Ventricular Tachycardia (VT) and Ventricular Fibrillation (VF) are fatal cardiac diseases associated with cardiac arrest. It is difficult to manually classify VT and VF signals. However, precise classification of VT and VF signals can assist cardiologists to identify and ultimately prevent onset of VF or VT. In this thesis, some of the underlying features which characterize VF and VT are extracted and are used to efficiently classifying these signals. The features are acquired from energy coefficients matrices using Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) through application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The features are the vector containing newly generated energy projection coefficients and the vector containing the number of the top 99% principal components (Eigen-Values) for each case. Feature vectors are then passed through Fast Forward Neural Network (FFNN) and Leave One Out Method (LOOM) classifiers for discrimination. The results are then compared for the highest classification results for VF and VT signals.


Vicia faba (L) seeds form protein as their major food reserve. The two major storage proteins, vicilin and legumin, which account for up to 20% dry weight of the mature seed are formed within a comparatively short period during seed development, and during this period, a significant part of the total metabolism of the cell is directed towards their synthesis. An active cell-free amino acid incorporating system has been isolated from developing seeds, and its conditions of activity determined in in vitro incubations using polyuridylic acid as a messenger. Bacterial contamination of the incubations was low. The activity of this system in amino acid incorporation is compared with other in vitro systems from plants. Microsomes, enzyme fractions and tRNA were prepared from developing seeds of different ages, and the above system-was used to assay changes in the amino acid incorporating activity of components from different ages of seeds, to see if any correlation could be found between the changes in the in vivo protein synthetic activity during seed development with the changes in the in vitro efficiency of the components in incorporation. Rates of in vitro amino acid incorporation were compared with the estimated rate of in vivo synthesis of the storage proteins. The changes in the in vitro amino acid incorporating activity are discussed with reference to the anatomical changes occurring during seed development, as seen in electron micrographs of developing seeds, and in particular with reference to the changes in the free and membrane bound ribosome content. Further evidence for the role of the membrane bound ribosomes in storage protein synthesis is presented.


The traditional practice of polygyny, whereby only a man is allowed to marry more than one wife in a customary marriage, has long been perceived to be an offender of women's rights. Recent family law reforms on the African continent show that the focus has been on promoting and protecting the rights of women as defined in international human rights law, as well as on respecting the practice of polygyny. These legislative reforms in jurisdictions such as Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa show that the approach to regulating polygyny has been either to legalise, abolish, or regulate the practice. In view of the focus in these reforms on both women's rights and respect for the practice of polygyny, this paper examines the different approaches of the selected countries to regulating the practice. In particular, this paper investigates how these countries are striking a balance between polygyny and the protection of women's rights. It will also highlight the difficulties that law reformers face in regulating the practice in such a way as to protect women's rights, as well as the gaps in the law reforms that need to be addressed.


Purpose
Despite the strong focus on virtues in firms, humility is little recognized in the management literature and, more particularly in the literature about knowledge sharing (KS). Despite efforts to foster KS among employees in firms, the effectiveness of this process narrows down to the dyadic relationship between the knowledge seeker and provider within firm. This paper aims to investigate the role of humility in the KS process in dyadic activity.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors undertake an exploratory investigation to fill some of the gaps found in the literature. The paper draws insights from psychology, history, religion, current events and management literature.

Findings
The authors identify several individual propensities that help predict humility towards sharing knowledge from seeker (humble knowledge-inquiry) and provider perspectives (humble response). They propose a new conceptual process model of KS with humility as an important variable to consider. This work highlights several promising directions for future research.

Originality/value
As per the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper that investigates the role of humility in knowledge sharing from dyadic perspective. The authors also introduce concepts of humble knowledge inquiry and humble response in a dyadic context for effective knowledge sharing process.


PURPOSE
To determine whether the 12-lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism is present in the human lens and whether 12(S)-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12(S)-HETE) plays a role in regulating proto-oncogene expression and DNA synthesis in human lens epithelial cells (HLECs).

METHODS
Second- and third-passage primary cultures of HLECs were used for analysis. Human cataract epithelia were obtained from surgery. 12-lipoxygenase mRNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the PCR product was sequenced. The 12-lipoxygenase protein was detected by immunoblotting. 12(S)-HETE was detected in HLEC-conditioned medium by radioimmunoassay. For studies of growth factor-induced mitogenesis, HLECs were serum starved, then stimulated with 15 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF) and 1 microgram/ml insulin or with 0.3 microM 12(S)-HETE. The 12-lipoxygenase inhibitor, cinnamyl-3,4-dihydroxy-alpha-cyanocinnamate (CDC, 10 microM) was used to block endogenous 12-lipoxygenase activity. Expression of c-fos mRNA was determined by RT-PCR, and DNA synthesis was measured by 3H-thymidine incorporation.

RESULTS
12-lipoxygenase mRNA and protein were detected in HLECs and in human cataract tissues. 12(S)-HETE was released into the medium by HLECs in the presence of EGF-insulin. Stimulation of c-fos mRNA expression and DNA synthesis by EGF-insulin was inhibited when the 12-lipoxygenase pathway was blocked by CDC. This inhibition was reversed completely by exogenously added 12(S)-HETE. However, exogenous 12(S)-HETE was unable to stimulate HLEC DNA synthesis in the absence of growth factors.

CONCLUSIONS
The 12-lipoxygenase pathway of arachidonic acid metabolism is present in human lens epithelial cells. 12(S)-HETE does not stimulate HLEC DNA synthesis in the absence of growth factors but enables the cellular response to EGF and insulin.


Camisea asset is possibly the most important mega gas asset in South America, and constitutes for more than 90% of Peru's gas production. The asset consists of several fields with varying degrees of subsurface complexities, multiple fluid types ranging from very lean to very rich gas condensate. The combined production is routed to gas processing plant via a network of pipelines. The entire development is in an environmentally sensitive area and adds to the complexity of the surface network design process. For these reasons, performing integrated production systems simulations is essential for designing the surface network with appropriate fidelities for each component of the IPSM.
 In current work, a complex integrated production system was developed for Block A of the asset. It is a 2-field system with complex fluid behavior. The various fluids blend in the well tubings, as well in the combined surface network. The produced gas is treated in the plant for liquid extraction, and dry gas is routed for sales and re-injection. For all this work, a new multi-fidelity IPSM tool was used in both implicit as well as explicit coupling mode.
 This was achieved by doing both implicit as well as explicit coupling of the reservoir simulation models with well models and surface network model. As a result of this work, a reliable long-term production forecast of the field could be performed. Additionally, the pipe design and network constraints could be evaluated and compression needs variation with time could be assessed. Lastly, with the use of a fit-for-purpose fidelity level for any IPSM component, more efficient and reliable forecasts could be readily generated.
 A comparison between implicit and explicit coupling of IPSM components is generally missing from the available literature. This study fills in this gap by providing the option to do the two couplings using a single simulation tool, thus providing a consistent comparison. In addition to the various long-term production forecasts, the benefits and drawbacks of the two coupling approaches has been presented in this paper.


OBJECTIVE—Diabetes results from a deficiency of functional β-cells due to both an increase in β-cell death and an inhibition of β-cell replication. The molecular mechanisms responsible for these effects in susceptible individuals are mostly unknown. The objective of this study was to determine whether a gene critical for cell division and cell survival in cancer cells, survivin, might also be important for β-cells. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We generated mice harboring a conditional deletion of survivin in pancreatic endocrine cells using mice with a Pax-6-Cre transgene promoter construct driving tissue-specific expression of Cre-recombinase in these cells. We performed metabolic studies and immunohistochemical analyses to determine the effects of a mono- and biallelic deletion of survivin. RESULTS—Selective deletion of survivin in pancreatic endocrine cells in the mouse had no discernible effects during embryogenesis but was associated with striking decreases in β-cell number after birth, leading to hyperglycemia and early-onset diabetes by 4 weeks of age. Serum insulin levels were significantly decreased in animals lacking endocrine cell survivin, with relative stability of other hormones. Exogenous expression of survivin in mature β-cells lacking endogenous survivin completely rescued the hyperglycemic phenotype and the decrease in β-cell mass, confirming the specificity of the survivin effect in these cells. CONCLUSIONS—Our findings implicate survivin in the maintenance of β-cell mass through both replication and antiapoptotic mechanisms. Given the widespread involvement of survivin in cancer, a novel role for survivin may well be exploited in β-cell regulation in diseased states, such as diabetes.


The motor system includes structures distributed widely through the CNS, and in this feature article we present a scheme for how they might cooperate in the control of action. Distributed modules, which constitute the basic building blocks of our model, include recurrent loops connecting distant brain structures, as well as local circuitry that modulates loop activity. We consider interconnections among the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and cerebral cortex and the specialized properties of certain cell types within each of those structures, namely, striatal spiny neurons, cerebellar Purkinje cells, and neocortical pyramidal cells. In our model, striatal spiny neurons of the basal ganglia function in contextual pattern recognition under the training influence of reinforcement signals transmitted in dopamine fibers. Cerebellar Purkinje cells also function in pattern recognition, in their case to select and execute actions through training supervised by climbing fibers, which signal discoordination. Neocortical pyramidal cells perform collective computations learned through a local training mechanism and also function as information stores for other modular operations. We discuss how distributed modules might function in a parallel, cooperative manner to plan, modulate, and execute action.


