Ice shelves are floating ice masses, which are sensitive to climate changes. The main mechanisms for the mass loss
of ice shelves around Antarctica are basal melting and calving. For an understanding of the mechanisms of calving
the influence of environmental parameters needs to be investigated. We use a fracture mechanical approach to
examine the nature and frequency of calving events.
Ice responses to load in two ways: on long time scales ice reacts like a viscous fluid, and on short time scale
like an elastic solid. As calving is a representation of the solid nature of ice, the elastic response is important
and linear elastic fracture mechanics can be applied. However, gravity remains a long time load and hence, a
viscous component needs to be taken into account as well. Therefore, we use a Kelvin-Voigt model for analyzing
the transient response of an ice shelf to a calving event. In a simplified 2D-model the ice shelf is treated as a
rectangular block, in which the gravity force is the only load in a first analysis. The stresses on the surface in the
vicinity of the calving front are computed with the finite element software COMSOL. The boundary conditions are
the water pressure at the front and bottom of the ice shelf and a constant displacement at the inflow. A stationary
state will reappear until eventually the subsequent calving event occurs, the termination time is around 175days.
Based on this time interval and the flow velocity of the ice shelf we estimate the calving rate.
Different parameter studies reveal the influence of geometry and material parameters on the stresses for an
elastic material model. The literature and measurements at the Ekstroem Ice Shelf, East Antarctica, provides the
relevant parameter range. Due to the depth-dependent water pressure at the ice front, a bell shaped distribution of
stresses on the surface is found. For this reason the location of the maximal stress denotes the most likely position
for a calving event and is arranged in between 0.65H and 0.85H, with H the thickness at the ice front. The results
of these studies are compared to the results for two cross-sections of measured geometries of the Ekstroem Ice
Shelf.


Thermal barrier coatings provide excellent thermal insulation for metal components of gas turbines. Although the relationships between microstructures and mechanical properties as well as thermal conductivity of various TBCs have been extensively studied, there still exists a deficiency of a full understanding on microstructural-related thermal radiation transport inside them, which becomes more and more crucial for advanced gas turbine applications requiring higher operating temperatures. This study aims at presenting a microstructure-based numerical investigation on radiative transfer in the air plasma sprayed (APS) TBC.In this study, the microstructures of APS TBCs are quantitatively reconstructed based on the Ultra-Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (USAXS) measurement by the Stony Brook University group, in which the microscale interlamellar pores, intrasplat cracks and globular voids are regarded as oblate spheroids with different sizes and aspect ratios, with a specific distribution of orientations. This is a typical anisotropic medium, in which the physical properties vary with the observing direction. The anisotropic feature of radiative properties including the scattering coefficient and phase function is for the first time demonstrated using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) method. A modified Monte Carlo method is proposed and implemented to solve the anisotropic radiative transfer problem in such medium. The spectral normal-hemispherical reflectance and transmittance of the coating are thus obtained and further compared with the experimental data from literature as well as our group to validate this numerical method. This work provides a versatile numerical framework for the study of the anisotropic radiative transfer mechanism in APS thermal barrier coatings based on microstructure charaterization.Copyright © 2016 by ASME


Publish/subscribe communication model has become an indispensable part of the Web 2.0 applications, such as social networks and news syndication. Although there exist a few systems that provide a genuinely scalable service for topicbased publish/subscribe model, the content-based solutions are still suffering from restricted subscription schemes, heavy and unbalanced load on the participating nodes, or excessively high matching complexity. We address these problems by constructing a distributed content-based publish/subscribe system by using only those components that are proven to be scalable and can withstand the workloads of massive sizes. Our publish/subscribe solution, Vinifera, requires only a bounded node degree and as we show, through simulations, it scales well to large network sizes and remains efficient under various subscription patterns and loads.


A concise but thorough history should be taken detailing the onset of the problem, the severity and duration of the complaint, and any relevant medical history and family history.

#### Common reasons for referral to urologist

Several symptoms indicate bladder outflow obstruction (for example, due to benign prostatic hyperplasia): a delay before the flow of urine begins (hesitancy); a poor flow when passing urine; an inability to maintain flow throughout the prolonged act of voiding (intermittency) owing to the bladder being unable to maintain a high enough detrusor pressure; if a residual volume is left, a desire to pass urine shortly after finishing voiding (pis-en-deux).

#### Obstructive symptoms

Patients may feel a burning sensation in the urethra during voiding (dysuria) or a sudden desire to void (urgency). Most adults void no more than once at night, and more than this can be considered to be nocturia. Urine production at night is increased in elderly people, patients with congestive heart failure, and those who habitually consume night time drinks.

Cystitis and other inflammatory conditions may give rise to the symptoms above, but the symptoms may also be present in patients with bladder outflow obstruction or carcinoma in situ of the bladder (malignant cystitis).

#### Irritative symptoms

Incontinence that is precipitated by physical activity is termed stress incontinence. Urge incontinence occurs when a leakage of urine follows an urgent desire to urinate and is pathognomonic of an unstable bladder. This commonly develops de novo in women (in whom it is termed idiopathic bladder instability) but may be present in men secondary to bladder outflow obstruction or in patients with a neuropathic bladder. Some women may have both stress incontinence and urge incontinence. Continuous incontinence is typically seen in patients with a urinary fistula. …


The research seeks to demonstrate not only that variation exists in L2 speech but also that such variation is explainable in terms of describable linguistic and nonlinguistic variables. This contradicts the assumption, implicit in most existing contrastive analyses, that L2 speech of speakers with the same L1 background is homogenous and monolectal. In the present work, predictions of L1 interference based on a contrastive analysis of the phonological systems of English and Yoruba were verified from an analysis of actual English speech samples of Yoruba immigrants in England. Using a quantitative model analysis, frequencies of occurrence of target and nontarget language forms were then interpreted in relation to certain linguistic and extralinguistic problems. In the first, while the predictive-power rating of the contrastive analysis (on the Transformational Generative model) was very high the informants' L2 speech was not homogenous either at the intra- or inter- personal levels. Three types of phonological rules were identified with respect to rule variability. Finally, it was observed that the so called dynamic paradigm proved, in practice, an extension of the quantitative method. In the second, though none of the independent variables (sex, education, phonetic training and length of sojourn in England) reached significance in its effects on the informants' speech at one percent at least one was very close. Since the present work was limited only to the investigation of segmental phonology, it is suggested that similar investigations of the other linguistic levels are needed to fully evaluate language teaching programmes such as the 'Year-abroad' and 'Speech-training' schemes run for second- and foreign-language students in many educational systems world-wide.


: Two unique disciplines have come together in a large urban community to provide a community-based drug prevention program for children--Pupils, Lawyers, and Nurses (P.L.A.N.) Against Drugs. This unique relationship brings two sets of expertise to better respond to the complex problem of drug abuse. The program approaches drug abuse prevention by focusing on law enforcement and nursing as career options for inner city children. Cooperation was emphasized from the initial planning stages through project implementation. Other contributors to this program include school district leaders, teachers, community leaders, representatives from the state division of substance abuse, nursing faculty, and district attorneys. The program has received international and national recognition for its efforts. This paper describes the advantages of the collaborative approach to a complex problem.


Nations with an established prominence in nanotechnology will lead the development of the future society by offering superior products to the global market. This thesis encourages Norwegian maritime industries to recognize the potential in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and mark their position as leading innovators. Push innovation has been used to bring science from research papers into business concepts including product design and cost analysis. Material challenges have been discussed with partners in aquaculture, shipping and offshore oil/gas in order to find viable use of CNTs. Two concepts, net cage of CNT yarn in fish farming and oil drier with CNT membrane for hydraulic and lubricating systems, have been developed. The net cage is a potential health risk, but the superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties of CNT membranes provide a novel and promising way of separating water and oil. Fabrication of prototype in NTNU Nanolab have been attempted by growing vertically aligned CNTs by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, but not completed.


: Urgent selective coronarography followed by intracoronary infusion of nitroglycerin and streptokinase (2000-4000 U/min) was performed in 24 patients with acute myocardial infarction. Mechanical recanalization of an occluded coronary artery was also performed in two patients. The coronary artery supplying the infarcted area was occluded in 22 patients while 2 patients had third-degree stenosis. Following intracoronary drug infusion, antegrade flow was recovered completely in 16 of 22 occluded coronary arteries (72.7%). All patients, however, retained acute coronary arterial stenosis around former occlusions. Aortal-coronary shunting was performed within 1 to 20 days in 6 patients.


In vitro anti-HIV antibody production (IVAP), initially introduced as a method for diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in infants, has been limited in its application because of poor specificity and sensitivity early in life. The aims of this study were to improve the specificity of the IVAP assay and to evaluate its sensitivity in conjunction with assays of HIV culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and p24 antigen. To prevent false-positive reactions resulting from maternal serum-derived cytophilic anti-HIV IgG, additional preculture and washing steps for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were introduced that resulted in dramatic improvement in specificity of IVAP. The sensitivity of the revised IVAP at age < 3 months in 20 infected infants was, however, only 25%; of 15 infected infants initially negative in IVAP, 13 became positive at a mean estimated age of 4.4 +/- 1.8 months. When correlated with virological assays, a failure to respond in IVAP at age < 1 month was often associated with negative virological identification, whereas a positive IVAP response at age < 3 months was always associated with positive results in all virological assays. Moreover, conversion from negative IVAP to positive responses occurred subsequent to, and not concurrently with, a positive virological identification of infected infants. The revised IVAP methodology renders this assay potentially useful as an additional tool not only for the diagnosis of HIV infection, but for estimating timing of maternal-infant HIV transmission as well.


