Delegating authority to bureaucrats raises two principal concerns. The first is how to ensure that the bureaucrats use this authority to serve the best interests of the public. The second is how to prevent the legislature, namely Congress, from using delegation to promote its own interests to the detriment of the public's. This latter phenomenon is referred to as blame-shifting: rather than enacting an unpopular policy itself, Congress enacts a vague or broad delegation, shifting responsibility and blame onto the agency for the policy. On the conventional account, blame-shifting is thought to enable policies that make the public worse off, allowing for more special interest legislation that benefits a select group at the public's expense, which has led to calls for a strengthened nondelegation doctrine to bar the sorts of delegations that make blame-shifting possible. I argue that the conventional account of blame-shifting is founded on inconsistent premises. For example, it has not adequately explained how it is that voters are able to punish legislators for passing statutes they dislike while being seemingly incapable of punishing delegations about which they feel the same.In its place, I propose a reconstructed account of delegation where such broad delegations of policymaking authority are part of a strategy that allows the public to take advantage of the agency's expertise. While something resembling blame-shifting can occur within this reconstructed account, these broad delegations of authority overall make the public better off. Contrary to the conventional account, then, I find little reason to institute a stricter nondelegation doctrine.With this new account of delegation in mind, I then consider the potential benefits of judicial review of agency policy. In particular, I find that hard look review, where the courts evaluate the merits of the agency's policy, makes the public better off only under demanding conditions that are unlikely to be met. In some cases, it can make the public worse off, especially when the legislature delegates broad, relatively unconstrained authority to the agency. This conclusion is somewhat counter-intuitive, as we might expect judicial review of agency policymaking to be most important in cases of broad delegation, and a result of the limited technical information available to the court.These observations offer a different perspective on the instruction in Chevron — that courts are to defer to agency interpretations of statutes when those statutes are ambiguous. When Congress delegates broad authority to an agency the statute is properly considered ambiguous, as the legislature did not intend for a particular policy to be implemented, instead leaving that decision to the agency. The effect of Chevron is to give the agency freedom to act without intervention by the courts. In doing so, Chevron follows the intent of Congress, influenced by the voters. The doctrine therefore makes the public better off and enjoys a rationale based on democratic accountability, though one distinct from the rationale cited by the Court.The courts do play an essential role when there is delegation, though. It is their task to determine the scope of the delegated authority and to enforce constraints on that authority when they are present. In this manner, judicial review is an important mechanism for resolving the first principal concern raised by delegation.


: The fact that there is an association of alcohol abuse with pulmonary tuberculosis is well documented. The effect of alcohol sales per capita on tuberculosis mortality rates is considerably less known. The aim of the study was to evaluate the beverage-specific effect of alcohol on pulmonary tuberculosis mortality rates. Trends in pulmonary tuberculosis mortality rates in Belarus from 1981 to 2001 were analyzed in relation to those in the level of sales of various alcoholic beverages per capita, by applying the time series analysis. The analysis demonstrated a positive and statistically significant effect of changes in per capita alcohol sale levels on pulmonary tuberculosis mortality rates. It suggests that a 1% increase in alcohol sales per capita might cause 0.49 and 0.36% increases in pulmonary tuberculosis mortality rates in males and females, respectively. This study also indicates that tuberculosis prevention programs should place more emphasis on alcohol problems.


Two term neonates born within four days of each other at a small hospital developed sepsis and meningitis caused by a unique strain of Citrobacter diversus not previously reported to cause meningitis. Eleven (27.5%) of 40 other infants admitted to the nursery during the epidemic period developed rectal or umbilical colonization by C. diversus. Contact soon after birth with either of two nurses was more common among infected or colonized infants than among infants who were not infected or colonized. Hand cultures of both nurses and a rectal culture of one of the nurses yielded the epidemic strain. C. diversus may have been introduced into the nursery by the rectal carrier and spread person to person. Six weeks later continued surveillance identified a second cluster (of four colonized infants) associated with a mother who was a carrier of C. diversus and whose newborn infant became colonized at birth. The outbreak ended after strict control measures were used.


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Earth's accretion history for volatile elements, and the origin of their depletions with respect to the Sun and primitive meteorites, continue to be debated. Two end‐member scenarios propose either that volatile elements were delivered during the main phases of accretion and differentiation, or that the Earth accreted from materials largely devoid of volatiles with late addition of volatile‐rich materials. Experiments evaluating the effect of metal–silicate equilibrium on elemental and isotopic distribution of volatile and siderophile elements such as Sn can help to distinguish between these scenarios. In this study, we have systematically investigated the relative influence of temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity, and metal and silicate composition on the metal–silicate partioning behavior of Sn, from 2 to 20 GPa and 1,700 to 2,573 K, indicating that Sn siderophility noticeably decreases with temperature and S content of the metal but increases dramatically with pressure. A resolvable isotopic fractionation factor between metal and silicate suggests that core–mantle equilibrium temperatures (∼3,000 K) could potentially generate a Sn isotopic composition of the mantle lighter than the core by 150–200 ppm/amu. Core formation modeling shows that the volatiles were added during the last 10% of the accretion history. A final core containing 2.5 to 3.5 wt.% S is required. Furthermore, modeling of the BSE isotopic composition argues for a late Sn delivery on Earth with carbonaceous chondrite‐like material as the most likely source of volatiles. Therefore, both elemental and isotopic approaches converge toward an identical volatile accretion scenario, involving a late volatile delivery.


RATIONALE
Neutrophil serine proteases in cystic fibrosis (CF) lung secretions partially resist inhibition by natural and exogenous inhibitors, mostly because DNA impairs their control. Cationic polypeptides display the property of condensing DNA and retain antimicrobial properties. We hypothesized that DNA condensation by cationic polypeptides in CF sputum would result in a better control of CF inflammation and infection.

OBJECTIVES
We examined whether poly-L-lysine would compact DNA in CF lung secretions and liquefy CF sputum, improve the control of extracellular proteases by exogenous inhibitors, and whether it displays antibacterial properties toward CF-associated bacteria.

METHODS
We used fluorogenic methods to measure proteolytic activities and inhibition by protease inhibitors in whole sputum homogenates from patients with CF before and after treatment with poly-L-lysine. Antibacterial properties of poly-L-lysine were measured in bacterial cultures and in whole CF sputum. Poly-L-lysine toxicity was evaluated after aerosolization by histologic analysis, flow cytometry, and quantification of proinflammatory cytokines.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
Poly-L-lysine compacts CF sputum DNA, generating a liquid phase that improves ciliary beating frequency at the lung epithelial surface, and allows the control of neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G by their natural inhibitors. It retains antimicrobial properties against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus at doses that induce no inflammation in the mouse lung after aerosol administration.

CONCLUSIONS
Poly-L-lysine may be an alternative to dornase-α to liquefy sputum with added benefits because it helps natural inhibitors to better control the deleterious effects of extracellularly released neutrophil serine proteases and has the ability to kill bacteria in CF sputum.


Case Report MK, aged 25 years and a housewife of rural background, was premorbidly well adjusted, with a family history of depression. She had an acute-onset 7-year continuous illness precipitated by the death of her father. The illness was characterized by auditory hallucinations (that is, commenting and commanding), tactile hallucinations, passivity phenomenon, aggression, negative symptoms, and disturbed biofunctions. There was no history suggestive of depression or mania, substance abuse, or head injury. During this period, treatment tolerance or resistance was seen with various antipsychotics (that is, chlorpromazine, haloperidol, trifluperazine, and risperidone). Hence, clozapine was initiated after baseline investigations up to 400 mg daily. With 8 months of treatment, significant improvement in psychopathology and functioning occurred, with associated weight gain of 10 kg. Over the next 3 years, clozapine was gradually reduced to 200 mg daily with no reemergence of positive symptoms but persistence of negative symptoms. MK was married in early 2001 and continued to take clozapine. She was informed about the risk of congenital malformations with antipsychotics and was advised to use contraception. However, she conceived after 6 months of marriage and continued with the pregnancy and with clozapine. Venereal Disease Research Laboratory Slide Test (VDRL), HIV, and hepatitis B surface antigen titers were negative during the first trimester, and there was no evidence of congenital malformations during antenatal ultrasonography on repeat occasions. Hemoglobin was 9.6 gram percent at the 10th week of pregnancy; folic acid and iron supplements were initiated at 10 and 16 weeks, respectively. Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) was detected at the 38th week and was monitored. At the beginning of the 39th week, a 3-kg boy was delivered by episiotomy, with Apgar scores of 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. The postnatal period was uneventful, with normal developmental growth until age 20 months.


Following the end of the Cold War, European Union followed a democracy promotion policy in its neighbourhood regions. The thesis aims to contribute to the external democratization literature by giving a detail analysis of the European Union's policy formation and instruments for democracy promotion in the Mediterranean region. More specifically, I look at the dynamics underlying democracy promotion policies of the EU and explain why the EU adopts certain policies and employ certain instruments for Mediterranean countries. As such, this thesis does not focus on the success or failure of democratization policies per se, but rather how an external democratizer, like the EU, produces principal policies and employ instruments for democracy promotion. Namely, this thesis tries to explain the evaluation of the EU's foreign policy towards the Mediterranean region and within this process, how the EU's policies are intensified towards a comprehensive democracy promotion strategy in the Mediterranean region.


