In cardiac cells, phospholamban is a potent inhibitor of sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium (Ca2+) transport. Overexpression of mutant forms of phospholamban may result in beneficial or detrimental effects on intracellular Ca2+ handling and cardiac systolic and diastolic function. Mutations in phospholamban have also been linked to human cardiomyopathies, providing important insights into the underlying disease mechanisms and the key role of phospholamban in myocardial excitation-contraction coupling. This Perspective discusses new advances in our understanding of the role of phospholamban in intracellular Ca2+ handling and the development of human and murine cardiomyopathies.


This thesis consists of three papers analysing time-varying cross-border correlation and
spillover risk. Existing literature has devoted significant resources to quantify these two types
of risk within a variety of markets and asset classes. The implications of these studies have
great importance in policy making, securities trading and in commercial banking activities. In
the aftermath of the recent financial crisis dynamic risk related topics have gained a renewed
interest. This thesis aims to bridge gaps in the currently available research.
"Dynamic Stock Market Covariances in the Eurozone" is a joint work with Professor Gregory
Connor. This paper examines the short-term dynamics, macroeconomic sensitivities, and
longer-term trends in the variances and covariances of national equity market index daily returns
for eleven countries in the Euro currency zone. We modify Colacito, Engle and Ghysel's Mixed
Data Sampling Dynamic Conditional Correlation GARCH (MIDAS-DCC GARCH) model
to include a new scalar measure for the degree of correlatedness in time-varying correlation
matrices. We also explore the robustness of the findings with a less model-dependent realized
covariance estimator. We find a secular trend toward higher correlation during our sample period,
and significant linkages between macroeconomic and market-wide variables and dynamic
correlation. One notable finding is that average correlation between these markets is lower when
their average GDP growth rate is lower or when more of them have negative GDP growth.
"Correlation Dynamics in the G7 Stock Markets" explores the changing magnitude of
synchronised equity index return correlations within the G7 stock markets in response to
dynamic variation in the economic environment and secular trends toward greater capital market
integration. The full sample period is split into "pre-crisis" and "crisis" periods. The empirical
results show that the G7 markets exhibit a significant positive trend toward higher cross-border
correlations over the full sample period and that there is significant time-series autocorrelation in
the magnitude of cross-market return correlations. These findings are consistent for both periods.
Correlation magnitude seems to behave differently during the "pre-crisis" and "crisis" periods in
relation to the business-cycle-related effect and the turbulence of the financial markets. During
the "crisis" period the average correlation between these financial markets is lower during
quarters when more of them have negative GDP growth or when their average GDP growth is
lower. The reverse holds for the "pre-crisis" period. Also, the positive relationship between the
correlation magnitude and stock market variance is only present in the "crisis" period. We argue
that during the crises periods, financial markets are strongly influenced by local factors.
"Directional Spillovers in Banks' Credit Default Risk and Related Variables" analyses the
total and directional spillovers across carefully selected variables directly related to the credit
risk of financial institutions: bank CDS spread, real estate market index, interest rate term
spread, interbank liquidity spread and national stock market index, using daily data from 1st
of January 2004 to 31st of December 2012. The spillover analysis is undertaken within five
European Union countries: core countries France and Germany, periphery countries Spain and
Italy, and a reference country, the UK. A multiple structural break estimation procedure is
employed to detect sudden changes in shock transmission. The directional spillover framework
reveals complex dynamics between the CDS spreads and credit risk related variables. The
national stock markets show a clear leading role in shock transmission across selected variables;
whereas the role of other variables in sample is reversed during the course of the crisis. The real
estate index is found to be mostly affected by country specific events; and the shock transmission
of the interest rate term spread and the interbank liquidity spread differs for the UK and the
Eurozone countries.


The chromosome number and DNA content in Euglena gracilis cell have been shown by the number of investigators to vary essentially under the influence of some environmental factors (low phosphate and acetate concentrations, density of culture, temperature, light/dark regime, streptomycin treatment). Variability in the nuclear DNA quantity is supposed to be an important peculiarity of the structure and functional activity of the genome of Euglena gracilis.


This study examined the fermentation process for the production of volatile fatty acids from the organic waste. The depletion of fossil fuels motivated researchers to search for alternative energy and fuels instead of relying on the non-renewable way of energy and fuel production. Anaerobic digestion is a biochemical process in the absence of oxygen, where complex organic matter are degraded. The different stages of anaerobic digestion and important operating parameters such as pH, temperature and retention time. The most suitable feedstock and its effects on the treatment process are discussed.

This study evaluates the modelling of VFAs production. The paper also demonstrates various model like ADM1, surface limiting model, and steady-state model. Furthermore, an experimental setup consisting of two semi-continuous reactors was employed for the sample analysis. The reactors were fed with raw and pre-treated source separated organics with solid retention time of 3 days.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion, Feedstocks, SSO, VFAs, ADM1


La Primavera: Concertino for English Horn and Chamber Orchestra is a work in a traditional chamber orchestra instrumentation: single woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon), two French horns, trumpet, timpani and strings. A through-composed work of 14 minutes in duration, the Concertino is conceptually based on the idea that spring is not the first of the seasons, but rather the last. As a result, all of its motivic materials are organically linked to one another, and function as paired forces that struggle for supremacy. The introduction of the third motive functions as a motivic synthesis, since it contains intrinsic elements of previous motives. There are several important compositions based on the topic of the seasons among them we find: Vivaldi's Concerto Grosso Le Quatro Staggione, Haydn's oratorio The Seasons, and Piazzola's chamber work Las Estaciones. While researching this topic, the conceptual dilemma of spring as the last season was considered. This became a turning point in the compositional process strong enough to consider the spring as a singular topic of interest. The analysis of this work through Derrida's Deconstruction theory first came to me while reading Rose Rosengerd Subotnick's Deconstructive Variations: Music and Reason in Western Society. The Linguistic approach, was inspired in part by Leonard Bernstein's lecture "The Unanswered Question," and Jean J. Nattiez's Music and Discourse: Toward a Semiology of Music.


This is a multi-disciplinary study which examines the life and thought of Pierre Gassendi as a whole and in the context of seventeenthcentury Paris and Provence. There are sections on the political, religious and social fabric of Provence, on the Catholic Church and on Gassendi's view of his clerical function, on Absolute Monarchy and his intimate involvement with the theory and practice of politics. The justification for the sheer weight of minute investigative detail used in the historical side of this inquiry is that the printed texts of Gassendi, and of most of his circle, cannot be properly evaluated without this sort of inside knowledge of the circumstances in which they were written. One fruit of this method is the discovery that Gassendi was devoloping in almost total secrecy, from as early as 1618, his own Copernican physics, which in many ways must be regarded as a prototype of that deployed seventy years later in the PRINCIPIA. Evidence to support this argument is in the sections on the Galley Experiment of 1640, Gravitation, Atomism and Astronomy. It is the extent of Gassendi's co-operation with mathematicians, astronomers and scientists, and the fact that most of them must have shared the secret of his working assumption, that is the most remarkable aspect of the case. It indicates that all those contemporary rumours of underground scientific organisations were well-founded. Gassendi's secret Copernicanism seems to pale into insignificance beside my claim that he was not a believing Christian. A hitherto unclassified form of sceptical materialism, a sort of Pythagorean pantheism, was a major source of his interest in atomism, astronomy and nature in general. The evidence for this is presented in the sections on the Church, Life and Souls, Friendship, Atoms and Indivisibles. Whilst these views were relevant to his motivation they had, arguably, no direct influence on the structure of his science. This was constructed on the principle of separating metaphysics from science altogether and, within bounds of any given inquiry, keeping hypotheses-however attractive-separate from the observations and their analysis.


This empirical study explores the guitar profiling technology and its consequences for metal music production. After briefly introducing this technology, the article investigates its public reception in reviews and online discussion boards to explore the subjective perspectives. A sub-sequent acoustic experiment tests the capability of the technology. The findings show that many guitar players and producers have been highly skeptical of digital amplification technology because of tonal shortcomings. However, meanwhile many musicians seem convinced of profil-ing technology due to its good sound quality that has been confirmed by the experiment too. Since for most metal music genres the sound quality of the electric guitar is very important, the creative practices and economic conditions of its production may likely be hugely affected by this technology. The article concludes by discussing the consequences of profiling technology regarding issues such as democratisation of production tools, changes in professional services, creative potentials and future applications of the technology that may radically change metal music production.


Economic theory is used to analyze the sports industry. Topics include industry make-up, labor conditions, marketing, economic impact, and discrimination.


Interactions within human societies are usually regulated by social norms. If robots are to be accepted into human society, it is essential that they are aware of and capable of reasoning about social norms. In this paper, we focus on how to represent social norms in societies with humans and robots, and how artificial agents such as robots can reason about social norms in order to plan appropriate behavior. We use the notion of institution as a way to formally define and encapsulate norms. We provide a formal framework built around the notion of institution. The framework distinguishes between abstract norms and their semantics in a concrete domain, hence allowing the use of the same institution across physical domains and agent types. It also provides a formal computational framework for norm verification, planning, and plan execution in a domain.


