The giant Pulang porphyry Cu-Au district (446.8 Mt at 0.52% Cu and 0.18 g/t Au) is located in the Yidun arc, eastern Tibet. The district is hosted in an intrusive complex comprising, in order of emplacement, premineralization fine-grained quartz diorite and coarse-grained quartz diorite, intermineralization quartz monzonite, and late-mineralization diorite porphyry, which were all emplaced at ca. 216 ± 2 Ma. Mafic magmatic enclaves are found in both the coarse-grained quartz diorite and quartz monzonite. The well-preserved primary mineral crystals in such a systematic magma series (including contemporaneous relatively mafic intrusions) with well-defined timing provide an excellent opportunity to investigate upper crustal magma reservoir processes, particularly to test the role of mafic magma recharge in porphyry Cu formation.
 Two groups of amphibole crystals, with different aluminum contents, are observed in these four rocks. Low-Al amphibole crystals (Аl2О3 = 6.2–7.6 wt %) with crystallization temperatures of ~780°C mainly occur in the coarse-grained quartz diorite and quartz monzonite, whereas high-Al amphibole crystals (Al2O3 = 8.0–13.3 wt %) with crystallization temperatures of ~900°C mainly occur in the fine-grained quartz diorite and diorite porphyry. These characteristics, together with detailed petrographic observations and mineral chemistry studies, indicate that the coarse-grained quartz diorite and quartz monzonite probably formed by crystal fractionation in the same felsic magma reservoir, whereas the fine-grained quartz diorite and diorite porphyry formed from relatively mafic magmas sourced from different magma reservoirs.
 The occurrence of mafic magmatic enclaves, disequilibrium phenocryst textures, and cumulate clots indicates that the coarse-grained quartz diorite and quartz monzonite evolved in an open crustal magma storage system through a combination of crystal fractionation and repeated mafic magma recharge. Mixing with incoming batches of hotter mafic magma is indicated by the appearance of abundant microtextures, such as reverse zoning (Na andesine core with Ca-rich andesine or labradorite rim overgrowth), sharp zoning (Ca-rich andesine or labradorite core with abrupt rimward anorthite decrease) and patchy core (Ca-rich andesine or labradorite and Na andesine patches) textured plagioclase, zoned amphibole, high-Al amphibole clots, skeletal biotite, and quartz ocelli (mantled quartz xenocrysts).
 Using available partitioning models for apatite crystals from the coarse-grained quartz diorite, quartz monzonite, and diorite porphyry, we estimated absolute magmatic S contents to be 20–100, 25–130, and >650 ppm, respectively. Estimates of absolute magmatic Cl contents for these three rocks are 1,000 ± 600, 1,800 ± 1,100, and 1,300 ± 1,000 ppm, respectively. The slight increase in both magmatic S and Cl contents from the premineralization coarse-grained quartz diorite magma to intermineralization quartz monzonite magma was probably due to repeated recharge of the relatively mafic diorite porphyry magma with higher S but similar Cl contents. Mass balance constraints on Cu, S, and Cl were used to estimate the minimum volume of magma required to form the Pulang porphyry Cu-Au deposit. Magma volume calculated using Cu mass balance constraints implies that a minimum of 21–36 km3 (median of 27 km3) of magma was required to provide the total of 2.3 Mt of Cu at Pulang. This magma volume can explain the Cl endowment of the deposit but is unlikely to supply the sulfur required. Recharge of 5–11 km3 of diorite porphyry magma to the felsic magma reservoir is adequate to account for the additional 6.5–15 Mt of S required at Pulang. Repeated diorite porphyry magma recharge may have supplied significant amounts of S and some Cl and rejuvenated the porphyry system, thus aiding formation of the large, long-lived magma reservoir that produced the porphyry Cu-Au deposit at Pulang.


The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of delmadinone acetate (DMA) for the treatment of hypersexuality (HS) and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), which are frequently observed in male dogs, for which no surgical treatment has been indicated. The study was performed with 21 intact male dogs that had HS (n = 12) and signs of BPH (n = 9). DMA (Tardak® or Tardastrex®) was administered subcutaneously to each dog at a dose of 3-5 mg/kg and was repeated 15 days later as a second treatment. DMA administration was repeated in some cases until the clinical signs disappeared. The successful recovery rate of HS cases was found to be 50% after a single application and 25% by the second and third applications. The mean "recovery periods" and mean "stable periods" of these 3 consecutive applications were found to be 5.83, 7.66, and 6.00 days, and 16.7, 18.7, and 20.0 months, respectively. With regard to BPH after consecutive applications, treatment success rates, mean recovery periods, and mean stable periods were 33.3%, 22.2%, 44.4%, 12.0, 11.0, 9.5 days, and >30, 12, and 13.5 months, respectively. DMA is clinically applicable as a therapeutic agent for HS and BPH cases; however, repeated applications were required due to temporary recoveries.


Heterogeneous Cellular Networks (HCNs) and vehicular communications are two key ingredients of future 5G communication networks, which aim at providing high data rates on the one former case and high reliability on the latter one. Nevertheless, in these two scenarios, interference is the main limiting factor, which makes achieving the required performance, i.e., data rate or reliability, a challenging task. Hence, in order to cope with such issue, concepts like uplink/downlink (UL/DL) decoupling, Interference-Aware (IA) strategies or cooperative communications with Cloud Radio Access Networks (CRANs) has been introduced for new releases of 4G and future 5G networks. Additionally, for the sake of increasing the data rates, new multiple access schemes like Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) has been proposed for 5G networks.
All these techniques and concepts require accurate and tractable mathematical modelling for performance analysis. This analysis allows us to obtain theoretical insights about key performance indicators leading to a deep understanding about the considered techniques. Due to the random and irregular nature that exhibits HCNs, as well as vehicular networks, stochastic geometry has appeared recently as a promising tool for system-level modelling and analysis. Nevertheless, some features of HCNs and vehicular networks, like power control, scheduling or frequency planning, impose spatial correlations over the underlying point process that complicates significantly the mathematical analysis. In this thesis, it has been used stochastic geometry and point process theories to investigate the performance of these aforementioned techniques.
Firstly, it is derived a mathematical framework for the analysis of an Interference-Aware Fractional Power Control (IAFPC) for interference mitigation in the UL of HCNs. The analysis reveals that IAFPC outperforms the classical FPC in terms of Spectral Efficiency (SE), average transmitted power, and mean and variance of the interference. Then, it is investigated the performance of a scheduling algorithm where the Mobile Terminals (MTs) may be turned off if they cause a level of interference greater than a given threshold.
Secondly, a multi-user UL model to assess the coverage probability of different MTs in each cell is proposed. Then, the coverage probability of cellular systems under Hoyt fading (Nakagami-q) is studied. This fading model, allows us to consider more severe fading conditions than Rayleigh, which is normally the considered fading model for the sake of tractability.
Thirdly, a novel NOMA-based scheme for CRANs is proposed, modelled and analyzed. In this scheme, two users are scheduled in the same resources according to NOMA; however the performance of cell-edge users is enhanced by means of coordinated beamforming.
Finally, the performance of a decentralized Medium Access Control (MAC) algorithm for vehicular communications is investigated. With this strategy, the cellular network provides frequency and time synchronization for direct Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communication, which is based on its geographical information. The analysis demonstrates that there exists an operation regime where the performance is noise-limited. Then, the optimal transmit power that maximizes the Energy Efficiency (EE) of the system subject to a minimum capture probability constraint is derived.


Synchronizing Photosynthetic Capacity Coordination of photosynthetic activity with sunlight benefits plant productivity. Noordally et al. (p. 1316) analyzed how the Arabidopsis circadian clock keeps the chloroplasts working in tune with the Sun. SIGMA FACTOR5 (SIG5) is encoded in the cell nucleus and reflects circadian cycles with changes in its own transcript abundance. SIG5 acts, however, in the chloroplast, where it supports photosystem II production. In plants, day/night information is communicated from a nuclear-encoded circadian oscillator to the chloroplast. Circadian timekeeping in plants increases photosynthesis and productivity. There are circadian oscillations in the abundance of many chloroplast-encoded transcripts, but it is not known how the circadian clock regulates chloroplast transcription or the photosynthetic apparatus. We show that, in Arabidopsis, nuclear-encoded SIGMA FACTOR5 (SIG5) controls circadian rhythms of transcription of several chloroplast genes, revealing one pathway by which the nuclear-encoded circadian oscillator controls rhythms of chloroplast gene expression. We also show that SIG5 mediates the circadian gating of light input to a chloroplast-encoded gene. We have identified an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that communicates circadian timing information between organelles with distinct genetic systems and have established a new level of integration between eukaryotic circadian clocks and organelles of endosymbiotic origin.