A new international reference preparation for proteins in human serum will be released jointly by the Bureau Communitaire de Reference of the European Economic Community, Brussels, Belgium, and the College of American Pathologists, Northfield, Ill, in 1992-1993. This material has been prepared by the Committee on Plasma Protein Standardization of the International Federation for Clinical Chemistry. It is intended for use as a matrix reference from which values are to be transferred to working calibrants and controls for the immunoassay of serum proteins. The methods of preparation and value assignment are presented, along with a brief comparison of the international reference preparation for proteins in human serum with Reference Preparation for Serum Proteins Lot 4 and previous reference materials from the College of American Pathologists.


Although perovskite solar cells have achieved extremely high performance in just a few years, their device stability and fabrication cost are still of great concern. For inverted p–i–n perovskite solar cells, the commonly used electron-transporting layers are C60 and PCBM, which have stability issues and are very expensive. Here, we report a novel and highly stable perovskite solar cell using an inorganic electron-transporting layer made of microwave-assisted solution-processed indium-doped zinc oxide (IZO) nanoparticles. With NiO as the hole-transporting layer, the perovskite solar cells with all-inorganic selective contacts demonstrate a decent power conversion efficiency of over 16%. More importantly, the IZO-based perovskite solar cells demonstrate impressive long-term stability under air or light-soaking conditions. With encapsulation, our device retained 85% of the initial power conversion efficiency after 460 hours of light soaking. This result reveals that good device performance, low fabrication cost and impressive light-soaking stability can be realized simultaneously by employing facile microwave-synthesized oxides (IZO and NiO in this work) as inorganic selective contacts.


The synthesis and characterization is reported of Tri aluminate (III) complexes of general formula Na[AlCl3 X], derived from monoanionic Ligands CL3X (X = No3, CH3COO, N3). Sodium Trichloronitratoaluminate, SCNA, Sodium Trichloroacetatoaluminate, SCAA, Sodium Trichloroazidoaluminate, SCAZA produced tri ionic aluminate complexes. They easily synthesized in a nearly quantitative yield using by direct reaction of AlCl3 with relative ligands. These compounds were characterized by IR, UV/Visible and Mass techniques. Concerning the molecular structure of the compound, the AL(III) cation (2S2,2P66) with four sp3 hybrided orbitals can form stable hero complex with two kind coordinating atoms, 3Cl , X atoms can be coordinated to the (AL) ion. The AL and Cl ,X atoms and the title ligand are disordered. Suggestion structural distortions away from the idealized C3V geometry. The antibacterial activities of synthesized compounds were studied against the four Gram-positive bacteria: Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis, also against the two Gram negative bacteria: Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


This dissertation investigates the act of writing and the role of intertextuality inadolescent subject formation as it is depicted in Young Adult narratives. Focusing on the postmodern elements in contemporary coming-of-age narratives, such as the prevalence of intertextuality, the elaboration on social constructionism, and the complexity of social relativity, I argue that moving into the Lacanian symbolic order necessitates active communication with the realm of the social, only achieved through a reliance on the textual. In my analysis, I focus primarily on texts where self-writing, reference, pastiche, parody, and bricolage simultaneously emphasize but also attempt to assuage the disorienting effects of the current, fragmented, postmodern cultural landscape.This dissertation accounts for the contention of many developmental theoristswho posit that the processes associated with coming-of-age today are more complex than perhaps ever before as a consequence of postmodernism as a social phenomenon. Because these processes associated with coming into adulthood differ for male and female protagonists in Young Adult literature, chapter one focuses on female protagonists who grapple with and/or resist normative prescriptions of womanhood through selfwriting while chapter two analyzes intertextuality in regard to masculine shame and subject formation. Chapter three discusses the pervasive thematic of death in YA literature and the relationship between representations of death and changing notions of selfhood in regard to the body. Lastly, the fourth and final chapter focuses on posthumanism and technofuturism in coming-of-age narratives where technology, by way of social network culture and mass media, complicates notions of selfhood and points toward the necessity for redefining coming into adulthood in our current, networked culture. The texts discussed in chapter four illustrate palpable anxieties pertaining to a loss of agency as a result of being inscribed by mass media. As a result, this dissertation concludes by emphasizing that what it means to come-of-age is drastically changing in the digital age. The anxiety stemming from changing conceptualizations of the self in chapter four speaks to the necessity to reconfigure how we think about the self in our current networked culture.


The expansion curves during the procedure of continuous cooling which high vanadium high speed steel (HSS) was tempered with 250°C, 550°C and 600°C after 1050°C quenching were determined by the Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation test device, and the curves were analyzed subsequently. The hardness and microstructure of high vanadium HSS under different tempering temperatures were analyzed by means of SEM, TEM and X-ray diffraction, and the influence of tempering temperature on the hardness and retained austenite were discussed. At the same time, the wear resistance of the material at different tempering temperatures was studied by the HST-100 friction wear testing machine, and the influence of microstructure on wear resistance was analyzed further. The studies show that the structures are not transformed at 250°C tempering with cooling rate of 0.5°C/s; The retained austenite transformed to martensite at about 390°C when 550°C and 600°C tempering. Wear test shows that the abrasive wear performance is excellent with 550°C tempering after 1050°C quenching because of the decrease of the amount of retained austenite, therefore the heat treatment of 550°C tempering after quenching of high vanadium HSS is optimal.


Chatter vibration decreases machining accuracy and thus presents a problem in manufacturing. In order to eliminate chatter vibration based on the estimation of stable cutting conditions from a stability limit diagram and to determine the cutting conditions accordingly has been proposed. However, changing the cutting conditions may lead to a decrease in productivity. The stability limit is estimated from the relationship between machine rigidity and the cutting conditions.
 In the present study, we proposed a system to avoid chatter vibration by changing the rigidity of the machine tool. We developed the desktop machine tool that can change its rigidity by varying the preload of a brace bar attached to the frame. In order to clarify the relationship between the chatter vibration and the rigidity of the desktop machine tool, the stability limit of the desktop machine tool was determined by conducting machining tests and comparing the results with a simulated stable limit diagram. We then investigated the frequency response function within the simulation. The results showed that the transition of the stability limit can be accomplished by changing the rigidity of the desktop machine tool, and indicate that chatter vibration can be avoided by simulation.


This paper presents the results of a research project (Projeto Fapesp Programa Ensino Publico, processo 97/02563-8, "Melhoria do Conforto Ambiental em Edificacőes Escolares Estaduais de Campinas/SP") conducted in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Many international and local studies exist which have evaluated the learning environment with different goals in mind. This study was undertaken to analyze comfort conditions of schools and develop ideas and simple solutions to common problems. Many studies exist showing a relationship between the physical comfort conditions in schools and how they affect the learning capacity of students (GIFFORD, 1997 and YANNAS, 1995). Comfort conditions can affect attention span of students, speech comprehension and legibility of information presented. Spatial configuration and dimensions can inhibit the development of activities deemed to be positive for learning. All environmental conditions therefore play a role in the learning environment and should be optimized as to the quality of comfort they provide.


ABSTRACT Cellular angiofibroma is a benign mesenchymal tumor most commonly located in the distal genital tract of both men and women. Although extragenital locations have been reported rarely, this is the first report of cellular angiofibroma of the orbit. A 58-year-old man presented with a mass in the left superomedial orbit since 2 years. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a well-demarcated lesion with a homogeneous intermediate signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted images, homogeneous contrast enhancement and high signal intensity on diffusion-weighted images. Complete excision was performed through a medial upper eyelid crease incision. Histopathology showed a vascular CD34-positive and STAT6-negative spindle cell tumor with monoallelic loss of FOXO1, indicating cellular angiofibroma.


During one year from November 1990 to October 1991, 1005 patients of hemorrhoids visited VGH-Kaohsiung. Among different treatments of hemorrhoid, rubber band ligation was most commonly used, with which 66% patients were treated. The follow-up at least one month in duration, discovered much improvement with this ligation in patients symptoms such as prolapse, anal bleeding and anal soiling, etc. The success rate reached higher than 90% for the first, second and third degree of hemorrhoids. About one third of 4th degree hemorrhoid got improved after ligation of their internal hemorrhoids. Except for pain feeling in the anus, the occurrence rate of other complications such as hemorrhage, anal thrombosis, constipation or dysuria was very low. With the exception of hemorrhoid of 4th degree or with large skin tag, this simple and highly successful management is the first choice for the treatment of hemorrhoids.


Fouling indices have been extensively investigated in membrane applications, for evaluating the feed-water fouling potential and providing guidelines for the pretreatment process. For the past few decades, the silt density index (SDI) has been adopted as the most mature fouling index in many seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants. Recently, a modified fouling index (MFI) has gained attention since it compensates for the defects of the SDI. Its publication by ASTM Standard promoted more settlements in practical applications. To gain insight into the use of a membrane-fouling index, this paper reviewed SDI and MFI applications in laboratory-, pilot-, and plant-scale verifications, under conditions likely to be encountered in seawater desalination. The main focus was on the historical development of the fouling indices from theoretical basis to full-scale applications and the identification of future opportunities to expand their reliability in real applications. In particular, the practical implications associated with plant operation were documented to support an in-depth understanding of the MFI values.


The goal of this paper is to construct a general class of operators which has
 known Baskakov-Schurer-Szasz that preserving constant and e2ax, a > 0
 functions. Also, we demonstrate the fact that for these operators, moments
 can be obtained using the concept of moment generating function.
 Furthermore, we investigate a uniform convergence result and a quantitative
 estimate in consideration of given operator, as well. Finally, we discuss
 the convergence of corresponding sequences in exponential weighted spaces
 and make a comparison about which one approximates better between classical
 Baskakov-Schurer-Szasz operators and the recent sequence, too.


