This study estimates a composite leading business cycle indicator for the Uruguayan economy following the methodology of The Conference Board. Prediction is based on the analysis of multiple series that have a leading relationship to the Industrial Production Index, which is used as the reference variable of the overall economic activity. Once selected, these series are aggregated into a single composite indicator. Our index covers a 20-year period (from 1994 to 2013). It includes variables covering diverse aspects of economic activity and reaches to advance the two turning points occurred in Uruguay during that period


Recent progress in atmospheric plasmas has led to the creation of cold plasmas with ion temperature close to room temperature. This paper outlines recent progress in understanding of cold plasma physics as well as application of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in cancer therapy. Varieties of novel plasma diagnostic techniques were developed recently in a quest to understand physics of CAP. It was established that the streamer head charge is about 108 electrons, the electrical field in the head vicinity is about 107 V/m, and the electron density of the streamer column is about 1019 m−3. Both in-vitro and in-vivo studies of CAP action on cancer were performed. It was shown that the cold plasma application selectively eradicates cancer cells in-vitro without damaging normal cells and significantly reduces tumor size in-vivo. Studies indicate that the mechanism of action of cold plasma on cancer cells is related to generation of reactive oxygen species with possible induction of the apoptosis pathway. It is also shown that the cancer cells are more susceptible to the effects of CAP because a greater percentage of cells are in the S phase of the cell cycle.


1. Ecologists are obtaining ever-increasing amounts of data concerning animal movement. A movement strategy that has been concluded for a broad variety of animals is that of Lévy flights, which are random walks whose step lengths come from probability distributions with heavy power-law tails. 2. The exponent that parameterizes the power-law tail, denoted micro, has repeatedly been found to be within the Lévy range of 1 < micro <or= 3. Here, we use Monte Carlo simulations to show that the methods used to infer the value of micro are inaccurate. 3. The widely used method of simply logarithmically transforming a standard histogram of movement lengths has been shown elsewhere to be problematic. Here, we further demonstrate how poor it is, and show that it actually biases estimates of micro towards the Lévy range of 1 < micro <or= 3, and can bias estimates towards the value of micro = 2. Thus, previous reports of animals undergoing Lévy flights, or of micro being close to the reported optimal value of micro = 2, may simply be a consequence of the bias generated by this method. 4. A technique that has been recently recommended is to logarithmically bin the data and then normalize the resulting histogram. We show that this technique also produces biased results, and suffers from similar problems as those just outlined, although to a lesser extent. 5. The proposed solution is to use likelihood. We find that calculating the maximum likelihood estimate of micro gives the most accurate results (having also tested the rank/frequency method). Likelihood has the further advantages of being the easiest method to implement, and of yielding accurate confidence intervals. Results are applicable to power-law distributions in general, and so are not restricted to inference of Lévy flights. 6. We also re-analyse a data set of grey seal movements that was originally reported to demonstrate Lévy flight behaviour. Using Akaike weights, we test four models, and find no evidence for Lévy flights. Overall, our results suggest that Lévy flights might not be as common as previously thought.


I. INTRODUCTION "Should we force science down the throats of those who have no taste for it? Is it our duty to drag them kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century? I am afraid that it is."(1) In many ways, we are in the midst of a communications revolution. The past decade has seen communications technologies advance by leaps and bounds. Advanced satellite technology and the Internet are only two examples of the technologies that increasingly make our world smaller by facilitating seamless and inexpensive worldwide communications. Long gone is the era that recognized the Pony Express as a significant communications breakthrough. For example, the many facets of the emerging "information superhighway" now connect people beyond their wildest expectations, facilitating human relationships that would not have existed otherwise. Paralleling the riders of the information superhighway are an ever growing number of wireless communication users, who increasingly rely on services such as cellular phones. Wireless communication service is a technological sub-category facilitating the exchange of information, coupling the massive information exchange conducted over the internet. Anyone living in the United States as the millenium closes must recognize the widespread reliance on, and use of, wireless telephones. Wireless phones have made their way into virtually every conceivable daily routine. Consider the number of sidewalk strollers gabbing away, backseat business deals, stranded motorists saved, teenagers' social arrangements -- all conducted over wireless telephones. These common sights indicate growing passion for and social dependence on wireless telephone services and the associated benefits of immediate communication. However, as wireless service providers work to meet the ever-growing user demand, they struggle to develop the facilities needed to meet that demand. Specifically, wireless service providers require signal transmission facilities, normally housed on constructed towers. As the total number of subscribers increases, so must the number of strategically located towers. Construction of these towers has generated heated disputes as wireless service providers, seeking optimal locations for these facilities, frequently encounter opposition from local residents. This Note examines various aspects of these disputes. Congress attempted to address the rising tide of disputes between wireless service providers and local authorities by enacting the Mobile Services provision of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("the Act").(2) In part, the Act calls for the deregulation of the wireless industry in order to facilitate the rapid expansion of its services through increased competition.(3) Although the Act specifically provides guidance for the siting of wireless facilities, disputes between providers and local authorities continue. In the wake of the Act, federal and state courts have attempted to resolve these disputes as they relate to siting issues and congressionally mandated deregulation.(4) In large part, courts recognize the spirit of deregulation imposed by the Act, while recognizing that the Act simultaneously provides for the preservation of local authority. The New Jersey Supreme Court had the opportunity to consider several siting disputes in the summers of 1998 and 1999.(5) The court resolved these disputes according to the mandates of the Act and New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law.(6) In this context, the court produced a series of decisions that preserve the rights of local authorities to control land use matters, while simultaneously heeding the deregulatory call of the Act. This Note focuses on these growing disputes and how courts, specifically the New Jersey Supreme Court, are addressing them. Part II of the Note describes the emergence of the wireless communication industry and the types of disputes it has generated. …


Recent developments in wireless sensors, communication and information network technologies have created a new era of the internet of things (IoT). To achieve the real-time data capturing from shop-floor front lines and the seamless dual-way connectivity and interoperability among enterprise layer, workshop floor layer and machine layer, a framework of the internet of manufacturing things (IoMT) is presented, which provides a new paradigm by extending the IoT to manufacturing field. Under this IoMT framework, the key enabling technologies such as configuration of sensor networks, sensing and capturing of manufacturing data, data processing and applications services etc. are designed and analyzed. The proposed IoMT framework and its key technologies will facilitate the real-time information driven optimum control and the operation efficiency during manufacturing execution process management.


A research program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) which deals with the development and application of processes for the treatment of geothermal brines and sludges has led to the identification and design of cost-efficient and environmentally friendly treatment methodology. Initially the primary goal of the processing was to convert geothermal wastes into disposable materials whose chemical composition would satisfy environmental regulations. An expansion of the R&D effort allowed to identify a combination of biochemical and chemical processes which became a basis for the development of a technology for the treatment of geothermal brines and sludges. The new technology satisfies environmental regulatory requirements and concurrently converts the geothermal brines and sludges into commercially promising products. Because the chemical composition of geothermal wastes depends on the type of the resource and therefore differs, the emerging technology has to be also flexible so that it can be readily modified to suit the needs of a particular type of resource. Recent conceptional designs for the processing of hypersaline and low salinity brines and sludges will be discussed.


Abstract Recent political rhetoric both in the U.S. and abroad has drawn renewed attention to racial and ethnic conflict, state power, and punishment. The salience of minority group conflict on incarceration is well established in theory and research in the U.S. This study explores whether racial/ethnic composition explains incarceration rates throughout the world, rather than being a peculiarity of the U.S. It also evaluates the functional form of these relationships. Analysis of up to 132 nations indicates that incarceration rates are significantly associated with ethnic diversity and ethnic polarization. The lowest incarceration rates are observed in countries with substantial homogeneity or substantial diversity. Incarceration rates are highest in countries with moderate diversity but high polarization—where a sizable minority population is present, approaching parity with a majority group. Minority group conflict may be a troublesome contributor to punishment throughout the world and is not a uniquely American phenomenon.


From historian James Reston comes a riveting account of the pivotal events of 1492, a year that changed the world for ever. Set against the fury and strife that arose from the cinders of medieval Europe, "Dogs of God" chronicles one of the most savage epochs in human history. In an effort to consolidate their powers on the Iberian Peninsula and free themselves from the yoke of the Vatican, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella turned to the priest Tomas de Torquemada, who argued that an Inquisition would strengthen the sovereigns' authority throughout Spain, particularly in the coming campaign against the Moors of Granada. When Granada Fell, tens of thousands of Muslims were given the choice of converting to Christianity or facing death or banishment. Torquemada then turned his ferocity on Spain's Jews, forcing upon them the same grim choice...Reston's compelling narrative brings all of the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition into a terrifyingly brutal focus. But, Reston looks beyond the dark deeds of 1492 as well, capturing the excitement of exploration and promise of the future that were born in the same year as Ferdinand and Isabella turned their eyes toward the creation of a modern empire - and a young sea captain named Christopher Columbus.


The MIMO technology utilizes different antennas at each terminal of a wireless link and greatly improves the link reliability and spectral efficiency of future wireless communication systems. This technology integrated with Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which is particularly proving a propitious entrant for upcoming next generation wireless systems including both mobile and fixed systems. It provides an attractive air-interface solution for next-generation wireless/cellular systems. In this paper Waterfilling algorithm has been used to optimize transmit power for maximizing the capacity. The Waterfilling algorithm successfully solved the problem of power allocation for MIMO-OFDM wireless network and adaptively allocate power to minimize BER performance and increasing the capacity in order to maintain the QoS requirements for a network. The proposed work is investigated by using Matlab tool.