Cities are searching for unarmed approaches to disorder and crime. Colombia is a leader here. Police are a national institution, and mayors have limited control over police staffing and operations. Thus, many cities have developed large civilian apparatuses for dispute resolution, family problems, and street disorder—an approach commonly called convivencia (coexistence). We worked with Medellín's municipal government to identify 80 typical neighborhoods and experimentally evaluate this approach. In half, the city intensified their civilian apparatus for 20 months, assigning full-time liaisons to help communities organize to improve public order, foster communication with the government, and connect residents to dispute resolution and family/social services. A centralized task force ensured city agencies fulfilled these roles. This represented a 60-fold increase in street-level presence, plus increased city agency attention. To our surprise, Operación Convivencia had no average treatment effect on reported governance, legitimacy, or crime. Anticipating that impacts could diverge by neighborhood, however, we prespecified heterogeneity analyses by initial state presence. This proved revealing. In neighborhoods where the state began weak, the task force and city agencies worked sporadically, and opinions of governance fell. In neighborhoods where the state began relatively strong, the liaisons and task force delivered, and there are indications this raised state legitimacy and reduced crime and emergency calls. The divergent results suggest the importance of existing state capacity, plus the dangers of over-promising and under-delivering. This may be especially important in Latin America, where cities like Medellín compete with gangs for local problem-solving and legitimacy. JEL codes: H11, K42, O17, N46, C93


Objectives One-fifth of Canadian women of childbearing age have a red blood cell (RBC) folate below concentrations considered optimal for maximal neural tube defect risk reduction (<906 nmol/l). This study explored the determinants of RBC folate concentrations ≥906 nmol/l Canadian women. Methods RBC folate concentrations from the nationally representative Canadian Health Measures Survey were assessed in women aged 15 to 45 years (N=1162). The population was described using frequencies and percentages. Sociodemographic, behavioural and clinical determinants of concentrations ≥906 nmol/l were examined using univariate and separate multiple logistic regression models controlling for age and household income. Results More women with folate concentrations ≥906 nmol/l were evident in higher age groups (15 to 19 years (70.0%), 20 to 39 years (79.6%), 40 to 45 years (80.8%)) and income quartiles (74.7% (Q1), 76.8% (Q2), 80.2% (Q3), 86.3% (Q4)). Folic acid containing supplement users had a higher prevalence of concentrations ≥906 nmol/l (87.9%) than non- users (75.2%). Prevalence of concentrations ≥906 nmol/l rose with higher intake of fruit/vegetables (< once per day (64.7%), 1–2 times per day (74.2%) and >3 times per day (82.9%)) and grain products (< once per day (67.7%), 1–2 times per day (80.5%), >3 times per day (77.6%)). Detailed regression analysis results will be presented at the conference. Interpretation These results will inform nutrition policies, particularly those related to folic acid fortification of select grains and preconception/prenatal folic acid supplementation recommendations for women of childbearing age. This will ultimately contribute to improving the health of Canadians and optimising infant health.


Helicobacter pylori infection is on the decline in the Western world. This is most likely related to improvements in sanitary conditions and socioeconomic status along with the widespread use of antibiotics. Hospitalisation and mortality rates for duodenal ulcer disease, gastric ulcer disease, and cancer of the gastric antrum and corpus, all clearly H pylori related diseases, also have declined markedly between 1970 and 1995. In sharp contrast, hospitalisation and mortality rates for both gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and oesophageal adenocarcinoma have increased during the same time interval. Although the hypothesis seemed quite radical in 1997, it appears that the decline in H pylori infection may explain these two opposing time trends. Although initial studies were inconsistent, the majority of recent evidence from the USA, 6 Europe, and the Far East find that H pylori infection alone, regardless of virulence factors, protects from the development of severe reflux oesophagitis and its complications, such as Barrett's oesophagus and adenocarcinoma. Even more striking and consistent has been the protection reported from GORD related complications in patients with H pylori infection and the cagA virulent factor. Vicari and colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic were the first to report that the prevalence of the more virulent cagA strain of H pylori decreased in patients with more severe complications of GORD. They found that the likelihood of having Barrett's oesophagus complicated by dysplasia or cancer was reduced more than twofold in patients infected with the cagA strain compared with other groups (odds ratio 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.31–0.60). Around the same time, Chow and colleagues reported that carriage of the cagA strains was associated with an increased risk for distal gastric cancer but with a reduced risk for oesophageal and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. Subsequently, other large studies from the Netherlands and in this issue of Gut the UK, confirmed the protective role of the cagA virulent factor (see page 341). Additionally, this last study found that women were less likely to suVer from oesophagitis then men, while male sex, age over 50 years, and the presence of a hiatal hernia increased the risk of reflux oesophagitis. The pathophysiological mechanisms by which H pylori infection protects patients from developing severe GORD have been more slow to be defined. Initial reports from Vicarri and colleagues and El Serag and colleagues suggested that the presence of corpus gastritis, often associated with atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, was protective. In this issue of Gut, a large population study of nearly 6000 Japanese subjects found a significant negative correlation between serum pepsinogen level and reflux oesophagitis (odds ratio 0.35, 95% CI 0.18–0.68) (see page 335). Serum pepsinogen I <70 ng/ml and pepsinogen I/II ratio <3.0 had a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 97% for atrophic gastritis compared with histology in Japan. These studies implied that the final denominator of the protection against GORD was decreased gastric acid secretion but the critical link was not established until the report from Japan by Koike and colleagues, also in this issue of Gut (see page 330). As formal gastric analysis studies are diYcult to perform in large population studies, the authors developed an endoscopic gastrin test. After an overnight fast, subjects are injected intramuscularly with tetragastrin and gastric fluids collected endoscopically 20 and 30 minutes later and analysed for volume and hydrogen ion concentration. The endoscopic gastrin test values correlate very closely with peak acid output determined by conventional methods. Using this test, Koike et al found that erosive reflux oesophagitis occurred most often in the absence of H pylori infection and gastric hyposecretion. Even in the presence of H pylori infection, reflux oesophagitis was most likely to develop in the patient with less severe gastritis and atrophy of the corpus as well as when gastric acid secretion was higher. The combination of these studies confirm that the distribution and severity of H pylori related gastritis and atrophy rather than the mere presence of H pylori infection plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of GORD. Antral predominant gastritis is probably the most important predictor of duodenal ulcer disease in the presence of H pylori infection. Antral predominant gastritis leads to reduced antral D cell density and somatostatin concentrations. This subsequently leads to higher serum gastrin levels, which in the presence of a healthy corpus and parietal cell mass, results in increased gastric acid secretion and volume, leading to a higher duodenal acid load and duodenal ulcerations. In contrast, more severe corpus gastritis is associated with lower acid output. Compared with cagA strains, cagA strains are associated with enhanced development of atrophic gastritis wherever the organism is present in the stomach. Atrophy of the corpus leads to the destruction of gastric glands and later hypochlorhydria. The end result is that the acid load presented to the duodenum and oesophagus is markedly diminished, thereby being potentially protective for the development of GORD and its complications in subjects with lower oesophageal sphincter dysfunction or hiatal hernia. However, the inflammatory changes in the corpus return to normal when the infection is cured, increasing acid secretion and possibly contributing to the recent reports of oesophagitis developing in healthy subjects and duodenal ulcer patients after successful treatment of H pylori infection. 20 These results confirm a protective role of H pylori for reflux oesophagitis, and are consistent with epidemiological data from Western countries showing an increase in GORD and decrease in gastric cancer in concert with the decline in H pylori infection. Therefore, there appears to be both risks as well as benefits to the indiscriminate worldwide attempt to eliminate this organism. As such, the concept that the only good H pylori is a dead H pylori needs to be revisited. Perhaps no one can summarise the complexity of H pylori infection better than Martin Blaser who said " . . .. those looking for simple answers about the relations of H pylori and disease undoubtedly will be disappointed; the complexity likely is older than the human race".


Various factors are studied for their effect on the ultrafiltration of Penicillium vitale catalase. It is established that acetate cellulose and polyamide membranes may be used for additional purification and deep concentration of native preliminarily purified enzyme solutions. Membranes YAM-300 and YAM-450 are most preferable. At the temperature of 10 degrees C, pressure 0.2 MPa and 100-fold concentration of the catalase solution the enzyme yield at the ultrafiltration stage is 96-100%.


The French GeoCatalogue (www.geocatalogue.fr) collects informations (metadata) about geographical data from a hundred of Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI) in France. Since 2010, BRGM - for the Ministry of Environment - computes from these informations the indicators for INSPIRE monitoring, in order to evaluate the implementation of the directive. Since 2016, the Daobs opensource application is used to compute personalizable indicators and create dashboards, in order to analyse geographical data and services at different scales (from local to european level) and time series (e.g. the evolution of the number of data for geology theme between 2013 and 2016).


Multiscale methods have enjoyed a well‐celebrated place in the computational chemists' toolbox, while the next generation of so‐called adaptive quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods were being developed on the fringe for the past 20 years. Adaptive QM/MM methods hold the promise of extending the range of applicability, currently at the expense of complexity and computational scaling. There are a number of challenges in the area; firstly, the ability to partition a system on the fly has led to the distance, number, density, and stress‐based approaches. Secondly, methods that smoothen the transition from a QM to an MM region using a single configuration include Hot‐Spot, ONIOM‐XS, and time‐adaptive. Alternatively, more computationally expensive methods that smoothen the transition region based on multiple configurations are the permuted and sorted adaptive permutation, difference‐based adaptive, and size‐consistent multipartitioning methods. There exist three alternative methods that avoid issues of smoothening altogether; they are the so‐called buffered force, ABRUPT, and the flexible inner restraint methods. In this advanced review, an overview on the available methods, a number of applications, and the remaining challenges are discussed. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2016, 6:369–385. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1255


XACML has emerged as a popular access control language on the Web, but because of its rich expressiveness, it has proved difficult to analyze in an automated fashion. In this paper, we present a formalization of XACML using description logics (DL), which are a decidable fragment of First-Order logic. This formalization allows us to cover a more expressive subset of XACML than propositional logic-based analysis tools, and in addition we provide a new analysis service (policy redundancy). Also, mapping XACML to description logics allows us to use off-the-shelf DL reasoners for analysis tasks such as policy comparison, verification and querying. We provide empirical evaluation of a policy analysis tool that was implemented on top of open source DL reasoner Pellet.


The paper presents an analytical two-dimensional model of two-phase turbulent jets with focus on fuel sprays in internal combustion engines. The developed model allows prediction of the fuel spray parameters including local fuel concentration and mixture velocity. The model proposed in this paper is based on the single-phase steady-state laminar axisymmetric jet flow field solution by Schlichting. This solution is amended to include transport of the discontinuous fuel phase in a stagnant air in the limit of a dilute fuel concentration. This two-phase jet flow model admits a closed form analytical solution for the fuel concentration distribution. This solution is then applied to turbulent jet flow as per the approach described by Schlichting and in other studies, and used to predict point-wise properties of fuel sprays in internal combustion engines. The results of model simulations are compared with the available experimental data. It was found that the analytical model predicts satisfactorily spray properties without additional assumptions or fitting coefficient.