The main purpose of this study, carried out in 1995, was to determine, using available sources, the cost of peripheral arterial obliterative disease (PAOD) in France over a 1-year period. This cost-of-illness study was based on a retrospective analysis of the available literature and databases. It involved a description of epidemiological data and a cost estimate of the different medical resources consumed over 1 year. For this latter purpose, a payer perspective was chosen. Data were extracted from national representative surveys and databases with respect to morbidity and mortality [from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale; INSERM) and the National Sickness Insurance Fund for Salaried People (Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés; CNAMTS)], consultations, examination tests and drug prescriptions [from the French Medical Audit conducted by Intercontinental Medical Statistics (IMS)], hospitalisations [from the Statistical Unit of the Department of Health-Service des Statistiques, des Etudes et des Systemes d'Information (SESI) and the National Public Research Centre in Health Economics (Centre de Recherche d'Etude et de Documentation en Economie de la Santé; CREDES)] and related health expenditure from CNAMTS. In France, the prevalence of stage II PAOD (Leriche and Fontaine classification) in 1992 was estimated to be 675,000; 53% of these patients had undergone vascular or bypass surgery. The total annual cost of healthcare (including consultations, drugs, laboratory tests, hospitalisation and hydrotherapy) for the management of patients with PAOD ranged from 3.9 billion French francs (F) to F4.6 billion (1995 values), depending on the type of hospital considered. 50% of this cost was related to hospitalisations and 75% was covered by the CNAMTS. Although this study was only a partial evaluation and did not take into account indirect costs or nonmedical direct costs, such as transport and care by healthcare assistants and paramedics, these results may help to establish public health priorities and modify clinical practice to favour an earlier diagnosis of PAOD.


This is the main portal to databases and other library sources for dance research at Van Wylen Library, Hope College.


The balance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their natural inhibitors, the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), plays a critical role in cardiac remodeling. Although a number of studies have characterized the pathophysiological role of MMPs in the heart, very little is known with respect to the role of TIMPs in the heart. To delineate the role of TIMPs in the heart we examined the effects of adenovirus-mediated overexpression of TIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4 in cardiac fibroblasts. Infection of cardiac fibroblasts with adenoviral constructs containing human recombinant TIMP (AdTIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4) provoked a significant (P < 0.0001) 1.3-fold in increase in bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation. Similarly, treatment of cardiac fibroblasts with AdTIMP-1-, -2-, -3-, and -4-conditioned medium led to a 1.2-fold increase in BrdU incorporation (P < 0.0001) that was abolished by pretreatment with anti-TIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4 antibodies. The effects of TIMPs were not mimicked by treating the cells with RS-130830, a broad-based MMP inhibitor, suggesting that the effects of TIMPs were independent of their ability to inhibit MMPs. Infection with AdTIMP-1, -2, -3, and -4 led to a significant increase in alpha-smooth muscle actin staining, consistent with TIMP-induced phenotypic differentiation into myofibroblasts. Finally, infection with AdTIMP-2 resulted in a significant increase in collagen synthesis, whereas infection with AdTIMP-3 resulted in a significant increase in fibroblast apoptosis. TIMPs exert overlapping as well as diverse effects on isolated cardiac fibroblasts. The observation that TIMPs stimulate fibroblast proliferation as well as phenotypic differentiation into myofibroblasts suggests that TIMPs may play an important role in tissue repair in the heart that extends beyond their traditional role as MMP inhibitors.


Toll-like receptors (TLRs), type I integral membrane receptors, recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). PAMP recognition occurs via the N-terminal ectodomain (ECD) which initiates an inflammatory response that is mediated by the C-terminal cytosolic signaling domain. To understand the molecular basis of PAMP recognition, we have begun to define TLR—ECD structurally. We have solved the structure of TLR3-ECD, which recognizes dsRNA, a PAMP associated with viral pathogens. TLR3-ECD is a horseshoe-shaped solenoid composed of 23 leucine-rich repeats (LRRs). The regular LRR surface is disrupted by two insertions at LRR12 and LRR20 and 11 N-linked carbohydrates. Of note, one side of the ECD is carbohydrate-free and could form an interaction interface. We have shown that TLR3-ECD binds directly to pI:pC, a synthetic dsRNA ligand, but not to p(dI):p(dC). Without a TLR3—dsRNA complex structure, we can only speculate how ligand binds. Analysis of the unliganded structure reveals two patches of basic residues and two binding sites for phosphate backbone mimics, sulfate ions, that may be capable of recognizing ligand. Mutational and co-crystallization studies are currently underway to determine how TLR3 binds its ligand at the molecular level.


The Virtual Telescopes in Education (VTIE) project, is providing tools for teaching astronomy in K-12 classrooms using remotely controlled telescopes. VTIE's main goal is to promote scientific literacy, including a conceptual understanding of the physical world and the scientific process itself. This paper describes an essential component of VTIE: the scientific investigation system for telescopes in education research (SISTER). Students are aided in the preparation of their observing proposal by a glossary tool for dynamically inducing hyperlinks tailored to a student's reading level, a proposal generation interface to guide them through the process of formulating a scientific question, and a paper writing tool to report the results of the analysis of the data. In this paper we present the architecture and methodology for SISTER.


BackgroundAnterior table frontal sinus fractures accompanied by nasofrontal duct injury require surgical correction. Extracranial approaches for anterior table osteotomies have traditionally used plain radiograph templates or a "cut-as-you-go" technique. We compared these methods with a newer technique utilizing computed tomography (CT)–guided imaging. MethodsData of patients with acute, traumatic anterior table frontal sinus fractures and nasofrontal duct injury between 2009 and 2013 were reviewed (n = 29). Treatment groups compared were as follows: (1) CT image guidance, (2) plain radiograph template, and (3) cut-as-you-go. Frontal sinus obliteration was performed in all cases. Demographics, operative times, length of stay, complications, and osteotomy accuracy were recorded. ResultsSimilar demographics, concomitant injuries, operative times, and length of stay among groups were noted. No patients in the CT-guided group had perioperative complications including intraoperative injury of the dura, cerebrum, or orbital structures. In the plain radiograph template group, 25% of patients had inadvertent dural exposure, and 12.5% required take-back to the operating room for cranial bone graft donor site hematoma. In the cut-as-you-go group, 11% required hardware removal for exposure. There were no cases of cerebrospinal fluid leak, meningitis, or mucocele in any group (follow-up, 29.2 months). The CT image guidance group had the most accuracy of the osteotomies (95%) compared with plain radiograph template (85%) and the cut-as-you-go group (72.5%). ConclusionsA new technique using CT image guidance for traumatic frontal sinus fractures repair offers more accurate osteotomy and elevation of the anterior table without increased operative times or untoward sequelae.


This paper reformulates a time-discontinuous finite element method (TD-FEM) based on a new class of shape functions, called complex Fourier hereafter, for solving two-dimensional elastodynamic problems. These shape functions, which are derived from their corresponding radial basis functions, have some advantages such as the satisfaction of exponential and trigonometric function fields in complex space as well as the polynomial ones simultaneously, that make them a better choice than classic Lagrange shape functions, which only can satisfy polynomial function field. To investigate the validity and accuracy of the proposed method, three numerical examples are provided and the results obtained from the present method (complex Fourier-based TD-FEM) and the classic Lagrange-based TD-FEM are compared with the exact analytical solutions. According to them, using complex Fourier functions in TD-FEM leads to more accurate and stable solutions rather than those obtained from the classic TD-FEM.


Why nematodes? Soil provides many ecological services essential for agriculture. Some services, such as soil mixing and the recycling of nutrients, are supplanted by farming practices. Other services, such as biodegrading pesticides and impeding nitrate leaching, are difficult to mimic so farmers rely on natural soil processes. The quality and 'health' of a soil can be evaluated by measuring variables reflecting the service, e.g. plant-available N, rates of decomposition, nitrate levels in groundwater, or by taking stock of the soil organisms that collaborate to provide the service. Microbes, particularly bacteria, are the life forms most responsible for mineralization, decomposition, regulation of noxious organisms, and immobilization of nutrients destined for groundwater, but they are difficult to capture and even more challenging to quantify. Larger life forms, such as beetles and earthworms, are relatively easy to study and their population dynamics may track that of microbes, but only loosely since they do not rely on microbes for their diet. The search for easy-to-study organisms with activities and abundance reflective of microbial communities led ecologists to nematodes, a most diverse and successful phylum only one step above microbes in the soil food chain and represented in every soil on earth.


"Academy Journal" is an international, peer-reviewed monthly journal. It is devoted to the publication of original scientific research articles dealing with various academic disciplines.Articles that may be of interest to a wide range of researchers are welcome, and not limited to those who work on specific research subjects."Academy Journal" has an open archive, according to which published articles are available immediately after publication, excluding embargoes.Expert reviewThere is one blind verification process in the journal. All articles will be initially evaluated by the editor for compliance with the journal. Manuscripts that are considered appropriate are then usually sent to at least two independent peer reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the article. The editor is responsible for the final decision on whether to accept or reject the article. The editor's decision is final.The main criterion used in assessing the manuscript submitted to the journal is: uniqueness or innovation in the work from the point of view of the methodology being developed and / or its application to a problem of particular importance in the public sector or service sector and / or the setting in which the efforts, for example, in the developing region of the world. That is, the very model / methodology, application and context of problems, at least one of them must be unique and important.Additional criteria considered in the consideration of the submitted document are its accuracy, organization / presentation (ie logical flow) and recording quality.