2-tuple fuzzy linguistic model can be applied to eliminate vagueness/uncertainty in information. It also helps to deal with non-homogeneous information that occurs during group decision making (GDM) processes. GDM is generally applied to diminish the bias during the decision phase and to reduce the subjectivity of the decision process. Thus, this paper proposes an integrated GDM technique based on 2-tuple linguistic model, quality function deployment (QFD) and the Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method. This proposed framework is then applied to a green warehouse selection problem. The originality of this paper comes from its combination of these two methodologies together for the first time in literature in this specific field. The application area indicates its suitability for the proposed methodology.


A thread executing on a simultaneous multithreading (SMT) processor that experiences a long-latency load will eventually stall while holding execution resources. Existing long-latency load aware SMT fetch policies limit the amount of resources allocated by a stalled thread by identifying long-latency loads and preventing the thread from fetching more instructions—and in some implementations, instructions beyond the long-latency load are flushed to release allocated resources.
 This article proposes an SMT fetch policy that takes into account the available memory-level parallelism (MLP) in a thread. The key idea proposed in this article is that in case of an isolated long-latency load (i.e., there is no MLP), the thread should be prevented from allocating additional resources. However, in case multiple independent long-latency loads overlap (i.e., there is MLP), the thread should allocate as many resources as needed in order to fully expose the available MLP. MLP-aware fetch policies achieve better performance for MLP-intensive threads on SMT processors, leading to higher overall system throughput and shorter average turnaround time than previously proposed fetch policies.


We study the problem of online multi-task learning where the tasks are performed within similar but not necessarily identical multi-armed bandit environments. In particular, we study how a learner can improve its overall performance across multiple related tasks through robust transfer of knowledge. While an upper confidence bound (UCB)-based algorithm has recently been shown to achieve nearly-optimal performance guarantees in a setting where all tasks are solved concurrently, it remains unclear whether Thompson sampling (TS) algorithms, which have superior empirical performance in general, share similar theoretical properties. In this work, we present a TS-type algorithm for a more general online multi-task learning protocol, which extends the concurrent setting. We provide its frequentist analysis and prove that it is also nearly-optimal using a novel concentration inequality for multi-task data aggregation at random stopping times. Finally, we evaluate the algorithm on synthetic data and show that the TS-type algorithm enjoys superior empirical performance in comparison with the UCB-based algorithm and a baseline algorithm that performs TS for each individual task without transfer.


Background There are limited data on physical activity in relation to trajectories in cognitive function. The aim was to examine the association of physical activity with trajectories in cognitive function, measured from repeated assessments over 10 years. Methods We conducted a 10-year follow-up of 10 652 (aged 65±10.1 years) men and women from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a cohort of community dwelling older adults. Self-reported physical activity was assessed at baseline and neuropsychological tests of memory and executive function were administered at regular 2-year intervals. Data from six repeated measurements of memory over 10 years and five repeated measurements of executive function over 8 years were used. Results The multivariable models revealed relatively small baseline differences in cognitive function by physical activity status in both men and women. Over the 10-year follow-up, physically inactive women experienced a greater decline in their memory (−0.20 recalled words, 95% CI −0.29 to −0.11, per study wave) and in executive function ability (−0.33 named animals; −0.54 to −0.13, per study wave) in comparison with the vigorously active reference group. In men, there were no differences in memory (−0.08 recalled words, 95% CI −0.18 to 0.01, per study wave), but small differences in executive function (−0.23 named animals; −0.46 to −0.01, per study wave) between inactive and vigorously active. Conclusion Physical activity was associated with preservation of memory and executive function over 10 years follow-up. The results were, however, more pronounced in women.


Leaf blight caused by Alternaria dauci is the most damaging foliar disease on carrots, impeding the mechanic harvest. Fungicides remain the most effective way to control this disease. However, those molecules are expensive, affect environment and could be insufficient. Only partially resistant cultivars are known and marketed but their resistance levels are not sufficient yet, and plant quantitative pathogen resistance mechanisms are poorly characterized. We chose to investigate such mechanisms in the Alternaria dauci – carrot interaction. Previously, several converging experimental results were obtained, showing that fungal toxins take a central place in this interaction (1). toxicity tests performed on carrot cells revealed that only the organic phase of A.dauci exudates is toxic (1). Moreover, a correlation between carrot plant resistance to A. dauci and carrot cells resistance to fungal exudates was found. These results incited us to identify and characterize A.dauci toxin(s) involved in pathogenicity, to decipher their biosynthesis pathway(s) and their regulations. Using HPLC profiles of organic phase exudates from different fungal strains, we uncovered a great variation in toxins production between fungal strains. Furthermore, a new correlation, between aggressiveness of these stains and some fungal exudate's molecules quantities was found, suggesting that toxins production plays a major role in the A.dauci – carrot interaction. We performed extraction and purification of one of the candidate molecules. A toxicity test of this molecule has been achieved with a new protocol of survival quantification. The next step in this project will be the definition of the chemical structure of the candidate molecule and the elucidation of its biosynthesis pathway. To this end, the A.dauci transcriptome data will be used to select genes possibly involved in its biosynthesis pathway.


Graspin, ESPRIT Project 125, which seeks to realize the benefits of integrated development environments for the analysis and design phases. The Graspin development environment uses a flexible internal representation to support textual and graphical languages. Its second-generation CASE (computer-aided software engineering) tools speed analysis and design. The descriptions covers Graspin's tools, architecture, kernel system, and graphical languages and the formalisms it supports. >


High pressure torsion (HPT) is an efficient technique of producing ultrafine grained materials with exceptional small grain size. In this study, a crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) model has been developed to investigate the plastic deformation behavior of pure aluminum single crystal during the HPT process. The simulation results show that, the distribution and evolution of the macroscopic plastic strain and the accumulative shear strain are similar. The value increases with the increase of the distance from the center as well as the number of revolution. The simulation is capable of reflecting the anisotropic characteristics of HPT deformation, a non-homogenous deformation along the circumference of the sample could be observed. At the early stage of HPT deformation, the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) along the radial direction presents a rapid increase, followed by a moderate increase and then reaches the near-saturate state. As the HPT deformation proceeds, there is a relatively weak increase in the quasi-saturate value and the near-steady region expands gradually towards the sample center. The orientation changes during the HPT process with increasing applied strain predicted by the developed CPFEM model are also presented.


For five weeks, Michael "Mac" Ling had been at the Lexington, Virginia, plant of Darden Motor Works (DMW), interviewing production supervisors, quality experts, maintenance supervisors, and repair personnel. He was investigating a puzzling problem: how dirt was infiltrating the paint on trucks assembled at the facility--and how to stop it. Small particles were causing a big, and expensive, problem. Nearly one out of three trucks had to be reworked owing to dirty paint, at a cost of a few dollars to a few hundred dollars per vehicle. The student must develop some hypotheses regarding the causes of the problems. This case should be used with "Michael 'Mac' Ling" (UVA-OM-1208).


Energy constitutes an indispensable catalyst for sustainable socio-economic development. The imperative of energy security is highlighted by the pervasive energy poverty that characterizes developing countries, especially Nigeria. Despite being a major oil producer and having four refineries, Nigeria imports 90 percent of its domestically needed refined petroleum products. Similarly, Nigeria requires about 98,000 megawatts (MW) to achieve national electricity security. However, its thermal and hydropower stations have a combined installed capacity of only 12,522MW but generate between 3,000MW and 4,000MW and sometimes less than 3,000MW. The electricity challenge is deepened by fluctuations. The implications of this suboptimal power generation include: only 40 percent of Nigeria's 193 million population have access to electricity, erratic nature of electricity supply and the long hours of power outages. Thus, Nigeria can be categorized as an energy poor country. The major goal of this paper is to assess the link between energy poverty and environmental sustainability given that households must take alternative steps to bridge energy gaps that impact them. It further evaluates the opportunities and barriers to energy security and holds that the untapped potentials, especially among renewable energy resources, hold the key to sustainable energy development to tackle energy poverty in Nigeria.


We present a complete classification of all minimal problems for generic arrangements of points and lines completely observed by calibrated perspective cameras. We show that there are only 30 minimal problems in total, no problems exist for more than 6 cameras, for more than 5 points, and for more than 6 lines. We present a sequence of tests for detecting minimality starting with counting degrees of freedom and ending with full symbolic and numeric verification of representative examples. For all minimal problems discovered, we present their algebraic degrees, i.e. the number of solutions, which measure their intrinsic difficulty. It shows how exactly the difficulty of problems grows with the number of views. Importantly, several new mini- mal problems have small degrees that might be practical in image matching and 3D reconstruction.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a worldwide problem causing prolonged and progressive morbidity as well as premature mortality. Pharmacologic treatment consists primarily in the relief of symptoms and preventing or minimizing the consequences of exacerbations. Central to the pharmacologic management of COPD is the use of bronchodilator therapy. Two major classes of agents are frequently used: β-adrenoceptor agonists and antimuscarinic agents. These drugs are used mainly in the inhalational form, primarily as rescue medication, but occasionally for maintenance in combination therapy. The availability of "ultra-long"-acting β-adrenoceptor agonists and long-acting antimuscarinic agents opens the way for combinations of these agents to be used in maintenance therapy. Such a combination offers the potential of enhanced efficacy due to additive effects and better compliance as the result of once-daily treatment. This article reviews the rationale for current bronchodilator therapy of COPD as well as the current status of a fixed-dose combined inhaler using two novel long-acting agents: glycopyrronium bromide and indacaterol maleate.


