OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to assess the effect of tobacco chewing on buccal mucosa by using cytomorphometry.

STUDY DESIGN
We compared the cellular diameter (CD), nuclear diameter (ND) and the ratio of nuclear diameter to cellular diameter (N/C) of buccal mucosa squames of normal subjects (N) with buccal mucosa squames of tobacco users without lesion (A), with tobacco-lime lesion (B), leukoplakia (C), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (D). The study group consisted of 125 patients divided into five groups (N, A, B, C and D) between the ages of 21 and 75 years.

RESULTS
The mean of the cellular diameter (in micrometers) of group N, A, B, C, and D was 72.86+/-5.26, 68.30+/-3.02, 62.13+/-3.29, 57.75+/-4.66, 54.51+/-4.66 respectively (p<0.01). The mean of the nuclear diameter (in micrometers) of group N, A, B, C, and D was 8.70+/-1.30, 8.98+/-1.08, 9.06+/-0.83, 9.12+/-1.06, and 11.04+/-1.46 respectively (p<0.01). The mean of the ratio of nuclear diameter to cellular diameter of group N, A, B, C, and D was 0.11+/-2.00, 0.13+/-1.82, 0.14+/-1.35, 0.16+/-3.11, 0.21+/-4.51 respectively (p<0.01). Univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant group effect for cellular diameter, nuclear diameter and ratio of nuclear diameter to cellular diameter. Multiple comparison tests by Tukey-HSD procedure revealed a significant decrease in the mean cellular diameter, increase in the nuclear diameter and ratio of nuclear diameter to cellular diameter.

CONCLUSIONS
Cytomorphometric changes could be the earliest indicators of cellular alterations. There is progressive decrease in cellular diameter, increase in nuclear diameter and increase in ratio of nuclear diameter to cellular diameter in smears from all tobacco users, as compared to normal subjects. This indicates that there could be cause-effect relationship between tobacco and quantitative alterations.


Abstract. – OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the expression of microRNA (miR)-551b in patients with low and high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and to find an association with high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection-related prognostic biomarkers. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-551b was determined in 50 paraffin-embedded cervical specimens (10 normal squamous epithelium, 18 condylomas, 8 CIN1, and 14 CIN2-3) using quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). χ2-test compared miR-551b expression in different diagnosis groups. An Ordered Logistic Regression and a Probit correlation were made to correlate miR551b expression levels with the cervical tissue histological findings. The immunohistochemical distribution of p16 and Ki-67 according to histopathological findings was also assessed. RESULTS: The distribution of the miR-551b expression profile was significantly lower in CIN1-3 samples compared to other histological diagnosis groups (condyloma and negative). The expression levels were inversely correlated to the cervical pathological grade, from negative to CIN2-3. A 1% increase in miR-551b expression level produced an increase of 19% to the probability of a minor histological grade diagnosis in a range from negative to CIN2-3 and an increase of 13% to the probability of a negative histological grade diagnosis. Among the cases with miR-551b expression < 0.02 (considered as cut-off value) a significant statistical correlation was found between p16 and Ki-67 expression and the diagnosis of CIN2-3. CONCLUSIONS: Our data showed a significant inverse correlation between miR-551b expression and the histological grading of the lesions, suggesting a tumor suppressive function in the different stages of cervical dysplasia.


We describe an approach for computational prediction of protein-protein interaction sites using a support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Interface residues and other surface residues were extracted from 115 proteins derived from a set of 70 heterocomplexes in PDB. The SVM classifier was trained to predict whether or not a surface residue is located in the interface based on the identity of the target residue and its 10 sequence neighbors. The effectiveness of the approach was evaluated using 115 leave-one-out cross validation (jack-knife) experiments. In each experiment, an SVM classifier was trained using a set of 1250 randomly chosen interface residues and an equal number of non-interface residues from 114 of the 115 molecules. The resulting classifier was used to classify surface residues from the remaining molecule into interface and non-interface residues. The classifier in each experiment was evaluated in terms of several performance measures. In results averaged over 115 experiments, interface residues and non-interface residues were identified with relatively high specificity (71%) and sensitivity (67%), and with a correlation coefficient of 0.29 between predicted and actual class labels, indicating that the method performs substantially better than chance (zero correlation). We also investigated the classifier's performance in terms of overall interactions site recognition. In 80% of the proteins, the classifier recognized the interaction surface by identifying at least half of the interface residues, and in 98% of the proteins, at least 20% of the interface residues were correctly identified. The success of this approach was confirmed by examination of predicted interfaces in the context of the three-dimensional structures of representative complexes. This study demonstrates that an SVM classifier can be used to predict whether or not a surface residue is an interface residue using amino acid sequence information. Because surface residues can be identified based on their solvent accessible surface area (ASA), given recent progress in computational methods for predicting ASA from sequence, the approach described in this paper provides a basis for computational prediction of interaction sites in proteins for which only amino acid sequence information is available.


We investigated whether the increase in epidural pressure produced by jugular compression could be used as a test for correct placement of epidural catheters in 20 postpartum women who had good epidural analgesia during labour. We measured the epidural pressure by using the epidural catheter as a manometer, and measured the rise in the meniscus in response to jugular vein compression whilst the epidural catheter was still in the epidural space. The catheter was then withdrawn until the tip lay just outside the epidural space and the response to jugular vein compression reassessed. In all subjects, jugular vein compression produced a rise in the meniscus only whilst the catheter tip lay in the epidural space. Jugular compression is a useful test for confirming the correct placement of the epidural catheter.


Many aerospace, civil and mechanical systems continue to be used despite ageing and the associated potential for damage accumulation. Therefore, the ability to monitor the structural health of these systems is becoming increasingly important. A wide variety of highly effective local non–destructive evaluation tools is available. However, damage identification based upon changes in vibration characteristics is one of the few methods that monitor changes in the structure on a global basis. A summary of developments in the field of global structural health monitoring that have taken place over the last thirty years is first presented. Vibration–based damage detection is a primary tool that is employed for this monitoring. Next, the process of vibration based damage detection will be described as a problem in statistical pattern recognition. This process is composed of three portions: (i) data acquisition and cleansing; (ii) feature selection and data compression; and (iii) statistical model development. Current research regarding feature selection and statistical model development will be emphasized with the application of this technology to a large–scale laboratory structure.


It is known that electrostatic potential (ESP) derived atomic charges for molecular systems suffer from rank deficiency in least-square fitting. In this paper, we studied numerical properties of atomic charges by fitting to ESP and electric field (EF) for a series of molecular systems, ranging from small molecules to peptides. Our study shows that although atomic charges of certain atoms in a molecule may differ a lot resulting from different fitting schemes, the effect on some observed physical properties of the molecules, such as solvation free energy and radial distributions of the solvent, are negligible. For all the molecules studied in this paper, it is shown that by incorporating EF terms in the least-square fitting, the rank of the least-squares matrix is increased, and the full rank is achieved when only EF terms are included. The current study demonstrates that by using EF, instead of the widely used ESP, in least-square fitting of atomic charges, one can obtain numerically more stable and better defined atomic charges in molecules. Such derived atomic charges may have more desirable properties and better numerical stabilities in studying detailed molecular processes such as in molecular dynamics simulation of macromolecules.


Purpose To assess equity in compensation and academic advancement in an academic pediatrics department in which a large proportion of the physician faculty hold part-time appointments. Method The authors analyzed anonymized data from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics databases for physician faculty (faculty with MD or MD/PhD degrees) employed during July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008. The primary outcomes were total compensation and years at assistant professor rank. They compared compensation and years at junior rank by part-time versus full-time status, controlling for gender, rank, track, years since first appointment as an assistant professor, and clinical productivity. Results Of the 119 physician faculty in the department, 112 met inclusion criteria. Among those 112 faculty, 23 (21%) were part-time and 89 (79%) were full-time faculty. Part-time faculty were more likely than full-time faculty to be women (74% versus 28%, P < .001) and married (100% versus 84%, P = .042). Analyses accounting for gender, years since first appointment, rank, clinical productivity, and track did not demonstrate significant differences in compensation by part-time versus full-time status. In other adjusted analyses, faculty with part-time appointments spent an average of 2.48 more years as an assistant professor than did faculty with full-time appointments. Conclusions Overall group differences in total compensation were not apparent in this department, but physician faculty with part-time appointments spent more time at the rank of assistant professor. This study provides a model for determining and analyzing compensation and effort to ensure equity and transparency across faculty.


The data related to occupational morbidity in Ukraine and in other countries over the period of 1996–2007are laid down in the article.. The comparative characteristics of the morbidity shows that the main occupational pathology in Ukraine is rep(cid:26) resented by dust lung diseases in workers, engaged in mine industry, whereas in Western countries it is presented by diseases of the musculoskeletal system, hearing disorders in workers, engaged in machine building and service. The differences are associated with peculiarities in the distribution of workers in sectors of the national economy in different countries, differ(cid:26) ences in methodical approaches and detection and registration of occupational diseases.