The Dutch nursing home for somatic patients is analysed in the perspective of sociology of culture. Not only the values and the meaning which the nursing home pretends to offer, are investigated, but also the expectations that patients have of nursing homes. Legitimacy is the crucial concept in this respect. The nursing home is legitimate if it meets certain expectations of the patients. Corresponding to the Advice of the Dutch Central Advisory Body for Health on task and function of nursing homes, it is shown, that nursing homes are not legitimate in the strict meaning described above. On the contrary the nursing home has primarily been a political factor intended to stabilize our ageing society. Close co-operation with community care is pleaded in order to understand the unique situation of every chronically ill patient or older disabled person, and to meet his needs as well as possible.


This paper is the continuation of a previous paper (H. Knüpfer and C. B. Muratov, Comm. Pure Appl. Math. 66 (2013), 1129–1162). We investigate the classical isoperimetric problem modified by an addition of a nonlocal repulsive term generated by a kernel given by an inverse power of the distance. In this work, we treat the case of a general space dimension. We obtain basic existence results for minimizers with sufficiently small masses. For certain ranges of the exponent in the kernel, we also obtain nonexistence results for sufficiently large masses, as well as a characterization of minimizers as balls for sufficiently small masses and low spatial dimensionality. The physically important special case of three space dimensions and Coulombic repulsion is included in all the results mentioned above. In particular, our work yields a negative answer to the question if stable atomic nuclei at arbitrarily high atomic numbers can exist in the framework of the classical liquid drop model of nuclear matter. In all cases the minimal energy scales linearly with mass for large masses, even if the infimum of energy cannot be attained. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Play for play's sake is viewed a child's primary occupation from which meaning is derived that transcends it's inherent health, educational or other such value. Examined from this perspective is to acknowledge the intrinsic contribution the doing of play contributes the child's being. The proliferation of technology in an ever-connected world offers increasingly diverse digital spaces for children to play. Such digital spaces present new opportunities for children to co-create new expressions of play; whether alone, with friends, indoors and outdoors, in real and in make-believe worlds. Despite literature in relation to play in digital spaces coming from a plethora of academic fields, this occupational perspective of play as a child-centred, autotelic pursuit remains largely ignored. This research will explore digital play choices, experiences, and outcomes from children's unique perspective. Furthermore, this research aims to reflect the rights and agency of children as meaning-makers and active contributors in inquiry [3], using creative and adaptive approaches through the research process. It is envisioned that this research will contribute to the understanding of the autotelic nature of play in digital spaces. Such understanding will assist children and adults to leverage technology to ensure that meaningful playful experiences proliferate in the future.


The forward kinematics of a parallel manipulator is so difficult that the analytical solutions of only a few parallel manipulators have been found. The forward kinematics of a three-degree-of-freedom planar parallel manipulator, where the base and the mobile platforms are two similar triangles, is studied in this paper and its analytical solution is provided. The final solution is two independent univariate quadratic equations. As well, the forward kinematics solution is simplified to the parallel manipulator where the two triangles are equilateral and a numerical example is presented.


Launched on 18 December 2019, CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) is the first exoplanet mission dedicated to the search for transits of exoplanets by means of ultrahigh precision photometry of bright stars already known to host planets. It is the first S-(small) class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025, and a partnership between Switzerland and ESA, with important contributions from 10 other member states.

CHEOPS will provide the unique capability of determining accurate radii for a subset of planets in the super-Earth to Neptune mass range, for which masses have already been estimated from ground- based spectroscopic surveys. It will also provide precision radii for new planets discovered by ground- and space-based transit surveys, including TESS. By combining known masses with CHEOPS sizes, it will be possible to determine accurate densities for these smaller planets, providing key insight into their composition and internal structure. By identifying transiting exoplanets with high potential for in-depth characterisation – e.g. those that are potentially rocky and have thin atmospheres - CHEOPS will also provide prime targets for future instruments suited to the spectroscopic characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres.

80 % of the obsering time in the 3.5 year nominal mission lifetime on the satellite is dedicated to the Guaranteed Time Observing Programme defined by the CHEOPS Science Team. The remaining 20% is available to the Community through the ESA Guest Observers Programme, which comprises annual calls and a discretionary time component.

In this second poster in a series of three,  we present an overview of the CHEOPS Guaranteed Time Observing Programme as  defined by the CHEOPS Science Team.


The low-pressure heat treatment of metals enables the continuous improvement of the mechanical and plastic properties of products, such as hardness, abrasion resistance, etc. A significant problem related to the operation of vacuum furnaces for heat treatment is that they become unsealed during operation, resulting from the degradation of seals or the thermal expansion of the construction materials. Therefore, research was undertaken to develop a prediction model for detecting leaks in vacuum furnaces, the use of which will reduce the risk of degradation in the charge being processed. Unique experimental studies were carried out to detect leakages in a vacuum pit furnace, simulated using the ENV 116 reference slot. As a consequence, a prediction model for the detection of leaks in vacuum furnaces- which are used in the heat treatment of metals- was designed, using an artificial neural network. (93% for MLP 15-10-1) was developed. The model was implemented in a predictive maintenance system, in a real production company, as an element in the monitoring of the operation of vacuum furnaces.


Grind-hardening machining is not only a complex process coupling mechanical, dynamical and thermal effects, but a process containing distinct changes of microstructure and properties of the workpiece grinded surface layer. Under the defined experimental conditions, an empirical formula was constituted to describe the relation between hardened layer depth and grinding parameter of grind-hardening layer, and the multi-parametric optimization was conducted. A commercial FEM software package was used to simulate the grind-hardening process. The distribution and variation characteristics of the temperature and microstructure in the grinded surface layer of workpiece were obtained and the forming mechanism of the grind-hardened layer is revealed.


The effects of single Xe ion impacts on the surfaces of Au, Ag, In and Pb have been studied using in-situ transmission electron microscopy. Individual ion impacts produce surface craters with associated expelled material. The cratering efficiency scales with the density of the irradiated metal. Calculation indicates that, when collision cascades occur near surfaces (within about 5 nm) with energy densities sufficient to cause local melting, craters will occur. Crater formation occurs as a result of the explosive outflow of material from the hot molten core of the cascade. This would appear to indicate that, although the number of atoms in a spike is small and its duration short, it is reasonable to use macroscopic concepts such as vibrational temperature, melting and flow to describe spike effects.


Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by de novo mutations in the gene (LMNA) encoding lamin A that results in "premature aging" and early death. HGPS belongs to a group of disorders collectively referred to as, segmental progeroid syndromes, because multiple organs and tissues exhibit premature degenerative phenotypes consistent with physiological aging. The results presented here indicate that HGPS cells exhibit an elevated steady-state level of DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) and impaired repair of ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DSBs, both of which correlate strongly with the nuclear structural irregularities observed in a fraction of HGPS cells. These DNA damage-associated defects are due to the presence of Progerin in a dominant gain of function manner. Accordingly, reduction of Progerin levels by treatment with a farnesyl transferase inhibitor (FTI) improves repair of IR-induced DSBs. Interestingly, MRN (MRE11/Rad50/Nbs1) repair complex factors, involved in DSB repair, exhibit delayed localization to IR-induced DSBs, which may contribute to the repair defect. Furthermore, many segmental progeroid syndromes including HGPS exhibit phenotypes consistent with pre-natal developmental defects. These developmental defects are significant in their own right, but also because they may contribute to the post-natal progressive degeneration observed in HGPS. To begin investigating whether the HGPS mutation has adverse effects during pre-natal development, the expression of nuclear lamins was characterized in mouse (mESCs) and human (hESCs) embryonic stem cells which have been shown to be representative of pluripotent inner mass cells of blastocyst-stage embryos. This study shows that lamin A is not expressed in undifferentiated mESCs and hESCs, but becomes expressed quickly during in vitro hESC differentiation. Theses results suggest that Progerin is absent during early pre-natal development, but becomes expressed at later stages when the LMNA gene is activated, perhaps adversely affecting the developmental process. Altogether, theses studies identify impaired DNA DSB repair as a molecular mechanism that may contribute to the progressive degeneration phenotype and suggest that at least some of the pathophysiology may begin before birth.


This qualitative, action research study was guided by two primary research questions. First, how do students negotiate aesthetic, efferent, and critical stances when reading a novel set in Afghanistan? Second, how do aesthetic and efferent stances contribute to or hinder the adoption of a critical stance? A large body of research exists that examines student responses to literature, and much of that research is based on the transactional theory of reading. However, it remains unclear how critical literacy fits into this theory. This study describes how one group of high school students' aesthetic and efferent responses to a novel set in Afghanistan supported their development of critical stances. Six students enrolled in a ninth-grade English course participated in this study. Data were collected for 13 weeks. Data included two individual interviews with each student, student writing assignments in the form of 6 assigned journal entries and 7 assigned essays, transcriptions of 12 class discussions, field notes, lesson plans, a teacher researcher journal, and research memos. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. Three major findings emerged from this study. First, class discussions provided a context for students to adopt stances that were not evident in their individual written responses to the novel, which were completed prior to the discussions. Second, the discussions provided scaffolding that helped several of the students adopt world-efferent and critical stances. Third, both the aesthetic and the efferent stances contributed to students' adoption of critical stances.