This paper looks at the research proceedings at EMS (Electronmusikstudion) in Stockholm during the end of the 1960s, under the leadership of Knut Wiggen, and studies his interactions with Pierre Schaeffer in order to establish a new compositional technique for electroacoustic music. The first part deals with the examination of their research method of proposing a sort of compositional and technical program that led the main scientific and creative directions of GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) and EMS. The second part attempts to demonstrate how Wiggen intended to make operational Schaeffer's sound description system by means of his hybrid studio apparatus. Lastly, the study focuses on how Wiggen's project differed from the Schaefferian model as well as from GRM after the installation of a computer-controlled studio in 1970 with the development of Musicbox and EMS-1 programs. Hence, this investigation allows us to observe the evolution of technology at EMS in relation to GRM as well as to contrast those developments with Schaeffer's and Wiggen's purposes.The historical background of the technical equipment is aimed mainly at musicians and musicologists. It points out the operational features of the apparatus that are useful for an in-depth understanding of composition technique based on Schaeffer's and Wiggen's approaches.


Glucan particles (GPs) are 2–4 μm hollow, porous shells composed of 1,3-β-D-glucan that have been effectively used for oral targeted–delivery of a wide range of payloads, including small molecules, siRNA, DNA, and protein antigens. While it has been demonstrated that the transepithelial transport of GPs is mediated by Peyer's patch M cells, the fate of the GPs once within gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) is not known. Here we report that fluorescently labeled GPs administered to mice by gavage accumulate in CD11c+ DCs situated in Peyer's patch sub-epithelial dome (SED) regions. GPs appeared in DCs within minutes after gavage and remained within the SED for days afterwards. The co-administration or sequential administration of GPs with differentially labeled GPs or poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles demonstrated that the SED DC subpopulation in question was capable of internalizing particles of different sizes and material compositions. Phenotypic analysis identified the GP-containing DCs as being CD8α- and CD11blo/-, suggesting they are the so-called myeloid and/or double negative (DN) subset(s) of PP DCs. A survey of C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) known to be expressed by leukocytes within the intestinal mucosa revealed that GP-containing SED DCs were positive for Langerin (CD207), a CLR with specificity for β-D-glucan and that has been shown to mediate the internalization of a wide range of microbial pathogens, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. The presence of Langerin+ DCs in the SED as determined by immunofluorescence was confirmed using Langerin E-GFP transgenic mice. In summary, our results demonstrate that following M cell-mediated transepithelial transport, GPs (and other micro/nanoparticles) are sampled by a population of SED DCs distinguished from other Peyer's patch DC subsets by their expression of Langerin. Future studies will be aimed at defining the role of Langerin in antigen sampling and antigen presentation within the context of the GALT.


This volume summarizes the results of recent research on the Ontong Java Plateau (OJP) in the western Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1). The plateau is the most voluminous of the world's large igneous provinces (LIPs) and represents by far the largest known magmatic event on Earth. LIPs are formed through eruptions of basaltic magma on a scale not seen on Earth at the present time (e.g. Coffin & Eldholm 1994; Mahoney & Coffin 1997). Continental flood basalt provinces are the most obvious manifestation of LIP magmatism, but they have oceanic counterparts in volcanic rifted margins and giant submarine ocean plateaus. LIPs have also been identified on the Moon, Mars and Venus, and may represent the dominant form of volcanism in the solar system (Head & Coffin 1997). The high magma production rates (i.e. large eruption volume and high eruption frequency) involved in LIP magmatism cannot be accounted for by normal plate tectonic processes. Anomalously hot mantle often appears to be required, and this requirement has been a key consideration in the formulation of the currently favoured plume-head hypothesis in which LIPs are formed through rapid decompression and melting in the head of a newly ascended mantle plume (e.g. Richards et al. 1989; Campbell & Griffiths 1990). Eruption of enormous volumes of basaltic magma over short time intervals, especially in the subaerial environment, may have had significant effects on climate and the biosphere, and LIP formation has been proposed as one of the causes of mass extinctions (e.g. Wignall 2001). Several issues


Introduction In the Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) concept subdural bleeding is attributed to tearing of bridging veins at the Dural/Sagital Sinus junction resulting, from excessive tension during shaking of the infant by the carer. The brain is assumed to rotate within the skull, stretching these veins until they get pulled out of their attachments. The critical region where relative skull/brain movement would take place is across the subarachnoid space. This present study was to establish the mechanical factors involved. The Hypothesis The basis of the Shaken Baby Syndrome concept is that intracranial bleeds arise from relative movement of brain and skull during shaking. No mention is made of the "cob-web" of fine sheets and columns in the subarachnoid space stitching the arachnoid and pia maters together in a manner that would severely limit that movement. Without consideration of this factor the SBS concept is invalid. Evaluation of Hypothesis It was found that the classic model of the brain floating in cerebrospinal fluid, located by the bridging veins was incorrect. The apparently empty space is actually filled with a cobweb of collagen reinforced "Trabeculae" which are too thin to register on ultrasound or MRI machines. It is these trabeculae that locate the brain within the cerebrospinal fluid. The bridging veins are also supported in this cobweb. Moreover, the viscous effects of this combination of fluid and hundreds of trabeculae appears to provide a hydro-mechanical shock absorber system. Conclusion The present SBS hypothesis does not even mention the trabecular structure. The trabecular network in the subarachnoid space appears to have evolved to counter precisely the brain/skull movement that the SBS concept depends on. Until that effect is evaluated the SBS concept must be considered invalid.


Most of the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) within the bone marrow (BM) show quiescent state with a low mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ m ). In contrast, upon stress hematopoiesis, HSCs actively start to divide. However, the underlying mechanism for the initiation of HSC division still remains unclear. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the transition of cell cycle state in HSCs, we analyzed the change of mitochondria in HSCs after BM suppression induced by 5-fluoruracil (5-FU). We found that HSCs initiate cell division after exhibiting enhanced ΔΨ m as a result of increased intracellular Ca 2+ level. Although further activation of Ca 2+ –mitochondria pathway led to loss of HSCs after cell division, the appropriate suppression of intracellular Ca 2+ level by exogenous adenosine or Nifedipine, a Ca 2+ channel blocker, prolonged cell division interval in HSCs, and simultaneously achieved both cell division and HSC maintenance. Collectively, our results indicate that the Ca 2+ – mitochondria pathway induces HSC division critically to determine HSC cell fate.


Guided by the results of a preliminary analysis on the effects of the pandemic on international markets, possible and foreseeable future scenarios have been imagined and investigated. With a special focus on Italy and Japan, we will analyse the innovative trends in the world of food that will guide future changes and developments, highlighting new approaches to consumption, the challenges to be faced in the new normal and the opportunities to be seized, under the perspective of the online approach. The objective of this speech is to investigate the evolution of the food experience for Made in Italy and Japanese products, identifying affinities and possible synergies between food and cultural styles, sharing points of reflection for strategic business development.


Contemporary education research identifies the quality of the teacher as a major determinant in the pace of achievement of the learners. In seeking to understand teacher quality, this study investigates teacher cognition. The premise is: how a teacher thinks during the planning phase of the lesson is paramount in establishing the level of expertise in facilitating learning. However, when presented with a lesson focus, teachers with different levels of expertise demonstrate different thought patterns. The key question is: how do expert teachers think? To attain expert performance, it is vital to capture how experts think. With English being
one of the core subjects of the secondary curriculum, and also the language of instruction, it is imperative to focus on Secondary English teachers as the main articipants in this study. The Dreyfus model of expertise has been used to identify and group participants for this
study. The focus is to capture the thought processes involved during the lesson planning phase and to study the patterns generated. An in-depth study of the different groups of participants, using multiple data collection methods and data analysis procedures, situates
this study within multimethod research. The interpretive framework facilitates an intrinsic understanding of each group; as well as, identification and analysis of patterns across the different groups. Patterns of teacher cognition therefore become 'overt'. The identification
of patterns at different levels of expertise makes the continuum of expertise in secondary English teaching explicit. Progression on this expertise continuum becomes more 'attainable' as the characteristics of each level of expertise are identified. With the establishment of
cognition, inherent cognitive processes and their interplay have been captured; revealing the mind of the teacher, during lesson planning, as intricate and evidence of the complexity of teaching.