An enormous increase of initial rents in many German cities over the last decade has prompted the current grand coalition to implement a new rent control called "Mietpreisbremse" in 2015 (literally a brake on rental prices). This reform aims to stop exploding rents and to provide particularly more affordable rental housing in the lower and medium rental price segment. Since then, rental prices of re-lettings are capped at a local rental index in declared areas. As an exception, newly built flats or those that have been reconstructed extensively are not affected by the reform and landlords may always uphold the rent paid by previous tenant. I apply a classical difference-in-difference strategy and a new changes-in-changes model including covariates in order to analyze both average and distributional price effects of the intervention in Berlin. The basis for empirical results is data on newly offered rental prices from 2012 to 2016 that is also enhanced with the local rental index and previous rents. Thereby, I can define the range of effects one could reasonably expect beforehand. Results indicate that the reform indeed lowered initial rents temporarily. In contrast to the reforms intention, however, significant effects are found only in the upper price segment. The effects also fall short of anticipated expectation and fade out too fast. Meanwhile, newly offered rental prices even outrun the pre-reform level, which highlights the lack of enforcement supplementary. I will therefore argue that the reform so far has failed to meet the intended objective and is poorly targeted.


To examine the processing of products of the dynorphin gene in the central nervous system, immunoreactive (ir) dynorphin (Dyn) A, Dyn B, Dyn A-(1-8), alpha- and beta-neo-endorphin (alpha- and beta-Neo) in rat brain and spinal cord were measured, using specific antisera after gel filtration and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Three peaks of Mr about 8, 4, and 2 kDa for ir-Dyn A and ir-Dyn B, and one peak of Mr less than 2 kDa for ir-Dyn A-(1-8), ir-alpha-, and ir-beta- Neo were found both in the brain and in the spinal cord. The 8 kDa peak was recognized by Dyn A and Dyn B antisera and, after hydrolysis by proline-specific endopeptidase, by beta-Neo antiserum. The 8 kDa peak was recognized by a monoclonal antibody against the amino terminal sequence Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe of all opioid peptides and by an antiserum directed toward the carboxyl terminus of Dyn B, indicating that it contains, from the amino terminal tyrosine of neo-endorphin to the carboxyl-terminal threonine of Dyn B, all 3 opioid peptide regions in the prodynorphin. By means of proline-specific endopeptidase hydrolysis, we also found a big dynorphin precursor (Mr approximately equal to 26 kDa) in both brain and spinal cord.


In recent years, laparoscopy has become a frequent technique employed in abdominal surgeries. Simultaneously, surgery has become increasingly complex and operating times have lengthened. Surgeons and scrub nurses must more frequently operate in standing position, with increasing physical burden. We assess the effect of the Archelis posture maintenance device, which has been developed for surgeons, in clinical situations. We measure the scopist bilateral iliopsoas muscle surface electromyogram during radical laparoscopic hernia surgery. Muscle potential decreases in the surgery with wearing Archelis. In a subjective assessment, the study participant desired its use during long surgeries. Posture maintenance devices for surgeons and improved surgical environments are important to improving surgery quality and surgeons ' work environment.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Voxel size/shape of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) may directly affect the measurement of fractional anisotropy (FA) in regions where there are crossing fibers. The purpose of this article was to investigate the effect of voxel size/shape on measured FA by using isotropic and nonisotropic voxels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten healthy adult volunteers had MR imaging by using a 1.5T clinical imager. DTI was performed with 2 different voxel sizes: a 2-mm-section isotropic voxel (2 × 2 × 2 mm3) and a 6-mm-section nonisotropic voxel (2 × 2 × 6 mm3). Images were obtained by using a single-shot echo-planar imaging technique with motion-probing gradients in 15 orientations and a b-value of 1000 s/mm2. FA and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were measured at different sites of the brain. RESULTS: When smaller isotropic voxels were used, the FA was greater in areas with crossing fibers, including the superior longitudinal fasciculus, the thalamus, and the red nucleus; the FA was not significantly different in areas without crossing fibers, such as the corpus callosum, the posterior limb of the internal capsule, and the corticospinal tract at the level of the centrum semiovale (P > .05). The ADC values were not affected by voxel size/shape at any of the areas of the brain that were measured. CONCLUSION: FA values that are measured in regions containing crossing fibers are underestimated when using nonisotropic DTI.


Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) is a bioinert material. It has the superior properties of thermal and chemical stabilities, low surface energy and high resistivity, so it was applied in many biomedical fields. In order to improve the ePTFE film biocompatibility, the cold plasma technology was used with acetic acid as monomer to deposit onto ePTFE film and then (N-isopropylacrylamide) was grafted onto the surface by photo-grafting. The characteristics of the material surface were evaluated with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), FTIR and water contact angle. It was found that the contact angle of water on the untreated ePTFE significantly decrease from125° to 72° after ePTFE film being treated with acetic acid plasma deposition procedure. Due to the hydrophilicity of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), so the contact angle of water on the ePTFE-g-NIPAAm almost approached to 0°. And we obtained the thermal-sensitive ePTFE hydrogels.


Nowadays energy consumption is one of the most significant aspects in Internet operations, where multi-level routing is widely used. In a typical hierarchical router cache structure, the upper level storage serves as a cache for the lower level, which forms a distributed multi-level cache system. In the past two decades, several classic LRU-based multi-level cache policies were proposed to improve the overall I/O performance of storage systems. However, few power-aware multi-level cache policies focus on the storage devices in the bottom level, which consume more than 27% energy of the whole system [20]. To address this problem, in this paper, we propose a novel Power-Aware Multi-level cache (PAM) policy, which can reduce the energy consumption of storage devices with both high performance and high I/O bandwidth. In our PAM policy, a proper number of cold dirty blocks in the upper level cache are identified and selected to flush directly to the storage devices, which provides high probability to extend the duration time of data disks with standby status. Thus the energy consumption can be reduced. Simulation results show that, compared to the existing popular cache schemes such as PA-LRU, PB-LRU and Demote, PAM saves the power consumption by up to 15% under different I/O workloads, which improves the energy efficiency by up to 50.5%.


This paper systematically elaborates the impact upon performance of emulsion asphalt cold reclaimed asphalt mixture by different RAP contents, through a series of testing on six cold reclaimed asphalt mixtures with various RAP contents, such as single axle compression test, 15°C indirect tensile strength (ITS) test, 40°C rutting test and -10°C low-temperature bending beam test. Testing results indicate that 15°C ITS decreases from around 0.75 MPa to 0.58 MPa with the RAP content of mixture increasing from 0% to 100%. 40°C dynamic stabilities reduce considerably from around 19,000 time/mm of 0% RAP mixture to 3,600 time/mm of 100% RAP mixture. -10°C failure strains only change from 1500με to 2000με.


Abstract The EU Marine Strategy Directive (MSD) has a regional focus in its implementation. The directive obliges countries to take multiple uses and the marine strategies of neighboring countries into account when formulating marine strategies and when designating marine protected areas (MPAs). We use game theoretical analysis both to find the optimal size of MPAs with multiple uses by multiple countries and to investigate the influences of multiple uses on cooperation. To this end, we develop a model in which two specific uses, fisheries and nature conservation, by multiple countries are considered in a strategic framework. The results of the paper suggest that EU marine policy such as the MSD and the coming Maritime Policy may help to secure the highest possible benefits from these MPAs if these policies induce cooperation among countries, but only if policies force countries to consider all possible benefits of MPAs. In fact cooperation on a single issue may give a worse outcome than the noncooperative equilibrium. The results also indicate that cooperation may be hard to achieve because of defector incentives, and therefore policy measures should be strict in enforcing cooperation on all possible uses of MPAs.


BACKGROUND
Too little is known about the many women who generate income in Madagascar by trading sex.

METHODS
Clinical and laboratory exams were offered to 493 non-care seeking female sex workers (SWs) in Antananarivo and 493 in Tamatave. SWs were recruited by peers in their community; they were interviewed, counselled and treated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at recruitment and re-evaluated 2 months later.

RESULTS
One hundred and eighty six (38%) of the SWs in Antananarivo and 113 (23%) in Tamatave did not complete primary school (P < 0.0001). The incidence rates per person per month in Antananarivo and Tamatave, respectively, were 0.09 and 0.08 for gonorrhoea; 0.05 and 0.03 for chlamydia; 0.24 and 0.15 for trichomoniasis; 0.07 and 0.05 for syphilis. At follow-up, consistent condom use with clients was reported by 56 (12%) SWs in Antananarivo and 137 (29%) in Tamatave (P < 0.0001); 320 (70%) SWs in Antananarivo and 11 (2%) in Tamatave reported sex with a non-paying partner in the past month (P < 0.0001). In Antananarivo, 422 (92%) of the SWs thought they were at no or low risk of having an STI compared to 100 (21%) in Tamatave (P = 0.02). At follow-up, 277 (61%) SWs reported no birth control for their last sex act in Antananarivo, compared to 26 (5%) in Tamatave (P < 0.0001). Socio-demographic and behavioural risk factors for incident gonorrhoea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis varied by city.

CONCLUSIONS
Strategies to address the needs of women who trade sex should include educational and economic opportunities; should tackle male partners of SWs; promote dual protection against unintended pregnancy and STIs, while taking into account local socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics.


