169 Background: PRO-CTCAE captures symptomatic adverse events (e.g. pain, fatigue) and may indicate poor treatment tolerability in older patients (pts) with advanced cancer. Using unsupervised machine learning which can detect unknown patterns in data, we aimed to evaluate if clusters identified based on PRO-CTCAE severity were associated with hospitalization and survival. Methods: We included pts randomized to the control arm of GAP 70+ (URCC 13059; PI: Mohile), which enrolled pts aged ≥70, with incurable solid tumors or lymphoma, and ≥1 geriatric assessment (GA) domain impairment starting a new treatment regimen. Measures included 24 PRO-CTCAE items (v1.0) with severity attributes (item 0-4; total score 0-96, higher score = greater severity). The unsupervised algorithm (K-means with Euclidean Distance) clustered pts at baseline based on similarities of severities of the 24 items. We examined if the clusters were associated with treatment-related hospitalization within 3 months and lower survival at 6 months using Logistic and Cox regressions. Results: Of the 369 control pts, 366 completed GA and PRO-CTCAE at baseline (mean age 77.2, 94.3% white, 30.9% with GI and 31.4% with lung cancer; mean number of impaired GA 4.4). By PRO-CTCAE, the most prevalent symptoms were fatigue (82.7%), pain (60.9%), and decreased appetite (58.7%). Greater GA impairment was associated with 20 PRO-CTCAE items (fatigue, pain, and decreased appetite having the strongest associations; all Pearson's r > 0.33). Three clusters were identified: Low Severity (51.4%); Moderate Severity (34.4%), and High Severity (14.2%). Mean total severity score was 6.9 (low), 16.9 (moderate), and 28.7 (high), respectively (p < 0.01). No difference in demographics was found among clusters. Percent of pts hospitalized were 21.3% (low), 36.5% (moderate), and 38.5% (high) (p < 0.01); survival rates were 81.9% (low), 71.4% (moderate), and 55.3% (high) (p < 0.01). Controlling for cancer type and GA, compared to pts in Low Severity cluster, pts in Moderate and High Severity were more likely to be hospitalized (odds ratio = 1.77, p = 0.03); pts in High Severity cluster were more likely to die (hazard ratio = 2.23, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Unsupervised machine learning was able to partition pts into different PRO-CTCAE severity clusters; pts with higher baseline severity were more likely to be hospitalized or die. PRO-CTCAE provides additional information to GA. Funding: R01CA177592, U01CA233167, UG1CA189961.


Woody encroachment, including both woody species expansion and density increase, is a globally observed phenomenon that deteriorates arid and semi-arid rangeland health, biodiversity, and ecosystem services. Mechanical and chemical control treatments are commonly performed to reduce woody cover and restore ecohydrologic function. While the immediate impacts of woody control treatments are well documented in short-term studies, treatment impacts at decadal scales are not commonly studied. Using a controlled herbicide treatment from 1954 in the Sierra Ancha Experimental Forest in central Arizona, USA, we quantify woody encroachment and associated aboveground carbon accumulation in treated and untreated watersheds. Woody encroachment and aboveground carbon are estimated using high resolution multispectral images and photogrammetric data from a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We then combine the contemporary UAV image-derived estimates with historical records from immediately before and after the treatment to consider long-term trends in woody vegetation cover, aboveground carbon, water yield, and sedimentation. Our results indicate that the treatment has had a lasting impact. More than six decades later, woody cover in two treated watersheds are still significantly lower compared to two control watersheds, even though woody cover increased in all four drainages. Aboveground woody carbon in the treated watersheds is approximately one half that accumulated in the control watersheds. The historical records indicate that herbicide treatment also increased water yield and reduced annual sedimentation. Given the sustained reduction in woody cover and aboveground woody biomass in treated watersheds, we infer that the herbicide treatment has had similarly long lasting impacts on ecohydrological function. Land managers can consider legacy impacts from control treatments to better balance carbon and ecohydrological consequences of woody encroachment and treatment activities.


Background—Although National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is an important prognostic variable, it is often incompletely documented in clinical registries, such as Get With The Guidelines (GWTG)–Stroke. We describe trends in NIHSS documentation by GWTG-Stroke hospitals, identify patient-level and hospital-level factors associated with documentation, and determine the degree to which the reporting of NIHSS is potentially biased. Methods and Results—We analyzed NIHSS documentation in 1 184 288 patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to 1704 GWTG-Stroke hospitals between 2003 and 2012. We used multivariable logistic regression models to identify hospital-level and patient-level predictors of NIHSS documentation. We examined the relationship between hospital-level NIHSS documentation rates and observed NIHSS scores to determine whether the reporting of NIHSS data was subject to selection bias. The overall NIHSS documentation rate was 56.1%; the median NIHSS was 4 (interquartile range, 2–9). Between 2003 and 2012, mean hospital-level NIHSS documentation increased dramatically from 27% to 70% (P<0.0001). Documentation was higher in patients who arrived by ambulance, who arrived soon after onset, and were treated at larger, primary stroke centers. Hospital-level NIHSS documentation rates and NIHSS scores were modestly inversely correlated (r=−0.207; P<0.0001), suggesting that NIHSS data from hospitals with low documentation were shifted toward higher values. In sensitivity analysis, the degree of bias in NIHSS reporting was reduced in more recent years (2011–2012) when NIHSS documentation was noticeably better. Conclusions—Documentation of NIHSS is higher in patients who are thrombolysis candidates. Evidence of modest bias in NIHSS scores was observed but this has lessened as the documentation of NIHSS has improved in recent years.


There are several potential mechanisms by which HDLs protect against the development of vascular disease. One relates to the unique ability of these lipoproteins to remove cholesterol from the arterial wall. Another is the ability of HDL to prevent and eventually correct endothelial dysfunction, a key variable in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and its complications. HDLs help maintain endothelial integrity, facilitate vascular relaxation, inhibit blood cell adhesion to vascular endothelium, reduce platelet aggregability and coagulation, and may favor fibrinolysis. These functions of HDLs complement their activity in arterial cholesterol removal by providing an excellent rationale for favorably influencing pathological processes underlying a variety of clinical conditions, such as accelerated atherosclerosis, acute coronary syndromes, and restenosis after coronary angioplasty, through a chronic or acute elevation of plasma HDL concentration.


Background: Psychotic symptoms in subjects with Alzheimer disease (AD+psychosis, AD+P) are a marker for a distinct phenotype characterized by more rapid cognitive and functional decline and a liability to aggressive behaviors. We recently found that AD subjects homozygous for long alleles (l) of an insertion/deletion polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter (5-HTTPR) had elevated rates of aggressive behavior. Objective: To examine whether the 5-HTTPR ll genotype confers an increased risk of AD+P, and of the combined AD+P/aggressive phenotype. Methods: The 5-HTTPR genotype was determined in 332 subjects diagnosed with possible or probable AD. All subjects received structured psychiatric assessments and were categorized with regard to their history of aggressive behaviors and psychotic symptoms. Results: Consistent with other reports, AD+P was associated with a significant increased risk for aggressive behavior. AD+P and aggression were both significantly associated with 5-HTTPR ll genotype and with an increased l allele frequency. Subjects with the combined behavioral phenotype (AD+P and aggressive behavior) had the highest rate of ll genotype and highest l allele frequency. Conclusion: The 5-HTTPR l allele appears to confer risk for the combined AD+P/aggressive phenotype. Confirmation of this association in a similar behaviorally well-characterized independent sample is needed.


BACKGROUND
Research from the USA indicates disparities in breast cancer screening uptake for women with poor mental health. However, no attempt has been made to examine the contribution of poor mental health to socio-demographic variations in breast screening uptake. The current study aims to examine the impact of self-reported chronic poor mental health on attendance at breast screening in the UK, and to what extent this explains socio-demographic inequalities in screening uptake.

METHODS
Breast screening records were linked to 2011 Census records within the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study. This identified a cohort of 57 328 women who were followed through one 3-year screening cycle of the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. Information on mental health status, in addition to other individual and household-level attributes, was derived from the 2011 Census. Logistic regression was employed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of attendance at screening.

RESULTS
10.7% of women in the cohort reported poor mental health, and in fully adjusted analyses, these individuals were 23% less likely to attend breast screening (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.73-0.82). Although poor mental health was a strong predictor of screening uptake, it did not explain the observed inequalities in uptake by socio-economic status, marital status, or area of residence.

CONCLUSIONS
This study provides novel evidence of inequalities in breast screening uptake for women with chronic poor mental health in the UK. Targeted interventions are necessary to ensure equitable screening access and to enhance overall mortality benefit.


In neuroprosthetics, prostheses with higher and denser electrodes are needed to obtain both more precise recordings and targeted stimulations. The main limit is the routing of the active sites to the electronic control unit. A solution is to place electrodes and connecting traces on different layers. A multi-layer approach allows the upscaling of electrodes number, thus increasing also their density. Nevertheless, a drawback of the multi-layer system is the passivation layer that increases the gap from the exposed electrode to the target tissue, especially when polymeric materials are used, such as PI or PDMS. For the layers placed more at the bottom, this gap may increase to undesired values. Indeed, the electrode-cell distance is one of the most important parameter affecting the spatial resolution and the efficiency in recording and stimulation. We introduced a new 3D design and microfabrication process, allowing all of the active sites to reach or even protrude the implant surface and traces to be placed in multi-layers. Our device may be fabricated on flexible and soft substrates, with arbitrary number of layers and arbitrary height of active sites. Bi-layer polyimide neural probes with Pt electrodes reaching 6 µm above the encapsulation layer were produced; the electrode size is 100 µm. Electrochemical characterizations show no significant differences between the multi-layer 3D shaped electrodes and planar monolayer electrodes. The average impedance at 1 kHz is 80 kOhm.