This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of adding encapsulated-glucose, glucose, sorbic acid or pre-fermented juice of epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (FJLB) on the fermentation quality and residual mono- and disaccharide composition of Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam) silages. The additive treatments were as follows: (1) control (no addition), (2) encapsulated-glucose addition at 0.5% for glucose, (3) glucose addition at 1%, (4) sorbic acid addition at 0.1%, (5) FJLB addition at a theoretical application rate of 2.67x10 5 CFU (colony forming unit) g -1 , on a fresh weight basis of Italian ryegrass. Although control and encapsulated-glucose treatments had higher contents of butyric acid (33.45, 21.50 g kg -1 DM) and ammonia-N/Total nitrogen (114.91, 87.01 g kg -1 ) as compared with the other treated silages, the fermentation in all silages was clearly dominated by lactic acid. This was well indicated by the low pH (4.38-3.59), and high lactic acid/acetic acid (4.39-22.97) and lactic acid content (46.85-121.76 g kg -1 DM). Encapsulated-0.5% glucose and glucose addition increased lactic acid/acetic acid, and significantly (p<0.05) decreased ammonia-N/total nitrogen, and the contents of butyric acid and total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) as compared with the control. However, there were higher butyric acid and lower residual mono-and di-saccharides on the two treatments as compared with sorbic acid and FJLB addition, and their utilization efficiency of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) was lower than that of both sorbic acid and FJLB additions. Sorbic acid addition showed the lowest content of ethanol and ammonia-N/total nitrogen, and the highest content of residual fructose and total mono-and disaccharides as well as the higher lactic acid/acetic acid value. Sorbic acid addition decreased the loss of mono-and disaccharides, and inhibited the activity of clostridial and other undesirable bacteria, and greatly increased the utilization efficiency of fermentable substrates by epiphytic LAB. FJLB addition had the lowest pH value and the highest lactic acid content among all additive treatments, with the most intensive lactic acid fermentation occurring in FJLB treated silage. This resulted in the faster accumulation of lactic acid and faster pH reduction. Sorbic acid and FJLB addition depressed clostridia or other undesirable bacterial fermentation which decreased the WSC loss and saved the fermentable substrate for lactic acid fermentation.


This paper deals with selection of appropriate indexing technique applied on MySQL Database for a health care system and related performance issues using multiclass support vector machine (SVM). The patient database is generally huge and contains lot of variations. For the quick search or fast retrieval of the desired information from the database, it becomes exigent to select and implement the appropriate indexing technique. Multiclass SVM is proposed to be the optimal solution as SVM could be trained with patient datasets to select the appropriate indexing method in the database of MySQL. B-Tree index is directly applied in most of the cases but other indexing techniques such as Bitmap and Hash are also used as per requirement. Using SVM, corresponding to the given search parameter for information, retrieval of information from the patient database results in quick retrieval of required information in the minimum processing time. Various SVM based methods like one against one, one against all, and fuzzy decision function are implemented for classification on standard electrocardiogram (ECG) datasets chosen from the University of California at Irvine (UCI) Cardiac Arrhythmias database. Suitable SVM method to be used is highlighted in the result section. Depending upon different feature values of ECG dataset, the SVM is trained to identify which categories or classes the given data points belong to. In the similar way appropriate indexing techniques will be selected in the case of health care system application by using multiclass SVM for fast retrieval of patient data. If the findings are made an integral part of the hospital system it could facilitate quick and easy retrieval of patient information, doctor information, hospital information etc. from any hospital as per the requirement. Health care system applications will be developed as front end in .Net whereas, back end as database in MySQL.

International Journal of Engineering, Science and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 6, 2010, pp. 119-130


ABSTRACT A desire to 'return' or 'pay back' past care has been identified as a potential motivator of support provided by adult children to their ageing parents. The purpose of this study is to examine whether, how and in what ways adult children interpret and apply the concept of delayed reciprocity in filial relationships. Twenty-eight men and women supporting one or both ageing parent(s) in a Western Canadian city participated in a qualitative study of filial responsibility. Data were analysed interpretively, using thematic coding, contextualised reflection and guiding questions. Findings suggest delayed reciprocity is limited as an interpretive framework for describing parent support. Overall, comments reflected qualification or rejection of 'paying back' in the sense of a filial contract. Delayed reciprocity appears for most participants to symbolise imbalance, expectedness or obligation, and a lack of affection. In response, participants tended to reject delayed reciprocity in favour of interpretations emphasising mutuality, family role duties and reciprocated love. Findings are discussed in relation to interpretive purposes, symbolic meanings of parent support, participant characteristics and cultural contexts.


This paper analyses the impact of trade liberalization on local labour markets in Ethiopia, with a focus on the gender dimension of employment. By exploiting rich micro-level data on Ethiopian workers, we evaluate the effect of the Ethiopian trade reforms on the changes and composition of employment, adopting as unit of analysis Ethiopian districts. We find that districts more exposed to trade liberalization experienced reductions in their employment levels, especially in female employment. We also show that reductions in (agricultural) input tariffs triggers a process of sectoral reallocation from agriculture to services and that this process is particularly pronounced for women. This in turns contributes to increase sectoral segregation.


Two experiments using a total of seventy-two undergraduate students from General Psychology courses were performed to test the hypothesis that a sex-role difference in performance occurs during two-person conflict situations in which one of the players possesses a distinct advantage as to possible rewards. The conflict situation was accomplished by having two subjects of the same sex play one of six different two-person, non-zero-sum, asymmetrical games. While both subjects thought that they were playing each other, they were in reality playing a pre-established pattern of responses that were relayed to them by the experimenter. This pattern gradually underwent change from being mainly cooperative, to mainly uncooperative. In the first experiment nine pairs of male subjects and nine pairs of female subjects took part in one of three games. The games were constructed so that the subject who played from a row position would always receive a higher payoff. In this experiment both players could determine to some extent the other person's payoff as well as be able to exert some control over their own reward structure. Females, in this experiment, were found to give significantly higher numbers of cooperative responses than males. In the second experiment nine pairs of male subjects and nine pairs of female subjects took part in one of three games that were similar to those used in the first experiment but with the exception that one of the players no longer possessed any control over the amount of payoff that he could receive. In this experiment subjects who possessed no control over their own rewards gave significantly higher numbers of cooperative responses than did their opponents.


Carbon quantum dots (C-dots) are promising fluorescence probes for applications in metal ion detection, biosensing and bioimaging and so on. In this study, water soluble carbon nanodots were synthesized through a simple one-step heat treatment of ethylene glycol solution. In the present preparation, the C-dots may be formed through the hydration, crosslinking and carbonization processes. The synthesized C-dots show a green luminescent emission under ultraviolet excitation, which can be used for the detection of Ag+ ions. Interestingly, in a different way to the usual quenching effects of metal ions on the fluorescence of C-dots, Ag+ exhibited an enhancement effect on the photoluminescence of C-dots, which can be attributed to the reduction of Ag+ to silver nanoclusters (Ag0) on the surface of the C-dots. Based on the linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and concentration of Ag+ ions, the prepared C-dots can be used for sensitive and selective detection of silver ions in environmental water with a limit of detection of 320 nM and a linear range of 0–90 μM.


ABSTRACT Gypsum crystals were grown in experimental conditions analogous to saline terrestrial environments within bentonite clay gels by diffusion control at three different temperatures, four brine salinities, and four tannic acid (a model terrestrial humic substance) concentrations. The resulting crystals correspond to natural gypsum formed in terrestrial environments. Prismatic gypsum typically grew at both high and low temperatures in the absence of the organic additive. With increasing organic acid concentrations, the prismatic crystals progressively became flattened perpendicular to [001], and two temperature-dependent trends developed. At low temperatures, a hemi-bipyramidal habit dominated by 1111 faces developed, whereas the lenticular e103 dominated habit forme at higher temperatures. With progressively greater concentrations of organic material a(100) penetration twinning developed, secondary complex nucleation occurred near the twin interfaces, and finally, rosette and rosette-like aggregates formed. Higher temperatures generally favored better-formed and larger rosettes. The presence of 5% and 15% NaCl greatly decreased nucleation density and resulted in larger single crystals and crystal aggregates. The a(100) penetation twins appear to be diagnostic of gypsum growth in natural terrestrial sediments at a pH greater than 7.5.


A variety of recent papers discuss the application of Shapley values, a concept for explaining coalitional games, for feature attribution in machine learning. However, the correct way to connect a machine learning model to a coalitional game has been a source of controversy. The two main approaches that have been proposed differ in the way that they condition on known features, using either (1) an interventional or (2) an observational conditional expectation. While previous work has argued that one of the two approaches is preferable in general, we argue that the choice is application dependent. Furthermore, we argue that the choice comes down to whether it is desirable to be true to the model or true to the data. We use linear models to investigate this choice. After deriving an efficient method for calculating observational conditional expectation Shapley values for linear models, we investigate how correlation in simulated data impacts the convergence of observational conditional expectation Shapley values. Finally, we present two real data examples that we consider to be representative of possible use cases for feature attribution -- (1) credit risk modeling and (2) biological discovery. We show how a different choice of value function performs better in each scenario, and how possible attributions are impacted by modeling choices.


The authors present three patients with acalculous cholecystitis seen at a tertiary care center in Bangkok. The first patient was explored surgically because peritonitis was suspected. The two other patients were treated conservatively with antibiotics and supportive care, and they recovered fully. The diagnosis of leptospirosis was confirmed by increasing antibody titers in three patients and by blood culture in one patient. Leptospira were not detected in the surgical specimen. Leptospirosis is a systemic disease that can present with a multitude of symptoms and signs including right upper quadrant pain mimicking cholecystitis. A high level of awareness and appropriate laboratory studies should allow early diagnosis and may prevent unnecessary surgical intervention.