Bacteria of the genus Methylobacterium are well-studied examples of facultative methylotrophs. These bacteria are classified as α-proteobacteria and are capable of growth on methanol and methylamine as well as on a variety of C2, C3, and C4 compounds (8). Methylobacterium strains are commonly found in soils, as well as on the surfaces of leaves of a wide variety of plants (1). Because of their distinctive pink pigmentation, they are sometimes referred to as PPFMs (pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophs). Evidence exists that these bacteria utilize methanol emitted by the stomata of plants (9), but the details of their relationship to plants has been unclear. Are Methylobacterium strains commensal bacteria, or do they communicate with plants in a more intimate relationship? A number of reports suggest that Methylobacterium strains are more than passive passengers on plant leaves. For instance, they have been shown in some cases to stimulate seed germination and plant development, possibly by production of phytohormones (2, 3, 4), and it has been reported that one strain produces the cytokinin zeatin (5) while others have been reported to produce indole acetic acid (6). In addition, Methylobacterium strains have been suggested to contribute to the flavor of strawberries (12) and have been localized as endosymbionts within cells of the buds of Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris) (10). One nonpigmented Methylobacterium strain has been shown to form a root-nodulating nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with a legume (11). A partial genome sequence of Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 is available (http://pedant.mips.biochem.mpg.de/), which reveals a number of open reading frames with significant identity to genes involved in plant association in rhizobia and Agrobacterium (M. Lidstrom, unpublished results). Therefore, at this point numerous indications exist that these PPFMs interact with plants, but the biochemical and genetic details of those interactions have remained elusive.

In this issue, Koenig et al. (7) present a set of studies that represents an important step in understanding the molecular basis of Methylobacterium-plant interactions. They show that four different Methylobacterium strains representing leaf isolates and a type M. extorquens strain all produce the cytokinin trans-zeatin at low levels in pure culture and excrete it into the culture medium. Biochemical and genetic evidence is presented suggesting that the trans-zeatin is not synthesized de novo but instead is derived from tRNA. This result is surprising, since so far the tRNA-derived zeatin from bacteria and plants has been restricted to the cis isomer. Is the low-level production of trans-zeatin observed in these strains sufficient to have an effect on plants? Surprisingly, the Methylobacterium-specific stimulation of seed germination that has been described in the past (3, 4) was unaffected in a mutant that is incapable of producing trans-zeatin. Thus, the answer to this question is still outstanding, as is the source of the stimulation effect itself. However, the results presented by Koenig et al. provide mechanistic evidence for cytokinin production by Methylobacterium strains, leading the way for future studies of the Methylobacterium-plant relationship. In addition, this evidence that a commensal bacterium produces a phytohormone via a previously unknown route provides new insights into the role of commensal plant bacteria in general.


Regional studies are not ends in themselves; they have a clear methodological basis – regionalism – promoting the complex look at these studies, as well as the search for distinctive forms of regional cultural expressions. In Lithuania, century-long regional studies of book culture have survived an uneven evolution. It was influenced by the instability of the evolution of regionalism, the processes of sovietisation, and the inaction of current regional policy in the country. In the context of Eastern Europe, regional studies have not significantly lagged behind the general development of book science; thus, the attention to them has always remained fairly consistent. The largest historical gains are achieved by the studies of Lithuania Minor, started in the 20th century by Prof. V. Gaigalaitis and A. Bruožis, and in the 70s taken over and qualitatively developed by Prof. D. Kaunas. The most important historiographical achievement is the assessment of an autonomous concept of book culture in Lithuania Minor. It has been achieved by a consistent and systematic investigation of the press, publishing, library and book trade history in this region. Regional studies of the biggest regions of Lithuania – Aukstaitija, Dzūkija, Suvalkija, and Samogitia – differ significantly among themselves. Prof. V. Biržiska, who was the first to formulate the concept of the book of Samogitia, had given a positive shift in developing the further studies of this region. Despite the lack in generalising works, localized studies, as well as the analysis of individual issues facilitate the favourable conditions for the reconstruction of a multi-faceted picture of book culture in Samogitia. The maturity of studies in the regions of Aukstaitija, Dzūkija, Suvalkija, and Samogitia is considerably more modest – library studies are mainly developed, a smaller extent of book distribution is noticed. Therefore, a more broadly developed analysis of individual questions cannot represent the direction of regional studies. In general, regional studies lack social sections; consequently, the relationships of the inhabitants of different regions to the book are still difficult to imagine. From the institutional point of view, there is a lack of the concentration of regional study centres; as a result, the history research centres operating either in Klaipėda or in Siauliai pay little attention to the problems of regional book history, and the researchers engaged in this activity do not always manage to overstep the boundaries of Siauliai and Klaipėda cities. Since the middle of the 20th century, the most famous centre of the concentration of book science studies has been the one established in the Vilnius University; for this reason, representatives of library science and book studies in the regional studies accumulated the majority of theoretical and empirical knowledge. The historical past of the regions of Lithuania has a direct link to the maturity of regional studies, but the studies of book culture are not only historical. The fixation of the present situation and its analysis are of no less importance than the studies of the problems of the past book history. In the theoretical context of regional studies, we still lag behind our Eastern and Western neighbours; for this reason, we often solve contemporaneous historiographical problems rather than trying to find the continuity of the forms of regional book culture. From the positions of the book culture paradigm of V. Vasiliev, the majority of the aspects of book culture have been more or less explored, except for the problems of book art. The challenge for future studies is the search for theoretical and methodological decisions allowing the evaluation of regional book culture as a form of regional cultural expression.


The use of biomass as a CO2–neutral renewable energy source gains more importance due to the decreasing resources of fossil fuels and their impact on the global warming. The thermochemical conversion of biomass in fluidized beds offers an economic and sustainable contribution to the global energy supply. Although the fluidized bed has reached a commercial status since many decades ago, its hydrodynamic behaviour is not completely understood. The availability of detail experimental information from real facilities is extremely difficult because the lack of accessibility, the measurement costs and the associated inevitable reduction in production. The numerical simulation provides an effective complement to the costly measurements. This requires besides the calculation of a gas-solid flow, an accurate description of particle–particle/wall collisions. Furthermore, kinetic models for pyrolysis, homogenous reactions, heterogeneous reactions and the related heat and mass transfer processes should be considered. Basically, there are two different methods for the representation of the gas–solid flow, viz. Euler–Euler and Euler–Lagrange models. The solid phase is treated as a continuum in the Euler–Euler model, while each particle trajectory is determined in the Euler–Lagrange model. In the Euler–Euler approach, the single particle-particle or particle-wall collision can be considered using additional assumptions. In the Euler–Lagrange approach, the particle-particle/wall collisions can be stochastically modeled or deterministically detected.
The aim of this study is to develop a 3D program for the numerical simulation of biomass conversion in fluidized beds. The particle–particle/wall and gas–solid interactions are modeled by tracking all individual particles. For this purpose, the deterministic Euler–Lagrange/discrete element method (DEM) is applied and further developed. The fluid–particle interaction is studied using a new procedure, known as the offset method. The proposed method is highly precise in determining the interaction values, thus improving the simulation accuracy up to an order of magnitude. In this work, an additional grid, so-called particle grid, in which the physical values of solid phase is computed, is introduced. The suggested procedure allows the variation of the fluid grid resolution independent of the particle size and consequently improves the calculation accuracy. The collision detection between particle–particle/wall is performed with the aid of the particle search grid method. The use of the particle search grid method enhances the efficiency of collision detection between collision partners. The improved Euler–Lagrange/DEM model is validated towards the measurements obtained from a cold quasi–2D fluidized bed. The results suggest that the extended Euler–Lagrange/DEM model can predict accurately the motion of particles and the gas bubble expansion in the bed. The received results from the DEM model are also compared with other numerical approaches, namely the Euler-Euler and stochastic Euler–Lagrange models. Compared to measurements, the results show that the Euler–Euler model underestimates the bubble sizes and the bed expansions, while the stochastic Euler–Lagrange model reaches faster the maximum bed expansions.
The efficiency and accuracy of the Euler–Lagrange/DEM model is investigated in detail. Parameter studies are carried out, in which stiffness coefficient, fluid time step and processor number are varied for different particle numbers and diameters. The obtained results are compared with the measurements in order to derive the optimum parameters for Euler–Lagrange/DEM simulations. The results suggest that the application of higher stiffness coefficients (more than 10^5 N/m) improves the simulation accuracy slightly, however, the average computing time increases exponentially. For time intervals larger than five milliseconds, the results show that the average computation time is independent of applied fluid time step, while the simulation accuracy decreases extremely by increasing the size of fluid time step. The use of fluid time steps smaller than five milliseconds leads to negligible improvements in the simulation accuracy, but to exponential rise in the average computing time. The parallel calculation accelerates the Euler–Lagrange/DEM simulation if the critical number of domain decomposition is not reached. Exceeding this number, the performance is not anymore proportional to the number of processors and the computational time increases again. The critical number of domain decomposition depends on particle numbers. An increase in solid contents results in a shift of critical decomposition number to higher numbers of CPUs.
The local concentrations of solid and gaseous species, the local gas and particle temperatures, the local heat release and heat transfer rates can also be calculated with the developed program. In combination with the simulation of the gas–solid flow, it is possible to model the biomass conversion in the fluidized bed. Three series of warm simulations in a quasi–2D fluidized bed model are performed, viz. combustion with fuel gas without and with inert sand particles as well as combustion with solid fuel (a mixture of inert sand and pine wood particles). The received results realise the coupling of the Euler–Lagrange/DEM model with chemical reaction mechanism. The extended Euler–Lagrange/DEM model under the consideration of thermochemical reaction model is able to simulate, by the same token, the conversion of other solid fuels such as coal in fluidized beds.


