Abstract Cochlospermum vitifolium flowers were evaluated as a raw material of natural dye on different fabrics, natural and synthetic. The dyeing process evaluation was performed by CIELa*b* color coordinates analysis. Color fastness was evaluated using the AATCC 61-1B and AATCC 116 methods. The chemical identification of the compounds in the color fraction was carried out by HPLC–MS/MS. The naringenin was determined to be the color compound. Among the natural textiles, the wool presented the best uniformity of dyeing and fixation of color, achieving the best hue when a pre-mordant treatment was used. The combination of sodium and potassium tartrate dye resulted in the best final hue, between the yellow and red regions of the CIELa*b* space (L = 49.84, a* = 5.41, b* = 45.52). The dyeing of the wool by the sodium and potassium tartrate pretreatment showed the best fastness properties to the laundering test (ΔEab = 54.56), as well as in the rub test (ΔEab = 67.36). The extract of C. vitifolium could be considered as an alternative natural dye for textiles with a protein base (e.g., wool fabrics), obtaining the best results when mordant pretreatment is used.


Between February and June 2006, Human Rights Watch and the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights and Detained Persons conducted an investigation into the detention of insolvent hospital patients in Burundi. Of 11 hospitals visited, nine were found to be holding former patients in detention for being unable to pay their hospital bills. Thirty-seven detained patients, and key informants in government, hospital administration and health services, were interviewed. The detention of insolvent hospital patients was described as a routine practice, dating from the 1990s. Conditions of detention included overcrowding, insufficient food and water, and withholding of further medical treatment. Seventy-two per cent of patients interviewed had been detained for 1 month or longer at the time of interview. Mechanisms designed to exempt or reimburse the health fees of low-income and indigent people failed to protect patients from becoming detained. The detention of insolvent patients is a clear violation of rights established under international law, including the right not to be arbitrarily detained or detained as debtors and the right to accessible health care. The abolition of user fees for women giving birth and for small children in May 2006 has reduced the number of detained patients, but in June 2006 we visited two hospitals and found 77 detained men, older children and women with other health problems. Burundi, with the support of the international community, must immediately stop the detention of patients and address the urgent financing needs of health facilities.


On transport and at the abattoir animals are confronted with a lot of stressors, such as sound/noise, crowding/mixing, pollutants and infectious agents that act on the organism. After transport stress an endogenous contamination is often seen in slaughter carcasses and presents a hazard for the consumer. These events are often correlated with a rise in endotoxin level (Misawa et al., 1995; Morales et al., 1992) and a modified immune response. Previous own investigations confirm this hypothesis (Zucker and Krüger, 1998, Seidler et al., 2000). The attempt was made to investigate the impact of selected stressors (short term transport (1 h), long term transport (7-8 hrs), high temperature, high humidity and intense handling/moving) on bacterial translocation, endogenous contamination, endotoxin levels and bactericidal activity of body fluids.


Experimental determination of the equilibrium isotope effect for the dihydride/dihydrogen tautomerism (EIET) in the Kubas complex W(CO)3(PCy3)2(η2-H2) has not yet been achieved because of the lack of vibrational frequencies for the dihydride form. Even so, Bender, Kubas, Hoff, and co-workers3 have estimated a normal EIET, which predicts that deuterium favors the classical site at 300 K. In this work, EIET for the Kubas complex tautomerism is theoretically studied by using two levels of calculation. First, the standard harmonic oscilator approach is used to obtain the harmonic partition functions and the corresponding harmonic EIET, which turns out to be inverse (0.485 at 300 K). Next, anharmonicity is included in some normal modes in order to obtain an improved EIET. Following a new scheme developed by our group in a previous work,5 DVR nuclear calculations over bidimensional potential energy surfaces are employed to obtain the associated anharmonic partition functions and the corresponding anharmonic EIE...


Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularemia. In Germany, most human infections are caused by contact with infected hares. The aim of this study was to characterize Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica strains isolated from hares in Germany and to develop bioinformatics tools to analyze their genetic relatedness. In total, 257 German isolates—obtained mainly from hares (n = 233), other vertebrate animals, and ticks, but also from humans (n = 3)—were analyzed within this study. Publically available sequence data from 49 isolates were used to put our isolates into an epidemiological context and to compare isolates from natural foci and humans. Whole-genome sequences were analyzed using core-genome Multi-Locus-Sequence-Typing, canonical Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) typing and whole-genome SNP typing. An overall conformity of genotype clustering between the typing methods was found, albeit with a lower resolution for canonical single SNP typing. The subclade distribution, both on local and national levels, among strains from humans and hares was similar, suggesting circulation of the same genotypes both in animals and humans. Whilst close to identical isolates of the same subclade were found distributed over large areas, small geographical foci often harbored members of different subclades. In conclusion, although genomic high-resolution typing was shown to be robust, reproducible and allowed the identification of highly closely related strains, genetic profiling alone is not always conclusive for epidemiological linkage of F. tularensis strains.


In many industries, we observe a paradigm shift from traditional value creation towards value co-creation and open production approaches. The boundaries of companies dissolve and many more players (suppliers, customers, users, community members, etc.) are integrated into the value creation process. Thus, a new understanding and taxonomy of value creation has to be introduced as a reference model in order to describe new phenomena based on Bottom-up economics. In this industrial context, openness as a precondition to participation, cooperation and interaction can be seen as a critical success factor. The purpose of this paper is to make a contribution to a theory of value co-creation by integrating a case observation and conceptual insights from literature that are concerned with co-creation phenomena. A value creation taxonomy is introduced as a reference model which is used to describe an ongoing paradigm shift from traditional industrial production towards Bottom-up economics. On this basis, a conceptual framework is derived for comparing how traditional value chain elements might be rearranged by organizations relying on value co-creation. The underlying research work also aims to apply the authors' framework in order to illustrate how completely new business models arise and how traditional (manufacturing) companies could be enabled to make use of value co-creation patterns for long term success.


In this paper we presented an approach to question generation based on syntactic and keyword modeling. In particular, we use parse tree manipulation, named entity recognition, and Up-Keys (significant phrases in a document) to generate factoid and definitional questions from input documents. We describe how to generate different types of question from a single input sentence, including Yes-No, Who, What, Where and How questions. We present evaluation for our factoid question generation method, and we discuss our plans to use question generation for question


MEASUREMENTS OF RESIDUAL STRESSES IN COLD-ROLLED 304 STAINLESS STEEL PLATES USING X-RAY DIFFRACTION WITH RIETVELD REFINEMENT METHOD. The determination of the residual stresses using X-ray powder diffraction in a series of cold-rolled 304 stainless steel plates, deforming 0, 34, 84, 152, 158, 175 and 196 % reduction in thickness has been carried out. The diffraction data were analyzed using the Rietveld structure refinement method. The analysis shows that for all specimens, the martensite particles are closely in compression and the austenite matrix is in tension. Both the martensite and austenite, for a sample reducing 34% in thickness (containing of about 1% martensite phase) the average lattice strains are anisotropic and decrease approximately exponential with an increase in the corresponding percent reduction (essentially phase content). It is shown that this feature can be qualitatively understood by taking into consideration the thermal expansion mismatch between the martensite and austenite grains. Also, for all cold-rolled stainless steel specimens, the diffraction peaks are broader than the unrolled one (instrumental resolution), indicating that the strains in these specimens are inhomogeneous. From an analysis of the refined peak shape parameters, the average root-mean square strain, which describes the distribution of the inhomogeneous strain field, was predicted. The average residual stresses in cold-rolled 304 stainless steel plates showed a combination effect of hydrostatic stresses of the martensite particles and the austenite matrix.


Most of the documents found on the Web are prepared in HTML format which was basically designed for presentation of data. As a result, some limitations are encountered when these documents are accessed automatically for a semantic interpretation of their content. One such inadequacy is in representing the sectional hierarchy (i.e. sections and subsections) of these documents and the headings in this hierarchy. Automatically obtaining this information is a difficult task due to the underlying format and the cluttered structure encountered in most of the Web pages. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to extract heading-based sectional hierarchies of HTML documents. This is the first part of the research, where we aim to use this information in automatic summaries to improve Web search experience of Internet users.