In language and second language acquisition research, it is important to have a measure for tracking the proficiency level of participants. Lexical competence is fundamental for communicative purposes in a given language, and vocabulary tests are a reliable measure to assess lexical proficiency. That is why vocabulary tests have a central role in language proficiency assessment. Although many people study Italian as second language (L2), an easy-to-use vocabulary test to measure lexical proficiency is still missing. In this work, we aim to fill this gap by presenting LexITA, which is an objective, reliable, and quick assessment of Italian receptive vocabulary. LextITA was validated on students of Italian L2 and showed to be a valid measure to assess vocabulary knowledge of L2 speakers spanning different levels of proficiency.


Metaethical realists disagree about the nature of normative properties. Naturalists think that they are ordinary natural properties: causally efficacious, a posteriori knowable, and usable in the best explanations of natural and social sciences. Non-naturalist realists, in contrast, argue that they are sui generis: causally inert, a priori knowable and not a part of the subject matter of sciences. It has been assumed so far that naturalists can explain causally how the normative predicates manage to refer to normative properties, whereas non-naturalists are unable to provide equally satisfactory metasemantic explanations. This article first describes how the previous non-naturalist accounts of reference fail to tell us how the normative predicates could have come to refer to the non-natural properties rather than to the natural ones. I will then use the so-called qua-problem to show how the causal theories of reference of naturalists also fail to fix the reference of normative predicates to unique natural properties. Finally, I will suggest that, just as naturalists need to rely on the non-causal mechanism of reference magnetism to solve the previous problem, non-naturalists, too, can rely on the very same idea to respond to the pressing metasemantic challenges that they face concerning reference.


The purpose of this study was to compare the dentine-removing characteristics of size 25 K-files activated by the Cavi-Endo and Piezon-Endo units. The influence of power-setting, direction of file oscillation, interfacial force and operator-assisted movement were studied. Filing was performed on flat surfaces of dentine and impressions of the instrumented surfaces revealed characteristic patterns of dentine removal corresponding to the area of contact with the file which was quantified using a Reflex microscope. Differences in dentine removal as affected by the power output of the two systems were only apparent when the maximum power-setting on the Cavi-Endo was compared with the maximum recommended for root canal preparation on the Piezon-Endo. The Cavi-Endo removed significantly more dentine than the Piezon-Endo. When operator-assisted movement of the file was superimposed, both systems removed significantly more dentine than without assisted filing, However, the Piezon-Endo now removed significantly more dentine than the Cavi-Endo. This difference was more apparent when the file oscillated perpendicular to the dentine surface, compared with oscillation parallel to the substrate. An increase in the interfacial force from 30 g to 60 g resulted in a greater reduction in dentine removal by the Cavi-Endo compared with the Piezon-Endo. Thus, at a 30 g interfacial force there were insignificant differences between the endosonic units but at 60 g, the Piezon-Endo removed significantly more dentine than the Cavi-Endo. The dentine-removing characteristics of the two endosonic units tested are very different under certain conditions. These findings may have important clinical implications.


The small Rho GTPases tightly regulate the cell's contractility, motility and morphology. Among these, the small GTPase RhoA is the main regulator of T-cell migration. Using T-cell-specific RhoA knock-out mice (RhoAfl/flLckCre+) we hereby show the importance of RhoA expression in the T- cell's transendothelial migration capacity and in the T-cells' brain infiltration in an infarct mouse model. We observed that T-cells lacking RhoA expression (RhoA-/- T-cells) present a ~20% reduction in their capacity of transmigrating across an endothelium compared to wild type RhoA+/+ T-cells. We also investigated how the inhibition of RhoA signaling affected the post-stroke T-cell response in mice, 21 days after pMCAO and found that lack of RhoA expression markedly reduces T-cells migration into the infarcted brain, evidenced by the presence of significantly less CD3+ cells within the infarct area of RhoAfl/flLckCre+ mice compared to control mice. T-cell infiltration into the infarcted brain was not affected when mice were treated with atorvastatin, an inhibitor upstream of RhoA, and fasudil, an inhibitor of the RhoA downstream kinase ROCK. This highlights for the first time RhoA as a key regulator in T-cell transmigration into infarcted brain tissue. Taken together, these results suggest that the activity of the small GTPase RhoA is crucial for T-cells ability to migrate across an endothelial cell layer and into the infarcted brain. It also underlines the therapeutic potential of the RhoA-ROCK pathway in diseases in which cell migration is important for their pathophysiology, such as immunological diseases or cancer.


Objective: To reveal the importance of dental care for Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) patients and the dentist role in treating these patients.

Data source and selection: Two online databases (PubMed and Google Scholar) were searched (June 2019). All studies that were analyzed with access to full text in English language were included.

Data synthesis: The selected articles shows the importance of the dentist intervention pre, per and post radiation therapy that helps to ease the symptoms which appear due to radiation and may delay their appearance. The dentist's knowledge in the physiology of cancer and radiation treatment is essential and really important for the success of the whole treatment and amelioration of patient's quality of life.

Conclusion: A good knowledge by the dentist and a caring, cooperant patient improves the patient's quality of life and reduces the severity of the side effects.


A distributed network makes network services available to end users at various nodes or connection points throughout the distributed network's geographic area. A network administrator monitors the performance, capability, and availability of the distributed network to provide the network services. However, the network administrator may be limited to network traffic or other network-side parameters that may not provide an accurate or a conclusive representation of the state of the distributed network. For example, diminished or decreased network traffic could indicate a malfunction in the distributed network or be a natural consequence of a decreased number of end users. Cost, infrastructure requirements, and other limitations prevent installation and operation of a secondary network, which could be used to conclusively determine the conditions of the area within the distributed network. Instead, machine-learning algorithms may monitor and model some features of the distributed network, which may supplement service availability composite metrics, and allow the network administrator to better evaluate the condition of the distributed network without the need of the secondary network.


Many scholars address the indirect effects presidents have on midterm election results by examining the "midterm loss" phenomenon, presidential coattails, negative voting, and the "referendum" thesis. However, very little research investigates the direct effect that presidential campaigning has on congressional candidates prospects for victory. This study adds to this growing literature by exploring presidential campaigning in the 2002 and 2006 U.S. Senate midterm elections. Our investigation makes two important contributions to previous research. First, we explicitly model the strategic decisions presidents make in visiting states in order to get a better estimate of presidential impact that accounts for selection bias. Second, we take advantage of a natural experiment between 2002 and 2006 to test the importance of presidential popularity in driving campaign effects. Although we expect presidents to primarily campaign in states where he believes he will be effective–an efficiency argument–we argue that the size of that effect depends very clearly on his own popularity. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding the role of the president in modern American electoral politics.


Domestication of native species is essential to development aquaculture. However, complete information on criteria used to categorize fish native species is little available and scarce. The objective of this work is to perform narrative review, critically evaluating the problem to selection of amazonian armoured catfish named acari-bodo (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) as candidate species for aquaculture, assigning this fish species into three criteria (market; economic and biological) to apply multicriteria decision analysis methodology for multiple decision makers (fish farmers, researchers, government). The limitations in decision context and possibilities for domestication of the P. pardalis are discussed.

 Key words: Fish farming, aquaculture, Pterygoplichthys pardalis, native species, multicriteria decision analysis, Amazonia, Brazil.


MODERATOR EFFECT OF FINANCIAL AID ON PREDICTORS OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE GRADUATION RATE Richard W. Wilt Old Dominion University, 2010 Director: Dr. Dana Burnett This study examined the resource allocation decisions community colleges make in order to gain insight into the relationship of those decisions to graduation rate and whether those relationships were influenced by the percentage of students at the college receiving financial aid. Much of the literature on persistence and graduation rate in higher education is based on student characteristics such as SAT scores, high school GPA, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, or on college selectivity. This study switches the focus to the characteristics of the college rather than the student. The relative lack of literature on community college graduation rates and the causes of the high variability in graduation rates provided an opportunity for discovery of how college resource allocation decisions and financial aid can influence graduation rate. By using a hierarchical ordinary least squares regression on data obtained from the IPEDS database, this study explored the relationship between college resource allocation decisions on expenditures on instruction, academic support, student services, institutional support, faculty salary, the percentage of instructional staff who are full-time, and professional staff to student ratio to graduation rate, and examined whether the relationship of those predictors of graduation rate was influenced by the percentage of students at the college receiving financial aid. The results of this study indicate that the moderator effect of the percentage of students receiving financial aid was mixed among the predictors and that some of the predictors are significant in predicting graduation rate singly. The results also reveal two fundamental concepts: resource allocation at community colleges has a small but significant impact on graduation rate, and the percentage of students receiving financial aid at community colleges has an impact on some of the resource allocation predictors of graduation rate. The aggregated data of this study provide a generalized picture of the resource allocation variables' impact on graduation rate and establish a foundation for further research on the complex interactions of community colleges and the graduation goals that benefit students and society.


