0173 For disease outbreak detection, the public-health community has historically relied on the watchful eyes of doctors and other health-care workers, who have reported individual cases or clusters of cases of particular diseases to healthcare and other authorities. The increased availability of electronic health-care data, however, raises the possibility of more automated and earlier outbreak detection and subsequent intervention. Besides diagnoses of known diseases, pre-diagnostic syndromic indicators— such as the primary complaints of patients coming to the emergency room or calling a nurse hotline—are being collected in electronic formats and could be analyzed if suitable methods existed. Martin Kulldorff and colleagues have been developing such methods, and now report a new and very fl exible approach for prospective infectious disease outbreak surveillance. Their method, which they call the "space–time permutation scan statistic," is an extension of a method called scan statistic. All previously developed scan statistics require either (i) a uniform population at risk (with the same number of expected disease cases in every square kilometer), (ii) a control group (such as emergency visits not due to the disease of interest), or (iii) other data that provide information about the geographical and temporal distribution of the underlying population at risk, such as census numbers. The new method, because of a different probability model, can be used for the early detection of disease outbreaks when only the number of cases is available. It also corrects for missing data and makes minimal assumptions about the spatiotemporal characteristics of an outbreak. To make it


Species composition of plankton ciliates was studied in the Curonian Lagoon in 2007–2008 and compared to long term investigations dating back to the 1980th. In total, 152 taxa were identified at the level of species or genera. More species (76 species/higher taxa) was found in the estuarine part of the Lagoon due to temporally unstable salinity and the presence of both freshwater and brackish/marine species. Some of the brackish/marine species: Tintinnopsis baltica, Tintinnopsis kofoidi, Cothurnia maritima, Lohmaniella oviformis, Lohmaniella spiralis and Helicostomella subulatum were recorded for the first time in the lagoon. The ciliate community at the freshwater sites was less diverse, containing 63 species/higher taxa in the central stagnant part of the Lagoon and 47 — in the Nemunas River avandelta. The comparison of present and past studies revealed that the use of a single live-counting method could lead to underestimation of small nanociliate species, whereas examination of Lugol fixed material provides relatively poor taxonomic information.


JRC "Baltika Breweries" is the leader of Russian beer market and one of the biggest beer producers in Europe. Creation of new beer brands is based not only on effective business processes, but also on operational perfection of all technological phases for the purpose of stable production quality, taking into account requirements of consumers. Quality function deployment (QFD) is the flexible decision-making method used in new products creation. QFD transforms requirements of clients (a voice of clients) to engineering characteristics of technology, places priorities for each product / services and simultaneously defines problems in the field of production or service development. Yeast basically defines taste and aroma properties of beer. As a result of auxotrofic segregant crossing with the parental strain lacking, mitochondrial DNA we selected the new hi-tech yeast strain, possessing a number of distinctive characteristics: good technological properties, decrease of sulfur substances production, efficient diacetyl reduction, high colloidal stability of beer. This strain was used to produce new sort of beer, serving for client requirements. The newly designed sort of beer got several International prices and brought 250 million dollars in 2007 for JRC "Baltika Breweries".


The rapid advancement of high speed networks has resulted in a significantly increasing number of network packets per second nowadays, implying network intrusion detection systems (NIDSs) need to accelerate the inspection of packet content to protect the computer systems from attacks. On average, the pattern matching process in a NIDS consumes approximately 70% of the overall processing time. The conventional Aho–Corasick (AC) algorithm, adopting a finite state machine to identify attack patterns in NIDSs, is too slow to meet the requirement of high speed networks. In view of this, several studies have used the features of a graphics processing unit (GPU) to improve the core searching process of the AC algorithm. For instance, parallel failureless Aho-Corasick (PFAC) algorithm improves the process of pattern matching effectively by removing backward branches in the original finite state machine created using the AC algorithm. In this way, boundary detection can be avoided totally if we allocate an individual thread to each byte of an input stream to identify any pattern starting at the thread's starting position. However, through analysis, we found that this algorithm experiences a serious load imbalance problem. Therefore, this paper proposes a two-phase PFAC algorithm to address the problem. A threshold is predefined to divide execution into two phases, and the failureless finite state machine is also decoupled into two parts accordingly. In the first phase, every thread identifies patterns by running the tiny part of the decoupled failureless finite state machine that are stored in fast shared memory. In the second phase, all the threads requiring further searching in a same block are regrouped into a few warps for less branch divergence. According to experimental results, the proposed algorithm shows a performance improvement of 50% compared to the PFAC algorithm.


Potentiodynamic polarization and impedance tests were carried out on 316L stainless steel with culturing murine fibroblast L929 cells to elucidate the corrosion behaviour of 316L steel with L929 cells and to understand the electrochemical interface between 316L steel and cells, respectively. Potential step test was carried out on 316L steel with type I collagen coating and culturing L929 cells to compare the effects of collagen and L929 cells. The open-circuit potential of 316L steel slightly shifted in a negative manner and passive current density increased with cells, indicating a decrease in the protective ability of passive oxide film. The pitting potential decreased with cells, indicating a decrease in the pitting corrosion resistance. In addition, a decrease in diffusivity at the interface was indicated from the decrease in the cathodic current density and the increase in the diffusion resistance parameter in the impedance test. The anodic peak current in the potential step test decreased with cells and collagen. Consequently, the corrosion resistance of 316L steel decreases with L929 cells. In addition, collagen coating would provide an environment for anodic reaction similar to that with culturing cells.


Background: The skin is one of the most affected organs in tuberous sclerosis complex and angiofibromas are seen in almost 80% of such patients. These benign tumors impose a great psycho-social burden on patients. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of topical sirolimus for facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Methods: This was a prospective, single-blinded, cross-over study which involved twelve patients. We investigated the effect and safety of topical 0.1% sirolimus, which was obtained by crushing sirolimus tablets and mixing it with petrolatum. The patients were asked to apply the cream to one side of their face, and vaseline to the other side. The effect of topical sirolimus was evaluated using the "facial angiofibroma severity index." Results: There was a significant improvement in the redness and extension of the tumors on the sides to which the active ingredient was applied. Some side effects such as itching and irritation occurred in three patients, which were treated with topical hydrocortisone cream. Conclusion: Topical sirolimus appears to be a promising, fairly well tolerated treatment for facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Although its efficacy diminishes with time, repetitive usage is effective.


In this paper, we investigate how to achieve a high-performance yet lightweight segmentation network for real-time applications. By analyzing three typical segmentation networks, we observe that the segmentation backbones and heads are often imbalanced which restricts network efficiency. Thus, we develop a lightweight context fusion (LCF) module and a lightweight global enhancement (LGE) module to construct our lightweight segmentation head. Specifically, LCF fuses multi-resolution features to capture image details and LGE is designed to enhance feature representations. In this manner, our lightweight head facilities network efficiency and significantly reduces network parameters. Furthermore, we design a Multi-Resolution Macro Segmentation structure (MRMS) to incorporate human knowledge into our network architecture composition. Given the resource-aware constraint (e.g., latency time), we optimize our network with network architecture search while considering the relationships among atomic operators, network depth and feature resolution in segmentation tasks. Since MRMS embeds the segmentation-specific knowledge, it also provides a better architecture search space. Our Human-Machine collaboratively designed Segmentation network (HMSeg) achieves better performance and faster inference speed. Experiments demonstrate that our network achieves 71.4% mean intersection over union (mIOU) on Cityscapes dataset with only 0.7M parameters at 172.4 FPS on NVIDIA GTX1080Ti.


A central result in the space geometry of closed twisted ribbons is Călugăreanu's theorem (also known as White's formula, or the Călugăreanu–White–Fuller theorem). This enables the integer linking number of the two edges of the ribbon to be written as the sum of the ribbon twist (the rate of rotation of the ribbon about its axis) and its writhe. We show that twice the twist is the average, over all projection directions, of the number of places where the ribbon appears edge-on (signed appropriately)—the 'local' crossing number of the ribbon edges. This complements the common interpretation of writhe as the average number of signed self-crossings of the ribbon axis curve. Using the formalism we develop, we also construct a geometrically natural ribbon on any closed space curve—the 'writhe framing' ribbon. By definition, the twist of this ribbon compensates its writhe, so its linking number is always zero.


Axonal degeneration within the spinal cord contributes substantially to neurological disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). Thus neuroprotective therapies that preserve axons, so that they maintain their integrity and continue to function, might be expected to result in improved neurological outcome. Sodium channels are known to provide a route for sodium influx that can drive calcium influx, via reverse operation of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, after injury to axons within the CNS, and sodium channel blockers have been shown to protect CNS axons from degeneration after experimental anoxic, traumatic, and nitric oxide (NO)-induced injury. In this study, we asked whether phenytoin, which is known to block sodium channels, can protect spinal cord axons from degeneration in mice with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE), which display substantial axonal degeneration and clinical paralysis. We demonstrate that the loss of dorsal corticospinal tract (63%) and dorsal column (cuneate fasciculus; 43%) axons in EAE is significantly ameliorated (corticospinal tract: 28%; cuneate fasciculus: 17%) by treatment with phenytoin. Spinal cord compound action potentials (CAP) were significantly attenuated in untreated EAE, whereas spinal cords from phenytoin-treated EAE had robust CAPs, similar to those from phenytoin-treated control mice. Clinical scores in phenytoin-treated EAE at 28 days were significantly improved (1.5, i.e., minor righting reflex abnormalities) compared with untreated EAE (3.8, i.e., near-complete hindlimb paralysis). Our results demonstrate that phenytoin has a protective effect in vivo on spinal cord axons, preventing their degeneration, maintaining their ability to conduct action potentials, and improving clinical status in a model of neuroinflammation.