The aim of this work was to develop a phosphate buffer based dissolution method for enteric-coated formulations with improved biopredictivity for fasted conditions. Two commercially available enteric-coated aspirin products were used as model formulations (Aspirin Protect 300 mg, and Walgreens Aspirin 325 mg). The disintegration performance of these products in a physiological 8 mM pH 6.5 bicarbonate buffer (representing the conditions in the proximal small intestine) was used as a standard to optimize the employed phosphate buffer molarity. To account for the fact that a pH and buffer molarity gradient exists along the small intestine, the introduction of such a gradient was proposed for products with prolonged lag times (when it leads to a release lower than 75% in the first hour post acid stage) in the proposed buffer. This would allow the method also to predict the performance of later-disintegrating products. Dissolution performance using the accordingly developed method was compared to that observed when using two well-established dissolution methods: the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) method and blank fasted state simulated intestinal fluid (FaSSIF). The resulting dissolution profiles were convoluted using GastroPlus software to obtain predicted pharmacokinetic profiles. A pharmacokinetic study on healthy human volunteers was performed to evaluate the predictions made by the different dissolution setups. The novel method provided the best prediction, by a relatively wide margin, for the difference between the lag times of the two tested formulations, indicating its being able to predict the post gastric emptying onset of drug release with reasonable accuracy. Both the new and the blank FaSSIF methods showed potential for establishing in vitro-in vivo correlation (IVIVC) concerning the prediction of Cmax and AUC0-24 (prediction errors not more than 20%). However, these predictions are strongly affected by the highly variable first pass metabolism necessitating the evaluation of an absorption rate metric that is more independent of the first-pass effect. The Cmax/AUC0-24 ratio was selected for this purpose. Regarding this metric's predictions, the new method provided very good prediction of the two products' performances relative to each other (only 1.05% prediction error in this regard), while its predictions for the individual products' values in absolute terms were borderline, narrowly missing the regulatory 20% prediction error limits (21.51% for Aspirin Protect and 22.58% for Walgreens Aspirin). The blank FaSSIF-based method provided good Cmax/AUC0-24 ratio prediction, in absolute terms, for Aspirin Protect (9.05% prediction error), but its prediction for Walgreens Aspirin (33.97% prediction error) was overwhelmingly poor. Thus it gave practically the same average but much higher maximum prediction errors compared to the new method, and it was strongly overdiscriminating as for predicting their performances relative to one another. The USP method, despite not being overdiscriminating, provided poor predictions of the individual products' Cmax/AUC0-24 ratios. This indicates that, overall, the new method is of improved biopredictivity compared to established methods.


The architectural project faces the challenge of the constant search of improving productivity, and the optimization of processes. This requires detailed analysis of processes, in such a way that we can identify where there are relatively more incidents, and of these, those that have the greatest impact on the development of the project. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of the incidents of the Licensing Management activities in the phases of the life cycle of the building project. The data here in has been obtained from the analysis of projects carried out in the city of Madrid, taken specifically as a reference given the complexity of its regulations. The study identifies the degree of impact in each of the project phases, and the results justify the proposal of a new role in the project team, and because of its strategic importance, of a specific chapter in the reference standards


Forecasting trends in COVID-19 infections is vital for the global economy, national governments and physical and mental well-being. Using the per capita number of new cases as a proxy for the abundance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and the number of deaths as a measure of virulence, the dynamics of the pandemic and the outcomes emerging from it are examined for three locations (England, Italy and New York State). The data are analysed with a new version of a population dynamics model that combines exponential/logistic growth with time-varying carrying capacity, allowing predictions of persistence or extinction of the virus. In agreement with coevolutionary theory, the model suggests a transition from exponential virus growth to low abundance, coupled with reduced virulence, during colonisation of the alternate human host. The structure of the model allows a straightforward assessment of key parameters, which can be contrasted with standard epidemiological models and interpreted with respect to ecological and evolutionary processes and isolation policies.


Image-Based Rendering is the task of generating novel views from existing images. In this thesis different new methods to solve this problem are presented. These methods are designed to fulfil special goals such as scalability and interactive rendering performance. First, the theory of the Plenoptic Function is introduced as the mathematical foundation of image formation. Then a new taxonomy is introduced to categorise existing methods and an extensive overview of known approaches is given. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the design goals and the requirements with regards to input data. It is concluded that for perspectively correct image generation from sparse spatial sampling geometry information about the scene is necessary. This leads to the design of three different Image-Based Rendering methods. The rendering results are analysed on different data sets. For this analysis, error metrics are defined to evaluate different aspects.


The Biokenaf project will contribute to the implementation of three main EU policies, the Common Agricultural Policy, the Agenda 2000 and the White Paper. In this view of these policies, the financial feasibility of the non-food crops production will increase, while the diversification of land use and sustainability of farm incomes should be ensured. Although kenaf has been accepted (from 1993) by EU a high yielding "non-food crop" for fiber production the research on kenaf has been focused strictly on its use for the paper/pulp industry, while the yielding potential of the crop is not defined. Hardly any research has been directed towards the other industrial uses of the crop as well as the energy exploitation of it, in spite of the favorable characteristics of kenaf feedstock and its high biomass yields. This project with its integrated approach aims at the sustainable yielding potential, the alternative industrial bio-products as well as the energy exploitation of kenaf. A dynamic crop-growth simulation model will be developed and will be a useful tool for yields prediction. Following an environmental and economic assessment will provide insight in the feasibility of kenaf for industrial and energy applications.


There is an increasing interest in the distribution of parallel random number streams in the high‐performance computing community particularly, with the manycore shift. Even if we have at our disposal statistically sound random number generators according to the latest and thorough testing libraries, their parallelization can still be a delicate problem. Indeed, a set of recent publications shows it still has to be mastered by the scientific community. With the arrival of multi‐core and manycore processor architectures on the scientist desktop, modelers who are non‐specialists in parallelizing stochastic simulations need help and advice in distributing rigorously their experimental plans and replications according to the state of the art in pseudo‐random numbers parallelization techniques. In this paper, we discuss the different partitioning techniques currently in use to provide independent streams with their corresponding software. In addition to the classical approaches in use to parallelize stochastic simulations on regular processors, this paper also presents recent advances in pseudo‐random number generation for general‐purpose graphical processing units. The state of the art given in this paper is written for simulation practitioners. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Paleoceanographic proxy data and ocean general circulation models have been combined to investigate the response of the North Atlantic Ocean to Heinrich-type meltwater episodes. Because of the uncertainties over the origin of the Heinrich events, three different scenarios have been modeled: (1) a Heinrich event caused by a dramatic increase in the iceberg discharge from the Laurentide ice sheet or Labrador ice shelf, (2) a Heinrich event driven by enhanced iceberg discharge from the Barents shelf, which was transported into the northern North Atlantic, and (3) a meltwater episode that was confined to the Nordic Seas. The ocean regional and global circulation models cannot distinguish between the Laurentide and Barents shelf Heinrich event scenarios because both led to a complete cessation of the deep-water thermohaline conveyor belt. The meltwater episode confined to the Nordic Seas only weakened the overturning and may represent circulation changes that may occur during the Dansgaard-Oeschger events.


Acute pulmonary oedema is a common condition in the emergency room, associated with considerable mortality. Morphine has since a long time, been used in patients with acute pulmonary oedema due to its anticipated anxiolytic and vasodilatory properties; however a discussion about the benefits and risks has been raised recently (1). There are no large randomised controlled trials supporting the use of morphine in the treatment of patients with acute heart failure (AHF). A certain vasodilation has been described after morphine administration (2), but the evidence for this mechanism is relatively poor and morphine-induced anxiolysis may possibly be the most important factor of morphine in pulmonary oedema and therefore some authors have suggested benzodiazepines as an alternative treatment (3).


Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is still a major public health issue with an estimated annual incidence ranging from 184,000 to > 400,000 per year. The ACC/AHA/ESC 2006 guidelines define SCD as "death from an unexpected circulatory arrest, usually due to a cardiac arrhythmia occurring within an hour of the onset of symptoms". A recent study of sudden cardiac death using multiple sources of ascertainment found that coronary artery disease was present in more than 50% of patients older than 35 years who died suddenly and underwent autopsy. Antiarrhythmic drugs have failed to show any mortality benefit even when compared to placebo or implantable cardiovertor defibrillators (ICDs). While patients with systolic heart failure are at higher risk of dying suddenly, most of the patients experiencing sudden cardiac death have left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > 50%. β-blockers, Angiotensin enzymes (ACE) inhibitors as well as aldosterone antagonists prevent ischemia and remodelling in the left ventricle especial...


We present three natural combinatorial properties for class forcing notions, which imply the forcing theorem to hold. We then show that all known sufficent conditions for the forcing theorem (except for the forcing theorem itself), including the three properties presented in this paper, imply yet another regularity property for class forcing notions, namely that proper classes of the ground model cannot become sets in a generic extension, that is they do not have set-sized names in the ground model. We then show that over certain models of G\"odel-Bernays set theory without the power set axiom, there is a notion of class forcing which turns a proper class into a set, however does not satisfy the forcing theorem. Moreover, we show that the property of not turning proper classes into sets can be used to characterize pretameness over such models of G\"odel-Bernays set theory.


Jointly using the extractive and abstractive summarization methods can combine their complementary advantages, generating both informative and concise summary. Existing methods that adopt an extract-then-abstract strategy have achieved impressive results, yet they suffer from the information loss in the abstraction step because they compress all the selected sentences without distinguish. Especially when the whole sentence is summary-worthy, salient content would be lost by compression. To address this problem, we propose HySum, a hybrid framework for summarization that can flexibly switch between copying sentence and rewriting sentence according to the degree of redundancy. In this way, our approach can effectively combine the advantages of two branches of summarization, juggling informativity and conciseness. Moreover, we based on Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning, propose an end-to-end reinforcing method to bridge together the extraction module and rewriting module, which can enhance the cooperation between them. Automatic evaluation shows that our approach significantly outperforms the state-of-the-arts on the CNN/DailyMail corpus. Human evaluation also demonstrates that our generated summaries are more informative and concise than popular models.


