The spin-triplet correlations in superconducting spin valve structures arising in the presence of noncollinear textures of magnetic moment are shown to enhance strongly the electromagnetic proximity effect, i.e., the long-range leakage of the magnetic field from the ferromagnet (F) to the superconducting (S) layer. Both the dirty and clean limits are studied on the basis of the Usadel and Eilenberger theory, correspondingly. Our results suggest a natural explanation for the puzzling enhancement of the spontaneous magnetic fields induced by the noncollinear magnetic structures observed by the muon spin rotation techniques in a wide class of layered S/F systems. We show that the electromagnetic proximity effect causes the shift of the Fraunhofer dependence of the critical current on the external magnetic field in the Josephson junction with one superconducting electrode covered by the ferromagnetic layer. This provides an alternative way to measure both the magnitude and the direction of the spontaneous magnetic field induced in the superconductor. We also demonstrate the possibility of the long-ranged superconductivity control of the magnetic state in F


Background: Several selected population-based studies have emphasized the significance of resting heart rate as an independent cardiovascular risk factor. However, there are no data available for using resting heart rate as a cardiovascular risk predictor in contemporary primary care. Thus, the aim of our analysis was to examine the clinical value of the measurement of resting heart rate in a large, unselected population-based cohort of primary care subjects under the conditions of contemporary primary prevention. Design: Prospective, population-based cohort study. Methods: We examined a subgroup of 5320 unselected primary care subjects free of coronary artery disease from the nationwide, longitudinal Diabetes Cardiovascular Risk Evaluation Targets and Essential Data for Commitment of Treatment (DETECT) cohort study, which was conducted from 2003 to 2008. Results: During the follow-up time of 5 years, 258 events were reported. Elevated resting heart rate was not associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular events (HR1⁄4 0.75, p1⁄4 0.394), cardiovascular mortality (HR1⁄4 0.71, p1⁄4 0.616) or major cardiovascular events (HR1⁄4 0.77, p1⁄4 0.376). By cross-sectional analysis, elevated heart rate clustered with markers of the metabolic syndrome, like increased blood pressure (systolic: OR1⁄4 5.54, p< 0.0001; diastolic: OR1⁄4 3.82, p< 0.0001), elevated fasting plasma glucose levels (OR1⁄4 8.84, p< 0.0001), hypertriglyceridaemia (OR1⁄4 22.16, p1⁄4 0.001), and obesity (body mass index OR1⁄4 0.89, p< 0.0001). Assessment of resting heart rate in clinical practice had minimal and non-significant additional prognostic value compared to established cardiovascular risk factors as judged by C statistics (C1⁄4 0.001, p1⁄4 0.979). Conclusion: The measurement of resting heart rate in the daily routine of primary care does not provide incremental prognostic information for cardiovascular risk stratification.


This paper presents a new general-purpose algorithm for exact solving of combinatorial many-objective optimization problems. We call this new algorithm the guided improvement algorithm . The algorithm is implemented on top of the non-optimizing relational constraint solver Kodkod [24]. We compare the performance of this new algorithm against two algorithms from the literature (Gavanelli [11], Lukasiewycz et al. [18], Laumanns et al. [17]) on three micro-benchmark problems (n-Queens, nRooks, and knapsack) and on two aerospace case studies. Results indicate that the new algorithm is better for the kinds of many-objective problems that our aerospace collaborators are interested in solving. The new algorithm returns Pareto-optimal solutions as it computes.


The vascular function after interventions as revascularization surgeries is checked intraoperatively and qualitatively by observing the blood ow dynamic in the vessel via Indocyanine Green (ICG) Fluorescence Angiography. This state-of-the-art technique does not provide the surgeon with objective information whether the revascularization is sufficient and should be improved by obtaining a quantitative intraoperative optical blood ow measurement. Previous approaches using ICG Fluorescence Angiography show that the blood flow measurement does not match the reference and overestimates the ow. The experiments indicate that the amount of overestimation is linked to the vessels diameter. We have, in previous work, quantified the propagated error on the flow calculation resulting from the error in the measurement of the vessels diameter and length and realized that they cannot be accounted solely for this deviation. The influence of the transit time error is not revealed yet. We propose a model combining the penetration depth of diffusely reflected photons and the flow velocity profile to estimate the error in transit time measurement. The flow is assumed to be laminar. The photons path is obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation. This is used to determine the maximum penetration depth of each diffusely reflected photon and therefore state how the recorded signal is composed of the signals originating from different depths to check the hypothesis that the error is systematically linked to the vessels diameter. A simplified geometry is set as a homogeneous layer structure of vessel wall, blood and vessel wall. The total thickness ranges from 1 mm to 5 mm. The probability density of the depth distribution of the diffusely reflected photons and the parabolic flow profile are convolved to obtain a weighted average of the ow velocity, which is set into relation with the mean ow velocity. The results show a clear dependency of the error in transit time measurement on the vessels diameter which complies qualitatively with literature and confirms the hypothesis.


Hypertrophy of the extensor digitorum longus muscle after surgical removal of its companion tibialis anterior muscle has been studied in mice. Early, intermediate and late stages in the process of hypertrophy have been defined. The proportional increase in the man cross sectional area of fibres in a hypertrophic muscle consistently exceeded the proportional increase in the weight of the same muscle in all animals. This suggests that hypoplasis (loss of fibres) was occurring. This work was carried out with the aid of grants from the Medical Research Council and Science Research Council of Great Britain.


Utilizing the real-valued parametrization of each transmitter's efficient beamforming vectors, we propose a decentralized resource allocation scheme in the multiple-input single-output interference channel. The scheme is motivated by bargaining concepts in game theory. The aim of these concepts is to improve the joint payoff of the users from the Nash equilibrium outcome. In each bargaining-step, each user proposes a strategy. A user accepts any proposal if it increases his payoff. Otherwise, new proposals are made. When all proposals are accepted, a new bargaining-stage begins. We prove the scheme's convergence and demonstrate its performance by simulations. In comparison to previous approaches, our bargaining outcome is arbitrarily close to the Pareto boundary of the achievable single-user rate region. We further discuss the control overhead and complexity of this scheme.


Alfred Adler's significance for the concept of narcissism is presented with reference to four aspects: 1) Adler's theory of masculine protest was evidently a factor influencing Freud to turn toward the phenomenon of narcissism. 2) Present-day understanding of narcissism shows remarkable similarity to Adler's views on psychodynamics and neurotic egocentricity. 3) Some contemporary criticisms of Freud's theory of narcissism are very similar to Adler's criticism. 4) Adler's theory of social interest permits subsumption of narcissism under lack of social interest rather than acceptance of it as an expression of innate socially negative tendencies.


The present study deals with the performance of an U-shaped oscillating water column device under the action of oblique incident waves. To solve the associated boundary value problem, the dual boundary element method (DBEM) is used. Various physical parameters associated with the U-shaped OWC device, such as the radiation susceptance and conductance coefficients, and the hydrodynamic efficiency, are analyzed for a wide range of wave and structural parameters. The study reveals that the resonance in the efficiency curve occurs for smaller values of wavenumber with an increase in chamber length, submergence depth of the front wall and opening duct, and width of the opening duct. It is observed that with appropriate combinations of the angle of incidence and incident wavenumber, more than 90% efficiency in the U-shaped OWC device can be achieved.


The localization of ƒÀA subunit of inhibin/activin in rat testis was studied by means of immunohistochemistry using antibody raised against synthetic polypeptide. The intense reaction with anti-ƒÀA antibody was shown in the cytoplasm but not in the nucleus and the plasma membrane of spermatocytes. The reaction was also found in the cytoplasm of spermatids, through the immunostaining pattern was different between the two cells; the granule-like one in spermatocytes and diffused one in spermatids, respectively. Furthermore, the plasma membrane became positive in spermatids, suggesting that ƒÀA subunit may be produced in spermatocytes and secreted from spermatids. The expression of ƒÀA subunit in spermatogenic cells is thought to be stage-specific, because the reaction was not found in spermatogonia and spermatozoa. Although both Sertoli and Leydig cells are reported to produce ƒÀA subunit of inhibin/activin, no reaction was observed in these two cells. This suggests that the antibody used in this study may recognize the epitopes different from those detected by previously-used immunological probes.


A new Earth Scientist9s Periodic Table of the Elements and Their Ions presents the naturally occurring charged species commonly encountered by geoscientists, as well as elemental forms, and it is organized by charge. The new table therefore shows many elements multiple times, unlike the conventional table. As a result, trends, patterns, and interrelationships in mineralogy, soil and sediment geochemistry, igneous petrology, aqueous geochemistry, isotope geochemistry, and nutrient chemistry become apparent in this new table. The new table thus provides a more effective framework for understanding geochemistry than the conventional, and purely elemental, periodic table.


Two yellow organic pigments, Benzimidazolone Yellow 3G and Benzimidazolone Yellow 4G, were identified in some U.S. automobile original (OEM) topcoats (1974–1989) in previous work in this study. The topcoats consisted of single layer finishes (monocoats) from the Reference Collection of Automotive Paints, and the pigments were identified in situ using infrared spectroscopy. The identification, analysis, and occurrence of other yellow organic pigments used in these finishes, including Isoindolinone Yellow 3R, Isoindoline Yellow, and Anthrapyrimidine Yellow, are described here. Based on a spectral survey of Reference Collection yellow, orange, brown and green nonmetallic monocoats, absorptions of Isoindolinone Yellow 3R were observed in the spectra of approximately three dozen yellow monocoats and one dozen orange ones. Isoindoline Yellow was identified in a single orange nonmetallic enamel. This pigment is now more common since it was one of several replacements for Chrome Yellow—a popular lead-containing pigment which is no longer used in U.S. automobile OEM finishes—and it was identified in several recent yellow nonmetallic basecoat/clearcoat finishes. Weak absorptions of Anthrapyrimidine Yellow were identified in the spectrum of a single yellow nonmetallic enamel. Spectra of several other yellow organic automotive paint pigments are also presented and discussed.


