Dense passage retrieval models have become state-of-the-art for information retrieval on many Open-domain Question Answering (ODQA) datasets. However, most of these models rely on supervision obtained from the ODQA datasets, which hinders their performance in a low-resource setting. Recently, retrieval-augmented language models have been proposed to improve both zero-shot and supervised information retrieval. However, these models have pre-training tasks that are agnostic to the target task of passage retrieval. In this work, we propose Retrieval Augmented Auto-encoding of Questions for zero-shot dense information retrieval. Unlike other pre-training methods, our pre-training method is built for target information retrieval, thereby making the pre-training more efficient. Our method consists of a dense IR model for encoding questions and retrieving documents during training and a conditional language model that maximizes the question's likelihood by marginalizing over retrieved documents. As a by-product, we can use this conditional language model for zero-shot question generation from documents. We show that the IR model obtained through our method improves the current state-of-the-art of zero-shot dense information retrieval, and we improve the results even further by training on a synthetic corpus created by zero-shot question generation.


The classical augmented Lagrangian method (ALM) plays a fundamental role in algorithmic development of constrained optimization. In this paper, we mainly show that Nesterov's influential acceleration techniques can be applied to accelerate ALM, thus yielding an accelerated ALM whose iteration-complexity is O(1/k) for linearly constrained convex programming. As a by-product, we also show easily that the convergence rate of the original ALM is O(1/k).


Cache misses in small, limited-associativityprimary caches very often replace live cache blocks, giventhe dominance of capacity and conflict misses. Towardsmotivating novel cache organizations, we study thecomparative characteristics of the virtual memoryaddress pairs involved in typical primary-cachecontention (block replacements) for the SPEC2000integer benchmarks. We focus on the cache tag bits, andresults show that (i) often just a few tag bits differbetween contending addresses, and (ii) accesses to certainsegments or page groups of the virtual address space (i.e.certain tag-bit groups) contend frequently. Cacheconsciousvirtual address space allocation can furtherreduce the number of conflicting tag bits. We mentiontwo directions for exploiting such page-level contentionpatterns to improve cache cost and performance.


pregnancy. She was tapped as for ovarian dropsy; unhappily it was an hepatic cyst, not united to the abdominal parietes, some of the fluid escaped into peritoneum, succeeded by death in eighteeen houirs. Insufficient stress hadl been laid upon the sufferer's statemeut that the swellingcommiienced at epigastrium. It is probable. that if the nature of the tumour had appeared doubtful, anid the openingi into cyst had been cautiously effected throughl the intervention of potassa fusa, the patient's life wouild have been spare(l. This unfortunate instance may be serviceable as a warning and as a hlint in Dr. Markhams interesting case.


The present contribution deals with the effect of thermal and mechanical treatment on structure, mechanical and physical properties of as cast, cold and hot worked AlMg3 type alloy produced by conventional casting, as well as by powder metallurgy. The properties of the AlMg3 alloys with additions of Sc and Zr in the weight concentration ranges 0.14 – 0.29% and 0.05 – 0.12% respectively were studied and compared with those of the alloys without Sc and Zr additions. The anti-recrystallization effect, phase development and mechanical properties investigated in the course of isothermal as well as isochronal annealing were studied by using optical and transmission electron microscopy, electrical resistometry and hardness measurements. The parameters of technological procedure of optimum age hardening by the Al3(ScxZr1-x) phase are presented. This optimum can not be reached if the as cast alloy is exposed to temperatures higher than 350°C. Even the small additions of Sc such as 0.15 wt. % ensure the anti-recrystallization effect of Al3(ScxZr1-x) phase.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the prevalence and appearance of azygos arch valves at intravenous contrast material-enhanced computed tomography (CT).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Findings of 309 intravenous contrast-enhanced spiral CT examinations of the chest were retrospectively reviewed. The presence of contrast material reflux into the azygos arch and of a focal bulge in the azygos arch was recorded. An azygos valve was considered present if contrast material with a curvilinear posterior contour was seen in the azygos arch. The chi2 test was used to compare the frequency of contrast material reflux into the azygos vein for high and low rates of contrast material injection and for right and left arm injection.

RESULTS
Reflux of contrast material into the azygos arch occurred at 154 (49.8%) of 309 examinations, and valves were seen on images of 105 (68.2%) examinations. A focal bulge was seen in the azygos arch on images of 86 (81.9%) of 105 examinations with an azygos valve. Contrast material refluxed more frequently into the azygos vein in examinations with high rates of injection (83 of 128 examinations, 64.8%) than in those with low rates of injection (71 of 181, 39.2%, P <.001). Among the patients with high rates of injection, contrast material refluxed more frequently into the azygos vein with the right arm injection than with left arm injection (53 of 70, 76% vs 30 of 58, 52%, P <.01). Refluxed contrast material appeared as discrete collections within cusps of the azygos valves on images of 69 (44.8%) of 154 examinations.

CONCLUSION
Valves in the azygos arch are common and more frequently seen at CT when high injection rates and right arm injections are used.


Introduction: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious mental disorder that typically manifests in adolescence. Motivation to change is an important predictor for treatment outcome in adolescent AN, even though its development over the often long therapeutic process, with transitions between treatment settings, has not yet been studied. In this pilot study, the course of motivation to change and its effect on treatment outcome were investigated over the course of a step-down treatment approach during a 12-month observation period. Methods: Twenty-one adolescents admitted to inpatient treatment because of AN received multidisciplinary home treatment (HoT) with several weekly visits after short inpatient stabilization. Eating disorder (ED-)specific cognitive [Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI-2) subscales] and physical [% expected body weight (%EBW)] illness severity and motivation to change [Anorexia Nervosa Stages of Change Questionnaire (ANSOCQ)] were assessed at the time of admission, discharge from hospital, at the end of HoT, and at a 12-month follow-up. Changes in motivation over time and its relationship with treatment outcome were investigated. Results: Mean motivation to change improved significantly over the course of treatment from the contemplation stage [2nd stage, mean ANSOCQ sum score 47.26 (SD 17.60)] at admission to the action stage [4th stage, mean ANSOCQ sum score 77.64 (SD 18.97)] at the end of HoT (p < 0.001) and remained stable during the follow-up period. At each assessment, higher motivation to change was significantly correlated with lower ED-specific cognitive illness severity (Spearman ρs: −0.53 to −0.77, all p < 0.05). Only pretreatment motivation to change significantly predicted ED-specific cognitive illness severity after the first inpatient treatment phase when taking prior illness severity into account. Conclusions: Motivation to change is an important aspect of treatment success in adolescent AN, especially in the early phase of treatment. In addition, home treatment contributed significantly to a higher motivation. Further longitudinal research into how motivation to change in adolescent patients with AN is related to outcome in this often severe and enduring disease and into targeted therapeutic strategies and interventions that reliably enhance the motivation to change in adolescent patients with AN seems promising.


Automatic License Plate Recognition (LPR) is a technique involving image processing which is used to identify a vehicle by reading its license plate. In this paper we propose a system which is capable of extracting the license plate region from the vehicle's image taken from its rear end. The system consists of a digital camera, software to interface the camera with the software module and the software module which extracts and recognizes the license plate number. The camera captures the image of pre-defined resolution and passes it to the software module. The software module forms the heart of the entire system. It analyzes the input image, identifies the location of the license plate, segments the characters on it and recognizes the characters. The plate region is extracted by using the concept of connected components in the image (mathematical morphology). The characters in the license plate were segmented using digital image labeling and character recognition was done using template matching. The algorithm was implemented in MATLAB and the results obtained agreed with theoretical predictions. The first part of the paper discusses related works and areas of application. The later part of the paper shows experimental verification of the algorithm and test results.


Background and Purpose:
 The soluble vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor 1 (sFLT) has been tested in both animals and humans for anti-angiogenic therapy, e.g., age-related macular degeneration. We hypothesized that adeno-associated viral vector (AAV)-mediated sFLT expression could be used to treat brain angiogenic diseases, such as brain arteriovenous malformation (bAVM). We tested the anti-angiogenic effect of sFLT and the feasibility of using AAV serotype 9 to deliver AAV-sFLT by intravenous injection (IV) to brain angiogenic lesions.