The main concern of an olive grower is primarily to achieve more income and profits. A harvesting method having higher efficiency and better fruit and oil quality, but a higher operation cost leads to a lower benefit. A study was carried out to evaluate the techno-economic performances of Trunk Shaker (TS) and Mechanical Harvest Aid (MHA) shaker for harvesting the yellow and Manzanilla olive cultivars in Guilan province, Iran. A factorial experiment based on randomized complete block design was used in four treatments at three replicates. The percentage of harvested fruit, fruit harvest rate (kg h -1 ), harvesting efficiency, leaf abscission, canned fruit acidity, and the percentage of bruised fruits, fruit tissue resistance were determined as the technical traits and benefit to cost ratio to evaluate the economic performance of experimental olive harvesting methods. The results showed that the TS with 60.6 had more harvesting percent of fruit than the MHA (24.1). Average harvesting time of a tree was recorded 10.7 minutes by TS that this was 8.2 minutes in MHA. The harvesting efficiency in TS method of Manzanilla variety was much more MHA method and yellow variety. The efficiency was 100.38 kg h -1 in TS that is more than in the method of MHA with 43.72 kg h -1 . Fruits harvested with TS, with an average of 1.07 Newton, had a higher firmness of the fruits in compared to MHA method. TS method with 1270 dollar per day had more benefit compared to MHA method with a profit of $606.


Background: Several studies have suggested there may be statistically significant differences in mean platelet volume (MPV) between the onset and remission of acute pancreatitis (AP). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to better characterize the correlation between MPV and AP by identifying all relevant studies and summarizing their results. Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using EMBASE, PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar from January 2000 to December 2019 to identify all studies that reported MPV at the onset or remission of AP, or both. Effect estimates from each study were extracted and combined using the random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird. The Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment scale was used to appraise the quality of the included studies. Results: Ten observational studies, including 1019 patients and 363 controls, were included in the meta-analysis. MPV was smaller at the onset of AP than on remission (standardized mean difference= -0.33 fL, 95% confidence interval -0.54 to -0.12 fL; P=0.002); however, a moderate degree of heterogeneity (I2=72%, P≤0.001) was observed. Subgroup analysis indicated comparable MPV in relation to the severity of AP. Similarly, no statistically significant difference was detected between AP patients and controls at either onset (P=0.760) or remission (P=0.700) of the disease. No statistically significant publication bias was detected (Eggers' regression P=0.938). Subgroup analysis suggested age (P<0.001) and sex (P=0.01) adjustment as potential sources of heterogeneity. Conclusion: MPV is smaller at the onset of AP. Further clinical evaluation is needed to assess its potential prognostic value.


In this paper the effects of the time harmonics on the output voltage are investigated. Instead of a complete analysis, the waveshape of the line current is considered as recorded on an oscilloscope when the alternator supplies an inverter. The minimum airgap induction occurs when the magnetomotive forces of the fifth and seventh time harmonic oppose the field excitation. The reduction in the amplitude of the fundamental of the airgap induction caused by the time harmonics was found to be of the order of fifteen to twenty percent for a typical cyclo-inverter load.


Signals issued by dorsal roof and ventral floor plates, respectively, underlie the major patterning process of dorsalization and ventralization during vertebrate neural tube development. The ventrally produced morphogen Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is crucial for vertebrate hindbrain and spinal motor neuron development. One diagnostic gene for motor neurons is the LIM/homeodomain gene islet1, which has additional ventral expression domains extending into mid- and forebrain. In order to corroborate motor neuron development and, in particular, to improve on the identification of poorly documented zebrafish forebrain islet1 populations, we studied adult brains of transgenic islet1-GFP zebrafish (3 and 6 months). This molecular neuroanatomical analysis was supported by immunostaining these brains for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) or choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), respectively, revealing zebrafish catecholaminergic and cholinergic neurons. The present analysis of ChAT and islet1-GFP label confirms ongoing adult expression of islet1 in zebrafish (basal plate) midbrain, hindbrain, and spinal motor neurons. In contrast, non-motor cholinergic systems lack islet1 expression. Additional presumed basal plate islet1 positive systems are described in detail, aided by TH staining which is particularly informative in the diencephalon. Finally, alar plate zebrafish forebrain systems with islet1 expression are described (i.e., thalamus, preoptic region, and subpallium). We conclude that adult zebrafish continue to express islet1 in the same brain systems as in the larva. Further, pending functional confirmation we hypothesize that the larval expression of sonic hedgehog (shh) might causally underlie much of adult islet1 expression because it explains findings beyond ventrally located systems, for example regarding shh expression in the zona limitans intrathalamica and correlated islet1-GFP expression in the thalamus.


Some studies have been reporting encouraging results concerning the possibilities of combining voice and its visual representation for language learning. Following this line of investigation this paper explores the potential impact of two distinct visualization styles for the learning of English pronunciation of syllables for non-native speakers: a) highlighting syllables and b) the visualization of the produced sound wave. In order to evaluate the benefits of the two different styles three distinct digital tool prototypes were created in order to test four study conditions. The conditions under evaluation were a) teaching syllables without the support of any digital tool, b) teaching using a prototype that highlighted the syllables under study, c) using a prototype that displayed the sound wave of the syllable to be learnt and d) a prototype that combined the functionality of b) and c). Results suggest that the combined approach seems to be as effective as the traditional classroom approach of teaching the syllables. However, more research is needed in order to consolidate the findings, being able to explore in more detail how is the learning process occurring and to what extend the tools developed can be integrated into classroom practice.


Background: Attitudinal ambivalence can arise when individuals endorse both positive and negative attitudes toward a target object. Ambivalent attitudes are relevant for health behaviours, as they may have both positive and negative evaluations. By assessing ambivalence toward health behaviours, the underlying structure of attitudes toward them can be realised. Furthermore, attitudinal ambivalence toward health behaviours was assessed across different cultures. Methods: All participants (257 Australians, 105 Singaporeans) completed ambivalence measures and self-report assessments for five health behaviours: drinking alcohol, exercising, increasing fruit and vegetable intake and smoking. Findings: Singaporeans and Australians had similar levels of ambivalence toward health-risk behaviour but not health protective behaviours. Singaporeans reported being significantly more ambivalent toward health protective behaviour than Australians. Discussion: As ambivalence toward health protective behaviour was found to be high in Singaporeans, interventions aiming to increase these behaviours may need to be more explicit in highlighting the positives of such behaviour.


A diagnosis of composite lymphoma is typically prompted by the observation of morphologic discordance. We present a case of a spleen revealing histologic features of follicular lymphoma, without any indication of a second lymphoma. Immunohistochemical stains supported this diagnosis and showed the follicular lymphoma to be BCL2-. However, these studies revealed 2 additional unexpected findings: cyclin D1+ mantle zone cells surrounding neoplastic and reactive follicles (indicative of in situ mantle cell lymphoma) and BCL2-bright, histologically nonneoplastic follicles (indicative of in situ follicular lymphoma). ImmunoFISH and microdissection and polymerase chain reaction analysis documented the clonal nature of the cyclin D1+ mantle zones and illustrated clonal independence from the follicular lymphoma. This case illustrates an uncommon and unusual composite follicular and mantle cell lymphoma, with the follicular lymphoma accompanied by an in situ component, whereas the only manifestation of the mantle cell lymphoma was in situ.


There is currently an increasing societal and political shift towards more sustainable agricultural systems to provide both food production and ecological biodiversity levels. This shift has recently modified scientific questioning and brought up new research challenges for agro-ecological research. This is the case in particular for weed management, where issues have so far largely focused on the conflict between weeds and crop productivity. Here, we review recent findings that have led to a changing perception on weeds in agro-ecosystems and upcoming areas in terms of weed management options. Our main findings are that weeds have numerous interactions with other organisms and, in turn, some of these interactions can have direct, either negative or positive, effects on the functioning of the agro-ecosystem. Many interactions are species-specific, and therefore assessing the role of weed communities in the agro-ecosystem would benefit from further development in the functional grouping of weed species. In terms of weed management our review shows that alternative cropping systems can deliver both good levels of crop productivity and of weed management at the field level. Weeds respond to landscape attributes and there is a need to fully assess the scope for utilizing the spatio-temporal organization of cropping systems and uncultivated habitats as a tool for minimizing weed infestations. Weeds are also submitted to biological regulation through the predation of their seeds and further research is required to assess the effect of cropping systems and landscape on levels of weed natural enemies, and therefore on the potential contribution of biological regulation in the management of weeds.


The effects of reproductive factors on breast cancer risk seem to differ by estrogen receptor (ER) status. Menarche and first live birth (FLB) tend to occur at younger ages in African Americans (AA) than European Americans (EA), and could play a role in breast cancer disparities. In the Women's Circle of Health Study, a case–control study of breast cancer in EA and AA women, in-person interviews were conducted to collect epidemiologic data, including reproductive histories. Data on ER status, abstracted from pathology reports, were available for 814 AA and 538 EA breast cancer cases, and were analyzed with 1015 AA and 715 EA controls, to evaluate associations between subgroups and age at menarche, age at FLB, and the interval between those ages. Among AA women, later age at menarche (≥14 years) was associated with reduced risk of both ER+ and ER− breast cancer, with ORs strongest for ER− disease [OR = 0.57; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.37–0.88]; associations were weaker and nonsignificant for EA women. There were no significant associations with age at FLB, but AA women with a FLB within 15 years of menarche had increased risk of ER− disease (OR = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.29–3.95), with no significant associations among EAs. In our data, earlier age at menarche and shorter intervals until FLB are associated with ER− breast cancer in AA women; differential distributions by race of these and other reproductive risk factors could contribute to the higher prevalence of ER− breast cancer in AA women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(6); 1115–20. ©2014 AACR.