Background Intensive care units (ICUs) around the world are in high demand due to patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. As researchers at the University of Bristol, we were approached to develop a bespoke data visualization dashboard to assist two local ICUs during the pandemic that will centralize disparate data sources in the ICU to help reduce the cognitive load on busy ICU staff in the ever-evolving pandemic. Objective The aim of this study was to conduct interviews with ICU staff in University Hospitals Bristol and Weston National Health Service Foundation Trust to elicit requirements for a bespoke dashboard to monitor the high volume of patients, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted six semistructured interviews with clinical staff to obtain an overview of their requirements for the dashboard and to ensure its ultimate suitability for end users. Interview questions aimed to understand the job roles undertaken in the ICU, potential uses of the dashboard, specific issues associated with managing COVID-19 patients, key data of interest, and any concerns about the introduction of a dashboard into the ICU. Results From our interviews, we found the following design requirements: (1) a flexible dashboard, where the functionality can be updated quickly and effectively to respond to emerging information about the management of this new disease; (2) a mobile dashboard, which allows staff to move around on wards with a dashboard, thus potentially replacing paper forms to enable detailed and consistent data entry; (3) a customizable and intuitive dashboard, where individual users would be able to customize the appearance of the dashboard to suit their role; (4) real-time data and trend analysis via informative data visualizations that help busy ICU staff to understand a patient's clinical trajectory; and (5) the ability to manage tasks and staff, tracking both staff and patient movements, handovers, and task monitoring to ensure the highest quality of care. Conclusions The findings of this study confirm that digital solutions for ICU use would potentially reduce the cognitive load of ICU staff and reduce clinical errors at a time of notably high demand of intensive health care.


When walking, step length provides critical information on traveled distance along the ongoing path [corrected] Little is known on the role that knowledge about body dimensions plays within this process. Here we directly addressed this question by evaluating whether changes in body proportions interfere with computation of traveled distance for targets located outside the reaching space. We studied locomotion and distance estimation in an achondroplastic child (ACH, 11 yr) before and after surgical elongation of the shank segments of both lower limbs and in healthy adults walking on stilts, designed to mimic shank-segment elongation. Kinematic analysis of gait revealed that dynamic coupling of the thigh, shank, and foot segments changed substantially as a result of elongation. Step length remained unvaried, in spite of the significant increase in total limb length ( approximately 1.5-fold). These relatively shorter strides resulted from smaller oscillations of the shank segment, as would be predicted by proportional increments in limb size and not by asymmetrical segmental increment as in the present case (length of thighs was not modified). Distance estimation was measured by walking with eyes closed toward a memorized target. Before surgery, the behavior of ACH was comparable to that of typically developing participants. In contrast, following shank elongation, the ACH walked significantly shorter distances when aiming at the same targets. Comparable changes in limb kinematics, stride length, and estimation of traveled distance were found in adults wearing on stilts, suggesting that path integration errors in both cases were related to alterations in the intersegmental coordination of the walking limbs. The results are consistent with a dynamic locomotor body schema used for controlling step length and path estimation, based on inherent relationships between gait parameters and body proportions.


This Letters section is for publishing (a) brief acoustical research or applied acoustical reports, (b) comments on articles or letters previously published in this Journal, and (c) a reply by the article author to criticism by the Letter author in (b). Extensive reports should be submitted as articles, not in a letter series. Letters are peer-reviewed on the same basis as articles, but usually require less review time before acceptance. Letters cannot exceed four printed pages (approximately 3000–4000 words) including figures, tables, references, and a required abstract of about 100 words.


This timely handbook brings together the fields of planning, disaster response, and hazards management to provide a field-tested process on how to make communities disaster-resilient. How can we plan and design stronger communities? Communities struck by natural disasters struggle to recover long after the first responders have left. Globally, the average annual number of natural disasters has more than doubled since 1980. These catastrophes are increasing in number as well as in magnitude, causing greater damage as we experience rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. Communities can reduce their vulnerability to disaster by becoming more resilient, to not only bounce back more readily from disasters but to grow stronger, more socially cohesive, and more environmentally responsible. To be truly resilient, disaster preparation and recovery must consider all populations in the community. By bringing together natural hazards planning and community planning to consider vulnerabilities, more resilient and equitable communities are achievable. In Planning for Community Resilience the authors describe an inclusive process for creating disaster-resilient communities. This handbook guides any community through the process of determining their level of hazard exposure, physical vulnerability, and social vulnerability with the goal of determining the best planning strategy. This will be an invaluable tool for professionals working to protect communities from disturbance.


: A case of subacute bacterial endocarditis due to Streptococcus mutans is presented. The case was successfully treated by intravenous and oral penicillin. Streptococcus mutans is a member of the viridans streptococcal group with properties similar to enterococcal streptococci. Since the enterococci are resistant to penicillin, and isolates of Streptococcus mutans are usually sensitive to penicillin, it is important that medical technologists and microbiologists accurately identify these organisms. The combination of the following characteristics: 1) lack of Group D antigen, 2) acid formation in mannitol broth, 3) failure to hydrolyze hippurate, and 4) formation in five per cent sucrose broth of gelatinous adherent deposits on walls and bottom of tube, distinguish Streptococcus mutans from enterococcal streptococci.


The Western Region of Paraguay is naturally dry which makes it vulnerable to almost permanent drought events. Hence, low cost drought monitoring is necessary. Therefore, an index derived from satellite image information was used for this purpose. The Normalized Difference Drought Index (NDDI) was used with the objective of studying the characteristics (temporal and spatial distribution) of drought in the Western Region of Paraguay from years 2005 to 2017 and relate drought point values of NDDI to the land use cover of the study area. Terra satellite's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) sensor images were used for the calculation of NDDI. The driest month of all years (July) and the wettest month of all years (December) were averaged to analyze spatial tendencies. The NDDI was contrasted spatially with the Land Use Cover of the Western Region to pinpoint the location of the highest values. The year 2015 had the highest value of 0.9847 in agricultural land use in the Department of Boqueron. The NDDI was a good indicator of drought throughout the region and could be a complement for in-situ measurements.


We examine how pharmaceutical companies inform the public and financial investors on current and future market-access hurdles for new, innovative medications. Annual reports were explored for the relative attention paid to traditional primary registration data (e.g., efficacy, safety) compared to new data requirements (e.g., cost-effectiveness, budget impact). The results show that new criteria for outcomes and reimbursement policies are cited substantially less often in the annual reports as compared with classic criteria for registration. However, registration is no longer the sole factor for successful future sales, and reimbursement has become an important barrier to sales generation. Therefore, information on positive clinical trials results or registration should be considered positively yet cautiously, and the value can be assessed only after performing a reimbursement scan and sales forecasts modeling for key markets.


Telomeres ensure the complete replication of genetic material while simultaneously distinguishing the chromosome terminus from a double-strand break. A prevailing theme in telomere biology is that the two chromosome ends are symmetrical. Both terminate in a single-strand 3' extension, and the 3' extension is crucial for telomere end protection. In this issue of Genes & Development, Kazda and colleagues (pp. 1703-1713) challenge this paradigm using a series of elegant biochemical and genetic assays to demonstrate that half of the chromosomes in flowering plants are blunt-ended. This discovery reveals unanticipated complexity in telomeric DNA processing and a novel mode of chromosome end protection.


Reef fi sh traded alive for table food are high value-to-volume products, with demand centred in Hong Kong and southern mainland China. Import demand functions for live reef food fi sh are estimated for Hong Kong, in aggregate and for individual fi sh species. Cross-price, income and population elasticities, and the impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Chinese New Year on demand, are estimated. Results show that price has a smaller infl uence on import demand than expected. The most infl uential factor is Chinese New Year. The price of low and medium-value species exhibited a negative impact, whereas the price of very high-value species exhibited a positive impact, on demand. This suggests that high-value live reef species may be Veblen goods, where consumption increases as a direct function of its price, in this case due to associated prestige and status.


The objective of the study was to assess the reliability and validity of a retrospective self-report measure of potential traumatic experiences among psychiatric outpatients. The range of evaluated experiences includes emotional neglect and abuse. Participants completed the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC) (N = 153), a self-report trauma questionnaire of known psychometric qualities, i.e. the Stressful Life Experiences Questionnaire (SLESQ), and self-report measures of somatoform dissociation (SDQ-20), psychoform dissociation (DES). A majority (N = 115) completed the TEC twice, and also completed a measure of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSD-ss). The TEC's internal consistency and test–retest reliability were good, and the TEC strongly correlated with the SLESQ. Associations between the TEC and the PTSD-ss, DES, and SDQ-20 supported the criterion-related validity of the TEC. The internal consistency, test–retest reliability and criterion-related validity of TEC trauma area presence and severity scores were also satisfactory. Preliminary findings suggest that the psychometric characteristics of the TEC are good. Future study of the TEC should include larger samples of psychiatric patients, as well as non-clinical groups. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


We present algorithms for partially observable planning that iteratively compute belief states with an increasing distance to the goal states. The algorithms handle nondeterministic operators, but restrict to problem instances with a finite upper bound on execution length, that is plans without loops. We discuss an implementation of the algorithms which uses binary decision diagrams for representing belief states. It turns out that generation of new belief states from existing ones, corresponding to the use of conditional branches in the plans, can very naturally be represented as standard operations on binary decision diagrams. We also give a preliminary experimental evaluation of the algorithms.


ABSTRACT:It is observed that the morpheme TAU [inline-graphic 01] in Xiaolongmen, a Xiang dialect, appears in two distinctive positions to give sentences a past tense interpretation. The preverbal TAU (tau1213) indicates that the subject went/came to a location to participate in an event, and the subject has already left the location and the actions/events have been terminated by the speaking moment; the clause-final TAU (tau2213) indicates actions or states happened at least once in the past and they have stopped at the speaking time; it also implies that that is the reason for the current situation. We argue that tau1213 is a perfective aspect marker which assigns a past tense interpretation by using the non-coincidence relationship between the event location and the location of the event initiator. As for tau2213, it is argued to be a resultative perfect aspect marker indicating an action/state happened at least once at some time in the past and it has resulted in the current situation.


