close to uniform. This assumption rarely holds in practical applications. Instead, we study the label complexity under a large-margin assumption -- a much more realistic condition, as evident by the success of margin-based algorithms such as SVM. Our algorithm is computationally efficient and comes with formal guarantees on its label complexity. It also naturally extends to the non-separable case and to non-linear kernels. Experiments illustrate the clear advantage of ALuMA over other active learning algorithms.


Calcium carbonate precipitation by marine organisms is an acknowledged contributor to the global carbon cycle. Coccolithophores are unicellular marine phytoplankton, that by excreting calcium scales and performing photosynthesis, contribute largely to the flux of atmospheric carbon to the surface and deeper oceans. The impact of elevated future ocean temperature and ocean acidity on the mechanism and rates, by which coccolithophores secret their calcium carbonate scales internally and contribute to the global carbon cycle, has been widely studied. However, biomineralisation in coccolithophores, the expression of molecular pathways, and the timing of gene expression related to calcification are still poorly understood. To better understand the process of calcification the transcriptome and proteome of calcifying G1-phase Emiliania huxleyi cells were investigated in the light and dark using next generation techniques. The results showed clear differences in both the transcriptomic and proteomic profiles between the photosynthetically enhanced calcification and the dark calcification phase. Interestingly, the bulk of the biomineralisation genes were higher expressed in the dark calcification phase at low calcification rates, suggesting that a large proportion of the molecular calcification machinery is bound to the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum, which are complemented in the early G1-phase following cytokinesis. Furthermore, the results suggest that a set of biomineralisation genes exhibits continuous expression in both conditions of the G1 phase, whereas other genes are more abundantly expressed in the calcification phase. The importance of the calcium binding proteins calreticulin, calnexin, and calmodulin in the calcification phase was confirmed by transcriptomic and proteomic data. Proton pumping V-type ATPases were found higher expressed in dark phase but was still highly expressed in the enhanced calcification phase in the light. Calcium transport related gene expression of members of the NCKX (Na+/Ca2+-K+ exchanger), NCX (Na+/Ca2+exchanger), and CAX (calcium exchanger) were stronger in the low calcification phase, whereas SERCA-type calcium transporting ATPases were nearly equally expressed in both condition but originating from different genes that were expressed in either the light or the dark. Furthermore, transcriptome exploration suggested syntaxin and synaptobrevin could play an important role in calcification related vesicle fusion. The results have important implications for better understanding the timing of calcification related gene expression throughout the E. huxleyi cell cycle and for potential transcriptomic plasticity in response to changing environmental conditions.


BACKGROUND
Recent studies have suggested that community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is encroaching on health care settings. We describe the epidemiology of hospital-onset community-associated MRSA bloodstream infections using phenotypic and genotypic analysis.

METHODS
Using an update of an established rule derived from antibiotic susceptibilities, we inferred genotypes (i.e., community [CG] or hospital [HG]) for 208 MRSA isolates from hospital-onset (>72 h after hospital admission) bloodstream infections during 2000-2006. We compared demographic characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes of patients infected with CG or HG strains.

RESULTS
Total hospital-onset MRSA bloodstream infection incidence density rates for the periods January 2000-June 2003 and July 2003-December 2006 (0.215 cases per 1000 patient-days and 0.207 cases per 1000 patient-days, respectively) were stable (risk ratio, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.7-1.3; P = .79, period 2 vs. period 1). However, the risk that these bloodstream infections were due to CG strains doubled (risk ratio, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-3.1; P = .01), whereas the risk due to HG strains decreased (risk ratio, 0.7; 95% confidence interval, 0.46-0.93; P = .02). After adjustment for comorbidities in multivariate analysis, no significant risk factors for or outcomes of infections due to CG versus HG strains were detected. Patients infected with HG strains showed a trend toward later day of acquisition of a positive blood culture, and those infected with CG strains showed trend toward greater risk of intensive care unit admission.

CONCLUSION
Although total hospital-onset MRSA bloodstream infection rates were relatively stable during 2000-2006, CG strains were responsible for an increasing proportion of cases (from 24% to 49%), suggesting replacement of traditional hospital-associated strains. For most risk factors and outcomes, patients infected with CG and HG strains were similar, suggesting that, thus far, CG strains are behaving like their traditional hospital-associated counterparts.


The social sciences offer a rich array of paradigms within which to locate agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS) research. This article provides an overview of the major paradigms in the social sciences, identifying those which offer a lens through which the AKISs of small-scale farmers can be viewed. It is based on a review and analysis of the paradigms, perspectives and approaches that are appropriate for studying different facets of an AKIS. These systems are complex by nature but Social constructivism, Phenomenology, Interpretive and Participatory paradigms make possible a pluralistic and compatibilist approach that provides the necessary logic and harmony for such a study. A systems approach, mixed methods methodology and multiple data collection methods can be used to improve understanding of AKISs of this type. A pragmatic paradigmatic stance is recommended to guide the design for a comprehensive study of the AKISs of small-scale farmers in developing countries. Innovation No.44, June 2012


In view of actual situation of serious resources waste and less than 30% of face recovery ratio to shallow seams with existing features of harder roof at the process of room and pillar mining in northern Shaanxi province in China, reasonable support strength has been studied in both cases of normal mining and force caving for improved longwall mechanized mining face, and obtained reasonable working support resistance at the condition of force caving which was better than normal mining. Based on this condition, Shandong Xin Mei machinery Co, Ltd. has developed hydraulic support with hanging chain and splicing beam which was suitable to existing features of shallow seams. The support had advantages with flexible connection between supports to ensure that all pillars reached rated setting load, sub-size top beam to resolve "protection" and "cutting" dilemma for the roof, adjusting and locking support, etc. The company also has given concrete support parameters. By the field industrial test verification, the developed new support fully adapted strata behavior at the process of force caving with existing features of shallow depth and harder roof. The research has provided a useful reference for other coal mines with similar geological features.


A pulmonary embolus clogs the artery that provides blood supply to a part of the lung. The embolus not only prevents the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide but also decreases blood supply to the lung tissue itself, potentially causing the tissue to die (infarct). A 52-year-old man presented with syncope and anxiety. He had sinus tachycardia and dilated right ventricle with trabeculations. A differential diagnosis of arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia and pulmonary embolism prompted CT angiography, which revealed a bilateral massive pulmonary embolism. The patient was treated successfully with thrombolytic drugs.


