Variance reduction is crucial in stochastic estimation and optimization problems. Antithetic sampling reduces the variance of a Monte Carlo estimator by drawing correlated, rather than independent, samples. However, designing an effective correlation structure is challenging and application specific, thus limiting the practical applicability of these methods. In this paper, we propose a general-purpose adaptive antithetic sampling framework. We provide gradient-based and gradient-free methods to train the samplers such that they reduce variance while ensuring that the underlying Monte Carlo estimator is provably unbiased. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on Bayesian inference and generative model training, where it reduces variance and improves task performance with little computational overhead.


In this paper, we consider online continuous DR-submodular maximization with linear stochastic long-term constraints. Compared to the prior work on online submodular maximization, our setting introduces the extra complication of stochastic linear constraint functions that are i.i.d. generated at each round. In particular, at each time step a DR-submodular utility function and a constraint vector, i.i.d. generated from an unknown distribution, are revealed after committing to an action and we aim to maximize the overall utility while the expected cumulative resource consumption is below a fixed budget. Stochastic long-term constraints arise naturally in applications where there is a limited budget or resource available and resource consumption at each step is governed by stochastically time-varying environments. We propose the Online Lagrangian Frank-Wolfe (OLFW) algorithm to solve this class of online problems. We analyze the performance of the OLFW algorithm and we obtain sub-linear regret bounds as well as sub-linear cumulative constraint violation bounds, both in expectation and with high probability.


Abstract. The quiet-time coherent backscatter from the F-region observed by the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER) Bruny Island HF radar is analysed statistically in order to determine typical trends and controlling factors in the ionospheric echo occurrence. A comparison of the F-region peak density values from the IRI-2007 model and ionosonde measurements in the vicinity of the radar's footprint shows a very good agreement, particularly at subauroral and auroral latitudes, and model densities within the radar's footprint are used in the following analyses. The occurrence of F-region backscatter is shown to exhibit distinct diurnal, seasonal and solar cycle variations and these are compared with model trends in the F-region peak electron density and Pedersen conductance of the underlying ionosphere. The solar cycle effects in occurrence are demonstrated to be strong and more complex than a simple proportionality on a year-to-year basis. The diurnal and seasonal effects are strongly coupled to each other, with diurnal trends exhibiting a systematic gradual variation from month to month that can be explained when both electron density and conductance trends are considered. During the night, the echo occurrence is suggested to be controlled directly by the density conditions, with a direct proportionality observed between the occurrence and peak electron density. During the day, the echo occurrence appears to be controlled by both conductance and propagation conditions. It is shown that the range of echo occurrence values is smaller for larger conductances and that the electron density determines what value the echo occurrence takes in that range. These results suggest that the irregularity production rates are significantly reduced by the highly conducting E layer during the day while F-region density effects dominate during the night.


INTRODUCTION
The control of the breeding sites of mosquitoes of medical importance is essential for the anti-vector fighting programs; however, the efforts made so far have not great enough since the confirmed dengue fever cases gradually increase.

OBJECTIVE
To provide information on the main breeding sites of Aedes aegypti in an urban area with low vector density in Camagüey province.

METHODS
The urban universe was fully surveyed from January to December 2007. The collection procedure in the positive containers followed the National Vector Control program methodology. The characteristics of each container were written in a customized study form of positive blocks. The representative percentage of each positive container, as well as the proportion of larvae per container were determined.

RESULTS
Aedes aegypti formed colonies in 44 different containers, being the artificial reservoirs the predominant ones (97.73%). The majority were permanent, useful and unchangeable. Following the population's criteria, the combination of permanent plus useful is valid in 17 types of containers accounting for 38.36% and contributing 180 positive containers for 81.08% of the total number. The tanks placed on the ground reached 36.03% positivity.

CONCLUSIONS
The high number of mosquito-positive tanks demands greater individual responsibility in improving domestic sanitation and thus, the increase of awareness in order to achieve more active community involvement in this regard. The latter together with the strengthening of transectoriality will allow having an impact on the elimination and final disposal of all the useless materials that may serve as possible breeding sites of mosquitoes.


Often performance and other organizational data in the form of reports, models and dashboards remain in the executive silo, however empowering all of the employees in an organization with some or all of this data can result in significant competitive advantage for the organization. In this work we look at an online MBA program that employed such a data empowerment strategy for the decade from 2003 to 2012. We show how it outperformed its peers by tripling the student enrollments during this period. We describe in some detail the organizational structure and information systems that the team managing this online MBA program employed. We also take a look at the size and growth of the MBA market in the U.S. for the decade under review, as well as, the economics of the online MBA market.


Lead concentrations have been analyzed on a 223 yr profile through the aragonitic skeleton of the reef-building Caribbean sclerosponge Ceratoporella nicholsoni by using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry. A parallel study of the δ 13 C distribution in the skeleton validates the previously established mean annual growth rate of 230 µm/yr, at least for long-term important environmental changes. The Pb trend in the specimen displays a general increase from 0.30 ppm ca. A.D. 1760 to 2.15 ppm ca. A.D. 1984; a major threefold increase occurred after 1930. This Pb profile is analogous to results acquired from ice or coral cores and clearly highlights the potential of sclerosponges as a new proxy of environmental changes for time series extending over several centuries.


The high-resolution remote-sensing satellite, GF4 PMS, of China's geosynchronous earth orbit was successfully launched on December 29, 2015. Its high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution allow GF4 PMS to play a very important role in water environment monitoring, especially in the dynamic monitoring of lake and reservoir cyanobacteria blooms. As GF4 PMS has just been launched, there is still relatively little related research, and the practical application effect of GF4 PMS in the extraction of cyanobacteria blooms remains to be further tested. Therefore, in this study, the method and effect of GF4 PMS application in cyanobacteria bloom monitoring were studied in Taihu. It turned that GF4 PMS can be applied to the dynamic monitoring of the distribution of cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu, thereby finding the temporal and spatial variation of the distribution of cyanobacteria blooms.


Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to remove heavy metals Cu(II)and Ni(II) by pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) grafted β-Cyclodextrin (β-CD). The effects concerning the pH of the solution, contact time and initial heavy metal concentration were studied and discussed. The adsorption values increased significantly after a large number of carboxyl groups were gragfted on the microspheres surface. In order to investigate the mechanism of sorption, adsorption data were modeled using the pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. It was found that kinetic studies showed good correlation coefficients for a pseudo-second-order kinetic model, confirming that the sorption rate was controlled by chemical adsorption. The equilibrium process was better described by the Langmuir isotherm than the Freundlich isotherm. XPS analysis further confirmed that the carboxyl group which grafted on the surface of the β-CD microspheres play a very important role in the removal of heavy metals.


Abstract Introduction: Tumors of the adrenal gland are rare in children younger than 24 months of age. While neuroblastomas are most important in this age group, adrenal hemorrhage and other tumors are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Harvesting biopsies is mandatory in these young patients to obtain information on molecular markers, namely, MYCN and 1p deletion. Patients: Between 03/2012 and 10/2013, 11 patients younger than 24 months of age with suspicious adrenal tumors were operated on laparoscopically. Methods: The diagnostic workup was coordinated by our pediatric oncologists according to the terms of the NB2004 trial protocol. Results: 9 out of 11 had a diagnosis of neuroblastoma, the others were adenoma respective complete necrosis of the adrenal gland. All of the neuroblastomas were negative for both MYCN amplification and 1p deletion. A complete resection was successful in 9 out of 11 cases. 3 complications occurred, 1 major and 2 minor. Discussion and Conclusion: Behind the recognition that laparoscopic adrenalectomy is technically feasible, the fact that all neuroblastomas were negative for MYCN amplification and 1p deletion raises the issue of whether biopsy is mandatory for risk stratification in this age group.


Infertility management by assisted reproduction techniques has had rapid increase. While there is robust evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of assisted reproduction technique (ART), complications are encountered. Heterotopic pregnancy, defined as the presence of both an intrauterine and an ectopic gestation, is a rare eventuality of early pregnancy. A 42 years old patient (Para 0+1) with a diagnosis of secondary infertility is presented; she had In Vitro fertilization (IVF) with egg donation. Two weeks after the IVF, a positive serum Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin confirmed the pregnancy and she continued with intake of progestins for luteal phase support. At 7 weeks gestation she presented at a local hospital with acute pelvic pain. A diagnosis of heterotopic pregnancy was made after transvaginal showed right slow leaking ectopic pregnancy andintrauterine missed abortion. Laparoscopic surgery, right salpingectomy and manual vacuum aspiration were performed with good subsequent recovery. The case presented, discusses the aetiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis and management of heterotopic pregnancy.


Variability models are used to build configurators. Configurators are programs that guide users through the configuration process to reach a desired configuration that fulfils user requirements. The same variability model can be used to design different configurators employing different techniques. One of the elements that can change in a configurator is the configuration workflow, i.e., the order and sequence in which the different configuration elements are presented to the configuration stakeholders. When developing a configurator, a challenge is to decide the configuration workflow that better suites stakeholders according to previous configurations. For example, when configuring a Linux distribution, the configuration process start by choosing the network or the graphic card, and then other packages with respect to a given sequence. In this paper, we present COnfiguration workfLOw proceSS mIning (COLOSSI), an automated technique that given a set of logs of previous configurations and a variability model can automatically assist to determine the configuration workflow that better fits the configuration logs generated by user activities. The technique is based on process discovery, commonly used in the process mining area, with an adaptation to configuration contexts. Our proposal is validated using existing data from an ERP configuration environment showing its feasibility. Furthermore, we open the door to new applications of process mining techniques in different areas of software product line engineering.