BACKGROUND
To describe flu activity during the 2009-2010 pandemic in Navarre and compare it to previous seasons.

METHODS
An analysis was made of all flu cases reported in primary care and all the virological confirmations made in patients in primary care and in hospitals of Navarre between week 21 of 2009 and week 20 of 2010.

RESULTS
Influenza A (H1N1) Virus 2009 was detected in Navarre between week 23 of 2009 and week 2 of 2010, a period when 39 medically diagnosed cases of flu syndrome per 1,000 inhabitants were registered. The epidemic threshold was surpassed in two periods, with a peak in July and a greater one in November. The greatest incidence was reached in children aged between 5 and 14 years (121 per thousand), followed by the group of under fives. There were 224 hospitalisations (36 per 100,000 inhabitants) with confirmation of Influenza A (H1N1) Virus 2009, 8% of whom required admission to intensive care units and there were four deaths (0.6 per 100,000 inhabitants). The rate of hospitalisation was greater amongst children under five (163 per 100,000 inhabitants), while the probability of referral to intensive care increased with age.

CONCLUSION
In spite of not having a specific vaccine available until the season was very well advanced, Influenza A (H1N1)Virus 2009 produced a flu wave with similar levels to those of other seasons and its repercussion in hospitalisations and serious cases was moderate.


Abroad range of humanmalignancies is associatedwith nonrandom1p36deletions, suggesting the existence of tumor suppressors encoded in this region. Evidence for tumor-specific inactivation of 1p36 genes in the classic "two-hit" manner is scarce; however, many tumor suppressors do not require complete inactivation but contribute to tumorigenesis by partial impairment. We discuss recent data derived from both human tumors and functional cancer models indicating that the 1p36 genes CHD5, CAMTA1, KIF1B, CASZ1, and miR-34a contribute to cancer development when reduced in dosage by genomic copy number loss or other mechanisms. We explore potential interactions among these candidates and propose a model where heterozygous 1p36 deletion impairs oncosuppressive pathways via simultaneous downregulation of several dosage-dependent tumor suppressor genes. Cancer Res; 72(23); 6079–88. 2012 AACR.


BACKGROUND
Cryptococcus gattii (Cg) has caused increasing infections in the US Pacific Northwest (PNW) since 2004. We describe this outbreak and compare clinical aspects of infection in the United States among patients infected with different Cg genotypes.

METHODS
Beginning in 2005, PNW state health departments conducted retrospective and prospective passive surveillance for Cg infections, including patient interviews and chart reviews; clinical isolates were genotyped at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We examined symptom frequency and underlying conditions in US patients with Cg infection and modeled factors associated with death.

RESULTS
From 1 December 2004 to July 2011, 96 Cg infections were reported to the CDC. Eighty-three were in patients in or travelers to the PNW, 78 of which were genotypes VGIIa, VGIIb, or VGIIc (outbreak strains). Eighteen patients in and outside the PNW had other molecular type Cg infections (nonoutbreak strains). Patients with outbreak strain infections were more likely than those with nonoutbreak-strain infections to have preexisting conditions (86% vs 31%, respectively; P < .0001) and respiratory symptoms (75% vs 36%, respectively; P = .03) and less likely to have central nervous system (CNS) symptoms (37% vs 90%, respectively; P = .008). Preexisting conditions were associated with increased pneumonia risk and decreased risk of meningitis and CNS symptoms. Nineteen (33%) of 57 patients died. Past-year oral steroid use increased odds of death in multivariate analysis (P = .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Clinical differences may exist between outbreak-strain (VGIIa, VGIIb, and VGIIc) and nonoutbreak-strain Cg infections in the United States. Clinicians should have a low threshold for testing for Cg, particularly among patients with recent travel to the PNW.


Almost all countries are facing obesity endemic, although great variation exists between and within countries. Sedentary lifestyle and high fat (high caloric) diet have increased globally as a result of industrial, urban and mechanic changes of developing countries. Improved economic status promotes the obesity and metabolic syndrome in all age groups particularly young adults. Developing counties became in desperate need for establishing new polices and strategies within regulated and managed programs; in order to encounter factors of highly spread malnutrition displayed by obesity and its consequences like diabetes, CVD and metabolic syndrome. Developed and developing countries have studied the obesity prevalence, showing important statistics as the obesity hugely escalated in all population groups. Obesity and its related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have new pandemic facts that force the World Health Organization (WHO) to deal with.WHO noticed that obesity and NCDs will affect majorly the developing countries, and the expected numbers of new cases within the next 2 decades will exceed hundreds of millions. This review, discusses the epidemiology of obesity, lifestyle and nutritional transitions, determinants, social and economic impacts, and possible solutions for prevention of obesity in developing countries.


Twenty-two HIV-1-infected Russian individuals were studied to gain better insight on the genetic and biological characteristics of HIV-1 variants present in Russia. The V3 domain of the HIV-1 envelope was directly sequenced from cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Phylogenetic analyses were used to determine the HIV-1 genetic subtype and to study transmission patterns. Virus isolates were obtained from PBMCs and the biological phenotype was determined by coculture with MT-2, CEM, and Jurkat-tat cells. Twelve homo- and bisexual men carried subtype B variants, whereas 6 heterosexually infected individuals carried subtype F virus. A heterosexual man infected in the Ivory Coast and a nosocomially infected young female carried subtype A and G virus, respectively. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses suggested that subtype B may have entered Russia on at least four occasions and, even more surprisingly, that the relatively rare subtype F has entered Russia on at least three occasions. Two suspected transmission clusters of subtype F were supported by the phylogenetic analyses, whereas one suspected subtype B transmission cluster was not. Positively charged amino acids in positions 311 and 325 of V3 loop have been shown to be important determinants for the MT-2-positive biological phenotype of virus isolates. Interestingly, we found that the direct PBMC sequences from individuals with MT-2-positive isolates displayed specific neutral, instead of positively charged, amino acids, in these positions. This indicates that it may be more difficult to predict the biological phenotype of HIV-1 using sequences from uncultured PBMCs than from virus isolates.


Efforts to characterize food webs have generated two influential approaches that reduce the complexity of natural communities. The traditional approach groups individuals based on their species identity, while recently developed approaches group individuals based on their body size. While each approach has provided important insights, they have largely been used in parallel in different systems. Consequently, it remains unclear how body size and species identity interact, hampering our ability to develop a more holistic framework that integrates both approaches. We address this conceptual gap by developing a framework which describes how both approaches are related to each other, revealing that both approaches share common but untested assumptions about how variation across size classes or species influences differences in ecological interactions among consumers. Using freshwater mesocosms with dragonfly larvae as predators, we then experimentally demonstrate that while body size strongly determined how predators affected communities, these size effects were species specific and frequently nonlinear, violating a key assumption underlying both size- and species-based approaches. Consequently, neither purely species- nor size-based approaches were adequate to predict functional differences among predators. Instead, functional differences emerged from the synergistic effects of body size and species identity. This clearly demonstrates the need to integrate size- and species-based approaches to predict functional diversity within communities.


Dynamical systems of forage biomass accumulation under continuous harvesting with and without nutrient cycling are formulated and studied. For one dimensional dynamical system with  being a measure of forage intake relative to forage growth, there is bifurcation at whereas at  the system exhibits discontinuous stability, and at the system collapses. For a two dimensional dynamical system, there is bifurcation at, stable equilibrium at  and unstable equilibrium at. For the three dimensional dynamical system where  is a measure of soil nutrient replenishment, at  the system exhibits two different stable states (a fixed point and a limit cycle) and one unstable state (limit cycle), and at  there is only one stable state (limit cycle), and there is hysteresis. For  and , there is local stability but no global stability. It is shown that the long-term stability of the livestock-forage system primarily depends on the stocking levels and initial forage biomass. Through bifurcation analysis, this study has identified critical points of the system for timely intervention by the farmer. Finally, by using dimensional analysis, it is possible to more readily compare relative effects of biological processes.

 Key words:  Livestock, forage growth, nutrient, dynamical system, sustainability.


The work presented in this thesis focuses on the design and
implementation of parallel algorithms for problem solving tasks principally
in Rule-based Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Rule-based Expert Systems are widely used in AI. Their use covers a
wide variety of application areas. However, in most cases, these systems
are computation intensive and run slowly. This increases the need for high performance
and real-time response.
Because of the convergence of parallelism in computer design and the
wide spread use of expert system in industry, the design of Parallel Expert
System has become of increasing importance. Parallel computation may
prove useful in shortening the processing time of the expert systems.
Expert systems are being designed for both distributed (loosely-coupled)
and shared-memory (tightly-coupled) multiprocessor machines. The work
presented here is an attempt to focus on the issues involved in designing a
rule-based expert system for a shared memory "multiprocessor system (the
Sequent Balance 8000).
Eight parallel Forward Chaining models and two parallel Backward
Chaining models are implemented. These models are presented in Chapter 5
and 6, together with a study of their efficiency.