Endotoxins evoke in mammals the same pattern of host responses regardless of their source, provided they are obtained from Gram-negative bacteria (1). In addition to the phenomena they elicit in common they also possess specific antigenic properties characteristic for each endotoxin. I t is generally agreed that these immunologic specificities are dominated by the polysaccharide moiety (2), which constitutes the greatest part of the isolated somatic antigens. I t is still a moot question whether the toxicity characteristic of the endotoxins is responsible for, or inextricably bound up with, their antigenicity. Although many attempts have been made, by physical or chemical means, to effect separation of these properties, this has not yet been achieved as regards removal of toxicity without concomitant loss of anfigenicity. Mammalian blood contains (3) a component capable of detoxifying endotoxins: under suitable conditions, interaction so alters them that they no longer (4) elicit their various toxic responses. Serum from most species exhibited little or no activity in vitro in this regard, but addition of citrate, or other calciumbinding agents, made it manifest; this activity was also made evident upon removal of divalent cation from the serum; addition of divalent cations suppressed it (5). This finding--that serum contains an "endotoxin-detoxifying component" (EDC) 1 which so alters these bacterial products that the host no longer responds


Synthetic aperture imaging radiometers (SAIRs) are powerful instruments for high-resolution observation of planetary surfaces at low microwave frequencies. This paper is concerned with the reconstruction of radiometric brightness temperature maps from SAIR interferometric measurements. Even in the absence of modeling errors and radiometric noise, a systematic error, or bias, has been observed in the reconstructed maps. The origin of this bias is analyzed and an efficient solution is proposed for reducing it. The core reconstruction procedure is not changed, and no additional measurements are needed. Throughout the scientific rationale, particular emphasis is laid on numerical simulations carried out for the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity space mission, a project led by the European Space Agency and devoted to the remote sensing of soil moisture and ocean salinity from a low-orbit platform


Your CCIE lab Success strategy (preview at www.2doubleccies.com) is a unique guidebook which has been written by two double CCIEs, and deals with the non-technical aspects of CCIE Lab exam. In addition it answers the following questions : Where and how do I start preparing for my CCIE Lab? How much time do I need to prepare for CCIE Lab exam? What are the dos and don'ts for the CCIE Lab? When do I know I am ready to take my CCIE lab? How do I study efficiently for the CCIE lab exam? How much time should I devote daily and on weekends for studying? What do I need to do Three months, Three weeks and the day before the lab? What do I need to do the day after the lab (in case I don't pass)? This first of its kind guidebook is a result of filtering and crystallizing all of the ideas and strategies that we collected from talking with a large number of CCIEs. In this guidebook we: Share our stories and stories of many successful CCIEs with you. Offer the knowledge that we have gained throughout our CCIE journey two times. Cover over 30 topics and issues that we have faced and that you will likely be facing. Will walk you through every step of the journey. Give you multiple timelines for engineers with different skill sets. Tell you the right frame of mind that you will need to pass your CCIE lab. This book is written in a very relaxing casual conversational format in which, we present to you the strategies that we used and then give our own personal example as "what we did." Each chapter is about 3 to 4 short pages right to the point with clear and precise answers to your questions. Please visit our website www.2doubleccies.com for Videos and more.


The study is a correlation study that unveiled the relationship between UBE training and teachers' quality in , Nigerian Public primary schools using Kwara State as a case study. It was the State that championed education reform in the country. All the 24 members of State School Improvement Team (SSIT) and 50 members of Quality Assurance Bureau (QAB) constituted by the Kwara State Government were used as samples..The Questionnaire tagged UBE Training and Teachers Quality Questionnaire (UTTQ) was used. Three (3) research hypotheses raised were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and chi-square statistics. The findings of the study were: that there was a significant relationship between SUBEB training workshop and teachers' quality; a significant relationship between training resources and quality of workshop training organized by State Universal Education Board (SUBEB), but there was no significant difference between the perceptions of SSIT and QAB on teachers' quality in Kwara State. However, the programme was not without its attendant challenges which include: delayed and inadequate supply of the training materials and poor remuneration of the trainers and trainees. It was suggested that more funds should be committed to the training programme, training materials supplied promptly and adequately. Indeed, training and re-training of teachers is a sine qua non for quality teaching in schools.


Because tumor progression is angiogenesis-dependent, angiogenesis density was investigated by immunohistochemistry and computed image analysis in bone marrow (BM) biopsies of 45 newly diagnosed patients with Binet stage A B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (BCLL) and correlated to upstaging and progression-free survival during a 40-month follow-up period. Their microvessel areas and counts were significantly higher than those of patients with anemia due to iron or vitamin B(12) deficiencies. A cutoff value of 0.90 mm(2) x 10(-2) or greater of the microvessel area identified patients with earlier upstaging and shorter progression-free survival. When the cutoff was applied to the Rai subclassification, both Rai 0 and Rai I-II patients who upstaged and shortened the progression-free survival were classified correctly. Information of this type was not given by the microvessel counts. The cutoff did not correlate with other predictors representative of tumor mass or disease progression. The microvessel area correlated with the expression of angiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by tumor tissue, and serum levels of VEGF were found to be of prognostic value. A causal relationship between risk of progression and BM angiogenesis in BCLL is suggested. A risk stratification inside Rai is proposed. The prognostic usefulness of BM angiogenesis in patients with BCLL is envisaged.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether socioeconomic groups differ in their food intakes for fruit and vegetables, their consumption of fruit and vegetables dense in vitamin A, folate and vitamin C, and their nutrient intakes of vitamin C, folate and vitamin A.

METHODS
The 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey collected food intake data from 8883 adults aged 18-64 years using a 24-h dietary recall. Fruit and vegetables were measured as amount (g) consumed. Intakes of nutrients were estimated from the 24-h dietary recall data. Participants were categorized by whether or not they consumed fruit or vegetables high in vitamin A, folate and vitamin C. Gross annual household income was used to measure socioeconomic position.

RESULTS
Participants from low-income households consumed a smaller quantity of fruit and vegetables. They were also less likely to consume fruit and vegetables high in vitamin C, folate and vitamin A. Consistent with these findings, men and women from disadvantaged socioeconomic groups had lower intakes of vitamin C and folate compared with their more affluent counterparts. These differences were small to moderate in magnitude. Vitamin A intakes were not significantly related to income.

CONCLUSION
As well as promoting healthy dietary practices, nutrition-promotion strategies should target the nutrient intakes of lower socioeconomic groups. These programmes should focus on improving the quantity and choice of fruit and vegetables consumed by people from low-income households.


The Rose Garden Axis is a strong formal element in the Morris Arboretum. My project proposes to redesign the final garden along the Rose Garden Axis, whose history included many transitions and redesigns and whose purpose essentially is to be a transition area from a formal axis to the less formal arboretum. A plant palette of glaucous colors to complement the Hamamelis collection would soften the visitor experience during this transition. This report includes the process: site history, site analysis, soil analysis, consultation with the Morris Arboretum's Executive Director, the Horticulture Committee Chair, the Curator, the Director of Education and Visitor Experience, and Chief Horticulturist, as well as reading former Intern Reports. Throughout this process, I have come to a richer understanding of public horticulture and of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. Disciplines Horticulture Comments An independent study project report by The Charles C. Holman Endowed Rose and Flower Garden Intern (2015-2016) This report is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/morrisarboretum_internreports/27 Title: Redesign of the Rose Garden Terminus Garden Author: Maya Czulewicz The Charles S. Holman Endowed Rose and Flower Garden Intern


Disk arrays can provide scalable bandwidth with increasing number of disks, but they do not address latency. In this paper, we study how to improve secondary storage read latency by systematically increasing the ratio between disk heads and usable capacity. The most direct technique is to build \faster" disks by altering disk geometry. In addition, as an alternative to building such disks, we also describe how we can emulate these faster disks using multiple conventional disks. We show that all these techniques are governed by a common principle that the overhead-independent part of the latency improves by a factor of the square root of the amount of extra resources. We evaluate some of these latency reduction techniques on a prototype implementation which we call MimdRAID. On a 12-disk system, for random reads, we achieve a 2 (cid:2) improvement in latency and 21 (cid:2) improvement in throughput compared to a single drive. This is 80% to 95% better than the throughput achieved on a conventional mirrored system.


When Congress enacted the federal supplemental-jurisdiction statute, it gave little or no consideration to how that law would operate when it intersected with the statutes governing removal of actions from the state to the federal courts. The enactment of 28 U.S.C. § 1367 posed a variety of questions concerning its effects on removability and remand, and concerning its application in removed cases generally. In this Article, I survey the issues that arise in the intersections between the removal and the supplemental-jurisdiction statutes, and examine the cases that have addressed these issues. I also look into whether and how the draft proposals of the American Law Institute ("ALI") Federal Judicial Code Revision Project ("Revision Project" or "Project") address those same issues, and at how they otherwise would alter the interactions between the removal/remand scheme and supplemental jurisdiction. I do want to emphasize, however, that the Project proposals, and particularly those concerning removal, are at a very preliminary stage. They should not be taken to reflect even the Reporter's own firm views and considered judgments, much less the views and judgments of ALI Advisers or members of the Consultative Group for this Project, ALI Council members, or the membership of the ALI generally. My intention here is to inform those unaware of this work in progress, and to help improve the final product, if I can. Both the pertinent present statutes and revisions proposed in Project drafts are set out in Appendices A and B, for the reader's convenience. Because of the breadth of the issues canvassed, this Article is not knit together by a unifying theme. I have, however, focused only on civil actions removed under the general removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1441, and on the provisions governing remands in such cases.