 Methods:
 AAV vectors were packaged in AAV serotypes 1 and 2 (stereotactic injection) and 9 (IV-injection). Angiogenic model was induced in adult wildtype (WT) mice through stereotactic injection of AAV1-VEGF (2×10
 9
 genome copies (gcs)). Brain AVM model was induced in adult mice with floxed Alk1 (a causative gene for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia that causes AVMs in multiple organs) through co-injection of AAV1-VEGF and Ad-Cre. AAV2-sFLT (2×10
 9
 gcs) was co-injected with AAV1-VEGF to inhibit brain angiogenesis. Gene expression in the brain by IV-delivered AAV9 was tested using intra-jugular vein injection of AAV9-LacZ or AAV9-GFP (1×10
 11
 gcs). We then compared gene expression mediated by stereotactic injection of AAV1 and by 2 packaged AAV-LacZ vectors.

 Results:
 Co-injection of AAV2-sFLT with AAV1-VEGF completely abolished VEGF-angiogenic effect (320±30/mm
 2
 vs 434±86 p=0.01). The vessel density around the injection sites was similar to AAV1-LacZ-injected control mice (p=0.84). AAV2-EV (empty virus) had no effect. Intravenous injection of AAV9-LacZ or AAV9-GFP resulted in a higher level of gene expression in the angiogenic foci or bAVM than in normal brain tissues. Gene expression mediated by AAV1 was about 5 times higher than AAV2.

 Conclusion:
 AAV mediated sFLT expression inhibited VEGF-induced brain angiogenesis. The sFLT anti-angiogenic effect can be achieved at about 1 to 5 molar ratio of sFLT vs. VEGF. Intravenously injected AAV9 can mediate effective transgene expression in brain angiogenic lesions.


To control a distributed swarm of UAVs, many solutions aim at reaching global coordination through local interactions at the agent scale. These interactions are based on the use of reactive algorithms that allow a fleet to adapt its collective behavior to specific operating contexts, but not to all. While providing some flexibility, reactive algorithms can lack speed of completion, safety, and robustness in clustered environments. Generally, the best known reactive algorithms are borrowed from behavioral patterns observed in nature, but tend to digress from the adaptation to a rigorous geometrical approach. Our approach aims at implementing a coordination model directly inspired from the interactions and behaviors that a small fish, the rummy-nose tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus), adopts to display collective movements. This article focuses on such an implementation in the deployment of a group of UAVs inside a circular arena. After carrying out experiments with a swarm of 5 drones, we develop a simulator to test the implementation in a swarm of drones of an extended version of the fish school model and evaluate its capacity to reproduce the experiments. Finally, after validating the UAV model by comparison with the experiments, the use of such collective motion algorithm in several contexts of operation is discussed.


Regarding digesters, present guidelines assume that the temperature must be kept constant in order to achieve process stability and that there is a drop in gas production between 40 and 50 °C. Nevertheless, observations of full-scale application show that fluctuations in temperature between mesophilic and thermophilic environments is indeed possible without any loss in biogas production performance. This would be particularly favourable because the digester can thus act as a heat storage. In order to validate temperature fluctuations on full-scale digesters the data of two digesters from different wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with high temperature fluctuations were analyzed. In addition, chemical oxygen demand (COD) balances for different temperature ranges were conducted in order to evaluate the process stability. The results show that fluctuations between mesophilic and thermophilic conditions can be achieved without a decrease in biogas production. Increasing the temperature above 50 °C leads to an increase in organic acid concentration as described in the literature. Nevertheless, the total concentration of organic acid was still at an uncritical level below 500 mg/L. The COD balance shows no significant difference between 38 °C, 44 °C and 51 °C. The rate of temperature fluctuations per day specifically seems to be a main factor for process stability rather than temperature itself.


In order to examine the effect of a small amount of sleep following 3 3/4 days (90 h) of wakefulness, 10 infantry soldiers took part in a laboratory-based experiment. At the end of the vigil, a 2-h sleep was preceded and followed by a cognitive test session consisting of encoding and decoding. In order to simulate a realistic situation, subjects were not told the scheduled length of their vigil until a few hours before their 2-h sleep. Following the test-sleep-test period, 27 h were allowed for sleep and rest. Results indicated that after 3 nights without sleep, performance was, on the average, 55% of the control values. During the test session before the 2-h sleep, performance improved by 30%, to 85% of control values, indicating the considerable effect that incentive can have on even severely sleep-deprived subjects. The reserve mental capacity demonstrable during sleep deprivation indicates the caution that is needed if the effects of "undiluted" sleep loss are sought; it also emphasises once again the lack of knowledge concerning the function of sleep.


Skilled labour shortage in construction industry is a major challenge in South Africa. Therefore, the objective of the study is to assess the factors that cause skilled labour shortage, its consequent effects on the construction industries and how the scenario can be improved. The study was conducted by considering construction industry in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and using a survey research method and conceptual System Dynamics (SD) modelling. Findings reveals that investment, wage challenges, talent management, work environment, training, experience, and Government policy are the important challenges for the skilled labour shortage. Inadequacy of skilled labour considerably impacts the quality of work, productivity, and scheduling. The causal loop diagrams show that enhancement in investment in the labour wages will strengthen the availability of skilled labourers leading to higher productivity, and vice versa. Talent management based on appropriate recruitment and retention policy, staff development programmes and investment in these aspects will augment the skilled labour pool. Also, a better work environment through a policy of health and safety, investment in working condition and supported by Government policy will reduce the attrition of the labourer because of job dissatisfaction, which consequently will reduce the skilled labour shortage in the industry.


This paper seeks to explain the radical decrease in the use of the passive voice in Present-day English scientific discourse. A number of different linguistic factors having been discounted in previous research, it is hypothesised here that passives are being omitted for two reasons. Firstly, they became conventionalised in scientific discourse and subsequently lost the pragmatic function which originally justified their high frequency in scientific texts. Secondly, over the course of the twentieth century two sociocultural circumstances converge that exert pressure on conventionalised passives to disappear, namely (i) the increasing competitiveness in the scientific community, and (ii) the democratisation of discourse. This hypothesis is tested in the present paper by analysing the function of passives in scientific discourse before the drop in frequency began, that is, in Late Modern English (1700–1900). With data from ARCHER and other sources I will try to show that passives in Late Modern scientific English exemplify the conventionalisation and loss of contextual function of pragmatic strategies, a scenario that, given the right sociohistorical conditions, leads to linguistic change.


The effect of adding thermo-mechanical pulp (TMP) in the middle layer of fine paper was studied. Bleached hardwood pulp made of birch (BHW) was stratified in top and bottom layers, while TMP was layered in the middle layer of hand sheets. The amount of TMP in the middle layer was varied from 10 to 40 percent of grammage. Chemical pulps were beaten with a Valley laboratory beater so that they had the same tensile index of dry paper as that of TMP. In addition to standard paper, technical properties, tensile and relaxation properties of dry and wet paper at high strain rate were studied. Decrease in brightness when replacing part of chemical pulp with TMP was evaluated for the layered structure. In addition, a new method based on Kubelka & Munk equations was developed to characterize the success of stratifying. Layering of TMP in the middle enhanced surface smoothness significantly compared to trials points, where pulps were mixed and homogenous. Adding of 40% of TMP pulp in the middle layer had no effect on surface properties of hand sheets. Addition of TMP increased the bulk of uncalendered hand sheets significantly. Increase in TMP or stratifying the pulps had no effect on the tensile properties of dry paper. Tensile strength and residual tension, i.e. tension holding capacity of wet web, increased significantly when increasing TMP in furnish. Mixing TMP in pulps instead of stratifying resulted in higher tensile and residual tension values for wet samples. A theoretical study showed that addition of TMP decreases brightness significantly also with layered structure.


Echocardiography has become routinely used in the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and abnormal cardiac blood flow. However, manually measuring myocardial motion and cardiac blood flow from echocar-diogram is time-consuming and error-prone. Computer algorithms that can automatically track and quantify myocardial motion and cardiac blood flow are highly sought after, but have not been very successful due to noise and high variability of echocardiography. In this work, we propose a neural multi-scale self-supervised registration (NMSR) method for automated myocardial and cardiac blood flow dense tracking. NMSR incorporates two novel components: 1) utilizing a deep neural net to parameterize the velocity field between two image frames, and 2) optimizing the parameters of the neural net in a sequential multi-scale fashion to account for large variations within the velocity field. Experiments demonstrate that NMSR yields significantly better registration accuracy than the state-of-the-art methods, such as advanced normalization tools (ANTs) and Voxel Morph, for both myocardial and cardiac blood flow dense tracking. Our approach promises to provide a fully automated method for fast and accurate analyses of echocardiograms.