Abstract : War crimes have plagued mankind for centuries. While there is disagreement over exactly what constitutes a war crime, the fact remains that military forces have committed atrocities throughout recorded history. The way of prosecuting war criminals or punishing them through nonjudicial, political mechanisms has also changed over time. Options range from 'take no prisoners' or summary executions of prisoners, at the one extreme, to judicial trials and sentencing, at the other extreme. The problem with judicial proceedings is that they can have a hint of victor's justice, especially if the jurisdiction, legitimacy, and authority of the court are not established in advance. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established on 17 July 1998 in part to address these concerns. However, the United States (US) has not ratified the Rome Treaty of 17 July 1998 and has specifically stated it will not be bound by the treaty. Nonetheless, the international community implemented the treaty, and the ICC became a reality on 1 July 2002 after the 60th nation ratified the treaty. What exactly does ratification mean for members of the United States Armed Forces? This essay explores the implications for military members in four parts. It traces the historical development of war crimes and looks at what types of issues the ICC might have jurisdiction over. Then, it focuses on international criminal courts in general and examines the predecessors of the ICC: Nuremberg/Tokyo, the ICC for the former Yugoslavia, and the ICC for Rwanda. The essay then details the inner workings of the ICC. Finally, it looks at the question of whether members of the United States Armed Forces are subject to ICC jurisdiction. This answer will be based on a legal, political, and moral analytical framework.


Over recent years there has been an increased understanding by UK business of the role that design can play in enhancing competitiveness and innovation, there is also a growing recognition by
government of the value that design can add to the economy. Aligned to this is the growing discourse surrounding the appropriate development of UK Design education. The Design Blueprint document published by the Design Skills Advisory Panel in 2008 highlights key topics for inclusion within curriculum development as being; the strengthening of partnerships between education and industry, ensuring that design students in colleges and universities have the right skills, developing networks of visiting design professors to better connect education with professional practice, and the joined-up promotion of multi-disciplinary approaches. Building courses that provide students with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills and understanding outside the core traditional design skill-set, placing value upon the breadth and transferability of skills as increasingly viewed with importance by the design industry. This paper details the introduction of a series of modules upon the BA (Hons) Product Design course at The University of Salford UK. The modules aim to synergize student engagement in the key areas of commercial awareness, transferability of skills and industry readiness. In conclusion the authors' provide a reflective evaluation of the modules in their first year of delivery, engaging students' staff and industry viewpoints, identifying further opportunities for the development of module content, delivery and assessment. Keywords: Design


Interfacing hardware-oriented high-level synthesis to software development is a computationally hard problem for which no general solution exists. Under special conditions, the hardware-software codesign (system-level synthesis) problem may be analyzed with traditional tools and efficient heuristics. This dissertation introduces a new alternative to the currently used heuristic methods. The new approach combines the results of top-down hardware development with existing basic hardware units (bottom-up libraries) and compiler generation tools. The optimization goal is to maximize operating frequency or minimize cost with reasonable tradeoffs in other properties. The dissertation research provides a unified approach to hardware-software codesign. The improvements over previously existing design methodologies are presented in the frame-work of an academic CAD environment (PIPE). This CAD environment implements a sufficient subset of functions of commercial microelectronics CAD packages. The results may be generalized for other general-purpose algorithms or environments. Reference benchmarks are used to validate the new approach. Most of the well-known benchmarks are based on discrete-time numerical simulations, digital filtering applications, and cryptography (an emerging field in benchmarking). As there is a need for high-performance applications, an additional requirement for this dissertation is to investigate pipelined hardware-software systems' performance and design methods. The results demonstrate that the quality of existing heuristics does not change in the enhanced, hardware-software environment.


We report an optical clock recovery system that uses two-photon absorption in a conventional silicon photodiode to synchronize a 10-GHz optical clock to an 80-Gb/s data stream. Compared to many other clock recovery techniques, the system is economical, polarization-insensitive, and can operate over a broad range of optical wavelengths. The system was tested back-to-back and in a 110-km transmission experiment, achieved error-free performance in all cases, and exhibits a root-mean-square timing jitter of 120 fs. Low timing jitter is maintained even in the presence of slow or fast polarization fluctuations.


A novel polyimide (PI) hybrid nanocomposite containing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) had been prepared by copolymerization of octa(aminophenyl)silsesquioxane (OAP-POSS), 4,4' -oxydianiline (ODA), and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA). The AO resistance of these POSS/PI hybrid films was tested in the ground-based AO simulation facility. Exposed and unexposed surfaces have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and FTIR. The XPS data indicate that the carbon content of the near-surface region is decreased from 63.6 to 19.3 at% after AO exposure. The oxygen and silicon concentrations in the near-surface region increase after AO exposure. The data reveal the formation of a passive inorganic SiO2 layer on the POSS/PI hybrid films during the AO exposure, which serves as a protective barrier preventing further degradation of the underlying polymer with increased exposure to the AO flux. SEM images showed that the surface of the 10 wt% POSS/PI became much less rough than that of the pristine polyimide. The AO resistance of the POSS/PI hybrid films is up to several tenfold than that of the pristine polyimide.


Abstract In the 21st century, literacy requires one to understand and create not only letters but also sounds and visuals in different ways because we are surrounded not only by words but also multimodal texts in which words, sounds and visuals are combined in various ways. The purpose of this study is to investigate means of integrating multimodal literacy instruction into Reading Education, a course included in the curriculum of Turkish Language Teaching, and to identify what skills prospective teachers are required to have in the process. The study was based on the action research approach. A total of 37 prospective teachers participated in Reading Education courses, which took place four hours a week for 14 weeks. The study concluded that the skills required fall into three categories, namely, ICT skills, digital pedagogy skills and content-related skills.


FOXP3 has been proposed to be critical for the regulatory function of CD4(+)CD25+ T cells and it has been reported that its expression correlates with protection from graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here, by monitoring 28 pediatric HSCT recipients, we found that the levels of FOXP3-mRNA expression in highly enriched CD4(+)CD25+ cells were identical to those in healthy controls irrespective of GvHD status. Moreover, FOXP3-mRNA was abundant in recently in vitro stimulated CD4(+)CD25+ cells that lacked regulatory function. Together these findings suggest that FOXP3-mRNA expression primarily reflects CD4(+)CD25+ cell frequency rather than defining the regulatory potential of CD4(+)CD25+ T cells and GvHD risk after HSCT.


Dry-mixing self-compacting concrete (DSCC) is a kind of new concrete composite materialswhich based on self-compacting concrete vibration. DSCC was prepared with the cement, the coarse aggregate and sand of high strength and some cement replacement materials that had the better crack resistance. And it has the characteristics of filling performance, gap trafficability and anti- segregating like self-compacting concrete. The paper study on the basic mechanical properties and anti-carbonization ability of DSCC through concrete performance test, the results indicate that the basic mechanical properties and durability of DSCC better significantly than common concrete materials.


The objective of this study was to analyze trend of wheat flour consumption and its processed products in Indonesia since 1993 until 2005.  The data used were food consumption data of Socio-economic Survey (SUSENAS) collected by Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS). The results showed that the wheat flour consumption and its processed products tended to increase from 1993 to 2005. The rapid increase was occurred in the period of 1993-1996 and 1999-2005.  Three kinds of wheat flour-processed products that significantly increased were instant noodle, fried food and snack for children.  The average consumption level of wheat flour and their processed products in 2005 in urban areas were higher than the consumption level in rural areas, namely 47.7 vs. 36.3 g/cap/d.  Among all of the wheat flour-processed food, wheat flour based-fried food, instant noodle, and noodle with meat ball (mie bakso) were the most three popular kind of wheat flour processed products consumed by Indonesian people, 49.4, 48.6 and 44.7% respectively. The consumption pattern was relatively similar between urban and rural areas.  It indicated that wheat flour processed food had already been a part of food consumption pattern of Indonesian people.


Abstract A series of novel pleuromutilin derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the twin drugs theory. Piperazinyl and thioether were used as the linkage to connect the pleuromutilin nuclear and sulfonamide to improve the biological activity and water solubility of derivatives. The in vitro antibacterial activities against drug-sensitive and drug-resistance bacteria were evaluated by agar dilution method. Most of the 25 compounds displayed excellent antibacterial activities against drug-sensitive bacteria, particularly, five compounds (9, 10, 11, 14a and 14b) exerted the excellent antibacterial activities against drug-resistance bacteria. Graphical abstract


Abstract: A human cDNA clone containing the 5'coding region of the GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor α subunit was used to quantify and visualize receptor mRNA in various regions of the rat brain. Using a [32P]CTP‐labelled antisense RNA probe (860 bases) prepared from the α subunit cDNA, multiple mRNA species were detected in Northern blots using total and poly A rat brain RNA. In all brain regions, mRNAs of 4.4 and 4.8 kb were observed, and an additional mRNA of 3.0 kb was detected in the cerebellum and hippocampus. The level of GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor mRNA was highest in the cerebellum followed by the thalamus = frontal cortex = hippocampus = parietal cortex = hypothalamus ≫ pons = striatum = medulla. In situ hybridization revealed high levels of α subunit mRNA in cerebellar gray matter, olfactory bulb, thalamus, hippocampus/dentate gyrus, and the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. These data suggest the presence of multiple GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor α subunit mRNAs in rat brain and demonstrate the feasibility of studying the expression of genes encoding the GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor after pharmacological and/or environmental manipulation.