We present a methodology for the creation, manipulation and transmission of 3D anatomical models starting from stacks of medical images. The anatomical information for the models is first segmented from the images and then used by a surface reconstruction algorithm to create 3D meshes that accurately represent the surface of the organs being modeled. The meshes are then ex-ported in an open format for manipulation in a graphics platform. Using high-end graphics algorithms we render and texture-map our meshes. We can also deform the meshes and assign physical and material properties to them. Our models can be used for virtual reality applications and can also be transmitted over the Internet for remote interactive visualization and retrieval.


The styryl dye (E)-2-[3-[4-(diphenylamine) phenyl]-1-(p-tolyl)-allylidene]-malononitrile (DFTAM) was prepared by Knoevenagel condensation using homogeneous and surface bound amino catalysts. The catalysis by surface bound piperazine allowed the study of the condensation reaction at a single molecule (SM) level using total internal fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). The turnover rate of the surface catalyst is dependent on the presence of the byproduct water of the condensation reaction. The addition of zeolite particles as water traps improves the catalytic activity indicated by the highest number of emissive centers mapped with super resolved fluorescence imaging and longest intensity-time trajectories showing SM bursting events. This particular condensation reaction highlights the applicability of the method to study multi-step organic reactions in the condensed phase in which the product is a fluorescent species.


Microplastics (MPs, <5 mm in size) are a grave environmental concern. They are a ubiquitous persistent pollutant group that has reached into all parts of the environment — from the highest mountain tops to the depths of the ocean. During their production, plastics have added to them numerous chemicals in the form of plasticizers, colorants, fillers and stabilizers, some of which have known toxicity to biota. When released into the environments, MPs are also likely to encounter chemical contaminants, including hydrophobic organic contaminants, trace metals and pharmaceuticals, which can sorb to plastic surfaces. Additionally, MPs have been shown to be ingested by a wide range of organisms and it is this combination of ingestion and chemical association that gives weight to the notion that MPs may impact the bioavailability and toxicity of both endogenous and exogenous co-contaminants. In this mini-review, we set the recent literature within what has been previously published about MPs as chemical carriers to biota, with particular focus on aquatic invertebrates and fish. We then present a critical viewpoint on the validity of laboratory-to-field extrapolations in this area. Lastly, we highlight the expanding 'microplastic universe' with the addition of anthropogenic particles that have gained recent attention, namely, tire wear particles, nanoplastics and, bio-based or biodegradable MPs, and highlight the need for future research in their potential roles as vehicles of co-contaminant transfer.


Smart MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) in the form of integrated sensors and actuators offer significant potential for many rotorcraft applications. Sensing of flex beam deflection and acceleration, ice formation and deicing are major candidate areas where smart conformal MEMS based sensors can be exploited by the rotorcraft community. The major technical barrier of the present day smart structures technology is the need for wired communication between sensors and actuators in the rotating system and controllers, data storage units,a nd cockpit avionics. Many proposed sensors and actuators are commonly distributed either along the blade length or, in the active flap devices, out near the 75% blade radial station. Also they are not conformed to the airfoil shape of the rotor blades. The communication between rotating and fixed systems is typically accomplished using complex slip ring assemblies transferring electronic information down through the rotor shaft. Although advances have been made in wired communication, these complex assemblies are essentially similar to test hardware and present numerous reliability and maintainability limitations when implemented on a production scale. Considering these limitations, development of a wireless means of communication through a new generation of conformal sensors with built-in antenna, akin to telemetry, could have a dramatic beneficial payoff for rotorcraft applications.


The paper describes the main stages of the development process of the DIWIDE distributed debugger. After the description of the predecessors of DIWIDE the paper focuses on the macrostep technique. Recent development enables the user to systematically debug and test message passing parallel programs. The adoption of the macrostep technique raised some unforeseen problems coming from the requirements defined by the concept of collective breakpoints and macrostep execution. The modifications of the macrostep theory, solutions for controlling problems and some additional problems are detailed as well. An algorithm is shown how the macrostep technique is realised and the systematic debugging method supported by monitoring system is also described in this paper.


Background Traffic events where motorcyclists are involved are a phenomenon increasingly frequent in Mexico. The use of less fuel and the practical to drive this vehicle makes the motorcycle a convenient mean of transport for a large sector of the population. For this reason, the objective is to analyse the associated factors to severe injuries of motorcyclists involved in traffic events in the Guadalajara metropolitan area and the municipality of Zapotlanejo in Jalisco, Mexico. Methods This is a cross-sectional study made to injured motorcyclists in the Guadalajara metropolitan area and the municipality of Zapotlanejo who were care in the Antiguo Hospital Civil de Guadalajara "Fray Antonio Alcalde". The people selected were drivers or occupants of the motorcycle crashed, of any sex and age and the traffic event in what they were involved. A model of logistic regression was performed, which included the above variables with a p = Results The risk factors for severe injuries were: the motorcycle does not work correctly before the accident (OR 76.89, 2.08–2839.25), the motorcyclist deemed to have committed a traffic violation at the time of the event (OR 6.88, 1.30–36.26), the injured resident in the Guadalajara metropolitan area (OR 7.58, 1.15–50.17), drive a motorcycle unknowing if was "salvage" or not (OR 6.88, 1.30–36.26). The factors that reduce the risk were: drive other motorcycle except Italika (OR 0.06, 0.008–0.41) and have had the crash in a straight road or in a crossroad (OR 0.10, 0.02–0.61). Conclusions There are elements of the motorcyclist, the motorcycle and the physical environment that increase or decrease injury severity of motorcyclists without health insurance. For this public health problem could be necessary promote and create more awareness about road safety in motorcyclists. Not only promote the use of helmet, require support other recommendations about motorcycle and physical environment.


In this paper we introduce a robust matching technique that allows very accurate selection of corresponding feature points from multiple views. Robustness is achieved by enforcing global geometric consistency at an early stage of the matching process, without the need of subsequent verification through reprojection. The global consistency is reduced to a pairwise compatibility making use of the size and orientation information provided by common feature descriptors, thus projecting what is a high-order compatibility problem into a pairwise setting. Then a game-theoretic approach is used to select a maximally consistent set of candidate matches, where highly compatible matches are enforced while incompatible correspondences are driven to extinction.