Abstract American chestnuts, Castanea dentata, were once a dominant tree in eastern deciduous forests of the United States before the chestnut blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, was introduced unintentionally in the early 1900s in New York. This fungus rapidly devastated American chestnut populations until a hypovirus infection of the fungus began to reduce pathogen virulence on chestnut trees. The subsequent reappearance of large reproducing chestnut trees, associated with a large proportion of blight-infected isolates being parasitized by this hypovirus, is currently taken to indicate recovery of American chestnut populations. We explore, using previously-established matrix population models, the dynamics of healthy, fungus-infected, and hypovirus-infected American chestnut populations to test the efficacy of this recovery. Our main result is that populations transitioning from being fungus-infected to hypovirus-infected are predicted to show large transient amplifications as a result of demographic transitions, only to decline asymptotically to zero, and this result is robust to uncertainty in fecundity values. Our results suggest that the current recovery of the American chestnut population may be a transient phenomenon and that more conservation efforts may be necessary to ensure its long-term persistence.


An advanced forming technology, solution Heat treatment, Forming and in-die Quenching (HFQ ® ), has been employed to form AA6082 tailor welded blanks (TWBs). In comparison with conventional stamping of TWBs, the mechanical properties and formability of AA6082 laser TWBs could be improved under the HFQ forming condition. The TWB was divided into three physical zones, i.e. base metal, heat affected zone (HAZ) and weld zone, based on the hardness distribution. It was found that the degraded hardness of the weldment can be restored after HFQ forming. TWBs of AA6082 with different thickness ratios of 2 (2-1mm), 1.3 (2-1.5mm) and 1 (1.5-1.5mm) were used to study the TWB thickness ratio effects on the forming behaviour. Hemispherical punch dome tests on the TWBs with varying thickness ratios demonstrated different formabilities, and indicated increased displacement of the weld line with increasing thickness ratio. Finite element (FE) modelling was adopted to analyse the weld line movement and strain distributions during HFQ forming. HFQ ® is a registered trademark of Impression Technologies Ltd.


Voice Source and Duration Modelling for Voice Conversion and Speech Repair Arantza del Pozo Voice Conversion aims at transforming a source speaker's speech to sound like that of a different target speaker. Text-to-speech synthesisers, dialogue systems and speech repair are among the numerous applications which can greatly benefit from the development of voice conversion technology. Whilst state-of-the-art implementations are capable of achieving reasonable conversions between speakers with similar voice characteristics and prosodic patterns, they do not work as well in scenarios where the differences between the source and the target speech are more extreme. This is mainly due to limitations in the modelling and conversion of the voice source and prosody. In this thesis, a refined modelling and transformation of the voice source and duration is proposed to increase the robustness of voice conversion systems in extreme applications. In addition, the developed techniques are tested in a speech repair framework. Voice source modelling refinement involves using the Liljencrants-Fant model instead of the linear prediction residuals employed by the existing implementations to represent the voice source. A speech model has been developed which automatically estimates voice source and vocal tract filter parameterisations. The use of this speech modelling technique for the analysis, modification and synthesis of speech allows the application of linear transformations to convert voice source parameters. The performance of the developed conversion system has been shown to be comparable to that of state-of-the-art implementations in terms of speaker identity, but to produce converted speech with a better quality. Regarding duration, a decision tree approach is proposed to convert duration contours. Its application has been shown to reduce the mean square error distance between the converted and target duration patterns and to increase their correlation. The developed speech model and duration conversion techniques are then tested in an extreme application: the repair of the voice source and duration limitations of tracheoesophageal speech. Tracheoesophageal voice source repair involves the replacement of the glottal source, smoothing of jitter and shimmer, reduction of the aspiration noise component and raising of the fundamental frequency in some cases. As for duration, decision trees trained on normal data are employed to repair the tracheoesophageal duration contours. The performance of the repair algorithms has been found to be highly dependent on the quality of the tracheoesophageal speakers. Whilst the repaired speech has been found to be less deviant, ugly and unpleasant to listen to overall, its naturalness, intelligibility and rhythm is still relatively poor compared to that achieved for normal speakers.


Post-Reform has brought about a fundamental change in the national education system. Changes in the education system follow changes in the authoritarian system of government-centralized toward decentralized, better known by the name of educational autonomy. Thus, the education system also adjusts to model of regional autonomy. Policy  autonomy in education, then expected to bring much hope for the improvement of education system in the region in particular and in Indonesia as a whole. This study tried to describe the formulation of educational budget policy in Solok Regency and the actors involved in the formulation. The qualitative method was used in this study. Based on data analysis, it is found that autonomy in the regency of Solok has used the bottom-up model in the budget policy formulation, which involves active community participation. The involvement of the community is expected for distribution of education at every level of society. Kata Kunci: Formulasi Kebijakan, Anggaran Pendidikan, Otonomi Daerah, Pemerataan Pendidikan


Introduction The use of mobile technology (MT) in home-based occupational therapy is expected to continue growing. This study describes daily use patterns for MT and upper extremity (UE) home exercise programs (HEPs) for community-dwelling stroke survivors in the United States. Method Cross-sectional survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate comparisons. Results N = 61 (30 stroke and 31 controls). Individuals with stroke had similar levels of knowledge, skill, and use of MT compared with non-disabled age-matched adults. Stroke participants used MT more frequently for information searching, social media, and reminders compared to control participants. Stroke participants were motivated to improve UE function (93.3%) and reported a need for additional HEP training (56.7%). Perceived facilitators to improve UE use included talking to peers (73.3%), getting more information (73.3%), and talking to a therapist (63.3%). Conclusions MT may have multiple potential benefits when integrated into occupational therapy practice including supporting instrumental ADLs, facilitating social connection, and increasing adherence to UE HEPs. Future work should focus on maximizing adherence and providing performance feedback through the use of social media to promote peer support and consistent remote communication using text messaging, phone calls, or video calls to deliver information and reminders on exercises.


A particle induction heating method to promote electrical heating performance for water is studied in this paper. The method sinks metal particles (we chose Nickel particles) inside water, and uses a RF oscillating magnetic field to heat the particle bed. The heat generated on the surface of particles by electrical eddy current further raises the temperature of water. Our experimental results show that this thermal process has a remarkable high heating rate owning to the huge heat dissipation area of particles (in some experiment cases, water boils in seconds, even though the volume ratio of particle to water is only 1:89). To describe the physical nature of the process, a mathematical model is proposed. And our numerical simulation results generated from the model agrees very well with experimental data. However, some parameters used in the model are not easily obtainable for engineering application. Thereafter, to predict the temperature for the heating process, in the end of this work, an artificial intelligent neural network architecture is further proposed.


NFS server is designed to run on a single node. Even if NFS server is configured with multiple network interfaces, each client can only access NFS server through one network interface of the server. In this paper, we design and implement the multi-path load distribution mechanism in the SunRPC layer of NFS. This mechanism allows the NFS clients to use the aggregated network bandwidth of the server which has multiple network channels and balances the load among the multiple network channels. The result shows that the extended version of NFS can make good use of multi-path of the server and can tolerate network failure


Pindari Epinicia. Ed. A. TURYN. Pp. xiv + 224. New York: Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. 1944. $5.00. The Editor of this new text of Pindar, who was Professor in the University of Warsaw, completed his work in 1938. On the outbreak of the war the text had already been printed in Poland with the exception of the fragments, and he was able to convey a copy to the U.S.A., where it has been reproduced by photolithography. The Editor follows the principles laid down in his De Codicibus Pindaricis (Cracow, 1932). He has collated all the MSS. used in his apparatus criticus either in the originals or in facsimiles, in some cases making complete collations for the first time. The MSS., all of which descend from a common archetype, fall into two main families: (1) the Ambrosian recension represented by A (Ambr. c. 222 inf.), which excels all other MSS., but only contains Olymp. i-xii and scholia; (2) the Vatican recension, which falls into two subdivisions: (a) the Vatican-Laurentian, in which the most important MSS. are B (Vat. Gr. 1312) and D (Laur. 32, 52), and (b) the Gottingen, best represented by G (Gott. Philol. 29). There is a further large group of interpolated MSS. which have undergone the critical revision of Byzantine scholars. Professor Turyn differs from most editors in regarding C (Paris. Gr. 2774) as of little importance, and classes it among the interpolated MSS. The papyri, which have supplied important fragments of Pindar's Epinicia, agree to a remarkable degree with the MS. tradition and confirm its general reliability. There is a double set of notes at the foot of the text, of which one contains numerous and valuable references to allusions, similar passages, etc., in classical and Byzantine authors, the other the apparatus criticus. It is clear that Turyn's text presents the fullest and most careful collation of a large number of MSS. of Pindar that has yet been carried out, and it should prove of great value to scholars. It does not appear that he takes much account of the work done on Pindar by British scholars, whose names occur very rarely indeed in the apparatus criticus. To take only two passages, in Pyth. x, 69, where the MSS. read dSeAcjiEoOs T'frrrcnv̂ aotiEw and the metre requires an extra syllable and Turyn conjectures TPI for T', Housman suggested T'<JT'>, where the omission can be more easily accounted for, and in Nem. viii, 46, Sandys' suggestion of V&cnppiv (cp. Nem. viii, 77) for the very difficult -re Xdjjpov is at least worthy of mention. The paper used and the general appearance of this volume are a pleasant contrast to what we are used to in this country. We look forward to the completion of the work by the publication of the fragments. EDWARD S. FORSTER


Coughing is a normal function that serves to expel secretions from the airways, prevent inhalation of material into the airways and delay entry of material deeper into the lungs. It is therefore an extremely important mechanism in the protection of the respiratory system. This raises the issue of control of coughing in disease situations, where the benefits of coughing might outweigh the benefits of supressing the cough. In fact, in some situations, such as chronic bronchitis, stimulating coughing by chest coupage is believed to be therapeutically beneficial. The following are addressed: Mechanism; Causes; Differentiation between cardiac and respiratory origin; and Differential diagnoses for respiratory causes.