In this study, it is aimed to determine the Professional and job burnout levels and the differentiation of the burnout levels in respect of some variables. In the scope of the study, the Gazi Burnout Scale, developed by Koc, Arslan and Topaloglu (2009), was used. The scale comprises of two parts. In the first part, professional burnout level, made up of 14 expressions, and in the second part, job burnout level, made up of 12 expressions, are evaluated. The survey, formed through the Gazi Burnout Scale, was carried out on 426 teachers working in 22 primary and secondary schools in Samsun. In order to test the data obtained from the test, central inclination measures (frequency and percentage ranges) and statistical analysis methods (correlation, regression, t-tests and ANOVA) were used. In the study, the differentiation of Professional and job burnouts were dealt. Besides, the differentiation of burnout levels as to various demographical variables were measured, too. In consequence with the study, a significant differentiation between the Professional and job burnout levels of the teachers was determined.


The use of recycled pavement technologies presents a new, economical and environmentally efficient alternative for road maintenance and construction. For this reason, the implementation of recycled pavement technologies has become a necessity worldwide. Recently, hot recycling technologies have been actively implemented and promoted in Central America. The main applications consist of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), stabilization of base courses with foamed asphalt and/or asphalt emulsion, and warm mix asphalts. Recognizing the existence of diverse recycled pavement techniques that look to comply with different environmental goals, generating economic benefits, and promoting improvements in quality of life of the local citizens, to date Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica have been researching and implementing some of these technologies. Furthermore, the National Laboratory of Materials and Structural Models of Costa Rica established a group of researchers dedicated to the implementation of sustainability in the development of road infrastructure. Their main purpose is to achieve the Carbon Neutrality goal that Costa Rica set for 2021 (bicentennial celebration of independence). The document presents an overview of projects constructed in Central America by applying environmentally friendly technologies, as well as R&D from Costa Rica promoting the implementation of these techniques.


A simple analysis is given for the optimum length of undulator in a self-seeding free electron laser (FEL). The obtained relations show the correlation between the undulator length and the system parameters. The power required for the seeding in the second part of the undulator and the overall efficiency of monochromatizating the seeding determine the length of the first part of the undulator; the magnitude of seeding power dominates the length of the second part of the undulator; the whole length of the undulator in a self-seeding FEL is determined by the overall efficiency for getting coherent seed, and is about half as long again as that of SASE, not including the dispersion section. The requirement of the dispersion section strength is also analyzed.


Ustekinumab is an anti-IL12/23 biologic agent used for treatment of psoriasis with excellent efficacy. However, there are therapeutic obstacles such as secondary failure and paradoxical event. Disease relapse upon discontinuation of therapy is common. A case series was performed on patients with chronic plaque psoriasis who received ustekinumab between 2013 to 2018 at a tertiary referral centre. Demographics, clinical characteristics, duration of therapy, efficacy, treatment complications, rate and pattern of relapses were determined from the patients' medical records. Out of 8 patients, 6 (75%) patients were males. There were 6 (75%) biologic-naïve patients. Median age was 41.5 years (IQR26.8-48.3), median duration of psoriasis was 16.5 years (IQR6.5-23.0). Median duration to achieve Psoriasis Activity and Severity Index (PASI)75 was 16 weeks and median total duration of treatment was 102 weeks. All patients achieved treatment success. PASI75 at week 12 was achieved by 37.5%, a median of 16 weeks was required to achieve at least PASI 75 but 6 (75%) attained PASI 90 by then. One patient (12.5%) developed paradoxical event with pustular and plaques. Secondary failure occurred in 2 (25%) patients. All patients relapsed after treatment discontinuation, relapse occurred at median of 40 weeks. Most (71%) developed plaques on relapse but 25% developed plaques and pustules. All but one patient required further biological agent for treatment of relapse. Ustekinumab was efficacious in all patients. Treatment success was achieved slightly later than standard duration. The rare occurrences of secondary failure and paradoxical were observed. Relapse was inevitable, new onset pustular eruptions featured in relapses.


A tracking problem for a mechanical system is considered. We start with a feedback controller that is designed without attention to disturbances, which are assumed to be adequately described by a dynamic LuGre friction model. We are interested in deriving a superimposed observer-based compensator to annihilate or reduce the influence of such a disturbance. We exploit a recently suggested approach for observer design for LuGre-friction-model-based compensation. In order to apply this technique, it is necessary to know the Lyapunov function for the unperturbed system, as well as the parameters of the dynamic friction model, and to verify that a certain structural property satisfied. The case when the system is passive with respect to the matching disturbance related to the given Lyapunov function is illustrated in this brief with a DC-motor example. The main contribution is some new insights into the numerical real-time implementation of a compensator for disturbances describable by one of various LuGre-type models. The other contribution, which is built upon the main one, is experimental verification of the suggested model-based observer design procedure.


The majority of ecological studies in the tropics deal with organisms participating in grazing food webs, while few deal with the diversity of invertebrates in the soil, leaf litter or dead wood that participate in detrital food webs. For tropical forests, the status of information on soil animal diversity is limited, especially when compared to other ecosystems such as temperate forests, grasslands, and deserts. Given the high rate of forest conversion and persistence of deforestation in the tropics, it is important to study the diversity of its fauna and assess how global changes will affect the linkages between soil biota and ecosystem functioning. This review article focuses on surveys and studies conducted in Puerto Rico, a tropical Caribbean island where a significant number of ecological investigations have focused on the characterization of the edaphic fauna, and how they influence ecosystem processes in forested sites. Results from experimentations suggest that soil fauna is an important determinant of decay and nutrient cycling in these forests. Likewise, this article highlights the importance of methodological constraints in studies that compare these organisms at sites with differing climatic conditions, and focuses on the description of ecological studies related to the effects of microarthropods on litter and wood decay.


This paper is based on results from an ongoing research project targeting energy behaviour in Swedish public housing. The aim is to map stated energy behaviour in the 18,600 flats owned by the housing company Stangastaden in Linkoping, Sweden.Our starting points are that households play a crucial role when it comes to energy efficiency. Energy is mostly used indirectly and is invisible. Many of our daily activities in our household involve the use of energy, referring to routines that we have in our everyday life. People warm or cool their apartments, turn the light on, cook, do laundry or use other appliances – this requires energy. The energy consumption varies greatly between people and households, however for all it is important to have a home that is comfortable to live in. The energy saving potential lies around 15 to 30% regarding behaviour change among residents in apartment buildings as well as in the operation and maintenance of buildings. Stangastaden recently launched an energy efficiency goal of 25 % by 2025. Earlier, the Swedish Parliament set a goal of 20 % by 2020 for residential and commercial buildings.The Stangastaden residential buildings constitute the case study of this research and have been explored using a paper questionnaire. The questionnaire was mailed to 1200 households in December 2011. The response rate was around 50 %. The focus of the analysis lies at the everyday energy-related behaviour and practices in the households to establish different behaviours in relation to different background variables. Practices that are included are the specific heating, lighting, use of appliances for cooking, washing and entertainment. Conclusions are that there is an energy efficiency potential corresponding to the goals of Stangastaden, but this is embedded in practices that are more or less difficult to change.


Dolby AC-3 is an audio coder selected in the United States high definition television (HDTV) standards and widely adopted for the audio codec in DVD films. For audio codecs, the complexity of the audio encoders is always higher than that of the decoders. The main module leading to the higher complexity is the bit allocation process. The objective of the bit allocation is to allocate restricted bits to encoded information. Since the AC-3 coder has adopted a floating point representation which the magnitude of each spectral line is represented with an exponent and a mantissa, the bit allocation process not only has to decide the suitable quantization method for the mantissa similar to the process in other coding standards such as MPEG 1, but also the exponent strategies and hence the parameters in psychoacoustic models. This coding process has been referred to as a hybrid coding (Todd et al. 1994) and has led to immense complexity for an encoder. This paper proposes an efficient method for the bit allocation process.


One of the most common gynecological pathologies is the myoma, with a great socioeconomic burden. One of the uterine-sparing treatment is represented by the uterine artery embolization (UAE). The objective of this study is to evaluate this treatment method mainly through evolution of symptomatology and the quality of life impact. We studied a number of 36 patients who underwent UAE between January 2015 and March 2018. They were evaluated at the beginning of the study, after a month and after three months. At one month after the procedure, we evaluated the evolution of symptomatology, the Pictorial Blood Loss Assessment Chart (PBAC) score and the ultrasound  post-procedural aspects. In addition, at three months we evaluated the quality of life impact (uterine fibroid symptoms and health-related quality of life questionnaire). At the final evaluation, 88.88% of the patients reported a significant improvement in symptomatology (z=-5.030; p<0.001), with a significant reduction in PBAC score, the ultrasounds showed a decrease in uterine fibroid volume (t=2.113; p=0.049) and the quality of life was improved (p<0.001). UAE leads to the control of fibroid-related symptoms and improves the quality of life.