In this paper a performance study of the service differentiation mechanism 'stateless wireless adhoc networks (SWAN)', proposed for mobile adhoc networks (MANETs), is first carried out with adhoc on-demand distance vector (AODV), dynamic source routing (DSR) and associativity based routing (ABR) protocols. The paper then investigates any possible performance advantage by making SWAN benefit out of the features of the routing protocol The end-to-end probing mechanism of SWAN is reduced to probing the routing protocol within the source node. The burden of estimating the bottleneck bandwidth is thus passed on to the routing protocol.


A key choice that must be made by a new or young university is that of the selected balance between research and teaching on the continuum of options. We approach this choice from a strategic decision-making perspective, by implementing a game theory approach to analyse the selection process. Three main groups of players were identified: faculty members or academicians, university management members, and board of trustees' members. The decisions of these players were then analysed by the use of a Fuzzy TOPSIS method. Our findings show how, in choosing from the options continuum, the players arrived at equilibria points that best satisfied their collective perspectives as to the required balance, for the purpose of achieving optimal benefit.


The book examines contemporary urban challenges and opportunities within the context of the traditional Malthusian theory. The book reorients the classic Malthusian debate on population and food by focusing on global urbanisation and its consequences for peoples' access to basic means of subsistence. Case studies from both developing and developed countries provide a comprehensive overview of the issues related to availability of food and water in an urban context. The book suggests that the concern for human survival is still relevant and can be exacerbated by rapid urbanisation, and that the negative impacts of urban processes require an increased attention of the international community as we enter the new Sustainable Development Goals era.


While neural network hardware accelerators provide a substantial amount of raw compute throughput, the models deployed on them must be co-designed for the underlying hardware architecture to obtain the optimal system performance. We present a class of computer vision models designed using hardware-aware neural architecture search and customized to run on the Edge TPU, Google's neural network hardware accelerator for low-power, edge devices. For the Edge TPU in Coral devices, these models enable real-time image classification performance while achieving accuracy typically seen only with larger, compute-heavy models running in data centers. On Pixel 4's Edge TPU, these models improve the accuracy-latency tradeoff over existing SoTA mobile models.


Nonequilibrium states of surface composition can be extremely long-lived when polymer chains adsorb competitively. In a model system (polymethylmethacrylate adsorbed from CCl4 onto oxidized silicon previously saturated with polystyrene), it is shown that a weakly adsorbing polymer was sterically pinned to a surface by a more strongly adsorbing polymer. The dynamical evolution of the surface composition was strongly nonexponential in time and non-Arrhenius in temperature; the phenomenology is analogous to bulk glasses. This interpretation offers a new mechanism to explain why weakly adsorbing chains may bind to surfaces, as well as a direction in which to look for a method to release them.


Predation by coyotes (Canis latrans) on domestic sheep is a problem for many livestock producers throughout the United States Intermountain West. We examined whether surgical sterilization of coyote packs would modify their predatory behavior and reduce predation rates on domestic sheep as compared to coyote packs with pups. From June 1997 to December 1997, we gathered baseline information on coyote pack size and movements. In winter 1998, we surgically sterilized and radiocollared members of 5 coyote packs. We also captured and radiocollared members of 6 packs that remained intact (i.e., reproductive). During summer 1998, only 1 sterile pack killed a lamb, while 3 intact packs killed 11 lambs. When only sheep-killing packs were included, sterile packs killed an average of 0.35 lambs/week, while intact packs killed 1.53 lambs/week in 1998. During winter 1999, we monitored 4 sterile and 8 intact packs. In summer 1999, 3 sterile packs killed 3 lambs, while 4 intact packs killed 22 lambs. Considering only sheep-killing packs, sterile packs killed on average 0.38 lambs/week, while intact packs killed an average of 2.95 lambs/week in 1999. Coyotes were more likely to kill lambs that were on the edges of coyote territories as compared to core areas. Lambs of less than average weight were also more likely to be killed by coyotes. The available rodent biomass in each territory was not an influence on the differential kill rates exhibited between sterile and intact packs, nor did the amount of available alternate prey influence annual coyote predation rates on sheep. We conclude that we could use surgical sterilization to modify the predatory behavior of coyotes associated with pup production and provisioning of pups. Sterilization successfully reduced, but did not eliminate, coyote predation on domestic sheep. The amount of losses averted in the first year exceeded the costs associated with surgically sterilizing a coyote pack, which indicates that surgical sterilization could prove beneficial on small-scale livestock operations.


The European Dream is often portrayed as the benign if not benevolent counterpart to the fading American Dream. Yet, as economic historian Joseph Lough shows in this essay, the European and American dreams are linked by more than their shared embrace of free market capitalism. In this essay Professor Lough exposes the darker side of the European Dream, a side first expressed in the 1990s, but now fully revealed in Europe's conflict with Greece. As Professor Lough shows, this dark side of the European Dream was already present at its birth in the 19th century, when GWF Hegel allegorized its birth and diffusion through a story about the Self-Moving Substance that is Subject. This story has received mathematically rigorous validation through convergence theories of today's neoclassical and neoliberal economists. Yet is total domination by this Self-Moving Substance inevitable, much less desirable? Professor Lough shows how Europe could adopt an alternative, more sustainable European Dream to meet today's pressing challenges.


Courses approved for the SF State Studies Social Justice requirement must address social constructions of identity, hierarchy, power, and privilege; community resistance and empowerment; and social justice. The social constructions may be related to variations among humans, including such factors as abilities, ages, cultures, genders, geographic locations, histories, immigration statuses, languages, national and ethnic identities, racializations, religions, sexualities, and socio-economic classes.


Recently, the plate bending analysis has been interpreted in terms of the tensor's components of curvatures and
bending moments by presenting the conceptual perspectives of the Hydrostatic Method of Analysis (HM) and theoretical
formulations that combine the continuum mechanics with the graphical statics analysis, the theory of thin orthotropic and isotropic plates, and the elasticity theory. In pursuance of uncovering a genuine formulation of the plate's flexural differential equations, that possess the general-covariance and coordinates-independency. This study had then, tackled various natural and structural problems in both solid and fluid branches of the continuum mechanics in a description of such theoretical and conceptual attainment in uncovering the dimensional independent diffeomorphism covariant partial differential laws.


The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will be the first ground-based observatory for gamma-ray astronomy. With more than a hundred of 4th generation of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) distributed in two large arrays, CTA will reach unprecedented sensitivity, angular resolution, and spectral coverage.
Three classes of IACT -- 40 Medium-Sized Telescopes (MSTs), 8 Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) and 70 Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs) -- are required to cover the full CTA energy range (20 GeV to 300 TeV).

NectarCAM is a Cherenkov camera which is designed to equip medium sized telescopes of CTA, covering the central energy range from 100 GeV to 30 TeV, with a field of view of 8 degrees. It's based on a modular design with data channels using the NECTAr chip, which are equipped with both GHz sampling Switched Capacitor Array and 12-bit Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). The camera will be equipped of 265 modules, each module consisting of 7 photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) and a Front End Board performing the data capture, sending the data over the Ethernet after the trigger decision at rates up to 10 kHz.

This contribution provides an overview of the status of the first NectarCAM camera currently under integration in Saclay. Furthermore, we will discuss the calibration strategies and present performance results from the Saclay test bench and from the first data taken under a real sky on the prototype of medium sized telescope (MST) structure in Adlershof.


In this paper we study securing mobile code execution by embedding a rule-based security monitor into the mobile code before execution on a platform. A security monitor guards how the mobile code uses resources of the execution platform. We consider that this run-time monitoring approach is more practical than providing a proof of security properties along with the mobile code. Writing execution context related rule-based security policies enables us to be flexible with respect to the restrictions we wish to impose on the mobile code. In our opinion, establishing an authority for certifying the safety of mobile code is too inflexible, since depending on the situation the user might temporarily want to tighten the restrictions. We describe our language for expressing rule-based security policies and show how those policies can be translated into aspects, which together form a run-time security monitor. In practice, we translate our policy expression to AspectJ with our MPLc compiler and only consider embedding a run-time monitor into Java applications.


The influence of beta-adrenoceptor-blockade on skeletal muscle was studied in ten healthy males with propranolol, atenolol and pindolol randomly given for 8 days each in a cross-over double blind test. After 7 days on each drug, muscle function was tested by an isokinetic dynamometer. Thermogenesis in biopsy samples taken from vastus lateralis muscle after a low grade exercise was studied after 8 days on each drug by direct calorimetry with a perfusion microcalorimeter. Before drug administration, a median heat production rate of 0.67 mW/g of muscle was measured. This value was significantly reduced by 25% during propranolol, but no significant change was found during atenolol or pindolol administration. Peak torque decline during isokinetic endurance test changed significantly in knee flexor but not in extensor muscles, from 15% to 27% after propranolol and from 15% to 23% after pindolol. Maximum dynamic strength was unaltered. Our data suggest that blockade of sympathetic beta 2-receptors decreases thermogenesis in human skeletal muscle and impairs isokinetic endurance.


The meteorological satellite program began in the United States as the result of the actions taken by a very small but dedicated group of people from the late 1940s to 1960. This paper provides firsthand accounts by two of these dedicated individuals. Their remarks provide an insight into the trials and tribulations they and the program encountered during these very early years. Those now active in the program, many of whom do not recall this time, might appreciate the effort of these pioneers and the legacy they left for us.