The increasing occurrence, forms, and negative effects of misinformation on social media platforms has necessitated more misinformation detection tools. Currently, work is being done addressing COVID-19 misinformation however, there are no misinformation detection tools for any of the 40 distinct indigenous Ugandan languages. This paper addresses this gap by presenting basic language resources and a misinformation detection data set based on code-mixed Luganda-English messages sourced from the Facebook and Twitter social media platforms. Several machine learning methods are applied on the misinformation detection data set to develop classification models for detecting whether a code-mixed Luganda-English message contains misinformation or not. A 10-fold cross validation evaluation of the classification methods in an experimental misinformation detection task shows that a Discriminative Multinomial Naive Bayes (DMNB) method achieves the highest accuracy and F-measure of 78.19% and 77.90% respectively. Also, Support Vector Machine and Bagging ensemble classification models achieve comparable results. These results are promising since the machine learning models are based on n-gram features from only the misinformation detection dataset.


BACKGROUND
Population-based cohort studies demonstrate that metabolic syndrome (MeS) is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and related mortalities. The present study was designed to investigate the prognostic impact of MeS in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

METHODS AND RESULTS
The study group was 461 AMI patients without a history of previous myocardial infarction. On the basis of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, MeS was defined having at least 3 of the following 5 conditions: dysglycemia (impaired fasting glucose, current use of insulin or oral hypoglycemic drugs), hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, hypertension and obesity. The prevalence of MeS was 37% (n=172). C-reactive protein (CRP) levels increased with the increase in the number of conditions of MeS. During follow-up at a median of 17.6 months, the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) was significantly different between patients with and without MeS. Furthermore, after adjustment of predictive factors (age, sex, Killip class, multivessel coronary artery disease, low ejection fraction and high CRP level), MeS was an independent risk factor for MACE.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with AMI, MeS is associated with systemic inflammation and is an important predictor for MACE, which suggests the need for early identification and medical intervention for secondary prevention of MeS.


ABSTRACT Yersinia enterocolitica is an enteric pathogen that exploits diverse means to survive in the human host. Upon Y. enterocolitica entry into the human host, bacteria sense and respond to variety of signals, one of which is the temperature. Temperature in particular has a profound impact on Y. enterocolitica gene expression, as most of its virulence factors are expressed exclusively at 37°C. These include two outer membrane proteins, YadA and Ail, that function as adhesins and complement resistance (CR) factors. Both YadA and Ail bind the functionally active complement alternative pathway regulator factor H (FH). In this study, we characterized regions on both proteins involved in CR and the interaction with FH. Twenty-eight mutants having short (7 to 41 amino acids) internal deletions within the neck and stalk of YadA and two complement-sensitive site-directed Ail mutants were constructed to map the CR and FH binding regions of YadA and Ail. Functional analysis of the YadA mutants revealed that the stalk of YadA is required for both CR and FH binding and that FH appears to target several conformational and discontinuous sites of the YadA stalk. On the other hand, the complement-sensitive Ail mutants were not affected in FH binding. Our results also suggested that Ail- and YadA-mediated CR does not depend solely on FH binding.


Hydroxyapatite, often in the form of synthetic porous blocks, has been used in the repair of bone defects for over 20 years owing to its biocompatibility and osseoconductive behaviour. Bone ingrowth requires the existence of open and interconnected pores with diameters larger than 150 µm for proper circulation of nutrients. Hence, currently available materials are characterised by poor mechanical properties. Collapse of such products is therefore a major source of concern to surgeons using these weak materials in bone surgery. There is a need to develop stronger highly porous structures through adequate control over the size, shape and volume fraction of pores. In this work, highly porous open-cell hydroxyapatite foams were fabricated by the polymer foam replication process, where two types of polyurethane (PU) foams were infiltrated with optimised slurries containing appropriate binders and ceramic particles, followed by the removal of excess slurry, burning out of the polymer to leave a ceramic replica of the polyurethane and finally high temperature sintering. Open-cell HAP foams with porosities of about 80% were obtained, i.e. 30% higher than that determined for commercial ones (50%). Many of the commercial foam cells approach 500 µm in diameter whereas the developed foam cell size ranged from 300 up to 500 µm. The ultimate compressive strength of the developed foams (1-2 MPa) was found to be higher than that recorded for the commercial ones (0.7 MPa) indicating that these foams can more easily be modelled in theatre. Both the elastic moduli and the compressive strength of the developed foams were found to increase with increasing of the relative density, in accordance with the predictions of available micro-mechanical models.


The aim of this study is to evaluate factors influencing utilization of health services by women aged 15 years and older having any health symptoms within the previous 15 days in a city center located in the eastern part of Turkey. In this cross-sectional study, subjects (1,000 households) were sampled from the "city-information-system" based on household satellite photographs of the city. Nine hundred and thirty-five households out of 1,000 were included in the study (response rate: 93.5%), and 1,613 subjects were interviewed. Seven hundred and eighteen women out of 1,613 participants reported at least one health symptom (44.5%), and of these, only 208 (29.1%) reported utilization of health services for these symptoms. The mean age of those 208 participants was 36.8 (-14.1) years, with a range from 15 to 77. Most were illiterate (56.7%); 79.8% were covered by social insurance; 66.4% were married (legal and religious marriage); and only 3.4% worked outside the home. Those who utilized health services for their health symptoms within the previous 15 days were more likely to be highly educated, to be covered with a social insurance for health expenses, to have a chronic disease, and to use health services for check-ups. Other factors such as economic conditions and type of the disease, etc. might have influenced health service utilization. Future studies in larger populations are recommended for further analysis (logistic regression modeling) in the same region.


Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) or Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Syndrome (AHPNS) is a disease produced by gram-negative bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus (V. parahaemolyticus), which has caused declines in worldwide production of a white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (L. vannamei). In this work, we propose the implementation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized with Rumex hymenosepalus (Rh) extract as an alternative on V. parahaemolyticus control. AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). AgNP mean sizes by DLS were 80.82±1.16 nm and sizes between 2 and 10 nm by TEM, with a zeta potential of −47.72±1.05 mV. This study evaluated AgNPs and Rh antimicrobial capacity on V. parahaemolyticus at different concentrations; the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) found was 25 μg/mL for AgNPs and 220 μg/mL for Rh. Additionally, were carried out time-kill curves and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation for 1 and 4 MIC. Both concentrations (MIC) were tested for toxicity on Artemia nauplii from Artemia franciscana (A. franciscana), because nauplii were used as biocarriers for AgNPs and Rh extract on L. vannamei. Once the shrimp were treated, they were challenged with Vibrio infection and it was found that those who were treated with both agents showed greater survival than the control. V. parahaemolyticus and postlarval samples were taken from the bioassay and fixed and prepared for TEM and SEM in order to search NPs in internal structure of bacteria and the hepatopancreatic area of shrimps; AgNPs were detected in both cases. AgNPs and Rh extract show antibacterial properties on the infected shrimp with V. parahaemolyticus. The action mechanisms are interaction with the bacterial membrane and ROS generation; these effects are produced by both agents.


In this thesis, we study ways in which computational social choice can contribute to social good, by providing better democratic representation and by allocating scarce goods. On the side of political representation, we study multiple emerging innovations to the democratic process. If legislative elections with proportional representation allow for approval-based ballots rather than the choice of a single party, we give voting rules that satisfy attractive axioms of proportionality. For liquid democracy, a kind of transitive proxy voting, we show how an extension to multiple delegation options can decrease the concentration of power in few hands. Finally, for sortition, a system in which representatives are randomly selected citizens, we develop sampling algorithms, both for the case where all citizens participate if sampled and for the case in which participants self select. Concerning the allocation of scarce goods, we investigate the applications of refugee resettlement and kidney exchange. For refugee resettlement, we show how submodular optimization can lead to more diverse matchings that might increase employment by reducing competition for jobs between similar refugees. In kidney exchange, we give approximately incentive-compatible mechanisms for transplant chains in a semi-random model of compatibilities. Finally, we present three directions for future research, revisiting the topics of sortition, refugee resettlement, and semi-random models.


This paper is the first that examines the impact of stock market performance on the investment policy of pension funds. We find that stock market prices influence the asset allocation of Dutch pension funds in two ways. In the short term, outperformance of equities over bonds and other investment categories automatically results in a higher actual equity allocation (and vice versa), as pension funds do not continuously rebalance their investment portfolios. Each quarter, pension funds rebalance, on average, around 39 percent of excess equity returns, leaving 61 percent for free floating. In the medium term, outperformance of equities induces pension funds to increase their strategic equity allocation (and vice versa). These findings suggest that the investment policies of pension funds are partially driven by the cyclical performance of the stock market. Pension funds respond asymmetrically to stock market shocks: rebalancing is much stronger after negative equity returns. On average, this strategy led to negative excess returns over the period under consideration. Investment policies of large funds deviate from that of small funds: they hold more equity and their equity allocation is much more strongly affected by actual equity returns, reflecting less rebalancing. The largest funds react highly asymmetrically to positive excess equity returns, adjusting their portfolios by significantly more than 100%, reflecting 'overshooting' of free floating, or positive feedback trading. Apparently, managers of large funds demonstrate great risk tolerance, particularly in bull markets.