Three-dimensional models of compressional velocity and azimuthal anisotropy from tomographic inversions using 23,564 ocean bottom seismometer P wave arrivals define systematic lateral variations in seismic structure of the CoAxial segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge (JdFR). Over much of the segment the across-axis structure is roughly axisymmetric, characterized by a progressive increase in dike velocities moving away from the ridge axis. This trend is most apparent in the basal dikes, where on-axis velocities are about 800 m/s slower than those measured elsewhere within the rift valley. The on-axis sheeted dikes also exhibit ridge-oriented azimuthal anisotropy, with a peak-to-peak amplitude of about 600 m/s. Outboard of the rift valley, beneath ridge flanks with fault scarps, velocities in the upper 1500 m of crust are reduced. The maximum amplitude of this anomaly is about 700 m/s, located near the top of the sheeted dikes. Variations in the three-dimensional velocity model are believed to reflect changes in crustal porosity, from which we infer an axisymmetric porosity model for seismic layer 2 of the CoAxial segment. As the crust ages, the evolution of layer 2 porosity could occur in the following way: (1) the porosity of zero-age, on-axis dikes is set at formation by the contraction of molten material, (2) hydrothermal alteration fills pore spaces as the dikes move away from the center of the axial valley, and (3) normal faulting on the ridge flank scarps opens fractures and increases porosity of the upper dikes as they move off-axis. At the north end of the segment, dike velocities are several hundred meters per second slower, on average, and the across-axis structure is lost. The transition from a coherent, aligned seismic structure to a less distinct pattern with reduced velocities may represent a shift from magmatic to amagmatic extension moving away from the Cobb hotspot on the ridge axis. The porosity structure we have derived for the CoAxial segment suggests an alternative to the usual hydrothermal circulation model of cross-axis convection cells. A circulation model with along-axis convection cells located entirely within the axial valley appears to be more compatible with our data.


A European Prototype for Integrated Care (EPIC) was set up in the early nineties within one of the programmes sponsored by the European Commission. The system mainly consists of a shared care database in which each groups of facilities is supported by a local area network (LAN). Each LAN is connected over a wide area network to a central node. The system can manage telemedicine tools, such as telealarm and telecardiology equipment. One of the validation sites for EPIC was established in Savona (Italy). Subsequently, the system in Savona has gone through successful validation and increasing integration with the region's health and social care system. Maintenance and updating criteria of the system for routine use are described.


In 1993 BEB drilled two of the world`s deepest horizontal gas wells in the Zechstein and Rotliegend formations in northern Germany. The aim of the drilling projects was to increase profitability by achieving high production rates. By minimizing the number of production wells and usage of cluster locations, a reduction of field investment and operating costs should be attained. To achieve the objectives, the projects were planned in a multidisciplinary team. Based on reservoir descriptions, derived from 3D seismic various sensitivity runs were performed. The aim of the runs being to assess vertical permeability distribution and horizontal hole length. The application of advanced drilling and completion techniques resulted in an optimized well design from an economic point of view. Results of both wells proved that horizontal drilling into these deep reservoirs is technically feasible and economically attractive. A comparison of vertical drilling with horizontal drilling results in a 2 to 3 fold increase in the initial production rates with only a 1.3 to 1.4 times cost increase. Because of the promising results of the horizontal drilling program in 1993 a further seven new deep horizontal and two reentry wells were drilled in 1994. In the future, BEB`s standard well designmore » will be horizontal.« less


Purpose: The objective of this paper is to identify a typology of the factors that determine the professional career of women in managerial positions, based on the different contributions made to the literature. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review has been carried out, using Google Academic portal searches and ABI, SCOPUS and WOS databases, allowing the analysis of several articles. Findings: The professional career of women in managerial positions is determined by several factors that motivate or limit their professional development. These factors are commonly listed and described in the literature. However, there is no generally accepted classification of these factors. Therefore, as a result of this work, a typology is proposed that allows the classification of determining factors affecting the professional careers of women directors. Practical implications: This work has important future implications for researchers who intend to empirically contrast the proposed classification and analyze the factors in depth. It also has implications for business executives whose objective is to promote the role of women in positions of responsibility within organizations. Originality/value: This paper highlights the identification of the typologies that are necessary for the development of theories and research in the social sciences. It is important to categorize and describe factor classifications in order to understand them better, so as to be able to extrapolate a common theory for other research and to propose solutions in the business environment that allow breaking with the glass ceiling in senior management positions.


ABSTRACT This paper presents an exploratory study of English and Swedish teachers' perspectives on the role of homework in year-one children's learning of number. In order to ensure cultural integrity, data were analysed independently by two colleagues in each context. Analyses yielded three broad but cross-culturally common themes reflecting culturally situated notions of common sense. These concerned the existence of homework, the purpose of homework and the role of parents in homework's completion. While homework was unproblematic for all English teachers, half the Swedish cohort spoke against it, arguing that variation in home background would compromise principles of equity. All teachers who set homework, whether English or Swedish, spoke of homework as a means of supporting children at risk of falling behind their peers, a process by which children practice routine skills. English teachers' homework-related justifications were located in a discourse of target setting that was invisible in the Swedish.


Older parents of adults with intellectual disability are reported to be frequently isolated from the services designed to support their caregiving. The interaction between older parent caregivers' biographies and their involvement with the service system was examined. Parental status was predicted to be an explanatory mechanism for understanding the differential nature of their engagement with services. Analysis of interviews with 64 such caregivers of adults with intellectual disability revealed that their perceptions of their parental status were derived from a complex interaction of their values and beliefs, actions in relation to their adult child, constraints as well as resources available to them, and their relationships with service agencies. Implications for service delivery and directions for research are discussed.


Pregnancy has been found to be associated with a 4–5 fold increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), due to various physiological changes[1] and VTE has been the leading cause of direct maternal mortality in the UK over the past decade[2]. Management of VTE using an inferior vena cava (IVC) philtre is recommended by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in women in the perinatal period with iliac vein VTE to reduce the risk of PE, or with proven DVT and continuing PE despite adequate anticoagulation. However, little data currently exists on the safety of IVC philtres during pregnancy. Data were collected from women who underwent IVC philtre insertion for a VTE during pregnancy (January 2000 – September 2012) in the interventional radiology department at Central Manchester University Hospitals, Manchester. Nine patients were initially identified, of which six had complete delivery data available. 67% (n = 6) of patients had an acute VTE late in the third trimester, requiring philtre insertion and 56% (n = 5) also had a previous history of VTE. All patients delivered at term; one case was delivered by emergency caesarean section, and the remainder achieved vaginal deliveries. All infants were appropriately grown at birth and 83% (n = 5) had 5 minute APGAR scores of 10. There was one case of philtre retrieval failure. This case series is concordant with other similar series, and suggests no detrimental effects on pregnancy. However, more research is needed to evaluate the long-term safety profile of IVC philtre use in pregnancy. References Bourjeily et al. Pulmonary embolism in pregnancy. Lancet 2010;375(9713): 500–12. CEMACH, Confidental Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health. Perinatal Mortality 2005: England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 2007: London.


Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass for the International Space Station (ISS-CREAM) has taken 1.5 years of direct measurements of high-energy cosmic ray (HECR) particles for energies from 10$^{12}$ to 10$^{15}$ eV. HECR particle identification is significantly improved by tracking particle-detector interactions from the calorimeter (CAL) back to the Silicon Charge Detector (SCD) for charge determination. A track finding algorithm resistant to such issues as particle multiplicity, backscatter, and electronic noise will be outlined. Also, shown is the energy resolution improvement, and the resulting all particle spectrum, provided by ensuring good particle tracks. This allows ISS-CREAM to investigate how the energy distributions evolve, for protons all the way to iron nuclei, and will provide important information for models of galactic sources and HECR propagation.


AIDS, which is caused by the most widespread HIV-1 virus, attacks the immune system of the human body, and despite the incredible endeavors for finding proficient medication strategies, the continuing spread of AIDS and claiming subsequent infections has not yet been decreased. Consequently, the discovery of innovative medicinal methodologies is highly in demand. Some available therapies, based on peptides, proclaim the treatment for several deadly diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Since many experimental types of research are restricted by the analysis period and expenses, computational methods overcome the issues effectually. In computational technique, the peptide residues with anti-HIV-1 activity are predicted by classification method, and the learning process of the classification is improved with significant features. Rough set-based algorithms are capable of dealing with the gaps and imperfections present in real-time data. In this work, feature selection using Rough Set Improved Harmony Search Quick Reduct and Rough Set Improved Harmony Search Relative Reduct with Rough Set Classification framework is implemented to classify Anti-HIV-1 peptides. The primary objective of the proposed methodology is to predict the peptides with an anti-HIV-1 activity using effective feature selection and classification algorithms incorporated in the proposed framework. The results of the proposed algorithms are comparatively studied with existing rough set feature selection algorithms and benchmark classifiers, and the reliability of the algorithms implemented in the proposed framework is measured by validity measures, such as Precision, Recall, F-measure, Kulczynski Index, and Fowlkes–Mallows Index. The final results show that the proposed framework analyzed and classified the peptides with a high predictive accuracy of 96%. In this study, we have investigated the ability of a rough set-based framework with sequence-based numeric features to classify anti-HIV-1 peptides, and the experimentation results show that the proposed framework discloses the most satisfactory solutions, where it rapidly congregates in the problem space and finds the best reduct, which improves the prediction accuracy of the given dataset.