In order to evaluate the range of stem canker fungi in natural eucalypt forest and
plantations in Tasmania, a systematic survey was conducted. A total of 210 samples
representing 30 fungal species were collected. The three species most frequently
encountered were Endothia gyrosa, Cytospora eucalypticola and Valsa ceratosperma.
Ten of the fungal species detailed in this survey were newly published and five were
reported for the first time in Australia.
Pathogenicity studies were conducted with 11 fungal species collected from the
survey. Three species (E. gyrosa, Phoma sp. and Seiridium eucalypti) could cause
significant cankers on both E. nitens and E. globulus. Influences by host species,
provenance, age, vigour and bark type on canker development are discussed.
The incidence of canker is higher in rough-barked E. nitens compared to smooth-barked
trees. Longitudinal cracking in rough bark provides natural infection courts.
However, once infected artificially, smooth-barked E. nitens is more susceptible than
rough-barked. This susceptibility is attributed to the anatomical structure of smooth
bark facilitating post-infection penetration.
A high incidence of severe E. gyrosa cankers was observed in 1993 at Tewkesbury
(northwestem Tasmania) within a vigorously growing plantation of mixed (smooth or
rough barked) provenances of 16 yr old E. nitens. This observation initiated an in-depth
investigation of E. gyrosa.
Stem inoculations with isolates of E. gyrosa originating from different locations
across Australia showed that all can infect E. nitens and E. globulus. However,
isolates from Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia were generally more
aggressive than those from the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales.
Endothia gyrosa isolates from Australia and overseas were compared. Four main
types of colony morphology were recognised among 133 isolates based on the colour
and density of the vegetative mycelium.
Vegetative incompatibility was detected using a pH amended medium. Sixteen
isolates from different origins in Australia, South Africa, North America and Europe
were grouped into 9 vegetative compatibility groups with this method.
There was correspondence between the grouping of these sixteen isolates as
determined by colony morphology and vegetative compatibility and those revealed by
DNA polymorphisms in RFLP and RAPD analyses. Overseas and Australian isolates
appear closely related. Within Australia isolates from as geographically distant
locations as Western Australia and Victoria were grouped together. The significance
of observed levels of intraspecific variation in E. gyrosa is discussed.
The potential threat of canker fungi, especially E. gyrosa, to the plantation forestry is
reviewed.


The purpose of this working paper is to provide conceptual foundations for the reader interested in online communities. A useful summary of research conducted on online communities is provided in this paper. Beside several classifications for online communities, we will also pay attention to the questions why consumers belong to online communities, and what are the reasons and motives for consumers to join these communities. The different perspectives for the reasons and motives complement each other. We have proposed a valueinterest framework where several theories are combined into one, integrated model. The value-interest framework looks the motives from several perspectives simultaneously. It must be remembered, however, that beside this integrated model, it is fruitful to look at the motives and reasons from the different perspectives separately, too.


Inhibitors of NF-κB: A20 and IκBβ Arnab De While prompt activation of NF-κB is essential for optimal immune response, it is equally important to terminate the response to avoid tissue damage and perhaps even death resulting from organ failure. This thesis describes two inhibitors of NF-κB, A20 and IκBβ. A20 is an essential inhibitor of NF-κB mediated inflammation as mice lacking A20 die from multi-organ inflammation and cachexia. Multiple biochemical approaches have suggested that A20 functions as a deubiquitinase by disassembling K63-linked regulatory ubiquitin chains from upstream adapter molecules like RIP1. To determine the contribution of the deubiquitinase role of A20 in downregulating NF-κB, we generated and characterized a knock-in mouse lacking the deubiquitinase activity of A20. However, we find that these mice display normal NF-κB activation and show no signs of inflammation. Our results suggest that the deubiquitinase activity of A20 is dispensable for downregulating NF-κB. The second part of this thesis unravels a new biological pathway mediated by IκBβ. Unlike IκBα, which functions solely as an inhibitor of NF-κB, IκBβ can both inhibit and activate NF-κB depending on the physiological context. We hypothesized that this may be because IκBβ (unlike IκBα ) exists in two forms, a constitutively phosphorylated form and an unphosphorylated form. Prior work from our group has demonstrated that hypophosphorylated IκBβ complexes with p65:cRel and mediates the expression of certain inflammatory genes like TNFα . We report here that Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β (GSK-3β ) interacts with and phosphorylates IκBβ at Serine-346. This phosphorylation masks the NLS of p65 in the phospho-IκBβ:p65:cRel complex, thereby sequestering the complex in the cytoplasm and mediating the anti-inflammatory role of IκBβ. We discovered a peptide that can inhibit this phosphorylation by abrogating the interaction between GSK-3β and IκBβ. Mice succumb to a sublethal dose of LPS when injected with this peptide because of increased production of TNFα (but not IL-6); thereby demonstrating the inflammatory role of unphosphorylated IκBβ in upregulating specific genes like TNFα. We propose a signaling model by which phosphorylation by GSK-3β can regulate the functions of IκBβ in response to LPS.


Background The Health System Modernisation law recommends better information and support to patients in their health path. In this context, a medication therapy management programme, AIPAT, was implemented in our hospital. Purpose The aim of this study was to assess patient satisfaction with this programme. Material and methods Since March 2015, medication therapy management interventions (MTMi) are offered to outgoing patients from the cardiology department. These interventions, about 15 min and conducted by a pharmacist or specifically trained physician, were structured around two educational tools, designed for this programme:(1) a card game to help patients understand the therapeutic goals of their drugs;(2) a personalised medication schedule, filled in with the patient, listing their treatments with their therapeutic goals and delivered by hand to the patient at the end of the interventions. Finally, a satisfaction survey, completed by the patient, was proposed. Data from this survey were collected and analysed. Results Over a period of 15 months, 237 MTMi were conducted and 208 satisfaction surveys were returned. Median age of respondent was 77 years. Discharge prescription included a median of 7 drugs. The intervention was found 'useful' or 'essential' in 84% of patients. Almost all patients (99%) were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' by messages and information delivered. 79% of patients judged that answers to their questions were satisfying. Most patients (90%) felt they had acquired new knowledge about their pathology and/or their treatments. Regarding the personalised medication schedule, 81% of patients found it 'easy to use', 75% 'essential' and 76% 'adapted to their pathology'. Nearly 9 out of 10 patients declared that they will use this personalised schedule in everyday life. Conclusion Results showed a very high satisfaction rate and the tools proposed and information provided were very well received by patients. These results highlight the need to continue and extend this programme to other departments and/or hospitals. An assessment of MTMi benefit, particularly for patient compliance, should subsequently be implemented. Finally, electronic transposition of the tools, such as a 'smartphone/tablet' application, could be designed to make them interactive and to enable patients or healthcare providers to update the personalised medication schedule. No conflict of interest


The Ise Shrines (Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮), which venerate the tutelary deities of the imperial lineage, are today presented as sites of an enduring and immutable native tradition. However, the image of Ise as the homeland of an indigenous religion untouched by Buddhism is one created by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Nativists, promulgated by the Japanese government until the end of the Pacific War, and promoted by the Ise Shrines until today. The Separation Edicts of 1868, which segregated religious deities, clergy, institutions, and images, into the mutually exclusive categories of Buddhist or Shinto, was one of the most radical events in the history of Japanese religion and one that forever changed the status, structure, and administration of Ise. But for the previous thousand years, Buddhist practices, texts, deities, and beliefs were an integral part of Ise's religious and institutional culture. Yet the relationship between the gods and the buddhas at Ise is neither simple nor self-evident. This article seeks to excavate one piece of that complex history.


Youth unemployment has been a persistent problem in the European Union for many years and the affected countries spend a substantial part of their budget on active labour market policies, with the aim to integrate young unemployed workers into the labour market. Employment subsidy programmes are one type of active labour market policies that have been implemented. Although important amounts of money have been spent for these programmes, little is known about the effects of participation in subsidised employment on the labour market transitions. This thesis incorporates several studies that aim to estimate the effect of a subsidised employment programme. The programme provides a reduction of the social insurance contribution for employers that hire eligible workers. All three studies provide estimates for the participation of long term unemployed school leavers. In order to evaluate whether programme participation is useful for their integration into the labour market, the effect on different duration outcomes has been investigated. A major difficulty in causal analysis with non-experimental data is that the characteristics of the group of participants may by systematically different from those of the group of non-participants. Estimates may therefore reflect both the effect of participation as well as the particular selection of participants. To control for this selection bias, multivariate mixed proportional hazard models have been applied and a large number of control variables have been incorporated. The results of this thesis show that participation in the employment subsidy programme accelerates the transitions into regular, non-subsidised employment. Moreover, the employment duration is increased, compared to a regular employment spell. Finally, the estimates show that the effect of a former participation on the duration of a subsequent unemployment spell is similar to the effect of a former regular employment spell.