Summary 1. Species immigration is vital for the success of restoring degraded ecosystems, but the effectiveness of enhancing dispersal following restoration is seldom evaluated. Running water is an important vector for plant dispersal. Frequency and duration of floods and channel-network complexity are important factors influencing propagule dispersal. In Sweden, these functions have been modified by channelization to facilitate timber floating, thus hampering emigration and immigration of riparian propagules. 2. During the last 10‐20 years, affected watercourses have been restored by removing barriers and replacing boulders into channels. This is hypothesized to facilitate retention of water-dispersed propagules. We studied the efficiency of propagule retention following restoration by releasing propagule mimics and by placing propagule traps in the riparian zone. 3. Retention of propagule mimics was highest in sites restored with boulders and large wood. Retention occurred at both high and low flows but was most efficient during low flows when mimics were trapped by boulders and wood. Waterborne propagules ending up at such sites are unlikely to establish unless they can reach the riparian zone later. At high flows, floating propagules are more likely to reach riparian areas suitable for establishment. According to propagule traps placed at various levels of the riparian zone, deposition of plant propagules and sediments did not increase in restored sites. 4. Synthesis and applications. Our study not only demonstrates that restoration of channel complexity through replacement of boulders and wood can enhance retention of plant propagules, but also it highlights the importance of understanding how restoration effects vary with flow. Most streams are restored to function optimally during median or average flows, whereas communities often are controlled by ecological processes acting during extreme flow events. We advocate that stream restoration should be designed for optimal function during those discharges under which the ecological processes in question are most important, which in this case is, during high flow.


We have previously shown that an HIV vaccine regimen including three HIV-DNA immunizations and a single HIV-modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) boost was safe and highly immunogenic in Swedish volunteers. A median 38 months after the first HIV-MVA vaccination, 24 volunteers received 10(8) plaque-forming units of HIV-MVA. The vaccine was well tolerated. Two weeks after this HIV-MVA vaccination, 18 (82%) of 22 evaluable vaccinees were interferon (IFN)-γ enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) reactive: 18 to Gag and 10 (45%) to Env. A median minimal epitope count of 4 to Gag or Env was found in a subset of 10 vaccinees. Intracellular cytokine staining revealed CD4(+) and/or CD8(+) T cell responses in 23 (95%) of 24 vaccinees, 19 to Gag and 19 to Env. The frequency of HIV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses was equally high (75%). A high proportion of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses to Gag was polyfunctional with production of three or more cytokines (40% and 60%, respectively). Of the Env-specific CD4(+) T cells 40% were polyfunctional. Strong lymphoproliferative responses to Aldrithiol-2 (AT-2)-treated subtype A, B, C, and A_E virus were demonstrable in 21 (95%) of 22 vaccinees. All vaccinees developed binding antibodies to Env and Gag. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in a peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-based assay against subtype B and CRF01_AE viruses. The neutralizing antibody response rates were influenced by the vaccine dose and/or mode of delivery used at the previous HIV-MVA vaccination. Thus, a second late HIV-MVA boost induced strong and broad cellular immune responses and improved antibody responses. The data support further exploration of this vaccine concept.


Chitosan has potential biomedical applications that may require the final products to be sterilized before use. The γ irradiation of purified and highly deacetylated chitosan fibers and films at sterilizing doses (up to 25 kGy) caused main chain scissions. The viscosity average molecular weight of the polymer decreased with increasing irradiation dose, the radiation yields of scission being 1.16 in air and 1.53 in anoxia. Preirradiation application of a negative pressure of 100 kPa disrupted the network structure, which may have contributed to the greater radiation yield obtained by chitosan fibers in anoxia. Radiation induced scission of the chitosan chains resulted in a lower glass transition temperature (Tg), indicative of higher segmental mobility. The Tg was below ambient at an irradiation dose of 25 kGy in air. Irradiation in air improved the tensile strength of the chitosan film, probably due to changes in chain interaction and rearrangement. Irradiation in anoxia did not affect film properties significantly, partly because the preirradiation application of negative pressure had a negligible effect on the structure of the chitosan film. Polymer network structure and the irradiation conditions are therefore important determinants of the extent of radiation induced reactions in chitosan. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res (Appl Biomater) 43: 282–290, 1998


In this study, we have examined the convective flow boiling performance of R-134a on various micro-structured aluminum surfaces produced using advanced manufacturing techniques. More specifically, we have calculated the boiling heat transfer coefficient of R-134a on a bare aluminum surface and three micro-structurally enhanced surfaces. Two of these surfaces were produced using photolithography and reactive ion etching techniques, and the third surface was produced by means of laser-ablation. Experiments were performed in a conventional two-phase, single-pass loop which allowed for heat transfer and pressure drop measurements over a range of inlet qualities with only small quality changes occurring in the test section. There was also optical access to the test specimen to permit flow visualization. To begin, both single-phase and two-phase flow experiments were performed on the bare aluminum surface to compare these baseline results with data found in the literature. Once baseline testing and validation were complete, the sample was exchanged and the three micro-structured surfaces were then each subsequently tested. The temperature and pressure of the refrigerant were measured at stations in the flow upstream and downstream of the test section, and the temperature of the test surface was measured using five T-type thermocouples in contact with the sample. The evaporation of the refrigerant was driven by thin ceramic heaters in contact with the underside of the test samples. The pressure, temperature, and quality within the test section were prescribed using an upstream heat exchanger, and the mass flow rate of the refrigerant was controlled using a magnetic gear pump and measured using a positive displacement flow meter. Experiments were performed for mass fluxes between 75 and 600 kg/m 2 s and for heat fluxes between 5 and 25 kW/m 2 .


We investigate whether 52-week high stock prices serves as reference points for analyst recommendation revisions. We find that analysts are more likely to downgrade stocks when the prices approach the 52-week high levels. This anchoring effect is stronger for stock with higher information asymmetry but moderated by analysts' reputation, work experience, and educational background. We also find that a strategy that takes long positions in stocks approaching 52-week high generates positive returns, and a strategy that shorts stocks with recommendation downgrades is less profitable for the downgrades near 52-week high than for other downgrades. Moreover, the downgraded firms with prices near 52-week high subsequently experience less negative earnings forecast revisions, compared with other downgraded firms. Collectively, our results indicate that downgrades near 52-week high are partially attributable to anchoring heuristic and less informative. Overall, our paper provides new evidence on the determinants of analyst recommendation revisions from a behavioral perspective.


The project Material Evidence in Incunabula was introduced to the United States by Cristina Dondi in her Kristeller Lecture at Columbia University in New York in April 2009, and developed in Europe from 2009 onward. The growth of United States' involvement in MEI is traced, from the first regular contributions by United States institutions in 2012 through the current status, with more than a dozen institutions contributing. There are some 70 US libraries holding 100 or more copies, and nearly 200 collections holding 20 or more copies. Involving many of these institutions in MEI would not only enhance the provenance database, but also stimulate activity in those institutions with a focus on the history of early printing in the 15th century and on the cultural heritage shared with Europe. Various possibilities for moving forward with MEI in the United States are discussed.


Petrophysics is a pivotal discipline that bridges engineering and geosciences for reservoir characterization and development. New sensor technologies have enabled real-time streaming of large-volume, multi-scale, and high-dimensional petrophysical data into our databases. Petrophysical data types are extremely diverse, and include numeric curves, arrays, waveforms, images, maps, 3-D volumes, and texts. All data can be indexed with depth (continuous or discrete) or time. Petrophysical data exhibits all the "7V" characteristics of big data, i.e., volume, velocity, variety, variability, veracity, visualization, and value. This paper will give an overview of both theories and applications of machine learning methods as applicable to petrophysical big data analysis.
 Recent publications indicate that petrophysical data-driven analytics (PDDA) has been emerging as an active sub-discipline of petrophysics. Field examples from the petrophysics literature will be used to illustrate the advantages of machine learning in the following technical areas: (1) Geological facies classification or petrophysical rock typing; (2) Seismic rock properties or rock physics modeling; (3) Petrophysical/geochemical/geomechanical properties prediction; (3) Fast physical modeling of logging tools; (4) Well and reservoir surveillance; (6) Automated data quality control; (7) Pseudo data generation; and (8) Logging or coring operation guidance.
 The paper will also review the major challenges that need to be overcome before the potentially game-changing value of machine learning for petrophysics discipline can be realized. First, a robust theoretical foundation to support the application of machine leaning to petrophysical interpretation should be established; second, the utility of existing machine learning algorithms must be evaluated and tested in different petrophysical tasks with different data scenarios; third, procedures to control the quality of data used in machine leaning algorithms need to be implemented and the associated uncertainties need to be appropriately addressed. The paper will outlook the future opportunities of enabling advanced data analytics to solve challenging oilfield problems in the era of the 4th industrial revolution (IR4.0).


A trial is described in which patients going into labour were randomly allocated to treatment with either Andursil or Magnesium Trisilicate Co. Following delivery of the baby the stomach is emptied and the volume and pH are measured. Table 5 summarizes the results of 1106 patients. Andursil was found to be more palatable by patients than was Magnesium Trisilicate Co, but the incidence of nausea and vomiting was similar in the two groups.