The South African Constitution states that every learner has a right to learn in the official lan guage of his or her choice. This dissertation explores the challenges of implementing isiX hosa as a language of learning and teaching (LoL T) in a selected pilot school. The study aims to determine the challenges that hamper the implementation of using isiXhosa as a LoL T. The research took place at an isiXhosa speaking school where the learners and teachers are isiXhosa speaking people. The Western Cape Education Department has launched a programme, the Language Transformation Plan, and this selected pilot school comprised the site of research. The isiXhosa speaking learners achieved poorly in the sys temic evaluations results, as well as in the Grade 12 results. It has become important to de termine the merits of home languages as language of LoLT. The literature review provided a theoretical framework for the implementation of a home lan guage as LoL T. Aspects such as the historical background of the use of home languages in education, home language in a multilingual context, and language as a resource in education were addressed. Using home languages as LoL T has advantages, disadvantages, and chal lenges. Attitudes of users about isiXhosa as home language as LoL T were also explored. This bounded case study followed a basic qualitative methodology to collect data. Interviews related to the School Governing Body, principal, School Management Team, teachers, and learners at the school. The analysis of biographical data and a qualitative content analysis resulted in various themes and three categories. The analysis provided evidence of the ex periences of the stake holders during the implementing of isiXhosa as LoLT. Aspects that were identified related to the needs, advantages and challenges that the participants encoun tered. In general, the participants were positive that isiXhosa could be used as LoL T as long as these challenges can be addressed. Chapter five provides an overview of aspects that are important for deliberation during policy processes. Although this bounded case study was limited in terms of scope, it provides important infor mation on the live-world experiences of how isiXhosa affects learning and teaching through a home language. Additional large scale is required to determine country wide and longitudinal data on the advantages of home languages as LoL T.


INTRODUCTION
The incidence of disease syndromes and genetic defects in patients with malformations is much higher than in the general population. We reviewed our experience in infants with gastrointestinal malformations to know the incidence of genetic defects and syndromic presentation, for purposes of carrying out the most complete assessment and treatment.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
We recruited 161 patients with one or more malformations or congenital gastrointestinal pathology. We evaluated: type of malformation (isolated or syndromic), association with polimalformative complex, genetic testing and its results.

RESULTS
The main diagnosis, from highest to lowest incidence, is intestinal malrotation (17.18%), Hirschsprung's disease (13.64%), Meckel's diverticulum (13.14%), oesophageal atresia (12.13%), anorectal malformation (11.12%), diaphragmatic hernia (6.57%), duodenal atresia (5.56%), small bowel atresia (4.55%), omphalocele (4.04), and other (12.07%). In 45.3% the malformation is not isolated. 27.4% appear as syndrome, 4.1% as development defect and 2.7% as association. Genetic study was performed in 30.43%, detecting defects in 36.7% of the studies. Down syndrome (n = 8) is the most frequent.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Our experience with these patients is similar to that provided in the literature. We consider that it is important to identify any associated anomalies, especially heart disease, craniofacial anomalies and other gastrointestinal malformations, because they condition the patient's management. Pathologies that are often associated with other defects require more effort for their detection. The knowledge of these patients is essential for correct treatment.


ABSTRACT The design of gears with a minimum weight is an optimization problem that has been widely discussed in the literature. Various recent metaheuristic optimization methods, along with the conventional methods, have produced successful results for design optimization problems. In this study, a comprehensive investigation was conducted into the solution of the spur gear design problem in metaheuristic optimization methods. The artificial algae algorithm, artificial bee colony and whale optimization algorithm were applied to the problem for the first time. The grey wolf optimizer and particle swarm optimization were also applied. The results were compared with the performance of the genetic algorithm, simulating annealing and particle swarm optimization, applied in previous studies. A statistical evaluation of these methods applied under the same conditions was carried out in terms of stability. It was shown that the new methods demonstrated significantly improved performance in solving the gear design problem compared to existing methods.


How well are the legal concepts of citizenship and nationality travelling in a globalised world? This chapter addresses the effects of globalization on people's status and membership within their own territory, and beyond it. Citizenship is a legal, political, and social construct that has domestic and international consequences. I argue that citizenship, in its traditional meaning of participation in and membership of the nation-state, will be fundamentally altered by globalisation and will not continue to travel in the same manner that it has been. The familiar domestic and international consequences of citizenship, such as political voting rights, legal rights, including the right to leave and enter a country, and social welfare rights, will be fundamentally affected by the changes in people's connection to the nation-state. This means that it can't be recognised as a generalisable legal notion, to the extent that it may have been in the past. Moreover, as people identify and become members of more than one community, we will witness an acceptance of multi-citizenship/membership within the nation-state and within the international order. The rise of the world citizen and the changes that have occurred in the nation-state mean that citizenship and nationality will be revised concepts in the 21st century. If they are able to adapt to these changed frameworks, then citizenship and nationally may continue to travel well. This chapter is a combination of two earlier works of the author reproduced in this important book edited by Catherine Dauvergne.


Shakespeare's sonnets of 1609 are as thrilling and persuasive today as they were when they were first published: perhaps no collection of verses before or since has so captured the imagination of lovers and readers as these. In this stunning new edition of the work, Don Paterson, an award-winning sonneteer and lyric poet in his own right, offers an illuminating and accessible guide to these unforgettable verses. In a series of mesmerising and highly-entertaining short commentaries, placed alongside the sonnets themselves, Don Paterson explains the inner workings of the poems: their hidden structures and techniques, their narratives and their brilliance. An approachable handbook to the sonnets and the sonnet form, packed with reading tips and advice on the craft, this new edition offers an enjoyable and indispensable insight into our greatest Elizabethan writer by one of the leading poets of our own day.


Cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assert that memory processes play a significant role in PTSD (see e.g., Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Intrusive reexperiencing in PTSD has been linked to perceptual processing of trauma-related material with a corresponding hypothesized lack of conceptual processing. In an experimental study that included clinical participants with and without PTSD (N = 50), perceptual priming and conceptual priming for trauma-related, general threat, and neutral words were investigated in a population with chronic trauma-induced complaints as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The study used a new version of the word-stem completion task (Michael, Ehlers, & Halligan, 2005) and a word-cue association task. It also assessed the role of dissociation in threat processing. Further evidence of enhanced perceptual priming in PTSD for trauma stimuli was found, along with evidence of lack of conceptual priming for such stimuli. Furthermore, this pattern of priming for trauma-related words was associated with PTSD severity, and state dissociation and PTSD group made significant contributions to predicting perceptual priming for trauma words. The findings shed light on the importance of state dissociation in trauma-related information processing and posttraumatic symptoms.


Two new fluorescence imaging probes have been synthesized by incorporating a versatile alkyne-substituted boron difluoride formazanate precursor with peptides through copper-catalyzed alkyne–azide cycloaddition. The formazanate dye was appended to a C-terminal amino acid of ghrelin for imaging the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR-1a). To demonstrate versatile bioconjugation chemistry, the formazanate dye was added to the N-terminus of bombesin for targeting the gastrin releasing peptide receptor (GRPR). These are the first examples of using this emerging class of dyes, boron difluoride formazanates, for the labelling of biomolecules.


South Sudan's administrative boundaries stem from the colonial period. Since it gained independence in 2011, subsequent rounds of reshuffling of the political system, internal borders, and power relations have been a source of confusion, elite manipulation, and conflict throughout the country. This paper explores the impact of this confusion by focusing on multiple shifting linkages between administrative boundaries and identities and shows how the mobilization of ethnic identities has become central to territorial claims and creating territorial borders. We use three local conflicts in Central Equatoria State to illustrate how claims of belonging and entitlement are being used by elites for economic, political, and socio-cultural gains. The three cases also show how such manipulation increases the likelihood of ethnic division and conflict. Following the decision by the government in 2015 to increase the number of states from 10 to 28 in October 2015, further manipulation of borders and identities is likely to occur and could result in more violence, ethnic-based conflict, and human suffering.


Background Prisoners tend to have poorer physical, mental and social health than the population at large. Moreover, prison takes away autonomy. In our institution, a multidisciplinary health promotion programme has been developed to help prisoners adopt healthy behaviour that can be taken back into the community. Treatment compliance has been identified as a relevant skill to enhance clinical outcomes. Purpose To develop a workshop on treatment compliance and assess its effectiveness. Materials and methods The workshop involved a physician, two nurses and was led by two pharmacists. It combined theoretical exchange and practical training about the empowerment of patients in their health care, in order to improve their therapeutic compliance. At the end of the session, a self-rating questionnaire was performed to assess outcomes from 3 learning objectives (LO): – LO1: to identify and take advantage of key steps in the communication with medical staff in order to understand illness and treatment; – LO2: to acquire information about medicines I am taking; – LO3: to acquire good habits in drug use. An open question explored the learnt skills that will be set up after the workshop. The impact was estimated bringing together inmates' satisfaction, learning outcomes and achievement transfer. Results 15 prisoners participated in one session. The total post-workshop scores were significantly improved for LO 1(3.4 ± 0.3 vs. 4.3 ± 0.2; p = 0.001) and LO 3 (3.5 ± 0.4 vs. 4.4 ± 0.2; p = 0.001). These increases show a learning effect. Relative improvements were 56.3% for LO1 and 60.8% for LO3. These results validate the pedagogical efficiency of coordinators. The score for LO2 did not improve significantly. 14/15 (93%) considered themselves 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied'. Although the only 'poorly satisfied' person misunderstood the topic of this workshop, all the participants were ready to take part in other sessions, illustrating relevance. About achievement transfer, key points from all LOs were reported with an average of two new skills per patient. Conclusions The active involvement of inmates during the workshop revealed interest and a desire for information about their role in health care system. Increased knowledge and patient satisfaction illustrated the positive effect of this workshop. These short-term results are really encouraging and emphasise the additive value of pharmacists' involvement in health education programmes going on in prisons. No conflict of interest.