The topic of the American Civil War is one that has long been studied by historians. This thesis looks to the often forgotten home front and explores the dynamic changes the elite women of the Lower South faced from the antebellum to the post bellum era. Through the exploration of diaries, journals, memoirs, and newspapers from the mid to late nineteenth century, the changing roles and responsibilities of the elite women during this time period are further explored. The stories of the elite women add to the overall history of the nineteenth century Lower South and allow the reader to understand these women through a different lens. While considered wealthy and unaffected by the Civil War, the primary accounts of these women illustrate just how much their lives were changed because of the war and how they continued to change once the war was over. INDEX WORDS: American Civil War, Nineteenth century, Elite Southern women, Women, Ladies Memorial Association, Women's work THE CHANGING ROLE OF ELITE SOUTHERN WOMEN IN THE LOWER SOUTH


Car ownership is growing in cities. This is leading to more congestion and environmental damage. To attract motorists from their cars it is necessary to improve the quality of public transport. In many cities this means building new systems. A variety of technologies are available, so decisions must be made to determine which is the most appropriate for a particular city. It is argued that the building of new transport systems can increase patronage and that cities in continental Europe have a much more positive approach to public transport than cities in Britain. There is scope for the transfer of knowledge about such systems from countries such as France and Germany to cities in Britain. As part of this process it is important to consider how decisions about the type of transport technology have been made. The methodology for the use of expert systems, a form of artificial intelligence, is described. The methodology is used to encapsulate the knowledge of experts in cities in continental Europe and to transfer it to cities in Britain, where decisions are being made about the type of public transport technology that should be adopted.


ACAF was involved in curating Manifesta 8, European Biennial of Contemporary Art that recently closed its doors to the public. Manifesta is an itinerate biennale taking place every two years in a different European host region/city. In 2010 it was hosted by Murcia and Cartagena in Eastern Spain it was curated by three different curatorial collectives, each of them developing a project as an autonomous curatorial contribution. The collectives were ACAF - Alexandria Contemporary Arts Forum, CPS - Chamber of Public Secrets and tranzit.org. The ACAF curatorial team for Manifesta 8 was made up of Bassam El Baroni (artistic director, ACAF) and Jeremy Beaudry (associate curator of ACAF's Manifesta 8 project and a practicing artist and university professor based in Philadelphia, USA). Their curatorial assistant was Yolanda Riquelme Garcia a young curator from Murcia.

For Manifesta 8, ACAF raised the question 'How can any art project genuinely touch on the sophisticated and haphazard web of life's complexity?' In response, they proposed OVERSCORE, a multifaceted project held together by the logic of a specially devised, theoretical interface called The Theory of Applied Enigmatics. Here, the term 'Enigmatics' refers to ideas and proposals which appear or resonate from a confrontation with complexity.

An overscore is a line drawn through words. It partially erases them but also shows an ongoing process of editing; it reveals and obscures the past, while establishing links with what emerges in the present and future. Similarly, The Theory of Applied Enigmatics both highlights and seeks to revise the accepted institutional blueprints - those sometimes idealistic and often subconscious models - which are used to simplify complex issues concerning life, people, places, events, history and culture within artistic practice today. It also acts as the mechanism connecting the intellectual input of a diverse array of artists and contributors. The theory offers itself to the visitor as a key with which s/he can unlock the underlying frameworks of history, culture and politics existing in, and between, the artists' works.

OVERSCORE was a project held together by the logic that The Theory of Applied Enigmatics outlined and oversaw, one project with four components, spread across three venues. OVERSCORE featured works and contributions by 37 artists and collaborators, the exhibition component alone presented newly-commissioned and existing works by 27 artists and collectives.

Manifesta 8 Flashback is an exhibition that presents 5 video works that were part of OVERSCORE at Manifesta 8, the works are by Michael Paul Britto, Common Culture, Melanie Gilligan, Nastio Mosquito, and Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz. In the same context Bassam El Baroni will deliver a long presentation about OVERSCORE and ACAF's curatorial approach to Manifesta 8.


Abstract In yttrian fluorite from pegmatites of the Tysfjord granite, Norway, grayish-green to very pale green gatelite-like crystals occur along with millimeter-size aggregates of Y-silicates as a late primary phase; they are associated with allanite-(Ce), bastnäsite-(Ce), and intimately inter- or overgrown by törnebohmite-(Ce). Sub- to euhedral crystals, up to 400 μm in size, are chemically zoned between two near-end-member compositions that imply the existence of two new members of the polysomatic gatelite group, in which ET polysomes are composed of E modules with epidote-type structure alternating with T modules of törnebohmite-type structure. The two new minerals form a continuous solid-solution series, along which two crystals of intermediate compositions served for species definition. Their electron-microprobe analyses yield the empirical formulas (Ca1.00Mn0.03Na0.08La0.51Ce1.30Pr0.16Nd0.62Sm0.10Gd0.06Dy0.03Er0.01Y0.06Th0.01)Σ3.97 (Al3.21Fe2+0.79)Σ4.00Si5.01O20(OH)2 for perbøeite-(Ce) [IMA 2011-55] and (Ca1.10Mn0.03Na0.20La0.42Ce1.14Pr0.16Nd0.60Sm0.13Gd0.07Dy0.03Er0.01Yb0.01Y0.12Th0.02)Σ4.04 (Al3.54Fe2+0.40Mg0.02)Σ3.96Si4.99O20(OH)2 for alnaperbøeite-(Ce) [IMA 2012-54]. The respective end-member formulas are A(Ce3Ca)M(Al3Fe2+)Si2O7(SiO4)3O(OH)2, which requires Ce2O3 45.10, CaO 5.14, FeO 6.58, Al2O3 14.01, SiO2 27.52, H2O 1.65, total 100.00 wt%; and A(Ce2.5CaNa0.5)M(Al4)Si2O7(SiO4)3O(OH)2, which requires Ce2O3 40.86, CaO 5.58, Na2O 1.54, Al2O3 20.31, SiO2 29.92, H2O 1.79, total 100.00 wt%. Cell parameters of perbøeite-(Ce) and alnaperbøeite-(Ce) for these crystals are a = 8.9277(6) and 8.9110(4), b = 5.6548(6) and 5.6866(2), c = 17.587(1) and 17.5252(7) Å, β = 116.475(8) and 116.300(5)°, V = 794.8(1) and 796.13(7) Å3, respectively. Members of the perbøeite-(Ce)-alnaperbøeite- (Ce) solid solution are topologically identical to the minerals gatelite-(Ce) and västmanlandite-(Ce). Structural data (space group P21/m) were obtained for the holotype crystals and for several crystals with intermediate composition. Structural refinements of a crystal annealed step-wise in air confirm that most of Fe in M3 is divalent before heating and show that oxidation/dehydrogenation takes place mostly in the E module (M3 and H1). Perbøeite-(Ce) derives from gatelite-(Ce) by the homovalent substitution [M3Fe2+ → M3Mg]. Alnaperbøeite-(Ce) derives from perbøeite-(Ce) or gatelite-(Ce) by the coupled heterovalent substitutions [ANa+ + 2M3Al3+ → AREE + 2M3(Fe2+ or Mg)]. Törnebohmite-(Ce) associated with alnaperbøeite-(Ce) is Na-free, whereas coexisting allanite is Na-bearing and shows the same coupled substitution between A and M sites as the one relating perbøeite- (Ce) and alnaperbøeite-(Ce) (Na0.5Al → REE0.5Fe2+). This could suggest, although crystallographic evidence is inconclusive, that Na incorporation in the ET polysome occurs in the E module alone (A2 or A1 sites), leading to the sodian E end-member A(CaREE0.5Na0.5)M(Al3)Si2O7(SiO4)O(OH). In any event, this new epidote end-member is needed to account for up to ca. 10 mol% of the composition of allanite-group minerals, in which Na2O contents may reach 0.3 wt%. Sodium must be analyzed in epidote-supergroup and gatelite-group minerals.


Objectives Humoral vaccine responses to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are impaired and short lasting in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) following two vaccine doses. To protect these vulnerable patients against severe COVID-19 disease, a three-dose primary vaccination strategy has been implemented in many countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate humoral response and safety of primary vaccination with three doses in patients with IMID. Methods Patients with IMID on immunosuppressive therapy and healthy controls receiving three-dose and two-dose primary SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, respectively, were included in this prospective observational cohort study. Anti-Spike antibodies were assessed 2–4 weeks, and 12 weeks following each dose. The main outcome was anti-Spike antibody levels 2–4 weeks following three doses in patients with IMID and two doses in controls. Additional outcomes were the antibody decline rate and adverse events. Results 1100 patients and 303 controls were included. Following three-dose vaccination, patients achieved median (IQR) antibody levels of 5720 BAU/mL (2138–8732) compared with 4495 (1591–6639) in controls receiving two doses, p=0.27. Anti-Spike antibody levels increased with median 1932 BAU/mL (IQR 150–4978) after the third dose. The interval between the vaccine doses and vaccination with mRNA-1273 or a combination of vaccines were associated with antibody levels following the third dose. Antibody levels had a slower decline-rate following the third than the second vaccine dose, p<0.001. Adverse events were reported by 464 (47%) patients and by 196 (78%) controls. Disease flares were reported by 70 (7%) patients. Conclusions This study shows that additional vaccine doses to patients with IMID contribute to strong and sustained immune-responses comparable to healthy persons vaccinated twice, and supports repeated vaccination of patients with IMID. Trial registration number NCT04798625.