Abstract Land use policies have a definite and lasting impact on the way that cities grow; however, it is difficult for policy- and decision-makers to observe and quantify the implications of their land use policies and strategies. There is thus a need for information and tools that can adequately support policy debates and influence decision-making through scientific evidence. Land use change models provide such a tool and have often been applied and tested in developed countries but lack the ability to simulate many of the multifaceted social problems observed in developing countries. Some more advanced models also require large amounts of data that are normally not available for South African cities. In this research, we adjust the existing Dyna-CLUE model to accommodate the unique multifaceted problems such as informal settlements, backyard shacks, rapid population growth and government interventions with regard to social housing projects and test the model for the city of Johannesburg. Two scenarios (AS-IS and Policy-Led) in combination with an urban development boundary (UDB) were tested and their effect was evaluated based on their influences on the cities spatial inequality, densification of the urban spatial pattern and increase in access to public transport. Results indicated that the Policy-Led scenario can improve the wealth and economic distributions between the north and south of the city. It can also provide more economic opportunities for the households living in the south of the city. Enforcing an UDB has a positive impact on urban sprawl and will result in increased densities across the city. The effect of the policies on the commuter distances indicated that both scenarios will lead to an overall increase in the number of households that have access to public transport, but the Policy-Led scenario will allow a greater number of low-income earners to have access to the public transport systems. We see great possibilities for using the existing model to simulate land use change in South African cities. The model requires less input data compared to some other modelling techniques and with small adjustments and adaptations can prove to be a useful tool for urban planners.


When honeybees are presented with a colour discrimination task, they tend to choose swiftly and accurately when objects are presented in the ventral part of their frontal visual field. In contrast, poor performance is observed when objects appear in the dorsal part. Here we investigate if this asymmetry is caused by fixed search patterns or if bees can increase their detection ability of objects in search scenarios when targets appear frequently or exclusively in the dorsal area of the visual field. We trained individual honeybees to choose an orange rewarded target among blue distractors. Target and distractors were presented in the ventral visual field, the dorsal field or both. Bees presented with targets in the ventral visual field consistently had the highest search efficiency, with rapid decisions, high accuracy and direct flight paths. In contrast, search performance for dorsally located targets was inaccurate and slow at the beginning of the experimental phase, but bees increased their search performance significantly after a few foraging bouts: they found the target faster, made fewer errors and flew in a straight line towards the target. However, bees needed thrice as long to improve the search for a dorsally located target when the target's position changed randomly between the ventral and the dorsal visual field. We propose that honeybees form expectations of the location of the target's appearance and adapt their search strategy accordingly. A variety of possible mechanisms underlying this behavioural adaptation, for example spatial attention, are discussed. 1,2 3


Drill string vibration is a very prevalent phenomena, it does great effect to drilling engineering, drill string resonance is the main reason that causes the drill string fatigue. In this paper the drill string is object that is studied, the axial vibration is analyzed for the total system of drill string. The model of axial vibration is established, the rule about axial vibration of drill string is obtained, the nature frequency of axial vibration is found out by Delphi. Then, the rule can be used in the oil field for the drilling worker, the rule can provide reliable theory for decreasing drill fatigue and optimizing drilling parameter.


In 2009, the Institute of Oncology of Vojvodina reported the total of 553 newly registered patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) in the Province of Vojvodina, with a lethal outcome in 332 HNC patients. These facts impose the need of investigating the health education of the general population and proposing possible prevention measures. The present prospective study included 200 subjects classified into two groups. Group 1 (100 subjects) consisted of randomly selected adults from urban and rural regions of Vojvodina. Group II (100 subjects) included the adults from the same regions affected by HNC. All subjects answered the anonymous questionnaire which complied with the standards of a similar European Union research project "About Face". The results showed that 96% of the subjects from the Group II and only 77% of the subjects from the Group I were familiar with the term "head and neck cancer" what represented a significant difference. The results from Vojvodina were significantly better than those from the European study (23%). Most subjects were informed about HNC through television programs (60%), hospital leaflets (41%) or internet (37%). Both the patients and the citizens of Vojvodina were better informed about the most common localizations of HNC-pharynx and larynx, but less informed about other HNC localizations than the citizens of seven European countries. The citizens and the HNC patients from Vojvodina were equally well informed about some risk factors (e.g., smoking, alcoholism, aging and sun exposure) as the citizens in Europe. Both the patients and the general population of Vojvodina are mostly worried about the consequences/side effects of the applied surgical treatment. The obtained results may be a good starting point in the prevention and early detection of HNC in Vojvodina.


This research was carried out on the antibacterial and phyto-chemical properties of aqueous and methanol extracts of the rhizome of Zingiber officinale. The methanol and aqueous extracts of the spice demonstrated high antibacterial potency against Staphylococcus aureous, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. The effect of the extracts on the test organisms varied with the dilution level used, and methanol extract was generally more inhibitive than the aqueous extract. Phyto-chemical analysis of the extracts confirmed the presence of saponins, flavonoid, cardiac glycosides, polyphenols and anthraquinones. These are anti-oxidative compounds which possibly might have contributed to the high antibacterial potency of the spice.


Two new species of Justicia sect. Monechma, Justicia cubangensis and J. eriniae, are described from Angola. Their affinities are reviewed, together with a discussion on the correct generic name to apply to these species. A conspectus of Justicia sect.
 Monechma 'Group I' in Angola is presented, including a key to the species and notes on habitat and distribution for each taxon. Two new combinations and one new name are provided for species for which there was no previous name available in Justicia, and lectotypes are proposed
 for four names. Twelve species are recognised in this group in total, eight of which are currently believed to be endemic to Angola. Justicia subsessilis is recorded in Angola for the first time, and J. laeta is placed in sect. Monechma, having previously been tentatively
 referred to sect. Tyloglossa. Monechma carrissoi is considered to be conspecific with J. virgultorum and so is synonymised here. In addition, the botanical importance of the type locality of J. cubangensis, the Cuchi River gorge of the Cubango drainage, is highlighted
 and two further new provincial records for Cuando Cubango are noted from this site: Eriocaulon angustibracteum (Eriocaulaceae) and Crepidorhopalon schweinfurthii (Linderniaceae).


The meeting in Yogyakarta in November 2015 marked a new chapter of Medical Physics educational, scientific, and professional development in Indonesia; a new professional body, declared as Indonesian Association of Physicists in Medicine, was born a result of unification between Indonesian Medical Physics and Biophysics Association and Indonesian Medical Physicists Association. This long-awaited milestone was reached as a mutual agreement and recognition between the founders, prominent figures, and members of the two groups of medical physicists, academia, and scientists. The unification was followed by a major re-organization during which a new committee with a set of new people was involved in setting new foundations of the newborn organization. This great labor includes also a setting of a new board responsible for scientific publications, reflected on the change of JMPB's look and how it runs. In this issue, readers and authors of JMPB might have noticed some change in the face and looks in the articles—the layout, the cover, and the structure. Whereas the journal previously accommodates medical physics-related sections of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, Radiation Therapy, Nuclear Medicine, Experimental Biophysics, and Computational Biophysics, the new format introduces new sections of Radiological Protection, and Review Article, enabling a broader possibility of research scope published in JMPB. These new arrangements, however, is made complex with the shift of technical team members working behind the screen, causing a major delay in article processing. To add to that extent, JMPB also experienced a catastrophic technical issue on our web server, which has not been resolved until recently. Therefore, I believe it is both timely and appropriate to extend the team's sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused. I, now, in the new spirit as new as the new look of the journal, encourage more submissions to JMPB for a wider audience, and to support this new organization facing its new dawn.


We consider reaction-diffusion equations $\partial_tu=\Delta u+f(u)$ in the whole space $\mathbb{R}^N$ and we are interested in the large-time dynamics of solutions ranging in the interval $[0,1]$, with general unbounded initial support. Under the hypothesis of the existence of a traveling front connecting $0$ and $1$ with a positive speed, we discuss the existence of spreading speeds and spreading sets, which describe the large-time global shape of the level sets of the solutions. The spreading speed in any direction is expressed as a Freidlin-G\"artner type formula. This formula holds under general assumptions on the reaction and for solutions emanating from initial conditions with general unbounded support, whereas most of earlier results were concerned with more specific reactions and compactly supported or almost-planar initial conditions. We then investigate the local properties of the level sets at large time. Some flattening properties of the level sets of the solutions, if initially supported on subgraphs, will be presented. We also investigate the special case of asymptotically conical-shaped initial conditions. For Fisher-KPP equations, we state some asymptotic local one-dimensional and monotonicity symmetry properties for the elements of the $\Omega$-limit set of the solutions, in the spirit of a conjecture of De Giorgi for stationary solutions of Allen-Cahn equations. Lastly, we present some logarithmic-in-time estimates of the lag of the position of the solutions with respect to that of a planar front with minimal speed, for initial conditions which are supported on subgraphs with logarithmic growth at infinity. Some related conjectures and open problems are also listed.