Purpose: To investigate outcomes of contemporary endovascular therapy and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) findings in thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) patients. Methods: Between April 2007 and January 2016, 20 patients (mean age 45±8 years; 16 men) underwent endovascular therapy for TAO-related lesions in 25 consecutive limbs. Subjects exhibited a broad array of clinical symptoms, including critical limb ischemia (n=15) and claudication (10) in the lower (n=20) and upper (n=5) limbs. Results: Procedure success was achieved in 24 (96%) limbs (complete success in 16 and partial success in 8), all of which exhibited improvements of at least 1 grade of the Rutherford category. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that reintervention-free rates were 81.9% (95% CI 0.586 to 0.928) at 6 months and 71.7% at 10 months (95% CI 0.473 to 0.862). IVUS was performed in 20 limbs and revealed unique findings, including the "bull's-eye" appearance, "lotus-root" appearance, and "bunch of grapes" appearance. During a mean follow-up of 26±19 months, the limb salvage rate was 100% with no deaths. Conclusion: Contemporary endovascular therapy might be able to serve as a potential option for TAO patients with lower and upper limb symptoms. Liberal application of IVUS could help us understand the pathology of TAO to support endovascular therapy for TAO.


Incubation of undifferentiated 3T3-F442A cells (preadipocytes) with 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA) increases intracellular cyclic AMP in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of NECA is antagonized by 8-phenyltheophylline, but potentiated by 4-(3-butoxy-4-methoxybenzyl)-2-imidazolidine, an inhibitor of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. Incubation of preadipocytes with (-)-N6-(R-phenylisopropyl)adenosine (PIA) has no inhibitory effect on the basal concentration of cyclic AMP or on the stimulation of adenylate cyclase by isoprenaline or forskolin. Micromolar concentrations of PIA increase intracellular cyclic AMP, but with a lower potency than NECA. Similar findings are obtained with the non-differentiating cell line 3T3-C2. Thus preadipocyte 3T3-F442A cells and 3T3-C2 cells appear to express only stimulatory adenosine receptors. For some time after 3T3-F442A cells have differentiated to adipocytes, micromolar concentrations of NECA and PIA continue to increase cyclic AMP to a similar extent to that in preadipocytes, whereas nanomolar concentrations of PIA decrease the stimulatory effects of isoprenaline and forskolin on adenylate cyclase by 50%. However, several days after differentiation, the adipocytes gradually lose the major part of their positive response to NECA and reach a steady response to NECA 10 days after differentiation. The inhibition of adenylate cyclase caused by PIA remains constant for at least 2 weeks after differentiation. With membranes derived from the cells, the effects of NECA and PIA depend on GTP. These results indicate that, during the differentiation of 3T3-F442A cells to adipocytes, new inhibitory adenosine receptors are expressed, whereas the stimulatory receptors become attenuated.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Horses generate considerable internal heat burdens when exercising. Although common practice for a trainer or groom to place a wet blanket or towel on the dorsum of a hot horse post exercise, there are no data supporting the efficacy of this cooling method.

OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that a pre-moistened blanket designed with a multilayered breathable fabric would enhance heat loss in horses post exercise.

METHODS
Eight treadmill-trained horses performed a standardised exercise test (SET) weekly for 3 weeks, with 3 different recovery treatments administered randomly. Pulmonary artery temperature (PAT) was measured via Swan-Ganz catheter. The SET consisted of 10 min at 3.7 m/sec, 3 min at 11.0 m/sec, 25 min at 3.7 m/sec and 20 min of recovery walking at 2.0 m/sec (58 min exercise and recovery under laboratory conditions of 35.0-40.6 degrees C and 27-49% RH). From 3-7 min during recovery, the treadmill was stopped and horses randomly received either: (a) no bath (negative control); (b) a bath consisting of 32 l of 1-4 degrees C water split into 3-4 cycles of bilateral water application (positive control) followed by water removal ('scraping'); or (c) application of a multilayered fabric blanket soaked in 16-19 degrees C water, wrung out, and placed over the dorsum and sides of the horse. PAT was compared using RM ANOVA with the Student Neuman-Keul's test used post hoc to discriminate between treatments at specific points in time.

RESULTS
Mean PAT rose with each phase of exercise (P<0.001) and peaked at a mean of 40.2 +/- 0.2 degrees C. During recovery, the cold bath decreased HR and PAT for 9 min after walking resumed (P<0.001-P<0.05). The blanket did not decrease HR or PAT compared to negative control (P>0.05), and both were hotter than the cold bath treatment through 16 min of recovery (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS
A specially-designed cooling blanket failed to reduce PAT when compared to negative control. Cold water bathing decreased HR and PAT but was not effective throughout all of recovery.

POTENTIAL RELEVANCE
A specially-designed, pre-moistened multilayered breathable fabric failed to promote evaporative cooling compared to negative control. Cold water baths may need to be repeated throughout recovery to optimise their effect.


Multi-issue negotiation protocols are an important field of study because real-world negotiation problems are often complex and involve multiple issues. Although much previous work has only addressed linear utility function, that is, simple negotiations involving independent issues, recently, non-linear utility functions for complex negotiations involing interdependent issues have gained attention. Most studies, however, do not focus on the changes in utility space over time. In economic theory, it is often assumed that the utility function changes dynamically over time. It is important to seek the Pareto front, which refers to the set of Pareto optimal points, in negotiation problems. Therefore, in this paper we propose a complex utility space that changes over time and a negotiation mechanism in which the mediator takes the lead in negotiation based on the genetic algorithm (GA). The experimental results show that our approach is suitable for utility that dynamically changes over time, and finds and follows the Pareto front effectively.


A prior study found that inhibition of nitric oxide synthase with L-NAME causes a large, rapid decrease in IOP in anesthetized rabbits. In this follow-up study we sought to determine if this hypotensive effect was due to decreased aqueous production, possibly caused by ciliary vasoconstriction. Two protocols were performed in anesthetized rabbits. In the first protocol, mean arterial pressure (MAP) and IOP were measured by direct cannulation, and aqueous flow was measured by fluorophotometry, before and after L-NAME (5 mg kg(-1), i.v., n = 7). In the second protocol, ciliary blood flow was measured transclerally by laser Doppler flowmetry while MAP was varied mechanically over a wide range before and after L-NAME (5 mg kg(-1), i.v., n = 8). L-NAME caused a significant increase in MAP and decreases in IOP, ciliary blood flow and aqueous flow. L-NAME also caused a significant downward shift in the ciliary pressure-flow relation over the entire pressure range examined. The results indicate that L-NAME causes ciliary vasoconstriction and decreases aqueous production, suggesting that the L-NAME ocular hypotensive effect may be due in part to a blood flow-dependent decrease in aqueous production. However, assuming no uveoscleral outflow and constant episcleral venous pressure and outflow facility, the decrease in aqueous flow accounts for 66% of the drop in IOP, suggesting an additional effect of L-NAME on aqueous outflow.


This research describes the investigation of submerged cultivated mycelial biomass and hot water extracts prepared from different combinations and ratios of medicinal mushroom (MM) dry powders, comprising various biologically active compounds/secondary metabolites. In particular, it was evaluated the proximate composition (moisture, ash, crude protein, fat, total carbohydrates, and total energy), γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and ergothioneine (ERG), amino acid content of mycelia of 16 higher Basidiomycetes MM species. The results obtained demonstrate that almost all tested combinations were found to be good sources of polysaccharides, with content varying in the ranges of 4.73 ± 1.33% and 58.46 ± 4.15%. Total protein contents varied in 1.97 ± 0.40% - 5.37 ± 0.40% range. ERG was detected in all tested samples, while GABA existed only in eight samples out of 15 and varied from 0.03 ± < 0.01 to 0.61 ± 0.03 mg/g, and from 0.16 ± 0.03 to 5.69 ± 0.41 mg/g respectively. Analyses of total phenolic and flavonoid contents demonstrate considerable content in all samples (15.53 ± 0.23 - 18.88 ± 0.34 mg gallic acid equivalents/g and 1.23 ± 0.04 - 4.34 ± 0.73 mg rutin equivalents/g respectively). In present research the complexity of samples/extracts were evaluated by multiple antioxidant assays to verify their antioxidant capacity. Determination of in vitro antioxidant activity was successfully carried out by several different methods such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging activity, reducing power, chelating ability, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothi-azoline-6-sulfonic acid scavenging activity. Therefore, all tested samples confirm the capable antioxidant activities of bioactive compounds extracted from MMs.


Despite its fundamental role in the dynamics of compressible fluids, bulk viscosity has received little experimental attention and there remains a paucity of measured data. Acoustic spectroscopy provides a robust and accurate approach to measuring this parameter. Working from the Navier-Stokes model of a compressible fluid one can show that the bulk viscosity makes a significant and measurable contribution to the frequency-squared acoustic attenuation. Here we employ this methodology to determine the bulk viscosity of Millipore water over a temperature range of 7 to 50°C. The measured attenuation spectra are consistent with the theoretical predictions, while the bulk viscosity of water is found to be approximately three times larger than its shear counterpart, reinforcing its significance in acoustic propagation. Moreover, our results demonstrate that this technique can be readily and generally applied to fluids to accurately determine their temperature dependent bulk viscosities.


Follicles are ovarian structures that contain a single germ cell. During the mammalian reproductive lifetime, ovarian follicles mature through the process of follicular development, with the aim of selecting oocytes for ovulation. As part of this process, several follicles are eliminated by means of follicular atresia, a mechanism that mainly involves apoptosis. Nevertheless, it has been shown that there are other routes of programmed cell death in the ovary including autophagy, paraptosis, and necroptosis. Surprisingly, the endoplasmic reticulum is involved in these different programmed cell death pathways. Moreover, there are several evidences for the pathways triggered by intra- and extracellular signals in endoplasmic reticulum-induced cell death. Thus, it is important to analyze the participation of endoplasmic reticulum in follicular atresia.