Improving the resilience of the economy in the face of uncertain climate change damages involves irreversible investments to scale up new technologies that are less vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The benefit of having such options includes the avoided welfare cost of diverting consumption to scaling up the new technology after production possibilities have been diminished by climate change impacts. This needs to be balanced against the upfront cost of scaling up a technology that is potentially less productive than incumbent technologies. The paper uses a real options approach to investigate this trade-off, based on numerical simulation of a multi-period model of economic growth and climate change impacts that includes a one-time cost associated with scaling up the alternative technology. The value of the option provided by investment in the more resilient technology depends on the ex-ante volatility of climate change damages, as well as how rapidly climate change degrades the productivity of the economy's established technology. In addition, the size of scale-up cost that leaves the economy indifferent between investing and not investing in the new technology can be used to define the value of early investment in the less climate change–vulnerable technology as a sort of call option.


"In military structures, the leader has always been at the forefront of organising and carrying out specific actions with the aim of increasing the organisation's efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, the military organisation's efficiency and effectiveness are the effects of leaders' ability to react to disturbances, ensuring optimal orientation of those in command, and finding optimal answers to the questions "how" and "what" is to be done so that the best organisational course of action could be achieved. In this article we consider it appropriate to analyse emotional intelligence, how it influences military leadership, how an optimal affective environment influences the military actions, and to answer the question: Do military leaders need emotional intelligence?"


Bruchids are seed borers and attack on wild leguminous hosts in field and the edible legumes in stores. All the known beetles of family Bruchidae feed on seeds of 34 families of kingdom Plantae and about 80% of them feed on the seeds belonging to family Fabaceae. Bruchids attacking green pods of wild legumes are usually univoltine, has specific but long developmental period and life span. These are generally referred as field bruchids. Field studies on the biology of Bruchidius albizziae Arora (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on the pods of Acacia catechu Willd revealed that the heavy seed infestation occurred from early March to second week of April, 2014. The study on biology of B. albizziae on seed pods indicated 7.0±1.49 days oviposition period, 6.5±1.08 days incubation period, larval period 39.7±2.33 days while pupal period was 6.4±1.17 days. The adult longevity for male was 10.9 ± 1.66 days where as for female 12.7 ± 2.49 days. The total developmental period was 48.2 ± 4.15 days. Along with the emergence of adult bruchids, a larval parasitoid, Entedon albiziarum Rasplus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae: Entedontinae) has also been recorded. This bio-controlling agent plays an important role in the suppression of pest population in the field.


B cells have a central role in the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), an animal model of the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis. In this report, a specific subset of an innate type of B cells, B-1 B cells, have been studied for the involvement in CIA. The B-1 B cells were shown to produce small amounts of collagen-specific antibodies upon stimulation in vitro, suggesting that they play a minor role in the development of CIA. This report also includes how marginal zone B cells, another innate type of B cells with natural collagen-reactivity, can be identified in the medullary sinuses of lymph nodes of collagen-immunized mice, implying involvement in auto antigen trapping.


OBJECTIVE
Intrusive thoughts are characterized by a sense of intrusiveness of foreign entry into cognition. While not always consisting of negative content, intrusive thoughts are almost solely investigated in that context. Involuntary Musical Imagery (INMI) offers a promising alternative, as it is a type of involuntary cognition that can be used to evaluate intrusiveness without negative content.

METHODS
In Study 1, 200 participants completed self-report questionnaires to assess several aspects of intrusiveness: meta-awareness, control, repetitiveness, frequency, and subjective experience of INMI. In Study 2, 203 participants completed self-report questionnaires to explore the clinical characteristics (depression, stress, anxiety, and rumination) which might mediate the connection between INMI frequency and INMI negative experience.

RESULTS
Study 1 revealed, through exploratory factor analysis, that intrusiveness shares variance with the negative experience of INMI but not with INMI frequency. In Study 2, ruminative thinking was found to mediate the relationship between frequent INMI and the negative experience of INMI.

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that INMI might be used to investigate intrusiveness in the lab without the potential confound of negative emotions. In addition, the results suggest that neither the content nor the frequency of intrusive thoughts can solely explain why these thoughts are aversive to some but not others. Ruminative style might be the missing link to explain how and why these intrusive thoughts become aversive and obsessive. In other words, we suggest that the cause for intrusiveness lies not in the thought or repetitiveness, but in the thinker.


Some philosophers of mathematics argue that the role of mathematical models in science is merely representational: when scientists use mathematical models they only believe that they are adequate representations of the physical phenomenon under investigation. Others disagree with this view and argue that mathematical models also serve as genuine explanations in science. Consequently, the application of mathematical models in science cannot be treated instrumentally and we ought to be realists about mathematics. I advance two reasons to reject realist conclusion: genuine mathematical explanations are indistinguishable from spurious ones. And, for mathematical models to be explanatory, they have to be "bottom-level"; I deny that we can know which explanations (if any) are bottom level in science. I contend that what plays the explanatory role is the impure function that links physical structures to mathematical structures.


The purpose of this research is to examine empirically how the influence of monetary economic system of Islam in the economic stability in Indonesia and compare it with the conventional economic system. This research is expected to explain that the sharia banking is said still new if compared with conventional banks that have the influence to economic stability in affairs and more effective in improving the welfare of the Indonesian people and to be able to survive in the face of inflation using the system of result sharing. The material used in this research is the request of Islam money variable is all (Depositor funds Third Party) sharia banks in Indonesia. The variables for the results sharing of the form of return (acquisition business activities) from investment contracts from time to time, is uncertain and does not remain in the sharia banks. How big or small of the gains depends on the business results that really obtained by sharia banks. Conventional Money Demand variable is all demand deposit on conventional banks in Indonesia, Conventional Bank Rate variable (BI rate), Variables Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services produced in a country in a specific period of time and inflation variables in Indonesia. Observasi data used is variables data in the time frame of the 11 years namely from 2005 to 2015. The data is obtained from the BPS and Bank Indonesia. To perform data processing, author uses software SPSS. Research results on the first model simultaneously prove that the demand for Sharia money and for the results sharing of the effect of the GDP, partially both also affect the GDP. In the second model simultaneously proves that the demand for Sharia money and for the results sharing of the effect of inflation, partially variable only for the results sharing that affect inflation. In the third model simultaneously proves that the demand for conventional money and the BI rate affect the GDP, partially only demand of conventional money (Giral) that affect GDP. On the fourth model simultaneously proves that the demand for conventional money (Giral) and BI rate influence on inflation, partially both also affect inflation.


We studied tone-vowel coproduction using Electromagnetic Articulography (EMA). Fleshpoints on the tongue and jaw were tracked while native Chinese speakers (n = 6) produced three vowels, /a/, /i/, /u/, combined with four Chinese tones. We found differences in tongue position across tones for /a/ and for /i/ but not for /u/. The low and rising tones patterned together in conditioning lower tongue blade (TB) position for /a/ and a higher TB position for /i/. This pattern suggests a degree of inter-dependence between tonal and vocalic targets. The effect of tone on TB height was mediated by jaw movement such that, even as TB sensor position varied across tones, the Euclidean distance between TB and Jaw sensors within each vowel remained stable. Thus, for this set of Chinese vowels, there is a relational invariance between active articulators, tongue and jaw. When viewed in terms of this relation, vowel and tonal targets appear to be completely independent.


SUMMARY Research background Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.) is a great source of soluble dietary fibre and starch. Bambara groundnut soluble dietary fibre is rich in bioactive compounds, namely, uronic acids (11.8%) and hydrolysable polyphenols (expressed as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) 20 mg/g), with crucial physiological and functional benefits. The industrial use of native starch is limited because of the inherent undesirable attributes that render it unstable. The aim of this study is to characterise the antioxidant, functional and physicochemical properties of Bambara groundnut starch-soluble dietary fibre nanocomposite (hereafter groundnut nanocomposite). Experimental approach The pasting properties by rapid visco analysis, chemical composition, hydration properties, oil-binding capacity, emulsifying activity index (EAI), emulsion stability index (ESI) and antioxidant properties of Bambara groundnut starch, soluble fibre and nanocomposite were studied. Results and conclusions The Bambara groundnut soluble dietary fibre and nanocomposite did not exhibit typical pasting properties. The nanocomposite had high mass fraction of carbohydrates (78.7%) and proteins (7.0%), low mass fraction of fat (0.8%) and had a considerable mass fraction of ash (4.9%). The Bambara groundnut starch, soluble dietary fibre and nanocomposite showed significant (p<0.001) differences in solubility. Their EAI values were 23.2, 85.7 and 90.6%, respectively, and the ESI values were 23.3, 87.1 and 87.5%, respectively. The three biopolymers differed significantly (p<0.001) in all colour characteristics: lightness (L*), redness/greenness (a*), yellowness/blueness (b*), chroma and hue angles. Their polyphenolic mass fraction, expressed as GAE, was 0.10, 6.6 and 0.46 mg/g, respectively, and their ferric reducing antioxidant power values, expressed as ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE), were 1.2, 4.8 and 1.4 μmol/g, respectively. The phenolic compounds (in mg/g): chlorogenic acid 18, monocrotaline 20, luteolin 7-O-(6''-malonylglucoside) 4 and casuarine 6-α-d-glucoside 27 were present in the dietary fibre but absent from the starch and nanocomposite. The Bambara groundnut nanocomposite possesses desirable physicochemical and antioxidant properties, making it suitable as an ingredient in various food systems. Novelty and scientific contribution Nanocomposites have the potential to revolutionise the food industry but their study as food ingredients is very limited. Furthermore, nothing is known about the physicochemical, functional and antioxidant characteristics of Bambara groundnut nanocomposite, thus investigating these properties will address this knowledge gap.