A method based on modal properties for determining the lateral distribution of bridges is proposed. Firstly, the theoretical basis for determining lateral distribution of bridge by using modal properties (frequency and modal shapes) is illustrated. The lateral distribution results can be obtained through modal flexibility, and the calculation formulas are deduced. Secondly, the applicability and accuracy of the proposed method are compared with finite element analysis and traditional simplified method for simply supported slabs. Finally, the modal flexibility-based lateral distribution calculating method is applied to identify the damage occurrence and location for lateral connection elements. The proposed method can not only present a new strategy for determining distribution factors in bridge design, but also provide an effective and useful approach for condition assessment of bridge. doi: 10.12783/SHM2015/361


The pharmacokinetics of once-daily oral levofloxacin (study A) or intravenous levofloxacin (study B) in 40 healthy male volunteers were investigated in two separate randomized, double-blind, parallel-design, placebo-controlled studies. Levofloxacin at 500 mg or placebo was administered orally or intravenously as a single dose on day 1; daily oral or intravenous dosing resumed on days 4 to 10. In a third study (study C), the comparability of the bioavailabilities of two oral and one intravenous levofloxacin formulations were investigated with 24 healthy male subjects in an open-label, randomized, three-way crossover study. Levofloxacin at 500 mg as a single tablet or an intravenous infusion was administered on day 1; following a 1-week washout period, subjects received the second regimen (i.e., the other oral formulation or the intravenous infusion); the third and final regimen was administered following a 1-week washout period. The concentrations of drug in plasma and urine were measured by validated high-pressure liquid chromatography methods. Pharmacokinetic parameters were estimated by noncompartmental methods. In both study A (oral levofloxacin) and study B (intravenous levofloxacin), steady state was attained within 48 h after the start of the multiple dosing on day 4. Levofloxacin pharmacokinetics were linear and predictable for the single and multiple 500-mg, once-daily oral and intravenous dosing regimens, and the values of the pharmacokinetic parameters for the oral and intravenous administrations were similar. Study C indicated that levofloxacin was rapidly and completely absorbed from the oral tablets, with mean times to the maximum concentration of drug in serum of approximately 1.5 h and mean absolute bioavailability of > or =99%. These results support the interchangeability of the oral and intravenous routes of levofloxacin administration.


Over the past two decades, techniques have been developed for pipeline leak detection and condition assessment using hydraulic transient waves (i.e. water hammer waves). A common measurement strategy for applications involves analysis of signals from a single pressure sensor located at each measurement site. The measured pressure trace from a single sensor is a superposition of reflections coming from upstream, and downstream, of the sensor. This superposition brings complexities for signal processing applications for fault detection analysis. This paper presents a wave separation algorithm, accounting for transmission dynamics, which enables the extraction of directional travelling waves by using two closely placed pressure sensors at one measurement site (referred as a dual-sensor). Two typical transient incident pressure waves, a pulse wave and a step wave, are investigated in numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. Comparison of the wave separation results with their predicted counterparts shows the wave separation algorithm is successful. The results also show that the proposed wave separation technique facilitates transient-based pipeline condition assessment.


The investigation aims to study the effect of re-vibration time and amount of steel fiber on the properties of concrete made with crushed cement-sand mortar as coarse aggregate. Three mixes were prepared with 0.00, 50 and 100 percent replacement of natural gravel by crushed cement-sand mortar aggregates. Mix proportions of concrete were 1: 2: 3 by weight. The water cement ratio of 0.50 to 0.60 was used to obtain the same workability for all mixes throughout the research. The specimens were cast to investigate compressive and splitting tensile strength of concrete. The results showed that concrete made of crushed cement-sand mortar as coarse aggregate had lower workability than concrete made with natural gravel aggregate for the same water cement ratio. This reduction in workability is reduced for the richer mixes and the influence of coarse aggregate on the workability decreases with an increase in the amount of cement in the mixture. Concrete compressive and splitting tensile strength were improved due to re-vibration by about 19 percent at the peak value (about one hour after initial vibration) with volume fraction of steel fiber of about 0.5 percent. The steel fibers improve the compressive strength of concrete by about 8-11 percent and the splitting tensile strength by about 10.3 percent for the same period of revibration.


The "disparition" of Thomas Pynchon and the quasi-absence of peripheral data about him make it rather difficult to trace the sources of the Pynchonian luxuriance. It is therefore hazardous to claim to have identified any source, direct or indirect. Nevertheless, it is likely that Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy was known to Pynchon when he wrote Gravity's Rainbow. of only is it one of Nietzsche's most famous and most accessible books, but it is also the one dealing directly with what is clearly a concern for Pynchon: opera. My hypothesis is supported by remarkable similarities between the two books, not the least of which is the reductionism both have had to suffer.


This article describes a design of solving ship transport
optimization using tools from graph theory. The tool minimal
spanning tree (denote MST) is suitable for searching ideal
transport routes between the ports. The principle of the MST
problem is that it describes various kinds of situations where
it is necessary to use this theoretical instrument and how to
use this tool for finding a solution. Graph theory knows
several algorithms for searching the minimum spanning tree and
this article compares two of them, in terms of their different
approaches, their complementarity, and their assessment, and
which of these two methods can find a feasible solution faster.
To model the situation of ship transportation we use connected
weighted graph where vertices represent sea ports and the edges
represent the transport routes between the ports. The weight of
an edge represents energy consumed to drive the boat between
two ports. A theoretical discussion and a model example are
carried out to compare the two methods.


Nowadays in Italy we observe a one-directional migration flow ofuniversity students, typically from the South to the North. It represents thenew millennium migration flow: people migrate looking for better job opportunitiesalready during their educational path, believing that northernuniversities may provide more opportunities for being more successful. Thispaper aims to study the performance of those Sicilian students that moveto the northern universities, to take the second level degree, in comparisonwith those remain in Sicily. We want to test the empirical evidence thatshows a similar performance between the two groups of students. We usedifferent measures of performance and follow a new methodology based onthe comparison among the distribution curves. Results seems to confirm ouridea, highlighting some difference.


Examining individual differences in the intrinsic motivations for social media use is essential for determining what causes individuals to enjoy using social networking sites and to engage more consistently in online activities. We analyzed data obtained from a survey of 227 users of social networking sites in China. We tested the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling. Research findings revealed that personality traits are the best predictors of intrinsic motivations for social media use. The Big Five traits of agreeableness and extraversion positively affected social interaction and self-presentation, whereas conscientiousness negatively affected self-presentation. Additionally, the results indicated that demographic variables of age and gender affect intrinsic motivations for social media use. Compared with females, males were more likely to utilize social media to express themselves and expand their social interactions. Moreover, participants older than 25 years demonstrated a lower level of self-presentational needs than did those aged 25 and younger. Our findings further confirm that differences among individuals, largely rooted in personality traits and demographic char- acteristics, contribute to various motivations for social media use.


Biosecurity has emerged as a major global issue. Emergency Plant Pests can impact on food safety, trade, market access, market development and, ultimately, the profitability and sustainability of plant industries.

Australia is relatively free from many of the plant pests and pathogens that seriously impact on agricultural and horticultural industries in other countries. This gives Australia a valuable competitive advantage in terms of securing market access and maintaining lower production costs through the absence of many plant pests commonly found overseas, To sustain that advantage into the future, Australian plant industries need the support of world class science and biosecurity technology.

The Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity (CRCNPB) commenced in November 2005. The CRCNPB will play a vital role in enhancing the scientific effort to enable Australian plant industries to pre•empt and, therefore, diminish the economic, social and environmental impact of Emergency Plant Pests. The activities of the CRCNPB will cover the full biosecurity continuum, pre•border, border and post• border. The four CRCNPB scientific research programs are focused on innovative research and development, in key areas that will deliver benefits across commodity groups: Preparedness and Prevention, Diagnostics, Surveillance and Impact Management. These programs will also introduce new technologies that will meet Australia's plant biosecurity needs within the shortest possible timeframe and will provide long•term benefits.

The CRCNPB has a strong commitment to the training of high quality Honours and PhD students and post-doctoral scientists to provide the nucleus of Australia's future plant biosecurity capacity. CRCNPB will also provide vocational training for scientists and other disciplines already working in the plant biosecurity field to enhance the core capacity of Australia. Other countries, such as the USA and New Zealand, are also addressing similar biosecurity issues and CRCNPB will be developing close linkages with key organisations in these and other countries.


Advances in Information Technology have allowed companies to deliver varied services from offshore locations with work performance being closely monitored and contracted on. While business reports have focused on the delivered quality of services moved offshore, statistical evidence is needed to study the effectiveness of different instruments on improving the work performance. Based on our primary data, we conduct empirical tests to investigate the effectiveness of different governance instruments, including monitoring and contracting instruments, for improving the work performance of services delivered off-shore. The findings indicate that while monitoring instruments are effective for improving work performance in general, currently used contracting instruments fail to align the incentive of the buyer with that of provider of services off-shored. Furthermore, a buyer company's real-time monitoring is far more effective than a provider company's monitoring for improving the work performance, and this comparative advantage increases as service process codifiability decreases.


Abstract One of the main issues in safety and control systems design of power and research reactors is to prevent accidents or reduce the imposed hazard. Control rod worth plays an important role in safety and control of reactors. In this paper, we developed a justifiable approach called D4D4 to estimate the control rod worth of a VVER-1000 reactor that enables to perform the best estimate analysis and reduce the conservatism that utilize DRAGON4 and DONJON4. The results are compared with WIMS-D4/CITATION to show the effectiveness and superiority of the developed package in predicting reactivity worth of the rod and also other reactor physics parameters of the VVER-1000 reactor. The results of this study are in good agreement with the plant's FSAR.