Smart hydrogel micro-valves are essential components of micro-chemo-mechanical fluid systems. These valves show a transistor-like behavior and are based on phase-changeable polymers. They can open and close micro-fluidic channels depending on chemical concentrations in the fluid. These highly complex systems are challenging to engineer and their development will advance faster if proper simulations take place beforehand.A concept of how to simulate concentration-triggered, phase-changeable hydrogels is proposed. A simplified flow simulations will be presented to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach and to highlight geometrical problems. Based on the results, structurally more advanced models will be introduced with implemented multi-field solver interactions including thermal, mechanical and fluidic domains. The results of these models show the closing behavior of a micro-valve. The computed parameters of such valves are implemented into a circuit representation, which is capable of efficiently computing large scale micro-fluidic systems using an electric circuit simulator. These methods will help to predict, visualize and understand polymeric swelling behavior and demonstrate the performance of large-scale chip applications before any complex experiment is performed.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


Although it is envisaged that advances in technology will follow a "Moores Law" trend for many years to come, one of the aims of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is to reduce the size of the nodes as much as possible. The issue of limited resources on current devices may therefore not improve much with future designs as a result. There is a pressing need, therefore, for simple, efficient protocols and algorithms that can maximise the use of available resources in an energy efficient manner.
In this thesis an improved packet combining scheme useful on low power, resource-constrained sensor networks is developed. The algorithm is applicable in areas where
currently only more complex combining approaches are used. These include cooperative communications and hybrid-ARQ schemes which have been shown to be of major benefit for wireless communications. Using the packet combining scheme developed in this thesis more than an 85% reduction in energy costs are possible over previous, similar approaches. Both simulated and practical experiments are developed in which the algorithm is shown to offer up to approximately 2.5 dB reduction in the required Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) for a particular Packet Error Rate (PER). This is a welcome result as complex schemes, such as maximal-ratio combining, are not implementable on many of the resource constrained devices under consideration.
A motivational side study on the transitional region is also carried out in this thesis. This region has been shown to be somewhat of a problem for WSNs. It is characterised
by variable packet reception rate caused by a combination of fading and manufacturing variances in the radio receivers. Experiments are carried out to determine whether
or not a spread-spectrum architecture has any effect on the size of this region, as has been suggested in previous work. It is shown that, for the particular setup tested, the
transitional region still has significant extent even when employing a spread-spectrum architecture. This result further motivates the need for the packet combining scheme
developed as it is precisely in zones such as the transitional region that packet combining will be of most benefit.


Drugs obtained from natural sources are rarely administered or dispensed to patients in their native forms but are formulated into dosage forms. In Unani system of medicine dosage forms are broadly classified into four categories according to their state these are solid dosage forms, semisolid, liquid and gaseous dosage forms . Among them solid dosage forms e.g. Sufoof (powder), Kohal (coryllium), Kushta (calx), Qurs (tablet) etc have several advantages over other d osage forms such as higher stability, easy to carry, better patient compliance. The rate of absorption of a formulation depends on the dosage form, rout e of administration and particle size. Some solid dosage forms like shiyaf (suppository), zarur (dusting powder), noorah (depilatory) are used locally to produce their respective actions . But unfortunately some effective and potent dosage forms are neither used nor manufactured and they are near to extinct. Therefore in the present review an effort has bee n made to summarize the detailed Unani classical literature of solid dosage forms.


High-resolution and high-excitation energy photoemission spectroscopy has an advantage in probing the bulk electronic states in solids whereas the surface electronic states deviated from the bulk states are strongly re‰ected in low-excitation energy photoemission spectra which have so far extensively measured for many materials. We have succeeded in realization of the high-energy bulk-sensitive angle-resolved photoemission in order to probe the three-dimensional electronic structures and the Fermi surfaces. After introducing the angle-integrated photoemission spectra of 3d1-electron system Sr1-xCaxVO3 as an example for the bulk (surface) sensitivity of the high-(low-)energy photoemission, we show the recently obtained results of high-energy angle-resolved photoemission for strongly correlated electron systems such as Sr2RuO4 and ferromagnet CeRu2Ge2 in the paramagnetic phase, revealing their bulk Fermi surfaces. It is found that the Fermi surfaces of CeRu2Ge2 in the paramagnetic phase are substantially deviated from those in the ferromagnetic phase. Although our results for CeRu2Ge2 are roughly explained by the bandstructure calculation for LaRu2Ge2, a few qualitative discrepancies are seen.


Pervasive computing calls for suitable middleware and programming models to deal with large software systems dived in dynamic mobile network environments. Here we present the programming model of TOTA ("tuples on the air"), a middleware for supporting adaptive context-aware activities in pervasive computing scenarios. The key idea in TOTA is to rely on spatially distributed tuples, propagated across a network on the basis of application-specific rules, for both representing contextual information and supporting uncoupled interactions between application components. As shown with the help of a case study scenario, TOTA promotes a simple programming model and can effectively facilitate access to distributed information, navigation in complex networks, and achievement of complex coordination tasks in a fully distributed and adaptive way.


Reverse engineering compiled executables is a task with a steep learning curve. It is complicated by the task of translating assembly into a series of abstractions that represent the overall flow of a program. Most of the steps involve finding interesting areas of an executable and determining their overall functionality. This paper presents a method using dynamic analysis of program execution to visually represent the overall flow of a program. We use the Ether hypervisor framework to covertly monitor a program. The data is processed and presented for the reverse engineer. Using this method the amount of time needed to extract key features of an executable is greatly reduced, improving productivity. A preliminary user study indicates that the tool is useful for both new and experienced users.


Aim. Ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) is rarely associated with a duplex collecting system. We review this unusual anomaly in terms of presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and surgical management. Method. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients diagnosed with a duplex system with UPJO. Result. Sixteen patients (6 girls, 10 boys) with 18 moieties were treated surgically and four patients were treated conservatively. The median age at surgery was two years (range, 2 months to 7 years). The lower pole and upper moiety were affected in 12 and two kidneys, respectively, and both were affected in two patients. The anomaly was right-sided in 12 moieties and left-sided in six. The duplication was incomplete in seven patients and complete in nine. The mean renal pelvis diameter at the time of surgery was 25.6 (range 11–48 mm) mm by USG. The mean renal function of the involved moiety was 28.3% before surgery. Management included pyelopyelostomy or ureteropyelostomy in six moieties, dismembered pyeloplasty in eight moieties, heminephrectomy in four cases, and simultaneous upper heminephrectomy and lower pole ureteropyelostomy in one patient. Conclusion. There is no standard approach for these patients and treatment should be individualized according to physical presentation, detailed anatomy, and severity of obstruction.


Though computer technology has brought about virtual manufacturing to expedite design and analysis through simulation and visualization, machines remain essential, as ultimately products need to be made. There is a need for equipment providing more than three degrees of freedom (DOF) arranged in parallel and based on simpler arrangements than 6-DOF arrangements in application. This paper presents a new 4-DOF hybrid parallel platform manipulator with fixed-leg lengths and base mounted prismatic actuators. The movable platform of the manipulator can translate along two directions and rotate around two axes respectively (2T-2R). The kinematics model is formulated, which describes the inverse and forward kinematics transformation. It is very easy to develop a 5-axis NC machine-tool which is of large-workspace based on the 2T-2R, 4-DOF parallel mechanism presented in this paper.


This paper constructs a model on the factors that influence knowledge transfer in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and validates it via questionnaire surveys. Using 125 valid collected questionnaires, multiple linear regression analysis and hierarchical regression analysis showed that five out of the ten factors had a positive effect on knowl-edge transfer effect. The ranking of factor importance, from high to low, was knowledge explicitness, relationship quality, learning intent, advanced transfer activities, and learning capability, which is fairly consistent with positive factors observed in other inter-organizational knowledge transfer researches. Our results also showed that one of the control variables (size of acquired firm) had neither a direct or indirect effect on knowledge transfer in M&A. Additionally, our research found that knowledge distance and degree of M&A integration had a positive influence on knowledge transfer effect at the early stage after M&A, but had a negative influence at the late stage. Based on this research, several suggestions for knowledge transfer in M&A are proposed.


Summary: In order for a trauma surgeon to have an intelligent discussion with hospital administrators, healthcare plans, policymakers, or any other physicians, a basic understanding of the fundamentals of healthcare is paramount. It is truly shocking how many surgeons are unable to describe the difference between Medicare and Medicaid or describe how hospitals and physicians get paid. These topics may seem burdensome but they are vital to all business decision making in the healthcare field. The following chapter provides further insight about what we call "the basics" of providing medical care today. Most of the topics presented can be applied to all specialties of medicine. It is broken down into 5 sections. The first section is a brief overview of government programs, their influence on care delivery and reimbursement, and past and future legislation. Section 2 focuses on the compliance, care provision, and privacy statutes that regulate physicians who care for Medicare/Medicaid patient populations. With a better understanding of these obligations, section 3 discusses avenues by which physicians can stay informed of current and pending health policy and provides ways that they can become involved in shaping future legislation. The fourth section changes gears slightly by explaining how the concepts of trade restraint, libel, antitrust legislation, and indemnity relate to physician practice. The fifth, and final, section ties all of components together by describing how physician–hospital alignment can be mutually beneficial in providing patient care under current healthcare policy legislation.