Abstract Tracking the geometry of all 597 ammonoid genera from the Lower Devonian into the Lower Triassic, a 145-Myr period that spans three mass extinctions, shows that Paleozoic ammonoid shell geometries were strongly biased for a few combinations of whorl expansion (W), whorl overlap (D), and whorl shape (S). Just three modal combinations accommodated approximately 432 genera (72% of total) and just one combination accommodated 239 genera (40%). All three primary modal forms have similar low expansion rates (W ≈ 1.75) and differ only in coiling tightness (D). These geometries resulted in long body chambers (≈400°) with Nautilus-like static in-life aperture orientations (≈30°) for the great majority (>80%) of Paleozoic ammonoids. The ancestral clade Agoniatitida included a unique spectrum of openly coiled geometries that went extinct at the Frasnian/Famennian boundary (and were not seen again until the Triassic). The Devonian/Mississippian extinction terminated the brief, explosive radiation of the Clymeniida (64 genera). The dominant Paleozoic clade, the Goniatitida (ca. 130 Myr, 374 genera [64% of total]), survived both the F/F and D/M extinctions, but began declining well before the Permian/Triassic crisis. The long-lived Prolecanitida (40 genera [7%]) appeared shortly after the D/M extinction, persisted as a low-diversity clade through the Carboniferous, and gave rise to the Ceratitida in the mid-Permian, from which were derived all Mesozoic ammonoids. After each major extinction event the phylogenetic composition of ammonoid stocks was fundamentally reordered and geometries were recanalized. Without external disturbances, as the relatively uninterrupted Mississippian through Permian record shows, the history of ammonoid shell geometry would probably have been a record of much greater constancy, perhaps tied much more closely to the Lower Devonian geometric landscape.


Doppler investigations of placental and maternal flow have picked up a wide prominence as it could give significant data with respect to fetal prosperity and could be utilized to distinguish embryos in danger of bleakness and mortality, in this manner giving a chance to improve fetal results. In such manner, the accessible typical reference estimations of proportion () for example uterine corridor Doppler waveform parameters to those of umbilical course and impact of hypertension on Doppler waveform of the obstetric populace of various countries, were not unequivocally illustrated. The examination incorporates 60 pregnant ladies (in two periods 33-36 weeks and 37-40 weeks of incubation, 40 of them with pregnancy instigated hypertension and 20 as a control. The uterine courses and umbilical corridor files were determined just as proportions () for the RI and S/D, subsequent to gating the normal estimations of both uterine conduits files, the proportion between the uterine supply route and umbilical vein records was taken(normal uterine supply route/umbilical vein proportion, ). The mean ± SD of parameters expressed in the following manner:For PIH group At 33-36 weeks: RI =0.89 ± 0.26, PI = 0.94 ± 0.41and S/D =0.86 ± 0.31. The 95% confidence interval of the mean for four weeks were 0.77-1.0, 0.78-1.11, 0.74-0.99, respectively. At 37-40 weeks: RI= 1.00 ± 0.26, PI =1.05 ± 0.43 and S/D =1.03 ± 0.36. The 95% confidence interval of the mean for four weeks were 0..61, 0..31 and 0.81-1.25 respectively. For control group:At 33-36 weeks : RI =0.69 ± 0.08,PI= 0.73 ±0.13, and S/D=0.67 ± 0.09. The 95% confidence interval of the mean for four weeks were 0..80, 0..90 and0..78 respectively. At 37-40 weeks : RI= 0.99 ± 0.31, PI=0.95 ± 0.33, and S/D=0.92 ± 0.25. The 95% confidence interval of the mean for four weeks were 0..80, 0.76-1.13 and0.78-1.06respectively. A starter foundation of proportion ( of RI, PI and S/D) of Iraqi obstetric populace in and PIH at third trimester is most likely settled. The present investigation gave reference ranges in regards to uterine and umbilical supply routes , and S/ at 33-36 and 37-40 weeks of incubation in both.


In this paper, the Murata ceramic Bluetooth antenna, which has been successfully used on rigid printed circuit boards, is now applied to flexible printed circuit boards. Based on this Bluetooth antenna, a novel wrist device that can be wirelessly connected to mobile phones is developed. In particular, to reduce the height of the wrist device, the ground-clearance type Murata Bluetooth antenna is adopted. It is demonstrated that the wrist device works very well in real environments.


Objective: To determine the impact of a ward-based clinical pharmacy service on drug related hospital re-admissions. Methods: This was a part of a controlled trial conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka to evaluate the clinical pharmacy service. The control group received the standard care whereas the intervention group received a ward-based pharmacist's service in addition to the standard care. The pharmacist performed a prospective medications review of patients with chronic non-communicable diseases during their hospital stay and made recommendations to the health care team when appropriate. At discharge reconciliation of discharge prescription was done. Patients were educated about discharge medicines to improve knowledge and compliance. Both groups were followed up monthly for six months to identify drug-related hospital re-admissions. Results: Of 137 drug-related re-admissions, 93 (involving 87/356 patients) were from the control group, and 44 (involving 42/361 patients) were from the intervention group (P < 0.001). Non-compliance was the main reason for re-admissions in the control group and it was significantly higher in the control group (control vs. intervention: 53.8% vs. 34.1%; P = 0.013). Adverse drug reactions were the most common reason for re-admission in the intervention group (23/44; 52.3%). There was a significantly larger percentage of re-admissions in the control group due to unintentional omission of drugs on discharge prescription (control vs. intervention: 17.2% vs. 2.3%; P = 0.012). Conclusion: Ward based clinical pharmacy service was useful to reduce drug related hospital re-admissions in patients with chronic non-communicable diseases. Establishing a ward based clinical pharmacy service is recommended.


Finding new uses for existing drugs, or drug repositioning, has been used as a strategy for decades to get drugs to more patients. As the ability to measure molecules in high-throughput ways has improved over the past decade, it is logical that such data might be useful for enabling drug repositioning through computational methods. Many computational predictions for new indications have been borne out in cellular model systems, though extensive animal model and clinical trial-based validation are still pending. In this review, we show that computational methods for drug repositioning can be classified in two axes: drug based, where discovery initiates from the chemical perspective, or disease based, where discovery initiates from the clinical perspective of disease or its pathology. Newer algorithms for computational drug repositioning will likely span these two axes, will take advantage of newer types of molecular measurements, and will certainly play a role in reducing the global burden of disease.


GP (for Graph Programs) is a rule-based, nondeterministic programming language for solving graph problems at a high level of abstraction, freeing programmers from dealing with low-level data structures. In this case study, we present a graph program which minimizes finite automata. The program represents an automaton by its transition diagram, computes the state equivalence relation, and merges equivalent states such that the resulting automaton is minimal and equivalent to the input automaton. We illustrate how the program works by a running example and argue that it correctly implements the minimization algorithm of Hopcroft, Motwani and Ullman. We also prove a quadratic upper bound for the number of rule schema applications used by the program.


The cis-acting transcriptional control elements of the murine CD4 gene were investigated within 75 kb of chromatin associated with the CD4 locus. DNase I hypersensitive (DH) sites were identified in several T and non-T cell lines, and in freshly isolated thymocytes. A total of 22 DH sites were found, seven of which are present only in T cells expressing CD4 or CD8. The T cell-specific DH sites are located in four regions: (i) 5' of the first exon of CD4, (ii) in the first intron, (iii) near the second and third exons, and (iv) 3' of the CD4 gene. Some of these sites inversely correlate to the CD4 expression at defined stages of T cell development, suggesting a role for these sites in repression of this gene. The T cell-specific DH sites were subcloned and analyzed for protein-DNA interactions using the electrophoretic mobility shift assay. All T cell-specific DH sites analyzed appear to be a consequence of T cell-specific protein-DNA interactions. We have also identified the nuclear matrix attachment regions (MARs) and repetitive elements associated with the CD4 gene. Two nuclear MARs, separated by a region of highly repetitive DNA, are located 5' of the gene. Another region of highly repetitive DNA exists within the third intron. We discuss the implications of our results for the developmental regulation of CD4 expression.


Britain imported a vast number of cashmere shawls from the Indian subcontinent in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These were largely male garments in India at the time, which became popular dress accessories for British women. The demand for these shawls was opportune for textile manufacturers at home – particularly in Edinburgh, Norwich, and Paisley, who launched a thriving industry of shawls, 'made in imitation of the Indian'. There has been considerable scholarship on cashmere shawls and their European copies in textile history. However, it has enjoyed no such prominence in literary studies. This PhD thesis examines Cashmere and 'Paisley' shawls in works of literature.

Indian shawls are mentioned in a number of literary texts, including plays, poems, novels, opera, and satire. A wide variety of writers such as Richard Sheridan, Sir Walter Scott, Jane Austen, and Wilkie Collins (to name a few) depict these textiles in their works. For these writers, I argue, shawls provide a means to explore Britain's changing social and imperial identity through the prism of material culture. The sheer incidence of 'shawls' in printed discourse furthermore suggests that they went beyond the realm of everyday fashion to constitute one of the important narratives of nineteenth-century Britain.