Ambient air quality tends to be worse due to the particle pollution in the region where the rapid commercialization is going on. Particulate matter (PM) describes fine inhalable particles with the specific diameter and smaller, and air quality monitors measure concentrations of PM throughout certain area. Generally, high-concentrated particles in atmosphere can be harmful to human health and fine particles, called PM2.5, are more dangerous because they can get into the deep parts of human organisms or even into the blood. Due to environmental concerns, various dust collection systems (cyclonic separators, filters, wet scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators) are applied for the degradation of fine particle concentration. These system have each pros and cons but they commonly need more energy or resource to maintaint the efficiency as the particles size become smaller. In this study, electrohydrodynamic spraying process is applied in an air-flowing chamber system in order to generate very small charged liquid droplet which is used for the enhancement of particulate material aggregation on the surface of droplets. The spraying process is based on the phenomena that conductive liquids pushed through a thin capillary may form conically shaped menisci as a result of electrostatic forces and surface tension when an electrical field is applied. We investigate the formation of various size of charged droplets at optimal electric conditions by using the specific polyelectrolyte solution. Droplet formation phenomena at the single-tip nozzle are also monitored by high speed camera and the morphology of charged droplets is correlated with polyelectrolyte solution parameters such as surface tension, viscosity, conductivity.


Semiconducting orthorhombic BaSi2 films were synthesized on Si(111) substrates using magnetron sputtering (MS) and subsequent annealing by interdiffusion between the deposited Ba film and Si(111) substrate. The structural and morphological features of the result films are analysed. The growth mechanism and the evolution of the silicides are discussed. The effects of annealing temperature and annealing time on the growth of the BaSi2 film are studied.


In this work the improvement of HF RFID detection is obtained by the addition of small resonator in the reader coil. In conventional RFID system, the link between the reader and the tag coils is the mutual inductance, the added resonator is magnetically coupled with the reader coil, and then the link is expressed by the mutual impedance. Theoretical calculation of the equivalent mutual impedance of such system is reported and validated by comparison with HFSS simulation and measures.


Magnetic data from archaeological sites have traditionally been displayed by contour, isometric, and dot‐density plotting, or by simulated gray‐scale techniques using symbol overprinting. These methods do not show fine linear structures in the data which are of great interest to archaeologists. If true gray‐scale methods using a modern video display, followed by film recording for hard copy are employed, image processing techniques can be applied to enhance the geometric structures of archaeological interest. Interpolation techniques for enlarging data to full screen size, along with compression methods to keep data within gray‐scale capabilities, are needed. Such techniques would introduce minimum distortion and allow faint details to be seen in the vicinity of strong anomalies. Postprocessing methods based on rapid image spatial filtering and enhancement algorithms could then be applied in an interactive environment.


The internationalisation process in a company embodies a series of projects that are performed in different geographical regions. In some cases, especially in SMEs, companies are not capable of predicting the risks that will be faced during the process and they do not have suitable tools to manage the knowledge acquired in previous internationalisation experiences. Therefore, they fail to turn internationalisation into a sustainable competitive advantage. This paper reports the conclusions of a study based on both a bibliographic research and a comprehensive study of a group of industrial companies. This study includes the analysis of 37 internal reports about internationalisation experiences and the carrying out of semi-structured interviews with managers responsible for international operations. We have identified the main factors (risks) that prevent successful internationalisation processes and we have proposed a taxonomy of them. Furthermore, we have proposed a general framework (model) which provides a common perspective for all internationalisation projects, bringing coherence, and also a certain level of systematisation, to the decisions made in regards to different internationalisation projects. The model provides a systemic vision of the whole internationalisation process and we believe that companies can develop efficient learning systems based on this framework. It would give them differentiation and, therefore, help them to turn internationalisation into a sustainable competitive advantage.


Kruger National Park (KNP) attracts over 1 million tourists per annum and is one of the top five
international destinations in South Africa. However, there is a lot of competition in South Africa
and, together with the 22 national parks managed by SANParks, there are also local and provincial
parks and more than 9,000 game farms with neighboring countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe, and
Botswana competing for ecotourists. This implies the need for higher quality products and services
that must be delivered to the tourist to fulfill the expectations of tourists. This can be achieved by
determining the critical success factors (CSFs) in managing the tourist experience at KNP, since
knowledge of these factors can lead to a satisfied tourist experience that will keep visitors loyal to the
park and thus ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of the KNP. The purpose of this research
is therefore to determine the CSFs of managing the tourist experience at KNP. To achieve this goal, a
questionnaire survey was conducted at KNP from December 27, 2010 to January 4, 2011. Question
naires were distributed at the chalets and camping areas in the following rest camps: Skukuza (152),
Berg & Dal (98), Lower Sabie (85), and Satara (101). A total of 436 questionnaires were obtained
from the rest camps. The results showed that nine CSFs can be identified, which KNP management
can use to improve on quality service delivery, giving the tourists a memorable experience at KNP.
Three of the nine CSFs that have not yet been identified in previous research are ildlife experience,interpretation,
and luxuries


Abstract Ethnographic methods are widely used in design research and provide valuable data for gaining in-depth understanding of any particular situation. To broaden the use of ethnography in design research, first, we investigated how ethnography and design research are related in the last 36 years by focusing on which ethnographic methods are utilized; why and in which domains of design research these methods are applied and, how these three aspects relate to each other altogether. Through content analyses we found meaningful associations between methods, goals and domains of application. Our research identifies gaps on theoretical, methodological and contextual implications. Based on these gaps we propose particular opportunities for future research.


Background: Neck lymph node metastasis has the prognostic role in SCC of the tongue and the importance of the biologic markers in tumor invasion and metastasis has been stated in the medical literature. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between two biomarkers, p 53 and EGFR (which had the main role in cell proliferation) and two other biomarkers, CD44 and E -cadherin, in lymph node metastasis. Methods: In an analytic descriptive study fifty three patients with SCC (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) of the tongue who underwent the resection of tumor and dissection of neck lymph nodes were assessed during the year of 2002-2009 . Histological samples from 53 patients were immunohistochemically stained and the analysis of these markers were performed due to clinicopathological variable and metastasis of the neck lymph nodes. Results: The result showed that among the clinicopathological factors, the relationship between Age (p= 0.01 ), history of having risk factors (p= 0.002 ), clinical lymphadenopathy (p= 0.002 ), the size of the tumor (p= 0.001 ), decreasing of CD44 (p= 0.02 ) and lymph node metastasis of the neck were statistically significant. No significant relationship were found between sex and other biomarkers including p 53 , EGFR , E -cadherin. Conclusion: CD44 is an important indicator of prognostic markers that can also be used as an indicator of clinocopathological markers.


Five authors have described safe and effective sedation-reversal with flumazenil in 150 patients where a benzodiazepine (BZ) was used to supplement regional anaesthesia. Problems of post-reversal anxiety seen with high-dose bolus flumazenil (0.1 mg kg-1) were not seen when flumazenil was titrated to effect and 1.0 mg not exceeded. Efficacy was also demonstrated in reversing amnesia, disorientation and other measures of cognitive function. Resedation that occurred was not clinically important, but prevention of resedation should be by repeated small flumazenil doses, or infusion, rather than a very large initial dose. The use of flumazenil is indicated where BZ sedation during regional anaesthesia has become excessive or suddenly unnecessary, for example BZ paradoxical excitement, and where prompt return to full consciousness is required in day-stay surgery. Further research is required to compare the quality of BZ sedation and reversal with sedation and recovery from propofol.


Abstract To date, the large-scale distribution of the endangered Pyrenean desman, Galemys pyrenaicus, has been related to various abiotic factors (e.g. riverbed and riverbank characteristics, hydrology, topography, climate). However, none could fully explain the recent observed range contraction of the species, suggesting the influence of other drivers. In this study, the potential effect of some unexplored variables on the Pyrenean desman presence was investigated at the local scale (i.e. stream reaches) in the French Pyrenees. They described not only the riverbed, riverbanks, water chemistry, topography and pedology but also the presence of potential interacting species. Generalised linear models were implemented to select the best drivers of the Pyrenean desman presence. Our results stressed the relevance of considering human impacts at the riverbed scale, river narrowing and water chemistry to explain the local distribution of the Pyrenean desman. The presence of two potential competitors, the Eurasian water shrew Neomys fodiens and the dipper Cinclus cinclus, was also highly correlated to the species presence in stream reaches. This suggests that all three species may use the same resources within streams, which could be a potential source of competitive interactions. This study not only highlights the importance of maintaining the riverbed integrity for the Pyrenean desman but also stresses the need to assess the extent to which biotic interactions may affect its distribution in order to understand its current decline.


This essay argues that the work of Araki Yasusada, an alleged Hiroshima survivor and poet who was later discovered to be an invention, offers an important example of the potential of heteronyms to satisfy the reader's desire for an author figure behind the text while simultaneously highlighting the fictive status of this figure. Doubled Flowering: From the Notebooks of Araki Yasusada does this by first building up the heteronym of Yasusada, then systematically effacing him as he himself adopts a variety of other voices and personae. The Yasusada poems also serve to expand the range of what has been called the poetry of witness or trauma literature. Critics of those subgenres have suggested that literature need not be historically accurate, nor even refer directly to those traumatic events. Yasusada takes that a step further, offering an example of how heteronyms can be used to offer testimony about events that the actual author has not witnessed.