There is a growing demand for new methods to prepare porous Si‐based materials for applications in optoelectronic and microelectronic devices. In this work, the preparation of SiC and Si from magnesiothermic reduction of chiral nematic SiO2/C composites and mesoporous SiO2, respectively, is reported. The SiO2/C composites are prepared by cocondensing SiO2 with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) followed by pyrolysis. The magnesiothermic reduction of the composites produces SiC after prolonged solid‐state reaction, with mixed MgC2/SiC intermediates. Iridescent mesoporous tetragonal MgC2/SiC structures that retain the long‐range twisted organization of the starting composites transform to mesoporous cubic SiC with a chiral nematic hierarchical structure, but with some loss of order. On the other hand, the magnesiothermic reduction of the chiral nematic mesoporous SiO2 templated from CNCs affords mesoporous Si materials with a layered hierarchical structure. The structural properties and the conductivity of the products, as well as the reaction pathways by analysis of the materials at intermediate stages, are investigated. These experimental results show that the magnesiothermic reduction is a promising way to obtain new porous semiconducting materials with chiral nematic structures.


Author(s): Tulgetske, Genet Michelle | Advisor(s): Stouthamer, Richard | Abstract: In Trichogramma parasitoid wasps, infection with the intracellular bacterium, Wolbachia, alters host reproduction, inducing gamete duplication and thus the parthenogenetic production of female offspring from unfertilized eggs. Little is known about the mechanisms governing sex determination in Trichogramma. Beyond outlining the basic mechanism of gamete duplication, few studies have investigated the interactions between Wolbachia and its host which allow parthenogenesis induction. This dissertation manipulates Wolbachia infection in Trichogramma kaykai to investigate the mechanisms involved in sex determination and the extent of Wolbachia's role in parthenogenesis induction. The production of males and intersexes by parthenogenetic females, and the factors contributing to their formation, provide valuable insight into mechanisms of sex determination and Wolbachia manipulation. Males and intersexes regularly appeared among the offspring of aging infected females as a result of incomplete parthenogenesis induction (Chapters 3-6). Intersexes ranged from very feminine to very masculine (Chapter 2) and flow cytometry confirmed that all were of a single genetic constitution (haploid or diploid) and therefore, not mosaics (Chapter 4). Infected females also produced occasional diploid males (Chapters 4-6). Together, these findings suggest a two-step mechanism of Wolbachia-induced parthenogenesis, requiring both gamete duplication and feminization. The complete lack of diploid males and intersexes in the absence of Wolbachia infection strongly supports this mechanism and points to a method of sex determination consistent with the imprinting model recently proposed for Nasonia vitripennis. Here, female development relies on a paternally derived sex allele to compensate for an imprinted maternal allele. The production of triploid daughters by diploid males strengthens this finding (Chapter 5). Factors modulating expression of Wolbachia-induced parthenogenesis in T. kaykai were found to include host age, host genetic background, and to a lesser extent heat (Chapter 3). Quantification of Wolbachia density (Chapter 6) revealed a clear relationship between bacterial density and wasp ploidy, with diploids harboring 7 times more than haploids. However, the relationship between Wolbachia density and sexual phenotype was not clear.


We present pressure calibration results for piston-cylinder 3⁄4" and 1" high temperature furnace assemblies in the 200–600 MPa range aiming to expand its applicability to simulate upper crustal conditions. The furnace assemblies were made up by crushable MgO, graphite heater, pyrex glass spacer, and NaCl sleeve. Twenty-one experiments were carried out over a range of pressures (200–600 MPa) and temperatures (870–945°C) to determine the liquidus curve of NaCl. The obtained curve slope fits that given by Siewert et al. (1998), but offsets by ~ -55 MPa, implying the need of a constant P upward correction in the 300–600 MPa and ca. 300-400 MPa pressure ranges for the 3/4" and 1" assemblies, respectively. However, if the NaCl melting points (918–920°C) obtained by Bohlen (1984) at 500 MPa are used as reference, no pressure correction is needed. Larger offsets (to -120 MPa) were obtained under pressure conditions around and lower than 300 MPa with the 1" assembly. Our results confirm the applicability of Bristol-type end-loaded piston-cylinders coupled with appropriate furnace assemblies in assessing relatively low-pressure conditions (down to ~ 200 MPa, ~ 7 km depth) found in the Earth's upper crust, where important magmatic, hydrothermal and metamorphic processes occur.


As a result of large, multicenter trials supporting ICDs for prevention of sudden cardiac arrest, there has been an exponential increase in ICD device therapy. Cardiologists and general practitioners are increasingly faced with the challenge to evaluate and troubleshoot device problems. In this review, we provide an overview of basic ICD function and malfunction and show examples of common ICD problems and troubleshooting.


Serials Positions in U.S. Academic Libraries, 1980-1988: A Survey of Position Announcements The future of the serials department and of the serials specialist has been the topic of much discussion and the subject of numerous articles. Underlying this interchange one invariably encounters the form-versus-function debate: are serials-related functions performed more effectively and efficiently when dispersed by function (i.e., into cataloging and acquisitions departments) or when centralized by form in a single, integrated serials department? If the former, what, if any, is the role of the serials specialist? The arguments advanced by those advocating organization by function and the elimination of separate serials departments stress perceived problems of communication and coordination across the departments and emphasized the role of automation as a decentralizing force. According to Potter: Specialized serials departments evolved in order to consolidate the various functions associated with serials control and to avoid duplication of effort involved in maintaining several separate check-in and holdings files.[1] With the introduction of integrated systems. it is possible for staff in any part of the library to review the same files, "obviat[ing] any lingering need for segregated processing."[2] Stating that the integration of serials into function-based departments results in standardization of procedures, D'Andraia implied that serials specialists, as well as serials departments, have little, if any, future: "automation ends the era in which serials must receive special handling by a specialist."[3] Leonhardt, questioning the proliferation of technical services department heads when a serials department is created in addition to cataloging and acquistions, conceded that "someone does need to coordinate all serials activities and all monographic activities as well. That person ought to be the technical services administrator ...."[4] He concluded: As we continue to plan for and implement integrated bibliographic library systems, the logic of organizing along functional lines rather than by form will become more obvious .... The luxury of duplicates processing will be ... much harder to justify.[5] Jean G. Cook, in "Serials' Place on the Organizational Chart: A Historical Perspective." traced the importance of serials and the organization of serial functions in libraries.[6] She found that as early as 1935, J. Harris Gable, superintendent of the Serial and Exchange Department of the State University of Iowa Libraries, had concluded that the centralization of serial activities resulted in a number of benefits to the library, including the fact that "the work may be more easily and efficiently done where the records are kept [and] the work may be done by trained serials workers."[7] These conclusions are reflected in the recent literature, as thsoe favoring organization by form assert that all aspects of serials work present special problems and require expert attention. Collver defined the primary functions of the integrated serials department as coordination of "the reciprocal interdependence involved in management of the unique local serial collection ...."[8] Likewise, Harrington and Karpuk noted that The integrated serials department allows for bringing of specialized knowledged to bear in all aspects for consistency of information and for collective problem solving, and contributes to developing high-level expertise in a serials department staff.[9] Ezzel concurred: It is possible for communication to take place when the several serials functions are separated into various departments within the library, but it is not as natural and easy as when they are joined into an integrated serials department. …


Article history: Received: September 2013 Received in the revised form: January 2014 Accepted: April 2014 The issue of photovoltaic cells usage for hot tap water heating in a household has been presented. There has been built a research point, which was situated on a single-family house in the country. The aim of the research was obtaining maximum performance characteristics of the system for hot tap water heating based on photovoltaic cells. It was carried out during summer solstice because of the most favourable relationship of day versus night, from the point of view of efficiency. Results collected from the research enabled to obtain a lot of exploitation characteristics describing the system. There have been presented exemplary time courses of action of generated power and selected working parameters. Maximum energy performance of the system has been determined. Further research should enable to define minimum hot water tank capacity as a buffer of energy and minimum number of panels that constitute a heating water battery, in order to fulfil requirements included in the Ordinance of the Minister of Infrastructure dated 14 January 2002, related to defining average norms of water consumption (Journal of Law 8/02 item70).


Fergusobia nematodes and Fergusonina flies are mutualists that cause a variety of gall types on myrtaceous plant buds and young leaves. The biology of an isolate of the gall complex was studied in its native range in Australia for possible use in southern Florida as a biological control agent against the invasive broad-leaved paperbark tree, Melaleuca quinquenervia. Timed studies with caged Fergusonina flies on young branches of M. quinquenervia revealed that females are synovigenic with lifetime fecundities of 183 +/- 42 (standard error; SE) eggs and longevities of 17 +/- 2 days. None of the male flies but all dissected female flies contained parasitic female nematodes (range = 3-15), nematode eggs (12-112), and nematode juveniles (78-1,750). Female flies deposited eggs (34 +/- 6; 8-77 per bud) and nematode juveniles (114 +/- 15; 44-207 per bud) into bud apices within 15 days. Histological sections of shoot buds suggested that nematodes induce the formation of hypertrophied, uninucleate plant cells prior to fly larval eclosion. Enlarged size, granular cytoplasm, and enlarged nucleus and nucleolus characterized these cells, which appeared similar to those of other species galled by nematodes in the Anguinidae. Observations of ovipositional behavior revealed that female Fergusonina sp. create diagnostic oviposition scars. The presence of these scars may facilitate recognition of host use during specificity screening.


Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a prevalent complication of surgical procedures that require cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We have used a mathematical model of the rat kidney to simulate renal hemodynamics during CPB and to study the pathways that can lead to AKI. The model represents vascular blood flow, glomerular filtration, and metabolically driven salt reabsorption along the nephron. Autoregulation is provided by active afferent arteriole constriction initiated by the myogenic response and tubuloglomerular feedback. The model simulates the effects of (i) reduced renal perfusion pressure, which reduces blood flow and glomerular filtration rate (GFR); (ii) hemodilution, which increases GFR; and (iii) hypothermia, which reduces sodium reabsorption and oxygen consumption. Medullary oxygenation is determined by the balance between oxygen consumption, which is increased by hemodilution but decreased due to low perfusion pressure and temperature, and medullary blood supply, which is reduced by hemodilution and the low perfusion pressure. Model simulations suggest that the rise in body temperature following the surgery increases medullary oxygen consumption and drives the kidney into a hypoxic state which may result in AKI. This research was supported in part by NIH grant DK‐89066.


Space is an important dimension in most real-world issues that concern social scientists and students of public policy. "Think Globally, Act Regionally: GIS and Data Visualization for Social Science and Public Policy Research" explores the spatial aspects of issues such as the preservation of farmland and endangered plants and animals, urban and regional planning, and management of light-rail lines. This book is designed as a monthlong module with structured exercises addressing themes of urbanization, GIS technology, data visualization, the balance between the built and natural environments, and spatial equity and regional integration. The accompanying CD contains data for completing the structured exercises in the book. ArcView and the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension are required to complete the exercises.


Purpose: Three patients with sciatica caused by contemporary involvement of intra- and extraspinal compression of the sciatic nerve are presented.
Case report: The diagnostic workup initially revealed intraspinal compression as the cause of sciatica. All patients underwent surgery that did not lead to clinical improvement. Additional diagnosis in two patients and autopsy in one revealed that residual pain was caused by nerve sheath tumors in two cases and pelvic abscess compression of the lumbosacral plexus in the third case.
Conclusion: Extraspinal compression of the sciatic nerve should be considered where standard surgical decompression of the intraspinal cause of sciatica fails to improve the clinical picture.


Purpose – This paper aims to investigate an underexplored aspect of outsourcing involving a mixed strategy in which parallel production is continued in-house at the same time as outsourcing occurs. Design/methodology/approach – The study applied a multiple case study approach and drew on qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with wood product m anufacturing companies. Findings – The paper posits that there should be a variety of mixed strategies between the two governance forms of "make" or "buy." In order to address how companies should consider the extent to which they outsource, the analysis was structured around two ends of a continuum: in-house dominance or outsourcing dominance. With an in-house-dominant strategy, outsourcing complements an organization's own production to optimize capacity utilization and outsource less cost-efficient production, or is used as a tool to learn how to outsource. With an outsourcing-dominant strategy, inhouse production helps maintain complementary competencies and avoids lock -in risk. Research limitations/implications – This paper takes initial steps toward an exploration of different mixed strategies. Additional research is required to understand the costs of different mixed strategies compared with insourcing and outsourcing, and to study parallel production from a supplier viewpoint. Practical implications – This paper suggests that managers should think twice before ru shing to a "me too" outsourcing strategy in which in-house capacities are completely closed. It is important to take a dynamic view of outsourcing that maintains a mixed strategy as an option, particularly in situations that involve an underdeveloped supplier market and/or as a way to develop resources over the long term. Originality/ value – The concept of combining both "make" and "buy" is not new. However, l ittle if any research has focused explicitly on exploring the variety of different types of mixed strategies that exist on the continuum between insourcing and outsourcing.


This paper is aimed at assessing the achievements of public-private partnerships (PPPs) as well as the obstacles to the effective implementation of PPPs in local governments in Ghana using the experience of two assemblies (Ga West Municipal Assembly and Adentan Municipal Assembly) in Ghana. The qualitative research approach was adopted for the study. Key informants were purposively selected from the two study areas and primary data collected using one-on-one indepth interviews. Additionally, secondary data regarding contracting processes and results were further subjected to thorough content analysis. The study observes that PPP has been applied in the provision of different local government services in the two districts. The use of PPPs has chalked up some form of benefits amidst major structural and institutional challenges. The study concludes that PPP has good prospects of enhancing the provision of local government services, if laxities are addressed. Keywords: PPPs, service delivery, local governments, Ghana, effectiveness


In response to large emergencies, emergency managers deal with unknown situations characterized by complexity and uncertainty, so-called wicked problems. Existing tabletop exercises are used to train, test and exercise emergency managers but do table top exercises mirror the wickedness? A pilot study where emergency managers were interviewed about the use of tabletop exercises has been carried out. The pilot study and traditional tabletop exercises are analyzed through the lens of wicked problems. The result shows that tabletop exercises partly mirrors wicked problems but cannot handle every aspect of wicked problems. The main reasons for this are, that the planning of tabletop exercises in which the problems and solutions are known beforehand tames the problems and that focusing on the use of plans entails leaving unplanned problems unaddressed. I propose three design ideas to be used when designing tabletop exercises to better prepare emergency managers for wicked problems. First, focus on unsolved (wicked) problems instead of on problems already handled in plans and allow participants to identify them. Second, let participants tame the problems during the exercise instead of taming the problems ahead of time planning the exercises. Third, use existing plans and lessons learned from previous emergencies, and resolve the problems in collaboration.


Abstract. The following research explores the feasibility of building effective design storms for extreme hydrological regimes, such as the one which characterizes the rainfall regime of the east and south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, without employing intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) curves as a starting point. Nowadays, after decades of functioning hydrological automatic networks, there is an abundance of high-resolution rainfall data with a reasonable statistic representation, which enable the direct research of temporal patterns and inner structures of rainfall events at a given geographic location, with the aim of establishing a statistical synthesis directly based on those observed patterns. The authors propose a temporal design storm defined in analytical terms, through a two-parameter gamma-type function. The two parameters are directly estimated from 73 independent storms identified from rainfall records of high temporal resolution in Valencia (Spain). All the relevant analytical properties derived from that function are developed in order to use this storm in real applications. In particular, in order to assign a probability to the design storm (return period), an auxiliary variable combining maximum intensity and total cumulated rainfall is introduced. As a result, for a given return period, a set of three storms with different duration, depth and peak intensity are defined. The consistency of the results is verified by means of comparison with the classic method of alternating blocks based on an IDF curve, for the above mentioned study case.


The nodal and effectively relativistic dispersion featuring in a range of novel materials including two- dimensional graphene and three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl semimetals has attracted enormous interest during the past decade. Here, by studying the structure and symmetry of the diagrammatic expansion, we show that these nodal touching points are in fact perturbatively stable to all orders with respect to generic two-body inter- actions. For effective low-energy theories relevant for single and multilayer graphene, type-I and type-II Weyl and Dirac semimetals as well as Weyl points with higher topological charge, this stability is shown to be a direct consequence of a spatial symmetry that anti-commutes with the effective Hamiltonian while leaving the interaction invariant. A more refined argument is applied to the honeycomb lattice model of graphene showing that its Dirac points are also perturbatively stable to all orders. We also give examples of nodal Hamiltonians that acquire a gap from interactions as a consequence of symmetries different from those of Weyl and Dirac materials.


We characterize monetary and fiscal policy rules to implement optimal responses to a substantial decline in the natural rate of interest, and compare them with policy decisions made by the Japanese central bank and government in 1999-2004. First, we find that the Bank of Japan's policy commitment to continuing monetary easing until some prespecified conditions are satisfied lacks history dependence, a key feature of the optimal monetary policy rule. Second, the term structure of the interest rate gap (the spread between the actual real interest rate and its natural rate counterpart) was not downward sloping, indicating that the Bank of Japan's commitment failed to have su.cient influence on the market's expectations about the future course of monetary policy. Third, we find that the primary surplus in 1999-2004 was higher than predicted by the historical regularity, implying that the Japanese government deviated from the Ricardian rule toward fiscal tightening. These findings suggest that inappropriate conduct of monetary and fiscal policy during this period delayed the timing to escape from the liquidity trap.


This study investigates the determinants of liquidity and execution probability in an exchange operated dark pool. We analyse a unique set of data collated from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) that allows the identification of trades and orders in its Centre Point dark pool. This study contributes to the understanding of factors that influence traders' preference to transact through an exchange operated dark pool and the execution probability of dark orders. We also examine the impact of Centre Point dark pool trading on market quality. The results show that the level of trading activity in the dark pool is higher for larger stocks with lower prices. Dark pool's share of total volume is higher when quoted spreads are wider, best depth is thicker, and when order imbalance, volatility and adverse selection are lower in the central limit order book. Execution probability of Centre Point orders increases when dark pool trading is most active and when average Centre Point order size is greater. We find no evidence of Centre Point trading being detrimental to market quality in our sample.