The protests in Seattle and Genoa embody the growing controversy surrounding the World Trade Organization (WTO). The popular protest, which is echoed in the academic literature, centers on the tension between the free trade commitment of the General Agreement on the Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and domestic policies regarding such matters as environmental, health, consumer, and labor protection. The WTO and its related dispute resolution bodies have increasingly been confronted with challenges by importing trade partners claiming that environmental and health regulations violate multilateral international trade commitments. In a series of cases adjudicated by early GATT panels (pre-1995), and the newly formed WTO dispute settlement bodies (post-1995), an emerging jurisprudence has developed a framework for resolving such conflicts. In this article we illustrate how this jurisprudential framework, and the cases that comprise it, articulate and apply an anti-discrimination norm that pervades the GATT. In applying the GATT's anti-discrimination norm, the WTO's jurisprudence strikes a balance between "free trade" and its sovereign members' pursuit of non-trade interests, some of which openly conflict with liberalized trade practices. This balancing accords with the fundamental structure of the GATT as a "negative integration" treaty, the character of which necessarily constrains the WTO's ability to undermine the sovereign policy choices of its contracting parties, particularly when those policy choices implicate public interest regarding values such as environmental and public health protection. If properly articulated and applied, we argue, the anti-discrimination jurisprudence of the WTO embodies a legitimate application of the trade principles by which the GATT contracting States agreed to be bound. In other words, the democratic legitimacy and other concerns raised by the protests and the general malaise associated with what has been loosely termed "globalization" are not implicated by the cases under review. While the liberalization of free trade raises highly complicated and legitimate concerns for domestic agendas on environmental health and other issues, the WTO anti-discrimination norm may root out protectionism, up to the point where the GATT intended domestic sovereignty to preempt supranational intrusion. That is not to say that the GATT is a wonderfully functioning treaty that does not implicate any concern for domestic sovereignty. The negative integration feature of GATT is a double-edged sword. At the same time as it shelters domestic measures from aggressive judicial review, it permits States to choose low levels of regulatory protection and uses this regulatory comparative advantage to attract manufacturers. How to address this and other problems associated with economic globalization lies beyond the scope of this Article, but is the subject of a forthcoming article.


"Essential Methods for Design Based Sample Surveys" presents key method contributions selected from the volume in the "Handbook of Statistics: Sample Surveys: Design, Methods and Applications, Volume 29a" (2009). This essential reference provides specific aspects of sample survey design, with references to important contributions and available software. The content is aimed at researchers and practitioners who use statistical methods in design based sample surveys and market research. This book presents the core essential methods of sample selection and data processing. The data processing discussion covers editing and imputation, and methods of disclosure control. This reference contains a large variety of applications in specialized areas such as household and business surveys, marketing research, opinion polls and censuses. It delivers a thorough overview of the methods of statistical sample survey design in a wide range of applications. It provides a one-stop review of modern methods in statistical sample survey design. It presents essential statistics methods of sample selection and data processing.


BACKGROUND
Airway structure changes, termed as airway remodeling, are common in asthma patients due to chronic inflammation, which can be assessed by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Considering the controversial conclusions in the correlation of morphologic abnormalities with clinical feature and outcome, we aimed to further specify and evaluate the structural abnormalities of Chinese asthmatics by HRCT.

METHODS
From August 2012 to February 2015, outpatients with asthma were recruited consecutively in the Asthma Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Standard HRCT and pulmonary function test (PFT) were performed to collect information of bronchial wall thickening, bronchial dilatation, mucus impaction, emphysema, mosaic perfusion, atelectasis, and spirometric parameters. We reported the incidence of each structural abnormality in HRCT and compared it among different asthmatic severities.

RESULTS
A total of 123 asthmatics were enrolled, among which 84 (68.3%) were female and 39 (31.7%) were male. At least one structural abnormality was detected by HRCT in 85.4% asthmatics, and the incidence of bronchial wall thickening, bronchial dilatation, mucus impaction, emphysema, mosaic perfusion, and atelectasis was 57.7%, 51.2%, 22%, 24.4%, 5.7% and 1.6%, respectively. The incidences of bronchial wall thickening, bronchial dilation and emphysema were significantly increased by asthma severity (P<0.05), while incidences of mucus impaction (26/27, 96.30%), mosaic perfusion (6/7, 85.71%) and atelectasis (2/2, 100%) were mainly found in severe asthma. We found a longer asthma history (28.13±18.55 years, P<0.001, P=0.003), older age (51.30±10.70 years, P=0.022, P=0.006) and lower predicted percentage of forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1%) (41.97±15.19, P<0.001, P<0.001) and ratio of forced expiratory volume to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) (48.01±9.55, P<0.001, P<0.001) in patients with severe bronchial dilation compared with those in none and mild bronchial dilation. A negative correlation was also found between the extent of bronchial dilation and FEV1% as well as FEV1/FVC (r=-0.359, P=0.004; r=-0.266, P=0.035, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
The incidences of structural abnormalities detected by HRCT are fairly high in Chinese asthma populations, especially the bronchial wall thickening and bronchial dilation, which are significantly increased in severe asthma, and are potential risk factors of pulmonary function decline in asthmatics.


Seals help gather information on some of the harshest environments on the planet, through the use of miniaturized ocean sensors glued on their fur. The resulting data – gathered from remote, icy seas over the last decade – are now freely available to scientists around the world from the data portal http://www.meop.net.

The Polar oceans are changing rapidly as a result of global warming. Ice caps in Antarctica and Greenland are melting, releasing large quantities of freshwater into surface waters. The winter sea ice cover is receding in the Arctic and in large areas of the Southern Ocean, which promotes further warming. Southern winds are intensifying for reasons that are not fully understood. To understand the changing marine environment, it is necessary to have a comprehensive network of oceanographic measurements. Yet, until recently, the harsh climate and remoteness of these areas make them extremely difficult to observe. Diving marine animals equipped with sensors are now increasingly filling in the gaps.