This paper focuses on improvements to the Bees Algorithm (BA) with slope angle computation and Hill Climbing Algorithm (SACHCA) during the local search process. First, the SAC was employed to determine the inclination of the current sites. Second, according to the slope angle, the HCA was utilised to guide the algorithm to converge to the local optima. This enabled the global optimum of the given problem to be found faster and more precisely by focusing on finding the available local optima first before turning the attention on the global optimum. The proposed enhancements to the BA have been tested on continuous-type benchmark functions and compared with other optimisation techniques. The results show that the proposed algorithm performed better than other algorithms on most of the benchmark functions. The enhanced BA performs better than the basic BA, in particular on higher dimensional and complex optimisation problems. Finally, the proposed algorithm has been used to solve the single machine scheduling problem and the results show that the proposed SAC and HCA-BA outperformed the basic BA in almost all the considered instances, in particular when the complexity of the problem increases.


INTRODUCTION Psychological stress is part of people's lives and can sometimes contribute to exacerbation of allergic diseases such as asthma. Asthma is prevalent in all age groups. Acute asthma attacks can be triggered by stress, thus impacting control of the disease and overall quality of life in these patients. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to evaluate the presence of psychological stress as a trigger in poorly controlled asthma patients and its implications in their quality of life. METHODS A descriptive study was conducted in the city of Manzanillo, Cuba, in the course of one year, from January to December, 2010, which included 33 patients with persistent asthma. They were grouped according to severity as suffering from moderate or severe asthma, and all of them met the criteria for poorly controlled disease. They were surveyed to gather data about family and personal history of atopy, age of first asthma crisis, and environmental as well as other factors. Two surveys were used: a list of indicators of vulnerability to stress and the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ). RESULTS Most patients with poorly controlled asthma were in their forties. Female patients were more frequently affected than men were (28 females or 84.8%, and 5 males or 15.1%), and most patients had a family history of atopic disease. Almost all patients had high vulnerability to stress as well as low overall quality of life in all the areas surveyed. CONCLUSION Psychological counseling is advised for asthma patients in order to reduce their stress levels.


Nicolas Ruwet's 'Methods' deserve a broader reception than they have so far been afforded. When they appeared in 1966, they represented the first coherent attempt to articulate a music-analytical system which drew on the distributional and taxonomic procedures of anthropology, linguistics and ethnomusicology; they also form a large part of a system which has generated much critical comment, especially in the French and French-Canadian musico-semiotic worlds,1* in its twenty years' existence; furthermore, they constitute one of the few sets of analytical methodologies which initially address repertories other than those of the 'common practice' era. The concentration in 'Methods' on monodies from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries makes their exclusion from contemporary discussions of the 'analysis of early music', with its all-too- often duplicative obsession with voice-leading procedures,2 all the more regrettable.


Mobile computing represents a major point of departure from the traditional distributed-computing paradigm. The potentially very large number of independent computing units, a decoupled computing style, frequent disconnections, continuous position changes, and the location-dependent nature of the behavior and communication patterns present designers with unprecedented challenges in the areas of modularity and dependability. So far, the literature on mobile computing is dominated by concerns having to de with the development of protocols and services. This article complements this perspective by considering the nature of the underlying formal models that will enable us to specify and reason about such computations. The basic research goal is to characterize fundamental issues facing mobile computing. We want to achieve this in a manner analogous to the way concepts such as shared variables and message passing help us understand distributed computing. The pragmatic objective is to develop techniques that facilitate the verification and design of dependable mobile systems. Toward this goal we employ the methods of UNITY. To focus on what is essential, we center our study on ad hoc networks, whose singular nature is bound to reveal the ultimate impact of movement on the way one computes and communicates in a mobile environment. To understand interactions we start with the UNITY concepts of union and superposition and consider direct generalizations to transient interactions. The motivation behind the transient nature of the interactions comes from the fact that components can communicate with each other only when they are within a a certain range. The notation we employ is a highly modular extension of the UNITY programming notation. Reasoning about mobile computations relies on extensions to the UNITY proof logic.


Group action analysis developed and applied mainly by Louis Michel to the study of N-dimensional periodic lattices is the central subject of the book. Different basic mathematical tools currently used for the description of lattice geometry are introduced and illustrated through applications to crystal structures in two- and three-dimensional space, to abstract multi-dimensional lattices and to lattices associated with integrable dynamical systems. Starting from general Delone sets the authors turn to different symmetry and topological classiffications including explicit construction of orbifolds for two- and three-dimensional point and space groups.

 Voronoi and Delone cells together with positive quadratic forms and lattice description by root systems are introduced to demonstrate alternative approaches to lattice geometry study. Zonotopes and zonohedral families of 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-dimensional lattices are explicitly visualized using graph theory approach. Along with crystallographic applications, qualitative features of lattices of quantum states appearing for quantum problems associated with classical Hamiltonian integrable dynamical systems are shortly discussed.

 The presentation of the material is presented through a number of concrete examples with an extensive use of graphical visualization. The book is aimed at graduated and post-graduate students and young researchers in theoretical physics, dynamical systems, applied mathematics, solid state physics, crystallography, molecular physics, theoretical chemistry, ...


The responses of tidal marsh macroinvertebrate assemblages to the conversion of Spartina alterniflora marshes to marshes dominated by the invasive reed, Phragmites australis, are poorly understood Changes in edaphic, vegetative, hydrologic, and detrital conditions that attend conversion to Phragmites should produce changes in the intertidal fauna. We used core sampling (7.8-cm diameter, 4-cm deep) and litter packs to compare the intertidal macroinvertebrate fauna of Phragmites marshes and adjacent remnant Spartina marshes in a brackish reach of the Mullica River (0–17 ppt salinity during the study) in southern New Jersey, USA. Detrital and above-ground vegetative biomass and water velocity were greater in Phragmites marsh; stem density, microtopographic relief, and the density of standing-water microhabitats were greater in Spartina marsh. The intertidal assemblages varied between marsh types. Total macroinvertebrate density was greater in Spartina marsh (97,000 m−2) than in Phragmites marsh (82,000 m−2). Mean taxa richness (number of taxa per core sample) was greater in Spartina marsh (12.4 taxa sample−1) than in Phragmites marsh (9.4 taxa sample−1) and dominance (relative abundance of the three most abundant taxa) was lower. Oligochaeta, Nematoda, and the polychaete, Manayunkia aestuarina, dominanted the fauna (>75% of the total abundance) in both marsh types. Of these, oligochaetes were more abundant in Spartina marsh, and nematodes and polychaetes were slightly more abundant in Phragmites marsh. Most common subdominant taxa (100-4,000 m−2), including ceratopogonids, chironomids, mites, ostracods, isopods, and gastropods were more abundant in Spartina marsh. Collembolans were more abundant in Phragmites marsh; amphipods were about equally abundant in both marsh types. Invertebrate abundance and assemblage composition varied with distance from the edge of the marsh in both marsh types; overlap in assemblage composition between marsh types was greates at the edge of the marsh, where more frequent inundation may have moderated the influence of vegetation type on the marsh fauna. For mean taxa richness and for the density of most taxa, the effect of marsh type on density exceeded the effect of season, marsh position, or a local salinity gradient. We consider the greater density of intertidal standing-water microhabitats and probably of microalgal production as important sources of faunal variation between marsh types. Fewer refugia from predators during high tide in Phragmites marsh may also contribute to variation in faunal abundance and community structure between marsh types. Detritus biomass was probably a more important source of spatial variation in the fauna of the Phragmites marsh than in Spartina marsh.


A simple, sensitive and inexpensive method was developed using matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD), together with high performance liquid chromatographic method for determination of neonicotinoid insecticide residues (Imadacloprid, Dinotefuran, Thiamethoxam and Acetamiprid) in cotton seed oil. The evaluated parameters included the type and amount of sorbent (silica gel, C18 and Florisil) and the nature of eluent (tetrahydrofuran, Millipore water and acetonitrile).The best results were obtained using 1.0 g of cotton seed oil sample, 1.0 g of C18 as sorbent and 20ml of tetrahydrofuran - Millipore water (2:8, (v/v)).The method was validated using in cotton seed oil samples spiked with insecticides at different concentration levels (0.03 and 0.3 µg/mL). Average recoveries (using each concentration six replicates) ranged 89-96%, with relative standard deviations less than 2%, calibration solutions concentration in the range 0.01-2.0 µg/mL and limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.01 µg/mL and 0.03 µg/mL respectively.


The Home Service Assignment, Routing, and Appointment scheduling (H-SARA) problem integrates the strategical fleet-sizing, tactical assignment, operational vehicle routing and scheduling subproblems at different decision levels, with a single period planning horizon and uncertainty (stochasticity) from the service duration, travel time, and customer cancellation rate. We propose a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer linear programming model for the H-SARA problem. Additionally, a reduced deterministic version is introduced which allows to solve small-scale instances to optimality with two acceleration approaches. For larger instances, we develop a tailored two-stage decision support system that provides highquality and in-time solutions based on information revealed at different stages. Our solution method aims to reduce various costs under stochasticity, create reasonable routes with balanced workload and team-based customer service zones, and increase customer satisfaction by introducing a two-stage appointment times update at different times before the actual service. Our two-stage heuristic is competitive to CPLEX's exact solution methods in providing time and cost-effective decisions and can update previously-made decisions based on an increased level of information. Results show that our two-stage heuristic is able to tackle reasonable-size instances and provides good-quality solutions using less time compared to the deterministic and stochastic models on the same set of simulated instances.