It is known that •pilocarpine injected into the anterior chamber affects outflow facility in much smaller doses in the vervet (Cercopithecus ethiops) than in the cynomolgus (Macaca irus). The present experiments toere performed in order to determine whether a similar species difference, with respect to pilocarpine sensitivity, is present in the sphincter pupillae and the muscle of accommodation. In order to make possible the study of pilocarpine-induced refraction changes, the pupil of one eye was immobilized by a partial excision of the sphincter region of the iris. The other eye was used for studies of the pupil. Pilocarpine was applied, to the cornea (in 10 /il), injected into the anterior chamber (in 1 td), and injected intramuscularly. Dose-response curves were determined for pupillary size and changes in refraction. No important species difference in the sensitivity to pilocarpine of the pupil or of refraction was observed. This was true for all modes of administration. When pilocarpine was applied to the cornea, the dose necessary to effect a half-maximal change in refraction ivas about 100 times that necessary to cause half-maximal pupillary constriction. This applied to both species of monkey. The ratio betioeen the doses was approximately of the same order when pilocarpine toas injected into the anterior chamber. With systemic administration of pilocarpine, no difference could be detected for the effective doses on the pupil and on refraction in either species. If the pilocarpine was injected into the anterior chamber, only about one tenth of the corneal dose was required to obtain the same change in refraction. This applied to both species of monkey.


This practice note illustrates a situation where, as program evaluators, we crept beyond the provisional boundaries set by our Developmental Evaluation (DE) goals to facilitate learning. Our DE was initially focused on one program which was being designed for online delivery in higher education. During the DE of this program, questions and themes arose which had larger organizational applicability; we were asked to help design a strategic learning session that addressed a large group of stakeholders within which existed the tiny subset of stakeholders engaged in the original DE. This practice note describes how we negotiated the emergent purposes of the DE with the need for intentional pivots within the strategic learning session to serve our intended subset of stakeholders with their project as well as stimulate evaluative thinking within the larger stakeholder group.


This article describes four distinct phases that urban neighborhoods have passed through in the last sixty years. The first phase, from World War II until 1968, followed a pattern of decentralization, investment in suburban infrastructure, and strict segregation. The second phase, 1968 to 1975 was marked by hyper-sprawl, the loss of the central city economic base and population, and hyper-segregation. The third phase, 1975-1990, was characterized by class segregation, increased cost to access the suburbs and increased class and racial separation. The fourth phase, 1990 to 2008, witnessed hyper-segregation, voluntary class, racial, and ethnic separation, and persistent racial discrimination. The article suggests that the United States may be entering a fifth post-war phase of Smart Growth, public transport, infill strategies, and New Urbanist and surburbanist designs producing greater diversity.


Objective: To evaluate risk factors, incidence, indication, maternal and fetal outcome in patients undergoing emergency obstetric hysterectomy in a tertiary care center.
Materials and Method: It is a retrospective study of 40 cases in a tertiary referral teaching Hospital. All women who underwent Emergency obstetric Hysterectomy between Jan 2010 to Dec 2015 were included in the study conducted in the Department of obstetrics and gynecology, Shivamogga Institute of Medical Sciences, Shivamogga. The total number of deliveries during the study period was 48,102.
Results: 40 women underwent emergency obstetric Hysterectomy (0.083%) during the study period. Out of these, 12 women had vaginal delivery and 28 were delivered by caesarean section. 3women were grand multipara and 8 were primipara. Majority of the women who underwent Emergency Obstetric Hysterectomy were second gravida. Atonic PPH, Adherent placenta, Rupture uterus, placenta previa, post B- Lynch uterine sepsis were the indications for Emergency obstetric Hysterectomy. All the women were admitted to the ICU for post operative care.
Conclusion: Emergency obstetric Hysterectomy is indeed a life saving procedure when used judiciously especially when patient fails to respond to medical line of management.

Keywords: Line of management, Emergency obstetric hysterectomy, Post partum hemorrhage, Hypovolemic shock


As the popularity of the Internet and the number of resources available on it have grown, potential customers are increasingly turning to it for information about products and services. Accordingly, online advertising is gaining a significant portion of the advertising market. The Internet has become a mainstream advertising channel, surpassing traditional media such as newspapers and radio in number of advertisements. Advertisers exploit the popularity of the best-known Web sites, typically search engines or portals, to advertise their products and reach the most potential customers. Traditional rating systems are of little value when applied to the Internet because of the enormous number of Web pages available to online advertisements. Counting accesses to a Web service is a difficult task and the data may be unreliable. Several metering techniques attempt to accurately measure the number of visits a site receives and hence the advertising exposure, but advertisers and auditing companies haven't adopted a standard technique. We propose a framework based on hash chains. Unlike similar approaches, our implementation minimizes the overhead associated with the additional communication required to implement the protocol while providing an efficient and flexible scheme. Furthermore, the resulting framework offers additional guarantees such as security and nonrepudiation of the produced proof of visits.


Mononuclear cell (MNC) leukemia was identified in 26-month-old F344 rats by splenomegaly, reduced red blood cell counts, and elevated white blood cell counts. Atypical MNC were predominant in spleen and blood with acentric nuclei and red cytoplasmic granules. Pentose shunt, glycolytic, and Krebs cycle enzyme activities were elevated 2- to 11-fold in the enriched MNC fraction (Ficoll-Paque density gradients, 1.077 g/ml) isolated from spleen. A leukemic MNC line was derived from one of the spontaneously leukemic donors and then maintained in vivo by s.c. transfer of 2 X 10(7) spleen cells into 7-8-week-old syngeneic recipients. In these serial transplantation experiments leukemia that was clinically and morphologically indistinguishable from spontaneous leukemia in 104-week-old rats was induced in 22-24-week-old rats. Enhanced enzyme activity in MNC was not essential to maintain the phenotypic expression of Fischer rat leukemia. The pattern of biochemical response in spleen MNC from transplanted cases was the opposite of that previously noted in spontaneously leukemic rats, with 50-70% decreases in the specific activities of pentose shunt enzymes and malate dehydrogenase. Reversal of the expression of these enzymes in MNC may be related to a difference in the growth rate of the tumors or to selective proliferation of the transplanted leukemic cells. In addition acetylcholinesterase activity decreased 35-85% in MNC of spleen and blood. Transplantable MNC from F344 rats provide abundant tumorigenic material with a novel biochemical expression that may be useful in the study of chemotherapeutic intervention.


Most pricing and revenue management models have at their core an optimization problem; one needs to determine the optimal price or quantity to maximize a profit or revenue function. To ensure tractability, conditions that assure the objective function has a unique solution are enormously helpful. So far, several technical assumptions have been proposed for the continuous case, but comparatively little attention has been given to the discrete counterpart despite its prevalence in practice. Thus, this study aims to develop new technical assumptions, built upon relevant economic concepts, to guarantee the tractability of revenue management models in discrete settings. In particular, we present two sufficient conditions for the revenue function to be concave, in terms of quantity or price and propose a condition for the revenue function to be unimodal, called discrete increasing generalized failure rate (IGFR). Our definition has an appropriate economic interpretation and offers comparable properties to those of the continuous version. Finally, we show the discrete IGFR property holds for several discrete distributions.


Abstract We analyze the efficiency of organic pasture farming in Germany using data from 1994/95 to 2005/06. Five inputs and one output are analyzed by means of a stochastic frontier production function, allowing for heteroscedasticity and technical effects. Five sets of possible determinants of technical efficiency are considered in the model. These include: (1) farm structure and resources; (2) human capital and management capacities; (3) institutional choice; and (4) subsidies. To these factors that are commonly included in technical effects models, we add (5) a set of variables that capture localization and urbanization economies such as the share of organic farms in a region and the regional share of votes for the Green Party in recent elections. These regional effects are found to have a significant impact on the technical efficiency of organic farms. The evolution of efficiency on farms that are converting from conventional to organic farming is also analyzed.


This study employs Cognitive Linguistics to determine the foundational elements of the ancient Israelites' concept of teaching as reflected in the text of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and Ben Sira, a significant post-biblical Hebrew book interested in teaching and wisdom. It analyses four prominent lexemes that comprise a lexical set referring to the act of teaching: ירה -H (yrh in the Hiphil stem), למד -D (lmd in the Piel stem), ידע -H (yd` in the Hiphil stem), and יסר -D (ysr in the Piel stem). The thesis concludes that, in its most basic form, the concept of teaching in ancient Israel was that a teacher creates the conditions in which learning can occur. The methodology employed in this project is built on a premise of cognitive studies, namely, that because teaching is a universal human activity, there is a universal concept of teaching: one person A recognises that another person B lacks knowledge, belief, skills, and the like (or has incomplete or distorted knowledge, etc.), and person A attempts to bring about a changed state of knowledge, belief, or skill in person B. This universal concept provides the starting place for understanding the concept of teaching that Biblical Hebrew reflects, and it also forms the conceptual base against which the individual lexemes are profiled. The study incorporates a micro-level analysis and a macro-level analysis. At the micro-level, each lexeme is examined with respect to its linguistic forms (the linguistic analysis) and the contexts in which the lexeme occurs (the conceptual analysis). The linguistic analysis considers the clausal constructions of each instantiation and determines what transitivity, ditransitivity, or intransitivity contributes to the meaning. Collocations of the lexeme, including prepositional phrases, adverbial adjuncts, and parallel verbs, are evaluated for their contribution to meaning. The conceptual analysis of each lexeme identifies the meaning potential of each word, as well as what aspect of the meaning potential each instantiation activates. The study then determines the lexeme's prototypical meaning, which is profiled on the base of the universal concept of teaching. This step of profiling represents an important adaptation of the Cognitive Linguistics tool of profiling to meet the special requirements of working with ancient texts in that it profiles prototype meanings, not instantiations. In the macro-analysis, the data of all four lexemes in the lexical set are synthesised. The relationships among the lexemes are assessed in order to identify the basic level lexeme and consider whether the lexemes form a folk taxonomy. Finally, the profiles of the four prototype meanings are collated and compared in order to describe the ancient Israelite concept of teaching. The study finds that the basic level item of the lexical set is למד -D (lmd-D) based on frequency of use and distribution. In its prototypical definition, למד -D (lmd-D) means to intentionally put another person in a state in which s/he can acquire a skill or expertise through experience and practice. In contrast to this sustained kind of teaching, the prototypical meaning of ירה -H (yrd-H) is situational in nature: a person of authority or expertise gives specific, situational instruction to someone who lacks knowledge about what to do. The lexemes יסר -D (ysr-D) and ידע -H (yd`-H) represent the most restricted and the most expansive lexemes, respectively: the prototypical meaning of יסר -D (ysr-D) is to attempt to bring about changed behavior in another person through verbal or physical means, often to the point of causing pain; the prototypical meaning of ידע -H (yd`-H) is that a person of authority causes another person to be in a state of knowing something from the divine realm or related to experiences with the divine realm. The study determines that while the four lexemes of the Biblical Hebrew lexical set "to teach" have significant semantic overlap, they cannot be construed in a folk taxonomy because the words are not related in a hierarchical way.