Background
Motor skills are the basis for any bodily movement. They allow children to read, write, walk, talk and play sports. These skills play a central role in children's lives and specifically allow them to be physically active and healthy. However there is currently a lack of knowledge in relation to the level of fine motor skills in children both in Ireland and internationally. Fine motor skills are an essential component of numerous activities of daily life such as dressing and feeding and in addition to academic practices such as handwriting.
Methods
This cross-sectional study used the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) to evaluate the fine motor skill proficiency of Irish primary school children (N=139) between the age of 6-12 years. A second measure involving a handheld pendulum was also used to determine children's sensory motor coordination levels with visual stimuli, auditory stimuli and a combination of both (multisensory).
Results
In terms of fine motor skill proficiency, only 1st class children were found to be meeting the expected levels, while 3rd and 5th class children were found to score below the normative values for age and gender. There was a significant effect for gender, with boys being found to demonstrate higher levels of motor skill proficiency compared to girls. In addition, the investigation into sensory motor coordination levels of children also demonstrated an effect for age. The oldest children were found to demonstrate the best levels of coordination across visual, auditory and multisensory conditions.
Discussion
These low levels of fine motor skill proficiency might impede performance of everyday life activities as well as children's willingness to participate in physical activity (Bouffard, 1996; Cairney et al 2005, 2006). This lower level of fine motor skill proficiency for older Irish children in addition to the observed gender differences could be as a result of different societal, cultural and environment influences.


Mobile social networks (MSNs) are the networks of individuals with similar interests connected to each other through their mobile devices. Recently, MSNs are proliferating fast supported by emerging wireless technologies that allow to achieve more efficient communication and better networking performance across the key parameters, such as lower delay, higher data rate, and better coverage. At the same time, most of the MSN users do not fully recognize the importance of security on their handheld mobile devices. Due to this fact, multiple attacks aimed at capturing personal information and sensitive user data become a growing concern, fueled by the avalanche of new MSN applications and services. Therefore, the goal of this work is to understand whether the contemporary user equipment is susceptible to compromising its sensitive information to the attackers. As an example, various information security algorithms implemented in modern smartphones are thus tested to attempt the extraction of the said private data based on the traces registered with inexpensive contemporary audio cards. Our obtained results indicate that the sampling frequency, which constitutes the strongest limitation of the off-the-shelf side-channel attack equipment, only delivers low-informative traces. However, the success chances to recover sensitive data stored within a mobile device may increase significantly when utilizing more efficient analytical techniques as well as employing more complex attack equipment. Finally, we elaborate on the possible utilization of neural networks to improve the corresponding encrypted data extraction process, while the latter part of this paper outlines solutions and practical recommendations to protect from malicious side-channel attacks and keep the personal user information protected.


Automated software debugging is a crucial task for improving the productivity of software developers. Many neural-based techniques have been proven effective for debugging-related tasks such as bug localization and program repair (or bug fixing). However, these techniques often focus only on either one of them or approach them in a stage-wise manner, ignoring the mutual benefits between them. In this work, we propose a novel unified \emph{Detect-Localize-Repair} framework based on a pretrained programming language model CodeT5 to seamlessly address these tasks, named CodeT5-DLR. Specifically, we propose three objectives to adapt the generic CodeT5 for debugging: a bug detection objective to determine whether a given code snippet is buggy or not, a bug localization objective to identify the buggy lines, and a program repair objective to translate the buggy code to its fixed version. We evaluate it on each of these tasks and their combined setting on two newly collected line-level debugging datasets in Java and Python. Extensive results show that our model significantly outperforms existing baselines from both NLP and software engineering domains.


Objective: To establish a relationship of numbers of renal echogenic foci and the grades of fatty liver with the time span of diabetes mellitus.
Study Design: Cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Radiology Department of Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Kohat from 1st January 2014 to 1st May 2014.
Material and Methods: Patients reporting for ultrasound abdomen in Radiology Department at CMH Kohat and showing renal echogenic foci i.e. bright foci without significant distal acoustic shadowing and fatty liver were selected and included in this study. Forty (40) patients were selected in the study by non probability purposive sampling and these were categorized into three groups according to the number of renal echogenic foci i.e. those with less than 5 were grouped as REF 1, those with 5-10 as group REF-2 and those with more than 10 foci as group REF-3. Patients having associated fatty liver that is those showing bright liver along with vascular blurring in liver parenchyma were grouped as mild, moderate and severe depending upon the ultrasound attributes of fatty liver (FL). The clinical and demographic variables were laid down. All of the patients were subsequently subjected to fasting blood sugar levels and glycated hemoglobin HBA1C with their consent. The patients having normal fasting blood sugar le els (3.3-5.6 mmol/L) were excluded from the study. These cases were grouped according to the HbA1C levels i.e. 5.6-6.8%, 6.8%-7.6% and >7.6% as good, fair or poor control patients respectively. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 20.
Results: Average age of patients included in the study was 48.62 years (SD=10.43) with 70% female patients. Twenty four (60%) patients had mild FL, 14 (35%) patients had moderate FL and 2 (5%) patients had severe FL. Thirteen (32.5%) patients were in REF-1 group, 9 (47.5%) were in group REF-2 and 8 (20%) were in group REF-3. Fifteen (37.5%) patients had good control of diabetes, 16 (40%) patients had fair control while 9 (22.5%) patients had poor control. Duration of diabetes varied from newly diagnosed (0 years) to 20 years with mean duration of 5.33 years (SD=4.73). Nine (22.5%) patients were recently diagnosed, 18 (45%) patients had disease span of 2 – 5 years while 13 (32.5%) patients had disease span of more than 5 years. Number of echogenic foci had significant and stronger association with disease span (p<0.001, Cramer's V= 0.660) than disease control (p=0.002, Cramer's V=0.466). Insignificant association was observed between severity of fatty liver with disease span (p = 0.373) and disease control (p 0.581).
Conclusion: In diabetics with fatty liver the number of the renal echogenic foci have a link to the time span of diabetes. The greater the number of renal echogenic foci in these cases, the longer is the time span of the disease.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy and safety of zidovudine (ZDV) at a maintenance dose of 250 mg every 6 h alone or as cotherapy with acyclovir (ACV; 800 mg every 6 h) as treatment for AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC).

DESIGN
Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of up to 1 year's therapy.

SETTING
Teaching hospital ambulatory clinics in eight European countries and Australia.

SUBJECTS
A total of 131 patients with AIDS and 134 with ARC were enrolled and followed from 1986 to 1988.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Time to development of AIDS-defining opportunistic infections and AIDS-associated neoplasms, survival assessed at 1 year after entry, performance status, body weight, CD4+ cell counts.

RESULTS
During the study period, 46 (36%) ZDV recipients and 37 (27%) cotherapy recipients developed opportunistic infections. The probability of an ARC patient progressing to AIDS (1982 Centers for Disease Control criteria) was 0.18 and 0.15 [95% confidence interval (CI) for difference, -0.17 to 0.11] for the ZDV alone and cotherapy recipients, respectively. After excluding patients who experienced an opportunistic infection during the first 4 weeks of therapy, the probability was 0.13 and 0.099 (95% CI for difference, -0.16 to 0.10) for the ZDV and cotherapy recipients, respectively. Thirty-six patients treated with single-agent therapy [28 (41%) AIDS and eight (12%) ARC patients] and 15 cotherapy recipients [13 (21%) AIDS and two (3%) ARC patients] died during the study. There was a significant difference in time to death between the cotherapy and ZDV alone groups for both AIDS (P = 0.014) and ARC (P = 0.045) patients, with cotherapy patients surviving longer. Infections related to herpesviruses, but not cytomegalovirus, were reduced in patients receiving ACV therapy. CD4+ cell counts in both arms generally increased initially and then declined. Forty-six per cent of patients in the ZDV group (59% of AIDS and 31% of ARC patients) and 52% of patients in the cotherapy group (69% of AIDS and 34% of ARC patients) experienced bone-marrow suppression. Red cell transfusions were administered to 33% of ZDV alone recipients and 34% of cotherapy recipients.

CONCLUSION
These data show that the addition of high-dose ACV cotherapy to ZDV for patients with AIDS and advanced ARC results in a statistically significant improvement in survival with minimal increase in the risk of toxicity.


ABSTRACT

Patrick Tyler Stovall: Not Got Milk? The Effect on the Gut Microbiome of Removing Dairy from the Diet
(Under the direction of Colin R. Jackson, Ph.D.)

The human gut contains a highly diverse set of bacteria that perform a wide range of duties that include much more than just nutrient acquisition. However, the composition of this community is subject to change, with diet, age and lifestyle playing roles in the development and maintenance of the gut microbiota. This study compared the bacterial composition of the human gut when consuming a normal diet versus a dairy-free diet. Samples were taken from a single subject during three periods: 1) control (normal) diet, 2) dairy-free diet, and 3) a return to normal diet. Gut bacterial communities were identified and compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Relative to the total number of sequences within a sample, abundances were calculated for dominant bacterial groups starting at the phylum level and progressing to the smallest identifiable taxonomic group. Fluctuations were seen at taxonomic levels from class down to species. Non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination revealed that the samples from each dietary period were distinguishable from the other periods. Six significant operational taxonomic units (OTUs), from three phyla, were significantly related to dietary sample distributions. These OTUs consisted of two members of the Bacteroidetes (both genus Bacteroides), three from Firmicutes (genus Megasphaera, genus Acidamniococcus, and Butyricicoccus pullicaecorum), and one from Actinobacteria (Collinsella aerofaciens). This study shows that alterations to a diet can cause changes of the relative abundances of bacteria in the human gut at multiple taxonomic levels, but that at the level of the entire community these shifts in gut microbiota can be reversed.