Introduction Venetoclax (ABT-199) is an approved BCL-2 inhibitor for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Multiple clinical trials are underway to explore its efficacy in additional indications. While venetoclax demonstrated high remission rates in combination with azacitidine in early stage clinical trials, the question of durability of responses and primary and acquired resistance remain, especially given the modest activity and rapid development of resistance as a single agent. One reported mechanism of intrinsic resistance is high expression of other BCL-2 family proteins, including MCL-1. We and others have demonstrated that the CDK9 inhibitor, alvocidib, can mediate transcriptional repression of anti-apoptotic MCL-1. It has also been shown that alvocidib can increase pro-apoptotic BIM, a dual activator and sensitizer BH3-only protein that can directly induce apoptosis and simultaneously inactivate anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family proteins such as MCL-1 and BCL-2, thus having the same effect on mitochondria-associated apoptosis as MCL-1 down-regulation, with the potential to directly induce apoptosis. An alvocidib-containing cytotoxic chemotherapy regimen demonstrated favorable remission rates in high-risk AML patients over standard therapy in a randomized Phase 2 trial indicating its potential role and safety in AML. We hypothesized that alvocidib and venetoclax would synergize against AML cells by shifting the overall balance of pro- and anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins in favor of apoptosis and thus represent a novel active treatment regimen in AML. Aims This study seeks to examine the efficacy of a treatment regimen containing alvocidib and venetoclax in multiple preclinical studies, including in vivo models of AML. Methods Cell viability assays interrogating alvocidib and venetoclax activity in cell lines were performed using CellTiter-Glo according to manufacturer9s protocol. mRNA/miRNA expression changes were assessed using standard RT-PCR technique. Protein expression changes were assessed using standard western immunoblotting technique. To assess the efficacy of an alvocidib and venetoclax combination on tumor growth in an in vivo model, the OCI-AML3 xenograft mouse model and ex vivo studies with AML patient samples were performed. Results Herein we demonstrate that alvocidib inhibits both mRNA and protein expression of MCL-1 in a time and concentration-dependent fashion in 3 out of 4 AML cell lines analyzed, while in cells where alvocidib did not reduce MCL-1 protein levels (i.e. MOLM-13) a dose-dependent decrease in miR17-92, and concomitant increase in BIM protein was observed after 24 hours of alvocidib treatment. The alvocidib-venetoclax combination resulted in very strong synergistic reductions of cell viability (with combination indices [CI] of 0.4 to 0.7), both in venetoclax-sensitive and resistant cells. The venetoclax-sensitive lines, MV4-11 and MOLM-13, exhibited 5- to 10-fold reduction of venetoclax EC50 values in the low nM range when combined with only 80 nM alvocidib. Importantly, venetoclax-resistant lines, OCI-AML3 and THP-1, exhibited at least 20-fold reduction of venetoclax EC50 values from near 1 µM to 10-50 nM, when combined with 80 nM alvocidib.In the venetoclax-resistant OCI-AML3 xenograft model, single agent alvocidib and venetoclax achieved tumor growth inhibition (TGI) of 9.7 and 31.5%, respectively, while the combination achieved 87.9% TGI at the same dose levels of individual drugs. Conclusions Taken together, our data suggest that the combination of alvocidib with venetoclax is highly synergistic in vitro and in vivo, in both venetoclax-sensitive and -resistant AML across a heterogeneous genomic background. The particularly high level of synergy achieved in venetoclax-resistant cell lines highlights the central importance of both BCL-2 and MCL-1-mediated cell survival in AML. Importantly, the addition of alvocidib to venetoclax treatment reduced IC50s to clinically achievable concentrations. Therefore, we conclude that an alvocidib/venetoclax combination may be a novel approach for the treatment of AML and warrants further pre-clinical and clinical validation. Disclosures Whatcott:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Kim:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Haws:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Mesa:Celgene: Research Funding; Galena: Consultancy; Promedior: Research Funding; Ariad: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; CTI: Research Funding; Incyte: Research Funding; Gilead: Research Funding. Peterson:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Siddiqui-Jain:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Weitman:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment. Bearss:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties. Warner:Tolero Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Equity Ownership, Patents & Royalties.


Aims Cinical Ethics Services (CESs) provide advice, support and training for those facing ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. Whilst benchmarks for CESs in adult medicine exist, those for paediatrics are less well reviewed and no national comparisons have been made. We therefore examined CESs at 3 specialist children's hospitals in US, UK. Australia (Aus) to determine how they conformed to established benchmarks or set standards for practice. Methods Review of terms of reference (ToR), operating procedures, activity data: semi-structured interview with service leads: comparison with published benchmarks/standards Results Demographics Hospitals were comparable in size, complexity and activity; CESs had evolved from clinical ethics committees that remained integral to service. More ethicist [and administrator] time was funded in the US than in Aus or UK (3WTE vs i.2 and 0.3 respectively) Functions All ToR reflected national adult standards and provided:- acute case consultations, reflective case analysis, education of professionals, input to institutional policy-making. Case consultations All CESs had procedural rules for making referrals and convening, recording and reporting discussions. Normal practice involved small CES member-led group discussions. In the US consultations were often 2-staged with families and professionals attending separately; this was not standard in UK or usual in Aus. Activity profiles were similar for numbers of cases (16->40 pa) and issues raised (end-of life decision-making, treatment requests/refusals, resource-usage). Education and training Additional to that delivered incase discussions was more formally organised in the US and Aus, with funded academic support. Many CES members had publications in clinical ethics even in the absence of formal research projects. Policy development all CESs had contributed to policies that had national or federal impact as well as for the home institution eg end of life care (all), organ donation (US), compassionate therapy (UK), gender identity disorder (Aus). Conclusions Paediatric CESs in children's hospitals in the US, UK and Australia adhere to adult benchmarks for providing clinical ethics support and also set standards. Despite similar activity profiles, financial and administrative support for CESs and formal funded academic links appears to be greater in the US and Australia than in the UK. Active participation of families in case discussions should be addressed by both Australian and UK CESs if ethical support is to be provided fairly to all involved.


This paper aims at explaining the differences in valuation of banking firms in Russia through the impact of selected elements of corporate governance. We rely upon value-based management theory to test the hypothesis that expenses on corporate governance system create shareholder value. The price at which share stakes are acquired by strategic foreign investors is for us a criterion of market-proven value, so we use the standard valuation tool, i.e. price-to-book-value of equity (P/BV) multiple, as the dependent variable. The set of corporate governance parameters whose materiality for a would-be external investor we would like to test includes: the degree of concentration of ownership and control; maturity of corporate governing bodies; degree of Board independence; qualification of external auditors; stability of governing bodies (Management Board and Board of Directors); and availability of external credit ratings from the world's leading rating agencies. We test our approach on a sample of acquisition deals and public offerings over the period 2004-2008 that we develop for the first time. Firstly, we find out which factors are statistically significant and relevant to a bank's selling price. Secondly, a least squares multiple linear regression model is devised to check how each individual variable impacts the dependent variable. We discover that external investors attach value to high concentration of ownership, external credit rating coverage, stability of the Board of Directors, and involvement of well-established external auditors. Investors of a strategic nature tend to pay a higher acquisition premium. Independence of the Board of Directors might be perceived by external strategic investors as a disadvantage and might destroy shareholder value.


Adult Hirschsprung's disease (AHD) is a rare and often undiagnosed condition. At present, only a limited number of cases have been reported. We managed a 19-year-old woman with rich history of chronic constipation and abdominal discomfort. Abdominal radiography and barium enema examination demonstrated massively dilated colon (up to 15 cm in diameter). Full-thickness rectal biopsy showed absence of ganglionic cells. AHD was diagnosed and subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis was performed. At five-year follow up, the patient had significantly improved defecation and quality of life and was extremely satisfied with the operation. AHD should be considered in patients with long-standing and refractory constipation with megacolon. We advocate a subtotal colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis as one of the possible surgical alternatives in such young patients.


We prove performance guarantees of two algorithms for approximating $Q^\star$ in batch reinforcement learning. Compared to classical iterative methods such as Fitted Q-Iteration---whose performance loss incurs quadratic dependence on horizon---these methods estimate (some forms of) the Bellman error and enjoy linear-in-horizon error propagation, a property established for the first time for algorithms that rely solely on batch data and output stationary policies. One of the algorithms uses a novel and explicit importance-weighting correction to overcome the infamous "double sampling" difficulty in Bellman error estimation, and does not use any squared losses. Our analyses reveal its distinct characteristics and potential advantages compared to classical algorithms.