Objectives: The aim of Right to Education Act and the implementation of government educational Schemes is to reduce school dropouts at grass root level. The following study sponsored by ICSSR is an attempt to explore the factors affecting school dropouts in Pune district in India. Methods/Statistical Analysis: This study carries forward the data and information collected through structured questionnaire and discussions from the parents of school dropouts. The general information of associated reasons/factors was analyzed especially of government schools and private-aided school dropouts. Stratified Random Sampling method was carried out from the list of schools Taluka-wise available with Zilla Parishad. Sample size consisted of 168 parents. The data analysis was prepared using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Findings: The survey highlights parents of school dropouts are aware of governmental educational schemes. However, to a larger extent, individual and family reasons especially the lack of encouragement/casualness from the parents and financial problems seemed to play a dominant role for school dropouts in Pune district. It is also observed mentoring is received by the dropouts from school authorities to continue studies, but the depth and importance of it still needs to be acknowledged in full swing. The findings corroborates with rest of the available studies. The study will assist policy makers, to certain extent, in identifying the causes for school dropouts and help in formulating prevention strategies at grass-root level. Improvements: Further this study could be enhanced by broadly discussing the other facets viz. status of implemented government programs, role of community, enrollment, etc. in the selected schools and other schools of the district. It can be extended to any other region to contain the school dropouts especially when migration of parents from rural to urban and also from one country to another becomes inevitable.


"The History Files" series presents the people, events and ideas that have shaped our world, through the lens of recent research. Each title covers a single topic and is illustrated with telling images from out-of-the-way sources and a collection of facsimile documents, bringing the past to life in an accessible yet authoritative format. Focusing on the experiences of those who lived through slavery, James Walvin, a leading authority on the subject, discusses the origins, development, abolition and legacies of the slave trade. The facsimile documents bring the period alive, as do the poignant quotations taken from first-hand accounts, detailed box features and over 150 evocative images.


When we as researchers sit in solitude, just before (or after) the final deadline for submission, and fight a hard battle in order to finish our latest, newest, and definitely, best paper to date, we do not think much about it. When we post the paper to a journal or a conference, we do not think much about it either. But I bet that most of us do when we get reviews back, or when we get nasty questions when presenting the paper at a conference. Our own colleagues are often much too polite to tell the bitter truth that the paper is flawed, unfinished, and contentious. The following pages explores the question: How do I write a good article which both documents the body of research I have conducted, and which also "sells" the points I am trying to make? These pages contain some of the basic questions it is a good idea to have had considered before shipping the first draft off. They are based on my own subjective experiences with writing articles. It is my aim to present some of the basic rules I have learned, not the "full story". If you, when you have read these pages, try to apply the normative statements I forward in this paper, you will understand why I chose to call it "This is Not an Article — Just Some Food for Thought on How to Write One".


Modern multicore microprocessors require attentive development to energy requirements when maximizing power-performance efficiency and ensuring reliable plus scalable functionality. IBM POWER9 relies on extensive modeling to identify representative workloads used when analyzing thermal design power and regulator design power against product requirements. Compounding benefits of circuit optimizations applied to the diverse subcomponents of the chip results in lower power cores, caches, and memory/IO interconnect. Specific dc- and ac-current analyses ensure proper definition of chip specifications for system voltage and current delivery. Finally, a systematic exploration of microbenchmarks on intermediate and final POWER9 hardware provides insight into processor core requirements while validating model accuracy.


Background: Clubfoot is a congenital disorder identifiable with the clinical assessment itself, provided the knowledge of key features is sound. Several disorders affecting the foot and lower limb that present with crooked or bent anatomy may be confused with it. Knowledge of common disorders that mimic clubfoot in a particular region is thus important to adequately distinguish, manage or refer the case to specialist opinion. Objectives: The current study attempts to provide an overview and documentation of the conditions referred and labeled as clubfoot from primary care facilities, the knowledge of which is important so that appropriate treatment is given to each. The findings will reflect lacunae in the knowledge and perception of primary healthcare workers regarding the deformity. Materials and Methods: A retrospective assessment of all cases referred to our dedicated clubfoot clinic with a diagnosis of clubfoot by peripheral health-care facility was done from September 2016 to October 2017. Relevant demographic details including that of parents, type of deformity, nature, laterality, and treatment received were noted for each case. Conditions requiring non-operative treatment and those requiring further evaluation were noted separately with a detailed description. Results: Out of total 97 cases labeled as clubfoot, 32 (33.68%) cases with 64 feet were part of the study after excluding true clubfoot cases. The common condition noted was calcaneovalgus, postural clubfoot, equinus deformity secondary to cerebral palsy, metatarsus adductus, in-toeing, and posteromedial bowing of tibia. Conclusion: The knowledge of common foot disorders in primary care settings should be strengthened by refresher practical training so that these disorders are diagnosed and managed there an appropriate referral is made thus leading to decrease the burden on higher centers.


This piece highlights some of the ways in which the administration of territory by international organizations has been represented in certain academic texts, discussing the manner in which these representations frame the nature of and the purposes served by the practice in general and certain administration projects in particular. It draws from commentary on current and previous projects, and also considers some of the concepts with which the practice has been associated, including the 'failed states' paradigm, 'generations' of peacekeeping, and the idea of 'post-conflict reconstruction'. The point of this inquiry is to explore how accurate these representations are in their own terms, and more broadly to evaluate the political consequences of framing international territorial administration in the manner identified. It is suggested that some of the pictures painted of the recent administration missions risk undermining attempts at a critical evaluation of the missions. The risk is identified in the presence of four different discursive strategies within the texts discussed.


: The first eleven chapters of the book Guiguzi 鬼谷子 are ascribed to Master Guigu, the alleged teacher of the two famous rhetoricians Su Qin 蘇秦 and Zhang Yi 張儀 . These chapters provide a methodological approach to the art of persuasion which is fundamentally different from European rhetoric. Whereas European rhetoric, originating in Greek rhetoric, is mainly concerned with the persuasion of big audiences in public forums and institutions such as assemblies (the agora as birthplace of democracy) and courtrooms, the persuasive strategies in the Guiguzi mainly focus on the involvement with an individual counterpart. In the Guiguzi listening to and assessing the particular type of opponent and then taking advantage of his individual preferences is most decisive for the success of persuasion. The Guiguzi does not teach how to formulate a perfect piece of rhetorical art which accords to all rules of a commonly shared system of persuasive logic as it is known from European rhetorical traditions. From this different approach also follows a different set of systematic problems in the art of persuasion. The typology of formal figures of speech, so important in European rhetoric, is not as important as the exact typology of human characters which have to be correctly identified to be correlated to the types of speech which have the greatest persuasive effect on them. Each of the eleven chapters discusses a particular method of persuasion in an analysis of different aspects of the communicative process in which persuasion takes place. Together they appear as a handbook on the dynamic process of persuasion, a persuasion that evolves in a dialogic en-counter not in a monologic performance as in European rhetoric.


NASA Television will provide live coverage of the launch and docking of a Russian cargo spacecraft delivering almost three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the International Space Station beginning at 4:15 a.m. EST Friday, Dec. 6.


Self-harming behaviour is prevalent in modern society and occurs across genders from an early age (Horrocks, 2003; Wilhelm 2003). The thesis examines
one component notably, self-injury. Self-injury remains prevalent in a high
percentage of people accessing health services. A recent survey in an NHS Trust
estimated cutting in people who accessed their services as being 50% of their total
self-harming population (Horrocks et al 2003). To understand this phenomenon the
researcher investigated the language utilised by a group of women to describe and
interpret what self-injurious behaviour meant and their need to self-injure. These
women (Experts by Experience) had utilised mental health services. The others
were a group of nurses (Experts) with various experiences of self-injurious women.
Self-injury has attracted considerable academic and popular attention and is
contentious, with differing interpretations and language utilised for description and
definition. The language may have different significance for men and women in both
those who injure and those working to support them. In general the number of
women who self-injure was higher and was part of the rationale for examining the
behaviour of women alone. The thesis explores some contextual and suggested
causative factors thought to initiate the behaviour, including childhood sexual
trauma. Data is obtained from interviews (including electronic, face to face and
telephone) with both groups and additional examination of published literature and
testimonies of women who self-injure. Such testimony (including grey literature,
Jones 2004) is an integral part of the study and provides "triangulation" of data
source analysis (48 "Bibbits" were analysed). The study is framed in a grounded
feminist framework as interpreted by Kirby & McKenna (1989), whose methodological approach is utilised. Data analysis evolved a series of models which served to ground the study. From these models the conclusion is drawn that simplistic, behaviourally
driven clinical solutions are not always feasible. Numerous complexities surround
the behaviour, which this study ultimately termed "Converging Complexities". Both
groups agreed on the significance but interpretation differed between groups. In
order that these complexities are more fully understood, recommendations are
made that greater use of survivor literature, articulating the depth of feelings in selfinjurious women, is used to prepare nurses. In addition, greater emphasis might be placed on the value of feminist and embodiment theory in training curricula. The study proposes a "model of hope" to provide an insight into the understanding of self-injury between the groups.