In emphasising the significance of material culture and recovering new historical contexts, this investigation raises important questions relating to the links between industry and trade, and literary production. I rely on literary criticism, scholarship on India, and textile history to examine the phenomenon of cashmere shawls. In the wider context of postcolonialism, the research suggests that instead of the Saidian model which viewed the East as an abject 'Other,' colonies actually exerted a reverse and important influence on the imperial centre. A new emphasis on Indian things in literature, this work hopes, will contribute a fresh strand of thought to studies of imperialism.


In this paper the performance evaluation of the Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) and Reed Solomon (RS) codes over wireless channels is presented. These codes are used as the Forward Error Correction (FEC) technique to protect source data prior transmission over wireless channel. The system simulation includes the use of Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) as the wireless channel, while a grayscale image is used as the data source. The quality of the reconstructed grayscale image is measured using the Peak Signal to Noise ratio (PSNR) measurement. The quality of output grayscale image is considered good if the value of the PSNR is above 30dB.


Methods for moving target tracking in single- and multichannel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) are presented and evaluated using data from the F-SAR system. An approach based on temporal and spatial overlapping SAR images, image statistics, and multitarget unscented Kalman filtering showed promising results for a single-channel linear SAR experiment. Here, we extend this approach to integrate along-track multichannel data, combine single- and multichannel extraction methods, and verify our results on nonlinear test data on all the different extraction methods. The results are validated and compared with ground-based measurements on a highway section, demonstrating the accuracy of the presented method.


Many knowledge-based systems need to represent vague concepts such as ``old'''' and ``tall''''. The practical approach of representing vague concepts as precise intervals over numbers (e.g., ``old'''' as the interval [70,110]) is well-accepted in Artificial Intelligence. However, there have been no systematic procedures, but only ad hoc methods to delimit the boundaries of intervals representing the vague predicates. A key observation is that the vague concepts and their interval boundaries are constrained by the underlying domain knowledge. Therefore, any systematic approach to assigning interval boundaries must take the domain knowledge into account. Hence, in the dissertation, we present a framework to represent the domain knowledge and exploit it to reason about the interval boundaries via a query language. This framework is comprised of a constraint language to represent logical constraints on vague concepts, as well as numerical constraints on the interval boundaries; a query language to request information about the interval boundaries; and an algorithm to answer the queries. The algorithm preprocesses the constraints by extracting the numerical information from the logical constraints and combines them with the given numerical constraints. We have implemented the framework and applied it to medical domain to illustrate its usefulness.


This paper focuses on family formation of Canadians born in 1966-85. Studies have shown that in comparison to older cohorts, young Canadians delay their transition to adulthood and they follow more complex pathways in the formation of the family through cohabitation, marriage, and parenthood. However, within cohorts, there are variations in the general trends in timing and trajectories. Using a life course perspective, we explore the influences of social status, cultural orientation, and opportunity structures on family formation. This is done using retrospective data collected through the 2001 General Social Survey on Family History. Techniques of event history analysis, mainly, life tables and non-Markov state-space approach to trajectory analysis are used.


Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an important cause of mortality for many species, and the number of collisions is expected to grow rapidly as the global road network quickly expands over the next few decades. Wildlife-vehicle collisions also have the potential to be extremely detrimental to small wildlife populations, such as the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), with only 43 individuals remaining in the wild. We assessed the spatial distribution of road mortalities between 2004 and 2016 to identify roadkill hotspots involving Asiatic cheetahs in Iran using network kernel density estimation. A total of sixteen cheetah fatalities due to wildlife-vehicle collisions were recorded, and we identified six road fragments as roadkill hotspots. Efforts to reduce wildlife-cheetah collisions should be targeted in the densest hotspots. We review the options available to achieve this, and we recommend a strategic shift away from the ineffective warning signage currently used, and instead suggest adopting an evidence-based approach focusing on installing wildlife crossing structures in conjunction with fencing in roadkill hotspots. These measures will help to enhance the conservation status of the Asiatic cheetah, as the current high level of mortality of Asiatic cheetahs on Iran's roads could have potentially dramatic impacts on this critically endangered subspecies.


The steeplands of Central America are being systematically deforested as population
pressure dictates a need for an increase in subsistence agriculture. The combined
effect of high rainfall and lack of conservation measures leads to high levels of soil
erosion. In order to assess sustainable soil conservation technology, research was
conducted in the mountainous agricultural area of Guinope, Honduras. Runoff and
soil loss from a number of plots that were established on various ground slopes and
under different land uses were measured during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Natural
and fired woodland were assessed to provide an indication of both baseline conditions
and those associated with the initial stage of deforestation. Against these, the impacts
of agriculture involving maize - Zea mays L.- with and without two leguminous cover
crops - Mucuna sp. and Canavalia ensiformis (l)DC. - were assessed on ground
sloping at 6, 11 and 18 degrees. Seasonal runoff under natural pine forest is shown to
be 10 % that of maize agriculture on similar slopes while fired forest is 49 %. Of the
cover crops, after a second year Mucuna is the most protective when intercropped
with maize, giving runoff on 18 degree slopes which is 47 % that of maize grown by
itself, compared with 51 % for Canavalia. On 11 degree slopes, Canavalia offers
greater protection but here the difference between the two cover crops is marginal
Soil erosion can be shown to be a function of ground slope. For maize grown by itself,
soil losses from 6 and 11degree slopes are 13 % and 23 % those from 18 degree
slopes. On two years of research Canavalia is more stable in giving protection. On 18
degree slopes, soil loss where Mucuna is intercropped is 43 % that under maize alone
while for Canavalia it is 47 %. By comparison, the natural forest loses much less than
1 % that of the maize fields. This study clearly shows the vulnerability of steep lands
that are being clear-felled. It also demonstrates the considerable advantages of using
extensive green soil conservation technology in reducing soil erosion and prolonging
the usefulness of land. This extends to relieving the pressure on virgin forest in a
situation where population growth discourages long periods fallow as part of a form
of shifting cultivation.


We report on tomographic measurements in the terahertz spectral range and subsequent image reconstruction of a phantom subject. At terahertz wavelengths we abandon the traditional hard-field tomography approach to use attenuation measurements for imaging, because of the strong beam steering at the periphery of objects and the existence of a substantial diffusely scattered component. Under these conditions we focus on imaging from the measurements of the terahertz pulse propagation delay, taken with a system for time-domain terahertz spectroscopy, and reconstruct the subject's optical density instead of e.g. material density as in x-ray tomography. The novelty is our experimental approach to retain, by spatial and temporal filtering, only the photons that propagate along the shortest straight paths allowing hard-field tomography, approach for the image reconstruction. We show that pulse delay measurements result in path integrals of the light's group velocity in the subject and therefore the image reconstruction yields the spatial distribution of the real part of the refractive index. Furthermore, we suggest a procedure whereby the pulse delay time is calculated from the time-domain waveform with a better precision, taking into account the physics of THz generation by ultrashort pulses in a biased-gap antenna.


An Anthology of Australian Albums: Critical Engagements is a welcome addition to the growing body of work that examines Australian popular music from a critical and scholarly perspective. It was conceptualised by eminent Australian musicologist Tony Mitchell as an academic companion to the often excellent work of non-academic journalists examining Australian popular music albums. As such, this book provides a critical perspective on Australian albums across a range of genres, from black metal to hip-hop, singer-songwriters, and the ever-present pub-rock bands that dominate the landscape of Australian popular music. This perspective leads the volume to consider some of these more common topics from new angles, omitting many of the great works of the canon of Australian rock royalty from the 1970s (AC/DC, The Angels, et al.) in favour of significant yet overlooked or marginalised artists. It is also decidedly contemporary in its choice of albums to analyse, with ten of the fifteen chapters focused on albums released in the twenty-first century, thus providing a valuable insight into recent developments in Australian popular music. Finally, the volume's focus on individual works and albums makes it a useful complement to other scholarly volumes, such as Sounds of Then, Sounds of Now: Popular Music in Australia…


Objective The aim of this report was to present the use of flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap for the repair of complex tibial bone, soft tissue, and main artery segmental defects. Patients and Methods Five patients with bone, soft tissue, and segmental anterior tibial artery defects were included. The lengths of injured tibial bones ranged from 4 to 7 cm. The sizes of impaired soft tissues were between 9 × 4 and 15 × 6 cm2. The lengths of defect of anterior tibial artery segments ranged from 6 to 10 cm. Two patients had distal limb perfusion problems. Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was performed for all 5 patients. Results Patients were followed for 12 to 18 months. All wounds healed after 1-stage operation, and all flow-through flaps survived. The distal perfusion after vascular repair was normal in all patients. Superficial necrosis of flap edge was noted in 1 case. After the local debridement and partial thickness skin graft, the flap healed uneventfully, and the surgical operation did not increase injury to the donor site. Satisfactory bone union was achieved in all patients in 2 to 4 months postoperation. Enlargement of fibula graft was observed during follow-up from 12 to 18 months. The functions of adjacent joints were recovered, and all patients were able to walk normally. Conclusions Flow-through free fibula osteocutaneous flap was shown to be an effective and efficient technique for repairing composite tibial bone, soft tissue, and main artery segmental defects. This 1-stage operation should be useful in clinical practice for the treatment of complex bone, soft tissue, and vessel defects.