Schizophrenia is often accompanied by sleep problems, but dreaming seems to be altered as well. The present study investigated nightmare frequency and its correlates in patients with schizophrenia, patients in at risk mental states for psychosis (ARMS), first-grade relatives of schizophrenic patients, and healthy controls. Patients with schizophrenia experienced significantly more nightmares compared to healthy controls. Moreover, nightmare frequency was found to be linked to patients' subjective distress. ARMS patients also showed heightened nightmare frequency whereas nightmare frequencies of first-grade relatives were comparable to the values of healthy controls. As nightmare frequency was not related to the severity of positive symptoms or present in subjects at increased genetic risk, they seem to reflect the waking-life distress associated with the disorder and its prodrome. Longitudinal studies should be carried out to take a closer look at the interaction between stress and nightmares.


Abstract Waterhemp is a major weed of field crops in the Midwestern United States. Its prevalence is at least partly due to its rapid evolution of resistance to many groups of herbicides over the last two decades. In light of its dioecy and anemophily, pollen movement in waterhemp is considered to be an important factor in the spread of herbicide resistance genes. Thus, the biology and dispersal profile of waterhemp pollen are critical determinants for understanding and predicting the spatial population dynamics of herbicide resistance in this species. In this study, pollen longevity was investigated with greenhouse experiments, and pollen dispersal and the effect of pollen competition were investigated in field plots. Pollen dispersal was determined by measuring the frequency of seeds produced on receptor plants positioned at various distances from a pollen source, which flowered in synchrony with the receptor plants. Results indicated that waterhemp pollen can remain viable up to 120 h, implying a low limitation of pollen dispersal by its longevity. Effective pollen dispersal declined exponentially with distance, with most pollen fertilizing recipient plants within 50 m of the pollen source. However, long distance pollen dispersal (800 m) was also observed. We also saw evidence for pollen swamping in this species. Under conditions of pollen competition among distinct genotypes, pollination success was inversely related to distance between pollen donors and receptors. However, relative pollen density may also play an important role in determining the rate of long distance gene flow. This study confirmed the potential of waterhemp pollen to effect long distance gene flow and provides supporting data for quantitative spatial modeling of waterhemp resistance dynamics. Nomenclature: Common waterhemp, Amaranthus tuberculatus (Moq.) Sauer var. rudis (Sauer) Costea and Tardif AMATU.


RENAL ARTERY thrombosis in the newborn has been reported rarely and only from autopsy statistics. Two cases are presented here to illustrate the clinical features of this condition. One of the patients recovered following early nephrectomy, indicating the need for prompt recognition. Report of Cases Case1.—A male infant (NYH #942586),1the product of a normal pregnancy and vacuum extraction delivery on May 7, 1963, weighed 4.8 kg (10.6 lb), and was noted at birth to have extreme acrocyanosis and a slight respiratory moan, both of which persisted the following day. On the day after birth he had a pulse rate of 170 beats per minute; respiratory rate, 140 per minute; and temperature, 37 C (98.6 F). His liver was palpable 3 cm below the right costal margin. Complete blood cell count (CBC) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were normal. Serum electrolyte values included: sodium, 136 mEq/liter; potassium, 5.7 mEq/liter;


Gene family proliferation by gene (genome) duplication has provided the raw materials for functional innovations (Ohno 1970; Lundin 1993; Holland et al. 1994; Henikoff et al. 1997; Golding and Dean 1998). Several models were proposed for functional divergence among member genes (e.g., Li 1983; Clark 1994; Hughes 1994; Fryxell 1996; Nei, Gu, and Sitnikova 1997; Force et al. 1999), but the details remain largely unknown. Gu (1999) developed a statistical method for testing type I functional divergence, i.e., changes in protein function between two gene clusters result in changes in selective constraints (and therefore shifted evolutionary rates) at some residues. It stands in contrast to type II functional divergence, i.e., changes in protein function between two gene clusters do not alter the level of selective constraints. Amino acid residues with rate shifts are the sites that have either gained or lost importance as a consequence of the change of function during evolution, as proposed by the hypothesis of type I functional divergence (Gu 1999). Moreover, type I functional divergence provides a biological basis for the covarion theory of molecular evolution (Fitch and Markowitz 1970). If a statistical testing shows a significant rate difference between two gene clusters, it is of great interest to predict important amino acid residues, which can be further verified by available functional-structural evidence (Dermitzakis and Clark 2001; Gaucher, Miyamoto, and Benner 2001; Wang and Gu 2001). The posterior probability of each site is suitable to develop a statistically sound profile for selecting critical amino acid residues (Gu 1999), but little information is provided about how much rate difference is generated at these sites after gene duplication. In this article, we report a new site-specific profile for the rate difference, which is useful for studying the pattern of protein sequence evolution. Consider two gene clusters generated by gene duplication (or speciation), e.g., see figure 1, the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) gene family tree. In each cluster, a site can be in either of two states: (1) F0, which means no altered functional constraint after gene duplication, and (2) F1, which means altered functional constraint at this site after gene duplication. As a result, there are four combined states in the case of two gene clusters: (1) F0 in both clusters, denoted by S0 5 (F0, F0), resulting in no rate difference between clusters; and


The development of energy analysis and planning models has closely matched the emphasis on energy policies over the past three decades. The policy arena is now dominated by the concepts of market reform, sustainable development, and global climate change. The needs that an energy model should meet are constantly changing, due to technological, social, and political reasons. Effective energy planning is a dynamic process that is repeated periodically and adjusts to changing conditions. The models identified as in use in the 12 countries of North Africa and Eastern Mediterranean are ENPEP, LEAP, MARKAL, and PRIMES. Each energy model has advantages and disadvantages that users have to trade off. This article reviews the energy-planning models used internationally and throughout the 12 countries and proposes the most practical route to harmonizing energy models in use throughout this region, in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Energy Cooperation.


Javanese is one of Indonesia's ethnic living in the region of Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. Having three typical types of traditional are clothing, namely batik, lurik (striated weaving), and jumputan (tye dye). In Klaten district, Central Java found striated weaving centers, one in the Cawas district. The main problem faced by the artisans of striated weaving in this place is likely difficult in marketing products, because they have to compete the other types of textile markets. As a result, the craftsman run out of capital, and led to ups and downs state. Therefore, they work together in a association called the Society of Craftsmen Cawas Lurik Center. This study aims to determine how the artisans of striated weaving Cawas seek to be able to continue their efforts. This research paper uses a form of qualitative research using case study strategy with phenomenological approach. The results showed (1) the artisans joined the association as a forum for cooperation between them; (2) creates synergy among craftsmen to improve the ability and knowledge, and (3) develop synergies with the outside association to strengthen the group in order to have a bargaining position in the middle of the competition.


Over-parameterization is a recent topic of much interest in the machine learning community. While over-parameterized neural networks are capable of perfectly fitting (interpolating) training data, these networks often perform well on test data, thereby contradicting classical learning theory. Recent work provided an explanation for this phenomenon by introducing the double descent curve, showing that increasing model capacity past the interpolation threshold can lead to a decrease in test error. In line with this, it was recently shown empirically and theoretically that increasing neural network capacity through width leads to double descent. In this work, we analyze the effect of increasing depth on test performance. In contrast to what is observed for increasing width, we demonstrate through a variety of classification experiments on CIFAR10 and ImageNet32 using ResNets and fully-convolutional networks that test performance worsens beyond a critical depth. We posit an explanation for this phenomenon by drawing intuition from the principle of minimum norm solutions in linear networks.


1Department of Medical Oncology, The Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital of Dalian University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China; 2The Key Laboratory of Biomarker, High-Throughput Screening and Target Translation of Breast and Gastrointestinal Cancer, Dalian, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China Abstract: Anti-γ-aminobutyric acid type β receptor (anti-GABABR) antibody-associated encephalitis is a type of autoimmune encephalitis. According to current literature, its pathogenesis is reported to be closely related to tumor factors. However, diagnosis can be difficult because of the rarity of cases, limited clinical understanding, and a lack of specificity in clinical manifestation and imaging presentation. Clinical trials have demonstrated that immunotherapy can prolong the survival of patients with small cell lung cancer; however, in some cases, immunotherapy may induce anti-GABABR antibody-associated encephalitis. Patients who develop this encephalitis during immunotherapy often delay treatment because the cause is not clearly identified. In this study, we report a case of a 61-year-old man with a confirmed diagnosis of small cell lung cancer who had acute onset of cognitive impairment and seizures after two cycles of durvalumab (AstraZeneca UK Limited) combination chemotherapy. This reaction was initially considered as an immune-related adverse event (irAE) caused by durvalumab treatment, and the patient was eventually considered to have a paraneoplastic neurological disorder caused by the primary tumor. This report raises awareness of the symptoms of cognitive impairment and seizures in patients with small cell lung cancer, and the possible adverse events associated with immunotherapy. This case also highlights the importance of detecting anti-GABABR antibodies in patients with small cell lung cancer.


This report is the result of the fourth in a series of surveys describing the population of Internet users who visit food and drink sites online. It examines their demographic characteristics and online shopping activity and identifies subsets of this population that have made more frequent online transactions. Approximately 26 percent of respondents reported making an average of 4.4 specialty food or beverage purchases online in the previous six months. Nearly 25 percent of respondents' most recent purchases were made from 7 companies. An additional ten companies accounted for 15 percent of their most recent purchases. The remaining 60 percent of purchases were distributed among 602 other companies.