The Atlas Mountains in Morocco are considered as type examples of intracontinental mountain chains, with high topography that contrasts with moderate crustal shortening and thickening. Whereas recent geological studies and geodynamic modelling suggest the existence of dynamic topography to explain this apparent contradiction, there is a lack of modern geophysical data at the crustal scale to corroborate this hypothesis. To address this deficiency, magnetotelluric data were recently acquired that image the electrical resistivity distribution of the crust from the Middle Atlas to the Anti-Atlas, crossing the tabular Moulouya plain and the High Atlas. All tectonic units show different, distinct and unique electrical signatures throughout the crust reflecting the tectonic history of development of each one. In the upper crust, electrical resistivity values and geometries can be associated to sediment sequences in the Moulouya and Anti-Atlas and to crustal scale fault systems in the High Atlas developed likely during Cenozoic times. In the lower crust, the low resistivity anomaly found below the Moulouya plain, together with other geophysical (low velocity anomaly, lack of earthquakes and minimum Bouguer anomaly) and geochemical (Neogene-Quaternary intraplate alkaline volcanic fields) evidences, infer the existence of a small degree of partial melt at the base of the crust. Resistivity values suggest a partial melt fraction of the order of 2–8%. The low resistivity anomaly found below the Anti-Atlas may be associated with a relict subduction of Precambrian oceanic sediments, or to precipitated minerals during the release of fluids from the ion of mantle during the accret orogeny (ca. 685 Ma).


Torque rheometry offers potential for in-line monitoring use, screening polymers, and on site optimization of polymer dose by treatment plant operators. This study investigates the peaks formed following direct polymer injection into sludge during rheological analysis. The peaks enable observation of both flocculation and deflocculation phases, and the highest point of the peaks indicates the point where network bonds rupture. The goal of this study was to test the method reported by Ormeci on anaerobically digested sludge samples with several polymers, covering a wide spectrum of molecular weights and cationic charges, to establish a better understanding of how polymer-sludge interaction affects torque-time rheograms and peaks observed after polymer injection. The results from this study indicate that peaks can potentially be used to select the best performing polymer and identify the optimum polymer dose. In the underdose region, the peaks increase in size with increasing polymer dose until the optimum dose is reached. Once the optimum dose is reached, the peaks may decrease in size and then increase again, or stay same size until the polymer dose is very high. In the overdose region, very large and erratic peaks are observed which can be explained by the presence of unmixed polymer in the sample.


The power dissipation of a digital circuit is minimized by simultaneous control of power supply voltage and body bias. The technique minimizes power dissipation for varying processing rates through dynamic adjustment of V/sub dd/ and V/sub tb/. A 16b MAC operates at 166 kHz and 14 nW at 175 mV V/sub dd/. A ring oscillator operates at 0.1 V.


The association between blood pressure and cardiovascular outcomes in patients undergoing hemodialysis remains controversial. This may relate in part to the technique and device used and the timing of the blood pressure measurement in relation to the hemodialysis procedure. Emerging evidence indicates that standardized hemodialysis unit blood pressure measurements or measurements obtained at home, either by the patient or using an ambulatory blood pressure monitor, may offer advantages over routine hemodialysis unit blood pressure measurements for determining cardiovascular risk and treatment. This review discusses the available evidence and implications for clinicians and clinical trials.


To date, most interpretations regarding the agency of maritime workers in the late eighteenth century have posited the seamen as a united working-class body. However, the application of gender as a mode of analysis illustrates that a division existed amongst the working-class seamen in their vision of what it meant to be a worker, specifically a maritime worker. These differing ideas of masculinity drove a wedge between the seamen of the British Royal Navy, thus weakening their class solidarity. One faction of seamen favored the existing social contract accepted a society based on inequality, even amongst men, but in return demanded that their contributions as workers and as men be acknowledged by their rulers through both material and symbolic rewards. Similarly, another element of the seamen sought a more revolutionary solution in seeking rewards for their masculine contributions, which included acknowledgement of their roles as workers and rights as men through political equality. What it meant to be a seaman and the contestation of that definition motivated and limited the historical agency of seamen in the greatest labor dispute during the Age of Sail: the British seamen's Spithead and Nore mutinies of 1797. As a new approach to labor history, the examination of the power of internalized gendered definitions to limit the actions of workers' agency offers powerful new insights.


Context. Occultations of stars by asteroids are an efficient method to study the properties of minor bodies, and can be exploited as tools to derive very precise asteroid astrometry relative to the target star. With the availability of stellar astrometry thanks to the ESA mission Gaia, the frequency of good predictions and the quality of the astrometry have been strongly enhanced.
Aims. Our goal is to evaluate the astrometric performance of a systematic exploitation of stellar occultations, with a homogeneous data set and a given instrument setup. As a reference instrument, we adopt the example of a robotic 50 cm telescope, which is under construction at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur. We focus in particular on single-chord occultations.
Methods. We created a data set of simulated light curves, that are modelled by a Bayesian approach. To build the final statistics, we considered a list of predicted events over a long time span, and stellar astrometry from Gaia data release 2.
Results. We derive an acceptable range of observability of the events, with clear indications of the expected errors in terms of timing uncertainties. By converting the distribution of such errors to astrometric uncertainties, we show that the precision on a single chord can reach levels equivalent to the performance of Gaia (sub-milli-arcseconds). The errors on the asteroid position are dominated by the uncertainty on the position of the occultation chord with respect to the barycentre of the object.
Conclusions. The limiting factor in the use of occultation astrometry is not the light curve uncertainty, but our knowledge of the asteroid's shape and size. This conclusion is valid in a wide range of flux drops and magnitudes of the occulted star. The currently increasing knowledge of the shape, spin properties, and size, must be used to mitigate this source of error.


Abstract This paper explores the impact of refugees on the size of the underground economy in 28 European Union countries over the period from 1998 to 2017. It applies a nonlinear methodology by employing dynamic panel threshold estimations. The main findings uncover a nonlinear connection between refugees and the informal economy with an inverted V-shape and a different magnitude of effects depending on the share of the refugee population. The underground economy is stimulated at a low level of refugee inflows (where immigrants make up <0.572% of the total population). Large inflows compress the underground economy, which increases competition in the labor market based on lower labor costs. Economic growth and international trade play a crucial role in reducing the size of the informal economy. Equally importantly, coherent unemployment policy and adequate regulation of illegal immigrants support this process.


Background Pridopidine is a dopaminergic stabiliser, a new class of compound that stabilises the dopamine system and has the potential to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders characterised by altered dopamine transmission. Aims To investigate the efficacy and safety of pridopidine in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Methods MermaiHD was a 6 month randomised, double blind, placebo controlled European study. Eligible patients were aged ≥30 years with a score of ≥10 points in the modified motor score (mMS) at screening. The mMS is a validated subscale of the UHDRS total motor score (UHDRS-TMS) equal to the UHDRS-TMS excluding eye movements, dystonia and chorea. Patients were randomised 1:1:1 to pridopidine 45 mg once or twice daily or placebo. The primary outcome was effect of treatment on voluntary motor function (mMS). Results After 26 weeks pridopidine 45 mg twice daily improved the mMS by 0.99 points (full analysis set (FAS), n=437; p=0.042 vs placebo; NS after adjustment for multiplicity). After adjusting for CAG repeats, the mMS change from baseline with pridopidine 45 mg twice daily was −1.20 points vs placebo (FAS, n=393; p=0.019). Pridopidine 45 mg twice daily significantly improved the UHDRS-TMS (change from baseline −2.96 points; FAS, n=437; p=0.004 vs placebo) with improvements in eye movements and dystonia subdomains (not chorea). With placebo, the regression coefficients for CAG repeats versus rate of motor symptom progression was significant (p=0.0051; 0.3 points on the mMS per CAG repeat after 26 weeks). The regression coefficients were not significant with pridopidine. Effects were similar regardless of whether patients were taking neuroleptics. Pridopidine was well tolerated and had an AE profile similar to placebo. Conclusions This study suggests a beneficial effect of pridopidine 45 mg twice daily on motor function in patients with HD. A possible effect on motor symptom progression as suggested by changes in the mMS per CAG should be studied further.


OBJECTIVE To create a heightened awareness of two consumer issues confronting pharmacists in the self-care arena-consumers' need for accurate information about over-the-counter (OTC) products and consumers' attitudes and beliefs about OTC drugs-and to educate pharmacists about newly introduced nonprescription products, home screening devices, and home accessories. DATA SOURCES Recently published clinical and pharmaceutical industry literature and survey results from the National Council on Patient Information and Education. DATA SYNTHESIS Although changes have been made to labeling for OTC products to heighten consumers' awareness of the dangers associated with misuse of these products, consumers need the expertise of the pharmacist to guide them toward effective and safe self-care. It remains critical that pharmacists be knowledgeable about the numerous nonprescription products that become available on the U.S. market each year and take the initiative to counsel patients appropriately on the benefits and risks associated with their use. CONCLUSION Patients will continue to place an increasing emphasis on self-care. To assist them, pharmacists must remain up-to-date on trends and have an understanding of the nuances of consumers' behavior and thinking in relation to OTC products and their use. The new nonprescription medications and diagnostic screening devices discussed in this review article represent valuable additions to the growing array of self-care products.


Precast, prestressed concrete design is based on conformance with the provisions of the American Concrete Institute's (ACI's) Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318-14) and Commentary (ACI 318R-14). In most cases, these provisions are followed explicitly. Occasionally, interpretation of some sections of ACI 318 is required to ensure quality is maintained in conjunction with the unique characteristics of precast and prestressed concrete fabrication, shipping, and erection. Members of the PCI Building Code Committee, along with other experienced precast concrete design engineers, have identified code provisions, detailed in this publication, that require clarification or interpretation. These design practices are followed by most precast concrete design engineers to produce safe, economical precast concrete structures and they provide a consistent approach for the designers and contractors.