The recently introduced Direct Bonded Heterogeneous Integration (DBHi) Si bridge technology [1] consists of chips directly connected by a bridge chip though Cu pillars, enabling high speed and high band-width communication between CPUs, GPUs and memory chips. The bridge chip resides in a cavity machined in the laminate chip carrier. The remaining structure of the DBHi package is similar to a standard flip-chip package. In this study, we focus on the thermal characterization of the DBHi package using measurements and simulations. We determine how much heat generation is allowed for a bridge chip using a conventional cooling solution from the chip top side. The thermal measurements are conducted using a DBHi package with thermal test chips containing heaters and temperature sensors. The chips are heated by supplying power to the heaters and the temperatures on the chips are measured using resistance temperature devices. We then build a simulation model which is calibrated with the thermal measurement results by adjusting the heat transfer coefficient applied to the package lid top. The model comprises two chips, a bridge chip, interconnects between the chips and the bridge, interconnects between the two large chips and a laminate, a Thermal Interface Material (TIM) and a heat-spreader (a lid). Based on this simulation model, it is examined how much heat generation is allowed for a bridge chip when its maximum temperature is to remain below 75 °C (with an ambient = 40 °C). For example, it is simulated that when each chip generates 100 W (total 200 W for two chips), 26.5 W of heat generation is allowed for a bridge chip. We also consider potential cooling solutions from the laminate side.


Introduction: This study is aimed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of head and neck lymphoma in a defined group of an Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 126,450 biopsy reports from two referral Pathology Departments, (Tehran, the capital of Iran) were evaluated. In cases with head and neck lymphoma, other variables such as age, sex, specific location of lesions, and histopathological findings were recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to measure the prevalence and characteristics of head and neck lymphoma by means of SPSS soft ware, version 18. Results: In total, 513 (0.4%) cases had head and neck lymphoma (46.9% male, 27.1% female) with a mean age of 46±6.2. Of the total lesions, 200 (0.15%) were Hodgkin lymphoma and 313 (0.25%) were non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Nodular sclerosis was the most common (62.5%) histopathological subtype among Hodgkin lymphoma. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (62.3%) had the highest frequency. In Hodgkin disease, classic Hodgkin lymphocytic rich, mixed cellularity, and lymphocyte depletion were only seen in the neck compartment. Bone involvement was only found in Hodgkin nodular lymphocytic predominant variation. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the tongue, palate, and vestibular mucosa were affected only by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Jaw bones were only involved with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma compared to other bony structures. T-cell lymphoma and mucosal associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma were also found. Conclusion: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma especially in the tongue, palate, vestibular mucosa, and jaw bones.


Background. Regular exercise at moderate intensity reduces cardiovascular risks. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a major role in cardiac remodeling, facilitating physiological adaptation to exercise. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of voluntary physical exercise on the MMP-2 enzyme activity and to investigate the cardiac performance by measurement of angina susceptibility of the heart, the basal blood pressure, the surviving aorta ring contraction, and the cardiac infarct size after I/R-induced injury. Methods. Male Wistar rats were divided into control and exercising groups. After a 6-week period, the serum level of MMP-2, basal blood pressure, cardiac angina susceptibility (the ST segment depression provoked by epinephrine and 30 s later phentolamine), AVP-induced heart perfusion and aorta ring contraction, infarct size following 30 min ischemia and 120 min reperfusion, and coronary effluent MMP-2 activity were measured. Results. Voluntary wheel-running exercise decreased both the sera (64 kDa and 72 kDa) and the coronary effluent (64 kDa) MMP-2 level, reduced the development of ST depression, improved the isolated heart perfusion, and decreased the ratio of infarct size. Conclusion. 6 weeks of voluntary exercise training preserved the heart against cardiac injury. This protective mechanism might be associated with the decreased activity of MMP-2.


A widely held belief among British dentists is that dentists in other European Countries (EC) fare better financially than their British counterparts. This belief prompted this comparative study of dentistry in the EC. Part 1 deals with disease levels and manpower considerations. Part 2 will deal with the financing of dental care in EC countries.


A major impediment to effective anti-leishmanial chemotherapy is the emergence of drug resistance, especially to sodium antimony gluconate, the first-line treatment for leishmaniasis. Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from Artemisia annua, is an established anti-malarial compound that showed anti-leishmanial activity in both promastigotes and amastigotes, with IC(50) values of 160 and 22 microM, respectively, and, importantly, was accompanied by a high safety index (>22-fold). The leishmanicidal activity of artemisinin was mediated via apoptosis as evidenced by externalization of phosphatidylserine, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, in situ labelling of DNA fragments by terminal deoxyribonucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling (TUNEL) and cell-cycle arrest at the sub-G(0)/G(1) phase. Taken together, these data indicate that artemisinin has promising anti-leishmanial activity that is mediated by programmed cell death and, accordingly, merits consideration and further investigation as a therapeutic option for the treatment of leishmaniasis.


The establishment of the standard model of cosmology represents great observational and theoretical achievements; at the same time, possible deviations from the standard model are sought. In this thesis, two anomalies are studied:

The late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect---a few percent of the total temperature fluctuations generated by evolving gravitational potentials---is a signature of dark energy in a spatially flat universe. Its strongest detection comes from the average microwave background temperature in the sky directions of superclusters and supervoids seen in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which is claimed to be larger than expected. We compute the maximum expected average temperature signal by treating the signal due to large-scale structures as a Gaussian random field, and including correlations between different physical contributions to the temperature fluctuations and between different redshift ranges of the evolving gravitational potentials. Our model confirms that the observed average temperatures are unexpectedly large, but reduces the statistical significance of this discrepancy. Comparing with other measurements, none of which has yielded a detection with the same large discrepancy, our work suggests that a large signal is less unusual to occur than previously thought.

The latter anomaly refers to a 7% asymmetry of fluctuation power between two halves of the sky found in full-sky maps of the microwave background temperature field. A common phenomenological model for this asymmetry is an overall dipole modulation of statistically isotropic fluctuations, which produces particular off-diagonal correlations between multipole coefficients. We compute these correlations and construct estimators for the amplitude and direction of the dipole modulation. Applying these estimators to various cut-sky temperature maps from Planck and WMAP data shows consistency with a dipole modulation, differing from a null signal at 2.5sigma, with an amplitude and direction consistent with previous fits based on the temperature fluctuation power. The signal is scale dependent, with a statistically significant amplitude at angular scales larger than 2 degrees. Future measurements of microwave background polarization and gravitational lensing can increase the significance of the signal. If the signal is not a statistical fluke in an isotropic Universe, it requires new physics beyond the standard model of cosmology.


Loyalty and reward schemes are one of the tools in customer relationship management. Consumers who register as loyalty scheme members allow businesses to record purchase transactions, and thereby grant implicit permission for businesses to use that data in exchange for modest rewards. Some loyalty schemes have more information about consumer behaviour and lifestyles, than that held by the consumers being profiled, and the potential for intrusion, infringement of privacy and manipulation is considerable. Two main sections in the article explore practice and research in relation to loyalty schemes respectively. Loyalty schemes can be grouped into the following categories; retailer schemes, coalition schemes, financial services schemes, online schemes, frequent flyer or travel schemes, and geographically based schemes, although individual schemes may bridge more than one category. Key aspects of the schemes are the means and processes whereby rewards, points or credits can be earned, and the options or deals through which points can be spent. Research on loyalty schemes centres on the question: 'Do loyalty schemes work?' This core question has led to discussion of the nature of loyalty and commitment, the value and application of loyalty scheme data, and the appropriateness and effect of rewards. The most recent research has urged a more strategic perspective on the contribution of loyalty schemes to customer relationship management strategy, and, more widely marketing and business strategy. This involves consideration of issues such as the customer experience of the scheme, customer lifetime value, targeting best customers, and brand building.


While a general appreciation for the importance of chromosomes in the development of cancer has existed for decades, molecular genetic analyses have gained considerable attention in recent years through identification of proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Several different chromosomal aberrations, alterations of proto-oncogenes and suppressor genes have been described in prostate cancer. Loss of genetic material has been found to occur most frequently on chromosomes 7, 8, 10 and 16. The existence of tumor suppressor genes relevant to prostate carcinogenesis is suspected in these chromosomal locations. Several investigators are currently trying to identify these genes. Altered expression of several different oncogenes has been reported in prostate cancer. Among these, the ras- and myc-families of oncogenes have been studied most intensively. Structural oncogene alterations have been detected infrequently, most of the changes appear to occur transcriptionally. Despite an abundance of clinical material, knowledge about genetic lesions in prostate cancer is still very limited and sometimes conflicting results have been reported. With recent methodologic improvements and a growing interest in correlating genetic alterations with clinical disease progression, definition of prostate carcinogenesis at the molecular level will advance rapidly in the near future.