An optimal measurement scheme for tracking the harmonics in power system voltage and current waveforms is presented. The scheme does not require an integer number of samples in an integer number of cycles. It is not limited to stationary signals, but it can track harmonics with time-varying amplitudes. A review is first presented of the common frequency domain techniques for harmonics measurement. The frequency domain techniques are based on the discrete Fourier transform and the fast Fourier transform. Examples of pitfalls in the common techniques are given. The authors then introduce the concepts of the new scheme. This scheme is based on Kalman filtering theory for the optimal estimation of the parameters of time-varying harmonics. The scheme was tested on simulated and actual recorded data sets. It is concluded that the Kalman filtering algorithm is more accurate than the other techniques. >


Introduction The field of public health is increasingly implementing initiatives intended to make policies, systems, and environments (PSEs) more supportive of healthy behaviors, even though the evidence for many of these strategies is only emerging. Our objective was 3-fold: 1) to describe evaluations of PSE-change programs in which the evaluators followed the steps of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, 2) to share the resulting lessons learned, and 3) to assist future evaluators of PSE-change programs with their evaluation design decisions. Methods Seven Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) applied CDC's framework to evaluate their own PSE-change initiatives. The PRCs followed each step of the framework: 1) engage stakeholders, 2) describe program, 3) focus evaluation design, 4) gather credible evidence, 5) justify conclusions, and 6) ensure use and share lessons learned. Results Evaluation stakeholders represented a range of sectors, including public health departments, partner organizations, and community members. Public health departments were the primary stakeholders for 4 of the 7 evaluations. Four PRCs used logic models to describe the initiatives being evaluated. Their evaluations typically included both process and outcome questions and used mixed methods. Evaluation findings most commonly focused on contextual factors influencing change (process) and the adoption or implementation of PSE-change strategies (outcome). Evaluators shared lessons learned through various channels to reach local stakeholders and broader public health audiences. Conclusion Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health is applicable to evaluations of PSE-change initiatives. Using this framework to guide such evaluations builds practice-based evidence for strategies that are increasingly being used to promote healthful behaviors.


Humans are equipped with a psychological system of followership that evolved to regulate choices of leaders based partly on would-be leaders' physiological features. One such feature is voice pitch, which is determined by the physiology of the throat. Recent studies find that political candidates in modern elections with lower-pitched voices are generally more successful. As lower-pitched voices are perceived as stronger and more dominant, these findings have been taken to indicate a general preference for dispositional abilities in leaders to protect and prevail in conflicts. Here we extend upon these findings by demonstrating that conservatives and Republicans tend to view the world as much more competitive and threatening than liberals and Democrats. We utilize two existing data sources to show that political candidates with lower-pitched voices are preferred more among conservative Republicans than among liberal Democrats. In a third study we show that preferences for lower-pitched candidate voices stem from individual differences in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). Importantly, across all three studies subjects' party affiliation, ideology, and SDO only predict preferences for male candidate voices. We conclude with a discussion of the results in relation to followership psychology and general debates on the rationality of the public with respect to elections.


A study was conducted on paddy variety TQR-S with different types of organic fertilizers incorporated with soil of assigned for paddy plot 17 SPL-UMS. The objectives
of this study were to identify the effect of using different types of organic fertilizers towards the growth and yield of paddy and to identify which was the best organic fertilizer that can improve the fertility of the soil located at the paddy plot 17 SPL-UMS. The study was conducted at the rain shelter house in school of Sustainable Agriculture
(SPL), Universiti Malaysia Sabah with the coordinate of S° 55' N and 118� 02' E and it started on 22nd June 2012 until 22nd October 2012. Treatments that have been used
were Poultry manure, Goat manure, Bio-S Organic fertilizer, Vermicompost , Bokashi EM and NPK (90: 60: 60) kg/ha as the control and the effects of the treatments towards paddy plant were examined based on vegetative growth, yield component and soil fertility parameters. This experiment was done using Complete Randomized Design (CRD) and was analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Paddy seedlings were transplanted in the pot with two seedlings for each treatment. The rate of fertilizer application was based on the recommended rates for respective treatments. According to the results, for vegetative growth (plant height, culm height, number of tillers and percentage of productive tillers) overall showed having significant different mean values (p < 0.05) for all treatments. Bio-S showed high plant height (111.73 cm) and
culm height (76.84 cm) compare to other treatments. Poultry manure showed high percentage of productive tiller (95.47%). Goat manure has the highest value for number of tillers (24 tillers). For yield component, the parameters (number of panicles, length of panicles, number of grain per panicle, number of filled grain per panicle, number of empty grains per panicle, percentage of filled grain, weight of1000 grain
and extrapolated yield) showed having mean value of Significant different (p < 0.05) among the treatments. Goat manure has the highest number of panicle (24 panicles),
highest number of grains per panicle (121 grains), high number of filled grains (108 grains), lowest number of empty grains (14 grains), high percentage of filled grains
(89.43%), high weight of 1000 grains (29.29 g) and high extrapolated yield of S.9 tons per hectare. For soil fertility, vermicompost increased the percentage of Nitrogen
content from 0.0004% to 0.0011%. In conclusion, Goat manure is the suitable organic fertilizer that can give good growth and yield of paddy variety TQR-S. From this study, farmers who are planting paddy crop in the same type of soil as plot 17 SPL -UMS are encouraged to use goat manure with the rate of 20 ton per hectare because it produce
high yield.


Expansion of Engagement U.S. Embassies face unprecedented challenges. The kinds of issues that confound governments today--from organized crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism to nuclear proliferation, human rights, ethnosectarian conflict, global disease, and climate change--no longer fit within diplomacy's traditional categories. (1) Just as nonstate actors everywhere are becoming more powerful, regions of geostrategic importance in the developing world find themselves beset by weak or dysfunctional governments and increasingly perilous socioeconomic situations. While some might reasonably question the categorical quality of the 2002 National Security Strategy's assertion that "America is now threatened less by conquering states than we are by failing ones," there is still plenty of reason to be concerned about the trends. (2) What does this mean for Embassies? First and foremost, Embassy staffs--our U.S. Country Teams--must continue to engage with allied, partner, and competitor countries, even as the terms of these engagements grow more complex. Indeed, the number of programs operated out of Embassies is expanding. A Country Team in Paris, for example, must partner with local authorities on counterterrorism, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the European Union, as well as country-specific operations such as Afghanistan and Kosovo. The team must also further commercial interests and cooperation within regional and international financial institutions. In Moscow, the Country Team must promote democratic reform efforts while enhancing opportunities for U.S. businesses in a dynamic emerging market, as well as improve nuclear security initiatives and monitor avian flu. It must do this while working on global and regional energy problems as well as traditional diplomacy. In Abuja, Nigeria, the Country Team must monitor and help to deal with instabilities in the Niger Delta, engage in HIV/AIDS relief and economic development programs, and assist in the first civilian transfer of political power. In Bogota, Colombia, the Country Team faces major counternarcotic and counterinsurgency problems as well as regional political problems. All of these tasks must be coordinated and deconflicted, and the Country Team must work with unified purpose. In practice, this often does not happen. This is especially true in the area of stabilization and reconstruction missions, where the wars in Afghanistan and, more acutely, Iraq, revalidate the sacrosanct principle of unity of effort. However, this principle can be applied more broadly. As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice notes, "More and more, solutions to the challenges we face lie not in the narrow expertise of one agency acting in one country, but in partnerships among multiple agencies working creatively together to solve common problems across entire regions." (3) Despite some positive steps toward this objective, senior policymakers in and out of office in both the executive and legislative branches lament the continued inability of the United States to integrate all elements of national power. Their frustrations apply not only to the national level, but also to the Country Team, the critical intersection where plans, policies, programs, and personalities all come together. The Country Team builds the American image abroad and implements strategy. Without an effective Country Team, there can be no prospect of success in achieving national security objectives. The question is whether Country Teams are structured properly and resourced sufficiently to be effective. A brief examination of the Country Team's evolution helps dispel some common misconceptions about the answer to this question. Evolution of the Country Team The struggle to gain control over unwieldy interagency activities at the country level is not of recent vintage. (4) As the United States emerged from World War II, it engaged in massive nationbuilding and foreign assistance efforts to reconstruct European states and to counter Soviet influence. …


This article evaluates a promotion-based analysis for Semitic relatives along the lines of Kayne 1994 and compares it with an alternative analysis that does not make use of promotion but shares with Kayne's analysis an antisymmetric view of phrase structure. The alternative analysis is based on establishing a parametric distinction relating to categorial identity of the relative clause such that it is a CP in some languages and a DP in others. The first type is found in languages where the relative complementizer is the same as the normal complementizer of sentential complementation (e.g., Hebrew). The second type is found in languages where the relative complementizer is a determiner (e.g., Amharic and Arabic). This difference is shown to have crucial implications for the structure and derivation of N-initial and N-final relatives, as well as for some relevant typological generalizations, including a generalization relating to the phenomenon of (relative) clause nominalization.


Epson WorkForce WF-3640 is a printer with many features that greatly ease your office work. The WorkForce WF-3640 can also save the cost of your office expenses with 2-sided printing features automatically, and is direct WIFI that gives you the convenience of printing documents or pictures directly from your smartphone or gadget. It is now a discontinued printer from Epson. It is still commonly found in a lot of homes and small offices.