Talking to a computer is hard. Large vocabulary automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems are difficult to use and yet they are used by many people in their daily work. This thesis addresses the question: How is ASR used and made usable and useful in the workplace now? To answer these questions I went into two workplaces where ASR is currently used and one where ASR could be used in the future. This field work was done with designing in mind. ASR dictation systems are currently used in the Australian Public Service (APS) by people who suffer chronic workplace overuse injuries and in the Hansard department of Parliament House (Hansard) by un-injured people. Analysing the experiences of the users in the APS and at Hansard showed that using an ASR system in the workplace follows a broad trajectory that ends in the continued effort to maintain its usefulness. The usefulness of the ASR systems is "performed into existence" by the users with varying degrees of success. For both the APS and Hansard users, they use ASR to allow work to be performed; ASR acts to bridge the gap between otherwise incompatible ways of working. This thesis also asks: How could ASR be used and made usable and useful in workplaces in the future? To answer this question, I observed the work of communicating sentences at the ACT Magistrates Court. Communicating sentences is a process that is distributed in space and time throughout the Court and embodied in a set of documents that have a co-ordinating role. A design for an ASR system that supports the process of communicating sentences while respecting existing work process is described. Moving from field work to design is problematic. This thesis performs the process of moving from field work to design, as described above, and reflects the use of various analytic methods used to distill insights from field work data. The contributions of this thesis are: * The pragmatic use of existing social research methods and their antecedents as a corpus of analyses to inspire new designs; * a demonstration of the use of Actor-Network Theory in design both as critique and as part of a design process; * empirical field-work evidence of how large vocabulary ASR is used in the workplace; * a design showing how ASR could be introduced to the rich, complicated, environment of the ACT Magistrates Court; and, * a performance of the process of moving from field work to design.


In this paper, a forecasting system of electric price is proposed to predict the short-term electric prices for avoiding the risk due to the electricity price volatility. Based on the Back-propagation Neural Network(BPN) and Orthogonal Experimental Design(OED), a New Artificial Neural Network Approach(NANNA) is constructed in the searching process. The data cluster, including Locational Marginal Price(LMP), system load, temperature, line-flow, are first collected and embedded in the Excel Database. In order to get a better solution, the OED is used to automatically regulate the parameters during the NANNA training process. Linking the NANNA and Excel database, the NANNA retrieved the input data from Excel Database to perform and analyze the efficiency and accuracy of the predicting system until the forecasting system is convergent. Simulation results will provide the participants to obtain the maximal profits and raise its ability of market's competition in a price volatility environment.


The paper studies the role of real exchange rates and exchange rate policies in explaining differences in the economic performance in the CFA franc countries, with their fixed exchange rate regime, and another group of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with more flexible arrangements. Policy-makers in inflation-prone countries are faced with a permanent dilemma: should policy priority be given to containing inflation or to maintaining competitiveness through currency depreciation. This policy conflict tends to be aggravated by the fact that in both country groups devaluations seem to have a positive impact on economic activity, throwing doubt on previous work on possible contractionary effects of devaluations. Even so, the question as to whether the pegging of an exchange rate is advantageous, when taking account of both output and inflation effects, remains open, as it partly depends on the supply shocks to which the countries are exposed.


LINGUISTIC TAXONOMY: DENSITY OF LANGUAGE SUBGROUPS, GROUPS AND FAMILIES Summary Language subgroups, groups, families and unities were investigated from the point of view of their dispersion in the way it was first proposed in (Тамбовцев 1986). We consider how compact this or that language taxon (i.e. subgroup, group, family or unity) on the basis of distribution of certain consonantal groups in the speech sound chain. Therefore, one can speak about a compact or disperse language family. If language taxon is compact, then its internal connections are shorter than its outer connections. Actually, the same notion of compact object is accepted in pattern recognition. The more compact the family, the more correctly its languages are chosen. If we put in the family a language, which does not belong to the family, then the dispersion of the family rises, thus it becomes less compact. If the language has a similar sound chain, then the dispersion of the group remains the same or becomes less. It means that the family became more compact. In this case we speak about the typological properties of the families. We measure the dispersion of a family by the sum of dispersions of 8 phonostatistical features: frequency of occurrence of labial, front, palatal, velar, sonorant, occlusive, fricative and voiced consonants. It is important that the features do not intersect. The values of the coefficient of variance (V) and T coefficient show the degree of dispersion. The principle is the greater the dispersion, the less compact the family. We have chosen the coefficient of variance and T coefficient since they both keep to the law of commensurability. Comparing different languages of different language families and different morphological structures was possible since all of them have the same 8 phonetic features mentioned above. We have considered Indo-European, Turkic, Mongolian, Tungus-Manchurian, Samoyedic, Finno-Ugric, Paleo-Asiatic, Austronesian, Australian and American Indian language families. The most compact is Mongolian (V = 10.78%; T = 0.08), the least compact is Austronesian (V = 46.21%; T = 0.90). Tungus-Manchurian (V = 17.41%; T = 0.20) is more compact than Samoyedic (18.29%; T = 0.16), Turkic (18.77%; T - 0.21), Indo-European (V = 28.00%; T = 0.61) or Paleo-Asiatic (V = 33.89%; T = 0.46). Language groups are more compact than language families. Iranian group (V = 13.21%; T = 0.09) of Indo-European language family is the most compact, the least compact is Romanian (V = 26.25%; T= 0.33). Slavonic group (V = 15.21%; T = 0.17) is more compact than Indo-Arien (V = 20.40%; T = 0.23) or Germanic (V = 24.51%; T = 0.29). Volga group of the Finno-Ugric language family (V = 17.90%; T = 0.13) is more compact than Ugric (V = 27.66%; T = 0.47) or Finnic (V = 29.24%; T = 0.35) group. Altaic super-family is rather compact (V - 25.97%; T - 0.45). It is more compact than Indo-European (V = 28.00%; T = 0.61) or Paleo-Asiatic family (V = 33.89%; T = 0.46). This fact supports those linguists who consider Altaic as a family, not a super family. Uralic super family is less compact than that (V = 28.31%; T = 0.47), though it is more compact than Balkan (V = 29.74%; T = 0.36) language unity (Sprachbund). Ural-Altaic language unity (V = 30.98%; T = 0.88) is more (much more) compact than American Indian (43.37% 1.07) language unity. Measuring the typological density of language taxons (subgroups, groups, families, unities) may help to understand how natural (or correct) these taxons are.


During 1975 and 1976, 70 Standardbred horses with cunean bursitis-tarsitis were treated by cunean tenectomy or by more conservative approaches (rested, given corticosteroid injections in the cunean bursa and distal hock articulations, given an oral course of phenylbutazone, a combination of these) or were sold. In 1975, owners were urged to have cunean tenectomy done to horses that appeared to have potential to race well, and in 1976, the more conservative methods of management and treatment were recommended. Statistical analysis of racing performance data led to the conclusion that there was no difference between the effect of these treatment approaches on racing performance during the rest of the year and the following calendar year.


Dr. Westhoff's commentary on the recent article in the NEJM detailing the 7-year follow up study comparing the outcome of belatacept vs. cyclosporine in kidney transplantation is thoughtful, insightful and balanced (1) The pursuit of a CNI-free regimen that is effective, non-nephrotoxic and lacks the added cardiovascular risks inherent to the CNIs has been frustrating with multiple drugs having failed because of lack of efficacy or safety. The only agent to emerge from 2 decades of clinical trials is belatacept approved by the FDA in 2011. If belatacept offers all the advantages listed by Dr. Westhoff, why then the reluctance by transplant physicians to adopt it for wider use. With any transformative drug, there is a learning curve on how best to use the drug and who is most likely to benefit from it.


One hundred and sixty-three community volunteers were interviewed and examined. After a decade, the 69 survivors were again interviewed and examined. The incidences of their skin changes and lesions were recorded and interrelationships sought relative to internal and external signs of aging. Asteatosis of moderate or severe degree, large numbers of scrotal angiomas in men, and retention of nevi appeared to be associated with a relatively shortened life expectancy and may be signs of decline and approaching death in older individuals.


Pakistan is an agricultural country where 45% population is connected with agriculture. This population consists of males and females doing farming for their survival. Males are kept under consideration always while women potential is underestimated. Women work side by side with their males and remain involved in farming activities especially indoor cultivation of vegetables. In this regard, the present study was conducted in Gujranwala district of Punjab, to assess the situation of women regarding vegetables cultivation along with their need assessment regarding farming. In this regard through multistage random sampling, 500 women farmers doing vegetables farming were selected as respondents. Data were collected through structured interview schedule and were analyzed with the help of SPSS. Results revealed that literacy level of women in study area was lower. Regarding vegetables traditional framing was being adopted while adoption of improved techniques such as tunnel farming was not impressive at all. Inappropriate market existence appeared as the most vulnerable constraint along with the poor services provided by extension field staff, finance shortage and high inputs prices. On the basis of results it is suggested that literacy programme by government especially for women should be started. Female extension staff should also be appointed especially for home based farming activities training provision. Subsidy should be provided on inputs to reduce the cost of production. More important, government should pay attention on establishment of sustainable market separate for organically and chemically produced vegetables.