The apxIC and apxIIC genes of the Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serovar 1 strain SLW01, encoding the ApxI- and ApxII-activating proteins, respectively, were deleted successively by a method involving sucrose counterselection. The resulting strain, SLW03, contained no foreign DNA and could secrete unactivated ApxIA and ApxIIA RTX toxins with complete antigenicity. Strain SLW03 was attenuated at least 1000-fold in Balb/C mice and caused no adverse effects in pigs at doses of up to 1 x 10(9) CFU mL(-1). SLW03 was able to induce a significant immune response and provide complete protection from clinical signs upon homologous (serovar 1) and heterologous (serovar 9) challenge of A. pleuropneumoniae. Pigs vaccinated via the intranasal (i.n.) route had significantly higher serum titers and fewer pulmonary lesions than pigs vaccinated via the intramuscular route postchallenge. These results suggest that the mutant strain SLW03 could be used as a candidate live vaccine that can induce reliable cross-serovar protection following i.n. immunization.


This paper focuses on the way to protect privacy of clients requesting datasets stored in data servers while keeping communication efficiency. To this end, we introduce a novel communication-efficient and privacy protecting framework termed crowded information acquisition (CIA), well suited to a large number of clients scenario. We investigate the CIA under various conditions addressing possible communication scenarios. Contrary to the conventional belief, the results claim that a large number of clients demanding private services can enhance the privacy protection while providing low latency services and generating a small amount of traffic.


We develop a dynamic multi-region model, with fluctuating regional house prices, where an owner-occupied household's location choice depends on its current wealth and its current type and involves both consumption and investment considerations. The relative strength of the consumption motive and the investment motive in the location choice determines the equilibrium pattern of residential sorting, with a strong investment (consumption) motive implying sorting according to the type (wealth). The model predicts a negative relation between the size of house price fluctuations and the degree of residential sorting in the type dimension. Also, movers should be more sorted than stayers in the type dimension. These predictions are consistent with evidence from US metropolitan areas when income, education and age are used as proxies for household type.


It has long been believed that nucleation of the alpha-helix is a very fast reaction, occurring in around 10(-7) s. We show here that helix nucleation, in fact, takes place on the millisecond time scale. The rate of alpha-helix nucleation in two polyalanine-based peptides and in lysine and glutamic acid homopolymers was measured directly by stopped-flow deep UV CD with synchrotron radiation as the light source. Synchrotron radiation CD gives far superior signal to noise than a conventional instrument. The 16-aa AK peptide folds with first-order kinetics and a rate constant of 15 s-1 at 0 degrees C. The rate-determining step is presumably the initiation of a new helix, which occurs at least 10(5) times slower than expected. Helix folding occurs in at least two steps on the millisecond time scale for the longer peptides, with a transient overshoot of helix content significantly greater than at equilibrium, similar to that seen in the folding of several proteins. We suggest that the overshoot is caused by the formation of a single long helix followed by its breakage into the two or more helices present at equilibrium.


Abstract
A growing body of education research considers practices; however, there is less focus on a methodology that enables practical analysis of practices. Use of practice theory is growing, particularly in work and organisational studies, but practice-focused studies more frequently address theoretical than methodological agenda. This chapter proposes a practice-focused, constructivist grounded theory methodology as one approach which can address this gap. After first considering the ways in which, separately and in combination, practice-theory and constructivist grounded theory can support higher education leadership and management research, the chapter considers implementation of this methodology by drawing on a study into the practice of authority in higher education leadership. It concludes by considering some implications for the ways in which practices can be understood and the affordances and limitations of this methodology.


This article addresses the design of an architecture for ad hoc peer-to-peer networking of neighboring vehicles to help achieve near-instantaneous communication for safety applications such as collision avoidance warnings. We propose a local peer group (LPG) architecture to organize neighboring vehicles that have frequently changing neighbors and have no inherent relationships with one another. We study two architectural alternatives for LPG in this article, and consider areas of improvement for ad hoc vehicle networking protocols to support safety communications including multihop throughput, connection setup time, and configuration.


Sterol Regulator Element Binding Proteins (SREBPs) are a family of transcription factors that plays
a central role in lipids synthesis in mammary gland. The main aims of this research were: to develop
a method for RNA extraction from milk somatic cells without damaging the mammary gland; to
study SREBP-1 gene expression in the Sarda breed sheep in the first stage of lactation; and to
correlate it to fatty acids in milk. In order to develop extraction method 4 milk samples were
collected weekly from 15 sheep. The first 3 samples were analysed within 4 hours of collection,
while the last one was divided into 2 aliquots of 150ml; one of this was analysed within 4 h and the
other one at 24h. Twenty sheep have been used for the SREBP1 gene expression study with
RTqPCR and from each ewe two milk samples at 40 and 70 days of lactation were collected. These
samples were used for RNA extraction and for fatty acids quantification with gas chromatography
method. The developed method has shown to be reliable and repeatable; 150ml of milk are enough
to provide good amount and quality of RNA, suitable for study of gene expression. SREBP -1 gene
expression showed a positive correlation with the fat yield (P<0,001) while no correlation with the
range of fatty acid was found. The relationship between SREBP-1 gene and the amount of fat yield
suggests the importance of this gene for lipids synthesis mechanism in mammary gland.


In this paper we propose a new type of particle smoother with linear computational complexity. The smoother is based on running a sequential Monte Carlo sampler backward in time after an initial forward filtering pass. While this introduces dependencies among the backward trajectories we show through simulation studies that the new smoother can outperform existing forward-backward particle smoothers when targeting the marginal smoothing densities.


Introduction: CD73 mediates the final dephosphorylation in the conversion of extracellular ATP to adenosine, a metabolite which signals through the A2 family of receptors. Like PD-1, adenosine appears to be part of a negative feedback loop to limit immune activation and prevent excessive inflammation in the context of tissue damage. However, intratumoral hypoxia likely drives excessive CD73-mediated adenosine generation and prevents optimal anti-tumor immune responses. We show that intratumoral adenosine levels are sufficient to drive pervasive suppression of multiple immune subsets in vitro and an orally bioavailable small molecule can prevent adenosine generation in vitro and within the tumor in vivo. Methods We examined the effects of adenosine signaling on multiple immune cell subsets through in vitro functional assays. We interrogated T cell activation, proliferation, and cytolytic activity, as well as NK cell function in vitro. Furthermore, we investigated and identified functional targets of adenosine signaling within T cells using transcriptomic and protein expression analyses. In addition, we performed in vitro myeloid differentiation assays to determine the effect of adenosine signaling on myeloid lineage maturation. Finally, we explored the activity of a novel, orally bioavailable inhibitor of CD73 in vitro and assessed its ability to rescue T cell activation and suppress AMP conversion to adenosine within the tumor microenvironment. Results and Conclusions We found that T cell-expressed CD73 was sufficient to drive adenosine generation from AMP in vitro, resulting in suppression of anti-CD3/CD28-induced T cell activation and proliferation and a reduced capacity to kill cognate antigen-expressing tumor cells. Adenosine-exposed T cells displayed decreased induction of markers associated with activation at both the mRNA and protein level, including Ki67, ICOS, and PD-1, while showing higher expression of naive-associated CD73. Interestingly, we also observed a third subset of markers which were uniquely induced by adenosine. In addition to its activity on T cells, adenosine signaling caused functional suppression of NK cells in the presence of target Yac-1 cells. In the myeloid compartment, NECA, a stable analog of adenosine, prevented in vitro differentiation of CD103+ cross-presenting dendritic cells, a population which provides a critical stimulus to tumor-infiltrating T cells. Additionally, NECA impaired macrophage expression of CD80, a canonical M1 marker and mediator of T cell costimulation, in both the presence and absence of M1-polarizing IFNγ and LPS. Finally, we showed that a novel, orally bioavailable CD73 inhibitor was able to effectively inhibit AMP to adenosine conversion both in vitro and in vivo, while an anti-CD73 antibody had incomplete effects. Taken together, an orally bioavailable small molecule inhibitor of CD73 represents a potential therapeutic approach to reverse immunosuppression within the tumor microenvironment. Citation Format: Todd C Metzger, Brian R Blank, Brenda Chan, Chelsea Chen, Yuping Chen, Xiaohui Du, Frank L Duong, Valeria R. Fantin, Lori S Friedman, Jared T Moore, Daqing Sun, Jessica Sun, Dena Sutimantanapi, Qiuping Ye, Natalie Yuen, Tatiana Zavorotinskaya. Intratumoral immunosuppression is reversed by blocking adenosine production with an oral inhibitor of CD73 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2019 Oct 26-30; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2019;18(12 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-A19. doi:10.1158/1535-7163.TARG-19-LB-A19