Cooperation is emerging as a promising technology to combat the wireless fading and enhance the channel capac- ity. However, cooperative transmission can not be guaranteed to perform better always than direct transmission, since the statistics of both direct and relay channels are varied due to large scale fading. Therefore, we design an opportunistic criterion to automatically determine which transmission mode should be adopted depending on the channel quality from the source to the cooperative relay, as opposed to the deterministic cooperation regardless of relay channel conditions. According to the proposed criterion, we further present two opportunistic cooperation schemes, namely, the SDC (selection diversity combining) -based and the MRC (maximum ratio combining) -based opportunistic cooperation, and develop the closed-form expressions of outage probability for the proposed schemes over Rayleigh fading channels. For the purpose of comparison, we also analyze the outage probability for the known deterministic cooperation and coded cooperation. Numerical results show that our schemes out- perform the traditional schemes in terms of outage probability, especially when the relay channel conditions worsen. In addition, we compare the MRC-based opportunistic cooperation with the SDC-based opportunistic cooperation, showing the superiority of the former scheme.


The stepped wedge cluster randomised trial is a novel research study design that is increasingly being used in the evaluation of service delivery type interventions. The design involves random and sequential crossover of clusters from control to intervention until all clusters are exposed. It is a pragmatic study design which can reconcile the need for robust evaluations with political or logistical constraints. While not exclusively for the evaluation of service delivery interventions, it is particularly suited to evaluations that do not rely on individual patient recruitment. As in all cluster trials, stepped wedge trials with individual recruitment and without concealment of allocation (or blinding of the intervention) are at risk of selection biases. In a stepped wedge design more clusters are exposed to the intervention towards the end of the study than in its early stages. This implies that the effect of the intervention might be confounded with any underlying temporal trend. A result that initially might seem suggestive of an effect of the intervention may therefore transpire to be the result of a positive underlying temporal trend. Sample size calculations and analysis must make allowance for both the clustered nature of the design and the confounding effect of time. The stepped wedge cluster randomised trial is an alternative to traditional parallel cluster studies, in which the intervention is delivered in only half the clusters with the remainder functioning as controls. When the clusters are relatively homogeneous (that is, the intra-cluster correlation is small), parallel studies tend to deliver better statistical performance than a stepped wedge trial. However, if substantial cluster-level effects are present (that is, larger intra-cluster correlations) or the clusters are large, the stepped wedge design will be more powerful than a parallel design, even one in which the intervention is preceded by a period of baseline control observations.


We consider misère Nim as a normal-play game obtained from Nim by removing the terminal position. While explicit formulas are known for the Sprague-Grundy functions of Nim and Welter's game, no explicit formula is known for that of misère Nim. All three of these games can be considered as position restrictions of Nim. What are the differences between them? We point out that Nim and Welter's game are saturated, but misère Nim is not. Moreover, we present explicit formulas for the Sprague-Grundy functions of saturations of misère Nim, which are obtained from misère Nim by adjoining some moves.


We investigated cerebellar electrocortical activity before and after unilateral brain injury in anesthetized rats. Spectral analysis of cerebellar activity was obtained by Fast Fourier Transformation. There was a dominance of delta frequency range, while the wide gamma range presented no more than 5% of the total mean power spectra of cerebellar activity before brain injury. A few minutes after brain injury and within the first 90 minutes, there was a decrease of total mean power spectra and a relative decrease of delta range power to about 30%, some increase of beta range, and an increase of gamma range to 20-25%. Relative increase of gamma range in the cerebellar mean power spectra was still present 120 min after the brain injury, while other changes started to diminish. We suggest that spectral changes within slow and fast (gamma) frequency ranges of cerebellar activity may be indicators of the brain state after acute injury.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the diagnostic value of measuring squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC-Ag) and cancer antigen 15-3 (CA15-3) concentrations in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) samples for the detection of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) metastases in cervical lymph nodes.

STUDY DESIGN
A prospective study with patients consecutively included between November 2018 and May 2021.

SETTING
A tertiary head and neck oncologic center.

METHODS
Out of 138 patients, SCC-Ag concentrations were analyzed in 168 FNA cervical lymph node samples and CA15-3 in 152 samples. Results were compared with FNA cytology (FNAC) or definitive histology to establish sensitivity and specificity rates.

RESULTS
For the detection of cervical SCC lymph node metastases, SCC-Ag measurement had an 89.4% sensitivity and 79.3% specificity at a cutoff concentration of 0.1 µg/L. Measurement of CA15-3 concentration in addition to SCC-Ag concentration did not lead to improved accuracy for the detection of SCC. In histology-confirmed cases, FNAC had an 80.0% sensitivity and 100% specificity, as opposed to 93.3% and 57.1%, respectively, for SCC-Ag.

CONCLUSION
Measurement of SCC-Ag concentration for detection of SCC lymph node metastases has a sensitivity at least comparable to FNAC and could be used as a relatively cheap screening tool in samples with nondiagnostic or indeterminate FNAC results or when multiple lymph nodes are sampled. However, SCC-Ag in FNA samples has a lower specificity than FNAC assessed by pathologists experienced in head and neck oncology. Addition of CA15-3 measurement did not lead to improved accuracy.


With numerous pharmacological and biological functions bio-flavonoids gain appreciable attention in diabetes and other therapeutic research. Among several beneficial flavonoids quercetin exhibits impressive hypoglycemic effects, with significant improvement, stabilization of long sustaining insulin secretion and regeneration of human islets in the pancreas without producing serious health hazards. However, in oral delivery poor solubility, stability in biological milieu, low permeation, short biological half-life, and insignificant bioavailability limit its wide application in anti diabetic research. Over the last few decades polymeric carrier systems have been widely studied for improvement of quercetin bioavailability. Natural polymers are more preferred in this regard as they possess several favourable properties like biocompatibility, biodegradability, mucoadhesiveness, non-immunogenicity and non-toxicity. This review focuses on quercetin in anti-diabetic research and the progress in the synthesis of polymer-based formulations for efficient quercetin delivery, with an emphasis on producing an improved biological efficacy of the flavonoid. Diabetic complications, probable mechanisms of quercetin absorption, regulation and anti diabetic effects, obstacles to produce desired bio-efficacy and possible remedies are also brought into focus. To overcome these barriers encapsulation of quercetin within various safe polymeric vehicles are discussed. Further, this review sheds light on enhancing the efficacy of quercetin in novel ways for successful diabetes treatment and others.


Large parts of the sea bed of shallow shelf seas, such as the North Sea, are covered with sand waves. Sand waves are medium-scale bedforms characterized by wave heights of several meters and migration rates up to tens of meters per year. Knowledge about the behavior of sand waves is of importance since they can form a hazard to pipelines, communication cables, offshore constructions and navigation.
Campmans et al. (2017) state that waves and wind indeed can play a significant role in sand wave dynamics. However since storms occur only for a small fraction of the time during a year Campmans et al. (2017) have stated that "to assess the averaged model effect of storms on sand wave dynamics a statistical approach is required" (p14).
The goal of this thesis is therefore to investigate the influence of the wind- and wave climate and in particular storms, consisting of a combination of the storm related processes of wind waves and wind-driven flow and its frequencies of occurrence, on sand wave dynamics by applying a statistically combined wave and wind climate to the idealized sand wave model of Campmans et al. (2017) and analyzing its results.
This research aims to answer the following questions:
1. What is the wind- and wave climate at the research location?
2. Based on the idealized sand wave model of Campmans et al. (2017):
a) what is the influence of the storm related processes and their frequencies of occurrence on the growth- and migration rate of sand waves?
b) which storm related processes make the biggest contribution to the resulting growth- and migration rate?


This paper proposes a technique that can be used to prevent the exploitation of SEH overwrites on 32-bit Windows applications without requiring any recompilation. While Microsoft has attempted to address this attack vector through changes to the exception dispatcher and through enhanced compiler support, such as with /SAFESEH and /GS, the majority of benefits they offer are limited to image files that have been compiled to make use of the compiler enhancements. This limitation means that without all image files being compiled with these enhancements, it may still be possible to leverage an SEH overwrite to gain code execution. In particular, many third-party applications are still vulnerable to SEH overwrites even on the latest versions of Windows because they have not been recompiled to incorporate these enhancements. To that point, the technique described in this paper does not rely on any compile time support and instead can be applied at runtime to existing applications without any noticeable performance degradation. This technique is also backward compatible with all versions of Windows NT+, thus making it a viable and proactive solution for legacy installations. Thanks: The author would like to thank all of the people who have helped with offering feedback and ideas on this technique. In particular, the author would like to thank spoonm, H D Moore, Skywing, Richard Johnson, and Alexander Sotirov.