How has the need to measure antiplatelet activity arisen? First, we do routinely measure hematologic or physiological surrogates for other effective secondary prevention strategies. Specifically, international normalized ratio monitoring is used to determine warfarin dosage; blood pressure is the yardstick for titration of antihypertensive agents and glycemic control using HbA1c in diabetes.1 In these cases, clinical efficacy is usually related to these surrogates. Furthermore, a significant proportion of patients on antiplatelet therapy have clinical events, suggesting a variability of therapeutic effect. Hence, the concept of biological measurement of antiplatelet function is attractive to determine likely treatment responders. Although the concept of measuring antiplatelet activity is appealing, there appears to be a disconnect between theory and reality. There are 2 issues of importance. These include the lack of a gold standard measure of antiplatelet functioning together with the paucity of evidence linking antiplatelet resistance and recurrent vascular events in a stroke population. A major concern with a number of these measures is poor agreement between different techniques for antiplatelet resistance and poor reproducibility over time. Indeed, these confounding factors are a major impediment in the use of these tests in prediction of future vascular events.2 Despite this, there is some evidence linking aspirin resistance to composite vascular outcomes of stroke, myocardial infarction, and vascular death.3 In addition, aspirin resistance is common, 30% prevalence in a stroke population.4 So, is this avenue of research worth pursuing? We think it is. This would include better techniques with better evidence of reproducibility and correlations between the measures and stroke risk in large population cohorts. However, to address our original question, should antiplatelet activity be measured routinely, our answer at this stage is an unequivocal no.


Knowledge of permeability, which is the ability of rocks to transmit the fluid, is important for understanding the flow mechanisms in oil and gas reservoirs.Permeability is best measured in the laboratory on cored rock taken from the reservoir. Coring is expensive and time-consuming in comparison to the electronic survey techniques most commonly used to gain information about permeability.Yamama formation was chosen, to predict the permeability by using FZI method. Yamama Formation is the main lower cretaceous carbonate reservoir in southern of Iraq. This formation is made up mainly of limestone. Yamama formation was deposited on a gradually rising basin floor. The digenesis of Yamama sediments is very important due to its direct relation to the porosity and permeability.In this study permeability has been predicated by using the Flow zone indicator methods.This method attempts to identify the flow zone indicator in un-cored wells using log records. Once the flow zone indicator is calculated from the core data, a relationship between this FZI value and the well logs can be obtained.


Provides information for teachers to assist in the teaching of outdoor education within the Physical Activity and Sports Studies course.


The impacts of industrialization on socio-economic development cannot be over emphasized, but so are the negative consequences. This paper examines the health and environmental challenges of Ewekoro Cement Industry on the physical environment of the surrounding settlement of Ewekoro, Ogun State. This was with a view to providing sustainable solution to the negative impact of large scale industries in an emerging economy like Nigeria. The study involved empirical observation and interview of residents of the area. About 200 questionnaires were administered randomly on workers and residents, out of which 172 were returned. These were analysed using simple tables. The study confirms extensive incidence of land, air, and noise pollution over and above recommended minimum limits. It also discovers lack of substantial compliance with the principle of environmental integrity sustainability and National Environmental Standard Regulation Authority (NESRA) in terms of environmental resource protection. The study recommends that, for Nigeria to maximize benefits of industrialization and minimize its negative effects, a tripartite arrangement that involves, the industry, the community and the government must be involved in environmental monitoring and protection.


In this work, we present a simple and effective silica–polymer-based spray coating to create a translucent, mechanically durable, chemically stable, healable and environmentally friendly superhydrophobic coating with UV resistance. The coatings retained superhydrophobicity after UV radiation for at least 175 hours, heating up to 150 °C, exposure to strong acids and bases, and various mechanical durability tests such as knife scraping, hand kneading, and multiple cycles of tape peeling 100 times. In addition, the coating treated sponge was used for continuous oil–water separation through connection with a vacuum system, the separation efficiency was greater than 95% for various liquid hydrocarbons. This substrate-independent spray coating is believed to be useful for large-scale application for both outdoor and indoor applications.


Predation and food supply are generally perceived as important determinants of spatial and temporal variations of populations. The population dynamics of freshwater rotifers have been well researched in this aspect. However, their spatial variations have attracted less attention and have not been studied by simultaneously considering both predation and food supply. We studied spatial variations of rotifer abundance among 34 Canadian boreal lakes. A large part of the variance of rotifer abundance was associated with variables related to trophic status including chlorophyll a and total phosphorus. However, abundances of mesozooplankton such as potential predators and competitors did not correlate with rotifer abundance and did not explain the residual of the regression between rotifer abundance and chlorophyll a. The results of the present study indicated that variation in rotifer abundance among lakes was caused by 'bottom-up' forces related to food supply and not by 'top-down' predatory interactions. This provides a contrast to previous empiric and experimental studies that reported that temporal variations of rotifer abundance were mainly regulated by 'top-down' interactions. This discrepancy suggests that overall differences in rotifer abundance among lakes are mainly determined by 'bottom-up' forces while temporal changes in single lakes are shaped by 'top-down' forces. Meanwhile, the composition of rotifer species was correlated with mesozooplankton abundance as well as trophic status. Rotifer species with long spines or rigid loricae were found in the lakes where mesozooplankton were abundant, which suggests that defensive morphology could have affected the rotifer species distribution among the study lakes.


Titanium dioxide nanotubes (TNTs) have been considered the promising nanostructures employed for many practical applications such as biomedical, photonic and optoelectronic devices. Nevertheless, strong aggregation of TNTs within various aqueous media significantly hindered their practical utilizations and the capability of dispersing TNTs in the desired solvents are urgent to be improved. Therefore, in this study, the methodic investigations have been performed on the grafted modification of 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTS) on the surfaces of synthesized TNTs. A preliminary study was carried out to evaluate the influences of key parameters, including the concentrations of coupling agents, temperatures and the reaction durations, on the grafting efficiency of the aminosilane using Statistical design of experiments (DoE) methodology. TNTs with approximately 10–20 nm in diameter were prepared with the controlled hydrothermal treatment of commercialized P25 particles. The obtained products were revealed by the modern physicochemical systems including x-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. The additions of silane agent, reaction temperature and time have been adjusted to reveal the influences of the grafting efficiency (from 2.5 to 7.8 wt %) by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has confirmed the successful link of Ti–O–Si chemical bonds on the grafted TNTs.


This qualitative case study explored changes in one infant's relationship development with
her caregivers and peers in times of a major developmental transition, specifically from 10
months to 14 months. The data were collected through multiple sources, including
observations, interviews, documents, and researcher journals, for a semester. Among the
developmental achievements the infant gained in this study, her independent walking ability
appeared to influence her relationships most. As her independent walking ability enabled the
infant to gain a greater access to peers and caregivers, her presence in the room and social
preferences for the people also appeared to change. The infant seemed to enjoy more playbased
and group interactions with both peers and caregivers rather than emotion-based and
dyadic interactions. The results of this study provided an insight into the multifaceted
relationship development process, such as the connection between infant development and
relationships and the association between infant-caregiver relationships and infant peer
relationships.


Aim

Understanding the drivers of forest structure, function and change is a fundamental problem in both theoretical ecology and applied forestry for carbon mapping and monitoring. An important component of forest ecology research often utilizes allometric equations to scale up local measurements to predict large-scale forest and ecosystem-level properties. However, both applied and theoretical allometries in forest ecology (such as metabolic scaling theory, MST) assume that many scaling relationships are insensitive to broad-scale climate gradients or species life histories. We aim to test these assumptions by mapping continental-scale forest allometry across environmental gradients in the United States.

Location

United States.

Methods

We fit exponents to two allometric relationships in c. 100,000 Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) field plots: (1) the relationship between the height of an individual tree and its diameter, and (2) plot-level tree size distributions. We compare fitted exponents to environmental and life-history variables, such as climate, topography and forest structure, in an attempt to explain allometric variability and deviations from theoretically predicted allometries.

Results

We find that the structural allometry of forests varies strongly as a function of location in the United States. Allometric exponents appear to asymptote at approximately where MST theory predicts with increasing forest height, while deviations from MST are partially explained as a function of environmentally driven recruitment limitations and successional status.

Main conclusions

While we find support for invariant tree and stand allometric scaling relationships in forests that are in steady state with regard to demography and resources, we also find considerable spatial variability in forest allometric relationships when steady-state conditions are violated. These findings suggest that extensions of metabolic scaling theory should incorporate variation in demographic dynamics in younger successional forests, and factors influencing recruitment limitation.


Integrin alpha(IIb)beta(3) plays a critical role in platelet aggregation, a central response in hemostasis and thrombosis. This function of alpha(IIb)beta(3) depends upon a transition from a resting to an activated state such that it acquires the capacity to bind soluble ligands. Diverse platelet agonists alter the cytoplasmic domain of alpha(IIb)beta(3) and initiate a conformational change that traverses the transmembrane region and ultimately triggers rearrangements in the extracellular domain to permit ligand binding. The membrane-proximal regions of alpha(IIb) and beta(3) cytoplasmic tails, together with the transmembrane segments of the subunits, contact each other to form a complex which restrains the integrin in the resting state. It is unclasping of this complex that induces integrin activation. This clasping/unclasping process is influenced by multiple cytoplasmic tail binding partners. Among them, talin appears to be a critical trigger of alpha(IIb)beta(3) activation, but other binding partners, which function as activators or suppressors, are likely to act as co-regulators of integrin activation.


Ideal for public, school, and academic libraries looking to freshen up their reference collection, as well as for LIS students and instructors conducting research, this resource collects the cream of the crop sources of general reference and library science information. Encompassing internet resources, digital image collections, and print resources, it includes the full section on LIS Resources from the Guide to Reference database, which was voted a #1 Best Professional Resource Database by Library Journal readers. Organized by topic and thoroughly indexed, this guide makes it a snap to find the right sources. It offers an appealing introduction to reference work and resources for LIS students and also serves as an affordable course book to complement online Guide to Reference access.