Background: Recent preclinical studies have shown that regulatory T (Treg) cells play a key role in the immune response after ischemic stroke (IS). However, the role of Treg-cells in human acute IS has been poorly investigated. Our aim was to study the relationship between circulating Treg-cells and outcome in human IS patients.Methods Methods: A total of 204 IS patients and 22 control subjects were recruited. The main study variable was good functional outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale ≤2) considering infarct volume, Early Neurological Deterioration (END) and risk of infections as secondary variables. The percentage of circulating Treg-cells was measured at admission, 48, 72h and at day 7 after stroke onset.Results Results: Circulating Treg-cell levels were higher in IS patients compared to control subjects. Treg-cells at 48h were independently associated with good functional outcome (OR, 3.5; CI: 1.9-7.8) after adjusting by confounding factors. Patients with lower Treg-cells at 48h showed higher frequency of END and risk of infections. In addition, a negative correlation was found between circulating Treg-cells at 48h (r=-0.414) and 72h (r=-0.418) and infarct volume. Conclusions: These findings suggest that Treg-cells may participate in the recovery of IS patients. Therefore, Treg-cells may be considered a potential therapeutic target in acute ischemic stroke.


The main motivation of this thesis is to design low-complexity high efficiency noncoherent fusion rules for the parallel triple-layer wireless sensor networks (WSNs) based on frequency-hopping Mary frequency shift keying (FH/MFSK) techniques, which are hence referred to as the FH/MFSK WSNs. The FH/MFSKWSNs may be employed to monitor single or multiple source events (SEs)with each SE having multiple states. In the FH/MFSKWSNs, local decisions made by local sensor nodes (LSNs) are transmitted to a fusion center (FC) with the aid of FH/MFSK techniques. At the FC, various noncoherent fusion rules may be suggested for final detection (classification) of the SEs' states. Specifically, in the context of the FH/MFSK WSNs monitoring single M-ary SE, three noncoherent fusion rules are considered for fusion detection, which include the benchmark equal gain combining (EGC), and the proposed erasure-supported EGC (ES-EGC) as well as the optimum posterior fusion rules. Our studies demonstrate that the ES-EGC fusion rule may significantly outperform the EGC fusion rule, in the cases when the LSNs' detection is unreliable and when the channel signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is relative high. For the FH/MFSKWSNs monitoring multiple SEs, six noncoherent fusion rules are investigated, which include the EGC, ES-EGC, EGC assisted N-order IIC (EGC-NIIC), ES-EGC assisted N-order IIC (ES-EGC-NIIC), EGC assisted r-order IIC (EGC-rIIC) and the ES-EGC assisted r-order IIC (ES-EGC-rIIC). The complexity, characteristics as well as detection performance of these fusion rules are investigated. Our studies show that the ES-EGC related fusion rules are highly efficient fusion rules, which have similar complexity as the corresponding EGC related fusion rules, but usually achieve better detection performance than the EGC related fusion rules. Although the ES-EGC is a single-user fusion rule, it is however capable of mitigating the multiple event interference (MEI) generated by multiple SEs. Furthermore, in some of the considered fusion rules, the embedded parameters may be optimized for the FH/MFSK WSNs to achieve the best detection performance. As soft-sensing is often more reliable than hard-sensing, in this thesis, the FH/MFSK WSNs with the LSNs using soft-sensing are investigated associated with the EGC and ES-EGC fusion rules. Our studies reveal that the ES-EGC becomes highly efficient, when the sensing at LSNs is not very reliable. Furthermore, as one of the applications, our FH/MFSK WSN is applied for cognitive spectrum sensing of a primary radio (PR) system constituted by the interleaved frequencydivision multiple access (IFDMA) scheme, which supports multiple uplink users. Associated with our cognitive spectrum sensing system, three types of energy detection based sensing schemes are addressed, and four synchronization scenarios are considered to embrace the synchronization between the received PR IFDMA signals and the sampling operations at cognitive spectrum sensing nodes (CRSNs). The performance of the FH/MFSK WSN assisted spectrum sensing system with EGC or ES-EGC fusion rule is investigated. Our studies show that the proposed spectrum sensing system constitutes one highly reliable spectrum sensing scheme, which is capable of exploiting the space diversity provided by CRSNs and the frequency diversity provided by the IFDMA systems. Finally, the thesis summarises our discoveries and provides discussion on the possible future research issues.


This book is a monograph on pediatric electrocardiography using extensive illustrations in plate form. Following short general introductory remarks, specific differences between electrocardiographic patterns of infants, children, and adults are described. The normal electrocardiogram and vectorcardiogram of infants and children are discussed next. Normal variations are tabulated. Abnormalities of the QRS complex are described briefly. The second part of the book contains the plates of normal infants and children of different age groups followed by abnormalities of rhythm and of the QRS complex due to various conditions. Legends to figures are explicit. References to the works of Sodi-Pallares and Ziegler on systolic and diastolic overload patterns appearing mainly on the American continent are not mentioned. The tracings were taken by direct writing instrument. Special electrodes were used for infants, some of which were modified EEG electrodes. The plates are excellent, and the printing is of high quality. The book can


Autochthonous Pramenka (Zackel) sheep has been recognized as an important
 element of regional agro-biodiversity, relevant to the tradition that
 encompasses the cultural heritage of Serbia. The recognition that locally
 adapted animal breeds gained genetic resistance and adaptability through
 evolution; modern sustainable farming practices are far more attuned to the
 need for preserving and utilizing Zackel sheep types. The risk factors
 leading to rapid and severe decline in Vlashko-Vitoroga Zackel sheep
 population have been described in the paper. The objective of the study was
 to obtain the data necessary for development of conservation and sustainable
 use strategies of Vlashko-Vitoroga Zackel sheep. Determination of the
 conservation value upon characteristics of the breed was performed, in aim to
 identify priorities in accordance with the criteria of Food and Agriculture
 Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The positive and negative
 characteristics of the Vlashko-Vitoroga Zackel sheep, opportunities for
 utilization, as well as ambiental challenges that affect the breed were
 analyzed in the paper. The importance of this breed for maintenance of
 cultural tradition, landscape preservation and longterm rural development by
 in-situ conservation through utilization is also discussed in the paper.
 [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR31085]


Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated loss of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness in patients with chiasmal compression using optical coherence tomography (OCT). This study aimed to evaluate the cpRNFL and ganglion cell compound (GCC) thicknesses in patients suffering pituitary tumors with and without chiasmal compression. Methods: forty-four patients with pituitary adenoma (PA) (twenty-one without chiasmal compression and twenty-three with chiasmal compression) and eighteen controls were enrolled. cpRNFL and GCC thickness were measured in both patients and controls by SD-OCT. Results: three groups (PAs with optic chiasmal compression, PAs without optic chiasmal compression and controls) were closely matched in terms of mean age, sex and IOP (p=0.173, p=0.184 and P=0.343, respectively). The average cpRNFL and GCC thickness was significantly different among three groups (cpRNFL : 94.1±12.5µm, 106.4±7.3µm, 110.7±6.9µm, respectively; GCC: 85.8±6.9µm, 93.8±5.0µm, 97.2±5.6µm, respectively ). The cpRNFL was analyzed in different regions, and significant difference was found in nasal upper and nasal lower between PAs without optic chiasmal compression and controls. Conclusion: Even there is no evidence of compression at the chiasm on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), GCC and cpRNFL thinning could still be detected in patients of pituitary tumor by SD-OCT. The loss of RNFL is more severe in patients with chiasmal compression.


Aluminum has experienced significant growth in several sectors over the last decade as a result of its properties and performance attributes. Aluminum is being recognized by different sectors such as automotive, construction, aerospace, etc. as a one of the best candidate material for various applications. Increasing demand for aluminum-based products and further globalization of the aluminum industry have contributed significantly to the higher consumption of aluminum scrap for re-production of aluminum alloys. In automotive applications, for example, the opportunities for continued growth in powertrain and suspension applications plus lightweighting of body structures offer the potential for considerable further growth. Today, a large amount of the aluminum going into new products is coming from recycled products. This represents a growing "energy bank" of aluminum that will become available for recycling at the end of vehicles' lives, and thus recycling is becoming a major issue, and it is essential to tackle this problem before it is too late. The future growth offers opportunity for new recycling technologies and practices to maximize scrap quality, improve efficiency and reduce cost. The present paper highlights some of the current development work in recycling, the challenges facing the implementation of recycling technologies and the future prospective of the idea.


Drug II Let the market work

There is no necessary link between drug consumption, addiction and social disintegration. Empirical evidence suggests that a considerable share of the population has consumed illegal drugs during some period of their lives. A substantial proportion of drug users have a job and home. Many 'mature out' of drug consumption in their thirties. Most drug users are normal consumers responding systematically to relative prices.

After the failure of a repressive drugs policy, Switzerland allows cities to pursue a 'third way' between repression and liberalization. The state allows carefully screened heavy addicts to inject heroin at a nominal price, while at the same time raising the cost to potential entrants. The 'experiment' has produced encouraging results. The health of heroin users has improved and crime has been reduced. A homogenized drugs policy in the European Union would probably disallow such promising programmes.

— Bruno S.Frey


Argyrophilic grain disease (AGD) is characterized by the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated 4R tau in dendritic varicosities (i.e."grains") in neurons and pretangles in certain areas of the cerebral cortex and other brain regions. We investigated oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and dysregulation of mitochondrialbiogenesis as potential mechanisms involved in the AGD pathogenesis. Samples from AGD patients (n = 8) and nonpathologic, age-matched controls (n = 5) were compared using biochemical and immunohistochemical techniques with a panel of antibodies to markers of ER stress responses, stress chaperones, oxidative stress and associated cellular responses, respiratory chain complexes, mitochondrial regulators, and modulators of mitochondrial biogenesis. Because AGD is often associated with other tauopathies, mainly Alzheimer disease (AD), results were also compared with those of a group of similar Braak AD stage cases without grains (n = 5). In both AD and AGD cases, we found activation of key molecules that are involved in the unfolded protein response and lead to elevated ER chaperone levels, increased oxidative stress damage, mainly related to lipoxidation and targeting glycolytic enzymes. Altered expression of components of the respiratory chain markers modulating mitochondrial biogenesis were selectively affected in AGD. The findings suggest that, despite the common pathogenic trends in AD and AGD, there is molecular specificity for AGD.