When diving animals help us to observe the oceans
Since 2004, hundreds of diving marine animals, mainly Antarctic and Arctic seals, were fitted with a new generation of Argos tags developed by the Sea Mammal Research Unit of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland (Fig. 1). These tags can be used to investigate simultaneously the at-sea ecology (displacement, behaviour, dives, foraging success...) of these animals while collecting valuable oceanographic data (Boehme et al. 2009). Some of these species are travelling thousands of kilometres continuously diving to great depths (590 ± 200 m, with maxima around 2000m). The overall objective of most marine animal studies is to assess how their foraging behavior responds to oceanographic changes and how it affects their ability to aquire the resources they need to survive. But in the last decade, these animals have become an essential source of temperature and salinity profiles, especially for the polar oceans. For example, elephant seals and Weddell seals have contributed 98 % of the existing temperature and salinity profiles within the Southern Ocean pack ice. The sensors are non-invasive (attached to the animal's fur, they naturally fall off when the animal moults) and the only devices of their kind that can be attached to animals.

MEOP: an international data portal for ocean data collected by marine animals
The international consortium MEOP (Marine mammals Exploring the Ocean Pole-to-pole), originally formed during the International Polar Year in 2008-2009, aims to coordinate at the global scale animal tag deployments, oceanographic data processing and data distribution. The MEOP consortium includes participants from 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany, Greenland, Norway, South Africa and Sweden). The MEOP consortium is associated with GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System), POGO (Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans), and SOOS (Southern Ocean Observing System). At the European level, the European Animal-Borne Instrument (ABI) EuroGOOS Task Team is about to be launched to facilitate and promote the use of animal-borne instruments. Over 300,000 oceanographic profiles (i.e. representing 1/3 of the total number of Argo profiles) collected by marine biologists have already been made freely available to the international community through the MEOP data portal (Fig. 2). This so-called MEOP-CTD database is a significant contribution to the observation of the world ocean that can be used to conduct regional Polar studies.

The MEOP-CTD database of animal-derived temperature and salinity profiles
An increasing number of studies now show the importance of these remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean, which are so difficult to observe. For example, more than 90% of extra heat in the Earth system is now stored in the oceans and the Southern Ocean in particular is a key site for understanding the uptake of heat and carbon. MEOP provides several thousand oceanographic profiles per year helping us to close gaps in our understanding of the climate system. Instrumented animals complement efficiently other existing observing systems, such as Argo buoys, providing data in sea-ice covered areas and on high-latitude continental shelves. Recent published work (Roquet et al. 2013; Roquet et al. 2014) has shown how important such observations are in predicting ice cover and mixed layer depth in large parts of the oceans where the observations were made. The inclusion of these data should improve significantly the quality of the projections provided by ocean-climate models. All these data are now available into a format file (Argo standard format) easily usable by oceanographers and accessible via the MEOP portal where it can be freely and easily downloaded by users (national data centers, researchers...) with a guaranteed quality level. This database is updated on an annual basis, and it has already been integrated into major oceanographic data centres including NODC, BODC and Coriolis.

Figures
Figure 1: Weddell seal carrying a SRDL-CTD instrument that collects temperature and salinity profiles while the animal is at sea (Credits: D. Costa).
Figure 2: Distribution of hydrographic data in the MEOPCTD database for the Southern Ocean sector (source: meop.net).

References
Boehme, L. et al., 2009. Technical Note: Animal-borne CTD-Satellite Relay Data Loggers for real-time
oceanographic data collection. Ocean Science, 5:685-695.
Roquet F. et al., 2013. Estimates of the Southern Ocean General Circulation Improved by Animal-Borne
Instruments. Geoph. Res. Letts., 40:1-5. doi: 10.1002/2013GL058304
Roquet F. et al., 2014. A Southern Indian Ocean database of hydrographic profiles obtained with instrumented
elephant seals. Nature Scientific Data, 1:140028, doi: 10.1038/sdata.2014.28


The deformation is the dominant factor of the quality of the road constructed on the soft soil foundation. Tianjin DongJiang port is located on the hydraulic filled soil foundation which is improved by using vacuum preloading method. Roads in this area often suffer wave type asymmetry settlement, which serious affects the usage of the road and causes damage to both vehicles and human being. It is found that the initial wave asymmetry deformation of the road on very soft soil foundation usually exists and will be developing continuously under the traffic load. The mechanism of the wavy failure of the road is discussed by establishing a mechanical model. The method of using geogrids to reduce the asymmetry deformation is proposed, the reinforce effect is analyzed using finite element method.


The practice of translation/interpreting is guided by a diversity of theories and so is the instruction of translation/interpreting, though arguably to a lesser extent. Yet, pedagogical assessment of translation, especially in relation to the assessment of translation works by students, mostly seem to fall into one kind, one which is overwhelmingly based on an imagined standard and concerned with accurate and adequate comformity to the standard. The author of this paper, while experimenting with game theory and problem-based learning in the teaching of translation and interpreting, has been rethinking the assessment process. As a result, he has developed what he sees as an alternative system of marking, one which he calls planbased assessment and which aims to mark a student's work/performance against the specific plans formulated by the individual student in conjunction with the instructor rather than against the imagined singular homogeneous standard imposed by an authority. He believes that this system is more conducive than the conventional standard-based assessment to the teaching of translation/interpreting in liberal arts education as it facilitates the development of subjectivity, vision, different learning styles, creative/critical thinking power, and problem-identifying and -solving skills. In this paper, he will discuss the characteristics of plan-based assessment system in comparison to those presumably comprising the conventional system. Comparison will also be made to the sort of assessment advocated by functional theories of translation as they inspired and informed the construction of plan-based assessment. The paper will conclude with a case study of the use of plan-based assessment.