Investigation approach to migrants adaptation process in host countries has always been placed specific, in order to understand the whole connections to all aspect of life. In Melbourne, community gardens have been a place where immigrants start their interaction with others. The literature argues that the gardens can foster social inclusion, while at the same time providing space to preserve their cultural identity. This paper will investigate the adaptation of migrants within the garden setting, by considering the extent to which cultural practices in gardening affect their ability to adapt to the host country (Australia). The findings confirm a complex relationship between historical garden practices/culture and the reality of practices in the community gardens.
Keywords: self-built housing, donated housing, lifestyle, social interaction, adjustments
eISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.


Introduction and objectives There is no agreed model for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) and wide variation in services exists. A regional PR network was established 4 years ago, with the aim to drive up standards and reduce variation. An audit was undertaken of all PR services in the region to determine costs of services and factors influencing variance. Method In June 2013 e-questionnaires were sent to all 16 known PR providers; fifty questions requested average annual/weekly data including: staff pay bands, time spent on exercise, education, administration, travel and other identifiable costs, numbers failing to complete (drop-out) and clinical outcomes. All costs were calculated in terms of cost-per-patient. Providers were assured actual costs and their identity would not be revealed. Results PR regionally serviced 3712 patients annually Many providers total per patient costs were above the national tariff Administration formed the highest share of providers total cost (24%), Administration time per patient per course varied widely (1 – 14 h) There was a wide range of drop-out, 10–42%, mean 23% The mean (£76) and range (£23-£255) of drop-out cost per patient was high, rising at an ever increasing rate for every dropout (Figure) Both larger patient numbers and rolling programmes were associated with higher per patient cost, the latter accountable to higher admin costs surpassing savings in exercise session costs. Inconsistent reporting of clinical outcome data by providers. Conclusion Our analysis demonstrates significant variation in the makeup of providers' individual costs, with the majority of the variation between providers' total cost per patient attributed to dropouts. Administration and drop-out were the greatest contributory factors to higher service costs. Higher cost was associated with larger patient numbers and rolling programmes. Discussion Insufficient clinical outcome data were received to make any meaningful comparison of cost with outcome. Further work in this area is therefore required. Providers expected that providing services for larger numbers of patients and using rolling programmes would have lower costs, but the reverse was true. Administration costs for PR are very significant and may frequently be the key driver behind cost differences. Abstract P122 Figure 1 Dropout% vs Dropout Costs (Per Patient)


The design and machining quality of mold core of luminaire reflector is the key to luminaire manufacturing. According to the structural characteristics of the mold core with axisymmetric uniform-distribution reflecting cells, the mathematical model with five-axis NC programming of this mold core was established. Based on five-axis CNC machine tools with dual rotary tables, then, the NC automatic programming calculation for this mold core was researched. Besides, a simple three-dimensional entity simulation was discussed. In this way, the three-dimensional entity simulation of automatic programming and processing in 5-axis NC machining of this mold core was realized.


This article derives key variables in the analysis of standards of proof in criminal law from basic conditional probabilities. The variables derived are the probability of correct and wrongful conviction, the expected sanction, and society's incarceration costs, while the basic conditional probabilities are the probability of observing (any given) evidence against individual i given that individual j committed the crime (for any j including j equal to i. The variables are derived from the conditional probabilities as a function of the standard of the proof using simple Bayesian updating.


To define the role of cytoplasmic microtubules in the biogenesis of plasmalemma glycoproteins of rat small-intestinal villus cells, we studied the effect of colchicine on the incorporation of L-[1,5,6-3H]fucose into Golgi, lateral basal and microvillus membranes. Colchicine was administered intraperitoneally before or after injection of radioactive fucose. The incorporation of radioactivity into Golgi membranes was little affected by colchicine, which did not prevent the redistribution of most of the labelled glycoproteins from the Golgi complex into other parts of the villus cell. The incorporation of labelled glycoproteins into the microvillus membrane was greatly inhibited by colchicine given 2 h or 10 min before the radioactive fucose: all labelled glycoproteins present in this membrane were equally affected. In contrast, the administration of colchicine considerably increased the incorporation of radioactivity into the lateral basal part of the plasmalemma, and prevented the disappearance of most of the labelled glycoproteins from this membrane at late times after fucose injection. These results suggest that cytoplasmic microtubular structures are important for the polarization of the intestinal villus cell and the biogenesis of the microvillus membrane, although playing little or no role in the movement of membrane components from the Golgi complex to the lateral basal part of the plasmalemma.


The eels occurring in Bago River, Negros Occidental, Philippines are briefly annotated. Order Synbranchiformes is represented by the swamp eel Ophisternon bengalense while Anguilliformes (or true-eels) consist of 10 species belonging to four families. Snake-eels (Ophichthidae) consist of seven species while Freshwater Eels (Anguillidae), Spaghetti Eels (Moringuidae), Moray Eels (Muraenidae) are represented by a single species each. Keywords: Eels, river, brackish water, freshwater, Negros Occidental


Water insecurity in Northern Indigenous communities in Canada is pervasive and complex with multiple dimensions and impacts. Yet the relevant literature is sparse, especially for Labrador.  Our case study aimed to understand the multiple dimensions, health risks, and coping strategies of long-term water insecurity in the Southern Inuit island community of Black Tickle-Domino, Labrador, where there is no household running water system and people rely on an under-funded potable drinking water unit (PDWU) and unmonitored shared shallow wells.  Using qualitative and quantitative methods, our exploratory work included research on water quality, access, contamination, uses, preferences, and cultural interpretations. In Black Tickle water security was chronically and severely compromised and the community did not meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for safe drinking water. Some water samples had contaminants and there were past records of outbreaks of water-borne illnesses. Water insecurity was linked to poverty, food insecurity, men's health, and mental health and poses major health risks. There is an urgent need for a sustainable strategy to improve water quality and quantity in these communities, such as that outlined by WHO in 2005.  Yet these communities lack the economic and political means to implement such strategies. Our materialist approach and ongoing commitment to this work has led to early-stage work with engineers and the community to identify possible solutions.


This assessment has been inspired from the global recession and the future of the traditional Greek industry of shipping. Various opinions about trends are being announced now and then but it was worth to attempt encode and analyze the financial status and the management strategies of this business sector. Therefore the most reliable source of data that we could have which also could be audited is the NYSE listed shipping companies' financial statements. What has been observed during the collection of the data is that some of the currently listed companies do not exist anymore although they had a history in the stock market life or they have been very recently listed and as a result there are no sufficient data for at least 4 years now in order to implement our financial models properly. Therefore, the common point of the majority of the companies that have been chosen to be analyzed is the at least four years continuously reporting in the NYSE committee. At the first part of this assessment the strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats are analyzed individually for each company and then summarized in one general model of characteristics which are common for this group of companies. The categorization of the companies in bulk carriers and tankers would be very difficult if not feasible since many of the listed companies are managing/operating or owning both types of vessels. The later one is indeed a characteristic for these companies in order to diversify the risk of transportation. The diversification is not only focused on the shipping segments that a company is activated, but also in the size, type and sub-markets. The need to reduce the risk is very significant since this is the basis for the continuation of each company.


Broadband switching and transmission technologies are maturing rapidly, promising to make broadband ISDN (B-ISDN) possible and potentially economical in the near future. The diversity of possible B-ISDN services provides much impetus for the implementation of B-ISDN, but complicates the task of specifying network switching requirements. This paper examines a few representative services in order to generate a set of basis vectors in capability space. New services are then projected onto this basis; if a new service cannot be constructed from the basis vectors, other vectors are added to the basis set. B-ISDN architects can then specify switching requirements by selecting those capability basis vectors that are required for the services most in demand. For full motion entertainment video services, circuit switching capability at about 150 Mbit/s may be required, while selective broadcast and remote switching capabilities may reduce the cost of these services. For subvideo-rate services, new transfer mode (NTM) capability may be required to allow users the flexibility to allocate access channels dynamically on a per-call basis. Multiple connection (e.g., voice and video) and multiple party call capabilities may be required for many B-ISDN services, implying a need to extend the ISDN signaling protocol. The capability for the user to request network code conversion between different coding formats (e.g., NTSC or HDTV), and network compression of signals to reduce the cost of interoffice facilities, may also be required. Finally, fast call setup capability and high calling volume capabilities may be required, implying a need to distribute call processing functions over multiple processors in the central office.


Reestablishing shrub canopy cover after disturbance in semi‐arid ecosystems, such as sagebrush steppe, is essential to provide wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem functioning. While several studies have explored the effects of landscape and climate factors on the success or failure of sagebrush seeding, the influence of soil properties on gradients of shrub canopy structure in successfully seeded areas remains largely unexplored. In this study, we evaluated associations between soil properties and gradients in sagebrush canopy structure in stands that had successfully reestablished after fire and subsequent seeding treatments. Using a dataset collected across the Great Basin, USA, of sagebrush stands that had burned and reestablished between 1986 and 2013, we tested soil depth and texture, soil surface classification, biological soil crusts plus mean historical precipitation, solar heatload, and fire history as modeling variables to explore gradients in sagebrush canopy structure growth in terms of cover, height, and density. Deeper soils were associated with greater sagebrush canopy structure development in terms of plant density and percent cover, coarser textured soils were associated with greater sagebrush cover and density, and more clayey soils were typically associated with greater height. Biological crust presence was also positively associated with enhanced sagebrush canopy growth, but adding more demographically or morphologically explicit descriptions of biocrust communities did not improve explanatory power. Increasing heatload had a negative effect on sagebrush canopy structure growth, and increased mean annual precipitation was only associated with greater sagebrush height. Given that conservation and restoration of the sagebrush steppe ecosystems has become a priority for land managers, the associations we identify between gradients in post‐fire sagebrush canopy structure growth and field‐identifiable soil characteristics may improve planning of land treatments for sagebrush restoration and the understanding of semi‐arid ecosystem functioning and post‐disturbance dynamics.