We examine the photometric data for Fornax clusters, focussing our attention on their horizontal branch color distribution and, when available, on the RR Lyr variables fraction and period distribution. Based on our understanding of the HB morphology in terms of varying helium content in the context of multiple stellar generations, we show that clusters F2, F3 and F5 must contain substantial fractions of second generation stars (~54-65%). On the basis of a simple chemical evolution model we show that the helium distribution in these clusters can be reproduced by models with cluster initial masses ranging from values equal to ~4 to ~10 times larger than the current masses. Models with a very short second generation star formation episode can also reproduce the observed helium distribution but require larger initial masses up to about twenty times the current mass. While the lower limit of this range of possible initial GC masses is consistent with those suggested by the observations of the low metallicity field stars, we also discuss the possibility that the metallicity scale of field stars (based on CaII triplet spectroscopy) and the metallicities derived for the clusters in Fornax may not be consistent with each other. The reproduction of the HB morphology in F2,F3,F5 requires two interesting hypotheses: 1) the first generation HB stars lie all at "red" colours. According to this interpretation, the low metallicity stars in the field of Fornax, populating the HB at colours bluer than the blue side ((V-I)o<=0.3 or (B-V)o<=0.2) of the RR Lyrs, should be second generation stars born in the clusters;a preliminary analysis of available colour surveys of Fornax field provides a fraction ~20% of blue HB stars, in the low metallicity range; 2) the mass loss from individual second generation red giants is a few percent of a solar mass larger than the mass loss from first generation stars.


We investigate enhancement of magnetooptical rotation in periodic magnetic garnet thin-film stacks with defects using a combination of coupled-mode theory and matrix calculations. We prove that a combination of high rotation per unit length and high output is unattainable for a symmetric grating with a single central defect. We demonstrate that the addition of a second defect introduces sufficient degrees of freedom to allow high transmission for a much larger range of rotation angles than was previously possible. We present a number of designs with emphasis an achieving 45/spl deg/ rotation in very short propagation lengths.


I t used to be thought that it would be physiologically impossible to climb Mount Everest with or without oxygen. In 1953 Hillary and Tenzing proved that it was possible to reach the summit with oxygen and in 1978 Messner and Habeler demonstrated it was possible without oxygen. Although Everest has not changed, we now have a better understanding of acclimatisation, improved climbing equipment, and established routes with fixed lines guiding climbers up to the summit. For those climbing with oxygen, the cylinders are much lighter.

It would therefore seem logical that climbing Everest might have become an altogether less deadly activity. However, this year the unofficial body count on Mount Everest has reached 15, the most since the disaster of 1996 when 16 people died, eight in one night following an unexpected storm. An analysis of the death rate on Mount Everest between 1980 and 2002 found it had not changed over the years, with about one death for every 10 successful ascents. A sobering statistic for anyone who reaches the summit is that you have approximately a 1 …


The present study investigates why some women, before and during delivering, request peridural analgesia or, on the contrary, refuse it. On the basis of a literature review and of an empiricial study involving 57 women, a psychological differentiation is attempted to discriminate users from non-users of peridural analgesia. Pain perceptions, health locus of control, when internal (IHLC), family and couple adaptability appear to be discriminating factors. Our results indicate a higher chance locus of control (externality) in non-users then in users, as well as a more rigid couple functioning. The incidence of Internal Health Locus of Control of pain perception is outlined.


In the outer region of fully developed turbulent pipe flow very large-scale motions reach wavelengths more than 8$R$–16$R$ long (where $R$ is the pipe radius), and large-scale motions with wavelengths of $2R$–$3R$ occur throughout the layer. The very-large-scale motions are energetic, typically containing half of the turbulent kinetic energy of the streamwise component, and they are unexpectedly active, typically containing more than half of the Reynolds shear stress. The spectra of the $y$-derivatives of the Reynolds shear stress show that the very-large-scale motions contribute about the same amount to the net Reynolds shear force, d$\overline{-u'v'}/{\rm d}y$, as the combination of all smaller motions, including the large-scale motions and the main turbulent motions. The main turbulent motions, defined as the motions small enough to be in a statistical equilibrium (and hence smaller than the large-scale motions) contribute relatively little to the Reynolds shear stress, but they constitute over half of the net Reynolds shear force.


Precise segmentation is a prerequisite for an accurate quantification of the imaged objects. It is a very challenging task in many medical imaging applications due to relatively poor image quality and data scarcity. In this work, we present an innovative segmentation paradigm, named Deep Poincare Map (DPM), by coupling the dynamical system theory with a novel deep learning based approach. Firstly, we model the image segmentation process as a dynamical system, in which limit cycle models the boundary of the region of interest (ROI). Secondly, instead of segmenting the ROI directly, convolutional neural network is employed to predict the vector field of the dynamical system. Finally, the boundary of the ROI is identified using the Poincare map and the flow integration. We demonstrate that our segmentation model can be built using a very limited number of train- ing data. By cross-validation, we can achieve a mean Dice score of 94% compared to the manual delineation (ground truth) of the left ventricle ROI defined by clinical experts on a cardiac MRI dataset. Compared with other state-of-the-art methods, we can conclude that the proposed DPM method is adaptive, accurate and robust. It is straightforward to apply this method for other medical imaging applications.


There is a general understanding in the scientific community as to how denitrifying bioreactors operate, but we lack a quantitative understanding of the details of the denitrification process acting within them and comprehensive models for simulating their performance. We hypothesized that nitrate transport through woodchip bioreactors would be best described by a dualporosity transport model where the bioreactor water is divided into a mobile domain (i.e., the water between the woodchips where it is free to flow and solute movement is by advection and dispersion) and an immobile domain of water (i.e., the water mostly within the woodchips that is stagnant and where solute movement is by diffusion alone). We calibrated the dual-porosity model contained in the HYDRUS model for a woodchip bioreactor using the results of a Br breakthrough experiment where we treated Br as a conservative nonadsorbing tracer. We then used the resulting model parameters to describe 2 yr of NO3 transport and denitrification within a bioreactor supplied by tile drainage. The only model parameters fitted to the NO3 data were either the zeroor first-order denitrification rate and its temperature dependence. The bioreactor denitrified 2.23 kg N (38%) of the NO3 entering it in 2013 and 3.73 kg N (49%) of the NO3 that entered it in 2014. The dual-porosity model fit the NO3 data very well, with fitted zero-order reaction rates of 8.7 and 6.8 mg N L-1 d-1 in 2013 and 2014, respectively, and corresponding first-order reaction rates of 0.99 and 1.02 d-1. For the 2-yr data set, both reaction rate models fit the data equally well. Consistent model parameters fitted for the 2 yr indicated that the model used was robust and a promising approach for modeling fate and transport of NO3 in woodchip bioreactors. Simulating Woodchip Bioreactor Performance Using a Dual-Porosity Model


We investigate the programming of reactive systems combining closed-loop control with performance-intensive components such as Machine Learning (ML). Reactive control systems are often safety-critical and associated with real-time execution requirements, a domain of predilection for synchronous programming languages. Extending the high levels of assurance found in reactive control systems to computationally intensive code remains an open issue. We tackle it by unifying concepts and algorithms from synchronous languages with abstractions commonly found in general-purpose and ML compilers. This unification across embedded and high-performance computing enables a high degree of reuse of compiler abstractions and code. We first recall commonalities between dataflow synchronous languages and the static single assignment (SSA) form of general-purpose/ML compilers. We highlight the key mechanisms of synchronous languages that SSA does not cover—denotational concepts such as synchronizing computations with an external time base, cyclic and reactive I/O, as well as the operational notions of relaxing control flow dominance and the modeling of absent values. We discover that initialization-related static analyses and code generation aspects can be fully decoupled from other aspects of synchronous semantics such as memory management and causality analysis, the latter being covered by existing dominance-based algorithms of SSA-form compilers. We show how the SSA form can be seamlessly extended to enable all SSA-based transformations and optimizations on reactive programs with synchronous concurrency. We derive a compilation flow suitable for both high-performance and reactive aspects of a control application, by embedding the Lustre dataflow synchronous language into the SSA-based MLIR/LLVM compiler infrastructure. This allows the modeling of signal processing and deep neural network inference in the (closed) loop of feedback-directed control systems. With only minor efforts leveraging the MLIR infrastructure, the generated code matches or outperforms state-of-the-art synchronous language compilers on computationally intensive ML applications.