Environmental evaluation research is one of the larger areas of activity within environmental psychology. Several of the theoretical and methodological distinctions made ill this area present researchers with key choices regarding how to carry out their research. This paper discusses some of these distinctions, which can be and have been construed as presenting dilemmas that researchers must face. A multiplistic approach is then proposed, an approach that reflects a choice to view the various distinctions, not as dilemmas, but as opportunities for much needed syntheses. From the theoretical point of view, the main distinctions have to do with the emphasis on the affective versus the cognitive component of evaluation, on evolutionary versus cultural accounts of environmental preference, and on the use of informational versus content variables for characterizing environments. From the methodological point of view, one of the more common dilemmas researchers face has to do with the distinction between quantitative versus qualitative methods. A distinction between basic and applied research has both theoretical and methodological implications. The present state of environmental evaluation research is such that a multiplistic approach is needed, one that recognizes the roles of both affective and cognitive variables, the merits of both qualitative and quantitative methods, the contributions of both cultural and evolutionary accounts, and so forth. Elaboration of a multiplistic approach is provided with reference to landscape perception research carried out by the author.


After decades of scholarship on the civil rights movement at the local level, the insights of bottom-up movement history remain essentially invisible in the accepted narrative of the movement and peripheral to debates on how to research, document, and teach about the movement. This collection of original works refocuses attention on this bottom-up history and compels a rethinking of what and who we think is central to the movement.The essays examine such locales as Sunflower County, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee; and Wilson, North Carolina; and engage such issues as nonviolence and self-defense, the implications of focusing on women in the movement, and struggles for freedom beyond voting rights and school desegregation. Events and incidents discussed range from the movement's heyday to the present and include the Poor People's Campaign mule train to Washington, D.C., the popular response to the deaths of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King, and political cartoons addressing Barack Obama's presidential campaign.The kinds of scholarship represented here--which draw on oral history and activist insights (along with traditional sources) and which bring the specificity of time and place into dialogue with broad themes and a national context--are crucial as we continue to foster scholarly debates, evaluate newer conceptual frameworks, and replace the superficial narrative that persists in the popular imagination.


A growing number of studies have assessed the functional equivalency of restored and natural salt marshes. Several of these have explored the use of functional trajectories to track the increase in restored marsh function over time; however, these studies have disagreed as to the usefulness of such models in long‐term predictions of restored marsh development. We compared indicators of four marsh functions (primary production, soil organic matter accumulation, sediment trapping, and maintenance of plant communities) in 6 restored and 11 reference (matched to restored marshes using principal components analysis) salt marshes in the Great Bay Estuary. The restored marshes were all constructed and planted on imported substrate and ranged in age from 1 to 14 years. We used marsh age in a space‐for‐time substitution to track constructed salt marsh development and explore the use of trajectories. A high degree of variability was observed among natural salt marsh sites, displaying the importance of carefully chosen reference sites. As expected, mean values for constructed site (n = 6) and reference site (n = 11) functions were significantly different. Using constructed marsh age as the independent variable and functional indicator values as dependent variables, nonlinear regression analyses produced several ecologically meaningful trajectories (r 2> 0.9), demonstrating that the use of different‐aged marshes can be a viable approach to developing functional trajectories. The trajectories illustrated that although indicators of some functions (primary production, sediment deposition, and plant species richness) may reach natural site values relatively quickly (<10 years), others (soil organic matter content) will take longer.


Internet-based business-to-business (B2B) commerce is revolutionizing the way business is conducted between organizations. Business procurement has emerged as the key driver of this B2B revolution. Online procurement services, or eprocurement, that automate all or part of the requisition-to-settlement processes and the new strategic emphasis on the purchasing function has made eprocurement the hottest area of Internet commerce today.
The procurement of goods and services is a source of frustration and costly inefficiency in many organizations due to continue relience on inefficient manual,
paper-based processes. E-Procurement promises to change the purchasing process dramatically, making it faster, cheaper and result in huge cost savings and increased efficiency. E-Procurement solutions can help organizations to manage the entire workflow and administration involved in procuring goods and services and at the same time encourage better sourcing and supply management. One of the Malaysia's pioneer e-government projects, e-procurement, will officially take over the registration of the government's 28,000 suppliers nationwide as soon as the system and infrastructure are ready. Most small to
medium enterprises however, have paid little attention to the automation and integration of purchasing operating resources, such as office supplies, telephones, overnight delivery, travel and entertainment, and printing and publishing. These costs are often a greater portion of total revenue, additionally most companies do not realize how much capital is invested in the inventory and management of operating assets. This project is concerned with defining and developing an e-Procurement system
that would help the SMI companies to streamline the purchasing process. The procurement solution adopted for this project is based on the concept of private exchange. It is ideal for SMI companies and provides the opportunity for the organizations to create their own community. The ultimate goal of this project is redefining and streamlining the procurement process for indirect material and to find a more effective way to connect buyers to sellers and improving the efficiency of the purchasing process. Firstly, the paper presents the overall
concepts of e-procurement, followed by the alternative e-procurement solution that had been implemented in the market. A case study is conducted for a selected SMI company to further understand the operation and identify the potential areas of utilizing the e-procurement system. System analysis will emphasize on the business requirement of the procurement process and identify the limitations of the SMI companies in terms of the availability of various
enterprise-wide solutions. System design is concerned not only with designing the new proposed system but to redefine the current process and practice of procurement in the SMI companies. In addition, company approaches to eprocurement depends on the structure of the organization and the industry it competes in. Structured system analysis and design methodology is used to conduct the full study of the proposed system. Lastly, a proposed e-procurement model for the SMI companies will be developed and presented.


A retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the results of telescoping (group I) versus non telescoping rods (group II) in the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta. Thirty-three lower limb segments in ten patients were studied (14 segments in group I and 19 segments in group II). The surgical techniques of Sofield and Miller (1959) and Lang-Stevenson and Sharrard (1984) for rod insertion were used. All cases were assessed clinically regarding mobility status, growth and limb-length, refracture, and infection. They were also assessed radiologically regarding rod migration, bone outgrowing the rod, incorrect T-piece placement, breakage and bending of rods. The average duration of follow-up was 86.2 months (range: 6 to 8 years). Mobility status and bone growth were better in group I than in group II patients. The overall implant related complication rate was 28.6% in group I in comparison to 68.4% in group II. Rod migration was twice more common in group II than in group I. Bone outgrowing the rod and breakage of rods with fracture was seen in group II only. The three-year survival rate for telescoping rods was 92.9% in contrast to 68.4% for non telescoping rods. The reoperation rate was 7.2% in group I and 31.6% in group II. From this comparative study it was clear that the results were significantly better after Sheffield rods with regard to mobility status, longevity of the rod, and the frequency of complications requiring reoperations. Also most of the complications were related to the technique of rod insertion and the type of rod.


Research interest in the thermo-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils is growing as a result of an increasing number of geomechanical problems involving both thermal and unsaturated effects. A new constitutive model dealing with partially saturated soils under non-isothermal conditions is presented through a unified and highly coupled constitutive approach. In the context of the elasto-thermoplasticity and the critical state theory, the so-called ACMEG-TS model uses the concepts of multi-mechanism and bounding surface theory. The generalized effective stress framework is adopted to represent the stress state in the soil. This model brings advancements on the thermo-hydraulic couplings that directly affect the mechanical behaviour of the materials. The constitutive relations based on the evolutions of the two key parameters (the preconsolidation pressure and the air-entry suction) make it possible to reproduce the main features of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils. Theoretical aspects of the paper are supported by comparisons between numerical simulations and experimental results extracted from literature.


: Objective To investigate the effect of caffeine citrate treatment on early pulmonary function in preterm infants with apnea. Methods Forty preterm infants with apnea were randomly divided into aminophylline treatment group (20 infants) and caffeine citrate treatment group (20 infants). When the preterm infants experienced apnea after birth, they were given aminophylline or caffeine citrate in addition to assisted ventilation with continuous positive airway pressure (NCPAP). After drug discontinuation, pulmonary function was measured and compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, compared with the aminophylline treatment group, the caffeine citrate treatment group had significantly higher tidal volume, minute ventilation volume, ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory time, ratio of volume to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory volume, peak expiratory flow, and breathing flow at 75%, 50%, and 25% of tidal volume ( P <0.05). The caffeine citrate treatment group had a significantly shorter time of oxygen use and NCPAP support than the aminophylline treatment group ( P <0.01). Compared with the aminophylline treatment group, the caffeine citrate treatment group had a significantly lower frequency of apnea attacks ( P <0.01). Conclusions In the treatment of apnea in preterm infants, caffeine citrate can improve early pulmonary function and reduce the incidence of apnea. [Chin


Proteins are essential players of the cell that control and affect all functions. In proteins, structural patterns consist of a few amino acids which assemble in a specific arrangement. Due to their specific structures, they are recognized as the functionally important sites of the proteins, and conserved even in distantly related proteins. Moreover, several structural patterns merge and form domains which are also associated with the proteins function. In this work, we introduced a method for finding structure patterns common to a protein pair by using graphlet mappings. We presented protein structures with graphs, and then generate graphlets. Local alignments are produced by mapping the generated graphlets from protein pairs. Moreover, by merging these local alignments, we tried to recognize functionally important domains. These common domains are very useful in protein function prediction, fold classification and homology relationship detection. In this work, our algorithm was first applied to fold classification problem and 80% accuracy was observed. Furthermore, our algorithm was also used for protein function prediction and 97% accuracy was observed.