Irish airline transport has created several distinct and significant types of economic benefit and income. Principal benefits have been created for clients; the passengers land the shipper, who uses air transport services. In addition, the airline industry has created connections between cities and markets globally that represent an important infrastructure asset which has lead to generating benefits such as foreign direct investment, business clusters, increased specialization and increase in the countrys economy productivity capacity. This project applies the aspect-based sentimental analysis approach and techniques to investigate whether these techniques can provide meaningful insights to enhance the performance of the Irish industry. In addition by analyzing twits and reviews, the project tackles the question of to what extend can analyzing of sentiments with respect to aspects become beneficial from customers perspective for them to be able to choose better airline service. The results of analyzed literature review are also presented. Based on identified gaps, several aspect based sentiment models are developed.


technologies, but also impacted by numerous factors not always easily accessible nor operationalised by designers in practice. This work seeks to facilitate the application of acceptance theory in design practice through the Technology Acceptance (TAC) toolkit: a novel theory-based design tool and method comprising 16 cards, 3 personas, 3 scenarios, a virtual think-space, and a website, which we evaluated through workshops conducted with 21 designers of health technologies. Findings showed that the toolkit revised and extended designers' knowledge of technology acceptance, fostered their appreciation, empathy and ethical values while designing for acceptance, and contributed towards shaping their future design practice. We discuss implications for considering user acceptance a dynamic, multi-stage process in design practice, and better supporting designers in imagining distant acceptance challenges. Finally, we examine the generative value of the TAC toolkit and its possible


Abstract. Climate change has far-reaching implications in permafrost-underlain
landscapes with respect to hydrology, ecosystems, and the population's
traditional livelihoods. In the Lena River catchment, eastern Siberia,
changing climatic conditions and the associated impacts are already
observed or expected. However, as climate change progresses the question
remains as to how far we are along this track and when these changes will
constitute a significant emergence from natural variability. Here we
present an approach to investigate temperature and precipitation time
series from observational records, reanalysis, and an ensemble of
65 climate model simulations forced by the RCP8.5 emission scenario. We
developed a novel non-parametric statistical method to identify the time of
emergence (ToE) of climate change signals, i.e. the time when a climate
signal permanently exceeds its natural variability. The method is based on
the Hellinger distance metric that measures the similarity of probability
density functions (PDFs) roughly corresponding to their geometrical
overlap. Natural variability is estimated as a PDF for the earliest period
common to all datasets used in the study (1901–1921) and is then compared
to PDFs of target periods with moving windows of 21 years at annual and
seasonal scales. The method yields dissimilarities or emergence levels
ranging from 0 % to 100 % and the direction of change as a continuous
time series itself. First, we showcase the method's advantage over the
Kolmogorov–Smirnov metric using a synthetic dataset that resembles signals
observed in the utilized climate models. Then, we focus on the Lena River
catchment, where significant environmental changes are already apparent. On
average, the emergence of temperature has a strong onset in the 1970s with
a monotonic increase thereafter for validated reanalysis data. At the end
of the reanalysis dataset (2004), temperature distributions have emerged by
50 %–60 %. Climate model projections suggest the same evolution on
average and 90 % emergence by 2040. For precipitation the analysis is
less conclusive because of high uncertainties in existing reanalysis
datasets that also impede an evaluation of the climate models. Model
projections suggest hardly any emergence by 2000 but a strong emergence
thereafter, reaching 60 % by the end of the investigated period (2089).
The presented ToE method provides more versatility than traditional
parametric approaches and allows for a detailed temporal analysis of
climate signal evolutions. An original strategy to select the most
realistic model simulations based on the available observational data
significantly reduces the uncertainties resulting from the spread in the
65 climate models used. The method comes as a toolbox available at
https://github.com/pohleric/toe_tools (last access: 19 May 2020).


Doctors in the United Kingdom are to take industrial action for the first time in nearly 40 years after the majority voted in favour of action to defend their pensions.

Doctors will provide urgent and emergency care only and postpone all non-urgent cases for 24 hours on 21 June, with the possibility of further action once the impact of the first day has been assessed.

Doctors are disputing government plans to increase the amount they need to pay into their pension, abolish final salary pensions in favour of a career average scheme, and increase the normal pension age in line with state retirement age.

The BMA argues that the NHS pension scheme was made fair and affordable during reform in 2008 and provides a surplus to the treasury of £2bn a year.

"The government's unnecessary wholesale changes to the recently reformed NHS pension scheme cannot be justified," said Hamish Meldrum, chairman of council at the BMA. "The government has effectively torn up a fair, sustainable, and affordable deal on NHS pensions reached …


This thesis examines the concepts and visual strategies employed within the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century curiosity cabinet – here defined as privately-owned European collections of extraordinary objects – to represent the world. This research also examines how these concepts and strategies are paralleled in contemporary art practice from 1990 to the present in Europe and the USA. As such, it challenges traditional museological interpretations of the cabinet as a mere proto-museum, as well as the notion that the cabinet is obsolete as a form of cultural practice.
This thesis primarily focuses upon Northern European collecting practice from c. 1540 - c. 1660, and draws upon artworks, objects and collections as illustrative examples. The thesis also offers a new translation of parts of a seminal text in the history of early collections: Samuel Quiccheberg's Inscriptiones Vel Tituli Theatri Amplissimi (1565), included in the Appendix.
During the last two decades, there has been a resurgence of scholarly interest in the cabinet, yet perspectives on early collections remain limited – often to a single interpretive lens. Furthermore, scholarship on the nature of the cabinet's connections with and relevance to contemporary cultural practice is still in its infancy.
This thesis contends that the cabinet is best understood as a complex set of practices, related to but distinct from those of contemporary museums, and draws upon the Derridean concept of the spectre in order to demonstrate how the cabinet's practices are echoed within contemporary art practice at both a visual and conceptual level.
Ultimately, this thesis contributes a new historiography, theoretical perspective and methodological approach to the early modern cabinet, one which sets it in an appropriate historical context, but also considers the nature of its significance in the contemporary era.