The effect of natural variation of raindrop size distribution (DSD)on the retrieval of rainfall rate from the dual-frequency (13.6/35.5 GHz,as will be in the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission) Precipitation Radar (DPR) measurements is studied by utilizing a large set of disdrometer-measured DSD data through a simple simulation framework. A DPR inversion technique(DPR-IT) that focuses on the retrieval of DSD information from the non-Rayleigh backscattering characteristic of the hydrometeors and a conventional DPR technique(DPR-CT) that focuses on the independent retrieval of rainfall rate from the attenuation measurement are considered in this analysis. The preliminary results show that at different rainfall rate regions these methods have different responses to the DSD variability. For instance, it appears that DPR-IT suffers relatively less from the DSD variability in the regions of weak to moderate rainfall rate (/spl bsol/ mm /spl middot/ h/sup -1/),while in the strong rainfall rate (>/spl sim/10 mm /spl middot/ h/sup -1/) region the DPR-CT generally has less sensitivity to DSD variations than the DPR-IT.


This chapter explores the scholarship on three different (but related and complementary) approaches to the topic of migrants and ethnic minorities' political voice in European societies: their civic and political participation; their mobilization in contentious action; and their political representation at the institutional level. We show that studies focusing on the first question have largely attempted to explain their comparatively low levels of engagement in politics, in particular through the focus on individual behaviour. We then show how the literature on migrants' collective actions has focused on the forms, levels and determinants of their protests, exploring more specifically their mobilization dynamics. Finally, we present how the emerging literature that relates to migrants and ethnic minorities' presence in institutions has explored variations in terms of the extent and the content of their political representation. Throughout the chapter, we show that one of the key contributions of the European literature is the use of cross-national comparative approaches that aim to analyse how migrants' political participation is shaped by political opportunities, migration policies, integration regimes and other contextual factors.


Assuming that sustainability is multifaceted phenomenon, the paper reveals the literature examining sustainability as a concept for human resource management (HRM). In doing that the emphasis is placed on the meaning of sustainability and its significance and application for HRM. The paper indicates that due to different application contexts there is no consensus on notion of sustainability, however corporate sustainability means adopting a "triple bottom line" perspective that requires the simultaneous adoption of environmental, economic and social equity principles. Admitting new challenges for HRM, the paper defines the relevance of implication the sustainability concept into HRM. Then, drawing from a wide range of understanding, three different meaning of sustainability for HRM (normative, efficiency-oriented and substance-oriented) are revealed. Recognizing Sustainable Work Systems, Sustainable Resource Management and Sustainable HRM as the approaches linking sustainability and HRM, the answers to the questions concerning future supply with motivated and qualified employees, the control of the negative effect of HRM and the responsibility for sustainability implication in HRM are stressed. Whereas the paper provides conceptual insights linking sustainability and HRM, this might help to emerge new avenues for future theoretical and empirical research. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.em.18.4.5631


For many growth-oriented entrepreneurial firms, the entrepreneur's time is one of the more salient resource constraint. Classifying the entrepreneurs' activities into four categories based on their revenue-related or process-related impact and short-term or long-term effects, we present a dynamic time allocation model for process improvement in growth-oriented entrepreneurial firms, and characterize the optimal time allocation policy and its impact on firm growth. We find that the optimal time allocation path consists of three phases, focusing first on long-term process improvement activities with temporal returns, and then on those with financial returns, before finally harvesting profi t. In particular, entrepreneurs with lower initial revenue rate should invest more time upfront on long-term process improvement activities, which enable them to ultimately grow faster. We adapt these insights to the cases with uncertainty in growth and with limited financial resources. We benchmark the optimal policy to two commonly practiced time allocation heuristics.


In recent decades farmers have used financial instruments such as cash forward contracts to lock-in a price for increasing proportions of their crop through different stages of the production cycle. Given the high variability of the Australian climate this practice has inherent risk with drought induced crop failure being significantly probable. Under failed crop conditions farmers buy themselves out of the contracted position at prevailing prices thereby compounding the financial burden of crop failure. This paper reports on the role of the relatively recent developments in climate prediction, based on the SOI phase system, to develop crop yield probability distributions using regression approximation and to evaluate the Value at Risk of establishing a forward contracted position. Value at Risk is here defined as the 5% interval of the probability distribution of Enterprise Gross Margin and is used to ascertain the capital adequacy of a business in the face of a worst-case scenario.


The role of stone tool production has long been used as a proxy for cognitive development in early human cultures. In the context of South‐east Asia (SEA) and Australia a lack of 'advanced' examples of lithic technologies seen elsewhere in the world has led to the labeling of SEA and Australian cultures as simple and undeveloped. Arguments have been raised in an attempt to refute this claim, including the replacement of stone as a medium for artefact production with shell. The differentiation between cultural and taphonomic modification in shell has been problematic, due largely to a lack of understanding of taphonomy the morphologies different species of shell on a micro scale and subsequently the fracture mechanics of molluscan shell under specific forces. The identification of artefactual shell specimens is sometimes based on little more than a hunch. This project attempts to determine the difference between the resulting fracture patterns of cultural and taphonomic damage using high and low powered microscopy. The resulting fracture patterns from use‐wear experimentation was compared to controlled fracture experimentation using low powered light microscopy and high powered scanning electron microscopy. The results show a variety of fracture patterns as well as a distinct difference in fracture patterns between the two sets of experiments. When these results are then compared to archaeological specimens from Golo cave in Gebe Island, a previously excavated site in the Maluku island group in Indonesia, similar fracture patterns are observed indicating the presence of culturally modified shell in the Golo Cave assemblage. This project highlights the significance of micro scale analysis in the identification of shell artefacts as well as providing insight into the differing forms of mechanical failure in molluscan shell as well as depicting the suitability of shell as a medium for artefactual use


In this paper, an architecture for communication support for collaborative applications is described. The motivation for the design of this architecture is the observation that generic support for group communications is an area which received not much attention until now. The design is based on two components, a group management system (GMS) and group communication support (GCS). The GMS is responsible for managing the name space of the support platform. Users and groups are the two entities of the name space, and two di erent relationships between them (membership and manager) can be established. This way it is possible to re ect the structure of collaborative workers inside the GMS. The GCS component is responsible for establishing connections between collaborative applications using the GMS/GCS and for hiding the details of the multicast transport infrastructure from the application. It is possible to bind users and groups to speci c applications and multicast transport services. This way any group can be used by di erent applications using di erent transport services. The main advantages of GMS/GCS are reduced implementation costs, a shared name space of users and groups, and a simple interface to di erent multicast transport services.


A novel template-free method, which was based on heating the mixture of InCl3•4H2O and thiourea in air from room temperature to 200 or 250 °C, coupled with a subsequent washing treatment using distilled water and ethanol, was proposed for the synthesis of In2S3 hierarchical nanostructure. X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electronic microscopy demonstrated that the obtained products were pure cubic phase In2S3 urchin-like clusters built up by mainly nanoflakes (about 12–47 nm thick). UV-vis absorption spectra disclosed that the as-prepared In2S3 urchins had optical band gaps in the range of about 2.18–2.26 eV.


Abstract We investigated whether a relationship exists between the inherent timing skill of subject and the magnitude of effect of KT on timing performance by expanding the examination of the dataset described in our previous work. Healthy subjects, tested with and without KT (NKT), performed sets of repetitive wrist's flexion-extensions (IWFEs) with the dominant limb (DL) and the non-dominant limb (NDL) in a synchronization-continuation task at two inter-onset intervals (IOIs): 550-ms and 800-ms. Standard deviation (SD) of IWFEs was used to measure the unevenness of performance. Different patterns of response to KT were observed based on the participant's inherent precision. In the NDL the effect of KT was found significantly higher in the subgroups of individuals having SDNKT of IWFEs>38 ms (p=0.0024) in the 800-ms IOI or SDNKT of IWFEs>19 ms (p=0.0004) in the 550-ms IOI. In the DL the effect of KT was not influenced by the inherent timing skill. We propose KT to be tested for restoring motor control on subjects experiencing sensorimotor disorders associated with intense repetitive training. Also, our findings suggest that care should be taken when using groups of healthy subjects to test the effect of KT.


This paper aims to provide some empirical evidence on the assumption that History didactics as far as secondary education History class is concerned can be enhanced via the assistance of certain customized digital tools. If our objective is to shape students' historical consciousness and enable them to perceive and interpret historical facts through reason and critical thinking, then we need the best use of primary sources and evidence, both textual and visual. This is where ICT comes in: We do firmly believe that school History is by nature amongst the most entitled and suitable areas for the implementation of ICT integration in class, since all kind of historical evidential material can be presented in the most pedagogically effective way with the use of modern digital tools. We will therefore present two otherwise almost identical History lessons, except that the second one was enriched with the use of certain digital material developed ad hoc for teaching purposes. In both cases the classes in reference were 3d grade of senior high school (17-18 years) and the outcome was reported in certain questionnaires handed to the students at the end of the process. As it turned out, the "blended" lesson, i.e. the one in which traditional teaching was supported with digital tools was eventually more successful and productive in all aspects regarding any major pedagogical and gnostic dimension.


Safety pharmacology studies help in identifying preclinical adverse drug reactions. We carried out routine safety pharmacology with focus on cardiovascular variables and pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction studies on rats fed with standardized traditional hydro-alcoholic extract and technology-based supercritical extract of Cassia auriculata for 12 weeks. Our studies indicate that both these extracts are pharmacologically safe and did not show any significant adverse reactions at the tested doses. The traditional hydro-alcoholic extract did not show any significant effect on pharmacokinetics; however, the technology-based supercritical extract caused a significant reduction in absorption of metformin. Our results indicate the need to include pharmacokinetic herb-drug interaction studies as evidence for safety especially for technology-based extracts.