Joseph Hazzaya is one of the most well-known East Syriac mystics and a prolific writer, belonging to the same spiritual and theological family together with Isaac of Nineveh, Simon of Taibuteh and John Dalyatha. His name is also mentioned in the Christological debate of 786-787 in the East Syriac Church, during the time of Patriarch Timothy I, next to John the Solitary and John Dalyatha. The first chapter of this paper is dedicated to his theological biography, as revealing an important historical meeting between a scholastic-dogmatic theology and a spiritual-monastic perspective. The second section focuses on the tripartition of the spiritual life within the frame of the East Syriac ascetical tradition, in particular in reference to John the Solitary, "the father of the East Syriac spirituality". And in consequence, the third chapter connects the three-fold stages of spiritual itinerary with the monastic life, for Joseph Hazzaya was a prominent representative of this milieu and all his writings were generated in this vein. The scope of this paper is to recuperate the personality of a great mystical author banished by the 'Western' Byzantine Church because of his belonging, as well as occasionally, by his own community.
Keywords: Joseph Hazzaya, spiritual itinerary, Christology, stage, conduct.


We propose a nonparametric estimation procedure for continuous- time stochastic models. Because prices of derivative securities depend crucially on the form of the instantaneous volatility of the underlying process, we leave the volatility function unrestricted and estimate it nonparametrically. Only discrete data are used but the estimation procedure still does not rely on replacing the continuous- time model by some discrete approximation. Instead the drift and volatility functions are forced to match the densities of the process. We estimate the stochastic differential equation followed by the short term interest rate and compute nonparametric prices for bonds and bond options.


The ability to detect catecholamines (CAs) and their metabolites is vital to understand the mechanism behind the neuronal diseases. Neurochemistry aims to provide an improved pharmacological, molecular and physiological understanding of complex brain chemistries by analytical techniques. Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is one such analytical technique that enables the study of various chemical species ranging from amino acids and peptides to natural products and drugs. CE can easily adapt the changes in research focus and in recent years remains an applicable technique for investigating neuroscience and single cell neurobiology. The prepared phenylalanine-based hydrophobic monolithic column, Polymethacryloyl-L-phenylalanine [PMAPA], was used as a stationary phase in capillary electrochromatography to separate CAs that are similar in size and shape to each other including dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) via hydrophobic interactions. Separation carried out in a short period of 17 min was performed with the electrophoretic mobility of 5.54 × 10-6 m2 V-1 s-1 and 7.60 × 10-6 m2 V-1 s-1 for DA and NE, respectively, at pH 7.0, 65% acetonitrile ratio with 100 mbar applied pressure by the developed hydrophobic monolithic column without needing any extra process such as imprinting or spacer arms to immobilize ligands used in separation.


The following essay has three parts. The first is a story about fluctuations in the balance of the relationship between impersonal and personal principles of social organization. This draws heavily on Max Weber's interpretation of western history. The second part reviews the concept of an 'informal economy/sector' from its origin in discussions of the Third World urban poor to its present status as a universal feature of economy. The third part asks how we might conceive of combining the formal/informal pair with a view to promoting development. In conclusion it is suggested how partnerships between bureaucracy and the people might be made more equal. [Research Paper No. 2005/11]


This paper critiques the 'freedom-centred' view of development by arguing that while development must be about expanding peoples' freedoms, the dynamics of power between 'developers' and 'developees' must not be ignored. There is little analysis of the implications of multi-party political system (seemingly equated with democracy) in facilitating development and freedom. Using Malawi as an illustration, it is argued that freedom and development are inextricably linked such that one cannot function without the other. Access to basic social services, the right of democratic participation for all citizens, and the right to act as free economic actors cannot be achieved unless these freedoms are buttressed by genuine decentralised governance structures, strong partnerships among government, opposition political parties, and civil society organisations, and good governance backed by good civic education programmes on the two themes. This article is hosted by our co-publisher Taylor & Francis.


Cooperative communication in various wireless domains, such as cellular networks, sensor networks and wireless ad hoc networks, has gained significant interest recently. In cooperative network, relays between the source and the destination, form a virtual MIMO that creates spatial diversity at the destination, which overcomes the fading effect of wireless channels. Such relay assisted schemes have potential to increase the channel capacity and network coverage. Most current research on cooperative communication are focused broadly on efficient protocol design and analysis, resource allocation, relay selection and cross layer optimization. The first part of this research aims at introducing hybrid decode-amplify-forward (HDAF) relaying in a distributed Alamouti coded cooperative network. Performance of such adaptive relaying scheme in terms of symbol error rate (SER), outage probability and average channel capacity is derived theoretically and verified through simulation based study. This work is further extended to a generalized multi HDAF relaying cooperative frame work. Various efficient power allocation schemes such as maximized channel capacity based, minimized SER based and total power minimization based are proposed and their superiority in performance over the existing equal power allocation scheme is demonstrated in the simulation results. Due to the broadcast nature of wireless transmission, information privacy in wireless networks becomes a critical issue. In the context of physical layer security, the role of multi HDAF relaying based cooperative model with control jamming and multiple eavesdroppers is explored in the second part of the research. Performance evaluation parameters such as secrecy rate, secrecy outage and intercept probability are derived theoretically. Further the importance of the proposed power allocation schemes in enhancing the secrecy performance of the network in the presence of multiple eavesdroppers is studied in detail through simulation based study and analysis. For all the proposed power allocation schemes in this research, the optimization problems are defined under total power constraint and are solved using Lagrange multiplier method and also evolutionary algorithms such as Differential evolution and Invasive Weed Optimization are employed. Monte Carlo simulation based study is adopted throughout the research. It is concluded that HDAF relaying based wireless cooperative network with optimal power allocation schemes offers improved and reliable performance compared to conventional amplify forward and decode forward relaying schemes. Above research contributions will be applicable for future generation wireless cooperative networks.


We propose a back-to-back procedure for running personalized promotions in retail operations contexts, from the construction of a nonparametric choice model where customer preferences are represented by directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) to the design of such promotions. The source data includes a history of purchases tagged by customer id, and product availability and promotion data for a category of products. In each customer DAG nodes represent products and directed edges represent the relative preference order between two products. Upon arrival to the store, a customer samples a full ranking of products within the category consistent with her DAG, and purchases the most preferred option among the available ones. We describe the DAG construction process and explain how to mount a parametric, multinomial logit model (MNL) over it. We provide new bounds for the likelihood of a DAG and show how to conduct the MNL estimation. We test our model to predict purchases at the individual level on real retail data and verify that it outperforms state-of-the-art benchmarks. Finally, we illustrate how to use it to run personalized promotions. Our framework leads to significant revenue gains over the sample data that make it an attractive candidate to be tested in practice.


The thermal cure required for die attach during microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS) packaging causes thermal mismatch that induces undesirable stresses and strains in surface micromachined structures, which may adversely affect the performance and reliability of the packaged component. Understanding the influence of the packaging process is, therefore, critical for successful device design. This paper analyzes the influence of the die attach process on the electromechanical behavior of doubly-anchored surface micromachined beams. A number of different adhesive materials were considered, and the results of parametric studies on the effects of die attach on the pull-in behavior of beams of various lengths, widths, and anchor types are presented. An upward shift in pull-in voltage of the studied devices was observed in both simulation and experiment; modelled and measured data were found to correlate closely.


Purpose: This paper seeks to conceptualize and clarify the active employee participation in health and safety (taking into account scope and depth ) and develop a scale to measure it and use this indicator in practice for comparative analysis. Design/Methodology/Approach: The conceptual and theoretical model for employee participation in OHS is tested on a sample of 289 respondents. The research was conducted using the PAPI (Paper & Pen Personal Interview) method. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used. The developed construct (characterized by an adequately high level of validity and reliability) was used to compare companies in the implemented management system. In comparative analysis was used Mann–Whitney U test. Findings: It was found that it is possible to measure active participation in OHS (EFA and CFA analyzes) and that proactive indicator consists of one dimension (15 items). The comparative analyses conducted corroborate the relationship between implementing a standardized management system and a level of active participation of employees in OHS. Practical Implications: The measurement and identification of determinants impacting on a high level of employee engagement in OHS will allow the management to take adequate and effective actions in respect of the safety of all organization members because employee participation in OHS is a condition necessary for the successful implementation of OHS management system and establishing high OHS culture which is correlated with a level of security in the company. Originality/Value: The study presents an original approach to the problem of active participation in OSH - completes the theoretical gap. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, operationally valid measure of participation in OHS. The model for active employee participation in OHS and the universal measurement scale developed and validated in this study represents a step forward towards the effective and reliable measurement of employee participation.


This study investigates the possibility of adding to the codified features of standard Philippine English. Its primary objective is to compare and contrast the lexical and syntactic features of Gonzalez and Bautista's (2000) Standard Philippine English with the innovative lexical and syntactic features of the Emerging Philippine Variety of English used by the University of the Philippines Baguio freshmenparticipants in their written output. Kachru's World Englishes and Selinker's Interlanguage were used as theoretical frameworks for the analyses of the data in this study. This is an innovative approach to the conventional Error Analysis (EA) studies used to analyze similar data. The frequency count of lexical and syntactic features shows that syntactic features were more distinct than lexical features recurring from those already codified by Gonzalez and Bautista (2000). However, the more obvious issue brought about by this study is what variety should be taught in the academe when local features are likewise widely acceptable? How far should the re-thinking of English teaching at the university level go to produce graduates equipped with a genuine global lingua franca which is English?