Background:
 Finding witnesses for determination of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) time of onset (ToO) is often time-consuming and prolongs door-to-needle time (DNT). Physicians are reluctant to trust the ToO provided by EMS personnel due to little data available on its accuracy. We measured the congruence of EMS-provided ToO relative to physician-determined ToO in suspected AIS patients presenting to the emergency department (ED).

 Methods:
 From March 2010 to September 2011, research coordinators prospectively collected the EMS-provided ToO for each arriving acute stroke patient. The difference between the EMS-provided ToO and physician-determined ToO was calculated for each patient. Summary statistics were examined for the entire patient cohort and the subgroup of tPA-treated patients.

 Results:
 Of the 209 acute stroke alerts, the absolute mean difference in EMS- and physician-ToOs was 16 ± 80 min (median [IQR] = 0 [0,0] min). EMS- vs. physician-ToO was congruent within 15 min 87% of the time. Figure shows histogram of absolute differences for the cohort. Of the 46 patients with any difference (≥1 min) in ToO's, only 2 patients (4.3%) could have been given tPA incorrectly if EMS-provided time had been used (solely based on time-related inclusion criteria for IV tPA up to 4.5 hours). In the subgroup of IV tPA-treated patients (N=40) the absolute mean difference in EMS- and physician-ToOs was 10 ± 27 min (median [IQR] = 0 [0,2.8] min) and were congruent within 15 minutes 88% of the time. None of these patients would have been incorrectly excluded from tPA if EMS-provided times had been used.

 Conclusions:
 In this convenience sample, EMS-provided ToOs were similar to physician-determined ToOs and. If EMS times had been used in place of physician-determined times, this might have resulted in a 1% tPA error rate. Given that determining the ToO often leads to delays in tPA delivery, further studies are needed to confirm that EMS- ToO's are reliable for clinical decision-making.


The paper covers the classification and functional description of electronic buffer memories (i.e., buffers made of semiconductor store and logic). The classification is made according to the servicing policies imposed upon the input stream. Within each class various buffering schemes are examined taking into consideration the input stream characteristics, speed and buffer size requirements, types of memory and circuit technology. Application areas of the buffers, such as computer channels and information distribution systems are cited.


Optical interconnection networks are being used in systems on chip, supercomputers, and datacenters, fueling exascale computing, big data, and artificial intelligence applications. The vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is a popular, mature, and cost-effective photonic transmitter technology that enables energy proportionality by allowing the links' data rate and the associated power consumption to be adjusted. Our work assumes VCSEL-based optical interconnects and presents intelligent centralized and distributed mechanisms to jointly and optimally select the routes, the flow sizes, and the transmission powers needed to serve a given input traffic load, minimize the consumed energy, and optimize performance. For this purpose, we use a detailed VCSEL energy model and formulate the energy minimization problem as a constrained nonlinear multicommodity optimization problem, which is solved optimally with the proposed approaches. The simulation results, carried out under a variety of scenarios, show the efficiency of these methods in terms of throughput and energy consumption.


Macrophages can adapt to the absence of oxygen by switching to anaerobic glycolysis. In this study, we investigated (a) the roles of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru-2,6-P2) and ribose 1,5-bisphosphate (Rib-1,5-P2), potent activators of phosphofructokinase, (b) the enzymes responsible for the synthesis of Rib-1,5-P2, and (c) the mechanisms of regulation of these enzymes in H36.12j macrophages during the initial phase of hypoxia. Within 1 min after initiating hypoxia, glycolysis was activated through activation of phosphofructokinase. Over the same period, Fru-2,6-P2 decreased 50% and recovered completely upon reoxygenation. Similar changes in cAMP levels were observed. In contrast, the Rib-1,5-P2 concentration rapidly increased to a maximum level of 8.0 ± 0.9 nmol/g cell 30 s after hypoxia. Thus, Rib-1,5-P2 was the major factor increasing the rate of glycolysis during the initial phase of hypoxia. Moreover, we found that Rib-1,5-P2 was synthesized by two steps: the ribose-phosphate pyrophosphokinase (5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase; PRPP synthetase) reaction (EC 126.96.36.199) catalyzing the reaction, Rib-5-P + ATP → PRPP + AMP and a new enzyme, "PRPP pyrophosphatase" catalyzing the reaction, PRPP → Rib-1,5-P2 + Pi. Both PRPP synthetase and PRPP pyrophosphatase were significantly activated 30 s after hypoxia. Pretreatment with 1-octadecyl-2-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine and calphostin C prevented the activation of ribose PRPP synthetase and PRPP pyrophosphatase as well as increase in Rib-1,5-P2 and activation of phosphofructokinase 30 s after hypoxia. These data suggest that the activation of the above enzymes was mediated by protein kinase C acting via activation of phosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase C in the macrophages during hypoxia.


The current public transport offers in the South Baltic region seldom meet customer expectations for easiness and attractivity of cross-border/regional journeys and rarely include integrated tickets for multimodal rides. To address that, stakeholders from six regions around the southern Baltic Sea developed the INTERCONNECT project that was guided by a holistic perspective on sustainability. Informed by that, this paper's objective was to propose a tool/method containing a planning process with a comprehensive and on-line open-access catalogue of solutions for sustainable cross-border/regional public transport services to inspire and guide planning and decision-making. The tool/method that was developed in this paper include a 7-step process and a catalogue of 42 solutions that were developed through several workshops and discussions among the authors and other experts in the field. The findings were compared and integrated with literature findings, practical experiences, then assessed against a principled definition of sustainability, and finally scrutinized and reviewed by project partners and external experts. The authors expect the results to sufficiently cover possible solutions for strategic sustainable development of cross-border/regional public transport and to inspire further development in other regions with similar infrastructure and financial means.


A CAD package has been developed for power system analysis. It integrates the simulation programs under a single database and has the capability to switch between system editing, simulation, and result analysis without leaving the environment. It can perform load flow, fault, and harmonic analysis simulations. Power systems can be graphically constructed, modified, and stored, and any of the above simulations can be run at any time using an easy-to-use CAD drawing and data editing module. The package is suitable for educational and industrial use. >


Fast and thick 4H-SiC epitaxial growth is demonstrated in a vertical-type reactor under a low system pressure within the range 13-40 mbar. A very fast growth rate of up to 250 m/h is obtained. The material quality of the epilayers grown in the reactor is evaluated by low-temperature photoluminescence, deep level transient spectroscopy, microwave photoconductive decay, synchrotron topography and room temperature PL imaging. The carrier lifetime of thick epilayers with or without the application of the C+-implantation/annealing method and extended defects in the epilayers grown on 8º and 4º off substrates are discussed.


Aim: To evaluate the level of knowledge of vaginismus in its psychological and sexual causes, the use of medical hypnosis as a therapeutic support, and to create an ad hoc hypnotic model for its treatment trough a grid comprising all dimensions used in the various researches considered in the literature. Methods: The review was performed by consulting the electronic Medline database (PubMed), DSM IV-TR and 5, Benini's biopsychosocial relational theories, and extracts abstracts data from various medical and sexology publications. Results: The vaginismic woman seems to present a psychobiological vulnerability, mainly triggered by hyperactivity of the emotional sphere and by a muscular hypertonus of the pelvic floor that influences the sexual sphere. The data support the idea of a general defensive reaction as a mechanism of involuntary muscular activity of the pelvic floor and a close connection between vaginismus, pelvic contraction, emotional motor system and biological anguishes of the reptilian mind. Conclusions: Further to the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary-approach in the treatment of vaginismus, hypnosis seems to have an impact in shortening therapy time, in pain management and anxiety reduction. According to Benini's approach, the cause of vaginismus is not identified in the fear of penetration but rather in the anguish of the reptilian mind.


To date, nanomaterials have received extensive attention over the years because of their wide application. Various nanomaterials such as nanoparticles, nanowire, nanoring, nanostars and other nanostructures have begun to be systematically studied. The preparation of these materials by chemical methods is not only costly, but also has a long cycle and high toxicity. At the same time, preparation of nanoparticles of multi-doped composites has been limited due to the special structure of the materials. In order to prepare multi-doped composites with the same structure as macro-materials and simplify the preparation method, the GaxCo1-xZnSe0.4 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) nanoparticles are prepared by Pulse Laser Ablation (PLA) method. The particle component and structure are systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra, which show that the success of our preparation and the same concentration between nanoparticles (NPs) and target. Morphology of the NPs characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) indicates the circular-shaped particles in preparation. Fluorescence properties are reflected by PL spectra, which demonstrate the best performance in concentration of Ga0.3Co0.3ZnSe0.4. Therefore, all the results suggest that PLA is promising to prepare the multi-NPs since it can modulate performance of NPs. Keywords—PLA, physics, nanoparticles, multi-doped.


Advances in materials science and a greater understanding of handling characteristics have come about with composite resin systems. This has led to more liberal use of these materials with greater confidence. In particular, greater success has been realized in posterior applications. The combined factors of material selection, case selection, and proper clinical techniques are reviewed in light of established findings.


A comprehensive description of the trading and statistical characteristics of VIX futures and their exchange-traded notes motivates our study of their benefits to equity investors seeking to diversify their exposure. We analyze when diversification into VIX futures is ex-ante optimal for standard mean-variance investors, then extend this to include (a) skewness preference, and (b) a moderation of personal forecasts by equilibrium returns, as in the Black-Litterman framework. An empirical study shows that skewness preference increases the frequency of diversification, but out-of-sample the optimally-diversified portfolios rarely out-perform equity alone, even according to a generalized Sharpe ratio that incorporates skewness preference, except during an extreme crisis period or when the investor has personal access to accurate forecasts of VIX futures returns.