Background: Sepsis is one of the leading causes of mortality among children worldwide. Reliable evidence was insufficient in pediatric sepsis and many aspects in clinical practice actually depend on expert consensus with some evidence in adult sepsis. Objective: This study aimed to investigate neutrophil expression of CD64 in septic children and in healthy controls. We hypothesized that these receptors are elevated during sepsis and can be used as a diagnostic marker. Methods: This study was carried out on 50children with pediatric sepsis and 40 apparently healthy children as controls. Cases were recruited from the PICU of Al Zahraa University Hospital, Al-Azhar University for Girls in the period from May 2014 to March 2015. All the cases were assessed clinically and by routine laboratory investigations. Expression of neutrophil CD64 was measured by flow cytometry. Results: The mean CD64 expression in children with sepsis (66.49 ± 23.45) was significantly higher than in the control group (9.39 ± 6.17) p <0.001 .CD64 expression had a significant positive correlation with CRP level ( r =0.416, p <0.003). ROC curve for CD64 expression showed100% sensitivity and specificity. The most common isolated organisms were gram negative organisms mainly E. coli . A highly significant increase was demonstrated in CRP and TLC values in the culture proven sepsis group compared to clinical sepsis group, while there was no statistical significant difference in CD64 values between the two groups. Conclusion: change in cell surface expression of CD64 on peripheral blood neutrophils can be considered a sensitive marker for the detection of pediatric sepsis. Keywords: Neutrophil, CD64, sepsis, children


We examine auditor communication provisions (ACPs) in private loan agreements, which are private contracting mechanisms establishing communication between lenders and their borrowers' auditors. We provide evidence that lenders value auditor communications and often specify different types of ACPs that facilitate lender monitoring. With predictable variation across the different ACP types, ACPs are associated with larger loans, longer maturities, larger loan syndicates, more financial covenants, and greater slack in financial covenants. In examining audit effort implications for borrowers, we find that ACPs are associated with higher audit fees and longer audit report lags. This is consistent with auditors responding to the litigation risk ACPs impose. In samples where the risk of third-party litigation is greater, the association between ACPs and audit effort proxies is heightened, suggesting the increased litigation risk brought about by ACPs interacts with other audit client-specific risk factors.
 Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text.
 JEL Classifications: M42; D82; G21; G30; K40.


This report presents the full results of one of a suite of three studies investigating how a range of pre-existing social and cultural factors mediate the development of gay male identity and shape the many forms of gay male social life in London today. These studies aim to problematise monolithic and (we believe) unhelpful social categories such as 'gay community' or 'gay scene' and show how the population of gay men in London is riven with cultural, political and social differences.

It is common to talk simplistically about 'gay men' or 'the gay community'. Commentators have unsuccessfully attempted to undermine such simplistic concepts by asserting that these identities and communities are restricted to White, middle class men. However, we believe that this position on its own is unhelpful because it fails to articulate the broader impact of such sweeping terminology. It serves to obscure the myriad ways of being gay that are not currently being described or represented in health or social policy or interventions for gay men. It implicitly robs anyone who is not White and middle class of a gay identity and sociality. It therefore uses the rhetoric of exclusion to ensure that so-called excluded groups are never considered in mainstream health and social policy for gay men because they are somehow not 'properly' gay. In addition, it is reductionist in relation to White middle class gay men. It is always well to be suspicious of any notion of the 'default' group which is considered powerful, wealthy etc . Such groups are usually one of two things: an aspirational 'brand' created by marketeers to sell us certain lifestyles (a quick review of the commercial gay media supports this suspicion) or a conceptual construction which everyone else uses as a benchmark to establish their own 'individuality' or 'difference'. In short, we are asserting that, in policy terms, the White middle class 'mainstream' gay community is a useful political fallacy. In short, our representations of gay men and gay sociality remain woefully impoverished and simplistic.

There is one additional over-arching effect of the White middle class fallacy. That is, by speaking the language of inclusion and exclusion, we are condemned to always consider weakness as opposed to strength. There is an implicit assumption in nearly all research and policy work on gay men that to be within the charmed circle of the White middle classes is to be without need. Thus, other experiences of being gay and other groups of gay men are described as automatically disadvantaged and weaker. These three reports will show that there is no paradigmatic gay experience or group. Rather, there are myriad ways of being gay, all of which are imbued with strengths and weaknesses.

To this end, we have conducted a suite of qualitative studies into gay men resident in London. One of the others examines the relationship between ethnic minority identity and gay identity and the other investigates the lives of gay migrants in London. This report examines the experiences of blue collar or working class gay men. We aim, with all these studies to change the way that health promoters and policy makers conceive of the gay male population. We want to challenge the construction of the gay male population as having a centre which is privileged – White and middle class – and a periphery of excluded ethnic minorities, migrants, bisexuals and working class men etc. Instead, we present a conception of the gay population of London as a composite of a range of different experiences. As fractured, antagonistic and constantly changing. Moreover, the factors which fracture that population, which create the flux and antagonisms are larger social and structural factors such as ethnicity, religion, education, class, income etc . To put it simply, no gay man is simply gay, he probably also has a class background, an ethnicity, a job, a family, and a religious affiliation or history among other things. It is these differences that animate the gay population of London.

Therefore, in all these reports we talk about things rarely considered in policy-oriented research on gay men. We talk of the importance of biological family and heterosexual forms of sociality for many gay men. We talk of the centrality of spirituality and organised religion. We talk about education and the passage from school to work. We talk about masculinity and health. We talk about nationalism. We talk very little about HIV and AIDS and sexual health. We have a transparent aim in doing so. We are hoping to take gay men's health and social concerns out of the service and policy 'ghetto' that is HIV. We are reasserting a particularly sociological perspective that gay men's health (sexual and otherwise) and the HIV epidemic are fundamentally influenced by broader social factors. In short, if we were to recommend one practice outcome as a result of these studies it would be to produce less community interventions telling gay men what to do (or how to be). Rather, we should be seeking to transform the education of all boys and to increase the capacity of all families to live with and enjoy their gay children; of all services to meet the needs of their gay users and of all communities to capitalise on the presence of their gay members. This is not as socially transformative an agenda as it sounds. We have much to learn from the experiences of working class gay men, gay men from ethnic minorities and gay migrants. Such interventions are, properly speaking, HIV health promotion.


Thermal infrared hyperspectral imaging is well suited for the detection, identification, and quantification of industrial stack gas emissions. This application note describes a measurement campaign performed at the Port of Rotterdam with the Telops Hyper-Cam, a commercial high-performance, FTIR-based hyperspectral imaging instrument. Principles of gas detection, quantification, and identification are discussed and computed mass-flow rate results are presented from data acquired at a commercial alkene production facility.


Due to the presence of large amounts of data and its exponential level generation, the manual approach of summarization takes more time, is biased, and needs linguistic professional experts. To avoid these substantial issues or to generate a succinct summary report, automatic text summarization is very much important. Three different approaches namely the statistical approach such as Term Frequency Inverse Document Frequency(TF-IDF), the topic modeling approach such as Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), and graph-based approaches such as TextRank were applied to generate a concise summary for the benchmark the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news articles summarization dataset. The domain-specific implementations of each approach in the five domains of the dataset and domain-agnostic prospects were explored in the paper while drawing various insights. The generated summaries were evaluated using the Recall-Oriented Understudy for Gisting Evaluation (ROUGE) framework, leveraging precision, recall, and f-measure metrics. The approaches were not only able to achieve a commendable ROUGE score but also outperform the previous works on the dataset.


Visual selective attention modeling is an advanced topic in cognitive information perception. According to human visual perception theory, which is based on the introduction of the representative visual attention model (Itti model), in its initial stages of feature extraction, in order to form a new guidance note of the saliency map, new low-level visual features are introduced, which achieves a more accurate target detection. The results prove that this method can avoid the leakage detection to some extent, which makes attention regional more close to the actuality of biological visual system.


Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85~90% of lung cancer cases, with a poor prognosis and a low 5-year survival rate. Sphingosine kinase-1 (SPHK1), a key enzyme in regulating sphingolipid metabolism, has been reported to be involved in the development of NSCLC, although the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we demonstrated the abnormal signature of SPHK1 in NSCLC lesions and cell lines of lung cancers with a potential tumorigenic role in cell cycle regulation. Functionally, ectopic Pre-B cell leukemia homeobox-1 (PBX1) was capable of restoring the arrested G1 phase induced by SPHK1 knockdown. However, exogenous sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) supply had little impact on the cell cycle arrest by PBX1 silence. Furthermore, S1P receptor S1PR3 was revealed as a specific switch to transport the extracellular S1P signal into cells, and subsequently activated PBX1 to regulate cell cycle progression. In addition, Akt signaling partially participated in the SPHK1/S1PR3/PBX1 axis to regulate the cell cycle, and the Akt inhibitor significantly decreased PBX1 expression and induced G1 arrest. Targeting SPHK1 with PF-543 significantly inhibited the cell cycle and tumor growth in preclinical xenograft tumor models of NSCLC. Taken together, our findings exhibit the vital role of the SPHK1/S1PR3/PBX1 axis in regulating the cell cycle of NSCLC, and targeting SPHK1 may develop a therapeutic effect in tumor treatment.