There has been a long debate about the predominant involvement of the different adenosine receptor subtypes and the preferential role of pre‐ versus post‐synaptic mechanisms in the psychostimulant effects of the adenosine receptor antagonist caffeine. Both striatal A1 and A2A receptors are involved in the motor‐activating and probably reinforcing effects of caffeine, although they play a different role under conditions of acute or chronic caffeine administration. The present review emphasizes the key integrative role of adenosine and adenosine receptor heteromers in the computation of information at the level of the striatal spine module (SSM). This local module is mostly represented by the dendritic spine of the medium spiny neuron with its glutamatergic and dopaminergic synapses and astroglial processes that wrap the glutamatergic synapse. In the SSM, adenosine acts both pre‐ and post‐synaptically through multiple mechanisms, which depend on heteromerization of A1 and A2A receptors among themselves and with D1 and D2 receptors, respectively. A critical aspect of the mechanisms of the psychostimulant effects of caffeine is its ability to release the pre‐ and post‐synaptic brakes that adenosine imposes on dopaminergic neurotransmission by acting on different adenosine receptor heteromers localized in different elements of the SSM.


Marine geophysical survey by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE) began with the first science expedition in 1984/1985, although only four cruises were performed in the vicinity of the Antarctic Peninsula between then and 1991/1992. After a 20 year hiatus, Antarctic marine geophysical research was relaunched by the Chinese Polar Environmental Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programs (known simply as the China Polar Program) in 2011/2012. Integrated geophysical surveys have been carried out annually since, in Prydz Bay and the Ross Sea. During the last 5 years, we have acquired about 5500 km of bathymetric, gravimetric, and magnetic lines; more than 1800 km of seismic reflection lines; and data from several heat flow and Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS) stations. This work has deepened understandings of geophysical features and their implications for geological tectonics and glacial history in Antarctica and its surrounding seas. Compiled Antarctic Bouguer and Airy isostatic gravity anomalies show different features of tectonics between the East Antarctic stability and West Antarctic activity. Calculated magnetic anomalies, heat flow anomalies and lithospheric anisotropy offshore of Prydz Bay may imply high heat capacity of mantle shielded by the continental shelf lithosphere, but high heat dissipation of mantle due to the Cretaceous breakup of Gondwana along the continent and ocean transition (COT), where large sediment ridges would be brought about by the Oligocene ice sheet retreat and would enlarge free-air gravity anomalies. In the western Ross Sea, CHINARE seismic profiles indicate northern termination of the Terror Rift and deposition time of the grounding zone wedge in the northern JOIDES Basin. Citation: Gao J Y, Shen Z Y, Yang C G, et al. Progress in Antarctic marine geophysical research by the Chinese Polar Program. Adv Polar Sci, 2017, 28 (4): 256-267, doi:10.13679/j.advps.2017.4.00256


The authors present a case report of Kaposi's sarcoma involving the bones of the forearm, wrist, and hand. Typical features of rarefaction, osteoporosis, cysts, and cortical erosions were present. Rarely seen changes of a bubbly expansion of the lesions and periosteal reaction were also present. This is the first radioisotope bone scan reported in Kaposi's sarcoma to the author's knowledge. The literature about osseous manifestations of Kaposi's sarcoma is reviewed.


Rapid economic growth in China's booming regions has left other areas of the country lagging behind. We shed light on the poverty dynamics of one such region by analyzing a census-like survey of three administrative villages of Guizhou province in 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011. While the absolute poverty rate is decreasing sharply in the sample, households are highly vulnerable to shocks, and rates of entry or re-entry into poverty are high. Using logistic regression and multivariate a hazard model, we look for the determinants of both poverty exit and entry. We find that poverty entry and exit are both related to household characteristics, assets, and social capital. Rural-urban migration strongly increases the probability of poverty exit, while poverty entry is associated with disease and some major life events. Our results also point to informal networks and government transfers as means of poverty alleviation, and highlight the importance of smart targeting.


Over the last decades, a large strand of finance and growth literature has provided ample evidence on the importance of financial deepening for economic development. Yet, recently, the focus of public debate has shifted towards the role of the financial system structure, an area in which empirical research remains relatively sparse and exploratory in nature. With this article, we aim to contribute to that debate by analysing the role the financial system structure plays in economic growth and risk. Focusing on stock markets and studying OECD economies over 1994–2013, we find that, ceteris paribus, financial systems with relatively larger stock markets facilitate economic growth and dampen economic risk. Our findings remain robust under application of instrumental variable and system generalized method of moments estimators, as well as when we use an alternative definition of stock market development, estimate median regressions, examine relatively high-frequency annual data, control for systemic banking crises or apply quadratic specifications. We find no such effect for private bond markets or private credit volume. Overall, our results suggest that financial system structure matters for the economic development of advanced economies and highlight the importance of a debate about the optimal structure of an economy's financial system.


The T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (TIM) family is associated with autoimmune diseases, but its expression level in the immune cells of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the expression of TIM-3 mRNA is associated with pathogenesis of SLE. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis (qRT-PCR) was used to determine TIM-1, TIM-3, and TIM-4 mRNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 132 patients with SLE and 62 healthy controls. The PBMC surface protein expression of TIMs in PBMCs from 20 SLE patients and 15 healthy controls was assayed by flow cytometry. Only TIM-3 mRNA expression decreased significantly in SLE patients compared with healthy controls (P<0.001). No significant differences in TIM family protein expression were observed in leukocytes from SLE patients and healthy controls (P>0.05). SLE patients with lupus nephritis (LN) had a significantly lower expression of TIM-3 mRNA than those without LN (P=0.001). There was no significant difference in the expression of TIM-3 mRNA within different classes of LN (P>0.05). Correlation of TIM-3 mRNA expression with serum IgA was highly significant (r=0.425, P=0.004), but was weakly correlated with total serum protein (rs=0.283, P=0.049) and serum albumin (rs=0.297, P=0.047). TIM-3 mRNA expression was weakly correlated with the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI; rs=-0.272, P=0.032). Our results suggest that below-normal expression of TIM-3 mRNA in PBMC may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE.


Reliably assessing model confidence in deep learning and predicting errors likely to be made are key elements in providing safety for model deployment, in particular for applications with dire consequences. In this paper, it is first shown that uncertainty-aware deep Dirichlet neural networks provide an improved separation between the confidence of correct and incorrect predictions in the true class probability (TCP) metric. Second, as the true class is unknown at test time, a new criterion is proposed for learning the true class probability by matching prediction confidence scores while taking imbalance and TCP constraints into account for correct predictions and failures. Experimental results show our method improves upon the maximum class probability (MCP) baseline and predicted TCP for standard networks on several image classification tasks with various network architectures.


The endangered Moorish tortoise Testudo graeca is the unique terrestrial chelonian species in North-west Africa. In west-central Morocco, the endemic subspecies, the Souss valley tortoise T. g. soussensis, occupies semi-arid to arid low-quality habitats, and is subject to serious threats. A long-term mark-recapture programme from 2001 to 2012 allowed estimating population size and structure, sex ratio, and survivorship in one of the well-known populations in a degraded and overgrazed arid steppe-land of west-central Morocco. Spring population size considerably decreased to more than half in less than 10 years, with a mean density lower than 3 ind.ha-1 in 2012 compared to its last known density estimat-ed in 2003. In spring 2012, the population structure exhibited an unbalanced male-biased sex ratio (61:39) and a scarcity of juveniles (<5%). We identified five major conservation problems in the study area: (i) habitat destruction and overgrazing; (ii) over-collecting of tortoises for pet trade , iii) direct dis-turbance; iv) tortoise handling mostly for field research, and v) increased extinction risk due to the small population size. We carried out a population viability analysis using the VORTEX software based on published and obtained data on population and life history parameters. With no management action, the population will go extinct during the forthcoming 40 years after the last estimate. The most efficient management option for a long-term persistence of the population would be reducing the nest and neo-nate mortality by 90%. To attenuate the impact of the threatening factors, we developed a management plan that includes population reinforcement and habitat restoration options.


An experiment on shear capacity for HRB500 grade R/C frame columns within yield hinge regions is studied. The different failure modes for specimens within yield hinge regions are classified, and the hysteretic curves are studied. The shear contributions of stirrups and concrete for columns are analyzed in detail. Based on the experimental study, formulas for the shear capacity of reinforced concrete columns are supposed under seismic loading, and the different formulas are adopted to estimate the shear capacity for columns at different seismic levels, Both security and economy of structural design are all considered.


Previous geodetic estimates of mass changes in the Karakoram revealed balanced budgets or a possible slight 10 mass gain since the year ~2000. Indications for longer-term stability exist but only very few mass budget analyses are available before 2000. Here, we show based on 1973 Hexagon KH9, ~2009 ASTER, and the SRTM DTM that glaciers in the Hunza River basin (Central Karakoram) were on average in balance or showed slight insignificant mass loss within the period ~1973 – 2009. Heterogeneous behaviour and frequent surge activities were also characteristic for the period before 2000. Surge-type and non-surge-type glaciers showed on average no significantly different mass change values. However, 15 some individual glacier mass change rates differed significantly for the periods before and after ~2000.


The study of the interaction between ultrashort laser pulses at relativistic intensities and solid matter has promoted, in recent years, a promising way of investigating ultrafast phenomena and has suggested the possibility of efficiently producing accelerated particle beams. As laser technology has been improving and increasing intensities and energies, it has become clear that the temporal contrast of a laser pulse is a key parameter in defining the conditions of interaction and the involved phenomena. In this paper we present the results that have been obtained in laser ion acceleration experiments from recent past to present days, using the most recent temporal cleaning methods. Different technologies have been adopted to improve the temporal contrast: the obtained effect on the proton acceleration is presented and discussed.