Ultra-sharp tungsten probes fill a key role in science for allowing measurements and interactions at the nanoscale. However, their current method of fabrication is outdated, fundamentally limited in length, sharpness and consistency, and often referred to as an 'art'.
A new process of fabricating ultra-sharp tungsten probes known as 'Tungstate Sharpening' was invented. This electrochemical process utilises solely the WO42- by-product to create a gradient of etching which results in a sharpening effect. It was shown to electrochemically etch probes controllably over lengths from 0.5 – 4.5 mm with tip radii of 10 nm via a fully automated process. Tungstate sharpening overcomes many of the limitations of the previous methods as well as creating new opportunities for further research into electrosharpening.
Tungstate sharpening was improved to use bulk coulometry analysis which allows users to select specific probe lengths. The process was also modified to allow etching of five probes simultaneously, which is fundamentally impossible with conventional techniques. Furthermore, this batch process was improved with the application of a magnetic field that reduced fabrication time and inconsistencies. Flow simulations were conducted to confirm experimental observations of the electrode separation influence on turbulence within the electrochemical system, supporting the underlying theory and observations of the tungstate layer. Finally, this processing technique was expanded with various materials and shapes to demonstrate versatility. Razor blades with edge radii of 40 nm were produced demonstrating that electrosharpening is no longer limited to '1D' objects.
Another process was developed to fabricate carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a macroscopic material. 'Arc Assembly' was invented to explore the possibility of forming long chains of CNTs whilst maintaining the sp2 crystalline bonding within and between individual CNTs.
For the first time, dielectrophoresis was combined with arc discharges to form 'threads' of CNTs using the tungsten probes produced. The tungsten probes were applied as electrodes for dielectrophoresis of CNT chains and simultaneous arcing between them. Multiple high voltage circuits with outputs ranging from beneath the breakdown threshold and negative K(ω) up to 1000 V and 8 MHz were constructed and tested. Dispersed carbon nanotube mixtures for a variety of dielectric organic fluids, solvents and polymers were placed between the electrodes. The resulting phenomenon was the assembly of dielectrophoretic chains with arc-induced adhesion between nanotubes: termed as "Arc Assembly".
As Arc Assembly was developed, the CNT threads were analysed using scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman analysis. Observations were made of both amorphous and crystalline links between the CNTs, as well as embedded CNT chains within in-situ formed polymer composites. The process produced threads of carbon nanotubes up to 5 mm length, indicating that this may be a viable means of exploiting CNTs in every-day life.


We report on the ferroelectric domain evolution as a function of the depth of the surface of 100 μm thick bulk Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 (PZT) doped with 2% Nb. Ferroelectric domain imaging (FDI) was performed by piezoelectric detection assisted by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The depth evolution of the polarization orientation was obtained by repeated surface chemical etching followed by FDI. It was observed that backswitching mainly occurred close to 90° domain and grain boundaries. The depth of these domains was estimated to be about 500 nm. This indicates that nonpenetrating domains of opposite polarity can retain their polarization vector near the surface region without the help of a top electrode interface. It also supports the idea that they act as preferential nucleation sites for polarization reversal. We suggest that AFM FDI combined with proper etching methods could be used to construct a three-dimensional image of the whole domain structure by stacking two-dimensional images layer by layer.


Introduction. The development of new technology and reliable operation of radio systems requires knowledge of the scattering of radio waves by radar targets. For solids of complicated form there is no sufficiently accurate methods of calculation and their information about the RCS can be obtained by measuring. Therefore, along with the development of the theory of the case and the extensive experimental study of the scattering and diffraction of radio waves, which leads to the development of new methods for measuring the RCS. Theoretical statement. In theoretical statement presents a method of scale models of electrodynamic horn antennas, are presented on the basis of Maxwell's equations model to measure their radar cross-section (RCS). For validation of the results of the method of electrodynamic simulation in research scale RCS characteristics of horn antennas were fabricated and measured in these antennas decimeter wavelengths. The results of calculating and measuring the EPR two horn antennas have shown agreement with graphic precision that confirms receiving calculation method based on EPR measurements of VSWR. Conclusion. The proposed method of electrodynamic simulation and measurement method of horn antennas allows to estimate the RCS chart a broad sector of irradiation angles and reception. From a comparison of the RCS horn antenna with a matched load is short-circuited and may be determined potentially achievable degree of reduction. The value of the RCS horn antennas allows you to use them as measures of operating the RCS measurement units.


The Stephani universes that can be interpreted as an ideal gas evolving in local thermal equilibrium are determined. Five classes of thermodynamic schemes are admissible, which give rise to five classes of regular models and three classes of singular models. No Stephani universes exist representing an exact solution to a classical ideal gas (one for which the internal energy is proportional to the temperature). But some Stephani universes may approximate a classical ideal gas at first order in the temperature: all of them are obtained. Finally, some features about the physical behavior of the models are pointed out.


Abstract State-of-the-art baggage handling systems transport luggage in an automated way using destination coded vehicles (DCVs). These vehicles transport the bags at high speeds on a network of tracks. In this paper we consider the problem of controlling the route of each DCV in the system. In general this results in a nonlinear, nonconvex, mixed integer optimization problem which is usually very expensive in terms of computational effort. Therefore, we present an alternative approach for reducing the complexity of the computations by simplifying and approximating the nonlinear optimization problem by a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem. The advantage is that for MILP problems solvers are available that allow us to efficiently compute the global optimal solution. The solution of the MILP problem can then be used as a good initial starting point for the original nonlinear optimization problem. We use model predictive control (MPC) for solving the route choice problem. We also assess the performance of the proposed (nonlinear and MILP) formulations of the MPC optimization problem using a benchmark case study.


In this paper, we initiate an analytical tradeoff study between efficiency and fairness in the resource allocation problems in communication networks. We define metrics to measure efficiency and fairness and propose an upper bound relation between these two indices using convex optimization. In addition, defining a surface of efficiency and a surface of fairness, we propose a study of the trade-off using parametric programming and differential geometry.


The high levels of substrate doping needed in deep-submicrometer MOS devices affect device properties strongly. The authors present a detailed experimental study of high-doping effects on the threshold voltage, which is shown to be affected by the quantum-mechanical splitting of the energy levels in the conduction band. A simple expression to account for these effects is proposed and the consequences for device scaling and design are discussed. Furthermore, the increasing levels of substrate doping and high normal electric fields affect the channel mobility through Coulomb and surface-roughness scattering. Several empirical models for the surface mobility are compared with the characteristics of experimental devices. >


This paper deals with the nine-phase motor control algorithm development, mainly with its implementation in target hardware using MATLAB Simulink. This environment allows control algorithm design using model based approach and the subsequent automatic conversion of control algorithms into C code using Simulink Embedded coder which is then used in the inverter software. Field oriented control algorithm has been designed and tuned for this motor. Control algorithm has been tuned according to the measured motor parameters in simulations and then fine tuned on a real motor. The inverter control unit is based on AURIX Tricore microcontroller TC275. The code generation in Simulink has many settings. This paper analyses computational time depending on these settings. Potential problems with floating point math functions are outlined. Automatic code generation proves to be quick and easy tool for replacement of control algorithms or for fast control algorithm adaptation to different hardware.