Reducing the environmental impact of offshore operations is one of the most pressing challenges facing the oil and gas industry in Europe today. A study was conducted to review the issues by literature search, and consultation with stakeholders and experts. It was clear from the literature search that considerable research had been dedicated to: protecting the marine environment; achieving compliance with legislative controls; assessing the technical and economic feasibility of platform disposal options; and ecological surveying. By comparison, considerably less research had been carried out in other important areas such as: assessing the impacts wastes returned to shore for disposal; identifying sustainable strategies for operations; and assessing and mitigating against adverse impacts from atmospheric emissions. It is clear that the environmental regulatory regime offshore will become tougher and have an increasing influence on offshore oil and gas field environmental planning and management. Future regulatory developments include: a streamlining of the offshore oil and gas environmental regulatory regime; the introduction of the Habitats Directive into the licensing system; and the Offshore Combustion Installations (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Regulations 1999. In addition, post Kyoto regulatory developments and societal concern over atmospheric pollution, will increasingly focus efforts on reducing the emission of global warming gases. These changes, coupled with the uncertainty over how resilient the environment is to perturbation, present a need to clearly manage environmental information.


Recently the biosynthesis of nanoparticles using plant extracts has drawn the attention of researchers. The aim of the present study is to investigate the potential of Catharanthus roseus for the biological synthesis of iron nanoparticles and to evaluate the antifungal efficacy of the synthesized particles against the selected fungal strains. Biosynthesis of iron nanoparticles was performed through the n-hexane leaf extract of Catharanthus roseus. The structural properties of the synthesized nanoparticles (concentrations, 10%, 30%) were further investigated through UV-visible spectroscopy; particle size analyzer (PSA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results of the UV-Vis spectroscopy of the synthesized iron nanoparticles showed the absorption spectra of iron nanoparticles (FeNPs), prominent peak at 260 nm corresponding to the absorption of iron nanoparticles was obtained. Particles size analyzer revealed the average size of the iron nanoparticles that was calculated as 108 and 266 nm. Phenolics (OH group at 3350 cm) were observed as main bioactive phytochemical of the plant extract that acted as capping agent in iron nanoparticles synthesis. Surface morphology using SEM revealed the aggregates of irregular shaped iron nanoparticles. The antifungal activity of these biosynthesized FeNPs against Aspergillus nidulans and Aspergillus terreus was also evaluated, nanoparticles showed high activity against A. terreus. This study concludes that the biosynthesis of iron nanoparticles is a safe and economical approach.


T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are long lived and contribute to the maintenance of sustained humoral immunity. Memory Tfh cells Expression of a purinergic receptor P2X7R renders certain T cell subsets, including resident memory T (Trm) cells susceptible to NAD-induced cell death (NICD). Injection of an NICD protector before harvesting them improves cell recovery. Here, based on the observation that T follicular helper (Tfh) cells also express P2X7R, Künzli et al. used NICD protector to study the persistence of Tfh cells after LCMV infection in mice. They report that Tfh cells persisted for 400+ days after infection and that long-lived Tfh cells are glycolytic and are marked by high expression of folate receptor 4 (FR4). Upon reinfection, these FR4+ "memory" Tfh cells were capable of self-renewal and could also give rise to effector and central memory cells. CD4+ memory T cells play an important role in protective immunity and are a key target in vaccine development. Many studies have focused on T central memory (Tcm) cells, whereas the existence and functional significance of long-lived T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are controversial. Here, we show that Tfh cells are highly susceptible to NAD-induced cell death (NICD) during isolation from tissues, leading to their underrepresentation in prior studies. NICD blockade reveals the persistence of abundant Tfh cells with high expression of hallmark Tfh markers to at least 400 days after infection, by which time Tcm cells are no longer found. Using single-cell RNA-seq, we demonstrate that long-lived Tfh cells are transcriptionally distinct from Tcm cells, maintain stemness and self-renewal gene expression, and, in contrast to Tcm cells, are multipotent after recall. At the protein level, we show that folate receptor 4 (FR4) robustly discriminates long-lived Tfh cells from Tcm cells. Unexpectedly, long-lived Tfh cells concurrently express a distinct glycolytic signature similar to trained immune cells, including elevated expression of mTOR-, HIF-1–, and cAMP-regulated genes. Late disruption of glycolysis/ICOS signaling leads to Tfh cell depletion concomitant with decreased splenic plasma cells and circulating antibody titers, demonstrating both unique homeostatic regulation of Tfh and their sustained function during the memory phase of the immune response. These results highlight the metabolic heterogeneity underlying distinct long-lived T cell subsets and establish Tfh cells as an attractive target for the induction of durable adaptive immunity.


Abstract:  Several studies have shown the effectiveness of bilateral prophylactic mastectomies (BPM) at reducing the risk of developing breast cancer in women by more than 90%. A growing number of women at high risk for breast cancer are electing to undergo prophylactic mastectomy as part of a risk reduction strategy. This unique group of women frequently chooses to undergo reconstructive surgery as a part of their immediate treatment plan. Breast reconstruction after BPM has profound physiological and emotional impact on body image, sexuality, and quality of life. These factors should be taken into consideration and addressed when consulting the patient prior to BPM and reconstructive surgery. The timing of reconstructive surgery, the type of mastectomy performed, the reconstructive modalities available, and the possibility to preserve the nipple–areola complex, should all be discussed with the patient prior to surgery. In this article, we review our experience and the current existing literature on breast reconstruction for high‐risk women after BPM.


The study reported here addressed the research question, How do individuals experience the learning and implementing of group process facilitation? It utilised a case-study approach, because such an approach was seen as being particularly useful for exploring the processes and actions that were hard to define for people who were learning and implementing group process facilitation. The study sought to move beyond a reliance on theories of knowledge formulated by positivistic processes, and into the realm of interpretivism and constructivism, in order to explore individual experiences. The literature reviewed indicated that there seemed to be little public knowledge of the implications of learning programs for the individual, from the unique perspective of the individual, particularly as they relate to learning and implementing group process facilitation. It suggested the need for research to address the issue by examining how the participants made sense of, and gave meaning to, their learning experiences. It further suggested the potential value of research into how individuals learning and implementing group process facilitation adapt to their new role, and how they cope with the new realities in their lives as a result of their learning and implementing experiences.
The intention in this study was to use a grounded approach that gave adequate recognition to the stories of the participants learning and implementing experiences, and to the meanings attributed by the participants to those experiences. It was intended to draw those stories together so that the commonalities and differences between and among them could be integrated in a reformulated statement of participants' experiences. Thus, a methodology that was both interpretive and constructivist was deemed appropriate, and Denzin's (1989a) 'interpretive interactionism' was selected. As I worked through the analytical phase of the study, I discovered that the chosen methodology did not always provide me with a clear guideline as to how I might follow a logical and coherent process to achieve my intentions. I found that I needed to extend and deepen Denzin's (1989a) model, particularly in the analysis of the data collected. The model (developed and described in Chapter 6) may prove to be useful to other researchers working within a qualitative paradigm. The following substantive findings emerged. Most participants identified the experience of learning and implementing group process facilitation as a turning point in their life and as one that helped them to construct new identities as part of their lived experience. Through reflection and critical reflection, some participants were better able to understand that experience and they were better able to conceptualise it. In light of that conceptualisation, they then made determinations about future work and personal goals. Thus, personal change was an important outcome of their experience. They were more self-aware and more open to learning, although such a process of change involved risk taking. Risk taking sometimes meant that they were fearful or anxious about personal change and were inhibited by self-doubt. Once they worked through their fears, they felt excited about the personal change, and challenged to further their personal learning journey. Participants were also challenged by their experiences of implementing their learning in the workplace. They were able to recognise the significance of the social milieu of the workplace, including the expectations of support about the implementing of their learning from management and peers. That milieu was governed by the novelty of the learning environment, the flexible approach to learning, and the way they, and others, were chosen to attend the learning program. The learning experience helped them to value difference and to recognise the importance of becoming more self-aware, as part of their change process. At times, that process was painful; at other times it was pleasurable - pointing to the paradoxical nature of the learning experience. To undertake the construction of new identities, trust also was recognised as an important issue. Implications for practice are identified within a framework of environmental uncertainty and continuous learning. It is argued that, based on the experiences of the participants, learners may optimise their learning within an appropriate learning environment, and where attention is paid to the use of reflection and critical reflection as part of the learning and development process. Learning programs need to embrace a range of specific activities to enable learners to strengthen their self-belief. Consideration needs to be given to the importance of emotion as part of the learning and development experience. Individuals need to be aware of the importance of the social milieu, and they need to be able to understand their learning experience as an epiphany. For organisations, there is identified a need to attend to learning how to learn. There also appears to be a need for the development of key aspects of organisational functioning to support continual learning. Such aspects include: thinking processes, understanding of the social context in which learning occurs, the need to ensure management and supervisory support for change, and the need to identify and resolve individual, group and organisational conflict. Some participants appeared to be fearful of the reactions of managers and colleagues to their attempts to implement their new learning. Such fears could be overcome at an organisational level by enabling people to apply their learning and to provide meaningful and informative feedback to them. A learning program of the type reported in this study may be useful in helping organisations cope with some of the change processes with which they are faced, and in particular, it may be used to enhance those processes. A number of recommendations for further research may be drawn from this study. Participants in the study reported a transformational change process that has been identified as an epiphany. Further research, therefore, should address the importance of epiphany for the participants in the light of the passage of time. Similar studies need to be conducted in other organisations. The findings of the study are drawn together in two explanatory models: one designated Platforms of Understanding; the other designated Model of Managing Learning in an Organisational Context. Research is needed to explore the interrelationships between the models; the meanings for individuals and organisations of those interrelationships; and how such relationships might be used for the enhancement of learning and development strategies in organisations. Specifically, research focussing on the importance of the historical, political and socio-cultural environment, and into the role played by the organisational and social milieu in which learning and development occurs, needs to be addressed. While there are a number of studies relating to the importance of management and peer support for the transfer of learning in the workplace, research into the cultural significance of such support should be undertaken. Further research should extend to identifying and recognising the impact that such an understanding may have for the culture of the organisation. Learning and implementing group process facilitation is not necessarily a 'behavioural' experience. The part played by emotion in a learning and development program, and later in the organisational context, remains to be addressed. Understanding emotion and emotional responses to organisational change programs, of the type undertaken by participants in the study, should provide significant learning for individuals and organisations as they attempt to cope with organisational change. Most importantly, what this study suggested is that group process facilitation is a social and interactive process that calls for post-positivist research. This study has exposed the richness that may be gained from a constructivist, interpretivist, and progressive-humanist approach in an environment where the identification and recognition of how individuals make sense of, and give meaning to, their learning and implementing experiences, may be seen to have positive organisational and individual benefits. Further research would ideally focus on group process facilitation as the core concept, and be conducted within a constructivist epistemology that reflects progressive-humanistic approaches.