Over the last twenty years there has been a deep concentration process in the Pension Fund Manager (AFPs) industry in Chile (from 21 firms in 1994 to only 6 in 2012). A major concern with the concentration of this industry is that firms might be able to exercise market power. However, significant efficiency gains could result from this concentration process, especially if there are economies of scale present in the industry. The welfare effect of a merger is, therefore, ambiguous. In this paper we estimate the welfare implications of a merger between two medium-sized AFPs in Chile. For this purpose, we estimate the size of the economies of scale in this industry and use the results to simulate the merger using a simple imperfect competition model. The estimations, based on quarterly financial information for the last 8 years of the Chilean Pension Funds system, show robustly the presence of significant economies of scale in operating costs. The merger simulation indicates that despite the cost savings, the merger would induce a small price increase. This effect reduces consumer welfare, but aggregate welfare increases because of the efficiency gains from the economies of scale. Since aggregate elasticity in this industry is zero (because affiliation is compulsory), the price increase does not generate any efficiency loss.


Urban planning has, in its rich history, often been reviewed from the perspective of different philosophical, ideological and methodological approaches by planners, architects and social scientists. In this paper, we aim to highlight the debate on urban planning in the context of planning history and to address some of the most fascinating questions asked in the urban planning literature. We focus on 7 FAQs in urban planning, while we address 7 differently given answers for each question. Therefore, our tree-like exercise consists of 7x7=49 different approaches to urban planning. Our questions are derived from planning theory and practice, planning methodology and techniques, urban development, urban management and urban future. The paper will be concluded with a speculative agenda for the future of urban planning.


The FUT2 gene encodes the enzyme alpha (1,2) fucosyltransferase, which determines expression of blood-group antigens on mucosal epithelial cell surfaces and in secretions. Homozygotes for a specific stop mutation in FUT2 (nonsecretors) cannot produce this enzyme and thus are unable to express blood group antigens. Nonsecretor status is associated with a decreased risk of several respiratory viral infections. By use of molecular genotyping, 2 populations of Senegalese women were examined for polymorphisms of the FUT2 gene. Among Senegalese commercial sex workers, absence of FUT2 (nonsecretor genotype) was associated with reduced risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 infection (odds ratio [OR] adjusted for cervical and vaginal infection, 0.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.04-0.90) and HIV-2 infection (adjusted OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.13-1.39), although the latter was not statistically significant. Modification of cell surface carbohydrates at mucosal surfaces determined by the FUT2 gene may underlie the protective association against heterosexual HIV infection.


The continuous growth in the range of the present electronics is guided by the progress of devices that are used for locating air objects, which "show'' their position by emitting a very short electronic impulse of the order of a few nanoseconds. Owing to the specification of the effect, one of the best circuits that help to determine the object's location is the microwave phase discriminator. This work presents a general principle of a classic functioning version of the discriminator with ring detectors. A newer version of the discriminator that is characterized by symmetry in structure, lower level of phase detection's errors and operation in a wider frequency band (than a classic version) was also proposed.


Pesticides are an integral part of modern life used to prevent growth of unwanted living  organisms. Despite the fact that scientific statements coming from many toxicological works provide indication on the low risk of the pesticides and their residues, the community especially last years is deeply concerned about massive application of pesticides in diverse fields. Therefore evaluation of hazard risks particularly in long term perspective is very important. In the fact there are at least two clearly different approaches for evaluation of pesticide using: the first one is defined as an objective or probabilistic risk assessment, while the second one is the potential economic and agriculture benefits. Therefore, in this review the author has considered scientifically based assessment of positive and negative effects of pesticide application and discusses possible approaches to find balance between them.


INTRODUCTION
In cancer patients with painful vertebral fractures due to spinal metastasis, traditional pain-relieving therapies include analgesics, bed rest, steroids, radio-ther-apy, etc. These treatment modalities are often ineffective. Traditional spinal surgery in general anaesthesia is usually not an option in patients with advanced cancer and in a poor general condition. Percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP) has been reported as a minimally invasive treatment option with apparent rapid pain relief compared with other conventional treatment options. The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of PVP in patients with malignant spinal lesions.

METHODS
From the National Danish Surgical Spine Database, DaneSpine, 30 consecutive cancer patients with vertebral fractures who underwent PVP from 2013 to 2017 were identified. From DaneSpine, the European Quality of Life - 5 Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores were collected pre- and post-operatively. Data on the incidence of complications and poly-methyl methacrylate leaks were obtained by review of medical records and plain post-operative X-rays.

RESULTS
The mean improvement in EQ-5D scores from baseline was 0.30 (p < 0.01) after three months, and 0.25 (p = 0.01) after one year. The ODI improved from 44.1 to 23.3 (p < 0.01). Despite a cement leakage rate of 14.8%, no patients presented with any clinically significant symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS
PVP is a safe procedure providing a statistically significant and clinically relevant improvement in quality of life and function of patients with cancer-related vertebral compression fractures. Our findings may provide useful information to healthcare professionals who are treating cancer.

FUNDING
none.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
not relevant.


Graphene Oxide (GO) is analogous to graphene with oxygen moieties. It offers several advantages over graphene, such as a tunable band-gap, facile synthesis and no use of metal catalysts. Due to the monolayer configuration of GO, all of its carbon atoms are readily exposed to the atmosphere and are sensitive to surface perturbations, thus making GO very suitable for liquid-gated field effect transistor (FET) type sensing applications. However, there are two main limitations preventing GO usage in practical FET sensors. It displays (1) variable coverage between fabricated chips and (2) high electrical resistance. In this paper, we overcome these two limitations by using a facile atmospheric-pressure ethanol Chemical Vapor Deposition treatment on top of pre-coated GO (ECVDGO) which decreases the electrical resistivity from 1.99 × 106 Ω square−1 to 4.68 × 103 Ω square−1, and resistivity variation from 1.60 × 106 to 7.72 × 102 Ω square−1; whilst enlarging the surface GO coverage up to 100%. We then demonstrate the ability of the post-treated ECVDGO liquid-gated FET transducer to detect Interleukin-6 which is a multi-functional cytokine involved in regulating the immune function and the acute phase response. The sensing window of the fabricated biosensor to Interleukin-6 is within the physiologically-relevant range, from 4.7 to 300 pg ml−1. The LOD of the sensor based on 3σ is 2.9 pA or 1.53 pg ml−1. This study demonstrates the emerging potential of GO with high manufacturability in liquid-gated FET biosensors for sensitive and label-free detection of bio-molecules.


A 12-year-old boy presented for dental care 35 days after he fell from his bicycle. Clinical and radiographic examinations revealed a longitudinal crown-root fracture with pulp exposure in the maxillary left central incisor. The radiograph also suggested necrosis of the maxillary right central incisor. Urgent treatment of the left central incisor involved gingivectomy followed by autogenous bonding of the tooth fragment with self-curing composite resin. Immediately after bonding, coronal access was prepared, chemical and mechanical preparation was completed, and a calcium hydroxide intracanal dressing was placed. One week after the initial appointment, endodontic treatment was initiated in the right central incisor. The root canal of the maxillary left central incisor was maintained with calcium hydroxide paste (replaced at 45-day intervals) for 1 year and then definitively obturated. At the 16-year follow-up, satisfactory periodontal, esthetic, and clinical conditions were observed, and a radiograph revealed no resorption or periapical changes.


Exploratory drilling increased by 6% and development drilling declined by 31% in Wyoming during 1962. Three hundred and twenty-six new-field wildcats resulted in 14 gas discoveries and 19 new oil fields. Stratigraphic traps in the Cretaceous and Pennsylvanian of the Powder River basin and the Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous of the Green River basin accounted for most of the discoveries and exploration interest. Activity increased slightly in the Wind River basin and followed the general level of the previous year in other areas. Developments in 1963 are expected to follow approximately those of 1962. No wells were drilled in Idaho during the year.


Base station cooperation is an attractive way of increasing the spectral efficiency in multiantenna communication. By serving each terminal through several base stations in a given area, intercell interference can be coordinated and higher performance achieved, especially for terminals at cell edges. Most previous work in the area has assumed that base stations have common knowledge of both data dedicated to all terminals and full or partial channel state information (CSI) of all links. Herein, we analyze the case of distributed cooperation where each base station has only local CSI, either instantaneous or statistical. In the case of instantaneous CSI, the beamforming vectors that can attain the outer boundary of the achievable rate region are characterized for an arbitrary number of multiantenna transmitters and single-antenna receivers. This characterization only requires local CSI and justifies distributed precoding design based on a novel virtual signal-to-interference noise ratio (SINR) framework, which can handle an arbitrary SNR and achieves the optimal multiplexing gain. The local power allocation between terminals is solved heuristically. Conceptually, analogous results for the achievable rate region characterization and precoding design are derived in the case of local statistical CSI. The benefits of distributed cooperative transmission are illustrated numerically, and it is shown that most of the performance with centralized cooperation can be obtained using only local CSI.