This paper suggests a control technique of the sensorless brushless DC (BLDC) motor drive for a vehicle fuel pump application. The sensorless technique based on a comparator and a potential start-up method with high starting torque are proposed. The comparator is used to generate the commutation signals in phase with the three-phase back-EMFs. The rotor position is aligned at standstill for maximum starting torque without an additional sensor and any information of motor parameters. Also, the stator current can be easily adjusted by modulating the pulse width of the switching devices during alignment. Some experiments are implemented on a single chip 16-bit DSP controller to demonstrate the feasibility of the sensorless techniques.


The subject of this study is the phenomenon of child marriage or early marriage in the area of Gajah Mungkur Reservoir, Wonogiri, particularly related with its implication on the character building. In this area, child marriage has been practiced and traditionally carried out by the local community of 12-20 years in age. Despite the tendency of declining marriage number since 2000, the phenomenon is still rampant. Nevertheless, it has adverse impacts on the effort to build the national character for the future. It implies on the achievements of the Nawa Cita declared by Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla, especially priorities 3, 5, 8, and 9, within the framework of Overhauling the Character of the Nation. This study investigates the problems linked to child marriage, which cover the main factors of poverty, low educational background, communal traditional values, negative social value shift, low awareness of self-development, and low level of scientific literacy. The government, actually, has devised some measures to address this issue, yet they fail to solve the fundamental issue. This phenomenon influences the character building of society towards the ideal characters aspired by the Indonesian nation at least as stated in the Nawa Cita.The data of this study were collected through observation, documentation and in-depth interview. Furthermore, they were analyzed using an eclective technique by simultaneously employed deductive and inductive analysis framework in an attempt to explicate the relationship and implication among various aspects within the issue.


Field hockey is an evolving sport, but it is unclear whether performance analysis techniques are reflective of current best practice. The objective of this review was to identify performance analysis methods used in field hockey, assess their practicality, and provide recommendations on their implementation in the field. A systematic search of the databases SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE and PubMed was performed. Key words addressed performance analysis methods and field hockey, with all other disciplines of sport science excluded. A total of 8 articles were identified from the systematic review. Three studies explored patterns of play in relation to goal scoring opportunities, two articles examined penalty corner strategies and three compared specific actions in hockey. The limited performance analysis research in field hockey has focused on game actions in patterns of play. However, greater insights may be gained by analysing hockey using a holistic approach that incorporates spatio-temporal variables and player-opposition interactions. There is an opportunity to employ novel performance analysis techniques in hockey which provide more practical and effective approaches for analysing strategies and tactics.


Nature has developed many novel solutions and extracting these design solutions from nature is known as biomimetics. Cancellous bone contains trabecular bone (solid) and marrow (fluid), plays an important role for load transfer of the knee joint. The objective of this research is to mimick the solid-liquid composition of the cancellous bone and to develop the material that has the excellent load dispersion ability. In the previous research, the solid-liquid composition of the cancellous bone has been modeled as solid-air composites that was made with Al honeycomb and silicon films. Air pressure in cells affected the load dispersion characteristic under static loading condition. In this study, to investigate the influence of the compression speed, impact tests were carried out. We investigated the influence of directions of holes to cell walls, foil thickness, hole diameter and the number of holes on the load dispersion ability. Presence of silicon film and air in cells affected the load dispersion characteristic under dynamic loading condition. Solid - air composition and relaxing local deformation by optimal design improve load dispersion ability.


The aim of this chapter is to present a literature review on some of the main articles describing different interventions for the treatment in patients with pro-gressive intractable Ménière disease symptoms. Even though each paper presents good results in defending its techniques, there have been few well-designed clinical studies, that is, studies involving control groups or long-term observation, in the efficacy of surgery with respect to vertigo control and hearing preservation. Focusing on presenting the different techniques established in the literature, we dis-cuss the main indications and results obtained regarding the control of vertigo and the audiological outcomes after the procedure. Physicians should offer additional treatment strategies for Meniere's disease patients with a long history of limiting symptoms or associated hearing loss. The surgical options for such patients should be considered carefully because surgery can damage the ipsilateral ear and the hearing function of the contralateral ear is often suboptimal. Its importance is that alternatives for treatment can only be offered to a patient when doctor knows them.


In this paper, we first theoretically report the magnetic and magneto-optical properties in paramagnetic media under high external magnetic field. Considering the action of the external magnetic field He and indirect exchange interaction Hv, the characteristic of the magnetic saturation and the property of the Faraday rotation to be nonlinear with external magnetic field are presented in paramagnetic NdF3. In terms of our theory, the indirect exchange interaction plays an important role in the magnetization M and the Faraday rotation θ in NdF3 under high external magnetic field. The theory is in good agreement with experimental results. On the other hand, a reasonable explanation for the temperature dependence of the ratio of the Verdet constant to the magnetic susceptibility V/x is obtained.


Toads ( Phrynoidis aspera, Ingerophrynus biporcatus, Duttaphrynus melanostictus ) and poisonous rock-frog ( Odorrana hosii ) are members of the class Amphibian from different Families. Previously, those three species toads were in the same genus called Bufo , but now they are clustered in a different genus based on the molecular systematic. Proteins secrete from the parotoid and skin glands are one of self-defense mechanisms against to predators. The aims of this study were to determine and compare the protein patterns in secretes from toad parotoid gland and skin gland of poisonous rock-frog. The specimens were obtained from sampling at several different locations according to their habitats. Secrete collections were done by stressing both physically and chemically. Secrete was extracted by the addition of acid and sonication. The secrete protein concentration was measured by the Bradford test, whereas protein patterns were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The protein concentrations of secrete from toad's parotoid gland are higher ( Phrynoidis aspera 3.50 µg/ml ; Duttaphrynus melanostictus 6.7 µg/ml Ingerophrynus biporcatus 1.32 µg/ml) than in skin gland secretion of poisonous rock- frog (1.07 µg/ml). There are 6 protein bands in parotoid gland secretion of Phrynoidis aspera, 5 protein bands in parotoid gland secretion Ingerophrynus biporcatus and 7 protein bands in secrete of Duttaphrynus melanostictus parotoid glands with molecular weight ranges 12.09-172.51 kDa. However, those proteins are different size of molecular weights for each species.  Furthermore, two protein bands (with different densities) are founded in skin gland secretion of poisonous rock-frog with molecular weight of 66.17 kDa and 78.73 kDa. The differences of genes, habitats and predators may influence the differences of protein patterns in secrete from toad's paratoid gland and frog's skin glands. Those protein patterns could be useful for further studies, especially on Bufo systematic, also for exploring the potential of protein secrete as antibacterial or antifungal.


This thesis attempts to determine where C Magazine and Parachute fit within international developments of theories on identity. Focussing on the period 1983-1996, the study analyzes articles published in these magazines and contextualizes them within theoretical and critical art discourse. Chapter One presents a history of "new art history" and explores the critical milieu from which these journals grew. It also outlines the specific histories of C Magazine and Parachute. Prefaced and contextualized by a brief history of international debates about essentialism, Chapter Two examines these magazines' publication of articles dealing with feminist issues. Foregrounding the developments of gay and lesbian studies and queer theory, Chapter Three explores the appearance in C Magazine and Parachute of articles that address issues of sexual identity. This study is framed by an ongoing discussion of Homi Bhabha's conceptualization of the double inscription of identity through performative action and pedagogical formation, as elucidated in his essay "DissemiNation," published in Nation and Narration.


Fish-like swimming has been attracting scientists and engineers attention since many years resulting in attempts of mathematical description of fish movement and its implementation in many interesting prototypes of underwater vehicles. In this paper, conception of research on simulation, implementation and control of bionic underwater vehicle BUV with undulating propulsion is presented. In the next sections, introduction and mathematical model of bionic underwater vehicle motion are included. Then, the last implementation of the robotic fish called CyberFish, which movement is based on the presented mathematic description is presented and shortly described. In the last sections, conception of research on control system of BUV and conclusions are presented.


While simulation is a crucial cornerstone of modern high energy physics, it places a heavy burden on the available computing resources. These computing pressures are expected to become a major bottleneck for the upcoming high luminosity phase of the LHC and for future colliders, motivating a concerted effort to develop computationally efficient solutions. Methods based on generative machine learning models hold promise to alleviate the computational strain produced by simulation, while providing the physical accuracy required of a surrogate simulator. This contribution provides an overview of a growing body of work focused on simulating showers in highly granular calorimeters, which is making significant strides towards realising fast simulation tools based on deep generative models. Progress on the simulation of both electromagnetic and hadronic showers will be reported, with a focus on the high degree of physical fidelity achieved. Additional steps taken to address the challenges faced when broadening the scope of these simulators, such as those posed by multi-parameter conditioning, will also be discussed.


In 2001, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights concluded consideration of a communication under Article 55 of the African Charter on Human Rights and Peoples' Rights which dealt with alleged violations of human rights of the Ogoni people in Nigeria.1 This communication is important and special, because, for the first time, the Commission was able to deal in a substantive and groundbreaking way with alleged violations of economic, social and cultural rights which formed the substance of the complaint. In addition, in dealing with the communication, the Commission took a firm and dynamic approach that may contribute to a better and more effective protection of economic, social and cultural rights in Africa. This article discusses the case before the Commission and tries to characterize the decision of the Commission as an application of recent approaches to strengthen implementation and supervision of economic, social and cultural rights.