Effective maintenance planning is essential and important in any organisation that is responsible for procuring and managing complex assets. In the marine shipping industry maintenance planning is very significant due to its complexity and the obligations on shipping organisations to comply with certain regulations and requirements. Moreover, improper planning can reduce the ship?s availability, which may in turn, be reflected in the revenue of the company. Another issue that requires attention in this field is the cost of maintenance, since improper or inadequate planning could result in breakdowns that could increase the cost of maintenance.This research aims to identify the key factors that affect ship maintenance planning and to provide a framework that can help the decision maker to identify and choose optimum decisions regarding ship maintenance. The research is divided into four stages in order to achieve its objectives and to address the research problem.The first stage is the review of the literature to identify the need for maintenance and to select the key factors that affect maintenance planning. The findings indicate that: maintenance scheduling, selection of maintenance strategy, ship construction, crew compensation, and shipyard selection are the most important factors.The second stage is to evaluate maintenance performance measurements for the marine shipping industry by conducting case study and interviews with professionals involved in the mercantile industry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six senior staff experts from three different organisations. The results show that: dry docking scheduling, maintenance costs and budgets, customer satisfaction, employees? satisfaction, classification requirements, and the ship?s maintenance requirements are the main factors that have great influence on maintenance planning.The third stage is to develop new methodology to measure the maintenance performance in the marine shipping organisation which is the ship maintenance performance measurement (SMPM) framework. The developed method was validated to assist managers in making the right decisions in ship maintenance planning. The framework was developed based on ten thematic criteria that can be used as indicators for potential organisation growth, i.e., maintenance strategy; dry docking scheduling; budget and costs; the ship?s equipment; customer satisfaction; employees; health, safety and environment; learning and growth; classification requirements; and the ship?s operation and demands requirements. Interviews were conducted with key personnel from the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) to validate the framework.The fourth stage demonstrates that an optimised schedule for the dry docking of ships for routine maintenance has been constructed. This is accomplished on the basis of one measured criterion, dry docking scheduling, by using an integer programming model to maximise the ship?s availability within the company fleet. The model is defined by three constraints: the maintenance window, maintenance completion, and the ship?s limit. The model was validated using data from KOTC, and the results depict an optimum solution for maintenance scheduling, maximising the ship?s availability to 100% and not less than 92%.


Demand response (DR) emerges as one of the cheapest and greenest solutions to match supply and demand in the electricity sector. Compared to price-based DR, incentive-based DR is considered to be more promising, since it does not require consumers to monitor price fluctuation (which often considered as an additional burden). In addition, it allows utility companies to design more attractive and customized incentives to encourage consumer participation in DR events. While DR has been focused on large and industrial consumers, pervasive implementation (by including residential consumers) is needed to maximize its potential. This paper present theoretical analyses from the economics perspective of pervasive, incentive-based DR. Our analyses focus more on the commodity subsystem rather than the physical subsystem, and consider cases (1) whether DR is used to encourage consumers to decrease or increase their demand, and (2) whether utility companies have access to a single or multiple energy sources. We determine the necessary conditions to benefit from DR events and derive the optimal incentive to maximize gain from the events.


For Our Soul Teshome Wagaw 2018-02-05 Between 1977 and 1992, practically all Ethiopian Jews migrated to Israel. This mass move followed the 1974 revolution in Ethiopia and its ensuing economic and political upheavals, compounded by the brutality of the military regime and the willingness--after years of refusal--of the Israeli government to receive them as bona fide Jews entitled to immigrate to that country. As the sole Jewish community from sub-Sahara Africa in Israel, the Ethiopian Jews have met with unique difficulties. Based on fieldwork conducted over several years, For Our Soul describes the ongoing process of adjustment and absorption that the Ethiopian Jewish immigrants, also known as Falasha or Beta Israel, experienced in Israel.


Background and Objective: Hearing impairment and ear discharge are the most common symptom an Otorhinolaryngologist comes across in day to day practice. Chronis otitis media is the most common cause of hearing impairment and ear discharge. Thus chronic otitis media is a significant health problem in developing countries. Hence, every ENT surgeon should have thorough knowledge of the same. Material and Methods: We did a prospective study with the aim to study the characteristic clinical profile in patients diagnosed with chronic otitis media. All the patients were evaluated with detailed history taking and thorough clinical examination. Results: The majority of the patients presented with ear discharge (91%), second main symptom was decreased hearing in (65%), followed by ear ache in (29%), tinnitus in (17%) and giddiness in (7%) being the least. We observed that majority were medium sized perforation 72%. Involving the anteroinferior and posteroinferior quadrant. Conclusion: In the present study we observed that Chronic Otitis Media occurs most commonly in females in the 3rd and 4th decade. Ear discharge being the main symptom followed by decreased hearing and ear ache. Very few complaints of tinnitus and giddiness. Most of the perforations of tympanic membrane were of medium size followed by small size with large size perforation being least. Majority of perforations were involving the Posteroinferior and Anteroinferior quadrants


The structures that regulate and support the Australian judiciary reflect and serve the traditional judicial values of independence, impartiality and the rule of law. Yet modern society places emphasis on an additional range of values that are expected of government and public institutions. These contemporary values include diversity, transparency, accountability and efficiency. Reforms to introduce regulatory and support structures that prioritise and facilitate these values in the judicial arm has proved challenging, sometimes contentious. This article reports on a survey of Australian judicial officers (n=142) from across different jurisdictions. Participants were asked what they considered to be the most pressing challenges that face the various levels of the Australian judiciary, and whether the current regulatory and support environment achieves international best practice. The responses provide a nuanced picture of the state of the modern Australian judiciary as it appears to those within it. The study facilitates an understanding of the degree to which judicial officers are satisfied with the current legal and regulatory framework, and, where they are dissatisfied, the nature of their disquiet. While not seeking to offer complete resolutions to the many issues canvassed, the data and analysis presented in this article serve as an interruption to regulatory and academic studies of the Australia judiciary, with the potential to illuminate and re-orientate the reform conversation in light of the judicial perspective on these various issues.


Background The FIFA 11+ program can decrease the rate of injury in athletes. Few studies have investigated the role of compliance and if it is correlated to time loss due to injury during a season. Objective (1) Analyze how differences in compliance to the FIFA 11+ (IP) program may impact injury rate and (2) how differences in program compliance may impact time loss due to injury. Design Prospective cohort RCT. Setting Division I & II Men's Soccer (USA). Patients (or Participants) Sixty-one Division I and II Men's soccer teams were followed over one competitive season. Injury rates and time loss were analyzed. Twenty-seven teams (N=675 players) served as the intervention group (IG) using the FIFA 11+. Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) Compliance to the IP program and injuries were collected weekly using a secure internet-based system. Main Outcome Measurements Compliance, exposure and injuries were recorded in 27 of 61 male soccer teams. Results There was an overall reduction of injury in the IG by 46.1%; demonstrating the decreased likelihood of being injured (RR =0.54, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.59, p<0.0001, NNT=2.64). Compliance was stratified by utilization consistency: low (LC: 1–19 doses/season), moderate (MC: 20–39 doses/season), or high (HC: >40 doses per season). The average utilization per team was 32.81±12.06 FIFA 11+ sessions. There were 54 injuries in 4 teams reported in the LC group (M=13.5, range 10–19 doses, IR=10.35±2.21), 156 injuries in 14 teams in the MC (M=11.14, range 21–39 doses, IR=8.55±2.46) and 75 injuries in 9 teams in the HC group (M=8.33, range 40–64 doses, IR=6.39±2.71). There was a statistically significant difference reached between compliance and injury rate (p=0.034). Conclusions When compliance to the IP was high, there was a significant reduction in injury and time loss compared to the MC and LC.


In light of the importance of immigrants' labour market integration in the host countries, this study examines the employment convergence between foreign-born and native-born in the European Union (EU) based on the EU Labour Force Survey (EU LFS). The evidence points to numerous differences in assimilation patterns across immigrant groups (EU-born versus third country immigrants), genders and receiving EU regions. Potential explanations for these differences, such as the occupational composition of immigrants are discussed. Furthermore, predictions of the family investment hypothesis in terms of the human capital investment of the partners are tested in light of the finding that the employment rate of females born outside the EU exceeds that of similar native-born in the Southern EU member states.


Despite the relevance of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (CP-Kp) infections there are a scarce number of studies to evaluate in vivo the efficacy of combinations therapies. The bactericidal activity of colistin, rifampin, and its combination was studied (time–kill curves) against four clonally unrelated clinical isolates of CP-Kp, producing VIM-1, VIM-1 plus DHA-1(acquired AmpC β-lactamase), OXA-48 plus CTX-M-15 (extended spectrum β-lactamase) and KPC-3, respectively, with colistin MICs of 0.5, 64, 0.5, and 32 mg/L, respectively. The efficacies of antimicrobials in monotherapy and in combination were tested in a murine peritoneal sepsis model, against all the CP-Kp. Their efficacies were tested in the pneumonia model against the OXA-48 plus CTX-M-15 producers. The development of colistin-resistance was analyzed for the colistin-susceptible strains in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, colistin plus rifampin was synergistic against all the strains at 24 h. In vivo, compared to the controls, rifampin alone reduced tissue bacterial concentrations against VIM-1 and OXA-48 plus CTX-M-15 strains; CMS plus rifampin reduced tissue bacterial concentrations of these two CP-Kp and of the KPC-3 strain. Rifampin and the combination increased the survival against the KPC-3 strain; in the pneumonia model, the combination also improved the survival. No resistant mutants appeared with the combination. In conclusion, CMS plus rifampin had a low and heterogeneous efficacy in the treatment of severe peritoneal sepsis model due to CP-Kp producing different carbapenemases, increasing survival only against the KPC-3 strain. The combination showed efficacy in the less severe pneumonia model. The combination prevented in vitro and in vivo the development of colistin resistant mutants.