The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have had its beginnings in China, spreading globally to devastating effect. It subsequently laid bare the underlying vulnerabilities of many previously prosperous and technologically advanced economies and societies. The pandemic has also begun to reveal the curious ways in which microbes and their evolving activities are intrinsically tied to our way of life: from individual consumer habits and damaging environmental practices to the unstable global supply chain and the pathogens prevalent in the food and drug production industry. Microbes, it is evident, do not work alone;they rely on multiple others in a vast network of humans and animals in order to thrive. India's emerging livestock industry, and especially its booming factory farming sector, is at risk of further compounding the spread of these pathogens and future outbreaks. In this paper, we will discuss key concerns around the relationship between the current pandemic (and potential future ones) and the drug and livestock industry in India and beyond.


Summary Bombesin and structurally related peptides including gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) are potent mitogens for Swiss 3T3 cells. The early cellular and molecular responses elicited by bombesin and structurally related peptides have been elucidated in detail. Further understanding of the molecular basis of the potent mitogenic response initiated by bombesin is required in order to elucidate the mechanism by which the occupied receptor communicates with effector molecules in the cell. Transmembrane signalling mechanisms involving either a tyrosine kinase or a guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory protein (G protein) have been proposed. Here we summarize our experimental evidence indicating that a G protein(s) is involved in the coupling of the bombesin receptor to the generation of intracellular signals related to mitogenesis. Evidence for the role of G proteins in bombesin signal transduction pathways has been obtained by assessing the effects of guanine nucleotide analogues on both receptor-mediated responses in permeabilized cells and ligand binding in membrane preparations. We found that [125I]GRP–receptor complexes were solubilized from Swiss 3T3 cell membranes by using the detergents taurodeoxycholate or deoxycholate. Addition of guanosine 5-[γ-thio]triphosphate (GTPγS) to ligand–receptor complexes isolated by gel filtration enhanced the rate of ligand dissociation in a concentration-dependent and nucleotide-specific manner. These results demonstrate the successful solubilization of [125I]GRP–receptor complexes from Swiss 3T3 cell membranes and provide evidence for the physical association between the ligand-receptor complex and a guanine nucleotide binding protein(s).


The multifunctional apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease (Ape1/ref-1) plays a key role in the human DNA base excision repair pathway. Ape1/ref-1 has also been shown to be involved in the redox control of transactivation activities of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha. The aim of our study was to investigate the expression of these proteins in early stage invasive cervical cancer. Expression of Ape1/ref-1 and HIF-1alpha was detected immunohistochemically in 88 samples of cervical cancer stage pT1b. The levels of the proteins were compared and the prognostic influence of Ape1/ref-1 expression was investigated. Strong nuclear expression of Ape1/ref-1 was observed in 9 cases (10.2%), moderate in 22 cases (25%), weak in 17 cases (19.3%), and absent in 40 cases (45.5%). Furthermore, no correlation between Ape1/ref-1 and HIF-1alpha expression was observed (p=0.864). We also found no relationship of Ape1/ref-1 expression and survival (p>0.05, log-rank test). From these studies, we have concluded that in cervical cancer there is no correlation between the upstream redox regulatory protein of HIF-1, i.e., Ape1/ref-1, and HIF-1alpha expression. However, these studies do not address any functional relationship between the two proteins.


Objectives Globally, there are increasing cases of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin among heat-exposed workers. We aimed to see the kidney damages of indoor heat-exposed workers and whether urine specific gravity can predict any kidney damages. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting A shoe-making factory in West Java, Indonesia. Participants 119 subjects were included. Minimum total sample size was 62. Subjects were indoor heat-exposed workers who were exposed to occupational wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 28°C–30°C for 8 hours daily with 1 hour break, 5 days a week. The inclusion criterion was healthy subjects according to the result from annual medical check-up in 2019. The exclusion criteria were subjects who were taking vitamins and/or supplements that might cause disturbance in urine specific gravity and/or hydration status, pregnant and fasting. Primary and secondary outcome measures Area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity of urine specific gravity for the detection of urinary nephrin and urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) were analysed. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and quantitative albuminuria were also measured. Results WBGT in the work area of the subject was 28°C–30°C. There were 15 (12.6%) subjects who had eGFR <90 mL/min, but ≥60 mL/min. High serum vasopressin levels were found in 79 subjects with a mean of 6.54 (95% CI 5.94 to 7.14) ng/mL. Most subjects had nephrinuria (87.4%) with preserved renal function (87.4%). Several subjects had elevated urinary KIM-1 (10.9%) and albuminuria (7.6%). AUC of urine specific gravity for increased urinary nephrin was 81.7% (95% CI 68.8% to 94.6%) and statistically significant (p<0.001). Cut-off value of ≥1.018 for urine specific gravity has sensitivity of 71.2% and specificity of 80% for detecting elevation of urinary nephrin levels. Conclusion Urine specific gravity with a cut-off value of ≥1.018 could be used to detect nephrinuria among heat-exposed workers.


The objectives of the present study were to identify and discuss on the profile of the graduates form the stricto sensu program in Nursing Administration/Management of the University of São Paulo School of Nursing, from October 2008 to June 2011, regarding the knowledge areas the graduates worked on during their master and doctoral program. This is an exploratory, descriptive, retrospective study, using documental analysis. The study population consisted of 250 graduates, 169 of which were masters and 81 doctorates. The graduates' profile permitted to identify and discuss on the retention rate for the doctorate; the type of institution that absorbs the master and doctorate graduate and the fields they work in.


Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the most common complaints in women usually accompanied by economic, social, physical and mental effects. Although there are some reports about the effects of childbirth on decreasing the menstrual pain, but the relationship between mode of delivery and the pattern of primary dysmenorrhea is not clear. The aim of this study was investigating this relationship. Methods: This cohort study was conducted on 124 primiparous women during 2010-2011 Mothers were divided into two groups of 61 cases with normal vaginal delivery and 63 ones with caesarean section. Sampling was conducted through multi-stage (stratified-cluster) method in health centers of Mashhad, Iran. The research was performed based on personal profile questionnaire, menstrual information before and after delivery and the menstrual pain degree based on verbal multidimensional scoring scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 11.5, chi-square and paired t-tests. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Women who had vaginal delivery would have significantly more improvement in severity of primary dysmenorrheal than women in cesarean delivery group (p<0.000). Location of pain also was statistically significant (p<0.04). The duration of menstrual pain after normal vaginal delivery was more reduced compared to caesarean group, but the difference was not statistically significant (p<0.59). There were also no significant differences in pain quality (p<0.39) and symptoms associated to the menstruation (p<0.82) between two groups. Conclusion: Normal vaginal delivery would reduce the severity of dysmenorrhea more than caesarean section.


We describe a case of chronic distal sensorimotor neuropathy associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) in a 15-year old girl. The patient showed a striking clinical picture consisting of diffuse nodular enlargements of peripheral nerves. Motor conduction velocities were decreased and sensory responses were absent after maximal stimulation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed throughout the body and disclosed generalized nerve sheath neurofibromas affecting all peripheral nerves. Intracranially, the patient had a glioma of the left optic nerve, but no other cranial nerve involvement. These results demonstrate the value of MRI for visualization of the peripheral nervous system in neurofibromatosis.


ABSTRACT During the first and second waves of the pandemic, Quebec was among the Canadian provinces with the highest COVID-19 mortality rates. Facing particularly large COVID-19 outbreaks in its facilities, an integrated health and social services center in the province of Quebec (Canada), developed resilience strategies. To explore these diverse responses to the crisis, we conducted a case study analysis of a Quebec integrated health and social services center, building on a conceptualization of resilience strategies using "configurations" of effects, strategies, and impacts. Qualitative data from 14 indepth interviews conducted in the summer and fall of 2020 with managers and frontline practitioners were analyzed through the lens of situations of "anticipation," "reaction," or "inaction." The findings were discussed in three results dissemination workshops, two with practitioners and one with managers, to discern lessons they learned. Three major configurations emerged: 1) reorganization of services and spaces to accommodate more COVID-19 patients; 2) management of contamination risks for patients and professionals; and 3) management of personal protective equipment (PPE), supplies, and medications. Within these configurations, the responses to the crisis were strongly shaped by the 2015 health care system reforms in Quebec and were constrained by organizational challenges that included a centralized model of governance, a history of substantial budget cuts to longterm care facilities, and a systematic lack of human resources.


High-index dielectric nanoparticles support leaky geometrical resonances in the visible spectral range with large interaction cross sections, and find applications in nanoscale optoelectronic devices and surface coatings. Coupling between such resonant nanoparticles in close proximity can give rise to enhanced directionality and confinement. Here, we combine dark-field (DF) scattering spectroscopy with cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging spectroscopy to study hybridization of resonant modes in coupled silicon nanoparticles and directly image the modal field profiles of these hybridized eigenmodes. The DF measurements show a strong influence of the gap size on the scattering spectrum as a result of hybridization. Using finite-element modeling we calculate the eigenmodes of the dimer and identify the hybridized eigenmodes in the scattering spectrum. CL imaging spectroscopy is used to directly map the modal field profiles of single particles and dimer structures with deep-subwavelength spatial resolution. Detailed comparison with eigenmode calculations shows that the measured modal field profiles correspond to the hybridized symmetric electric and antisymmetric magnetic bonding modes. We study dimers composed of large dielectric bars to explore the ability of CL imaging to map highly complex hybridized field profiles inside resonant nanostructures. Our results demonstrate the ability to characterize the complex resonant properties of coupled nanostructures, paving the way for more complex applications and devices based on resonant dielectric nanoparticles.