The primary aim of the work described in this thesis was to investigate the manufacture of ship hulls. The British share of the world shipbuilding market has fallen from over 50% to under 50% in the last thirty years, although its output in terms of tonnage has remained fairly stable at about one million tons per year. The increase in world demand during this period has been met by overseas shipyards which use production methods akin to those employed in general manufacturing industries. However British shipbuilders have tended to use more traditional shipbuilding methods, and investment in capital plant and improved management techniques has been relatively low. It was therefore intended that British shipyards should be investigated by a person with knowledge of other manufacturing industries. It became evident at the start of the work that active collaboration with shipyards was essential to achieve meaningful results. Nineteen British shipyards were approached and asked if they wished to participate, :Pour initially agreed, and a further four companies and two consultant organisations joined at a later date. During a preliminary exercise the four collaborating companies were visited for periods of one or two weeks. Design and production personnel were interviewed, and the areas of ship manufacture which might prove most fruitful on investigation were discussed. It was decided that a detailed study of ship hull steelwork manufacture, its management, and the plant and factory layout best suited for it would be most beneficial. These functions would be investigated and recommendations made to collaborating shipyards on how they might be improved. The main feature of the work carried out was the compilation and exploitation of a computer data bank describing the design and production features of ship hull components. It became apparent from initial shipyard discussions that difficulties would be met in directly applying production analysis techniques of general manufacturing industries in shipbuilding. The main reason for this is that there is a relative lack of essential production data. In many shipyards information does not exist on component process routes, component and assembly standard times, and standard costs. In the engineering industry in general an analytical investigation can start with the assumption that this data already exists within the firm. It was thought this problem would only be overcome by collecting information directly from ship steelwork drawings and material lists, and by then using this information to generate production data. The information would also be most economically stored, manipulated, and analysed using a computer. Component and assembly information was collected from drawings and material lists for selected ships and stored in computer data banks. Each data bank described components and assemblies comprising a complete ships hull. They employed descriptive coding systems which were specifically designed to indicate the manufacturing features of components and assemblies. It was thus possible to overcome the lack of production data by directly recording design information. In addition efficient computer storage, manipulation, and analysis packages were found to be readily available. The data banks were directly analysed to quantitatively investigate raw material standardisation. More important, by using the data banks it was possible to indirectly derive manufacturing methods from design drawings, and to use this to publish statistical tables of ship hull components for use in management decision making. Further investigations were made into work scheduling and shop floor layout problems in a specific shipyard. In these investigations the nonexistence of manufacturing process plans and work content estimates was found to be severely restricting. Computer programs were therefore written to generate these directly from the computer data banks for both component production and assembly. The resulting systems are faster in response and inherently more consistent than manual planning methods. They are accurate enough for scheduling, and they are now available for more detailed investigation of schedule work balancing and shop floor layouts.


Last year, we proposed a smart transcription algorithm in which a real liver is captured using a 3D depth camera. As opposed to this, a virtual liver is represented by a polyhedron in STL (Standard Triangulated Language) format (stereo-lithography) via DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) data captured by MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and/or a CT (computed tomography) scanner. By comparing the depth image in the real world and the Z-buffer in its virtual world, we quickly identify translation/rotation differences between real and virtual livers in a GPU (graphics processing unit). Then by a randomized steepest descent method based on the differences, we can quickly copy real liver motion to virtual liver motion. In this paper, this performance (i.e., motion precision and calculation time) of the proposed algorithm is ascertained from several kinds of experiments based on the depth camera Kinect v1. This is the first challenge to use matching real-virtual-depth-images in our algorithm running in 3D MR (mixed reality) with overlapping real and virtual environment.


The protests following the killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 led to contentious discussions and debates in many cities about policing, with some calling to "defund the police." However, this debate has generally proceeded without adequate research about either the scale or nature of issues that the police handle and the potential consequences of the proposed reform efforts. To respond to this research gap, we analyze millions of 911 calls for service across nine U.S. agencies. We report on the types of calls for service that the police handle, including how frequently different calls arise, how much time agencies spend on different categories of calls, and the outcomes of those calls. We find that the amount and types of incidents for which people call the police are voluminous, with the vast majority not obviously transferable to other organizations or government sectors without significant resource expenditures or adjustments. However, if the police retain these responsibilities, they also need to reconsider how they can more effectively address community concerns.


Objectives: Primary healthcare workers are the main drivers of the population-oriented health education programs. In this work, we aim to offer an account of the conditions that lead to mobbing in Primary Health Care Employees, and of the ways to address this problem and its consequences. Methods: This study has been conducted on the medical staff in primary health care units in the province of Antalya, with the permission of the Provincial Health Directorate and the approval of the ethics board of the Antalya Education and Research Hospital. It was planned as a cross-sectional study; survey forms were filled out by 752 employees during an internal training for primary health care in 2017. After informing the subjects regarding the aims of the study, we gave them a survey of 21 questions. The average time for the individuals to answer the questions was 30 minutes. The survey was designed to ask the individuals their age, gender, educational background and occupation, whether they know of any case of mobbing, whether they were subjected to mobbing themselves and for how long, the position and the gender of the perpetrator, and whether and how they addressed the issue. The answers of the participants were analyzed with descriptive statistical analysis, the frequencies were determined and chi-square test was used. Results: 72.2% (543) of the participants declare that they heard the words "mobbing" or "psychological harassment" before. In our study, the rate of exposure to mobbing was found to be 30.4% among primary care providers. We have found that mobbing exposure was significantly higher among females and midwives and nurses. Our study reveals that in every occupational group perpetrators are mostly in management positions; that 36-45 age group was the most victimized group by both genders; that the most common method in order to handle mobbing is the loss of communication which is a new problem between the perpetrator and the victim and that the most common response to mobbing is to share it with friends; and our study finds that the period of mobbing in the midwife-nurse group is mostly 19 months and more, while this period takes to 9-12 months in the case of doctors. Discussion: One of the most important steps in preventing mobbing is to take timely measures in organizations and to prevent the problem from harming the organization and employees. Educating employees about emotional assault within their working environment is proposed as an important solution for them to protect themselves when they are subjected to harassment.


This article explores the history and future of South Florida's ecosystem restoration efforts. Part II provides a general introduction to South Florida's history of attempting to transform nature through engineering and manipulation of the natural environment. Part III explores the consequences of those engineering efforts for the Everglades ecosystem, and its recent history of litigation, negotiation and legislation that culminated with the passage and ongoing implementation of the Everglades Forever Act and Congressional adoption of historic legislation implementing the CERP. Part IV describes the future of environmental restoration throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem, including the restoration of Lake Okeechobee and the implementation and funding of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Finally, Part V provides the authors' conclusions.


During 1991, Booth Gardner (Governor of Washington at that time) called upon Washington State residents to pressure relevant agencies to work toward wolf reintroduction to the Olympic Peninsula. Six years later, Representative Norm Dicks, Washington, and Defenders of Wildlife President, Roger Schlickeisen, announced plans for a feasibility study. During February 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) distributed a request for proposals for the study, and a cooperative agreement for the study was established between the USFWS, the Idaho Cooperative Research Unit, and the University of Idaho in April 1998. We identified and examined factors that influence feasibility of reintroducing wolves to the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. From review of the literature and interviews with interested parties we identified the following relevant factors: (1) current and historical status, (2) cultural and spiritual considerations, (3) habitat suitability, (4) demography and distribution of potential prey, (5) adequacy ofhabitat and prey for supporting a viable population, (6) future projections for an established population of wolves, (7) socio-economic factors, and (8) data limitations and needs as relevant factors. Our analysis was constrained from a lack of relevant data regarding prey populations for much of the region. Almost all lands outside of Olympic National Park had road densities considered too restrictive for long-term occupation by wolves, thus we restricted analyses mostly to Park lands. Based on previously published models, we predicted a wolf population of 56 animals causing little to moderate negative impact on ungulate populations, and minimal livestock depredation. We also predicted little domestic animal interaction, minimal disease concerns, and a negligible risk of direct aggression toward humans. Although we concluded that reintroduction of wolves to the Park is feasible for establishment of a marginally viable population, we cautioned that such action may not be prudent. That is, we predicted substantial negative political, social, and financial consequences. Key concerns included potential loss of some isolated and culturally important elk herds, negative reactions to wolves expressed by local residents and sportspersons, concerns regarding livestock and pet depredation, and long-term funding of an appropriate wolf-management program.


The ability of researchers to identify the type of activities and levels of interaction among students on a campus is important to research in Learning Analytics and in particular, anthropological studies which explore interactions among students. Historically the collection of base data in such studies has in the main been through observation, questionnaires or a combination of both. This work utilises the unique digital footprints created by student interactions with online systems within a University environment to measure student behaviour and correlate it with exam performance. The specific digital footprint we use is a students connections to the Eduroam WiFi platform within a campus. The advantage of this data-set is that it captures the personal interactions each student has with the IT systems. Datasets of this type are usually structured, complete and traceable. We will present findings that illustrate that the behaviour of students can be contextualised within the academic environment by mining this dataset. We achieve this through identifying student location and those who share that location with them and cross-referencing this with the scheduled University timetable. Our work uses the digital footprint to identify student location and thus co-location of students. From this co-location analyses we infer peer groupings and levels of interaction. This can be used for identifying peers in a University community and for identifying popular locations for different students and their peer groups to meet. This thesis examines the data collection process we followed and our data-mining process. Using the spatio-temporal data derived from the WiFi system we mined the data to produce actionable knowledge for use in the learning process. This research contains min- imal Personal Data and no Sensitive Personal Data as defined by the DCU Data Protection Policy (Version 2.0). All data has been anonymised, stored and used in conformance with the Universitys Personal Data Security Schedule (PDSS).


This paper proposed a greenhouse control system utilizing wireless sensor network (WSN) to overcome the wiring difficulties and poor mobility in the application of traditional cable-used control systems. Each wireless sensor node in the WSN collects the environmental data of temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration, and transmits the data to the control center via the sink nodes. A fuzzy neural network with three inputs and six outputs was designed to improve the control accuracy. By analyzing the relationship between the mentioned environmental factors above and the actuators of the system, a fuzzy rule was made and combined with the neural network. The simulation results showed that the proposed method could respond in a short time with high accuracy, and had small overshoot as well as good stability.