While hope has been theorized to play an important role in psychotherapy (Fitzgerald, 1979; Frank, 1968; Frank & Frank, 1991; Stotland, 1969; Yalom, 1995), the respective body of literature offers little empirical evidence for this seemingly common belief among mental health professionals. It is the purpose of this paper to explore the role of hope in psychotherapy. A decade ago (1991a), Snyder and colleagues developed a goal based theory and measure of hope, which is use in this study. They define hope as the overall perception that goals can be met, and consider it an interaction of two factors agency (goaldirected energy) and pathways (planning to meet goals). This study primarily examines the question: Does the degree of hope significantly change from pretreatment to five sessions of psychotherapy? Ancillary investigations explore the relationship of hope at pretreatment with premature termination and Stages of Change Scale (SCS), a readiness for change measure (McConnaughy, DiClemente, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1989; McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983). Findings support previous theories that hope, normally considered a stable trait, does increase during psychotherapy. However, in the present study no relationships are apparent between hope and premature termination or the readiness for change measure (SCS). Findings support previous theoretical statements in the literature regarding hope as an important part of the psychotherapy process. In addition, findings suggest the need for further inquiry to better understand the involvement of hope in the psychotherapeutic process.


General characteristics of polymeric nanocomposites containing montmorillonite (MMT) as well as the results of research concerning preparation and properties of nanocomposites with this filler, based on isotactic polypropylene (i-PP) or low density polyethylene (PE-LD) were presented. Structure, crystallization and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were studied using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and tensile test. Blending conditions as well as type of a compatibilizer used (polypropylene grafted onto maleic anhydride or acrylic acid) significantly influence MMT exfoliation in i-PP matrix. MMT presence weakly influences i-PP crystallization at static conditions while causes intense spherulites nucleation under shear. Dependencies of tensile properties of nanocomposites based on i-PP matrix on MMT content and exfoliation degree (Figs 1-2) were investigated and interpreted. Polypropylene based nanocomposites exhibit increased elastic modulus while preserving accepted value of the elongation at break. Nanocomposites based on low density polyethylene exhibit high ability to plastic deformation. Films of compatibilized polyethylene nanocomposites were obtained using blow moulding technique and the effects of stretch and blowing degree on mechanical properties of the films (Table 1) were investigated.


Software developers are notorious for skimping on design documentation, often eschewing it altogether. This trend has led to claims that it is merely an impediment in the fast-paced and highly pliable world of software development-a useless vestige of old-style engineering that should be eliminated altogether. While recognizing the unique nature of software, the author argues that, because of the complexity of modern software systems and the cryptic nature of current programming languages, good design documentation is not only useful but vital. However, we must seek ways of adapting it to suit the medium as well as the exceptionally dynamic development process.


SUMMARY Two major research themes in Evolutionary Developmental Biology and in Paleobiology, respectively, have each become central for the analysis and interpretation of morphological changes in evolution: the study of ontogeny/phylogeny connections, mainly within the widespread and controversial framework of heterochrony; and the study of morphological disparity, the morphological signal of biodiversity, describing secular changes in morphospace occupation during the history of any given clade. Although enriching in their respective fields, these two themes have remained rather isolated to date, despite the potential value of integrating them as some recent studies begin to suggest. Here, we explore the recent notion of developmental morphospace—morphospace carrying ontogenetic information—as a potential tool for bridging the gap between disparity dynamics and developmental dynamics. We elaborate this approach with a case study of Early Jurassic ammonite family Hildoceratidae (Mollusca, Cephalopoda). Morphometric analyses of the shell shape of 20 species spanning the morphological spectrum of the family are used to quantify and contrast juvenile and adult disparity levels. Adult disparity is significantly greater than juvenile disparity at the family level; yet, some subclades also display different patterns. In addition, comparisons of ontogenetic trajectories underline the prevalence of heterochrony‐based evolutionary modifications within subfamilies (via ontogenetic scaling); they also point to the probable existence of pervasive developmental constraints structuring inhomogeneous morphospace occupation.


A transconductance amplifier with extended bandwidth, which is a critical block in various applications including amplifiers, filters and DACs, is presented. The presented technique introduces a differential-mode negative capacitance while introduces the common-mode positive capacitance such that it extends the differential-mode bandwidth and compensates the common-mode stability. The proposed transconductance amplifier has been implemented for a DAC in CMOS 20nm to improve the distortion performance as a negative transconductance circuit, but the proposed technique is applicable to the wide range of circuits with a transconductor.


It is argued that automatic security assessment schemes cannot generate information of high quality until their architectures, which are now wholly algorithmic, are changed to hybrids combining algorithms with expert systems. In particular numerical algorithms should continue to be used for simulating the effects of contingencies, but expert systems should be developed for selecting the contingencies and interpreting the simulation results. It is claimed that these changes will make automatic schemes more closely resemble the manual schemes that are used offline to generate assessment information of high quality. The problems of integrating hybrid software into existing energy management systems (EMSs) are viewed as far from trivial. These problems are discussed, and a solution is suggested, namely, the use of a network of workstations tied to existing EMS computers. >


We present the RedCAN concept to achieve fault tolerance against node and link failures in a CAN-bus system by means of configurable switches. The basic idea in RedCAN is to isolate faulty nodes or bus segments by configuring switches that will evade a faulty node or segment and exclude it from bus access. We propose changes to the original centralized protocol, vulnerable to single point failures, and show that with a new distributed algorithm considerable more efficiency can be achieved also when network size is growing. The distributed algorithm introduces redundancy and hereby increases robustness of the system. Furthermore, the new algorithm has logarithmic complexity, as opposed to the centralized algorithms linear complexity, as the number of nodes increase. The results were gathered through a new simulator, the "RedCAN Simulation Manager", also presented. Simulations allow assessing the break-even point between centralized and distributed algorithms reconfiguration latencies as well as give ideas for further research.


Background: The effect of coronary artery bypass grafting on postoperative left ventricular function is still the subject of ongoing studies. The degree of recovery and its duration have not been precisely determined, and the published data are discordant. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of surgical revascularization on left ventricular systolic function.
Methods: We prospectively studied 50 consecutive patients who underwent elective isolated coronary artery bypass grafting in the period from January 2017 to November 2017. All patients had echocardiography preoperatively, pre-discharge, and at 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Left ventricular end-systolic volume, left ventricular end-diastolic volume, stroke volume, and ejection fraction were measured in all patients.
Results: The mean age was 57.22±7.04 years. The mean number of grafts was 2.60±1.02. Improvement in Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) score from (2.72 ± 1.03) preoperatively to [(0.12 ± 0.39), p<0.001] after six months was achieved. Additionally, improvement in the patient New York Heart Association (NYHA) score occurred from (1.70 ± 0.97) preoperatively to [(0.12 ± 0.33), p<0.001] after six months. A significant improvement in left ventricular function occurred  as demonstrated by improvement in mean left ventricular ejection fraction from (54.14±9.80) % to  [(62.40 ± 4.18) %, p<0.001] at six months. The mean total hospital stay was 5.62±1.51 days. The mean total intensive care unit length of stay was 47.16±25.73 hours. Two patients (4%) had re-exploration for bleeding, and postoperative myocardial infarction occurred in three patients (6%).  One patient (2%) had postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction, and 3 patients (6%) had postoperative atrial fibrillation. Two patients (4%) suffered from superficial wound infection. There was no hospital mortality.
Conclusion: Patients undergoing CABG experienced an improvement in left ventricular contractile function at six months postoperatively. Further studies are required to evaluate the changes after 6 months.


The authors determined the incidence of ibuprofen-associated renal impairment and risk factors for its development in 1908 patients treated with ibuprofen using data from a computerized medical records system. Renal impairment occurred in 343 patients (18%). Multivariable analysis revealed six independent predictors of renal impairment: age, prior renal insufficiency, coronary artery disease, male gender, elevated systolic blood pressure, and diuretic use. They then tested the degree to which ibuprofen contributed to the development of renal impairment by evaluating a control group of 3933 acetaminophen recipients. Neither ibuprofen nor acetaminophen was among the independent predictors of risk when all patients were considered (adjusted odds ratio, 1.05; 95% Cl, 0.88-1.26). However, two subsets of at risk patients had an ibuprofen effect: patients greater than or equal to 65 years of age who received ibuprofen were at greater risk of renal impairment as compared to acetaminophen recipients (adjusted odds ratio, 1.34; 95% Cl, 1.05 to 1.72) as were patients with coronary artery disease (adjusted odds ratio, 2.54; 95% Cl, 1.38 to 4.68). Their results suggest that elderly patients and patients with coronary artery disease are at risk for ibuprofen-associated renal impairment and therefore should have their renal function monitored when ibuprofen and possibly other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed.