A large number of theoretical and empirical studies is pointing out that the most successful business model of the future will be the co-operating organization which is embedded in strategic networks. This observation particularly holds true for highly fragmented industries such as tourism. As specific tourism services (e.g. accommodation, food, transportation, attractions, etc.) are usually delivered by many different (e.g. private and/or public sector) suppliers which are more or less specialized in the supply-chain of tourism services, the competitiveness of the whole tourism branch is closely tied-up with the willingness and the ability to co-operate and/or to build-up strategic alliances. The most important goals achieved through strategic alliances in tourism is given by the synergetic use of co-spezialized destination resources, the reaching of a critical mass of tourists, and finally, by the improvement of existing and the creation of new core-competencies within the tourism destination. The aim of this article is firstly to give a short overview of the main determinants for co-operative behaviour between independent business organizations. In particular, traditional barriers to build-up tourism clusters will be discussed systematically. The second part of the paper presents different existing opportunities to integrate particular value-chain areas of the health industry within tourism. For this purpose, empirical results from a tourism survey are presented, which clearly show a huge market potential for health related wellness products to be offered in alpine summer destinations. The concluding section deduces implications for a better defined co-operative horizon within and between various tourism sub-branches and the health industry.


Abstract Concern over insecticide resistance has led to the suggestion of spatially variable within-field management of Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say). Here we compare L. decemlineata spatial and temporal dynamics, and potato yield, in fields treated with a narrow perimeter (5.5 m) of systemic imidacloprid supplemented with spatially targeted sprays to untreated fields and to fields where all rows received the systemic. The systemic targeted immigrating individuals which, having acquired the field through either flight or walking, first established themselves in the outer 5.5 m of the field. The perimeter treatment (≈25% of field area) reduced mean densities with no effect on timing of peak densities. Immigrating adults established similar spatial trends in both perimeter and untreated fields. Although trends in F1 larval densities have been shown to follow the patterns established by immigrating adults, trends in the F1 larval densities of the perimeter treatments diverged from adult patterns and developed highest densities in field centers. Immigrating adults had little to no spatial dependence in the covariance structure in any treatments. Spatial dependence in the covariance structure of F1 larval and F1 adult populations developed as density increased in both perimeter and untreated fields, with a tendency for increasing spatial dependence in perimeter fields, though this was not statistically significant. Comparing the perimeter to untreated fields, yields increased at a proportion that was higher than the proportion of land area treated, but remained significantly lower than the whole-field treatment. These results suggest that the perimeter tactic has promise as a site-specific resistance management program, but that refinement of border width is needed to optimize trade-offs among yield, quality, and long-term maintenance of susceptibility.


209 Abstract The incidence of ischemic stroke among young adults is rising. Young individuals remain at high risk for recurrent stroke. As these patients generally still have a life expectancy of decades ahead, it is essential to find and educate them about the risk factors and causes of stroke to possibly prevent future vascular disease. One important but often missed cause of stroke in a young adult is Takayasu's Arteritis. Takayasu's Arteritis is a rare disease affecting the aorta and its main branches, causing arterial claudication and end-organ ischemia, including stroke. The etiology is unknown but is believed to be autoimmune. Early in the disease course, non-specific constitutional symptoms such as fever, malaise, and weight loss may occur this makes it a diagnostic challenge. Although, Takayasu's Arteritis generally follows an insidious course, acute presentation with visual loss or stroke may also occur. It can be adequately treated if it is identified early. We describe a case of a 20-year-old officer cadet of Bangladesh Military Academy with no significant medical history who presented with acute ischemic stroke with right sided hemiplegia. He was evaluated as a young stroke case. Clinical examination revealed weak pulse in left upper limb and both carotids. Carotid bruits were also noted. CT angiogram findings revealed classical findings of Takayasu's Arteritis. He responded well with steroid and immunosuppressive agent (Methotrexate). However, ultimately he could not be retained in service because of extremely strenuous nature of training, residual disability and chronic progressive and incurable nature of the disease.


: The symmetry of Earths life cover (Geomerida) was described generally by L.A. Zenkevich (1948). It coincides with the symmetry of geographic cover. Its symmetry elements are equatorial plane and three meridonal planes corresponded to oceans and continents. The hypsographic curve with point of inflection (symmetry element) on 3 km depth line should be added to these elements. The plankton and benthos communities as well as fauna of taxons are distributed symmetrically according these symmetry elements. Zenkevich model was successfully extrapolated to plankton by K.V. Beklemishev (1967, 1969) and to abyssal benthos by Sokolova M.N. (1986). The plankton communities inhabiting symmetrically located macrocirculations are considered as homologous. The character of circulation determines the trophic structure of plankton and benthos. In the case of high productivity of plankton, benthic grazing animals feed on sedimented particles have bilateral symmetric mouthpart. Otherwise they have to acquire food from water column and use cyclomeric mouthpart. Thus, the symmetry of macrocirculations determines the symmetry distribution of benthic animals with two major symmetries of mouthparts. The peculiarities of organisms' symmetry are discussed in the context of Pierre Curie principle and the ideas of K.V. Beklemishev concerning evolution of morphological axes.


Silver is one of the oldest known natural antimicrobial materials, the active form being the Ag+ ion, which disrupts critical cell functions in bacteria. Reducing the size of silver particles to the nanoscale regime increases the surface area and hence the availability of silver ions, thereby enhancing their potential antimicrobial efficacy relative to their bulk counterparts. Nanoparticulate silver systems have been used as antimicrobial agents for medical device applications such as bandages, wound dressings, surgical masks, endotracheal tubes, and catheters. However the surface onto which the silver nanoparticles are deposited will impact the availability of Ag+ ions due to the chemistry of the substrate surface and its affinity for silver ions. The effect of substrate material on the efficacy of nanoparticulate silver will be discussed, along with the implications of materials selection in medical device applications.