The Epidermal Growth Factor receptor (EGFr) was one of the first oncogenes identified, and it, or its ligands Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) and Transforming Growth Factor a (TGFa) are overexpressed in most clinical tumours. As EGF and TGFa are potent mitogens, it appeared that inhibition of EGFr signaling would be a viable anti-proliferative strategy. Screening found several classes of EGFr inhibitor, one of which, the indolinethiones was developed. The SAR, in common with that of other first generation tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitors was flat, and potency was poor. Rescreening in presence of a thiol, to remove chemically reactive species, identified only two leads, a pyridopyrimidine and a quinazoline. These were developed into a very broad class of EGFr inhibitors, with great potency and selectivity for EGFr, but poor physicochemical properties, and little if any in vivo anti-tumour activity. Meanwhile the complex role of other members of the EGFr TK family in oncogenesis, was becoming apparent, suggesting that the whole EGFr family should be inhibited. The difficulty of finding potent compounds with acceptable pharmacokinetics also suggested that irreversible inhibitors of the TK might produce better in vivo profiles. Modeling suggested that the unusual Cys773 residue might be reached from the 6/7-positions of quinazoline and pyridopyrimidine inhibitors. Inhibitors with acrylamides at these positions proved to be irreversible alkylating agents for both EGFr and erbB-2 with cellular inhibitory activities in the low nanomolar range, and very potent in vivo antitumour activity. Optimized inhibitors had exceptionally potent oral antitumour activity, with negligible cytotoxicity.


Fairness, or the ability to distribute resources in a manner that accords with societally recognized principles of justice, is a hallmark of human cooperation. Young children rapidly develop the ability to enact fairness, but the cognitive underpinnings of this ability remain unknown. The present study investigated 4-7-year-olds' acquisition of three principles of fairness -equality (the principle that all parties should have the same), merit (the principle that those who work harder should get more), and starting opportunity (the principle that those who started with less should get more) -in relation to their emerging cognitive control and memory for numerical information (numerical accuracy). Cognitive control predicted children's equal sharing, whereas numerical accuracy predicted merit-based sharing. Children up through the oldest age we tested ignored starting opportunities. The results suggest that different principles of fairness may be underpinned by distinct cognitive processes.


Scientific computation is emerging as absolutely central to the scientific method. Unfortunately, it's error-prone and currently immature-traditional scientific publication is incapable of finding and rooting out errors in scientific computation-which must be recognized as a crisis. An important recent development and a necessary response to the crisis is reproducible computational research in which researchers publish the article along with the full computational environment that produces the results. In this article, the authors review their approach and how it has evolved over time, discussing the arguments for and against working reproducibly.


It has been 21 years since the first description of the maze procedure by James Cox.1 At that time the hypothesis of multiple independent wavelets propagating randomly through both atria was the most accepted dominant atrial fibrillation (AF) mechanism; there was no knowledge of the importance of focal triggers within the pulmonary veins, the influence of different local activation rates, frequency gradients, the autonomic nervous system, or genetics in the genesis of AF. The Cox maze procedure was designed basically with two aims: to reconduct the electrical impulse into dead-end paths, and to avoid its rotation on round structures like the mitral and tricuspid annuli, both venae cavae and atrial appendages. Interestingly, it still is the most successful therapy for controlling AF, with over 90% of sinus rhythm (SR) recovery in patients with lone AF,2 but the aggressiveness of the original procedure limited its implementation by most surgeons.

The introduction in the last decade of surgical devices with different energies to produce scars less aggressively has expanded the use of this therapy remarkably, basically in the field of AF concomitant to other surgical pathology. With this new technology, a maze procedure can be performed with no increase in operative risk,3 and the efficacy is comparable with the cut-and-sew technique.4 Moreover, in patients with a successful concomitant Cox maze procedure versus patients with heart surgery alone, recent data indicate better long term survival,5 reduced incidence of stroke,6 and better ventricular function.7 The last consensus statement of the International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery in 2009 recommended concomitant surgical ablation in patients with persistent and longstanding persistent AF undergoing cardiac surgery to increase the incidence of SR at short and long term follow-up (class I, level A), to improve ejection fraction and exercise tolerance (class …


This study reports levels of indoor environmental quality variables before and after installation of heat recovery ventilation in a primary school located in an urban area in Izmir, Turkey. A CO2-based modeling was performed to determine the required flow rates that would comply with an international ventilation standard, followed by computational fluid dynamics modeling for best airflow distribution in a classroom. Temperature, CO2, PM2.5, and total volatile organic compounds were found at undesired levels, among which relative humidity, CO2, and PM2.5 were improved after the intervention. Reductions in the mean and maximum concentrations were 29% and 68% for CO2 and 29% and 46% for PM2.5. This intervention study was a part of the city-wide main project that aimed to increase awareness of the students and their families, teachers, and staff regarding importance of indoor environmental quality in both at school and home due to its possible effects on children's health and academic performance, one of the major challenges of today's societies all around the globe.


Amphibian populations and species diversity are declining at an alarming rate all over the world. In Montana, mining has been suggested as the culprit for this decline. I continued Meis's (1999) study at the Upper Frohner Meadow site after a settling pond had been introduced reduce the heavy metal contamination. I looked for increased survivorship between the two years, using western toad tadpoles (Bufo boreas), and determined differences in hardiness by comparing spotted frog tadpoles (Rana levitrius), both of which were contained in enclosures in groups of 50. The results showed a 39.4% increase in toad survivorship since the use of a settling pond. The frogs had a 57.6% higher average survivorship than the toads. The consequences of this research suggest settling ponds are effective tools for reducing or eliminating heavy metal contamination, therefore, increasing water quality. It also showed spotted frogs could tolerate the contamination better than western toads and would be most likely to repopulate a bioreclaimated site.


To assure the expected operational and developmental system quality is actually delivered, a test-driven approach to architecture elaboration is a powerful tool. Evaluations, simulations, and running code provide direct feedback as to whether a system's architecture and implementation support its quality requirements. Test-driven design is also a fantastic vehicle to check if the specified qualities are sufficient for providing the expected value. Unless you physically experience the system, all its requirements, especially quality aspects, are just assumptions. Thus, you might need to adjust the assumed quality requirements when you see the system in action. The quality/ value feedback loop closes.


Prediction problems often admit competing models that perform almost equally well. This effect challenges key assumptions in machine learning when competing models assign conflicting predictions. In this paper, we define predictive multiplicity as the ability of a prediction problem to admit competing models with conflicting predictions. We introduce formal measures to evaluate the severity of predictive multiplicity and develop integer programming tools to compute them exactly for linear classification problems. We apply our tools to measure predictive multiplicity in recidivism prediction problems. Our results show that real-world datasets may admit competing models that assign wildly conflicting predictions, and motivate the need to measure and report predictive multiplicity in model development.


The oxidation of pyrite (FeS2) contained in unsaturated aquifer sediment was studied by sediment incubation in gas impermeable polymer laminate bags. Reaction progress was followed over a period of nearly 2 months by monitoring the gas composition within the laminate bag. The gas phase in the incubation bags became depleted in O2 and enriched in CO2 and N2 and was interpreted as due to pyrite oxidation in combination with calcite dissolution. Sediment incubation provides a new method to estimate low rates of pyrite oxidation in unsaturated zone aquifer sediments. Oxidation rates of up to 9.4 x 10(-10) mol FeS2/g x s are measured, and the rates are only weakly correlated with the sediment pyrite content. The reactivity of pyrite, including the inhibition by FeOOH layers formed on its surface, apparently has a major effect on the rate of oxidation. The code PHREEQC 2.0 was used to calculate the reaction stoichiometry and partitioning of gases between the solution and the gas phase. Pyrite oxidation with concurrent calcite dissolution was found to be consistent with the experimental data while organic carbon oxidation was not. The reaction involves changes in the total volume of the gas phase. The reaction scheme predicts the volume of O2 gas consumed to be larger than of CO2 produced. In addition the solubility of CO2 in water is about 30 times larger than of O2 causing a further decrease in total gas volume. The change in total gas volume therefore also depends on the gas/water volume ratio and the lower the ratio the more pronounced the loss of volume will be. Under field conditions the change in total volume may amount up to 20% in the absence of calcite and over 10% in the presence of calcite. Such changes in gas volume during the oxidation of pyrite are expected to result in pressure gradients causing advective transport of gaseous oxygen.


Background Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder of gut-brain interaction with challenging treatment. According to evidence-based studies, acupuncture is likely to be a promising therapy and subservient adjunct for IBS. Mechanism study of acupuncture based on related clinical trials of high quality, nevertheless, is still vacant. Aim This study aims to assess the results and qualities of current clinical evidence and conclude the relevant pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic effects of acupuncture on IBS with diarrhea (IBS-D). Methods Literature from four databases, namely, PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science, was systematically searched to obtain eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which contained mechanism research of acupuncture treatment in IBS-D patients. Two independent reviewers completed data extraction and quality evaluation using the RevMan 5.4.1 software. Results Ten trials that covered 19 items related to mechanism research were included in this review. Acupuncture was reported to improve IBS-D symptoms and quality of life, with positive effects in regulating brain-gut peptides, cerebral activities, neuroendocrine functions, psychological state, and inflammatory GI and hypersensitive intestinal tracts. Conclusion Acupuncture has potential influence on pathophysiology alterations such as regulating brain-gut peptides, altering cerebral connectivity and activity, promoting neuroendocrine functions and mental state, and mitigating inflammation as well as hypersensitivity of bowels in IBS-D patients, but further studies of high quality are still necessary. Systematic Review Registration [https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO], identifier [CRD42022320331].