A significant question for forensic voice comparison, and for speaker recognition more generally, is the extent to which different input features capture complementary speakerspecific information. Understanding complementarity allows us to make predictions about how combining methods using different features may produce better overall performance. In forensic contexts, it is also important to be able to explain to courts what information the underlying features are actually capturing. This paper addresses these issues by examining the extent to which MFCCs and LPCCs can predict F0, F1, F2, and F3 values using data extracted from the midpoint of the vocalic portion of the hesitation marker um for 89 speakers of standard southern British English. By-speaker correlations were calculated using multiple linear regression and performance was assessed using mean rho (ρ) values. Results show that the first two formants were more accurately predicted than F3 or F0. LPCCs consistently produced stronger correlations with the linguistic features than MFCCs, while increasing cepstral order up to 16 also increased the strength of the correlations. There was, however, considerable variability across speakers in terms of the accuracy of the predictions. We discuss the implications of these findings for forensic voice comparison.


Based on 'wardrobe interviews', this article studies how young Dutch men dress themselves. We argue that existing sociological studies of clothing have gone too far in emphasizing the symbolic aspects of clothing and have not paid sufficient attention to the role of routines and rules in daily dressing. Moreover, we find that young Dutch men dress rather inconspicuously, and are hardly interested in using clothes as a tool in 'postmodern' identity experiments. Insofar as clothing selection is a matter of reflexivity, it is primarily directed at conformity to meet social and situational requirements. Our respondents use clothing to construct coherent and authentic identities: their dress should express who they think they are. Convincing others of their unique identity is hardly desirable for these men. Finally, for most of them clothing is a negative act: they seek to avoid attracting attention through their dress. Our respondents are aware of the fact that their inconspicuous dress is similar to those of their companions, but this is a source of comfort rather than distress.


Two cases of tuberculoid leprosy who developed erythema multiforme bullosum (EMB) due to Dapsone (DDS) is reported. Burning and itching sensations were found to be the prominent prodromal symptoms. The patients gave history of urticaria and bronchial asthma. Salient clinical features and further management of the cases by desensitization with slow induction to DDS under cover of steroids and antihistamines have been discussed.


One-dimensional propagation of ultraslow optical pulses in an atomic Bose‐Einstein condensate taking into account the dispersion and the spatial inhomogeneity is investigated. Analytical and semi-analytical solutions of the dispersive inhomogeneous wave equation modeling the ultraslow pulse propagation are developed and compared against the standard wave equation solvers based upon Cranck‐Nicholson and pseudo-spectral methods. The role of curvature of the trapping potential of the condensate on the amount of dispersion of the ultraslow pulse is pointed out.


Meterological data were collected from Ilorin and Ikeja in Nigeria to obtain relevant statistics on the monthly mean maximum and minimum dry-bulb temperatures, as well as the average dry-bulb temperature during the coolest 15, 25 and 50 percent of the time, and during the warmest 50 percent of the time. The absolute humidities of the ambient air during these times were estimated from data collected on relative humidities and dew point. All these data were further used in calculating the energy requirements for the drying of grain. Also calculated are the power required to pump air through the grain and the periods required for drying. It is found, from a typical case study that the energy requirement for drying one tonne of grain with moisture content of 22% down to 12.6 percent (wet basis) is 54.0219kWh. The time required by the fan to carry out this drying process is 43.919 hours. The simulated data was compared with an experimental result and there was a reasonable agreement between the two thereby validating the simulation program. Journal of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology Vol. 3(1) 2003: 19-24


Two-dimensional finite element analysis uses linear edge arbitrary quadrilaterals with hyperbolic paraboloid shape functions as an important element. To obtain the element stiffness matrix, such a procedure leads to evaluation of integrals involving irrational polynomials and analytic evaluation of such expressions presents considerable difficulty. Almost without exception, the evaluation of integrals has either been done or suggested by using a numerical quadrature of the Legendre-Gauss type. However, what is clearly lacking is quantitative information pertaining to the order of the quadrature formula to be used for various degrees of artibrariness in a quadrilateral. In the subsequent development, it is shown how the equations can be manipulated to yield a simple compact form amenable to closed-form solution, yielding simple programmable expressions, and how they compare with the quadrature formula.


Stable Diffusion revolutionised image creation from descriptive text. GPT-2, GPT-3(.5) and GPT-4 demonstrated astonishing performance across a variety of language tasks. ChatGPT introduced such language models to the general public. It is now clear that large language models (LLMs) are here to stay, and will bring about drastic change in the whole ecosystem of online text and images. In this paper we consider what the future might hold. What will happen to GPT-{n} once LLMs contribute much of the language found online? We find that use of model-generated content in training causes irreversible defects in the resulting models, where tails of the original content distribution disappear. We refer to this effect as Model Collapse and show that it can occur in Variational Autoencoders, Gaussian Mixture Models and LLMs. We build theoretical intuition behind the phenomenon and portray its ubiquity amongst all learned generative models. We demonstrate that it has to be taken seriously if we are to sustain the benefits of training from large-scale data scraped from the web. Indeed, the value of data collected about genuine human interactions with systems will be increasingly valuable in the presence of content generated by LLMs in data crawled from the Internet.


We created experimental variation across local markets in China in the share of firms having access to a new loan product, to measure the direct and indirect effects of access to finance. We find that: (1) Access to finance had a large positive direct effect on the performance of treated firms. (2) Access to finance had a similar-sized negative indirect effect on the performance of firms with treated competitors. The two effects offset in the aggregate and imply no detectable gains in producer surplus. (3) Access to finance had a positive direct effect on business practices, service quality, and consumer satisfaction, and a negative effect on price. None of these effects were offset by indirect effects, suggesting net gains in consumer surplus. (4) Two additional indirect effects were active: diffusion of borrowing to firms with treated peers, and diffusion of demand to firms with treated neighbors. (5) Combining several effects in a model-based evaluation, we estimate that the loan had a private return of 74%, most of which was offset by losses to competitors, and a social return of 60%, most of which was driven by gains to consumers. *Emails: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com. We thank David Atkin, Abhijit Banerjee, Lauren Bergquist, Nick Bloom, Arun Chandrasekhar, Shawn Cole, Dave Donaldson, Sean Higgins, Jonas Hjort, Dean Karlan, Miklos Koren, David McKenzie, Timea Molnar, Ben Olken, Martin Rotemberg, Antoinette Schoar, Eric Verhoogen, Chris Woodruff, and seminar and conference participants for helpful comments. We thank for funding the Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries, the University of Michigan, Central European University, the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) grant agreement number 283484, and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme grant agreement number 724501.


Abstract Three series of waterborne polyurethane (WBPU)/hydroxyapatite (HA) nanocomposite dispersions were prepared with varying HA and 2,2-dimethylol propionic acid (DMPA) content. It was found that the homogeneous distributed HA was highly dependent on the HA and DMPA content, with homogeneous HA found with up to 0.56, 0.95, and 1.33 mol% HA content with respect to 17.03, 22.05, and 24.02 mol% DMPA content, respectively. The hydrogen bonding increased with increased HA content in each series. The tensile strength, Young's modulus, glass transition temperature, and water vapor permeability (WVP) resistance all increased up to the optimum HA content. The maximum tensile strength, Young's modulus, glass transition temperature, and WVP resistance were found with 1.33 mol% HA and 24.02 mol% DMPA content, the concentrations at which the maximum homogeneous dispersed HA was observed in the WBPU/HA nanocomposites. A strong antibacterial property was also recorded when 1.33 mol% HA and 24.02 mol% DMPA content in hydroxyapatite-silver polyurethane (WBPU-C/HA3-Ag) coatings were tested against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.


This thesis examines how curatorial approaches to the display and interpretation of artworks and cultural objects from the African continent, as well as works by diasporan artists of African descent, have changed over time in Western museums and galleries – focusing on histories and geographies of acquisition, collection development, exhibition assemblage, narrative interpretation and other curatorial practices. With particular reference to the culture sectors in Britain and France it investigates how and why exhibits with African provenance have been 'othered' in both ethnographic and fine art contexts, drawing on fieldwork undertaken at four case study institutions: the British Museum, Tate, the Musee du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.
Through the application of qualitative research methods – including walk-through reviews of permanent holdings on display, archive-based surveys of past exhibitions, visual analysis of selected exhibits, and semi-structured interviews with curators and other creative professionals – questions are addressed in relation to the nature and extent of othering, the impacts of Self/Other binarism, and amelioration strategies to improve museum and gallery experiences for more diverse audiences.
As prior scholarship in this field has tended to concentrate on colonial-era constructions of selfhood and otherness, primarily articulated and exhibited via ethnographic collections, this discursive investigation also examines postcolonial manifestations and legacies of othering observed in 21st century, post-modern displays of fine art. The theoretical perspectives of selected black feminist scholars provide the framework for adopting a non-adjunctive position of resistance from which to read 'against (as well as along) the grain' of established Western canons of knowledge and prevailing curatorial orthodoxy.
By tracing the historical palimpsests and contemporary networks that connect artists, curators, objects and audiences over time and space, the inherent tensions, instabilities paradoxes and limitations of Self/Other binarism are exposed – opening up opportunities to consider alternative, more conceptually nuanced, inclusive and internationally dialogical museum practices in the West informed by the dynamics of transnationalism, diaspora formation and globalisation.


In this study, an integrated approach of remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of the Kizilirmak Delta. It is a major wetland complex on the Black Sea coast, which has a very rich biodiversity and critical habitat for globally endangered bird species, and was announced as an RAMSAR protection site in Turkey. Main objectives of this study were: (1) determination of the land use/cover changes, (2) examination of the effects of these changes on environment, and (3) assessment of the human impacts on the environment. 1987 Landsat TM and 2004 Aster images, topographic maps, field survey, and other ancillary data have been used to perform the study objectives. The obtained results delineated that the Kizilirmak Delta has been considerably changed as a result of human activities between 1987 and 2004. Analysis of satellite images and other data sources in the GIS environment introduced the changes in the delta and their impacts on...