All mucosal membranes of the body are covered by mucus, largely made up of the family of large glycoproteins called mucins. These are instrumental for the protection of the underlying epithelia and involved in the pathogenesis of many diseases in the lungs and the intestine. Several mucins are also involved in the progression of cancer and can often be linked to bad prognosis. The mucins are classified as membrane-bound or secreted. In human there are eight membrane-bound (MUC1, MUC3, MUC4, MUC12, MUC13, MUC15, MUC16, and MUC17) and five secreted and gel-forming mucins (MUC2, MUC5B, MUC5AC, MUC6, and MUC19). Mucins are characterized by domains rich in proline, serine and threonine that are heavily glycosylated (PTS domains) and typically have either von Willebrand D (VWD) or SEA domains. To aid in understanding this family of proteins we have taken a bioinformatics approach to mine protein and genomic sequence databases for mucins. We have combined different methods to predict mucin proteins. We developed PTSpred, a method to predict PTS domains characteristic of mucins. We also made use of prediction of signal sequences, transmembrane regions, profile based searches and methods to predict genomic regions encoding specific protein domains. We have examined several animals with respect to mucins and other proteins that contain the VWD and SEA domains and have identified numerous novel mucin homologues and mucin-related proteins. We first made an comprehsnsive inventory of human, mouse and rat mucins including the human chromosome 7q22 region which encodes MUC3, MUC12, and MUC17. During the analysis of the chicken genome we found that the homologues of human chromosome 11p15 gel-forming mucin group (MUC6, MUC2, MUC5AC and MUC5B) are found with the same order as in human, and Muc13 is encoded by a gene where the PTS domain is divided among several exons, where each exon encodes a repeated unit in the protein. The mucins in Xenopus tropicalis are unusual in many respects. The number of gel-forming mucins has been markedly expanded, and the Muc2 homologues contain an unusual PTS domain rich in cysteines. In addition, Xenopus tropicalis has a novel family of mucin-like proteins with alternating PTS and SEA domains, a type of protein also identified in the fishes. The evolution of the MUC4 mucin seems to have occurred by recruitment of a PTS domain to NIDO, AMOP and VWD domains from a sushi-domain containing family of proteins present in lower animals. Xenopus tropicalis is the most deeply branching animal where a protein similar to the mammalian MUC4 was identified. In the gel-forming mucins, a VWD domain typically occurs together with a TIL domain and a domain we have named VWE. We also demonstrated that the gel-forming mucins, von Willebrand factor (VWF), otogelin and insect hemolectin are evolutionary related. Proteins related to these are found in a range of animals, including a mucin in the deeply branching metazoan Nematostella vectensis (sea anemone). This demonstrates an early origin of this group of mucins. In contrast, all the transmembrane mucins do not seem to have evolved until the appearance of the vertebrate lineage. ISBN: 978-91-628-7320-2 Goteborg 2007


Mobile screening units (MSUs) provide cancer screening services outside of fixed clinical sites, thereby increasing access to early detection services. We conducted a systematic review of the performance of MSUs for the early detection of cancer. Databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, WHO Global Health Library, Web of Science, PsycINFO) were searched up to July 2015. Studies describing screening for breast, cervical, and colon cancer using MSUs were included. Data were collected for operational aspects including the performance of exams, screening tests used, and outcomes of case detection. Of 268 identified studies, 78 were included. Studies investigated screening for cancers including breast (n = 55), cervical (n = 12), colon (n = 1), and multiphasic screening for multiple cancers (n = 10). The median number of screening exams performed per intervention was 1,767 (interquartile range 5,656–38,233). Programs operated in 20 countries, mostly in North America (36%) and Europe (36%); 52% served mixed rural/urban regions, while 35% and 13% served rural or urban regions, respectfully. We conclude that MSUs have served to expand access to screening in diverse contexts. However, further research on the implementation of MSUs in low-resource settings and health economic research on cost-effectiveness of MSUs compared with fixed clinics to inform policymakers is needed. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(12); 1679–94. ©2017 AACR.


Based on evolutionary computation (EC) concepts, we developed an adaptive evolutionary planner/navigator (EP/N) as a novel approach to path planning and navigation. The EP/N is characterized by generality, flexibility, and adaptability. It unifies off-line planning and online planning/navigation processes in the same evolutionary algorithm which 1) accommodates different optimization criteria and changes in these criteria, 2) incorporates various types of problem-specific domain knowledge, and 3) enables good tradeoffs among near-optimality of paths, high planning efficiency, and effective handling of unknown obstacles. More importantly, the EP/N can self-tune its performance for different task environments and changes in such environments, mostly through adapting probabilities of its operators and adjusting paths constantly, even during a robot's motion toward the goal.


To the Editor.— Shapiro and colleagues, 1 in the May 1989 issue of theArCHIVES, conclude, on the basis of their reanalysis of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Collaborative Study of prophylaxis of bipolar disorder, that "imipramine alone appears to be a poor prophylactic treatment for bipolar disorder." We also found that tricyclic antidepressants were not helpful in the treatment of some bipolar patients in whom they appeared to induce switches into mania and/or rapid cycling between mania and depression. 2,3 On the other hand, Shapiro et al conclude that "the combination of lithium and imipramine did not appear to be associated with an appreciably increased risk of recurrence," compared with lithium alone, and that "the combination appeared to be particularly effective in patients with a depressive index episode." They go on to state that the results are "contradictory to [our previous] suggestion that tricyclics induce rapid cycling


A five-year project, Access to Care was developed and implemented by the Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia (SCFG) leveraging community resources and partnerships to increase access and improve the quality of healthcare and healthcare coordination in an adult sickle cell disease (SCD) population in underserved and rural areas of Georgia. The project is comprised of three phases: (Phase 1) the Community Health Worker Program to improve the health outcomes of individuals living with SCD through healthcare coordination; (Phase 2) the CME-accredited Provider Training Program to increase the knowledge of non-specialty providers in Georgia to increase provider capacity and confidence to provide care and treatment for individuals with sickle cell disease; and (3) Sickle Cell Clinic Days – specialty care provided by a hematologist in minimally resourced and underserved areas including Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah and counties. Eight hundred and sixty-nine (869) individuals in 75 Georgia counties have received care coordination services with 113 placed in medical homes. Three hundred and sixty-eight (368) health care providers have participated in six face-to-face trainings and 30 have participated in two webinars. Partnerships include local sickle cell associations and support groups; local health departments; hospitals/Emergency Departments; local medical societies; local academic institutions; stakeholders; Georgia Department of Public Health; Global Blood Therapeutics; and Morehouse School of Medicine. With 8,427 residents living with SCD, Georgia has the nation's fourth largest SCD population in the nation with the second highest SCD incidence among black and/or African American births in the nation. Evaluation measures include process and output data monitoring, collection of observational data, i.e., participation and appointment tracking, and case management recording utilizing case management software; pre-and post-questionnaires to measure changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills covered in workshops and seminars.


The Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate and Land Management (SASSCAL) was initiated to support regional weather monitoring and climate research in Southern Africa. As a result, several Automatic Weather Stations (AWSs) were implemented to provide numerical weather data within the collaborating countries. Meanwhile, access to the SASSCAL weather data is limited to a number of records that are achieved via a series of clicks. Currently, end users can not efficaciously extract the desired weather values. Thus, the data is not fully utilised by end users. This work contributes with an open source Web Scraping Application Programming Interface (WebSAPI) through an interactive dashboard. The objective is to extend functionalities of the SASSCAL Weathernet for: data extraction, statistical data analysis and visualisation. The SASSCAL WebSAPI was developed using the R statistical environment. It deploys web scraping and data wrangling techniques to support access to SASSCAL weather data. This WebSAPI reduces the risk of human error, and the researcher's effort of generating desired data sets. The proposed framework for the SASSCAL WebSAPI can be modified for other weather data banks while taking into consideration the legality and ethics of the toolkit. TSAONE SWAABOW THAPELO MOLALETSA NAMOSHE ODUETSE MATSEBE TSHIAMO MOTSHEGWA MARY-JANE MORONGWA BOPAPE


TUBERCULOUS INFECTION IN INFANC-Y AND CHILDHOOD. SIR,-The paper by Dr. Paget Lapage was a valuable contribution to the important subject of tuberculosis in cllildren. It may be imientioned, however,l that though the evidenice afforded by x-ray examination in the main supports the teachings of morbid anatomy, there are, in a few minior details, reasons for doubting the evidence to be conclusive. One of these arises in connexion witlh abnormiial conditions noticed at the apex of the lungs. My experience in the post-mortem room would lead me to say that it would l)e a great mistake to asstume that because some defect is noticed near the apex of a lung that the defect is tuberculous. With regard to the debated question of the frequency of tubercullosis of tlle lungs in children, I have always maintained tllat the post-mortem room shows the disease in a chronic form to be rare. I have also held that the mnajority of chronic affections of the lungs in children prove to be non-tuberculous. This applies not only to morbid oonditions at the base of the lung, but also at the apex. Bronchopneumonia especially, it seems to me, the bronchopneumonia of measlesfrequently leaves behind dilatation of the bronchial tubes, and this dilatation not only may be as marked in an upper as in a lower lobe, but mnay be limited to an upper lobe. The majority of observers would probably consider a chronic affection of the lung limited to an upper lobe to be undoubtedly tuberculous. This I believe to be very far from the truth. TLere is one other point which is of great importance: The x rays may detect something abnormal at the root of a lunig; but what is the nature of this abnormal condition ? Is the abnormal condition, assuming it to be tubereulous, still a source of danger? As the child grows older the risk of infection through the bronchial glands becom--es less. At what age does the tuberculosis of the bronchial gland in most instances become quiescent ? This is one of the points upon which I consider that further informnation from the o)08t-mortein room is required. Caseous bronchial glands, although possibly not quite so common as the x rays would lead us to believe, are sufficiently common to merit careful investigation. And niot only does the life-history of these glands-if I may so express it-need to be carefully traced out, but there is great need for more definite information concerning the origin and termination of all chronic affections of the lungs in children, whether tuberculous or non-tuberculous. -I am, etc.,


The use of technology has become a common practice in today's world. Technological advancements have not only affected the businesses but also changes the way of living of the society. With constant changes in technology at a greater pace, this has resulted in the use of new and innovative methods, regularly disrupting the established marketplaces across the world. All industries experiencing these occurrences of 'disruptive technology' resulting in 'disorder of the conventional things' and the emergence of new ones from time to time. This fact holds even for the 'education' domain. It may be said that Artificial! Intelligence may considerably impact our daily activities in the near future. In different depending on the requirements, AI will be implemented in the education. This may be a new kind of 'personalized learning'.