We define and study analogs of curve graphs for infinite type surfaces. Our definitions use the geometry of a fixed surface and vertices of our graphs are infinite multicurves which are bounded in both a geometric and a topological sense. We show that the graphs we construct are generally connected, infinite diameter and infinite rank.


The network embedding task is to represent a node in a network as a low-dimensional vector while incorporating the topological and structural information. Most existing approaches solve this problem by factorizing a proximity matrix, either directly or implicitly. In this work, we introduce a network embedding method from a new perspective, which leverages Modern Hopfield Networks (MHN) for associative learning. Our network learns associations between the content of each node and that node's neighbors. These associations serve as memories in the MHN. The recurrent dynamics of the network make it possible to recover the masked node, given that node's neighbors. Our proposed method is evaluated on different benchmark datasets for downstream tasks such as node classification, link prediction, and graph coarsening. The results show competitive performance compared to the common matrix factorization techniques and deep learning based methods.


Background: Cutaneous wound healing represents a morphogenetic response to injury, and is designed to restore anatomic and physiological function. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells-derived exosomes (hBM-MSCs-Ex) is a promising source for cell-free therapy and skin regeneration. Methods: In this study, we investigated the cell regeneration effects and its underlying mechanism of hBM-MSCs-Ex on cutaneous wound healing in rats. In vitro studies , w e evaluated the role of hBM-MSCs-Ex in the two type s of skin cell s : human keratinocytes (HaCaT) and human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) for the proliferation . For in vivo studies , we used a full-thickness skin wound model to evaluate the effects of hBM-MSCs-Ex on cutaneous wound healing in vivo . Results: The results demonstrated that hBM-MSCs-Ex promote both two type s of skin cell s growth effectively and accelerate the cutaneous wound healing. Interestingly , we found that hBM-MSCs-Ex significantly down-regulated TGF-β1, Smad2, Smad3, and Smad4 expression, while up-regulated TGF-β3 and Smad7 expression in the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway . Conclusions: Our findings indicated that hBM-MSCs-Ex effectively promote the cutaneous wound healing through inhibiting the TGF-β/Smad signal pathway . The current result s providing a new sight for the therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cutaneous wounds.


Background: The last comprehensive survey of UK respiratory disease epidemiology was the British Thoracic Society9s 2006 report. We have performed an analysis covering 2008-2012. Methods: Prevalence and incidence rates were estimated from a primary care database representing ∼ 5 per cent of the population. Mortality figures were derived from official government statistics. For international mortality comparisons and numbers of hospital admissions /inpatient bed-days we used WHO data. Results: About 585,000 respiratory disease diagnoses are made per year in the UK, half due to asthma and COPD. The prevalence of IPF is more than double previous estimates. An estimated 12 million people have ever had a lung disease diagnosis – nearly 1 in 5 of the population. Prevalence is highest in the North-West and South-West of England. Lung disease kills around 115,000 people a year – one in five of all deaths, and one of the UK9s three biggest killers; there has been no real change in mortality 2008-2012. Mortality is highest in the North-West, North-East, and Scotland. Globally the UK is in the top 20 countries for lung cancer and COPD deaths. Respiratory disease (most commonly pneumonia) accounts for nearly 700,000 annual hospital admissions (> 6.1 million bed days) in the UK. More women than men have a diagnosed lung disease, mainly due to higher pneumonia incidence; most other lung conditions are more common in men. Most lung disorders are commoner in more deprived groups; bronchiectasis is an intriguing exception. Conclusions: Lung disease remains a huge burden in the UK; its importance is not reflected in the amount of funding for respiratory research.


This research is conducted to identify problems faced by the part eight students in completing their undergraduate studies and ways that they employed in dealing with the problems faced. Undeniably, there are numerous ways in coping with problems, however, this study will specifically focused on peers involvement in assisting the individual in solving the difficulty faced as final year students. The respondents for this study are among part eight students in the faculty of education. Questionnaires consisting of two major parts, which are demographic data and list of statements on students' perception of problems faced and ways of dealing with the difficulty were distributed to 100 participants. The researcher managed to collect 95 completed questionnaires which were further analyze in order to gain the result for this research. The data gained was analyzed descriptively. From the research, common problems faced by the students are listed. It was also identified that peers play a large role in helping the individuals in dealing with their problems. The possible ways that were offered by the part eight students' peers in helping them to face their problems were recognized. Overall, majority of the respondents agreed that friends did help them in dealing with their problems. Hopefully, this research will be an eye-opener for the curriculum developer, lecturers, counselors and university administrator in constructing the syllabus and considering the burden and stumbling blocks faced by the students in coping with all the other requirements expected of them. All the listed parties should play active roles in supporting the final year undergraduates to complete their studies. May all the assistance given uplift students' achievement and produce excellent graduates that will contribute in shifting the university into a world class university.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Aromatase inhibitors (AI's) are the most effective adjuvant anti-hormonal therapy for estrogen receptor positive (ER+) post-menopausal breast cancer patients, with superior disease free survival over tamoxifen. However, approximately half of the women who take this drug will develop significant joint pains, termed Aromatase Inhibitor-Induced Arthralgia (AIA). Though this medicine should be taken for 5 years, the joint pain can be so troublesome that 13-20% may prematurely discontinue it because of the arthralgia, thus sacrificing their best chance of disease free survival. Furthermore, daily quality of life is significantly affected by this chronic pain while taking AI therapy. Nonetheless, neither the etiology nor the treatment of AIA is well-understood within the medical community.

It is known that low estrogen levels, as seen on AI therapy, decrease the amount of available, active vitamin D. Low Vitamin D is implicated in non-specific musculoskeletal pain in non-cancer patients, possibly mediated by higher levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-alpha in a low vitamin D state. Vitamin D replacement has been shown to be helpful for AIA in some small clinical trials. We therefore propose to test the hypothesis that AIA can be effectively prevented by high dose Vitamin D supplementation, and that effective prophylaxis of the problem will lead to improved compliance with AI therapy.

In this clinical trial, we will enroll 184 women who are beginning adjuvant AI therapy and randomize half of them to receive high dose vitamin D (50,000 IU Vitamin D3 per week for 12 weeks, followed by 2000 IU Vitamin D3 daily for 40 weeks), and the other half to receive standard dose vitamin D (800 IU Vitamin D3 daily for 52 weeks). We will assess each woman's baseline joint pains via a questionnaire (Health Assessment Questionnaire-II). We hypothesize that AIA can be effectively prevented with high dose vitamin D, and this will correlate to increased compliance in the high dose vitamin D arm.. The primary endpoint is development of AIA as measured by a defined change in HAQ-II score between baseline and 12 wks. This randomized Phase 2 study is powered to detect an improvement from an expected 33% incidence of AIA in the standard dose group to 18% or less in the high-dose group (alpha=10%, one-tailed). Finally, as an exploratory objective, we will determine whether those in the standard dose vitamin D arm have a correlation between higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and development of AIA.

This study targets a very common cause of pain among breast cancer survivors and aims to offer an effective treatment strategy to alleviate pain and improve quality of life as well as medication compliance.

Citation Format: Polly A. Niravath, Sue Hilsenbeck, Tao Wang, Mothaffar Rimawi. A randomized, controlled trial of high dose vs. standard dose vitamin D for aromatase inhibitor-induced arthralgia in breast cancer survivors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr CT319. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-CT319


: In the experiments, performed on cats by means of retrograde axonal horseradish peroxidase transport, localization of the sources of descending supra- and propriospinal projections to the area of the lumbar parts of the spinal cord, where the generator of locomotor movements is located. After local administration of horseradish peroxidase into the spinal cord, the greatest amount of the labelled neurons is observed in the ipsilateral reticular formation and in the Koelliker-Fuse nucleus. Comparison of the number of neurons, forming the descending projections from the I cervical up to the IV lumbar segments demonstrates an essential predominance of short propriospinal connections over the long, as well as over the supraspinal ones.


We present a technique for evaluating and comparing how clusterings reveal structure inherent in the data set. Our technique is based on a criterion evaluating how much point‐to‐cluster distances may be perturbed without affecting the membership of the points. Although similar to some existing perturbation methods, our approach distinguishes itself in five ways. First, the strength of the perturbations is indexed by a prior distribution controlling how close to boundary regions a point may be before it is considered unstable. Second, our approach is exact in that we integrate over all the perturbations; in practice, this can be done efficiently for well‐chosen prior distributions. Third, we provide a rigorous theoretical treatment of the approach, showing that it is consistent for estimating the correct number of clusters. Fourth, it yields a detailed picture of the behavior and structure of the clustering. Finally, it is computationally tractable and easy to use, requiring only a point‐to‐cluster distance matrix as input. In a simulation study, we show that it outperforms several existing methods in terms of recovering the correct number of clusters. We also illustrate the technique in three real data sets. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Statistical Analysis and Data Mining, 2013


Introduction Atypical perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (pANCA), anti-Saccharomyces cerevisiae antibody (ASCA) and more recently Outer Membrane Porin C (Omp-C) have been extensively studied in European and North American IBD populations. There is emerging evidence that the combination of these autoantibodies may increase the accuracy of diagnosis in IBD, however it is not known how reliable these markers are in IBD patients of different ethnicities. The aims of this study were to first determine the prevalence of ASCA, Omp-C and atypical pANCA in Indian Asian IBD patients and controls. The second aim was to determine the ability of ASCA and atypical pANCA to discriminate between CD and UC in Indian Asians. Methods A total of 191 Indian Asian IBD patients (UC 139, CD 52) and 36 healthy ethnically matched controls were included in the study. Sera were analysed for the presence of ASCA IgA and IgG and Omp-C antibodies using a commercially available ELISA (Quanta Lite; INOVA Diagnostics). To test for atypical pANCA, indirect immunofluorescence was performed on sera diluted 1/10 and tested on ethanol fixed neutrophil substrate (INOVA diagnostics) using FITC-conjugated rabbit antihuman IgG. Sensitivity and specificity were estimated for each serological marker and the relationship between disease phenotype and serological positivity was tested using the χ2 test. Results Accuracy of the serological markers ASCA (IgA or IgG isotypes) and Omp-C for differentiation of healthy controls from those with CD showed a sensitivity of 50% and 54% but a higher specificity (75% and 78%). The sensitivity and specificity of pANCA was calculated for differentiating UC from controls as 48% and 97% respectively. The combination of ASCA-/pANCA+ resulted in better diagnostic accuracy for differentiating CD from UC (sensitivity 32% and specificity 92%) than either test alone. There was no significant association with atypical pANCA and UC phenotype (p=0.58). Both ASCA and Omp-C positivity correlated with small bowel involvement in CD patients (p=0.01 and p=0.04 respectively). Conclusion The low sensitivity of ASCA, Omp-C and pANCA limits their use for IBD screening in Indian Asian populations but the high specificity of combining ASCA and ANCA can be helpful in differentiating between UC and CD in this ethnic group. The reported sensitivities and specificities of ASCA, Omp-C and pANCA in Indian Asians are similar to those observed in Caucasian populations. In addition, the association of ASCA and Omp-C with CD phenotype has also been reported in Caucasian CD patients suggesting similar pathological mechanisms in both ethnic groups.