In a retrospective study we determined the factors that influence the outcome of patients requiring intensive care (IC) for the complications of the treatment of haematological malignancies. All consecutive patients suffering from haematological malignancy admitted to the IC unit of the University Hospital Nijmegen over a 4 year period (1986-1989) were studied; 39 patients (21 female, 18 male) with a median age of 41 year (range 18-71). Various clinical variables were assessed at admission and related to the outcome of IC treatment in terms of death or survival. Previously, 33 patients had undergone chemotherapy. Eight (21%) survived. One of a subgroup of 13 bone marrow transplantation patients survived. Hypoxaemic respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation was the most frequent reason for admission (20 patients of whom four recovered). The second most frequent reason was combination of respiratory failure and septic shock (eight patients, none recovered). Three out of five patients admitted with septic shock survived. The need for mechanical ventilation had the highest predictive power for a poor prognosis (p = 0.002). Mortality increased with increasing APACHE II score (p = 0.03). When more than four major organ systems were affected (seven patients), mortality was 100%. Granulocytopenia (leucocyte count less than 1 x 10(9)/l) at admission turned out to be of no prognostic significance, but absence of leucocyte recovery was a prognostically bad sign (p = 0.05). A considerable number of patients (20) suffered from a non-bacterial (opportunistic) infection, carrying a high mortality (only two patients survived: one with candida, one with a cytomegalovirus infection).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


We consider two important families of BCn-symmetric polynomials, namely Okounkov's interpolation polynomials and Koornwinder's orthogonal polynomials. We give a family of difference equations satisfied by the former, as well as generalizations of the branching rule and Pieri identity, leading to a number of multivariate q-analogues of classical hypergeometric transformations. For the latter, we give new proofs of Macdonald's conjectures, as well as new identities, including an inverse binomial formula and several branching rule and connection coefficient identities. We also derive families of ordinary symmetric functions that reduce to the interpolation and Koornwinder polynomials upon appropriate specialization. As an application, we consider a number of new integral conjectures associated to classical symmetric spaces.


Studies have been carried out on normal male and female rats of the Carworth-Nelson strain to ascertain myocardial capillary change after cobalt-induced polycythemia. There was a significant increase in blood hemoglobin and hematocrit, but there was no significant increase in the number of myocardial capillaries. There was a statistically significant increase in the ratio of capillary to tissue area. These results secondary to polycythemia were interpreted as suggesting engorgement of capillaries or dilatation of capillaries not readily visible in control animals.


In 'Measuring value with pharmacoeconomics', the authors outline the evolution of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) through its use as part of HTA. They also explore the theoretical and practical issues that have arisen as the result of using CEA of drugs to make decisions about resource allocation, pricing and use. Recommendations are offered for addressing some of the critical challenges discussed.


The development of vaccines against flaviviruses, including Zika virus (ZIKV) and dengue virus (DENV), continues to be a major challenge, hindered by the lack of efficient and reliable methods for screening neutralizing activity of sera or antibodies. To address this need, we previously developed a plasmid-based, replication-incompetent DENV reporter virus particle (RVP) production system as an efficient and safe alternative to the Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT). As part of the response to the 2015-2016 ZIKV outbreak, we recently developed pseudo-infectious ZIKV RVPs by modifying our DENV RVP system. The use of ZIKV RVPs as critical reagents in human clinical trials requires their further validation using stability and reproducibility metrics for large-scale applications. In the current study, we validated ZIKV RVPs using infectivity, neutralization, and enhancement assays with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and human ZIKV-positive patient serum. ZIKV RVPs are antigenically identical to live virus based on binding ELISA and neutralization results and are nonreplicating based on the results of plaque formation assays. We demonstrate reproducible neutralization titer data (NT50 values) across different RVP production lots, volumes, time frames, and laboratories. We also show RVP stability across experimentally relevant time intervals and temperatures. Our results demonstrate that ZIKV RVPs provide a safe, rapid, and reproducible reagent for large-scale, long-term studies of neutralizing antibodies and sera, which can facilitate large-scale screening and epidemiological studies to help expedite ZIKV vaccine development. AUTHOR SUMMARY ZIKV is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause severe birth defects and other disorders. Large outbreaks of ZIKV occurred in 2015 and 2016 and there are still no drugs or vaccines available to protect against ZIKV infection. Vaccine development has been hindered by the lack of safe and efficient methods to screen ZIKV neutralizing properties of patient sera or antibodies, especially in the context of large clinical trials. To address this unmet need, we developed and validated the use of ZIKV reporter virus particles (RVPs), a safe, high-throughput and quantitative alternative to using live virus for neutralization studies. We show that ZIKV RVPs are stable, show lot-to-lot consistency and provide reproducible neutralization data that is suitable for large-scale studies are needed for development of a ZIKV vaccine, epidemiologic surveillance, and high-throughput screening.


The characteristics of congested construction sites and simultaneous multi contractor working environments require the general contractor or construction manager to coordinate and manage many trades to accomplish a project safely, on time, with the desired quality and within the project budget. To provide a conceptual framework for construction operations modeling, an innovative production flow concept in construction was proposed and elaborated in the early 1990's. In contrast to the traditional viewpoint of construction as activities, the production flow model conceptualizes construction as composed of flow processes. The benefit s of using this perspective of production flow to manage construction include the provision of alternatives to a sequential model of project realization, improved construction quality and enhanced coordination among trade contractors. However, the understanding of this theory is limi ted by not only the abstractness of the concept itself, but also a lack of a visual representation of planning and evaluating techniques for implementing the production flow concepts. This paper presents a visual production flow planning methodology that integrates building elements, construction methods, and trade space occupation requirements for coordinating and sequencing construction trades on a project. The goal of the methodology is to provide a process for improving the visualization of the flow of trades on a project. The methodology achieves this goal by providing a process for planners to visualize trade flow space over time within a 4D CAD visualization environment. The model allows the user to plan and an alyze the trade flow by identifying conflicts in trade flow space, trade flow direction, and trade flow continuity. A detailed case study was performed to validate the application of the methodology. This paper presents the methodology for planning, a discussion of the trade flow evaluation process, and an illustration of the application of the methodology on a case study project.


Online shopping environment is still in an infancy stage in Pakistan. The intent of this research is to develop a model on the basis of the traditional technology acceptance model (TAM), to find factors that affect online shopping adoption in Pakistan. With a survey sample of 286 respondents which includes university students and professionals from various walks of life, the proposed model was evaluated by confirmatory factor analysis and regression analysis. The significant findings of the study indicate that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, perceived enjoyment, distrust and legal framework are the main factors affecting online shopping acceptance except that the cultural environment has a negligible influence.


A new oedometer device for SWCC determination has been evaluated by testing a wide range of soil types, and recommendations for best practices for use of this device have been made. The new device allows application and control of the net normal stress, σ − u a , in addition to the matric suction, u a − u w . Thus it can be used to simulate a range of overburden stresses and various other stress states of interest. It also allows the measurement of specimen volume change and the use of a single specimen for determination of the SWCC. The evaluation includes issues of temperature control, air diffusion through high air entry ceramic disks, and study of potential sources of error in water content determination for the SWCC. It is concluded that the new oedometer device can be used to obtain an accurate SWCC for a single specimen up to 1500 kPa . General recommendations for appropriate use of the equipment and corrections to SWCC data obtained using axis translation pressure plate-type devices are made.


The traditional view that infections with Neisseria gonorrhoeae are predominantly symptomatic in men and predominantly asymptomatic in women has arisen from studies conducted in sexually transmitted disease clinics, which, by their nature, examine men with symptoms and women without symptoms. Recent studies have shown that most men and woen who are infected with N. gonorrhoeae develop symptoms as a result of that infection. These same studies have shown that a minority of patients develop asymptomatic gonococcal infection. Since asymptomatically infected men and women are less likely to seek treatment, they have a much longer duration of infection than do their symptomatic counterparts. Asymptomatically infected men and women thus accumulate, so that at any given time most of the men and women in the population who are infected with N. gonorrhoeae have no symptoms.