This doctoral dissertation comprises performance enhacement solutions for
deflection-routed networks-on-chip. Presented solutions include the
techniques for deflection minimization and techniques for misrouting
supression. Two solutions presented: distributed and global port allocation
(SMD and DMD). Both solutions reduce deflection rate by replacing
existing algorithm of deflection router commutation stage with the novel
algorithm that leads to better output ports allocation. While SMD minimizes
deflection rate by choosing configuration that is beneficial for the flits at the
single arbiter level, DMD introduces global port allocation in order to
minimize the number of deflected flits at the output ports.
Solutions for misrouting suppression presented in this doctoral dissertation
are classified into solutions implemented on the inter-router link and
solutions implemented in the router. There are presented two solutions that
are implemented on the link: reflective link (LB) and reflective link with
buffers (ILB). The essence of the LB solution is to include the option for
returning the deflected flit back to the input of the router where it was
deflected, which gives the flit a new opportunity for contending for
productive port in the next network cycle. ILB solution additionally
incorporates FIFO baffers on the links, that gives an additional flexibility
compared to LB, and allows deflected flits to be kept in a buffer before
returning back to the router where it was deflected. Also, ILB allows one of
multiple link configurations in order to reduce misrouting. Both solutions
are suitable for hardware implementation, and can be applied in any
deflection network without modifying the internal router architecture.
This doctoral dissertation also presents a solution for misrouting suppression
in minimally-buffered deflection routers (SB_O). This solution includes
modification of both the router architecture and the algorithm for SB buffer
allocation. Router architecture is modified by moving the Buffer Inject stage
to the front of PAS stage, in order to give higher injection priority to the flits
originating from IP core, thus improving traffic distribution within the
network. The SB_O also involves a novel algorithm for SB buffer allocation
that selects for buffering a flit deflected on a port that is productive for flit
already buffered in SB.
Beside solutions for improving performance of deflection networks, doctoral
dissertation presents a livelock detection and resolution mechanism. In
difference to the existing livelock prevention schemes, the proposed
mechanism can be easily adapted to different router architectures, and
provides smaller latention of livelock detection compared to existing
solutions.
For the purpose of evaluating the proposed solutions, a dedicated cycleaccurate
simulator of deflection networks has been developed and presented
in doctoral dissertation. The simulator is implemented using language for
digital systems modeling and verification – SystemC. The simulator allows
functional modeling of deflection router, communication link, network
topology, and network traffic. Beside simulations for performance
comparing of presented solutions and reference routers, a separate set of
simulations is performed in order to analyse influence of implemented
performance enhancement mechanisms on distribution of network traffic.


The Galactia clade is one of three major lineages of the papilionoid legume tribe Diocleae. It comprises eight genera and approximately 140 species almost entirely restricted to the Americas. Establishing stable generic boundaries within this clade has been a challenge because of its tortuous taxonomic history and the broad polyphyly of the genera of the so-called Galactia-Camptosema-Collaea complex. Previous molecular phylogenetic studies revealed some well-supported lineages, but did not advance towards any new taxonomic arrangements. We carried out maximum parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of a combined dataset including our previously published multilocus molecular data (nrITS and ETS and plastid trnK/matK and trnT-Y regions) and 82 morphological characters. The resulting topologies largely concur with those previously reported based on molecular data only, where Camptosema and Galactia appear as broadly polyphyletic, with species scattered among five (Camptosema) and seven (Galactia) of the twelve lineages that are newly recognized here at genus level. We are therefore proposing the following new taxonomic rearrangements within the Galactia clade: descriptions of the new genera Caetangil, Cerradicola, Mantiqueira, and Nanogalactia; resurrection of Betencourtia; and the subsuming of Neorudolphia into Rhodopis and of Camptosema sect. Macropetalum into Cratylia.


I listened with weary resignation to BBC radio and television on 31 Dec 2007 that ran a story on urgent and non-urgent GP referral of women with lumps to breast clinics.

The item was based on a small survey of 200 GPs for Radio 4 which was carried out by the charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The story was headlined as 'Cancer referral confusing GPs'.

The survey recognised that most family doctors were following NICE guidelines. This fact, however, was lost in the media clamour which picked up on one aspect of the survey which was that about a third of GPs stated they would use judgement on whether to refer urgently a woman under 30 with a lump. This was seized on as a breech of guidelines and of course it grabbed all the (negative) headlines.

Making referral decisions using guidelines and clinical judgement, instead of simply following guidelines at all times, seems to be regarded as negligent by the media and pressure groups. Do they really think that in this case, it would be better to refer all women with a breast lump under the 2-week rule and overload the system?

The open season on GPs continues.


Nodes of Ranvier, the unmyelinated segments of myelinated axons, bear high concentrations of sodium channels to propagate action potentials from node to node. Ratcliffe et al. (page 427) suggest that the sodium channels are recruited to the nodes by interacting through their β subunits with neurofascin, one of the first molecules found in developing nodes of Ranvier.

Figure

Sodium channels (white) cluster at nodes of Ranvier.

The interaction of the β subunits with neurofascin, long known to be a cell adhesion molecule in neurons, did not come entirely as a surprise, since β subunits show sequence homology to cell adhesion molecules. This paper provides new evidence that the β subunits of sodium channels perform a dual role: anchoring the sodium channel through lateral interactions in the plasma membrane, as well as their known function of speeding up the opening and closing of sodium channels.

The authors transfected cells in tissue culture to show that neurofascin interacts with the β1 and β3 subunits of sodium channels, but not the β2 subunit, and that the interaction between neurofascin and β1 occurs within the same cell, rather than between adjacent cells. The β1 subunit and neurofascin are both concentrated at nodes of Ranvier in the developing rat brain, as well as in the adult brain. The authors propose that this interaction helps concentrate sodium channels at the nodes of Ranvier. Interestingly, both the β1 subunit and neurofascin bind to ankyrin-G, a protein in the cytoplasm, suggesting that proteins inside the cell guide the assembly of proteins at the node. ▪


Item characteristics can have a significant effect on survey data quality and may be associated with measurement error. Literature on data quality and measurement error is often inconclusive. This could be because item characteristics used for detecting measurement error are not coded unambiguously. In our study, we use a systematic coding procedure with multiple coders to investigate the extent to which the coding of item characteristics could be done reliably. For this purpose, we constructed an item characteristics scheme that is based on typologies of characteristics. High intercoder reliability indicates a clear relation between item characteristic, item content, and measurement error. Our results show that intercoder reliability is often low, especially for item characteristics that are hard to code due to subjectivity. Low intercoder reliability complicates comparisons between studies about item characteristics and measurement error. We give suggestions for coping with low intercoder reliability.


This research was conducted at 15 government schools in Addis Ababa. The objectives of this research are to identify principal style and its effect on academic achievement. The "Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire" (LBDQ) formed by Halpin (1966) was used. Meanwhile Academic achievement was measured using the "School Certificate Examination Results from 2017-2020. A total of 191 teachers and 15 principals from government school in Addis Ababa were randomly chosen. Pearson correlation was used to analyse the data. To support data obtained from questionnaire given 10 teachers were interviewed. The results showed that most of the school leaders adopt a democratic style of leadership. There was a significant correlation between the structure of task-oriented leadership style and students' performance in the examinations. Correlation analysis also showed that principals practice task- oriented structure and consideration-oriented structure in relation to their work responsiblities. Furthermore, findings also showed that majority of the principals are more likely to practice consideration-oriented leadership style compared to structure-oriented leadership style.


This expert analysis addresses the many interconnections between political violence and crime, including the transnational crimes of non-state actors and the international crimes of states.
 How crime is defined goes to the heart of the boundaries drawn between legitimate and illegitimate use of force; between violence and non-violence; between legality and criminality. Crime Wars: The Global Intersection of Crime, Political Violence, and International Law presents a well-balanced, introductory analysis of this critically important subject, addressing the many points of intersection between political legitimacy, law, political violence, and criminal activity.
 This thought-provoking work examines the criminalization of the developing world, opening up debate about the nature and cause of acts that transgress laws, rules, and social norms. Acknowledging the subjective nature of crime, it nevertheless urges readers to ask difficult questions about why law-abiding persons and states sanction rule infringement, law breaking, and amoral policy. Perhaps most importantly, the authors assess structures of global and regional governance, including legal regimes and major international non-governmental agencies, to offer unique, historically grounded insights into security challenges and the ways in which global crimes and wars can be addressed in the 21st century.