Preference-based reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms help avoid the pitfalls of hand-crafted reward functions by distilling them from human preference feedback, but they remain impractical due to the burdensome number of labels required from the human, even for relatively simple tasks. In this work, we demonstrate that encoding environment dynamics in the reward function (REED) dramatically reduces the number of preference labels required in state-of-the-art preference-based RL frameworks. We hypothesize that REED-based methods better partition the state-action space and facilitate generalization to state-action pairs not included in the preference dataset. REED iterates between encoding environment dynamics in a state-action representation via a self-supervised temporal consistency task, and bootstrapping the preference-based reward function from the state-action representation. Whereas prior approaches train only on the preference-labelled trajectory pairs, REED exposes the state-action representation to all transitions experienced during policy training. We explore the benefits of REED within the PrefPPO [1] and PEBBLE [2] preference learning frameworks and demonstrate improvements across experimental conditions to both the speed of policy learning and the final policy performance. For example, on quadruped-walk and walker-walk with 50 preference labels, REED-based reward functions recover 83% and 66% of ground truth reward policy performance and without REED only 38\% and 21\% are recovered. For some domains, REED-based reward functions result in policies that outperform policies trained on the ground truth reward.


Sequence-based typing (SBT) is a discriminatory method widely used to genotype Legionella pneu-mophila strains. A total of 86 clinical L. pneumophila serogroup 1 (sg1) isolates, collected between January 2000 and December 2010 in the two Belgian National Reference Centres for Legionella pneumophila, were genotyped using the internationally standardised SBT protocol of the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI). The isolates could be classified into 31 different sequence types (ST, index of diversity: 0.879). The obtained STs were submitted to the EWGLI SBT-database for L. pneumophila. In our study, ST47 (27.9%) and ST1 (19.8%) were the most frequently detected STs. The detected profiles were a combination of both frequently isolated and unique STs, and of both worldwide distributed and more local strains. Two STs, ST880 and ST881, were new to the EWGLI database. In conclusion, we characterised L. pneumophila sg1 isolates with the SBT method, and created a Belgian profile database that will be useful for future epidemiological studies.


KM3NeT is constructing two next-generation underwater Cherenkov detectors in the deep Mediterranean Sea. The ARCA detector is optimised for TeV-PeV neutrino astronomy, and the smaller and more-densely instrumented ORCA detector is optimised for oscillation research with few-GeV atmospheric neutrinos. The first detection units of both ARCA as well as ORCA have been deployed and are taking data.
In this contribution, an analysis to detect atmospheric neutrinos in the first data of a single detection unit of ORCA and two detection units of ARCA is presented. With ORCA, a sample of 77 neutrino candidates in 125.3 days of livetime is extracted. A good agreement with expectations from Monte-Carlo simulations is found. With ARCA, 6 neutrino candidates are identified in 53.2 days of livetime.


This article outlines a route to reconnect political economy to the original themes of the discipline, and specifically the complex relations between the objectives of (individual and collective) actors in a polity on the one hand, and the material and social interdependencies that influence the pursuit of those objectives on the other hand. The article highlights the heuristic value of economic theories of interdependencies for i) identifying the internal structure of constraints within a political-economic system; and ii) reconstructing the partial interests of specific sectors or social groups and their weight in determining collective actions. In this light, the article analyses the relations between partial interests and systemic interest. Unlike the usual understanding of collective interest, the systemic interest associated with a set of interdependencies expresses the multiple ways in which the partial and sometimes diverging interests of individuals or groups may be compatible with the viability of the system as a whole. This approach is illustrated in the context of the material and social interdependencies that characterise the political economy of the Eurozone. In this connection, the essay shows that a focus on «intermediate aggregates» (as opposed to the usual macro and micro levels of analysis) may be necessary for identifying effective measures of economic and industrial policy.


Using the concept of three-electron bond we can represent the actual electron structure of benzene and other molecules, explain specificity of the aromatic bond and calculate the delocalization energy. Gives theoretical justification and experimental confirmation of existence of the three-electron bond. It was shown, that functional relation y = a + b/x + c/x^2 fully describes dependence of energy and multiplicity of chemical bond from bond distance.


The association processes between engineered TiO2 nanoparticles and Suwannee River humic acids are investigated by isothermal titration calorimetry and by measuring the exchanged heat during the binding process, allowing the determination of thermodynamic (change in enthalpy, Gibbs free energy and entropy) and reaction (binding affinity constant, reaction stoichiometry) parameters. Our results indicate that strong TiO2–Suwannee River humic acid interactions are entropically and enthalpically favorable with exothermic binding reactions and that the mixing order is also an important parameter. High humic acid concentrations induce homoagglomeration ("self"-assembly) and are shown to favor an enthalpically driven association process. Light scattering techniques are also considered to investigate the influence of TiO2 surface charge modifications and agglomeration mechanisms. Patch and bridging mechanisms are found to result in the formation of large agglomerates once charge inversion of TiO2–humic acid complexes is achieved. Moreover, van der Waals interactions are also found to play a significant role during interaction processes due to the amphiphilic character of humic acids.


The present work is devoted to a study of the molecular mechanisms of the crystallization of polymer chains induced by graphene by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. From the atomic configuration translation, the number distribution of the atoms, and the order parameter S, the crystallization process can be summarized in two steps, the adsorption and the orientation. By analyzing the diffusion properties of the polymer chains, we find that a graphene substrate has a great adsorption for the polymer molecules and the polymer molecules need more time to adjust their configurations. Therefore, the adsorption step and the orientation step are highly cooperative.


Decades of genome-wide mapping have shown that most genetic polymorphisms associated with complex traits are found in non-coding regions of the genome. Characterizing the effect of such genetic variation presents a formidable challenge, and eQTL mapping has been a key approach to understand the non-coding genome. However, comprehensive eQTL maps are available only for a few species like yeast and humans. With the aim of understanding the genetic landscape that regulates transcriptional variation in Drosophila melanogaster, we developed an outbred mapping panel in this species, the Drosophila Outbred Synthetic Panel (Dros-OSP). Using this community resource, we collected transcriptomic and genomic data for 1800 individual flies and were able to map cis and trans eQTLs for 98% of the genes expressed in D. melanogaster, increasing by thousands the number of genes for which regulatory loci are known in this species. We described, for the first time in the context of an outbred population, the properties of local and distal regulation of gene expression in terms of genetic diversity, heritability, connectivity, and pleiotropy. We uncovered that, contrary to long-standing assumptions, a significant part of gene co-expression networks is organized in a non-modular fashion. These results bring the fruit fly to the level of understanding that was only available for a few other organisms, and offer a new mapping resource that will expand the possibilities currently available to the Drosophila community. This data is available at Drosophilaeqtl.org.


BACKGROUND Mexican women in the United States (US) have higher rates of fertility compared to other ethnic groups and women in Mexico. Whether variation in women's access to family planning services or patterns of contraceptive use contributes to this higher fertility has received little attention. OBJECTIVE We explore Mexican women's contraceptive use, taking into account women's place in the reproductive life course. METHODS Using nationally representative samples from the US (National Survey of Family Growth) and Mexico (Encuesta National de la Dinámica Demográfica), we compared the parity-specific frequency of contraceptive use and fertility intentions for non-migrant women, foreign-born Mexicans in the US, US-born Mexicans, and whites. RESULTS Mexican women in the US were less likely to use IUDs and more likely to use hormonal contraception than women in Mexico. Female sterilization was the most common method among higher parity women in both the US and Mexico, however, foreign-born Mexicans were less likely to be sterilized, and the least likely to use any permanent contraceptive method. Although foreign-born Mexicans were slightly less likely to report that they did not want more children, differences in method use remained after controlling for women's fertility intentions. CONCLUSION At all parities, foreign-born Mexicans used less effective methods. These findings suggest that varying access to family planning services may contribute to variation in women's contraceptive use. COMMENTS Future studies are needed to clarify the extent to which disparities in fertility result from differences in contraceptive access.


The developments in health care lead to longer life expectancy in developed countries. The growth of the number of seniors put new challenges to health care services, caregivers and family members. One of the major challenges is how to prevent elderly people from falling down. Especially, if the person lives alone, falling can be quite dangerous for his / her health. Falling down can cause serious consequences like broken bones or lost consciousness for elderly people. Therefore, it is of key importance to be able to provide help as soon as possible, or, even try to prevent the incident. Combining video-based surveillance and computer vision techniques could bring us towards intelligent systems that could help to monitor the elderly and raise an alarm in case of unusual and dangerous events. The main question is how to automate fall detection using only video information (like camera network) with application in public health and health services (i.e., elderly houses, hospitals). Generally, when talking about video surveillance systems, there are some elements that would remain the same in every system irrespective of the application. These are: tracking, data association in context of camera network and post-processing based on extracted information (like activity recognition). So, this thesis addresses each of these questions and tries to find a generalized framework that could integrate all the methods in one system. One of the main criterion of the project was to avoid camera calibration that is, correspondence between views should be based on some confidence or probability function between camera views. Therefore, it was decided to adopt a Bayesian framework for multi-target multicamera tracking [1] that fulfills our requirements. When considering a single view from one camera, the system allows to represent each target as a set of samples (or particles) that have probabilistic measures (weights) proportional to the likelihood of the target being at that position. For multi-camera system, one needs to associate corresponding targets among camera views. Gale-Shapley algorithm for finding stable matching between two classes (in our case cameras) was modified for this purpose. For fall detection part, silhouetteand velocity-based set of features were extracted and passed through Support Vector Machine (SVM) to separate fall events from other activities. A set of test videos were recorded using two cameras to test stability of the tracking framework and the reliability of fall detection algorithm. The initial results are encouraging. Further integration of additional features may improve the performance of the system.