We study the impact of sovereign market tensions on the real economy through the bank lending channel. Using a large matched bank-firm panel data set that tracks credit relations in Italy over the period 2009-2011, we show that the Greek bailout in the spring of 2010 had a negative impact on the riskiness of government securities held in the portfolio of financial intermediaries, which in turn led to a tightening in credit supply to firms. Firms, especially riskier ones, were unable to smooth out the credit shortage. We estimate that the shock to sovereign bonds led, via the lending channel, to a drop in aggregate bank lending to corporations of almost 2 percent over the subsequent year which translated in a reduction of investment by smaller firms.


DRUGS and antitachycardia devices provide useful palliative therapy for many arrhythmias. Definitive treatment of tachycardias has previously required surgery, ranging from cervical sympathectomy for patients with long QT interval syndromes to open heart surgery for most other arrhythmias. Interest in the possibility of the use of intracardiac catheter electrodes for delivery of destructive electrical energy to the tachycardia site is not new,' but a series of recent animal studies2` has laid the groundwork for clinical application of the technique. The possibility of a "nonsurgical cure" is very appealing. Although the final role of this experimental form of therapy remains undetermined, there are sufficient data to justify continuing investigation, and to anticipate an increase in clinical applications. Several types of ablation are under investigation, including electric shock (fulguration), laser, radiofrequency, and others. Fulguration has thus far received the most attention. In this article, "ablation" will mean "fulguration" unless otherwise indicated. Catheter ablation may be directed either at the tachycardia focus or circuit, or at an atrioventricular conduction pathway. The technique requires detailed electrophysiologic investigation by experienced physicians, not only because of immediate potential dangers, but because irreversible changes may be produced that could affect the rest of the patient's life. For example, ablation of the atrioventricular conduction system commits the patient to a lifetime of cardiac pacing.


The physiological growth of length and weight variables and the general welfare of Hepsetus odoe in Ogbomoso reservoir were investigated. The relationship regression coefficient indicated that the fish sampled showed algometric growth with regression factor of 0.88 in the natural population of fish. The mean K for 133 specimens was 1.5, while 1.5 and 1.6 were K based on sexes (male and female) respectively. Also, 1.789 ± 0.44 (F IV) and 1.880 ± 0.31(M IV) were the highest means K in female and male gonad development stages. The general well being of the sampled fish is affected by both gonads maturity and sexes (p>0.05) while habitat affinity, seasonal variations and size range do not (p<0.001).


A new algorithm for computing the nonorthogonal joint diagonalization of a set of matrices is proposed for independent component analysis and blind source separation applications. This algorithm is an extension of the Jacobi-like algorithm first proposed in the joint approximate diagonalization of eigenmatrices (JADE) method for orthogonal joint diagonalization. The improvement consists mainly in computing a mixing matrix of determinant one and columns of equal norm instead of an orthogonal mixing matrix. This target matrix is constructed iteratively by successive multiplications of not only Givens rotations but also hyperbolic rotations and diagonal matrices. The algorithm performance, evaluated on synthetic data, compares favorably with existing methods in terms of speed of convergence and complexity.


This paper designs the physical model as geological conditions of XinZhi mine 2204 face of Huozhou Bureau of Mines in Shanxi province, it simulates the formation process and distribution of the mining rock fracture using simulation experiment of similar material, and researches the evolvement law of rock's fracture network in caving zone, fractured zone using fractal geometry theory. The conclusion of the experiment indicates: with the advance of the working surface, the rock fracture develops from bottom to top, the different fracture network forms corresponds to the different push distance of the working surface, the latter network piles up the previous network, mining makes more complex distribution of rock fractures. The amount of overlying strata separation is three-stage separation law of development, including Initiating phase separation, Expansion phase separation and closed phase separation. Critical layer to any point along the separation experienced by the small → large → small and stable process of change. At the same time, the fractal dimension of the mining rock fracture goes through small to large, under the identical mining width, the fractal dimension of fractured zone is caving zone of 80% to 90%, at last, when the mining work is finished, the fractal dimension dropped to a more stable value.


With the down of Quresh of Makkah and other non-believers stood against Islam and started propagations against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). In the result of propagation Non-believers attacked on Muslims and Prophet himself also.To save Muslims and Islam from their propagation Prophet fought wars against them in self-defence. During life span of Prophet (peace be upon him) 86 deputations were sent, these are called 'sirya سریہ' and in which expeditions Prophet himself took part these are called 'Ghazwat غزوات', total ghazwat are 28. Westerns still are propagating that Islam spread with these wars. Prophet (peace be upon him) attacked non-Muslims and compelled them to accept Islam, this is the only cause of spreading of Islam. There is nothing in bottom of this propagation. If we consider the history and autobiography of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and review this propagation critically. We find that these wars were fought only in self-defense, to protect innocent and poor people and keep peace in the territory.


There has been increasing recognition of the detrimental impact of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) on the health of Americans, and yet there is no common national program of public PAD education designed to diminish this impact. To heighten awareness of this problem, a 2-day PAD Public Education Strategy Meeting was recently attended by representatives of 17 professional societies and public health associations whose missions support the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of vascular diseases. This Public Education Strategy Meeting was intended to provide the rationale and structure to create a national PAD public awareness campaign to diminish the health impact of PAD, and to improve cardiovascular outcomes in the USA. This paper: (1) provides the rationale for creation of a national PAD public education program; (2) reviews the development and success of national hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and Women's Heart Health public education programs as models of educational efficacy; (3) elucidates how the work of many vascular professionals has led to a national consensus for creation of a national PAD public educational program; (4) provides an overview of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute PAD education meeting; and (5) outlines the 'next steps' required to accomplish these goals. This meeting achieved consensus that we share responsibility for developing accurate, unified messages to promote PAD awareness and improved care. Participants agreed that the creation of such messages should be linked to plans to disseminate them to all Americans at risk. A consensus was reached that such messages, when commonly created and offered to the public, are most likely to achieve the rewards in better health that all Americans deserve. The Vascular Disease Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation whose mission includes public education regarding the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of PAD, will devote its resources to guide a new coalition in this process and to create a national PAD awareness campaign. During 2003 and 2004, the coalition will create the organizational underpinnings and timeline for what will undoubtedly be a multi-year effort. In conclusion, participants of the Public Education Strategy Meeting agreed to create a broad coalition to develop a national PAD public awareness program, with the objectives to develop and disseminate public education messages on PAD. A successful national PAD education program will contribute to the creation of a broader mandate to improve global cardiovascular health in the USA.