This work dealt with the establishment of a reproducible and industrially exploitable fabrication technology for piezoelectric MEMS based on PZT thin films. {100}-textured piezoelectric 1-4 μm thick films were found to be the most suited materials for MEMS applications where a strong transverse e31,f coefficient is required. Values of 11.5 to 12.5 C/m2 throughout the investigated thickness range have been obtained. PZT MEMS requires some special microfabrication processes. The patterning of platinum electrodes in ICP reactor with an Ar/Cl2 gas mixture gave satisfying results. For 1 μm PZT films, excellent results were achieved with dry etching in an ECR/RF low-pressure reactor. Above 1 μm thickness, wet etching technique was used. The chosen process flow was such that all layers up the top electrode were first deposited, and then sequentially patterned. In this way, the functional properties were completely maintained. Finally, the process flow related to PZT was successfully combined with deep silicon etching techniques to produce free standing structures. The applicability of the processes has been demonstrated by means of two piezoelectric micro-electro-mechanical devices. First, a cantilever acoustic sensor for low frequency applications (< 50 Hz) has been developed for integration in photoacoustic gas detectors. A high device sensitivity of up to 150 mV/Pa has been obtained with noise level corresponding to a few mPa, mainly due to the preamplifier. The second device was based on a silicon/PZT diaphragm to produce a vibrating structure in view of fabricating ultrasonic transducers for position sensors and non-destructive testing probes. The study of the basic properties of such structures has shown excellent results as coupling factors k2 up to 5% for PZT 2 μm / Si 4 μm SOI membranes held with four small bridges. Ultrasonic wave transmission between two devices has been achieved up to a distance of 200 mm. The microfabrication of piezoelectric MEMS was found to be a complex task where all aspects from materials, microfabrication, and device design to assessment of performance are closely interconnected. Piezoelectric MEMS can offer exciting opportunities to fabricate innovative and performing devices.


OBJECTIVE
To review the adequacy and diagnostic categories of the Bethesda system for reporting Pap test results (cervicovaginal cytology) and summarize management options.

QUALITY OF EVIDENCE
The latest research evidence and guidelines from both international and Canadian sources are reviewed. With a few exceptions, good evidence supports particular management approaches for each adequacy statement and diagnostic category.

MAIN MESSAGE
Women with unsatisfactory Pap smears should be re-examined and retested. Women with satisfactory smears and a diagnosis of "within normal limits" (WNL) or "benign cellular changes" (BCC) should be retested only at recommended screening intervals. Women with "satisfactory but limited by..." results and a diagnosis of WNL or BCC should have individualized follow up. Women with diagnoses of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, atypical glandular cells of uncertain significance, or malignancy should have further investigation (colposcopy). Optimal management of asymptomatic women with normal cervices and reports of atypical squamous cells of uncertain significance or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions is still controversial.

CONCLUSION
Management of women following Pap tests is determined by both the adequacy of the test and diagnoses based on the results.


Although they are complex, the pulmonary-renal syndromes can be readily understood and managed using a clinical approach firmly grounded in the fundamental pathophysiology of these disorders. Several important principles must be borne in mind. First, therapeutic intervention must be preceded by making as firm a diagnosis as possible. In these disorders, histologic confirmation of the diagnosis is almost always mandatory, because the therapy differs substantially from one disorder to the next and several of the therapeutic options carry significant toxicity. Open lung biopsy is frequently required to obtain sufficient tissue to warrant a specific diagnosis, and repeat open biopsy may be necessary at times to differentiate relapse of disease from supervening infection or complications of therapy. The course of the pulmonary-renal disorders may be extraordinarily fulminant, leading to irreversible organ failure and death in a matter of hours to days; this mandates an aggressive approach to therapy, with close attention paid to monitoring of the side effects of therapy. Lastly, as these illnesses are often characterized by a relapsing course, patients must be followed with vigilance.


People with acquired brain injury (ABI) often have problems leading an independent life due to impaired cognitive abilities. One way to address this is to let the patients practise activities of daily living as part of their rehabilitation process. However, some everyday activities can be difficult, inconvenient or risky to practise. The demands of the environment can also have an impact on the independence of an individual with ABI. Today, the involvement of people with ABI in the design of public space in minimal. Scarcely any regard is taken to this population when planning a new public transport system, for example. Accordingly, there is a need for development of methodology that can facilitate life for people with ABI. Virtual reality (VR) technology has shown great potential for various applications such as training, learning, visualisation and design. The objectives of the research presented in this doctoral thesis were to: 1) investigate how VR training can be used as a rehabilitation tool by people with ABI, and 2) explore if and how VR can be used to elicit knowledge about public transport accessibility for people with ABI. The first research objective was investigated in four studies in which 60 able-bodied people with little or no experience of 3D computer graphics and 12 people with traumatic brain injury (TBI) participated. Case study methodology was applied, using observations, interviews and think-aloud protocols to collect data. One of the studies also used quantitative data and statistics. So called desktop VR (i.e. a standard monitor and regular input devices) was used. Three virtual environments were used: a kitchen, a cash dispenser and a hospital environment. In general, the results of the four studies suggest that VR has great potential as a training tool for people with ABI. However, the results also highlighted the importance of an optimised interface between the user and the VR system; seemingly small usability problems can create significant difficulties for a person with ABI. In the first study, a comparison was carried out between a joystick and a special keyboard for navigation in virtual training environments. There were two versions of each input device: one with two degrees of freedom and one with three. The keyboard was found to be more suitable for navigation tasks in which the user wants to give the viewpoint a more advantageous position and orientation for carrying out a specific task. No statistically significant differences between two and three degrees of freedom could be found. Nevertheless, the third degree of freedom, which made it possible to also move sideways, seemed to facilitate the navigation in some situations. The aim of the second study was to evaluate a method for interaction with virtual objects and to compare mouse and touch screen as input device for this purpose. The data showed no difference in performance between the mouse and touch screen subjects. Several touch screen subjects tended to imitate the way things are done in real life, however. This suggests that the touch screen is a more suitable input device in this context since the virtual activity resembles the real world activity. The third study investigated if and how five subjects with ABI could transfer route knowledge from a virtual hospital environment to the real world. They managed to walk a route they had only practised in a virtual environment, which suggests that VR-based route training can be a feasible complement to conventional route training. The aim of the fourth study was to develop and evaluate a virtual cash dispenser that can be used as a training tool by people with ABI. Seven people with ABI practised withdrawing money from the virtual cash dispenser. In general, they learned how to use the virtual cash dispenser. However, some usability problems, mainly related to interaction with virtual objects were noted. Another result, which could also be observed in the second study, was that unclear or non-existing feedback from the VR application was the cause of several of these problems. The second research objective was addressed in two studies in which eleven people with ABI and four occupational therapists participated. Once again, case study methodology was used. Data was collected through observations, think-aloud protocols and interviews. Both studies used a virtual environment in which a complete bus trip could be performed. The first study evaluated a suggested VR methodology for enabling people with cognitive disabilities to communicate their knowledge and experiences of public transport systems. The users interacted with the VR system by verbally describing their actions to the person controlling the VR system and/or pointing with a laser pointer while seated in front of three screens on which the virtual environment was projected. Seven people with stroke were filmed as they made a virtual bus trip and were then asked to think aloud about their experience while watching the video material. Despite some initial difficulties, the subjects managed to communicate their intentions, some by combining verbalisations and pointing with the laser pointer in a very efficient manner. They were engaged in the virtual bus trip and made comments on the experience, including comments on emotional aspects. Interestingly, the subjects' verbal descriptions of what they wanted to do revealed in part aspects of how they reasoned when taking the bus trip. The results suggested that the VR methodology can be a feasible tool for people with cognitive disabilities but also revealed several issues in need of improvement. The second study investigated if and how the VR methodology can be used to elicit knowledge from occupational therapists and people with ABI about public transport accessibility for the latter population. Four people with ABI made a virtual bus trip and afterwards were asked to think aloud about their experience while watching the video material from the bus trip. Four occupational therapists with experience of working with people with ABI performed the virtual bus trip while at the same time thinking aloud about public transport accessibility for people with ABI. Afterwards they watched the video material from the virtual bus trip of one of the subjects with ABI while once again thinking aloud about public transport accessibility. In general, both subject groups handled the VR methodology. The most relevant knowledge from the subjects with ABI was related to concrete accessibility problems, emotional aspects and strategies. The direct observations of the ABI subjects making the virtual bus trip led to the identification of some problems but revealed very little about what caused them. Instead, the cause of the problems came to light through the ABI subjects' verbalisations, which demonstrates the importance of not only making observations but also paying attention to the participant's subjective experience. The most relevant knowledge from the occupational therapists concerned the concrete accessibility problems and suggested solutions. Both think aloud sessions elicited unique knowledge from the occupational therapists and should therefore be part of the VR methodology in order to cover as many aspects as possible of public transport accessibility for people with ABI. Overall, the results suggested that the concept of first carrying out actions in a virtual environment and then reflecting over these actions seems to be a very good way of eliciting knowledge about public transport accessibility for people with ABI. The elicited knowledge from people with ABI and occupational therapists seems to illuminate, in part, different aspects of public transport accessibility and hence is complementary. (Less)


Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of many cancers, yet the pathogenic mechanisms that distinguish cancer-associated inflammation from benign persistent inflammation are still mainly unclear. Here, we report that the protein kinase ERK5 controls the expression of a specific subset of inflammatory mediators in the mouse epidermis, which triggers the recruitment of inflammatory cells needed to support skin carcinogenesis. Accordingly, inactivation of ERK5 in keratinocytes prevents inflammation-driven tumorigenesis in this model. In addition, we found that anti-ERK5 therapy cooperates synergistically with existing antimitotic regimens, enabling efficacy of subtherapeutic doses. Collectively, our findings identified ERK5 as a mediator of cancer-associated inflammation in the setting of epidermal carcinogenesis. Considering that ERK5 is expressed in almost all tumor types, our findings suggest that targeting tumor-associated inflammation via anti-ERK5 therapy may have broad implications for the treatment of human tumors.