This paper analyzes the impact that the influx of foreign players has had on the salaries and labor market outcomes of domestic players in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The study builds on previous literature in the field of labor economics by examining this research question in a highly specialized labor market with a rigid salary structure. First, an unbalanced panel data set at the player-year level from 1990-2008 is used in combination with a log-linear regression model to estimate the impact that the number of foreign players in the NBA has on the wages of domestic players. Results are insignificant. A handcrafted dataset tracking the careers of Chad Ford's top 50 American prospects from 2001 through 2015 is used with a series of ordered logistic regressions to examine foreign players' impact on the career length and outcomes of American players. Additional ordinary least squares regressions are used to estimate the career quality of American prospects by the quality of the leagues in which they played. Results of all regressions investigating the career outcomes of American prospects are also insignificant.


BACKGROUND
Slow coronary flow (SCF) is characterized by delayed opacification of epicardial coronary vessels. SCF can cause ischemia and sudden cardiac death. We investigated the association between presence and extent of SCF, and cardiovascular risk factors and hematologic indices.

METHODS
In this study, 2467 patients who received coronary angiography for suspected or known ischemic heart disease were retrospectively evaluated between April 2009 and November 2010. Following the application of exclusion criteria, our study population consisted of 57 SCF patients (experimental group) and 90 patients with age- and gender-matched subjects who proved to have normal coronary angiograms (control group). Baseline hematologic indices were measured by the automated complete blood count (CBC) analysis. The groups were evaluated for cardiovascular risk factors and medications. Patients were categorized based on the angiographic findings of vessels with or without SCF. Moreover, patients with SCF were divided into subgroups relative to the extent of SCF.

RESULTS
Among the 147 patients (mean age 52.7 ± 10.0, 53.7% male), mean platelet volume (MPV) ranged from 6.5 fL to 11.7 fL (median 7.9 fL, mean 8.1 ± 0.8 fL). Diabetes (OR = 3.64, 95% CI 1.15-10.43, p = 0.03), hypercholesterolemia (OR = 4.94, 95% CI 1.99-12.21, p = 0.001), smoking (OR = 3.54, 95% CI 1.43-8.72, p = 0.006), hemoglobin (OR = 1.69, 95% CI 1.22-2.36, p = 0.002), and MPV (OR = 2.52, 95% CI 1.43-4.44, p = 0.001) were found to be the independent correlates of SCF presence. Only MPV (OR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.05-4.33, p = 0.03) was identified as an independent correlate of extent of SCF.

CONCLUSIONS
Elevated baseline MPV value was found to be an independent predictor of the presence and extent of SCF.


Abstract The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between financial literacy and decisiveness in making risk preference and time preference choices by university students. The study collected data using a questionnaire, implemented a multiple price list risk preference and time preference experiment, and administered a financial literacy test on 192 university students (female = 53%). A maximum of 7 680 risk preference and 7 680 time preference choices were elicited from the university students. An ordinary least squares regression model shows that multiple switching or indecisiveness on risk preference and time preference choices increase as financial literacy decreases. University students with low financial literacy are more likely to switch back-forth between binary lotteries. Low financial literacy increases behavioural biases and short cuts in making preference choices. Being financial literate helps university students to be decisive in making risk and time preference choices.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to estimate case mix adjusted variations in central indicators of health outcomes in childbirth care and to assess whether hospitals who perform well on one indicator also perform well on others.

DESIGN
Register-based study using regional administrative data, linked to clinical data and population data.

SETTING
Twenty-one hospitals in seven Swedish regions covering 67% of deliveries in Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS
The study included 139 756 women who gave birth in 2011 and 2012.

INTERVENTION(S)
N/A.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Four indicators of health outcomes were studied: obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS), haemorrhage >1000 ml, postpartum infection and Apgar <4 at 5 min. Variations between hospitals were estimated using fixed effects logistic regression, adjusted for numerous sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

RESULTS
Significant variations after case mix adjustment were observed for all four indicators. If all hospitals had performed as the average of the top five hospitals for each indicator, a total of 890 OASIS, 2700 haemorrhages, 1500 postpartum infections and 180 instances of low Apgar would have been avoided. A certain degree of correlation was observed between different indicators of outcomes. However, no hospital had a statistically significant higher or lower rate across all four indicators of health outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS
The significant variations in all four indicators demonstrate a potential for improvement in performance at all studied hospitals. Hospital performance was not consistent across different indicators of outcomes and all hospitals have potential for improvement in certain aspects of labour management.


The CO2 molecule is weakly bound in water. Here we analyze the influence of a dissolved CO2 molecule on the structure and OH vibrational spectra of the surrounding water. From the analysis of ab initio molecular dynamics simulations (BLYP-D3) we present static (structure, coordination, H-bonding, tetrahedrality) and dynamical (OH vibrational spectra) properties of the water molecules as a function of distance from the solute. We find a weakly oscillatory variation ("ABBA") in the 'solution minus bulk water' spectrum. The origin of these features can largely be traced back to solvent–solute hard-core interactions which lead to variations in density and tetrahedrality when moving from the solute's vicinity out to the bulk region. The high-frequency peak in the solute-affected spectra is specifically analyzed and found to originate from both water OH groups that fulfill the geometric H-bond criteria, and from those that do not (dangling ones). Effectively, neither is hydrogen-bonded.


A considerable fraction of the central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) are hydrogendeficient. Almost all of these H-deficient central stars (CSs) display spectra with strong carbon and helium lines. Most of them exhibit emission-line spectra resembling those of massive WC stars. Therefore these stars are classed as CSPNe of spectral type [WC]. Recently, quantitative spectral analysis of two emission-line CSs, PB 8 and IC 4663, revealed that these stars do not belong to the [WC] class. Instead PB 8 has been classified as [WN/WC] type and IC 4663 as [WN] type. In this work we report the spectroscopic identification of another rare [WN] star, the CS of Abell 48. We performed a spectral analysis of Abell 48 with the Potsdam Wolf– Rayet (PoWR) models for expanding atmospheres. We find that the expanding atmosphere of Abell 48 is mainly composed of helium (85 per cent by mass), hydrogen (10 per cent) and nitrogen (5 per cent). The residual hydrogen and the enhanced nitrogen abundance make this object different from the other [WN] star IC 4663. We discuss the possible origin of this atmospheric composition.


The objective of this article is to discuss the mutual relationship between environment and inequality. This is a subject that received few attention from the environmental point of view. The economic perspective is usually predominant. Environment is a broad, transversal subject which keeps interfaces with a number of disciplines and affects important dimensions of the human life. We selected two central issues in order to explain their mutual relations with poverty and inequality: climate change and biodiversity. The relation between climate change and poverty/inequality is easier to be understood, in spite of the fact that it is a complex relationship. It is sufficient to consider the natural disasters and the increasing number of environmental refugees. However, in some exceptional cases, global warming may have a favorable effect on poor population living in very cold geographic areas. Insofar as biodiversity is concerned, the question is more controversial. There is a visible dependence of natural resources on the part of poor populations. The depletion of natural resources has a direct impact on the survival of these populations, and this will bring about increased inequality. But the need to conserve biodiversity in protected areas may affect the source of subsistence of low-income population.


This paper describes a novel surface-oxidized barrier-SiN cell technology to effect a tenfold improvement in endurance and read disturb characteristics. In conventional memory cells, degradation of tunnel oxides due to barrier-SiN films for Self-Aligned Contact (SAC) limits the scaling of memory cells. The proposed technology overcomes this problem by an additional oxidation process subsequent to barrier-SiN deposition to reduce hydrogen in both SiN film and tunnel oxide. 0.18 /spl mu/m-rule NAND cells fabricated by the proposed technology demonstrate a tenfold improvement in allowable program/erase cycles and read disturb lifetime without any deterioration of other cell properties.


: Purpose: The purpose of this article is to analyze the changes that occurred in the journalism industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/Methodology/Approach: This analysis was conducted based on the results of quantitative research carried out on a sample of 316 journalists working in Poland. The research was designed and implemented under the scientific direction of the author of the publication with the participation of experts representing the Polish Press Agency and the Institute for Development of Information Society. Findings: The article presents selected areas of cooperation between journalists and public relations practitioners and changes in this area. Practical Implications : The research used in the article was conducted in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the view of the problem has a point dimension. Subsequent in-depth research on this topic is therefore definitely warranted and will be continued. Originality/Value: The results of the study reflect the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed indicator. Consequently, the fundamental strength index may constitute an alternative to the existing methods of assessing the bankruptcy process in enterprises.