At its inception in the early nineteenth century, political economy in the German territories offered a new science that explored the dynamic interrelationship between human activity and natural processes. An emphasis on the complexity of human needs and the efforts to satisfy them furnished the emerging discipline with a solid anthropological foundation. Nevertheless, German political economists recognized the significant role played by nature in shaping and sustaining the human economy, a recognition that informed their approach to economic science.


Toward an understanding of nanoparticle-bacterial interactions and the development of sensors and other substrates for controlled bacterial adhesion, this article describes the influence of flow on the initial stages of bacterial capture (Staphylococcus aureus) on surfaces containing cationic nanoparticles. A PEG (poly(ethylene glycol)) brush on the surface around the nanoparticles sterically repels the bacteria. Variations in ionic strength tune the Debye length from 1 to 4 nm, increasing the strength and range of the nanoparticle attractions toward the bacteria. At relatively high ionic strengths (physiological conditions), bacterial capture requires several nanoparticle-bacterial contacts, termed "multivalent capture". At low ionic strength and gentle wall shear rates (on the order of 10 s(-1)), individual bacteria can be captured and held by single surface-immobilized nanoparticles. Increasing the flow rate to 50 s(-1) causes a shift from monovalent to divalent capture. A comparison of experimental capture efficiencies with statistically determined capture probabilities reveals the initial area of bacteria-surface interaction, here about 50 nm in diameter for a Debye length κ(-1) of 4 nm. Additionally, for κ(-1) = 4 nm, the net per nanoparticle binding energies are strong but highly shear-sensitive, as is the case for biological ligand-receptor interactions. Although these results have been obtained for a specific system, they represent a regime of behavior that could be achieved with different bacteria and different materials, presenting an opportunity for further tuning of selective interactions. These finding suggest the use of surface elements to manipulate individual bacteria and nonfouling designs with precise but finite bacterial interactions.


The goal of this study is to derive a minimally complex but credible model of respiratory CO2 gas exchange that may be used in systematic design and pilot testing of closed-loop end-tidal CO2 controllers in mechanical ventilation. We first derived a candidate model that captures the essential mechanisms involved in the respiratory CO2 gas exchange process. Then, we simplified the candidate model to derive two lower-order candidate models. We compared these candidate models for predictive capability and reliability using experimental data collected from 25 pediatric subjects undergoing dynamically varying mechanical ventilation during surgical procedures. A two-compartment model equipped with transport delay to account for CO2 delivery between the lungs and the tissues showed modest but statistically significant improvement in predictive capability over the same model without transport delay. Aggregating the lungs and the tissues into a single compartment further degraded the predictive fidelity of the model. In addition, the model equipped with transport delay demonstrated superior reliability to the one without transport delay. Further, the respiratory parameters derived from the model equipped with transport delay, but not the one without transport delay, were physiologically plausible. The results suggest that gas transport between the lungs and the tissues must be taken into account to accurately reproduce the respiratory CO2 gas exchange process under conditions of wide-ranging and dynamically varying mechanical ventilation conditions.


GaN technology is still based on highly mismatched heteroepitaxial growth on foreign substrates, and therefore needs to overcome a high defect density and a high level of stress in the epitaxial layers. Various attempts have been made to reduce the defects and stress in thick GaN layers. We here report a reduction of the defect density in thick GaN layers grown by hydride vapour phase epitaxy, using regrowth on free-standing GaN films, as well as introducing an AlN buffer and AlN interlayer in the growth sequence. Special focus is put on the optical properties of the material.


The papers in this special section focus on cyber-physical man-machine systems with particular emphasis on situation, activity, and goal awareness deployed in these systems. Recent advances in sensing technologies, the Internet of Things, pervasive computing, smart environments have transformed traditional embedded ICT systems into an ecosystem of interconnected and collaborating smart objects, devices, embedded systems, and most importantly humans. Such systems, often referred to as cyber-physical systems (CPS), are usually human user-driven or user-centered, and are aimed at providing people and businesses with a wide range of innovative applications and services. For example, a "smart home" can monitor and analyze the daily activities of its inhabitants, usually the elderly or individuals with disabilities, so that personalized context-aware assistance can be provided. A "smart city" can monitor, manage, and potentially control all basic city functionalities such as transport, energy supply, and waste collection, at a higher level of automation by collecting and harnessing sensor data across a large geographic expanse. In order to respond in real-time to an individual user's specific needs in dynamic and complex situations, and to support ergonomics and user-friendliness through consideration of human factors such as privacy, dignity, and behavior characteristics, cyber-physical human–machine systems need to be aware of the physical environment and human participant behavior. This awareness enables effective and fast feedback loops between sensing and actuation, possibly with cognitive and learning capabilities adapting to participant preferences, capabilities, and the modality of human–machine interaction as well as dynamic situations.


Background: Peptic ulcer disease has a high burden worldwide and the commonest causative agent is H. pylori which are usually eradicated with omeprazole-based triple therapy. Pharmacogenetics is an important branch of pharmacology and should be applied to assist the clinical usage of medicines which has a strong relation with enzyme activity of certain genes and alleles known through the literature. CYP2C19 is known to affect the activity of omeprazole and this will result in different responses to treatment. The commonest alleles through the literature are CYP2C19*2, and CYP2C19*3 which vary according to different ethnicity of different populations.
Aim: In Sudan, there are versatile ethnic groups which might affect the response to treatment by many drugs dependent genotypes for example CYP2C19 and Omeprazole interaction and hence studies in this area should be done as they are few.
Methodology: A purposeful convenient sampling; in which patients with peptic ulcer disease and treated with omeprazole were reviewed and the PCR is used to differentiate the CYP2C19 different alleles in patients presenting from February 2016 to January 2017.
Results: In the present study we investigated the distribution of three common gene variants affecting the omeprazole treatment of peptic ulcer disease and H. pylori eradication namely to CYP2C19*2, *3 and *7. The CYP2C19*2 mutation was found among all seven ethnic groups of Sudan, Arabs mostly 17 (139) followed by Darforians 9 (139), Beja 6 (139) and Nilotics 6 (139), Nuba 5 (139) then, Nubians 3 (139) and Fulani 1 (139), p=0.048 which is significant. Regarding CYP2C19*3 mutation of this allele is found in certain ethnic groups Arabs 6 (139), Nubians 6 (139) and Nuba 2 (139), p=0.043 significant. There is no mutation found among different Sudanese ethnic groups in CYP2C19*7. Arabs are normal homozygotes 6 (139) and Darforians 1 (139). Nuba 1 (139) were found to be heterozygotes in this allele p=0.038 significant. Treatment of H. pylori with omeprazole-based triple therapy was used in 110 (139) and no significant correlation found with the different ethnic groups of Sudan.
Conclusion: These data indicate that Sudanese seven ethnic groups showed activity of CYP2C19*2, CYP2C19*3 were they took omeprazole based triple treatment and some of them showed activity to CYP2C19*7.


Much of the limited literature on organ donation has focused on the demographic and psychographic profiles of people who are willing to become organ donors. More information about the relationship of attitudes, values, knowledge, and actual behavior among adults is needed if targeted communication campaigns promoting organ donation are to succeed. The results of a mail survey of 798 adults sampled (via stratified random sampling procedures) from two local sites of a national corporation suggest that attitudes toward donation, knowledge about organ donation, altruism, and perceived social norms are significantly associated with both actual behavior (having signed an organ donor card) and behavioral intent (among non-donors) to sign a card in the future. These findings support the major models of organ donation willingness, especially those advanced by Horton and Horton (1991) and Kopfman (1994). This study also advances current knowledge of organ donation willingness by 1) using a large, relatively diverse population of adults rather than relying on a student sample; and 2) focusing on specific knowledge barriers that distinguish donors from non-donors.


The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)--leucine, isoleucine, and valine--share unique biochemical properties that may make them useful in altered physiologic states. They can be metabolized independently of liver function to provide energy, other amino acids, or small nitrogenous compounds. This unique ability makes the BCAAs a desirable supplement in liver disease with encephalopathy and, to a lesser extent, in sepsis with hepatic dysfunction. Furthermore, the BCAAs play a role in the regulation of protein synthesis, suggesting beneficial effects in catabolic states such as postoperative stress, trauma, renal failure, and burns. However, initial studies in these areas have presented equivocal results.


The 2019 novel by the South African-Australian Nobel laureate, J M Coetzee, The Death of Jesus, is a third book in a sequence that includes Jesus in its title; like its predecessors it follows the lives of a recently constructed family in the dystopian Spanish-speaking towns of Novilla and Estrella. The surreal trilogy, which began with The Childhood of Jesus (2013), and then The Schooldays of Jesus (2016), presents us with unreal worlds, leaving us searching for meaning. This fable-like fantasy, which expands the author's 'late style', challenges the genre of fiction itself. Typical of late style, the trilogy resists closure and resolution. The debated ideas are generated by characters who were forced to forsake their memories and histories. Even though the protagonists begin to embody the very ideas they debate, answers are not forthcoming.