High performance computing (HPC) is widely used in science and engineering to solve large computation problems. With the development of HPC, the scale of the high performance computers is expanded rapidly. Many new technologies and methods are introduced to improve the performance in the designing of the processor nodes. In this paper, we investigate the multiple attribute decision making problems for evaluating the performance of the computer systems with uncertain linguistic variables. We utilize the uncertain linguistic choquet integral (ULCI) operator to aggregate the uncertain linguistic variables corresponding to each alternative and get the overall value of the alternatives, then rank the alternatives and select the most desirable one (s). Finally, an illustrative example is given.


In extrusion of aluminium alloys, using porthole dies, the billet metal is split into separate metal streams during flow into the ports. After that, the streams join by seam pressure welding in the weld chamber of the die and finally flow through the die exit emerging as the desired extrusion. Because of re-joining of the metal streams the extrusion will contain as many extrusion seam welds as there are bridges in the die. Dependent on the die design the metal will flow in such a way that a gas pocket may form behind the die bridge and remain stable here throughout the course of the extrusion process. If, at this stage of the process, the feed of metal into the region behind the bridge is increased the space behind the bridge may fill up completely and the gas pocket will disappear. In this work we have investigated how finite element modeling can be used (for a simple idealized case of 2-D extrusion welding) to understand the extrusion seam welding process, and to characterize what extrusion conditions will provide stable gas pocket formation behind a bridge, and when the pocket will disappear. The geometry of the welding chamber and the die opening was varied in a number of simulations to study this phenomenon using the FEM-code Deform 2D®. Based on these simulations we have been able to propose an "extrusion seam weld limit diagram (ESWLD)". The ESWLD shows when extrusion will occur with a gas pocket present behind the bridge and when there is transfer to a state where the pocket disappears and the die fills up completely with metal. By curve-fitting the results can be presented by a mathematical model, i.e. by an equation allowing the reduction in extrusion at the point of transfer from a state of presence of the pocket to a state of complete die filling, to be computed from the dimensions of the porthole and the weld chamber, for a given billet size and a given bridge geometry. The model also shows which geometrical extrusion parameters of the die will favor complete filling of the space behind a die bridge instead of gas pocket formation there.


The Gastropodsis the most members of the phylum Mollusca and is most prevalent of aquatic and terrestrial habitats. This research aims to identify the Gastropods found in the mangrove forest area of Kuala Baru River Estuary. The research was carried out from January to March 2016. The Gastropods collected included treefauna, epifauna and infauna. The Gastropods of treefauna and epifauna were collected using the square transect method and the Gastropodsof infauna using hand sorting method. There were 12 genera of Gastropods found belonging to 9 families i.e. Ellobiidae, Potamididae, Neritidae, Ampullariidae, Pomatiopsidae, Littorinidae, Strombidae, Nassariidae and Olividae. The Ellobiidae are the mostmembers that often found in the mangrove forest area of Kuala Baru River Estuary. There were only four genera of Gastropods which were found in more than one station i.e.the Cassidula as many as 167 individuals, Pythia 21 individuals, Cerithidea 19 individuals and Terebralia 209 individuals. The Gastropods most commonly found each station is epifauna.


Why do people raised in the same families often differ more dramatically in personality than those from different families? What made Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire uniquely suited to challenge the conventional wisdom of their times? This pioneering inquiry into the significance of birth order answers both these questions with a conceptional boldness that has made critics compare it with the work of Freud and of Darwin himself. During Frank Sulloway's 20-year-research, he combed through thousands of lives in politics, science and religion, demonstrating that first-born children are more likely to identify with authority whereas their younger siblings are predisposed to rise against it. Family dynamics, Sulloway concludes, is a primary engine of historical change. Elegantly written, masterfully researched, BORN TO REBEL is a grand achievement that has galvanised historians and social scientists and will fascinate anyone who has ever pondered the enigma of human character.


States defend norms in some cases but not in others. Understanding this variation sheds light on both U.S. foreign policy and the role of normative reasoning. We report the results of four experiments embedded in a survey of U.S. elites. The experiments identified the effects of felt normative obligation (that is, the logic of what is appropriate) and concern for U.S. economic and security interests (that is, the logic of utilitarian consequence) as well as the role played by individual perceptions. We find that perceptions of another actor's motivation, of conflicts as civil or cross-border wars, and of the democratic nature of victims affect decisions to defend a prescriptive norm. This finding means that theories of international relations that feature norms as structural concepts need to consider actor-level cognition when examining the operation of norms. Moreover, we find that when U.S. economic and security interests are at stake there is a much greater inclination to defend norms than when simply normative obligation is present. Most U.S. elites appear to treat the presence or absence of U.S. material interests as a legitimate criterion for deciding whether or not to defend an international prescriptive norm.


In the work, the findings of clinical, functional and angiographic investigations in patients with the "steal" syndrome are systematized. In 39 of the 152 patients with atherosclerosis of the vessels of the aortoiliofemoral segment, the two forms of the "steal" syndrome (external iliac and pelvic "steal") causing the arterial erectile impotence were revealed. For objectivization of the syndrome, a test of "coitus loading" on the muscles of the lower extremities was used.


The observation of a heteronuclear reverse energy pooling process is reported. The cross sections for the collision processes Rb(7D)+Na(3S)→Rb(5P)+Na(3P) have been measured. In the experiment the rubidium atoms were excited in two steps to the 7D(subscript 3/2) state. A double-modulation technique has been used to select the fluorescence contributions at the Na(3P(subscript j)) exit channels due only to the above reactions. The ground state sodium atom density was measured by the absorption of line from a Na hollow-cathode lamp. The measured density and fluorescence intensities have been used to obtain reverse energy pooling rate coefficients. The contribution to the rate coefficients from other processes is discussed.


Precipitation is a hopeful process for nanoparticle production due to rapid expedient, highly economic and uncomplicated. Barium sulphate nanoparticles were prepared through precipitation process via barium chloride and sodium sulphate as the reagents in water-benzene reaction medium. Eight different compositions of mixed solvents, including pure water, 20 vol. %, 30 vol. %, 50 vol. %, 70 vol. %, 80 vol. %, 90 vol. % and 95 vol. % of benzene were practiced. The effects of the volume percentage of benzene in the aqueous medium on the resultant barium sulphate nanoparticles were scrutinized. The products were characterized through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrum (EDX) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The synthesized nanoparticles are well dispersed and they exhibit an orthorhombic structure and spherical in morphology with an average size of 35.9 nm. From this we establish, water-benzene mixed solvent inhibits barium sulphate nucleation growth. Copyright © 2011 VBRI press.


The prediction of the rise speed of large buoyant bubbles is a fundamental fluid mechanics problem relevant to a number of applications ranging from carbon sequestration technology to chemical engineering or astrophysics. Single large bubbles typically have a spherical cap shape with bubbles of larger volume rising faster than the ones of smaller volume. However, except in well-controlled experiments, the released gas splits into a leading cap bubble, followed by a crown of satellite bubbles that can contain up to 50% of the total volume of gas. We find that in this case the satellite bubbles rearrange in a characteristic toroidal crown and the leading bubble takes a lenticular shape. The rise speeds of these multipart bubble systems and the ratios of the torus radii to the leading cap curvature radii are quite constant and predictable in the mean and are furthermore independent of the gas partitioning between the leading lenticular bubble and the crown of satellite bubbles. We also find that this multipart bubble system rises slightly faster than a single cap bubble with the same total injected volume of gas.


Hysterical neurological disturbances are encountered in 13% of neurological patients. The analysis of 150 hysteria cases and literature data provided the basis for positive diagnosis of hysterical neurological symptom. The principles involve the knowledge of typical hysteria manifestations, usage of special diagnostic tests and examination methods.


Four-week-old male Wister Rats were fed a diet containing 50% of fat up to the age of 9 weeks and 6 months, respectively. The control group received a diet with 3% of fat. The fat consisted of lard (1/3) and sunflower oil (2/3). Serum cholesterol was determined according to the standard method 1 of the DAB 7 (German Pharmacopoeia); liver cholesterol was estimated by the method of Naito and Lewis. As compared to the control animals, the 9-week-old rats on the high-fat diet showed serum cholesterol values (total, free and esterified cholesterol) which were significantly lower. There was no difference in serum cholesterol level between the 6-month-old rats on the high-fat diet and the control animals. In contrast to this, the liver cholesterol levels of the 9-week-old and the 6-month-old rats on the high-fat diet were significantly increased. In both age-groups the ratio of free cholesterol to esterified cholesterol was changed in favour of the esterified cholesterol. The present results confirm the findings reported in the literature, except for the unchanged serum cholesterol values observed by the authors in the long-time dietary experiment.