The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) is the principal UN human rights body, and arguably the lynchpin of the UN human rights machinery. It brings together States, independent experts, UN staff and civil society actors, and reports to the full UN membership as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly. Its mandate and work is broad, with the body combining highly political elements, significant reliance on expertise, and in situ human rights investigations. In the 13 years since its establishment, the HRC has received significant attention from scholars, observers, civil society, and the wider public. There have been many significant successes and other highly visible failures in relation to the Council's mandate to promote, protect, and develop human rights. Since its establishment, the body has been a battleground over which the UN has fought to overcome inherent structural and ideological flaws in the pursuit of making the idealist human rights vision a reality. This article will provide an account of the Council's creation, key elements, work, and some of the largest challenges including primacy of State sovereignty, politicisation of the Council, and some highly politicised country-specific situations.


A 36-year-old woman presented with a 1 year history of non-progressive shortness of breath on exertion. On physical examination the patient's vital signs were normal. Findings of the cardiovascular examination, including an electrocardiogram, were unremarkable. Chest radiography showed cardiomegaly with a deformed cardiac silhouette and narrow pedicle (figure 1). Two dimensional echocardiography was suggestive of pericardial effusion which was managed initially as tuberculous effusion. However, the patient did not respond to the treatment. CT followed by MRI were performed …


This paper attempts to compare and contrast cryogenic treated and untreated carbide cutting tool in turning operation of AISI304 steel. Machining parameters, namely cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut are optimized for cryogenic treated tools. Tool life of the insert was determined based on the tests performed such as hardness, surface roughness and maximum wear. A design of experiments (DOE) and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) have been incorporated in the study. The objective of the paper is to determine the effects of each parameter on the surface roughness and tool wear. Material characterization was carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the maximum wear was estimated using optical microscope before and after the cryogenic treatment. The experimental results showed that cryogenic treated cutting tools significantly reduction in surface roughness, improves resistance to wear than untreated one. A confirmation test
was performed between experimental and optimum values and the results are found to be in good agreement.


The purpose of this study is to explain how managerial and professional ethics of auditors affect the development of intellectual capital in audit firms. The dependent variable, intellectual capital, has been derived from previous studies and includes under-concepts human capital, organizational capital and social capital. The independent variables are inspired from Sylvander (2015) and consist of the two ethical aspects: managerial ethics and professional ethics.The sample of this study consists of 64 auditors geographically spread in Sweden. The respondents stem from both Big 4 audit firms as well as smaller firms. The participants are members of the Supervisory Board of Public Accountants in Sweden where we gathered our 3066 email addresses from. These auditors where then asked to answer the questionnaire provided through SurveyMonkey.The design of this study is based on a fundamental positivistic philosophy with a deductive approach. As a result, an empirical quantitative method with a cross-sectional design was chosen. The theoretical framework provided in this study is in general based on social exchange theory, behavioural theory, upper-echelon theory and profession theory.The findings of the study indicate that a stronger reliance on managerial ethics in decision-making is positively related to the development of human capital. This was found in the original testing in through regression. However, in the explorative statistics, our tests by using factor analysis have also found that auditors perceive business ethics and intellectual capital differently from what was expected from our literature review. The findings indicate that auditors perceive business ethics, not as managerial and professional ethics, but rather as internal and external ethics. Also, auditors do not perceive intellectual capital as three under-concepts; instead they tend to perceive what we refer to tacit individual capital and collective organizational capital.


For a sustainable society, we must consider how to reduce the CO2 emissions from buildings; however, the ventilation frequency in the toilet (i.e., bathroom or water closet) has not been changed in recent years. Only a few attempts have been made so far to reduce the ventilation frequency in toilets to save energy, despite their further technological developments. In this report, we considered evacuating the odor as soon as possible by providing an exhaust port at the bottom of the wall (hereinafter referred to as baseboard deodorization). We also considered the effect of baseboard deodorization for different toilet (bathroom) sizes. First, we surveyed the relationship between the odor detected by a sensor and a human's olfactory sense and the ventilation volume with the toilet in operation to verify the usefulness of the sensors. Secondly, we analyzed the air environment using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results of the measurements and a questionnaire survey showed a certain degree of correlation between the indication of the degree of contamination in the air and the odor intensity. The results of the CFD analysis indicated that large-scale toilets could accumulate air more easily than small toilets; however, in either case, the ammonia concentration could be lowered by using baseboard deodorization. It was also found that the exhaust from baseboard deodorization greatly contributed to reducing the ammonia concentration.


HDR method is a common used approach to enhance a LDR image for a static scene. It creates a HDR image from a number of LDR images for a static scene. But for a LDR video, the problem is somewhat different. Because the video is captured from a moving camera, it is difficult to obtain the images with different exposures for the same scene. This work proposes a 2-pass HDR method for the compensation of highlights and shadows in a video. First, barrel distortion correction and cylindrical projection are used to correct the perspective distortion, so the frames on different time can be aligned together. Then, the proposed 2-pass HDR method compensates the improper exposed frames in video. Because the proper exposure frame may come from preceding or succeeding frames, the process scan bi-directionally to compensate the highlights and shadows. Experimental results show that our method can effectively compensate the highlights and shadows for the input videos and yield the satisfied compensated results.


This paper examines changing representations of women in Chinese television dramas since the early 1990s and interprets them within a framework of global socialist media cultures, considering both domestic developments and transnational trends. Drawing on the analysis of three selected dramas, it traces the trajectory of televised femininity from exemplary socialist worker-citizens devoted to family and community, to more individualized middle-class urbanites. It is tempting to see this transformation as an outcome of China's integration into the global capitalist economy, the attendant retreat of the party-state from the private realm, and the infusion of Western cultural gender ideals. Yet this interpretation downplays important continuities, and misses intriguing parallels with TV dramas produced in socialist Eastern Europe. The argument pays particular attention to the enduring appeal of the socialist-style superwoman who shoulders the double burden of a professional career and unpaid domestic work while also acting as a discerning citizen-consumer.


Abstract. The simultaneous observation and analysis of atmospheric fine particles (PM2.5) on a regional scale is an important approach to develop control strategies for haze pollution. In this study, samples of filtered PM2.5 were collected simultaneously at three urban sites (Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang) and at a regional background site (Xinglong) in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region from June 2014 to April 2015. The PM2.5 at the four sites was mainly comprised of organic matter, secondary inorganic ions, and mineral dust. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) demonstrated that, on an annual basis, secondary inorganic aerosol was the largest PM2.5 source in this region, accounting for 29.2–40.5 % of the PM2.5 mass at the urban sites; the second-largest PM2.5 source was motor vehicle exhaust, particularly in Beijing (24.9 %), whereas coal combustion was also a large source in Tianjin (12.4 %) and Shijiazhuang (15.5 %), with particular dominance in winter. Secondary inorganic aerosol plays a vital role in the haze process, with the exception of the spring haze in Shijiazhuang and Tianjin, for which the dust source was crucial. In addition to secondary transformations, local direct emissions (coal combustion and motor vehicle exhaust) significantly contribute to the winter haze at the urban sites. Moreover, with the aggravation of haze pollution, the OC ∕ EC mass ratio of PM2.5 decreased considerably and the nitrate-rich secondary aerosol increased during all four seasons in Beijing, both of which indicate that local motor vehicle emissions significantly contribute to the severe haze episodes in Beijing. To assess the impacts of regional transport on haze pollution, the PMF results were further processed with backward-trajectory cluster analysis, revealing that haze pollution usually occurred when air masses originating from polluted industrial regions in the south prevailed and is characterized by high PM2.5 loadings with considerable contributions from secondary aerosols. This study suggests that control strategies to mitigate haze pollution in the BTH region should focus on the reduction of gaseous precursor emissions from fossil fuel combustion (motor vehicle emissions in Beijing and coal combustion in Tianjin, Hebei, and nearby provinces).


In several studies mainly undertaken in emergency departments, lung ultrasound (LUS) has a sensitivity similar and/or superior to the one of chest X-ray (CXR) in the diagnosis of pneumonia. The aim was to evaluate if LUS may be applied as first step imaging examination in the diagnosis of pneumonia also in medical/geriatric setting other than in emergency departments. We reviewed the clinical files of 128 very old patients (61 M and 67 F, age ranging from 78 to 94 yrs, mean 84.8 year) discharged in a period of 20 months with diagnosis of pneumonia in which both CXR and LUS were performed. The majority of patients had co-morbidities and/or motor disability and/or cognitive impairment. The sensitivity of LUS resulted in 82.03% (105/128) and those of CRX 75.78% (97/128): the difference was statistically not significant. Only the presence of pleural effusion resulted significantly higher with LUS when compared with the one observed with CXR (55.46% vs 37.5%, p = 0.0039). The superiority of LUS with respect to CXR, although statistically not significant, suggests the use of ultrasound as a first step examination not only in emergency departments or in pediatric setting but also in very old patients with symptoms suspicious of pneumonia. The use of LUS in frail old patients with multiple co-morbidities can be easily carried out at the bedside and provides diagnostic information avoiding delaying the appropriate antimicrobial treatment.