Maldistribution of refrigerant two-phase flow in a DX evaporator is almost inevitable in real application because of the different properties of liquid and vapor. One of the main reasons for this is phase separation due to the effect of gravity. For vertical orientation, the influence of gravity on the operation of distributors is small. However, horizontal installation is more likely to be affected by gravity when the flow is not homogeneous. This paper presents an evaluation of the performance of a refrigerant distributor at three different orientations: horizontal, vertical upwards, and downwards. For each direction, the expansion device, distributor, and evaporator are connected in the same way to reduce the effect of test facility on the flow distribution. A transparent distributor with identical geometry of an original version is built for the purpose of visualization. Both distributors are tested under the same working conditions to investigate the individual difference. Results show that two-phase distribution at the horizontal orientation is similar to the vertical results, indicating no effect of gravity for the tested working conditions. However, the difference in individual distributor circuit due to manufacture will result in maldistribution in some degree.


Large Eddy Simulations are inherently dynamic as the largest scales are resolved and the smallest scales are modeled temporally. This raises challenges for simulations including very large scales such as atmospheric flows, which require very long simulation times. Simple averages fail at capturing these dynamics and potentially yield misleading interpretations concerning the capabilities of different models when tested in blind tests or in benchmarking exercises such as Wakebench, where results from different flow models are compared. This article will present results from very large wind farm simulations using Actuator Disc (AD) and Line (AL) models for two different turbine spacings with turbulent inflow. The results of each numerical flow model include a certain variability, and it will be examined if different models result in comparable probability distributions.


In this research, the high-energy planetary mill was employed to produce nanocrystalline Ti-50Al(γ)(at%) powders. Initial powders were mechanically alloyed in 99.9999% and 90% purities of Argon and also Air atmosphere with alloying times up to 50h. The effect of impurity of Argon atmosphere on the microstructure and the rate of phase transformation of Ti-50Al were investigated during mechanical alloying and after annealing at 1000°c. The results showed that the formation of nanostructure TiAl(γ) phase had directly related to the impurities of atmosphere in vials. The impurity of the atmosphere could delay the rate of amoprphization during mechanical alloying and decrease the rate of mechanical alloying process beside some unwanted phases which were produced in powder mixture. The powder particles produced in the high purity Argon atmosphere seemed to be finer than those in the atmosphere. The X-ray patterns, SEM analysis, changes in grain size and DTA test were studied during mechanical alloying and after annealing.


The engineering of software systems is supported by tools in different phases of the software development. The integration of these tools is crucial to assure the trace ability of existing models and artifacts, and to support the automation of critical software development phases such as software testing and validation. In particular, the integration of novel software quality assurance tools into existing environments must be performed in a way that minimizes its impact on existing software process, while the benefits of the tool are leveraged. This guarantees the adoption of new methodologies with minimal interference in existing production workflow. In this paper we discuss our experience in integrating a model-driven software testing tool developed within SIEMENS with a widely-adopted model-driven design tool. In particular, we establish a set of design principles from the lessons learned in this integration. We conclude showing a design that prioritizes data integration over control and presentation that achieves a high degree of tool integration while minimizing the integration development effort.


Cloud computing is an emerging technology of business computing and it is becoming a development trend. The process of entering into the cloud is generally in the form of queue, so that each user needs to wait until the current user is being served. In the system, each Cloud Computing User (CCU) requests Cloud Computing Service Provider (CCSP) to use the resources, if CCU (cloud computing user) finds that the server is busy then the user has to wait till the current user completes the job which leads to more queue length and increased waiting time. So to solve this problem, it is the work of CCSP's to provide service to users with less waiting time otherwise there is a chance that the user might be leaving from queue. CCSP's can use multiple servers for reducing queue length and waiting time. In this paper, we have shown how the multiple servers can reduce the mean queue length and waiting time. Our approach is to treat a multiserver system as an M/M/m queuing model, such that a profit maximization model could be worked out.


The Guanabara Confession, an early statement of the Reformed faith, was written in "Antarctic France," a sixteenth-century French colony in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After the discovery of Brazil in 1500, Portugal was slow to protect and settle its new territory. Only in 1549 did the Portuguese crown take direct control of its South American domains by appointing the first governor general. For decades other European nations had set their eyes upon the new land and its natural resources. Among those nations was France, whose ships came continuously to the Brazilian coast in order to smuggle dyewood and other products.


A novel method for fabrication of self-supporting microbridge based on a-si films with tilted support legs for bolometer is studied in this paper. Based on the research of diffractive characteristics when the light passing through the mask in proximity lithography, we found if the distance of mask and photoresist is suitable, the intensity distribution curve of Fraunhofer diffraction (far field diffraction) at the border of contacthole is suitable to fabricate microbridge with tilted legs. By use of the method, the constant change of photoresist thickness around the contacthole can be realized using the far field diffraction proximity lithography. Then transfer the outline of photoresist to the sacrificial layer by plasma etching. Thus the fabrication of microbridge with tilted support legs was carried out easily, and this method has the advantages of low cost, simple and feasible.


The spread of terror and war threats aimed against built up urban areas has extended considerably and attracts the attention and concern of many countries. The severity and potential danger of these extreme events was demonstrated most severely in several past events. Many countries, including Israel, are facing different threats of terror and war. Therefore, Israel is continuously engaged in theoretical and experimental research activities, related to response of civilian buildings to various war threats. Some of the experience gained in recent years, in relation to the structural response of RC residential buildings subjected to blast loads, can be very helpful in the development of improved design requirements of such buildings, aimed mainly at localization and reduction of the damage and prevention of the progressive collapse of buildings. Earthquake loading is another extreme loading that may cause large scale destruction to many buildings that had not been properly designed to withstand the strong ground shaking effects. Many countries in seismic areas have developed throughout the years their standards and codes for seismic design, and recently built buildings in these areas are designed according to these codes. Nevertheless, many older buildings, that had been designed and constructed prior to the development of the modern seismic codes, are still more vulnerable. Although the earthquake response and blast protection are entirely different disciplines, there exist many places where both types of extreme loads are potential threats to existing buildings. Therefore a multi hazard approach should be adopted to design the new buildings and to retrofit the existing buildings, to ensure that they will withstand these threats. This paper aims at over-viewing some aspects of these extreme load threats and address the resistance, performance, protection and strengthening of the structures that are subjected to these loads. It aims at generalizing the professional view and providing a better solution to an envelope of different possible extreme events.


Although the theoretical aspects of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) seem to be forsaken, the few previous modeling studies —even with some assumptions— enlarged our knowledge of the PSO process. Here, we suggest a new model of PSO where all the N particles of the swarm and their components are considered. The iterative process is formulated by a 3N×3N block triangular matrix and its spectral radius is evaluated and displayed. Besides, the convergence related parametrization criteria are derived. Compared to previous results, a more restrictive acceleration coefficients criterion is found. Simulations are then carried out on CEC 2017 benchmark functions using eight PSO variants and show better results when considering the more restrictive criterion.


The rapid growth of real-time huge data capturing has pushed the deep learning and data analytic computing to the edge systems. Real-time object recognition on the edge is one of the representative deep neural network (DNN) powered edge systems for real-world mission-critical applications, such as autonomous driving and augmented reality. While DNN powered object detection edge systems celebrate many life-enriching opportunities, they also open doors for misuse and abuse. This paper presents three Targeted adversarial Objectness Gradient attacks, coined as TOG, which can cause the state-of-the-art deep object detection networks to suffer from object-vanishing, object-fabrication, and object-mislabeling attacks. We also present a universal objectness gradient attack to use adversarial transferability for black-box attacks, which is effective on any inputs with negligible attack time cost, low human perceptibility, and particularly detrimental to object detection edge systems. We report our experimental measurements using two benchmark datasets (PASCAL VOC and MS COCO) on two state-of-the-art detection algorithms (YOLO and SSD). The results demonstrate serious adversarial vulnerabilities and the compelling need for developing robust object detection systems.


In this paper, a new partial power and rate adaptation scheme for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is proposed in the presence of carrier frequency offset (CFO). The conventional adaptive scheme is shown to be a special case of the partially adaptive scheme technique which enables the resulting non-convex optimization problem, solved in a feasible way. It leads to a solution for optimal power adaptation that maximizes the spectral efficiency of an OFDM system using M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) under average power and instantaneous BER constraints. Closed-form expressions for the average spectral efficiency (ASE) of adaptive OFDM systems are derived. The theoretical results and computer simulations show that the range of the partial adaptation becomes narrow and the performance of constant power and continuous rate is very close to that of the partially adaptive power and continuous rate for higher CFO or high signal noise ratio (SNR) values.


Drawing on new data and advances in exchange rate regimes' classification, we find that countries appear to benefit by having increasingly flexible exchange rate systems as they become richer and more financially developed. For developing countries with little exposure to international capital markets, pegs are notable for their durability and relatively low inflation. In contrast, for advanced economies, floats are distinctly more durable and also appear to be associated with higher growth. For emerging markets, our results parallel the Baxter and Stockman classic exchange regime neutrality result, though pegs are the least durable and expose countries to higher risk of crisis.