Aims Chloral hydrate remains a popular sedative agent in Paediatrics because of an available oral formulation and relatively mild side effect profile. However, its use for MAG3 scanning can prove problematic because of its unpredictable onset, long duration, and the lack of a reversal agent. The aims of this study were to identify: Whether sufficient time was given between administration and scanning for chloral hydrate to be effective. Whether appropriate doses were being administered. How many patients required repeated doses of sedation. How many scans were delayed or cancelled because of inadequate sedation. Ways to improve current practice. Method A retrospective study looking at all patients from a general paediatric ward who underwent MAG3 scanning between August 2009 and April 2013. For each patient, data was recorded on dose, duration of action, number of doses given and recorded delay. Results 11 cases underwent scanning during the study period. 100% of children received the current recommended dosage as per guidance of 50 mg/kg for less than 6 months and 75 mg/kg for over 6 months. Only 9% received chloral hydrate one hour prior to scanning as per protocol. 8/11 (73%) cases required additional doses of sedation in order to perform the scan. The number of additional doses required ranged from 1–8. The delay from initial dose to effective sedation ranged from 30–205 min with age, weight, duration of sedation prior to procedure and travelling distance to the hospital site impacting on this time. 100% of patients underwent scanning on the planned date but the child who incurred the longest delay was almost postponed. Conclusion Children receiving chloral hydrate greater than 45 min prior to their scan were more effectively sedated, required fewer repeated doses and experienced less delay in the scan being completed. Older children, with an increased awareness of the clinical situation generally required several doses of sedation and would benefit from a higher initial dose being administered. It would also be appropriate to prescribe a second additional dose and reserve it for those who don't respond after 45 min to avoid delay in subsequent administration.


In this paper we study the implications of the introduction of the co-decision procedure for the European Union"s Common Agricultural Policy and its reform. We use a game-theoretical model of the legislative procedures in the European Union and show that the move from consultation to co-decision implies a shift of power from the Commission to the European Parliament. The implications for the Common Agricultural Policy depend on the configuration of preferences, the location of the status quo, and the bargaining powers in the Conciliation Committee. If the member states and the European Parliament are more opposed to reform than is the Commission, the introduction of co-decision reduces the prospects for reform of the European Union"s Common Agricultural Policy. The research was financially supported by the KUL Research Council (Methusalem).


Goods and services tax is described as a huge indirect tax structure designed to support and improve the economic growth of the country. So far, 134 countries have implemented GST. In 1999 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his Council of Economic Advisors (IG Patel, Bimal, Jalan, C) with a joint meeting with the National Governors advisor "goods and services tax" was proposed and progress. In 2002, the Vajpayee government formed the headquarters of Vijay Kelkar to recommend tax reforms. In 2005 the Kelkar Committee advised to apply the GST as proposed by the 12th Financial Commission. The tax on goods and services was launched on 1 July 2017 at midnight by Prime Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The launch was marked by a historic midnight (1 - 2 July) session on two houses of parliament convened in the convention center. But the implementation has a big tint and cries. It will be interesting to understand why this proposed GST system can hamper the growth and development of the country. Surat traders called for a two-week strike against the 5% GST charged on the fabric according to the Guarantee Center can look at their requirements for roll back. When the GST statement came out, thousands of textile merchants from Surat closed their stores in the past two weeks to protest against the new tax structure. The announcement to withdraw the protest was made by traders who met Arun Jaitley, the Minister of Finance, on 17 July 2011 in Delhi.


In 1985 The WELL, a dial-up discussion board, began with the phrase: You own your own words. Though almost everything else about online discussion has changed in the two decades since, those words still describe its central premise, and this basic idea underlies both the power and the popularity of blogging today. Appropriately enough, it also describes American journalism as it existed a century and a half before The WELL was organized, before the concept of popular involvement in the press was nearly swept away on the rising tide of commercial and professional journalism. In this book, which is the first to provide readers with a cultural/historical account of the blog, as well as the first to analyze the different aspects of this growing phenomenon in terms of its past, Aaron Barlow provides lay readers with a thorough history and analysis of a truly democratic technology that is becoming more important to our lives every day. The current popularity of political blogs can be traced back to currents in American culture apparent even at the time of the Revolution. At that time there was no distinct commercial and professional press; the newspapers, then, provided a much more direct outlet for the voices of the people. In the nineteenth century, as the press became more commercial, it moved away from its direct involvement with politics, taking on an observer stance-removing itself from the people, as well as from politics. In the twentieth century, the press became increasingly professional, removing itself once more from the general populace. Americans, however, still longed to voice their opinions with the freedom that the press had once provided. Today, blogs are providing the means for doing just that.


In this study, we develop two Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) models as new metaheuristic models for solving the time-constrained Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). Here, the time-constrained TSP means a TSP in which several cities have constraints that the agents have to visit within prescribed time limits. In our ACO models, only agents that achieved tour under certain conditions defined in respective ACO models are allowed to modulate pheromone deposition. The agents in one model are allowed to deposit pheromone only if they achieve a tour satisfying strictly the above purpose. The agents in the other model is allowed to deposit pheromone not only if they achieve a tour satisfying strictly the above purpose, but also if they achieve a tour satisfying the above purpose in some degree. We compare performance of two developed ACO models by focusing on pheromone deposition. We confirm that the later model performs well to some TSP benchmark datasets from TSPLIB in comparison to the former and the traditional AS (Ant System) models. Furthermore, the agent exhibits critical properties; i.e., the system exhibits complex behaviors. These results suggest that the agents perform adaptive travels by coordinating some complex pheromone depositions.


This paper presents a one-layer recurrent neural network for solving convex programming problems subject to linear equality and nonnegativity constraints. The number of neurons in the neural network is equal to that of decision variables in the optimization problem. Compared with the existing neural networks for optimization, the proposed neural network has lower model complexity. Moreover, the proposed neural network is proved to be globally convergent to the optimal solution(s) under some mild conditions. Simulation results show the effectiveness and performance of the proposed neural network.


Although hand grip strength is critical to the daily lives of humans and our arboreal great ape relatives, the human hand has changed in form and function throughout our evolution due to terrestrial bipedalism, tool use, and directional asymmetry (DA) such as handedness. Here we investigate how hand form and function interact in modern humans to gain an insight into our evolutionary past. We measured grip strength in a heterogeneous, cross-sectional sample of human participants (n = 662, 17 to 83 years old) to test the potential effects of age, sex, asymmetry (hand dominance and handedness), hand shape, occupation, and practice of sports and musical instruments that involve the hand(s). We found a significant effect of sex and hand dominance on grip strength, but not of handedness, while hand shape and age had a greater influence on female grip strength. Females were significantly weaker with age, but grip strength in females with large hands was less affected than those with long hands. Frequent engagement in hand sports significantly increased grip strength in the non-dominant hand in both sexes, while only males showed a significant effect of occupation, indicating different patterns of hand dominance asymmetries and hand function. These results improve our understanding of the link between form and function in both hands and offer an insight into the evolution of human laterality and dexterity.


In a study of 523 consecutive tibial fractures, 33 were located in the proximal extra-articular segment. There were two fracture groups with different epidemiological characteristics and prognoses: group 1 fractures were metaphyseal in location, follow low-velocity injuries and have a good prognosis with non-operative treatment; group 2 injuries are high-energy diaphyseal fractures. Treatment of these latter fractures proved difficult, with all methods showing significant complications. Overall there was a 26% incidence of malunion, 7% deep infection and 7% compartment syndrome. Only 44% of patients with group 2 fractures returned to full function. Epidemiological analysis showed that proximal tibial fractures are closer to comminuted and segmental fractures in severity than to middle- and distal-third fractures. It is suggested, on the basis of our results, that they should be treated with either compression plating or closed external fixation.


Understanding how a task group's demographic composition influences its effectiveness requires considering situational demands. We explore this insight in a high-pressure situation, Himalayan mountain climbing. We hypothesize that the distribution of members' nationality withinclimbing expeditions is a meaningful basis for ingroup categorization, and that nationalheterogeneity within expeditions is associated with intragroup competition manifested through climbers' propensity to take more risk to reach the summit. We test this hypothesis using an archival dataset comprised of 2,756 non-commercial Himalayan expeditions undertaken from1950 to 2010. Our results show that nationally diverse expeditions are more likely to experience a climber injury or death but also that a greater proportion of their group will reach the summit of their target mountain. We also conduct individual level analyses to better understand howrelative demography—being part of a more or less heavily represented nation in the expedition—influences climbers' likelihood of being injured or killed and summiting. We discuss the implications of our findings for group demography research and consider how they might extend to work groups that operate in other types of high-pressure environments.


Abstract Using transactions-based calendar time (TBCT) portfolio analysis, we investigate informativeness of trades of investor categories, namely institutions, proprietary traders, and retail clients. We find that trade informativeness is positive for institutional and negative for retail-client investors. The informativeness of liquidity-demanding trades are less than the informativeness of liquidity-supplying trades for all trading groups, over both long and short horizons. We also find that institutions are benefitted by algorithmic executions compared to manual executions and this benefit is elevated on days of high volume and volatility. Proprietary algorithmic traders (high-frequency traders) generate positive alpha for their trades only from their liquidity-supplying trades.