Increasing efficiency by improving the locomotion methods is a key issue for underwater robots. Hence, an accurate dynamic model is important for both controller design and efficient locomotion methods. This paper presents a model of the kinematics and dynamics of a planar, underwater snake robot aimed at control design. Fluid contact forces and torques are modeled using analytical fluid dynamics. The model is derived in a closed form and can be utilized in modern model-based control schemes. The proposed model is easily implemented and simulated, regardless of the number of robot links. Simulation results with a ten link robotic system are presented.


We propose an efficient algorithm for generating hydrogen-disordered ice networks utilizing graph theory and the topological characteristic of the network. The computational efficiency with the new algorithm is much higher than the conventional ones developed by Rahman and Stillinger and Buch et al. The difference in the computational time between our algorithm and either of the two conventional ones increases with increasing the system size.


The objective of the paper was to analyse the change of the disturbance amplitude Pmax of the system under pressure depending on the total stream of liquid flow in the milk pipeline, which was set Qmr and its impact on the changes of average under pressure of suction pss, amplitude of suction under pressure aps, amplitude of massage under pressure apmin the measuring milking apparatuses (of the selected makes). The measuring apparatus was connected to the installation of a pipeline milking machine in the first stand tap (towards the final unit). The set streams of liquid flow from milking apparatuses were accepted Qm within 0 to 8 l·min. The research was carried out at regular operation of the milking machine (system negative pressure oscillationscyclic) and after introducing disturbance (negative pressure oscillations irregular). For comparison of the milking machines, products of four companies were selected. The same machines of a given company (6 items) were enclosed to the milking machine installation on the pipeline. Changes of the above mentioned parameters of milking in the measuring apparatus were determined and presented depending on the maximum amplitude of disturbance Pmax. Models describing changes of milking parameters in the milking apparatuses of the selected companies, which are the subject of the separate article were developed.


The EMD method as a means of signal pre-processing is used to decompose the vibration signal of gearbox into a number of IMF components, using the largest energy component as an effective component of the output response signal and the input shaft rotate speed or torque signal as the system input signal, then the time-series ARX model is established, in this paper. Extracted model parameters are as a feature vector of recognized working state of gearbox, and as input parameters of RBF neural network to achieve automatic recognition of faults in the gearbox. The results show that: ARX model can enhance the anti-jamming capability of model, and have great significance for improving the accuracy of fault diagnosis by calculating the fluctuations of input signal into the model.


Traditional textile technologies are part of cyber-culture in all its complexity but the solutions only record the technological past and do not influence the personal development of underprivileged groups. The digital information development should mark changes not only in communication but also in education and human communities' dynamic. E-learning programs in cyber-space are undoubtedly agents of cultural change but they should be created for an immediate impact on communities and for stressing issues like alternatives for unemployed people and lifelong learning for a greater mobility. This great power of the Web to reunite people and shape their future is conditioned by the involvement and decision making of individuals. For an interactive e-learning system we have to use real time simulation social games that allow the creation of ideal spaces for the development of a learning-by-playing virtual environment, focused on skills and technologies. Also, augmented reality applications are important in developing intuitive interaction between the user and the virtual content. Using video games tactile devices or TUNE technology could enhance the real time involvement in the exploration of the "memories" of physical artifacts and technologies.
 "The Maps of Time" is a project developed by a team of artists and researchers from the National University of Art, Bucharest. We are building a structure for the immersive experimentation of ancient technologies in the virtual world with the purpose of preserving and revitalizing ancient traditional technologies bring them into contemporary context and present them as viable and tested solutions in lifelong education.
The e-learning aspect of the project focuses on local community empowerment using visual support, expert online lessons and advice for learning traditional technologies (textile, ceramic or metal technologies). Although the e-learning sessions involve a small community in Oltenia region (south of Romania), especially school children, we are aiming for a larger audience, from experts to individuals that want to develop artistic skills.
Interactive media will be used to grow awareness on sustainable traditional technologies. Digitalizing ancient technologies operational phases not only helps children discover talents but could also offer alternatives for unemployed people and be a method of active recreation. Learning technologies, creating objects to populate habitats, involving other people develops an interactive virtual community in which everyone can learn skills via information-knowledge gaining, specialist training, artist and designer involvement.


The ostracode. contained within the Upper Kimmeridgian and Lower to Middle Volgian deposits piereed by eleven bareholes in the Barcio-Piechcin .area (Kujawy region) and exposed at Brzostowka in Tomaszow Mazowiecki (NW margins of the Holy Cross Mts), as well as those collected from the Neocomian deposits exposed at Wąwal near Tomaszow Mazowiecki and pierced by boreholes at the nearby localities allow to distinguish four ostracode zones in the Upper Kimmeridgian-Volgian sequence: G. monstrata, G. oertlii, G. barcinensis and G. punctilataeformis Zones, and two others, P. aubersonensis and M. frankei Zones, within the Neocomian deposits. The newly recognized ostracode zones are correlated with the ammonite subdivisions of the Upper Kimmeridgian, Lower and Middle Volgian, and the Neocomian. In the paleontological part of the paper described are 37 species (4 new) of the Upper Jurassic ostracodes, and 51 species (18 new) of the Neocomian ostracodes. Some of the recognized species display a pronounced ornamental variability which, among the Neocomian ostracodes, is ascribed to the ecophenotypic differentiation caused by the environmental stimuli.


Introduction: There is limited literature on the effect of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) on mortality. The objective of our study was to determine if there was a change in mortality among critically ill patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) after the implementation of a CPOE system. Methods: This was a retrospective study of all critically ill patients in the ED during the year before and the year after CPOE implementation. The primary outcome measures were mortality in the ED, after admission, and overall. Secondary outcome measures included length of stay in the resuscitation area of the ED, length of hospital stay, and disposition following hospitalization. Patient disposition was used as a marker for neurologic function, and patients were grouped as either being discharged to home vs. nursing home, rehabilitation center, or a long-term healthcare facility. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics, chi- square, and Wilcoxon rank sum tests. Results: There were 2,974 critically ill patients in the year preceding CPOE and 2,969 patients in the year following CPOE implementation. There were no differences in mortality between the two groups in the ED, after admission, or overall. The pre- and post-CPOE mortality rate for the ED, hospital, or overall was 2.52% vs. 2.02% (P = 0.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] −0.3 to 1.3), 7.8% versus 8.29% (P = 0.61, 95% CI −1.9 to 0.9), and 10.32% vs. 10.31% (P = .60, 95% CI −1.5 to 1.6), respectively. There was no difference in hospital length of stay between pre- and post-CPOE patients (3 days versus 3 days), a difference of 0.05 days (95% CI −0.47 to 0.57). Length of stay in the ED resuscitation area was longer in the post-CPOE group (31 versus 32 minutes), a difference of −1.96 minutes (95% CI −3.4 to −0.53). More patients were discharged to home in the pre-CPOE group (66.8% versus 64.3%), a difference of 2.54% (95% CI 0.13% to 4.96%). Conclusion: The implementation of CPOE was not associated with a change in mortality of critically ill ED patients, but was associated with a decrease in proportion of patients discharged to home after hospitalization.


The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency of parasitic zoonosis with ocular localization, diagnosed in the Institute of Ophthalmology (INO), which belongs to the Ministry ofHealth (MINSA) in Lima-Peru, between 1985 to 1999. The analysis of 4,843 histopathology records submitted to the Laboratory of Ocular Pathology between the years 1985 and 1999, showed that 0.47 ± 0.002% (23/4,843) corres-ponded to parasitic zoonosis; where the suggestive lesions of leishmaniosis, toxocariosis andocularcysticercosis hada frequency of 34.8 ±0.19%, 30.4±0.19% and 17.4±0.15%, respectively. While the analysis carried out with 1,306 clinical records of patients who went to the U vea Service ofthe same institute between the years 1988 and 1999 showed that 22.3 ± 0.02% (291/1,306) suffered from sorne type of parasitic zoonosis being the · most frequent the uveitis dueto toxoplasma (88.7 ± 0.04% ), toxocariosis and the ocular cysticercosis (10.0 ± 0.03% and 1.4 ± 0.01 %). It was concluded that the histopatologic diagnosis showed a low frequency (0.47 ± 0.002%) of parasitic zoonosis; however, a high frequency exists in uveitis patients that attend the INO clinic (22.3 ± 0.02% ).