Red Star Over Malaya is an account of the inter-racial conflicts between Malays and Chinese during the final stages and the aftermath of the Japanese occupation. As Japanese forces retreated into the big cities, the Chinese guerrillas of the communist-led resistance movement, the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), emerged from the jungle and took control of some 70 per cent of the country's smaller towns and villages. The ensuing conflict involving the Malayan Communist Party, the Malay population and the British Military Administration marked a crucial stage in the history of Malaya. Based on extensive archival research in Malaysia, Great Britain, Japan and the United States, Red Star Over Malaya provides a riveting account of the way the Japanese occupation reshaped colonial Malaya, and of the tension-filled months that followed surrender. This book is fundamental to an understanding of social and political developments in Malaysia during the second half of the 20th century. First published in 1987, this book is a 'must' for any student of history in Southeast Asia. This edition contains a new foreword from the author.


Abstract:This article engages with practices of ethnographic storytelling to perform a structural critique of US schooling from the perspectives of Pacific Islander students attending a university far from their ancestral homelands. Deploying indigeneity to comprehend how their schooling is meaningfully connected to their histories of imperial colonization and their resistances to it, these students' specific understandings of the ocean enable them to transform the very school that alienates them and causes them to fail. These students reveal in their stories their consideration of the ocean as a representation and a repository of Pacific Islander cultural practices—such as collective support, mentorship through partnership, and caring for the family and church—that enable them to navigate through the struggles they face as minorities in their school.


The aim of this study is to determine the appropriate solution treatment temperature and time of semi solid 2024 Al alloy. Solution heat treatment at 450°C and 480 °C for various times, from 4 hours to 16 hrs, were applied followed by artificial aging at 220 °C for 1 hr. Microstructure of the semi solid cast 2024 aluminum alloy mainly showed globular grain structure which consisted of matrix-α (Al) and grain boundary (GB) - eutectic phases (α+Al2CuMg/Al2Cu). Eutectic GB phases was found to completely dissolved after solution heat treatment at 480°C for 14 hrs while sample solution treated at 450°C for the same time showed the existence of remaining GB phases. Prolonging heat treatment after 14 hrs at both temperatures resulted in the formation of coarse black particles at the grain boundaries which were identified as Mg2Si phases. Therefore the suitable solution treatment of the alloy in this study was at 480°C for 14 hrs.


Abstract: In this paper we will think ethnographically about how material vulnerability is dealt with and conceived of in the practice of informal menders. We explore different practices to "care for matter", mobilized in dealing with obsolete computers, categorized as electronic waste, and will analyse the epistemic repertoires to acknowledge and intervene in such computers vulnerabilities. In dialogue with STS and Repair and Maintenance Studies literature, we will move from vulnerability as an ontological quality of the world to the enacted properties and epistemic repertoires emerging from concrete "tests", through which we might learn how vulnerability matters. In particular, we pay attention to three specific vulnerability tests performed by these informal menders, underpinning particular distributions of labour as well as concrete enactments of vulnerability, and how to make it matter. Namely, sensing matter: manipulative practices of electronic waste whereby vulnerability is enacted as a property of materials; setting up informal experiments: informal practices of trial and error whereby vulnerability appears as a result of dis/functioning technical systems; and intervening in obsolescence: whereby sociomaterial orders regulate how material vulnerabilities are redistributed and put to the test. Keywords: maintenance & repair; matters of care; vulnerability; test; electronic waste.


Recent evidence indicates that local immune responses and tissue resident memory T cells (TRM) are critical for protection against respiratory infections but there is little information on the contributions of upper and lower respiratory tract (URT and LRT) immunity. To provide a rational basis for designing methods for optimal delivery of vaccines to the respiratory tract in a large animal model, we investigated the distribution of droplets generated by a mucosal atomization device (MAD) and two vibrating mesh nebulizers (VMNs) and the immune responses induced by delivery of influenza virus by MAD in pigs. We showed that droplets containing the drug albuterol, a radiolabel (99mTc-DTPA) or a model influenza virus vaccine (S-FLU) have similar aerosol characteristics. 99mTc-DTPA scintigraphy showed that VMNs deliver droplets with uniform distribution throughout the lungs as well as the URT. Surprisingly MAD administration (1ml/nostril) also delivered a high proportion of the dose to the lungs, albeit concentrated in a small area. After MAD administration of influenza virus, antigen specific T cells were found at high frequency in nasal turbinates, trachea, broncho-alveolar lavage, lungs, tracheobronchial nodes and blood. We conclude that the pig is useful for investigating optimal targeting of vaccines to the respiratory tract.


Hip displacement, defined in this study as a migration percentage (MP) of more than 40%, is a common, debilitating complication of cerebral palsy (CP). In this prospective study we analysed the risk of developing hip displacement within five years of the first pelvic radiograph. All children with CP in southern and western Sweden are invited to register in the hip surveillance programme CPUP. Inclusion criteria for the two groups in this study were children from the CPUP database born between 1994 and 2009 with Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) III to V. Group 1 included children who developed hip displacement, group 2 included children who did not develop hip displacement over a minimum follow-up of five years. A total of 145 children were included with a mean age at their initial pelvic radiograph of 3.5 years (0.6 to 9.7). The odds ratio for hip displacement was calculated for GMFCS-level, age and initial MP and head-shaft angle. A risk score was constructed with these variables using multiple logistic regression analysis. The predictive ability of the risk score was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC). All variables had a significant effect on the risk of a MP > 40%. The discriminatory accuracy of the CPUP hip score is high (AUC = 0.87), indicating a high ability to differentiate between high- and low-risk individuals for hip displacement. The CPUP hip score may be useful in deciding on further follow-up and treatment in children with CP.


ABSTRACT Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic derivatives of testosterone. They are thought to be the most commonly used performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) in Australia. However, the motivations for men's use of steroids and other PIEDs are poorly understood. Established ways of understanding these motivations highlight men's performance and/or image-related concerns, in the context of contemporary masculinities and gender norms. Researchers have paid little attention to how the social and political features of testosterone shape and transform steroid use. Instead, testosterone tends to be taken for granted as a 'messenger of sex' that acts on the body in predictable and routinised ways. This article takes a different approach. Drawing on feminist science studies and interviews conducted for an Australian research project, we investigate how the cultural and symbolic meanings assigned to testosterone shape the ontological politics of men's steroid consumption. Approaching testosterone as an emergent social and biopolitical gathering rather than as a stable sex hormone allows us to better understand how men's PIED consumption is mediated, particularly by pervasive ideas about sexual difference and the biology of gender. In concluding, we consider ways of better engaging men who consume steroids in health initiatives, in keeping with their concerns and perspectives.


Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a multifactorial disease associated with alterations in lipid composition and organization in the epidermis. Multiple variants of AD exist with different outcomes in response to therapies. The evaluation of disease progression and response to treatment are observational assessments with poor inter-observer agreement highlighting the need for molecular markers. SHARPIN-deficient mice (Sharpincpdm) spontaneously develop chronic proliferative dermatitis with features similar to AD in humans. To study the changes in the epidermal lipid-content during disease progression, we tested 72 epidermis samples from three groups (5-, 7-, and 10-weeks old) of cpdm mice and their WT littermates. An agnostic mass-spectrometry strategy for biomarker discovery termed multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM)-profiling was used to detect and monitor 1,030 lipid ions present in the epidermis samples. In order to select the most relevant ions, we utilized a two-tiered filter/wrapper feature-selection strategy. Lipid categories were compressed, and an elastic-net classifier was used to rank and identify the most predictive lipid categories for sex, phenotype, and disease stages of cpdm mice. The model accurately classified the samples based on phospholipids, cholesteryl esters, acylcarnitines, and sphingolipids, demonstrating that disease progression cannot be defined by one single lipid or lipid category.


Thus far, developers have created only partial solutions for using computational equipment in education. Research must focus more effort on developing architectures capable of combining technologies that target the classroom and that allow specifying "what" rather than "how" tasks should be done. The difficult task of architecting multimedia environments for teaching must start with a needs analysis. The most challenging task involves warranting reliability on the one hand, while accommodating opportunities for innovation on the other. Thus, we propose building a reliable, ubiquitous, adaptable, and easy-to-use technology-integrating black box. Placing this system atop a service-oriented component model implemented on a platform-independent layer such as a virtual machine provide the adaptability developers need. Loosely coupled components accommodate a nonmonolithic approach and ease reuse. By reusing and enhancing components, the system become increasingly reliable, while a building-block architecture keep it manageable.


Abstract In this study, the possible usage of chestnut flour in gluten-free cake formulation was investigated. Response surface methodology was used to evaluate the effects of water, xanthan and guar gum mixture and potato starch. Crust and crumb attributes, sensory and textural properties of the cake samples were investigated. Considering all cake properties, better results were obtained by increasing xanthan gum in the gum blend. Increasing the amount of potato starch in the chestnut flour–potato starch blend decreased the batter density, consistency, hardness and chewiness, but increased the specific volume, cohesiveness and scores of the interior and exterior attributes. Optimum concentration of gum mixture was found as 0.225% xanthan gum, 0.075% guar gum and ratio of chestnut flour to potato starch was 7:3. Then, four different levels of transglutaminase were added to control and optimized gluten-free cake formula. The highest desirability value was obtained in gluten-free formula containing 0.25% transglutaminase. According to the results of the sensory analyses, no significant difference was observed between control and gluten-free cake.