The aim of this work was to perform a review of the bibliographic data regarding the spreading of rickets, as well as of its associations with certain pathological conditions in broiler chickens that had been exposed to rickets. The literature suggests that the occurrence of subclinical and clinical rickets within broiler flocks are a possible prerequisite for a number of pathological conditions such as femoral head necrosis (FHN), osteomyelitis, fractures, tibial dyschondroplasia (TD), vertebral column deformations with clinical expressions indistinguishable from spondylolisthesis, chronic respiratory disease (CCRD), ascites syndrome and other conditions related to morbidity within flocks. The gross lesions in the proximal tibiotarsus can be used for differentiation of clinical hypocalcaemic and hypophosphataemic rickets in broiler chickens. Macroscopically, hypocalcaemic rickets are hardly distinguished from tibial dyschondroplasia because the latter condition may be a consequence of the former in its etiological aspect.


This paper addresses the role of dependency analysis in distributed management. The identification of dependencies becomes increasingly important in today's networked environments because applications and services rely on a variety of supporting services which might be outsourced to a service provider. However, service dependencies are not made explicit in today's systems, thus making the task of problem determination particularly difficult. Solving this problem requires the determination and computation of the dependencies between services and applications. A key contribution of the paper is a methodology for making IP-based services and applications manageable that have not been designed to include management instrumentation (which is the case today for almost every application and service). Unlike other approaches, it is not necessary to modify the application code. Instead our approach yields a technique that enumerates the characteristics and interdependencies of applications and services, thus permitting the derivation of appropriate management information.


A mixing strategy for assuring a homogeneous fluid flow inside wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a necessity, in order to keep continuous contacts of substrates and degraders. On the other hand, mixing is an energy-demanding process. Therefore, the power consumption for mixing the fluid flow within bioreactors affects the overall efficiency of WWTPs. The current study aims at evaluating the incorporation of biogas bubble creation on the mixing of WWTP tanks. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) enables simulating hydrodynamics of multiphase fluid flows injected with bubble parcels. The case is a cylindrical stirred tank, in which the fluid flow is agitated via a rotating mixer. Mixer rotates at various speeds; and for each case, the ultimate fluid flow is captured both with and without bubble creation. Non-Newtonian characteristics of the fluid flow within the tank are considered and k–ε turbulence closure is selected for the model. By a two-way coupling of an Eulerian-Lagrangian platform, velocity fields and the amount of dead volume are analyzed and discussed.
 Our key finding is that the biogas bubble creation contributes to the reduction of dead volume inside the WWTP tank, when there is no external rotating mixing, or once the amount of mixer rotation speed is low.


BACKGROUND
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), a tumor arising from calcitonin-secreting C cells, appears in either a sporadic nonfamilial or a hereditary form as a component of a multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome or familial non-multiple endocrine neoplasia MTC. Screening kindred of a patient with familial MTC to detect MTC in the early curable state is standard practice. Opinions conflict about whether it is necessary to screen relatives of patients with apparently nonfamilial MTC to exclude hereditary disease or whether the clinicopathologic features can differentiate between the two forms.

METHODS
Clinically well kindred of a patient with MTC that was histopathologically characteristic of the sporadic type were screened for hereditary disease by measurement of plasma levels of basal and stimulated calcitonin.

RESULTS
Three of four immediate relatives tested positive for excessive calcitonin secretion and underwent thyroidectomy. All had C-cell hyperplasia, the premalignant phase of MTC.

CONCLUSIONS
The patient with apparently sporadic (nonfamilial) MTC was clearly an index case of familial disease. We conclude that clinical presentation and histopathologic examination are not adequate to reliably exclude hereditary MTC. Until genetic markers are readily available to distinguish between sporadic and familial forms, biochemical screening should be done in primary relatives of all patients with newly detected MTC.


A commonly used strategy to impose deformability on conductive materials is the prestrain method, in which conductive materials are placed on prestretched elastic substrates and relaxed to create wavy or wrinkled structures. However, 1D metallic nanowire (NW) networks typically result in out‐of‐plane buckling defects and NW fractures, due to their rigid and brittle nature and nonuniform load transfer to specific points of NW. To resolve these problems, an alternative method is proposed to control the elastic modulus of 1D NW networks through contact with various solvents during compressive strain. Through solvent contact, the interface interactions between the NWs and between the NW and substrate can be controlled, and it is shown that the surface instability of the 1D random network is formed differently from a uniform bilayer film, which also can vary with the modulus of the network. For modulus values lower than the critical point, slippage and rearrangement of NW strands mainly occur and individual strands in the network show an in‐plane wavy configuration, which is ideal for structural stretchability. Based on the solvent‐assisted prestrain method, letter‐sized, large‐area stretchable, and transparent electrodes with high transparency and conductivity are achieved, and stretchable and transparent alternating current electroluminescent devices for stretchable display applications are also realized.


Today, the changing job performances and the desire of individuals to improve themselves have created the desire of people to quickly reach the content that is suitable for them. The use of suggestion systems designed to identify the needs of individuals and present the most appropriate content is considered as a solution method in this regard. The aim of this systematic study is to determine the trends in the field by making a comprehensive analysis about what kind of suggestions are given in the studies on the recommendation systems used and designed in the field of adult education, in which year the studies were conducted, the research method used, the filtering methods used and the algorithms used, and to identify the trends in this field to establish an up-to-date basis for new entrants. As a result of the review made in various databases, 113 studies were reached, and a systematic analysis of 75 studies that met the inclusion criteria was carried out. As a result of the review, it was seen that the most content suggestions were made, the most publications were made in 2020, the research method focused on determining the system performance and promoting, and a limited number of experimental studies were included. It has been determined that the most collaborative filtering method is used, and content-based and hybrid filtering methods are less preferred. It has been concluded that the K nearest neighbor algorithm is used much more than other algorithms, and besides this algorithm, artificial neural networks, support vector machines, decision trees and newly proposed algorithms by the researchers are also included. In line with the results obtained, investigations were made and suggestions were made for practice and research for future studies.


Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs are a class of medicine widely used throughout the world. This is a pharmacological group in continuous growth, to which some new molecules have been added in recent years. The great drawback of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs are their adverse effects, outstanding of which due to their frequency and importance being those that occur in the gastrointestinal tract. By means of a search in Medline and other databases, this work reviews the latest data published on the incidence of dyspepsia, gastroduodenal lesions, gastrointestinal complications and mortality associated with consumption of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs. Similarly, a brief description is made of the mechanism of lesions to the stomach of the non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and the different risk factors that condition the appearance of adverse effects at the gastrointestinal level. Finally, an analysis is made of the preventive strategy and the different medicines that can be used to this end and a contrast is made of the evidence extracted from the different published studies and the reality of the use of the different "gastroprotectors". This review concludes with a series of questions that still remain unresolved concerning treatment with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and their lesions to the stomach.


The design of products and processes has gradually shifted from a purely physical process towards a process that heavily relies on computer simulations (virtual prototyping). To optimize this virtual design process in terms of speed and final product quality, statistical methods and mathematical optimization techniques are widely used nowadays. The main contributions of this thesis are in two areas. The first is the area of gradient estimation for optimization problems for which a single simulation can be carried out quickly. For these optimization problems classical optimization methods can be used. The quality of the gradient estimations is important for the success of these methods. We propose and analyze different (new) gradient estimation schemes. The second is the area of optimization methods for optimization problems with time consuming simulation runs. We propose a new method based on local approximation functions and a new geometry and trust region concept. We discuss simulation-based optimization methods for integer valued problems, and conclude with an application in the design of heat sinks.


The transformation of acetate from the Reichstein substance "S" by the culture of Tieghemella orchidis was studied upon a single and fractional addition of the substrate. The effect of streptomycin sulphate, Tween-80, ethanol (steroid solvent) and steroid solution on the respiratory activity of the culture was investigated upon a single and fractional addition of the steroid. During transformation the respiratory activity of the culture decreased--by the end of the process (18-20 hours) it fell 2-2.5-fold upon a single addition of the steroid (1 g/l) and by 20% upon a fractional addition of the steroid (2 g/l). In the latter case the respiratory activity dropped step-by-step if the concentration of the steroid was 1.4-1.6 g/l; simultaneously the transformation activity declined.


Our discourse section (in Dutch) reflects something of the conversation that took place at a symposium on "Pasen als paradigmawisseling" (Easter as Paradigm Change) at the VU University, Amsterdam following the publication of Dirk-Martin Grube's book Ostern als Paradigmenwechsel. Eine wissenschaftstheoretische Untersuchung zur Entstehung des Urchristentums und deren Konsequenzen fur die Christologie (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 2012). After Grube's opening remarks about his book, the rest of this section presents responses by Peerbolte, Benjamins and Van den Brink, followed by Grube's brief reply to his interlocutors.


BACKGROUND
Throwing requires proper stability and orientation of the pelvis and scapula for efficient energy transfer during pitching. Fatigue of the pelvis and scapular musculature throughout the course of a game can impair pitching performance, and place excessive demands on the throwing arm leading to injury. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in pelvis, torso, and upper extremity pitching mechanics and muscle activations between the fastball, change-up, and curveball pitches in youth baseball pitchers following a simulated game.

METHODS
Fourteen youth baseball pitchers with no history of injury participated. Pitching mechanics were collected using an electromagnetic tracking system. Surface electromyography data were collected on the bilateral gluteus medius and maximus; and throwing arm side latissimus dorsi, lower trapezius, upper trapezius, and serratus anterior. Participants were instructed to throw maximum effort pitches during a simulated game that provided random game situations similar to those that occur in competition. Participants were limited to 85 pitches based on age-restricted pitch counts. Data from 3 fastballs, curveballs, and change-ups thrown in the first and last innings were selected for analysis.