Abstract The Joint Commission standards now include identification and monitoring patients at high-risk for adverse outcomes of opioid use. Our institution does not have a method to identify at-risk patients. This pilot aimed to assess feasibility of pharmacist-led identification of a population for pain management and opioid stewardship. All patients admitted to the hospital were screened; electronic health record reports identified all opioid, antidepressant, and benzodiazepine administrations within the previous 24 hours, and pertinent family and social history risk factors for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) and opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD). Data were exported to spreadsheets and calculated risk scores for OUD and OIRD, and opioid utilization and morphine milligram equivalents (MME) were tabulated. Chart reviews were completed on patients identified as high risk for OUD or OIRD, if MME was 90 or greater, or those receiving four or more "as needed" opioid doses in the previous 24 hours. Potential regimen adjustments based on the primary investigator's judgment were categorized. Mean number of patients identified per day to receive stewardship was 13, and 18.6 potential interventions per day were identified. Based on results of this pilot, pharmacist-led identification of inpatients warranting pain and opioid stewardship is feasible at our institution.


IS study emphasizes behavioral intention with an assumption that users increase
system use when they have higher intentions. But this assumption is challenged by
emerging studies. Taking an e-learning as an example, this study investigates the
gap between intention and e-learning behaviors. Specifically, our investigation
applied a discourse analysis, in addition to time expand and login frequency, for
measuring e-learning behaviors. By analyzing 833 discourses posted by 14 users in
an online course, our preliminary findings suggested that intention was insignificant
to discourses and login frequency. However, the correlation between intention and
time expand is negative significant. Our findings also presented that users who spent
more time on e-learning had lower intention but used the platform more frequently.
These users devoted equivalent effort on making task-oriented discourse, but they
expressed more social and procedural discourses. These findings provided
preliminary evidences on and an explanation to intention-behavior gap.


Contact-wire/onboard battery hybrid railway electric vehicles run on a hybrid power source that enables energy to be fed from contact wires and /or onboard batteries. We developed a contact-wire/battery hybrid LRV (Light Rail Vehicle) and had it manufactured. This paper concerns the hybrid source technology for the contact-wire/battery hybrid system, and on the running results with onboard rechargeable lithium ion battery (600 V-system). The LRV ran on a commercial service on-street line on an actual operation diagram, and recorded a regeneration ratio of 41 % (the volume of regenerated energy divided by the energy consumed in powering), cutting the energy consumption by maximum 30 % over that of existing inverter vehicles, with the hybrid controlled running. The LRV also achieved the running distance by one spell of charge of 25 km over on a street line and 49 km on an existing railway main line.


The main source of natural rubber is from Hevea brasiliensis. Demand for natural rubber is expected to
increase once more with increasing of crude oil price and demand for developing automotive industry in several countries. Suitable planting areas decreases and invaluable water resource has been new challenges. This study will provide details about effect of water deficiency in Hevea brasiliensis. Two new latex timber clones from Malaysia Rubber Board (MRB), RRIM 2001 and RRIM 3001 were used in this study. Five levels of treatment were used; plants irrigated for every two days, five days, 10 days, 15days and everyday which acted as control. The experimental design used was a completely randomized block design (RCBD) with four replications. Fundamental changes of plant growth and physiological responses showed that treatment with
well watered for clone RRIM 2001 (T1) had higher values than other treatments. Photosynthesis rate
highest in well watered (T6) with mean 11.26μmol m-2s-1, while T4, T5 and T9 were lowest with the mean 0.00μmol m-2s-1. Stomata conductance showed significant difference between T6 with 0.16μmol m-2s-1 compared to under stress treatments with 0.00 μmol m-2s-1. The results also showed root length increase with increasing of water stress. There was treatment failure to adapt to water stress at treatments withholding water for 15 days followed by treatments 10 days and five days. RRIM 2001 and RRIM 3001 clones had responded to water stress by indicating changes in morphological and physiological responses. This concluded that Hevea
brasiliensis cannot withstand water stress at nursery stage and replanting in dry areas.


In this work, surface molecularly imprinted polymers with dummy templates were developed as the selective sorbents for preparation of dencichine from the extract of Panax notoginseng for the first time. The polymers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The performances of molecularly imprinted and non-imprinted polymers were evaluated, which included selective recognition, adsorption isotherms and adsorption kinetics. Optimization of various parameters affecting molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction, such as sample loading pH and flow rate, the composition and volume of the eluting solvent and the composition and volume of the washing solvent were investigated. Compared with NISPE, MISPE displayed improved specific adsorption performance. Dencichine with a purity of 98.7% was obtained from the aqueous extract of Panax notoginseng with the average recovery of 83.7% (n = 3).


This paper examined the gender analysis of land use for urban agriculture and sustainability of Livelihoods in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This is predicated on the fact that despite the stated contribution of urban agriculture (UA) to household food security, employment generation and poverty reduction, it has not received due recognition and policy support. The study was carried out in Freetown, Sierra Leone using a cluster sampling approach. From a list of 20 clusters, 6 were randomly selected and 10% of members in each cluster selected randomly (nmale = 30; nfemale = 61; n = 91) were interviewed.  A survey research design was adopted in this study and the respondents for the study were stratified in terms of gender and UA enterprises.   The majority of producers were female with the gross margin on male and female managed farms were 15130 and 23895 Leones per farm/ season respectively.  Also, female managed farm had a higher return than male managed farms. Significant determinants of contribution of the UA income to household income are household size (t = -5.13), access to credit (t = 4.09), membership of farmers' association (t = 4.23), gender (t = -2.40), age (t = 1.78) and farm size (t = -4.97). As household size and the number of male producers increases, income from UA decreases.

 Key words: Gender, urban agriculture, livelihoods, land use.


This paper considers a multigateway multibeam satellite system with multiple feeds per beam. In these systems, each gateway serves a set of beams (cluster) so that the overall data traffic is generated at different geographical areas. Full frequency reuse among beams is considered so that interference mitigation techniques are mandatory. Precisely, this paper aims at designing the precoding scheme which, in contrast to single gateway schemes, entails two main challenges. First, the precoding matrix shall be separated into feed groups assigned to each gateway. Second, complete channel state information (CSI) is required at each gateway, leading to a large communication overhead. In order to solve these problems, a design based on a regularized singular value block decomposition of the channel matrix is presented so that both intercluster (i.e., beams of different clusters) and intracluster (i.e., beams of the same cluster) interference is minimized. In addition, different gateway cooperative schemes are analyzed in order to keep the inter-gateway communication low. Furthermore, the impact of the feeder link interference (i.e., interference between different feeder links) is analyzed and it is shown both numerically and analytically that the system performance is reduced severely whenever this interference occurs even though precoding reverts this additional interference. Finally, multicast transmission is also considered. Numerical simulations are shown considering the latest fixed broadband communication standard DVB-S2X so that the quantized feedback effect is evaluated. The proposed precoding technique results to achieve a performance close to the single gateway operation even when the cooperation among gateways is low.


People's concern for their own reputation can support contracting between a pair of trading partners when one or both are locked in, and among multiple trading partners in close-knit communities where information flows freely. In communities where people can hide behind their anonymity, private order, if it is to operate at all, must be organized. Private-order organizations in notably diverse settings, from medieval Europe to present-day Mexico, work in similar ways. An organization such as a market intermediary or a trade association disseminates information about contractual breaches and coordinates the community's response to breaches. The usual sanction is to boycott the offender. In countries making a transition from planned to market economies, private order acts in place of the inadequate legal system. We use data from a survey of firms in five transition economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to show that in these transition economies social networks and informal gossip substitute for the formal legal system, while business networks and trade associations work in conjunction with the formal legal system.


Abstract The study describes and compares perceived quality of care among patients and staff using the Quality in Psychiatric Care–Forensic In-Patient and the Quality in Psychiatric Care–Forensic In-Patient Staff questionnaires. The questionnaires are both based on the perception of the quality of the forensic psychiatric care given to the patients, but the wording is adjusted to fit patients or staff. The study sample consisted of 66 patients and 202 staff members from 12 forensic units in Sweden. Using multiple regression analyses to adjust for demographic variables, it was found that patients perceived the quality of support and secluded environment lower than did staff, whereas staff had lower perceptions than patients of the quality of secure environment. The combination of these questionnaires provides new possibilities for assessing the quality of forensic psychiatric care and evaluating interventions, important factors in the management and planning of forensic care.


Purpose: The evaluation of the presence of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) in corneal scars by realtime polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and comparison of the results with histopathologic findings and clinical diagnoses Methods: Eighty-seven corneal scar samples obtained after penetrating keratoplasty (PK), were selected after reviewing the records from 2006 to 2010. Nucleic acid was extracted from paraffin embedded corneal samples and PCR-amplified for HSV DNA. Results: Among 87 samples, four samples were excluded because internal controls were negative. HSV infection was established in 9.6% (8/83) of all patients. The prevalence of HSV infection in patients with no clinical suspicion of herpetic keratitis was 7.3%. Histopathologic evaluation revealed that among samples with positive PCR results, 100% had evidence of inflammation, 62.5% had giant cells, 37% had necrosis, 62.5% had vascularization, 62.5 % had ulcer and all of them had inclusion bodies. Conclusion: Because some of the patients with no clinical suspicion of herpes infection were found positive, we suggest that HSV keratitis to be considered as one of the underlying etiologies in any patient with corneal scar. Therefore, performing further diagnostic methods, including PCR and histopathology, are mandatory to rule out the infection.