During the riots in France in November 2005, much was made of the increasing religious radicalism of the Muslim youth. But it is not so much cultural difference and Islamism that is taking young Muslims to the street, says Turkish sociologist Ayhan Kaya, as a mass reaction to two centuries of colonialism and racism, compounded by recent poverty and exclusion. Does the bell toll for French Republicanism?


The dispersion of carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide, chloroform, cyclohexane, tetrachloroethylene, methylene iodide, acetone, and perfluoro 1,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane has been measured in the 2–15 μ region using an interferometric method. The problem of assigning the proper orders of interference to the observed fringe system has been solved by studying the compounds of interest dissolved in carbon disulfide and carbon tetrachloride. Since the orders of interference can be reliably determined for these two solvents one can follow the shift in order as the concentration of the solute is increased in a stepwise fashion from 0 to 100%.


In this article, we explore the electrification-deforestation nexus in Tanzania, a low-income country. In 1990 only 5% of the population had access to electricity, compared to 16% today with significant differences between rural and urban areas. Most households rely on traditional fuels, especially charcoal and firewood, which adds pressure on forest resources. Significant efforts must thus be devoted to mass electrification to reach the sustainable development goals objectives and ensure access to affordable and reliable electricity to all Tanzanians. Electrification will have a wide range of positive externalities on various dimensions of welfare, notably in terms of human capital outcomes. These externalities have been widely studied and identified in the literature. However, the impacts of electrification on deforestation are less known despite the existing linkages between fuel use and forest degradation. In order to investigate the electrification-deforestation nexus, we use pixel data sets both for electrification and deforestation between 2001 and 2013. These detailed data allow us to test whether electrification slows down deforestation as households are less dependent on biomass. Our results will bring insights into cost-benefit analysis of electrification programmes and into the underlying causes of deforestation.


The FANFARE (Falls And Near Falls Assessment Research and Evaluation) project has developed a system to fulfill the need for a wearable device to collect data for fall and near-falls analysis. The system consists of a computer and a wireless sensor network to measure, display, and store fall related parameters such as postural activities and heart rate variability. Ease of use and low power are considered in the design. The system was built and tested successfully. Different machine learning algorithms were applied to the stored data for fall and near-fall evaluation. Results indicate that the Naïve Bayes algorithm is the best choice, due to its fast model building and high accuracy in fall detection.


Banks require access to liquidity intraday in order to settle obligations in payment and settlement systems. The recent financial crisis has highlighted the need for banks to improve their liquidity risk management, including the management of intraday liquidity risk. The FSA's new liquidity regime includes intraday liquidity as a key risk driver and requires that banks calibrate their liquid asset buffers considering their need for liquidity intraday, both in normal and stressed circumstances. The Bank fully supports this approach. However, this will increase the cost of intraday liquidity and so could create incentives for banks to change their behaviour as they seek to minimise costs. If this results in payment delays, it risks jeopardising the smooth functioning of payment and settlement systems. There are a number of tools that authorities could use to minimise the chance of adverse behavioural changes. Such tools include the introduction of liquidity saving mechanisms, the strengthening of throughput rules, payment tariffs that vary through the day, setting central bank collateral eligibility criteria for intraday liquidity and regulatory 'deep dive' assessments.


The invariant differential cross section for inclusive neutral-pion production in p+p collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV has been measured at midrapidity (|eta|<0.35) over the range 1<p(T) less, similar 14 GeV/c by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Predictions of next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations are consistent with these measurements. The precision of our result is sufficient to differentiate between prevailing gluon-to-pion fragmentation functions.


The influence of grinding surface stresses in Y-TZP doped with 2.5% molar yttria on the contact loading response has been studied. It is shown that by grinding with different pressures compression residual stresses are induced in a surface layer of about 10 µm in depth. Their effect is manifested by shorter indentation cracks in ground specimens, but they recover the original lengths of annealed specimens after a surface thin layer is removed by polishing. The response to cyclic contact loading with a ball of 1.96 mm in diameter has been studied by looking to the damage that takes place below the indenter, as well as by measuring the flexure biaxial strength after 1, 103 and 105 cycles and for different load amplitudes. It is found that there is a threshold load, that is, a maximum contact load below which there is no degradation in the strength. This threshold is lower when transformability is higher and it depends on the number of contact cycles. But after a given large number of cycles, no further important additional degradation takes place. Under repeated contact loading in annealed specimens at loads for which a marked degradation in strength is detected, nucleation and growth of like-radial cracks is the main cause for the loss of strength, while for of ground specimens the extension of these defects is impeded by the compression surface residual stresses.


International transfer pricing concerns the prices charged between associated enterprises across national borders. Associated enterprises, also known as related parties, are enterprises that control each other either directly or indirectly by means of capital participation. International transfer pricing decisions have to be made, for instance, when a mother company delivers goods, services or intangibles to its foreign subsidiaries, particularly when it receives them from its affiliates. The tax rates on company profits differ from country to country. In the EU member states the tax rate differential on company profits range between 10 % in Bulgaria to about 35 % in France. Such tax rate differentials encourage associated enterprises to set transfer prices that shift profits from high-tax to low-tax countries in order to reduce the overall tax burden for the whole Multinational Corporation. No country can allow its tax base to suffer because of international transfer pricing. It is therefore necessary to set up guidelines in order to avoid arbitrary pricing. The OECD member countries have agreed that international transfer prices shall be determined according to the "Arm's Length Principle". The "Arm's Length Principle" is an important element of the tax jurisdictions in EU member states. In order to reduce bureaucratic burdens imposed on Multinational Corporations operating on the European Common Market the European Commission has proposed an EU-wide common approach to transfer pricing documentation requirements. This EU Code of Conduct on transfer pricing documentation (EU TPD) shall help to prevent Multinational Corporations with affiliates in different EU Member States from taking a country-by-country documentation approach. This article describes economic implications of international transfer pricing. Furthermore it classifies and compares the possiblities to determine an "arm's length price" according to the OECD Guidelines 2010. Based on empirical data concerning the actual taxes on company profits in EU member states  the article shows that the EU Code of Conduct on transfer pricing documentation (EU TPD) can only be an intermediate remedy towards an inevitable tax harmonization in the European Union. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.5.1085


BACKGROUND
Animal studies have demonstrated intestinal immunoglobulin production is decreased when luminal nutrition is withheld and nutrition is provided solely on the basis of total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

METHODS
Eight normal volunteers were hospitalized in the Clinical Research Center for three weeks. The subjects received TPN as an exclusive means of nutritional support for 14 days followed by 5 days of enteral feeding with either standard or a glutamine- and arginine-supplemented formula in which the protein source was primarily free amino acids and peptides. Endoscopic jejunal biopsies obtained before and after TPN and following enteral refeeding were evaluated by immunofluorescence for the number of IgA, IgM and IgG-producing cells; T and B cells as well as intraepithelial and lamina propria lymphocytes were also counted. Serum immunoglobulins and the molecular forms of serum IgA were determined at the same intervals.

RESULTS
The number of intestinal IgA-, IgM- and IgG-producing cells was unaffected by TPN (676 +/- 58 vs. 643 +/- 38, 101 +/- 14 vs. 98 +/- 18, 10 +/- 1 vs. 11 +/- 2 per low power field). The total number of intestinal lymphocytes, and CD3+ lymphocytes in the intraepithelial area was unaffected by TPN (10.4 +/- 0.4 vs. 10.2 +/- 1.3, 7.3 +/- 0.8 vs. 8.6 +/- 1.6 per 100 epithelial cells). Similarly, the total number of lymphocytes and CD3+ lymphocytes in the intestinal lamina propria was unaffected by TPN (4.4 +/- 0.2 vs. 6.2 +/- 0.8, 3.3 +/- 0.7 vs. 4.5 +/- 0.8). A small, but statistically significant increase in serum IgA and IgM was seen with TPN 314 +/- 11 vs. 342 +/- 16 mg/dL and 154 +/- 25 vs. 226 +/- 47 mg/dL, although IgG remained unchanged (1262 +/- 69 vs. 1207 +/- 57 mg/dL). The proportion of polymeric and monomeric serum IgA remained unchanged after TPN (19.2 vs. 22.1% polymeric).

CONCLUSIONS
The use of TPN is not associated with intestinal immune dysfunction in man. A small, but statistically significant increase in serum IgM, and a borderline statistically significant increase in serum IgM were associated with TPN. The etiology and clinical significance of these observations is unclear.