RESULTS
Repeated measures multivariate analyses of variance revealed that neither pitch type nor the effect of a simulated game resulted in statistically significant changes in pitching mechanics (F(10,600)=0.55, P=0.85), or muscle activations (pelvic: F(4,195)=0.07, P=0.85; scapular: F(4,118)=0.09, P=0.52).

CONCLUSIONS
The principle findings of this study revealed that pitching to the age-restricted pitch count limit did not result in altered pitching mechanics or muscle activations, and no differences occurred between the 3 pitches. These results support previous research that indicate the curveball pitch is no more dangerous for youth than the other pitches commonly thrown. This is supported by the pitcher's ability to maintain a proper arm slot during all 3 pitches and indicates that they are obtaining the spin on the ball from their grip and not by altering upper extremity mechanics.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Level 5.


The present taxonomy of the black aspergilli reveals that there are 19 accepted taxa. However the identification of species of Aspergillus section Nigri is often problematic in spite of the existence of numerous methods proposed. An overview is provided of phenotypic and molecular methods to identify the accepted species of the black aspergilli. Colony morphology, conidial size and ornamentation of the ex type cultures is presented in a pictorial overview. The temperature range of all species is given and their growth characteristics on creatine agar and boscalid agar, a medium which was developed as a selective medium for the isolation of A. carbonarius are also shown. The extrolites produced by each species are listed while the response of the Ehrlich reaction is described. The literature on the various molecular methods to be used for species identification is reviewed and a critical evaluation of the usefulness of various techniques and genomic loci for species identification of black aspergilli is presented.


OBJECTIVE: To assess the status of medical education in end-of-life care and identify opportunities for improvement.DESIGN: Telephone survey.SETTING: U.S. academic medical centers.PARTICIPANTS: National probability sample of 1,455 students, 296 residents, and 287 faculty (response rates 62%, 56%, and 41%, respectively) affiliated with a random sample of 62 accredited U.S. medical schools.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Measurements assessed attitudes, quantity and quality of education, preparation to provide or teach care, and perceived value of care for dying patients. Ninety percent or more of respondents held positive views about physicians' responsibility and ability to help dying patients. However, fewer than 18% of students and residents received formal end-of-life care education, 39% of students reported being unprepared to address patients' fears, and nearly half felt unprepared to manage their feelings about patients' deaths or help bereaved families. More than 40% of residents felt unprepared to teach end-of-life care. More than 40% of respondents reported that dying patients were not considered good teaching cases, and that meeting psychosocial needs of dying patients was not considered a core competency. Forty-nine percent of students had told patients about the existence of a life-threatening illness, but only half received feedback from residents or attendings; nearly all residents had talked with patients about wishes for end-of-life care, and 33% received no feedback.CONCLUSIONS: Students and residents in the United States feel unprepared to provide, and faculty and residents unprepared to teach, many key components of good care for the dying. Current educational practices and institutional culture in U.S. medical schools do not support adequate end-of-life care, and attention to both curricular and cultural change are needed to improve end-of-life care education.


Engagement of the TCR (CD3-Ti) by Ag/MHC, CD3 mAb, or lectin mitogen stimulates the very early tyrosine phosphorylation of several cellular substrates including TCR-zeta. The T cell specific protein-tyrosine kinase (PTK), p56lck, has been implicated in the tyrosine phosphorylation of TCR-zeta. However, the significance of this event with regard to CD3-Ti signal transduction remains unclear. Herein, we have investigated the effect of the selective PTK inhibitor genistein (4',5,7-trihydroxyisoflavone) on cellular events associated with activation via CD3-Ti triggering. Genistein inhibited the T cell PTK, p56lck, in a dose-dependent fashion with an ID50 = 40 microM. Genistein also inhibited CD3 mAb or PHA-induced TCR-zeta chain phosphorylation in intact peripheral blood T cells. Genistein blocked the expression of IL-2 and IL-2R (CD25) in T cells stimulated with PHA/PMA or CD3 mAb/PMA, but did not inhibit the de novo expression of the CD69 early activation Ag, which is induced primarily by a PKC-dependent pathway. IL-2 and CD25 expression induced by calcium ionophore A23187 and PMA was largely refractory to inhibition by genistein, suggesting an effect of the drug on calcium-dependent pathways stimulated via CD3-Ti triggering. In this last regard, genistein partially inhibited the CD3 mAb-induced rise in [Ca2+]i but did not inhibit PHA- or CD3 mAb-induced phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis. Consequently, protein-tyrosine phosphorylation does not appear to be a prerequisite for CD3-Ti-mediated activation of phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C activity and PIP2 hydrolysis. An alternative role for PTK in CD3-Ti signal transduction is suggested.


Introduction Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) is a very common disease with potentially severe health and social consequences. Untreated OSAS is associated with increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, caused by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Sleepiness at the wheel is the cause of accident in 5 tot 7% of the cases. The overall risk of accidents for OSAS patients is elevated by a factor 2.4 to 3.7. OSAS is more common among commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers, due to obesitas for example. Methods We performed a literature review regarding the fitness to drive among CMV drivers with OSAS. Result CMV drivers are a high risk, underserved occupational group. Occupational demands and working conditions result in a sedentary lifestyle and irregular sleeping patterns, contributing to overweight and fatigue. Occupational risks and morbidities include e.g. hypertension, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Subjective EDS can be assessed by questionnaires (e.g. STOP-Bang, Berlin Questionnaire, Epworth Sleepiness Scale), unfortunately with reporting bias. Measurement of height and weight (body mass index), neck circumference and blood pressure during physical examination offers an opportunity to assess objective risk factors for OSAS without relying on the subjective report. Discussion OSAS is both underdiagnosed and undertreated. Identifying CMV drivers, with OSAS and treating them effectivily should decrease crash-related fatalities and injuries. There is a need for an active response from (occupational health) physicians, the sleep disorder specialists, the transport industry and the governments to create an effective OSAS screening among drivers and to accomplish patient compliance with the best treatment. An objective evaluation is expensive, time consuming and not applicable on a large scale. New tools are necessary to assess the fitness to drive. There is a lack of such tools, as well as practical guidelines, so there is no consensus on the driving ability of untreated and treated OSAS patients.


The study of the regulation and cellular dynamics of receptor kinase signaling in plants is a rapidly evolving field that promises to give enormous insights into the molecular control of signal perception. In this study, we have analyzed the behavior of the L1-specific receptor kinase ARABIDOPSIS CRINKLY4 (ACR4) from Arabidopsis thaliana in planta and have shown it to be present in two distinct compartments within cells. These represent protein export bodies and a population of internalized vesicles. In parallel, deletion analysis has shown that a predicted β-propeller–forming extracellular domain is necessary for ACR4 function. Nonfunctional ACR4 variants with deletions or point mutations in this domain behave differently to wild-type fusion protein in that they are not internalized to the same extent. In addition, in contrast with functional ACR4, which appears to be rapidly turned over, they are stabilized. Thus, for ACR4, internalization and turnover are linked and depend on functionality, suggesting that ACR4 signaling may be subject to damping down via internalization and degradation. The observed rapid turnover of ACR4 sets it apart from other recently studied plant receptor kinases. Finally, ACR4 kinase activity is not required for protein function, leading us to propose, by analogy to animal systems, that ACR4 may hetero-oligomerize with a kinase-active partner during signaling. Plant and animal receptor kinases have distinct evolutionary origins. However, with other recent work, our study suggests that there has been considerable convergent evolution between mechanisms used to regulate their activity.


Computer applications have been widely used to assist product design. The successes and sophistication of computer aided engineering (CAE) techniques are respectfully recognized in this field. CAE applications in the manufacturing area however are still developing, although the manufacturing community is increasingly starting to pay attentions to computer simulations in its daily workings. This paper will briefly introduce some of these applications and promote awareness of computer simulations in manufacturing area. It contains four main sections: finite element analysis (FEA) in machining fixture design, FEA applications in component assembly, machining process simulations and machining vibrations in the milling operation. Each section comes with a practical case study, potential benefits are identified and conclusions are presented by using an integrated design and analysis approach. It is hoped that implications of computer simulations would enhance product quality, shorten the product development cycle, and make the manufacturing processes more robust.


The social media, which is the product of new media technology, has incontrovertibly charted new frontiers for conventional journalists. Practitioners in most developed countries of the world now rely heavily on the social media to generate contents. Expectedly, the concept of collaborative journalism has emerged. Emphasis has shifted from mere social interactions among folks to more sophisticated collaboration. While there this is wide spread practice in the developed societies, available statistics indicate that journalists in Africa are still grasping to acquire the needed knowledge to utilize social media platforms. Thus, this study amongst other things is aimed at assessing the use of social media by journalists in Nigeria and how such usage affects the performance of their duties. The research design used was survey; purposive sampling technique was used in studying 399 registered journalists in South East Nigeria. The findings of this study indicated that Nigerian journalists do not make adequate use of the social media; social media enhance news gathering and dissemination; social media has remarkably affected the performance of journalists in Nigeria; social media has negative effect on journalists in Nigeria. The study recommends amongst others for the provision of adequate infrastructure and access; constant verification of the authenticity of stories through crowd sampling, financial support from both government and private sector and the adoption of necessary digital media skills by journalists to  reinvent the media and remain relevant in this digital age.