Urban development and poverty alleviation efforts in the Global South, such as slum upgrading, have been transformed by policy shifts toward more decentralization, reduced state control, and greater civil society and community participation in local governance. The Slum Networking Project (SNP) in Ahmedabad, India, is an internationally recognized "best practice" in participatory slum upgrading. We illustrate how changing the nature of multi-stakeholder participation in the SNP affected its potentials for sustainability and scaling up. Stakeholder ability to alter the institutional arrangement resulted in a significant transfer of project implementation responsibility and authority from the state to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Although these stakeholder-initiated institutional innovations initially expedited and expanded SNP and made it more sustainable, we argue that the enlarged role for NGOs in the current institutional arrangement can limit the program's potential for further scaling up.


National food security in Malawi depends on improving the performance of maize markets. Ensuring that grain is consistently available at tolerable prices is crucial for consumers' food security. At the same time, surplus producing farmers need to receive farm-gate prices consistently above production costs to intensify the use of fertilizer and other productivity enhancing technologies in a sustainable manner. These concerns give rise to the classic food price dilemma for policy makers in Malawi: how to keep prices low enough to ensure low income consumers' access to food while keeping prices high enough to promote farm production incentives. These tensions cannot be avoided but they can be relieved through reducing food marketing margins, which shrink the wedge between producer and consumer prices. Moreover, Malawi faces major political and economic problems associated with food price instability especially given its dependence on rain fed agriculture in a region prone to drought. These issues show that improving the performance of maize markets is at the core of achieving sustainable food security and poverty reduction in Malawi.


Linking named entities to structured knowledge sources paves the way for state-of-the-art Web intelligence applications which assign sentiment to the correct entities, identify trends, and reveal relations between organizations, persons and products. For this purpose this paper introduces Recognyze, a named entity linking component that uses background knowledge obtained from linked data repositories, and outlines the process of transforming heterogeneous data silos within an organization into a linked enterprise data repository which draws upon popular linked open data vocabularies to foster interoperability with public data sets. The presented examples use comprehensive real-world data sets from Orell Fussli Business Information, Switzerland's largest business information provider. The linked data repository created from these data sets comprises more than nine million triples on companies, the companies' contact information, key people, products and brands. We identify the major challenges of tapping into such sources for named entity linking, and describe required data pre-processing techniques to use and integrate such data sets, with a special focus on disambiguation and ranking algorithms. Finally, we conduct a comprehensive evaluation based on business news from the New Journal of Zurich and AWP Financial News to illustrate how these techniques improve the performance of the Recognyze named entity linking component.


Soil aggregates are mm- to cm-sized microporous structures separated by macropores. Whereas fast advective transport prevails in macropores, advection is inhibited by the low permeability of intra-aggregate micropores. This can lead to mass transfer limitations and the formation of aggregate scale concentration gradients affecting the distribution and transport of redox sensitive elements. Selenium (Se) mobilized through irrigation of seleniferous soils has emerged as a major aquatic contaminant. In the absence of oxygen, the bioavailable oxyanions selenate, Se(VI), and selenite, Se(IV), can be microbially reduced to solid, elemental Se, Se(0), and anoxic microzones within soil aggregates are thought to promote this process in otherwise well-aerated soils. To evaluate the impact of soil aggregate size on selenium retention, we developed a dynamic 2-D reactive transport model of selenium cycling in a single idealized aggregate surrounded by a macropore. The model was developed based on flow-through-reactor experiments involving artificial soil aggregates (diameter: 2.5 cm) made of sand and containing Enterobacter cloacae SLD1a-1 that reduces Se(VI) via Se(IV) to Se(0). Aggregates were surrounded by a constant flow providing Se(VI) and pyruvate under oxic or anoxic conditions. In the model, reactions were implemented with double-Monod rate equations coupled to the transport of pyruvate, O 2 , and Se species. The spatial and temporal dynamics of the model were validated with data from experiments, and predictive simulations were performed covering aggregate sizes 1–2.5 cm in diameter. Simulations predict that selenium retention scales with aggregate size. Depending on O 2 , Se(VI), and pyruvate concentrations, selenium retention was 4–23 times higher in 2.5 cm aggregates compared to 1 cm aggregates. Under oxic conditions, aggregate size and pyruvate concentrations were found to have a positive synergistic effect on selenium retention. Promoting soil aggregation on seleniferous agricultural soils, through organic matter amendments and conservation tillage, may thus help decrease the impacts of selenium contaminated drainage water on downstream aquatic ecosystems.


The manuscript is an update to the earlier Science of Synthesis contribution describing methods for the synthesis and new applications of thiocarbonyl S-oxides (sulfines) and thiocarbonyl S-imides. In general, thiocarbonyl S-oxides are more stable and in many instances they can be isolated in substance. The in situ generated thiocarbonyl S-imides are efficient 'sulfur transferring agents' via the isomeric thiaziridines formed as products of electrocyclic ring closure. Stable thiocarbonyl S-imides, derived form hexafluorothioacetone, are useful 1,3-dipoles applied for the preparation of fluorinated, five-membered heterocycles.


This study aimed to develop a Turkish scale, which is reliable, valid and meets the current requirements for assessing the attitudes of students towards computers. That is why, the scale of students' attitude towards computers (SATC), which originally belongs to Teo (2008), was adapted into Turkish. When it comes to methodology part of the study, the scale was administered to a total of 1678 students enrolled in primary or secondary school located in Ankara. After Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed, it was ascertained that the scale consisted of 20 items and 3 factors (computer enjoyment, computer importance and computer anxiety). The Cronbach Alpha and Omega values of the scale were found out to be 0.83 and 0.95 respectively. The findings and implications based on these findings were discussed in a more detailed way in the full paper.


Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between apolipoprotein E (APOE), life events and engagement, and subjective well-being (as measured by positive and negative affect) among centenarians. Based on the life stress paradigm, we predicted that higher levels of stress would allow APOE to influence positive and negative affect. Method: 196 centenarians and near-centenarians (98 years and older) of the Georgia Centenarian Study participated in this research. The APOE, positive and negative affect, the number of recent (last 2 years) and lifelong (more than 20 years prior to testing) events, as well as a number of life engagement tasks were assessed. Results: Results suggested that centenarians carrying the APOE ϵ4 allele rated lower in positive affect, the number of lifelong events, and in engaged lifestyle, when compared to centenarians without the APOE ϵ4 allele (t = 3.43, p < .01; t = 3.19, p < .01; and t = 2.33, p < .05, respectively). Blockwise multiple regressions indicated that the APOE ϵ4 predicted positive but not negative affect after controlling for demographics. Gene–environment interactions were obtained for the APOE ϵ4 and lifelong events, suggesting that carriers of the APOE ϵ4 allele had higher scores of negative affect after having experienced more events, whereas noncarriers had reduced negative affect levels after having experienced more events. Conclusion: APOE ϵ4 is directly related to positive affect and is related to negative affect in interaction with life events.


t A variational method using the principle of virtual work (PVW) is presented to formulate the
problem of the microcantilever stiction. Compared with the Rayleigh–Ritz method using the arc-shaped or
S-shaped deflection, which prescribes the boundary conditions and thus the deflection shape of a stuck
cantilever beam, the new method uses the matching conditions and constraint condition derived from PVW
and minimization of the system free energy to describe the boundary conditions at the contact separation
point. The transition of the beam deflection from an arc-shape-like one to an S-shape-like one with the
increase of the beam length is shown by the new model. The (real) beam deflection given by this new model
deviates more or less from either an arc-shape or an S-shape, which has significant impact on the
interpretation of experimental data. The arc-shaped or S-shaped deflection assumption ignores the beam
bending energy inside the contact area and the elastic energy due to the beam/substrate contact, which is
inappropriate as shown by this study. Furthermore, the arc-shaped or S-shaped deflection only
approximately describes the deflection shape of a stuck beam with zero external load and obviously, the
external load changes the beam deflection. The Rayleigh–Ritz method using the arc-shaped or S-shaped
deflection assumption in essence can only be used to tell approximately whether stiction occurs or not.
Rather than assuming a certain deflection shape and by incorporating the external load, the new method
offers a more general and accurate study not only on the microcantilever beam stiction but also on its deadherence.