Across US Great Plains grasslands, a gradient of increasing mean annual precipitation from west to east corresponds to increasing aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and increasing N-limitation. Previous work has shown that there is no increase in net N mineralization rates across this gradient, leading to the question of where eastern prairie grasses obtain the nitrogen to support production. One as-yet unexamined source is soil organic N, despite abundant literature from other ecosystems showing that plants take up dissolved soil organic N. This study measured KCl-extractable dissolved organic N (DON) in surface soils across the grassland productivity gradient. We found that KCl-extractable DON pools increased from west to east. If available to and used by plants, this DON may help explain the high ANPP in the eastern Great Plains. These results suggest a need for future research to determine whether, in what quantities, and in what forms prairie grasses use organic N to support primary production.


A laboratory investigation was carried out to determine the physical properties of a suitable mix of cement-bentonite for a low-permeability cutoff wall implemented in 1991 under the north dyke at the LG-1 hydroelectric site, which is part of the James Bay Development Project in Northern Quebec. The project specifications required the mix to have a hydraulic conductivity of less than 10{sup {minus}8} m/s and be able to sustain a plastic deformation of 6% without fissuring, as measured in a triaxial compression test with a lateral pressure of 100 kPa on a specimen cured for 90 days. A two-phase laboratory study was carried out. Phase 1 involved the determination of the mix design, while the second phase consisted of the laboratory control of the manufactured mixture. During phase 1, laboratory samples were prepared with different proportions of cement, bentonite, sand, and water. The permeability, triaxial compression, and unconfined compression tests were performed after curing periods ranging from 8 to 120 days. Once the appropriate mix was selected, it was tested to check if it met the specifications. During phase 2, or during actual production or construction, density and viscosity measurements of the cement-bentonite slurry were made routinely at the plant andmore » at the discharge of the slurry pipe. Cylindrical specimens were molded using slurry from the discharge of the pipe and from the trench. Permeability, triaxial compression, and unconfined compression tests were performed on the specimens after curing periods ranging from 3 to 103 days.« less


Tachykinins such as substance P (SP) and neurokinin A (NKA) acting on neurokinin (NK) receptors modulate the nonadrenergic noncholinergic (NANC) neurotransmission in the gastrointestinal tract of several species, but the information about the mouse small intestine is scanty. Both SP and NKA induced concentration-dependent contractions of ileal segments isolated from wild-type mice that were blocked by NK(1) and NK(2) antagonists, respectively. In contrast, segments isolated from NK(1) receptor (NK(1)-R) knockout mice responded only to elevated concentrations of SP. To reveal the inhibitory NANC (iNANC) responses, tissues were pretreated with atropine and guanethidine. Under these conditions, a tetrodotoxin-sensitive relaxation in response to electrical field stimulation (EFS) was observed. NK(1)-R knockout mice presented a trend toward an increase in iNANC responses, whereas the NK(1)-R antagonist significantly potentiated iNANC relaxation in tissues isolated from wild-type mice. N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (100 microM) transformed the relaxant response to EFS into a tetrodotoxin-sensitive, frequency-dependent contraction characteristic of an excitatory NANC (eNANC) system. A NK(1)-R antagonist abolished the contractile responses of the mouse ileum to EFS, whereas a NK(2) receptor antagonist had a trend toward reducing EFS-induced contraction. The eNANC component was absent in NK(1)-R knockout mice. Measurement of SP-like immunoreactivity indicated similar amounts of SP per gram of tissue isolated from wild-type and NK(1)-R knockout mice, indicating that the observed differences in response to EFS were not due to a differential peptide content. It is concluded that, in the mouse ileum, both NK(1) and NK(2) receptors modulated the responses to exogenous tachykinins, whereas NK(1) is the primary tachykinin receptor involved in both iNANC and eNANC transmission.


The objective of this research is to analyze the perception of consumers towards the implementation of the marketing 7P people KUR PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk. Northen Tomohon Unit, Tomohon City by using the concept of a Likert Scale to analyze 7P (product, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence and process). The research was conducted in October through December 2016, using primary and secondary data. Sampling technique using purposive sampling method and sample size is 88 respondents. The analitycal method used is descriptive data analysis to describe the perception customer towards the implementation of the program 7P KUR Bank Rakyat Indonesia Unit in northern city of Tomohon. To measure the perception was used Likert Scale. The results showed that the perception of customer satisfaction index score towards the delivery service kredit of the people in the bank BRI Nothen Tomohon Unit, Tomohon city is at its 84,41% and relatively strongly agree (SS).


Rationale: CD40L figures prominently in chronic inflammatory diseases such as atherosclerosis. However, since CD40L potently regulates immune function and hemostasis by interaction with CD40 receptor and the platelet integrin GPIIb/IIIa, its global inhibition compromises host defense and generated thromboembolic complications in clinical trials. We recently reported that CD40L mediates atherogenesis independently of CD40 and proposed Mac-1 as an alternate receptor. Objective: Here, we molecularly characterized the CD40L-Mac-1 interaction and tested whether its selective inhibition by a small peptide modulates inflammation and atherogenesis in vivo. Methods and Results: CD40L concentration-dependently bound to Mac-1 I-domain in solid phase binding assays, and a high-affinity interaction was revealed by surface-plasmon-resonance analysis. We identified the motif EQLKKSKTL, an exposed loop between the &agr;1 helix and the &bgr;-sheet B, on Mac-1 as binding site for CD40L. A linear peptide mimicking this sequence, M7, specifically inhibited the interaction of CD40L and Mac-1. A cyclisized version optimized for in vivo use, cM7, decreased peritoneal inflammation and inflammatory cell recruitment in vivo. Finally, LDLr−/− mice treated with intraperitoneal injections of cM7 developed smaller, less inflamed atherosclerotic lesions featuring characteristics of stability. However, cM7 did not interfere with CD40L-CD40 binding in vitro and CD40L-GPIIb/IIIa-mediated thrombus formation in vivo. Conclusions: We present the novel finding that CD40L binds to the EQLKKSKTL motif on Mac-1 mediating leukocyte recruitment and atherogenesis. Specific inhibition of CD40L-Mac-1 binding may represent an attractive anti-inflammatory treatment strategy for atherosclerosis and other inflammatory conditions, potentially avoiding the unwanted immunologic and thrombotic effects of global inhibition of CD40L.


ABSTRACT The strain Burkholderia cepacia G4 aerobically mineralized trichloroethene (TCE) to CO2 over a time period of ∼20 h. Three biodegradation experiments were conducted with different bacterial optical densities at 540 nm (OD540s) in order to test whether isotope fractionation was consistent. The resulting TCE degradation was 93, 83.8, and 57.2% (i.e., 7.0, 16.2, and 42.8% TCE remaining) at OD540s of 2.0, 1.1, and 0.6, respectively. ODs also correlated linearly with zero-order degradation rates (1.99, 1.11, and 0.64 μmol h−1). While initial nonequilibrium mass losses of TCE produced only minor carbon isotope shifts (expressed in per mille δ13CVPDB), they were 57.2, 39.6, and 17.0‰ between the initial and final TCE levels for the three experiments, in decreasing order of their OD540s. Despite these strong isotope shifts, we found a largely uniform isotope fractionation. The latter is expressed with a Rayleigh enrichment factor, ε, and was −18.2 when all experiments were grouped to a common point of 42.8% TCE remaining. Although, decreases of ε to −20.7 were observed near complete degradation, our enrichment factors were significantly more negative than those reported for anaerobic dehalogenation of TCE. This indicates typical isotope fractionation for specific enzymatic mechanisms that can help to differentiate between degradation pathways.


ABSTRACT A mixed-method approach was used to capture social work faculty experiences in integrating interprofessional education (IPE) in the social work curriculum at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Questions measured attitudes, needs, preparation, and readiness of HBCU faculty to participate in preprofessional and graduate IPE courses. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were used. The 23 participants indicated that there was strong interest and endorsement for participation in IPE as an educational tool to improve interdisciplinary team work and social care outcomes. However, faculty had limited previous involvement with IPE courses. Many partners were identified for IPE courses with almost all endorsing alcohol and substance abuse counseling, mental health counseling, public health, early childhood education, nursing, rehabilitation counseling, school of divinity, and school of psychology. The following IPE teaching methods were endorsed by almost all of the faculty: seminars, IPE common tools, case analysis, collaborative assessment, role playing, and experiential activities. Qualitative analysis of the open-ended questions yielded five themes: designing/evaluating IPE programs, embedding IPE courses in the social work curriculum, facilitating trust among faculty, removing negative IPE stereotypes, and IPE courses sustainability. The study contributes vital information about an important group of stakeholders whose participation in IPE, heretofore not mentioned in the IPE literature, needs to be integrated. We recommend that the IPE higher education community work with HBCUs to implement IPE.


The primary concern of this article is the provision of de finitions and tests for exogeneity appropriate for models defi ned through sets of conditional moment restrictions. These forms of exogeneity are expressed as additional conditional moment constraints and may be equivalently formulated as a countably infi nite number of unconditional restrictions. Consequently, tests of exogeneity may be seen as tests for an additional set of infinite moment conditions. A number of test statistics are suggested based on GMM and generalised empirical likelihood. The asymptotic properties of the statistics are described under both null hypothesis and a suitable sequence of local alternatives. An extensive set of simulation experiments explores the relative practical efficacy of the various test statistics in terms of empirical size and size-adjusted power.