Software ecosystems are collections of interacting and communicating software projects developed by the same developer community. Dealing with the complex interaction and dynamics of these ecosystems is an important problem that raises additional challenges compared to the maintenance of individual soft- ware systems. In particular, the social aspect becomes crucial, requiring to under- stand evolving ecosystems as dynamic socio-technical networks. Based on software repository mining research advances, in this lecture I explore the state of the art in the empirical analysis of software ecosystems, with a focus on the evolutionary aspect. I present some of the challenges that need to be overcome during the extrac- tion and cleaning of data obtained from different data sources (such as version con- trol repositories, bug trackers, and mailing lists). I draw an analogy between soft- ware ecosystems and natural ecosystems, and illustrate through previously reported empirical case studies how ecological diversity metrics and econometric inequal- ity metrics can be used to increase understanding of evolving software ecosystems from dual viewpoints. It should be noted that this article has been conceived as a work of reference. It does not provide any novel research results by itself, but rather introduces the important concepts and challenges in the field. It also provides many pointers for further reading for those researchers that wish to start working in this important research domain.


Intervention therapies in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are directed at the immune dysregulation and chronic inflammatory events in the joint. An ideal therapeutic program would rapidly control inflammation, prevent joint damage and preserve function. The various strategies of treatment involve the use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic agents (DMARDs) either singly or in combination. Gold salts, penicillamine, sulphasalazine, methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine are used when NSAIDs fail to control inflammation. RA not only decreases the functional disability but the life-span of patients. The traditional pyramid strategy which uses single DMARDs consecutively has been found to be inadequate and slow in suppressing joint inflammation. Hence the race to find treatment regimes and strategies that will favourably alter the outcome of RA patients. Both the "step-down bridge" approach and saw-tooth strategy have been advocated in the attempt to break the progression of joint disease. None of the known regimes can be said to be most beneficial and least toxic.


The consumption of local food in many cases enables the recognition of local cultures and increases their awareness in the international arena. The tendency to experience local cultures and authentic flavors is effective in the emergence of gastronomic-themed holidays. The relationship between the forces of globalization, localization, and gastronomy puts particular emphasis on food as the source of regional and national identity and the advantages of economic development. These motivations, lead to the emergence of gastronomy routes, are increasingly popular all over the world. Countries are expected to properly brand themselves in the international arena to create an intention to travel to countries they have never seen before. Effective use of websites is an important phase of this branding process. Thinking about the color, design, appropriateness, and attractiveness of the official websites where tourism products are represented will create an opportunity to create an effective image and increase the number of tourists. In this context, the comparative content analysis is carried out on Turkey and Malaysia's websites. This research, which was conducted to determine the brand image of gastronomy on websites and to determine the representation of brand awareness, discusses the marketing strategies for gastronomy tourism in two countries with similar tourism potential.


This research presents experiments carried out to improve the precision and recall of Dutch hypernym detection. To do so, we applied a data-driven semantic relation finder that starts from a list of automatically extracted domain-specific terms from technical corpora, and generates a list of hypernym relations between these terms. As Dutch technical terms often consist of compounds written in one orthographic unit, we investigated the impact of a decompounding module on the performance of the hypernym detection system.
In addition, we also improved the precision of the system by designing filters taking into account statistical and linguistic information.
The experimental results show that both the precision and recall of the hypernym detection system improved, and that the decompounding module is especially effective for hypernym detection in Dutch.


Background and Purpose Safe and effective anticoagulation plays a pivotal role in neuro-interventional procedures. Patients routinely receive heparin for prevention of intra-procedural thrombosis or thromboembolic complications. We have recently noticed time-dependent variations in intra-procedural thrombosis and thromboembolic complications during our neuro-interventional procedures. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of our intra-procedural anticoagulation therapy. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective case review, comparing the total amount of intravenous heparin administered per case, the peak activated clotting time (ACT) as measured by the i-STAT system, and number of intra-procedural thrombotic complications of 27 consecutive intracranial endovascular neurosurgical procedures requiring intra-procedural anticoagulation from July 1, 2011 through October 15, 2011 (Group 2011) compared to 40 consecutive intracranial endovascular neurosurgical procedures requiring intra-procedural anticoagulation from July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010 (Group 2010). Results The mean for total heparin dose given per case for Group 2011 was 12 903 units of heparin, with a SD of 6901, while the mean for total heparin dose given per case for Group 2010 was 8463 units of heparin with a SD of 2484 (p<0.0001, t-test). The peak ACT per case for Group 2011 was 299.2 s with SD of 47.02 compared to the peak ACT per case for Group 2011 was 315.7 with SD of 39.62 (ns). There were a total of six thrombotic complications for Group 2011 vs one thrombotic complication for Group 2011 (p<0.05, Fisher Exact Test). The RR of experiencing a thrombotic complication between the two groups (2010 vs 2011) is 4.266 (95% CI 0.6873 to 26.475). Discussion and Conclusions When comparing Group 2011 with Group 2010, it took significantly more heparin to maintain similar peak ACT levels and there was a significant increase in the risk of developing a thrombotic complication. These findings are highly suggestive of the decreased effectiveness of intravenous heparin during the dates of July 1, 2011 through October 15, 2011 when compared to a similarly matched group of patients receiving heparin between July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2010. The total heparin dose per case for Group 2011 was not titrated to a predetermined ACT value prior to the start of the endovascular neuro-intervention, but rather a cumulative sum dose of heparin after the end of the procedure. These data give evidence that obtaining an adequate ACT level prior to the start of any endovascular neuro-interventional procedure requiring the use of heparin. Competing interests None.


The Knowledge Translation Toolkit provides a thorough overview of what knowledge translation (KT) is and how to use it most effectively to bridge the know-do gap between research policy practice and people. It presents the theories tools and strategies required to encourage and enable evidence-informed decision-making. This toolkit builds upon extensive research into the principles and skills of KT: its theory and literature its evolution strategies and challenges. The book covers an array of crucial KTenablers -- from context mapping to evaluative thinking -- supported by practical examples implementation guides and references. Drawing from the experience of specialists in relevant disciplines around the world The Knowledge Translation Toolkit aims to enhance the capacity and motivation of researchers to use KT and to use it well.


In this paper we describe the empirical and theoretical meaning behind how finger patterns are taught to facilitate the development of preschool children's perception of the first ten natural numbers. An intervention programme, informed by Variation theory of learning, included 65 five-year-olds and teachers at seven preschool departments in Sweden. The programme aimed at developing teaching activities and artefacts to promote children discerning necessary aspects of the first ten numbers. The design of the programme is significant to describe and evaluate as basis for forthcoming analyses of the learning outcomes, as a pedagogical approach that stands in contrast to common preschool teaching practice in Sweden is adopted.


Literature review found only one longitudinal clinical study on the use of resin infiltration technique for proximal carious lesions in primary molars. The findings were compared with literature regarding both conventional molar restorations and remineralization. It was concluded that based on the limited available evidence, resin infiltration technique should be used with caution for managing proximal carious lesions in primary molars.


AIM AND OBJECTIVE
This study sought to examine the effectiveness of hybrid learning utilizing WhatsApp as an adjunct to traditional learning in delivering knowledge to and supporting the learning of undergraduate dental students and investigate learner perceptions of WhatsApp use in educational contexts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The 3-month prospective analytical interventional study sampled 85 undergraduate students from the Department of Preventive Dental Sciences. A WhatsApp group was created, information was sent to the male and female groups, and a written assignment was used as a performance benchmark of knowledge acquisition and application. Perceptions of e-learning through WhatsApp were assessed using a previously validated and published questionnaire. Collected data underwent descriptive and bivariate analyses (unpaired t-test).

RESULTS
The average assignment scores of the 85 hybrid learners were statistically significantly higher than those of traditional learners from the previous academic year (34 ± 1 vs 26 ± 3; p < 0.05, respectively). Meanwhile, 57 hybrid learners completed the survey, and 73% agreed/strongly agreed that introducing a new method of teaching via WhatsApp was useful, 70% reported that a professional and comfortable learning environment was created, and 70% felt that group distractions were handled appropriately. The top advantages of learning through WhatsApp were availability/immediacy (94.7%) and being simple to operate (91.2%). Males (40.4%) were significantly more likely to report a sense of belonging to the group than females (33.3%, p = 0.01). Respondents agreed that high expectations of teacher availability (71.9%) and some students making no effort (52.6%) were challenges. Message flooding (45.6%) and time-consuming nature of WhatsApp (36.8%) were identified as technical challenges.

CONCLUSION
The findings showed significant improvements in student performance using the hybrid learning tool, as reflected in assignment scores. Positive perceptions of hybrid learning and improved academic performance indicate that WhatsApp is a convenient new teaching tool.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The results of this study may be applicable to other clinical dental disciplines.


This article proposes a spatial dynamic structural equation model for the analysis of housing prices at the State level in the USA. The study contributes to the existing literature by extending the use of dynamic factor models to the econometric analysis of multivariate lattice data. One of the main advantages of our model formulation is that by modeling the spatial variation via spatially structured factor loadings, we entertain the possibility of identifying similarity "regions" that share common time series components. The factor loadings are modeled as conditionally independent multivariate Gaussian Markov Random Fields, while the common components are modeled by latent dynamic factors. The general model is proposed in a state-space formulation where both stationary and nonstationary autoregressive distributed-lag processes for the latent factors are considered. For the latent factors which exhibit a common trend, and hence are cointegrated, an error correction specification of the (vector) autoregressive distributed-lag process is proposed. Full probabilistic inference for the model parameters is facilitated by adapting standard Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms for dynamic linear models to our model formulation. The fit of the model is discussed for a data set of 48 States for which we model the relationship between housing prices and the macroeconomy, using State level unemployment and per capita personal income.