Content based image and video retrieval research focuses on the development of novel features and similarity metrics for improving the retrieval performance. There are only a few well-established data benchmarks on which video retrieval tools can be tested. In this paper we propose a novel benchmark for video retrieval that researchers can use in their studies for comparing features and algorithms. The benchmark comes with frame indexing for objects to assist the process of algorithm development, i.e. research can focus on higher level analysis of matching videos as opposed to spending long periods of research on low level image processing operations such as image segmentation and object definitions.


ABSTRACT Background: Quality oncologic care is dependent on the availability of affordable anti neoplastic agents. Many patients in Europe either lack access to anticancer medication or have access but at a cost that is unaffordable to many persons. Methodology: The ESMO study on the availability and accessibility of anti-neoplastic medicines in Europe is a major initiative to evaluate the formulary availability (on and off-label), out of pocket costs and actual availability of licensed anti-neoplastic medicines across a range of common cancers. This is an ESMO project in collaborative partnership with WHO, UICC, the Kings College London Institute of Cancer Policy, and the European Society of Oncology Pharmacy. The survey tool was developed by ESMO and was peer reviewed within the ESMO framework and by the collaborating partners. Invited field reporters included the ESMO National Representatives, identified key opinion leaders, community oncologists selected by the ESMO Community Oncology Working Group and oncology pharmacists selected by the European Society for Oncology Pharmacy. 186 potential reporters were identified in 46 Countries. Study Tool: In addition to a range of general questions relating to health care delivery the study focuses on 7 key questions: Is it permitted to prescribe the drug for this indication? Is the drug reimbursed for this indication? Does the reimbursement require pre-authorization? Does pre-authorization delay treatment for more than 4 weeks? What is the approximate cost of the drug to the average patient? Can the patient obtain the medicine if it is prescribed? What are the barriers limiting availability? (No/unreliable supplier, No commercial motive, Parallel export, Manufacturing problems, Budget capitation). The clinical situations evaluated include breast cancer (adjuvant and metastatic), lung cancer, colorectal cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, sarcoma, pancreatic cancer, germ cell tumors, renal cell cancer, GIST, urothelial cancers, gastric and esophageal cancer, and melanoma. Respondents: As of June 2014, 101 responses from representatives of 14 Western European countries, 22 Eastern European countries and 6 Mediterranean countries including Israel and Turkey were submitted. 59 respondents identified themselves as oncologists and 22 as oncology pharmacists. Health care systems: Most Eastern Eur. countries have health care systems that do not allow for supplementary insurance in contrast to Western Eur. and Mediterranean counties in which most allow for supplementary insurance. Formulary availability and out of pocket cost: Across a wide range of disease settings substantial differences are seen between Eastern Europe, Mediterranean Europe and Western Europe. In Eastern Europe the range of available medications is more limited, patients are more likely to have greater out of pocket cost for medications and actual availability is more likely to be limited. These differences are most pronounced for new and expensive agents. When availability is limited the most common reasons cited for expensive agents is budget capitation and lack of reliable supplier. For inexpensive agents, lack of reliable supplier and lack of commercial motive were cited more often. Delays in preapproval for reimbursement >4 weeks were not common but when they occurred they were most prevalent in Eastern Eur. countries. Discrepancies in formulary availability, out of pocket cost and actual availability were also seen among the Western Eur. and Mediterranean Countries. Details will be presented. Conclusions: The ESMO survey on the availability of anti-neoplastic medicine has identified major discrepancies in accessibility and affordability of anticancer medications in different countries and regions of Europe. Access and affordability are less in Eastern Eur. and in countries which do not have provision for supplementary insurance. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


1. The infectious agent from fatal cases of St. Louis and Kansas City encephalitis passes Seitz pads in high dilution without appreciable loss of infectivity and traverses collodion membranes with an average pore size of 66 mµ or greater. 2. It is highly infectious for mice by the intracerebral and intranasal routes, but practically innocuous by the subcutaneous and intraperitoneal routes. 3. Certain strains of mice are more susceptible than others. 4. The agent administered to mice intranasally causes tremors and convulsions after a 6 to 7 day incubation period, followed by prostration and death in 8 to 10 days. Lesions are demonstrable in the olfactory bulbs 3 days after infection, in the piriform lobe after 4 days, and in Ammon's horn after 5 days. 5. In Macacus rhesus monkeys, the agent provokes a mild, non-fatal reaction and the development of specific neutralizing bodies. On passage in monkeys, the virus becomes progressively weaker. 6. In rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, and sheep the agent is apparently without effect. 7. All available strains of the agent proved alike in effects in animals and in immunological response. 8. The available data enable one to conclude that the agent is a filtrable virus differing from those studied heretofore.


This paper focuses on the present and near-future possibilities and technologies for wearable augmented reality. The paper provides an overview of the concept of wearable augmented reality and describes a current state-of-the-art system Tinmith. A number of benefits are presented, such as in situ information presentation, hands-free operation, ability to multitask, and navigation aids. The following five major application domains are examined as a means of highlighting the effectiveness of this technology: consumer help, entertainment, manufacturing, medicine, and navigation. The article provides some insights into technological hurdles yet to be overcome.


This article discusses the relation between civil and religious marriage, at the interface between the state's legal discourse and the discourses and practices of Norwegian mosques. A central question is what kinds of effects the governance of Islam in Norway has had in the field of marriage. Against the background of political debates on the system of marriage authorization of faith communities, the analysis draws on interviews with public officials and administrative leaders of mosques, the majority of whom are authorized to perform legal marriage. While the Norwegian state concept of marriage authorization is based on a separation of the civil act and the religious act, mosque administrators rather highlight the similarity and continuity between the two. Contrary to state concerns, though, the analysis suggests that the civil marriages have affected the religious, rather than vice versa. What is interesting is that this reasoning actually results in Norwegian marriage certificates replacing or suppressing the Islamic marriage contract, although agreements on mahr (dower) are still made more informally. Thus, our findings suggest that there has been a secularizing effect.


Real-world investigations can move students in the middle grades from their earlier, informal understanding of measurement to the abstract, sophisticated understanding they will need in high school. This book provides hands-on activities that build important strategies and concepts. Students learn about accuracy and estimation and they develop formulas for the perimeter, area and volume of two-and three-dimensional figures. In exploring proportionality, scaling and similarity, they build a scale model of a room and make a "pi ruler" to help gauge the age of a tree. As they progress from fundamental measures to derived measures, they investigate such rates as speed and density. The supplemental CD-ROM features interactive electronic activities, master copies of activity pages for students and additional readings for teachers.


A 47 year old woman with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is reported, without familial occurrence of the disease. Her 81 year old mother and 53 year old sister were proved to be asymptomatic carriers for variant transthyretin (TTR) by means of the radioimmunoassay. It is suggested that unknown factor(s) may play a role in preventing or delaying the onset of the disease, producing variations in sex and family incidence. In order to establish the diagnosis of non-hereditary primary amyloidotic polyneuropathy, it must be confirmed that variant TTR is absent in the serum of relatives.


Digital image correlation method is an important optical technique for surface displacement and strain measurement. An approach based on Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm for sub-pixel correlation search is described in this paper. The new Algorithm does not involve reasonable guess of displacement and deformation gradient and the calculation of second-order derivatives of the digital images. Benefiting from the abilities of global optimum and parallelism searching, and compared with genetic algorithm, the new approach can complete the sub-pixel correlation search with high accuracy and less computational consumption. Computer-simulated images are then used to verify this method. The experimental results show that the new approach is a practicable sub-pixel searching method.


IntroductionDespite good overall care in Alberta Health Services the local recurrence rates are higher than what is accepted as standard of care for rectal cancer treatment. There are variations in pre-operative staging, application of best surgical techniques and pathological grading, use of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies, and in clinical reporting.
Objectives and ApproachWe aimed at reducing the variations through the design and implementation of a provincial clinical pathway for rectal cancer by 2018. Our approaches included: 1) multidisciplinary tumor board consultation together with physician education sessions in reviewing standards of care and quality metrics; 2) data linkage and analysis based on chart reviews and extraction of data from Alberta Cancer Registry; and 3) production of provincial reports and individual feedbacks to physicians. CancerControl Alberta and Cancer Strategic Clinical Network collaborated in the linkage and analysis of data as well as mobilization oncology physicians to the initiative.
ResultsA review of a set of metrics for producing individual and provincial feedback reports to rectal cancer physicians. The set has 24 key quality metrics includes five, four, eight, and six metrics for radiologists, pathologists, oncologists, and surgeons respectively. Thirty-two surgeons have received individual physician feedback reports. Feedback reports for radiologist, pathologist and oncologist are being finalized with input from key opinion leaders in each physician group. Key impacts to the quality of rectal cancer diagnosis, treatment, and care between 2013 and 2015 include increases in use of rectal cancer pre-operative MRIs for curative resections (+23%), completeness of synoptic MRI reports for pre-operative MRIs (+21%), grade 3 TME of curative resections (+4%), and pathologic reporting of TME assessments (+2%).
Conclusion/ImplicationsPhysician feedback report system will enable the Alberta rectal cancer community to sustain the results and address strategies to continuously enhance the quality of rectal cancer care and survival. We recommend ongoing annual dissemination of feedback reports to support continuous improvement of rectal cancer care.