Among female authors and activists of the French Revolution, Olympe de Gouges stands out as one of the most prolific writers who advocated for the extension of full rights to women. De Gouges is most famous for her Declaration des Droits de la Femme et de la Citoyenne (1791), modeled on the original Declaration , in which she expounds on her project for women's rights and equality of the sexes. Even though her Declaration is the most relevant and most studied of her texts in the context of the French Revolution, De Gouges' other texts, notably her plays, are often left out of the historical narrative of the Revolution, due to the more subtle ways in which they express De Gouges' feminist ideas. If her plays have been disregarded from a literary standpoint, they are very valuable as historical sources. They allowed De Gouges to portray different non-traditional cases of marriages and relationships, and through them to denounce the systemic abuses of women by giving her female characters agency, and to propose her own solutions. Indeed, in her plays, De Gouges expresses her vision for marriage, as it relates to her ideas in the Declaration , while at the same time referencing her own life experiences. De Gouges' ideas about marriage are best expressed in the following plays: L'esclavage des noirs (written 1784, published 1788, performed 1789) , Le Mariage inattendu de Cherubin (written 1784, published 1786) , La Necessite du divorce (written 1790) , Le Philosophe Corrige (written 1787, published 1788) , Moliere chez Ninon (written 1787, published 1788) , and Les Voeux Forces (written 1790) .


High-precision piezo actuators necessitate dielectrics with high electrostrain performance with low hysteresis. Polarity-modulated (Sr0.7Bi0.2□0.1)TiO3-based ceramics exhibit extraordinarily discrete multiphase coexistence regions: (i) the relaxor phase coexistence (RPC) region with local weakly polar tetragonal (T) and pseudocubic (Pc) short-range polar nanodomains and (ii) the ferroelectric phase coexistence (FPC) region with T long-range domains and Pc nanodomains. The RPC composition features a specially high and pure electrostrain performance with near-zero hysteresis (S ∼ 0.185%, Q33 ∼ 0.038 m4·C-2), which is double those of conventional Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-based ceramics. Particular interest is paid to the RPC and FPC with multiscale characterization to unravel local structure-performance relationships. Guided by piezoelectric force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and phase-field simulations, the RPC composition with multiphase low-angle weakly polar nanodomains shows local structural heterogeneity and contributes to a flat local free energy profile and thus to nanodomain switching and superior electrostrain performance, in contrast to the FPC composition with a macroscopic domain that shows stark hysteresis. This work provides a paradigm to design high-precision actuator materials with large electrostrain and ultralow hysteresis, extending our knowledge of multiphase coexistence species in ferroelectrics.


TO THE EDITOR: This letter is in response to a recently published article in The Annals (2001;35:285-8) regarding spontaneous reports of patient deaths associated with the use of sildenafil versus injectable alprostadil. In the introduction, the author shows great insights into the many limitations inherent in the use of spontaneous reports of adverse drug reactions. Surprisingly, the author then proceeds to compare reporting rates of sildenafil and alprostadil, as if these were true incidence rates. To quote his own abstract, these results may be misleading because of "a greater frequency of reporting of sildenafil-associated events by physicians, a difference in the populations using these two drugs, or the number of prescriptions filled may not accurately reflect actual exposure." Yet the author goes on to imply that his results reflect a pharmacologic effect of sildenafil, and even makes unfounded clinical recommendations about how to protect against it. This is inappropriate and potentially misleading. At one extreme, it has been documented1-4 that the Food and Drug Administration receives by direct report <1% of suspected adverse drug reactions. In other situations, reporting rates have been found to exceed 30%.4,5 In this setting, even a small artifactual increase in reporting would wrongly appear like an epidemic. Further, drugs for erectile dysfunction are used in populations at high risk of cardiovascular events, due to advanced age, diabetes, hypertension, and other factors. Small differences in the populations using the drug, in the publicity surrounding its use, or in the care taken by the different manufacturers in collecting, recording, and reporting its adverse reactions, could result in one manufacturer's product wrongly appearing to be associated with a higher risk than another manufacturer's product. The Spontaneous Reporting System is a sentinel system designed to raise hypotheses, not to test them.3 In fact, to quote a group of international experts: "The effect of selective reporting becomes potentially disastrous if the number of reports of an [adverse drug reaction] for different drugs is compared in a non-critical way."4 Rates of spontaneous reports should not be misinterpreted as incidence rates; the result does not contribute to medical science and produces conclusions that are misleading and, in the process, potentially harmful. I, therefore, urge your readers to interpret the data in this article with the necessary caution.


Background A Quality Management System (QMS) analyses, controls and monitors the processes in order to identify areas that require improvement. Purpose To describe the incidents detected by the staff of a Pharmacy Service (PS) during the implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001:2008 standard. Material and methods Descriptive study (December 2013–August 2014). The quality improvement logbook, in which the incidents were recorded, was designed by the PS Quality Manager (PSQM), based on the experience of other hospitals and according to a general procedure, authorised by the PS Quality Subcommittee and reflected in the PS Organisation Handbook. The logbook was presented in a PS meeting, where its location and how to fil it in [record number, date, process involved, description of the incident, reporting/detecting staff, first actions taken] were explained. Once the incident is booked, it was reviewed by the PSQM and the responsible pharmacist. If needed, due to frequency and/or severity, the PSQM proceeds with the opening of a nonconformity and/or a corrective/preventive action, communicating this to the PS Manager. These are evaluated by the PS Quality Subcommittee. Results 60 incidents in 4 key processes and 1 support process were recorded. Process distribution: logistics (37), dispensing (11), sterile (6) and non-sterile (5) preparation, pharmacoeconomics management (1). With respect to the logistics incidents, 18 of them were identified jointly by nursing and administrative assistants and the most common incidents involved the lack of a standard label on the outer package, to indicate that the drug can't be dispensed outside the hospital (25) and incorrect temperature in fridge (4). In relation to incidents to do with productions, 6 nonconformities were opened (expired drug dispensed, wrong non-sterile preparation dispensed, autologous serum contamination, laminar flow cabinet contamination, mislabelling of a cytostatic and delay in orders for non-sterile materials). Conclusion It is important to educate health staff in detecting weaknesses or failures in the system in order to perform the "Deming Continuous Improvement Cycle". References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Under future climate predictions, the incidence of coastal flooding is set to rise. Many coastal regions at risk, such as those surrounding the North Sea, comprise large areas of low‐lying and productive agricultural land. Flood risk assessments typically emphasise the economic consequences of coastal flooding on urban areas and national infrastructure. Impacts on agricultural land have seen less attention, and considerations tend to omit the long‐term effects of soil salinity. The aim of this study is to develop a universal framework to evaluate the economic impact of coastal flooding to agriculture. We incorporated existing flood models, satellite acquired crop data, soil salinity, and crop sensitivity to give a novel and detailed assessment of salt damage to agricultural productivity over time. We focussed our case‐study on low‐lying, highly productive agricultural land with a history of flooding in Lincolnshire, UK. The potential impact of agricultural flood damage varied across our study region. Assuming typical cropping does not change postflood financial losses range from £1,366/ha to £5,526/ha per inundation, these losses would be reduced by between 35% up to 85% in the likely event that an alternative, more salt‐tolerant, cropping, regime is implemented postflood. These losses are substantially higher than loses calculated on the same areas using established flood risk assessment framework conventionally used for freshwater flood assessments, with differences attributed to our longer term salt damage projections impacting over several years. This suggests flood protection policy needs to consider local and long‐term impacts of flooding on agricultural land.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to describe and analyse how participants with fibromyalgia or chronic, widespread, musculoskeletal pain, 1 year after completion, experienced a rehabilitation programme; and what knowledge and strategies they had gained. DESIGN, METHODS AND SUBJECTS: Semi-structured interviews with 16 female patients were analysed using the grounded theory method of constant comparison.

RESULTS
One core category, from shame to respect, and 4 categories, developing body awareness/knowledge, setting limits, changing self-image and negative counterbalancing factors, and hopelessness and frustration over one's employment situation emerged from the data. The core category represents a process where the informants changed emotionally. Three categories were identified as important for starting and maintaining the process, one category affected the process negatively.

CONCLUSION
The rehabilitation programme started the process of change, from shame to respect. The informants learned new strategies for handling their pain and other symptoms; they improved their self-image and communication in their social environment.


Insects, like all eukaryotes, require sterols for structural and metabolic purposes. However, insects, like all arthropods, cannot make sterols. Cholesterol is the dominant tissue sterol for most insects; insect herbivores produce cholesterol by metabolizing phytosterols, but not always with high efficiency. Many insects grow on a mixed-sterol diet, but this ability varies depending on the types and ratio of dietary sterols. Dietary sterol uptake, transport, and metabolism are regulated by several proteins and processes that are relatively conserved across eukaryotes. Sterol requirements also impact insect ecology and behavior. There is potential to exploit insect sterol requirements to (a) control insect pests in agricultural systems and (b) better understand sterol biology, including in humans. We suggest that future studies focus on the genetic mechanism of sterol metabolism and reverse transportation, characterizing sterol distribution and function at the cellular level, the role of bacterial symbionts in sterol metabolism, and interrupting sterol trafficking for pest control. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 65 is January 7, 2020. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.


We present a modular system for real-time 3D-scanning of human bodies under motion. The high-resolution shape and colour appearance is captured by several scanning units positioned around the object of interest. Each of these units performs a foreground-background segmentation and computes a valid depth-range for the spatially neighbouring units. Multiple depth-ranges are combined in a visual hull representation, which limits the search-range for the 3D-reconstruction. Depth-estimation is based on a hierarchical multi-view-stereo plane sweep approach. Robustness and accuracy is increased by incorporating imperceptible infrared illumination as well as adding local pixel gradient information. All parts of the processing pipeline, involving camera color conversions, segmentation, depth-range computation, visual-hull generation, lossless image compression, network transfer of the infrared and colour images, and the plane sweep algorithm, are implemented on the GPU and highly optimized for speed, allowing scanning times of less than 40 ms per frame. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability of our system to the creation of high-density on-line digital doubles.