The NCEP-NCAR 1958–1997 upper air data set along with surface ship observations have been analyzed for the March-April extremum of the annual cycle in the tropical Atlantic sector and core of the Northeast Brazil (Nordeste) rainy season. (1) In the long-term mean, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) overlies a band of warmest surface waters and is accompanied by ascending motion and upper tropospheric divergent outflow directed mainly into a band of upper tropospheric convergence and subsidence over the tropical North Atlantic. (2) During years of extreme drought in the Nordeste the band of warmest surface waters is displaced northward, and concomitant with this is a northward shift of the strongest lower tropospheric convergence, ascending motion, and upper tropospheric divergent outflow. (3) During the low/warm as compared to the high/cold (SO) phase the bands of warmest surface waters, most intense convection, and largest lower tropospheric convergence, ascending motion, and upper tropospheric outflow are all shifted northward, similar to the pattern characteristic of the Nordeste drought years. (4) Long-term trends are documented by a southward displacement of the bands of most intense convection, largest lower tropospheric convergence, ascending motion, and upper tropospheric divergence, and increasing cloudiness over the equatorial Atlantic. The study thus substantiates the upper air processes instrumental for the interannual and decadal-scale variability in the surface climate of the region.


The purpose of the article is to analyze upgrading by looking at the design of fashion garments. To that end, I use the theoretical concept of contextual knowledge to understand the problems faced by firms, and their staff, that want to upgrade through design. Contextual knowledge combines a general knowledge of fashion with the lifeworld that actors use for interpretation of fashion. Lifeworld is a notion which refers to what is taken for granted. Producers and consumers in the global fashion industry live in different lifeworlds. The text discusses upgrading strategies of garment manufacturers, drawing on unique empirical material. It provides a theoretical tool for analyzing culturally primed production in a global setting.


The intrusion of an unknown substance within a water distribution system can dramatically disrupt the ability to deliver sufficient quantities of clean water. Although prompt detection can be considered the most important matter to protect public from ingestion of unknown substances, it is equally critical that a managing authority locate the intrusion, and return the network to standard operation. This study investigates the use of previously studied inline mobile water quality sensors in an "on-demand" fashion to localize potential contamination intrusion locations. This study employs mobile sensors to traverse through water distribution system pipes along paths that provide the most new information about potential source location contamination statuses. Using network connectivity, upstream regions of nodes traversed by the mobile sensors are deemed either a feasible or infeasible intrusion region based on the contamination status determined by the mobile sensor. Successively, mobile sensors are input until the region of potential intrusion is smaller than a defined threshold number of network nodes. Results of the mobile sensors employed for contamination intrusion localization are compared to the fixed sensor information. This study represents a preliminary investigation of a simple heuristic method to best deploy mobile water quality sensors for contamination event localization.


A new communication channel for severely handicapped people could be opened with a direct brain to computer interface (BCI). Such a system classifies electrical brain signals online. In a series of training sessions, where electroencephalograph (EEG) signals are recorded on the intact scalp, a classifier is trained to discriminate a limited number of different brain states. In a subsequent series of feedback sessions, where the subject is confronted with the classification results, the subject tries to reduce the number of misclassifications. In this study the relevance of different spectral components is analyzed: 1) on the training sessions to select optimal frequency bands for the feedback sessions and 2) on the feedback sessions to monitor changes.


Activated phospholipase C (PLC*) generates 1,4,5-triphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG) from phosphatidyl inositol (PIP2). The DAG remains in the plasma membrane and co-activates conventional protein kinase C (PKC) with Ca(2+). We have developed a mathematical model for the activation of the Ca(2+)-dependent PKC and its negative feedback on phospholipase C (PLC) and coupled it to the De Young-Keizer model for IP3 mediated Ca(2+) oscillations. The model describes the cascade of reactions for the translocation of PKC to plasma membrane, and simulates activation of Ca(2+) and diacylglycerol (DAG) oscillations. The model demonstrates that oscillations in Ca(2+) and DAG are possible with or without a positive Ca(2+) feedback on phospholipase C consistent with experiment. In many experimental studies, the timing of the peaks of the Ca(2+) and IP3 oscillations have been used to suggest causality, i.e. that the IP3 oscillations cause the Ca(2+) oscillations. The model is used to explore this question. To this end, the positive and negative feedback between Ca(2+) and IP3 production are modulated, resulting in changes to the phase lag between the peaks in [Ca(2+)]cyt and [IP]cyt. The model simulates a possible experimental protocol that can be used to differentiate whether or not the positive feedback of Ca(2+) on PLC is needed for the oscillations.


[1] Recently, dense and sensitive modern seismic networks have revealed tectonic and volcanic tremors. Although most studies of seismic tremors focused on these two types, other types of tremor activities also exist. To detect such tremor activities, we analyzed data from the Hi-net high-sensitivity accelerometers (tiltmeters) between June 2004 and June 2006. The results elucidate very low frequency (VLF) Love wave tremors with a typical frequency of 0.085 Hz beneath the Shonai Plain in northeastern Japan. The tremor activity lasted for several days and occurred several times per month in winter. The activity was triggered by secondary microseisms, which provide a proxy for local ocean swell activity. A possible source is a subhorizontal crack coupled with a fluid reservoir at the bottom of the sedimentary layer. All the observed features suggest that hydrologic phenomena are potential sources of VLF tremors. Because similar hydrologic phenomena can be expected even in tectonically and volcanically inactive regions, modern array observations by broadband seismometers may reveal similar hydrologic tremors in such regions.


Findings of research into disorders of the micronutrient exchange in esophageal carcinoma patients are overviewed. The micronutrient level in the plasma, erythrocytes, and urea was estimated by means of emission plasma spectroscopy. Patients with esophageal carcinoma were found to have pronounced changes in the micronutrient exchange on their admission into the clinic. These changes were corrected by means of artificial nutrition, which included preparations with directed action and micronutrients. After the course of therapy a tendency towards normalization of the micronutrient exchange was observed.


This study was conducted to determine the presence of Listeria spp. and the serotype distribution of L. monocytogenes in fifty frozen broiler carcass samples obtained from different producers. USDA/FSIS suggested method was used for the isolation and identification of Listeria spp. Overall, 5 different Listeria species could be isolated from 94 % of frozen broiler carcasses. L. innocua was the most prevalent species with 90 % (45/50) followed by L. monocytogenes with 30 % (15/50), L. welshimeri with % 8 (4/50), L. grayi with 2 % (1/50) and L. murrayi with % 2 (1/50) respectively. According to the analysis there were mixed contamination of L. innocua with other Listeria species. Serotyping showed that 73.3 % of isolates of the L. monocytogenes belonged to serotype 1/2a, while 6.7 % belonged to serotype 1/2b, 6.7 % belonged to serotype 1/2c, 6.7 % belonged to serotype 3c and % 6.7 belonged serotype 4b. It is concluded that the presence of L. monocytogenes on 30 % of frozen broiler carcasses sampled reemphasizes the importance of maintaining good hygienic practices in production, processing and the consumers kitchen to avoid of human infections.


A kind of approach to solve the workshop production capability optimization allocation problem is put forward in this paper. The approach is based on the artificial fish-swarm algorithm (AFSA). In the approach, the normal artificial fish is extended to be two-dimension artificial fish. In the two-dimension artificial fish, each vector could be expressed with a group of tasks. By designing the behavior of two dimensions, the production capability allocation approach based on two dimension artificial swarm algorithm is put forward, which demonstrates the efficiency of the algorithm in handling with complex mathematical problems as well as non-convex production capability resource management problems. The application case study shows that the AFSA is not complicated to use and does not require much mathematical sophistication to understand its mechanisms. The approach can be considered as an optimal tool to provide production capability optimization allocation.


Concerns about the dissemination of spurious results have led to calls for pre-analysis plans (PAPs) to avoid ex-post "p-hacking." But often the conceptual hypotheses being tested do not imply the level of specificity required for a PAP. In this paper we suggest a framework for PAPs that capitalize on the availability of causal machine-learning (ML) techniques, in which researchers combine specific aspects of the analysis with ML for the flexible estimation of unspecific remainders. A "cheap-lunch" result shows that the inclusion of ML produces limited worst-case costs in power, while offering a substantial upside from systematic specification searches.


Objectives: we aim to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis in population of adult MDS patients to elucidate the role of these genes in AML transformation risk. Materials and Methods: The protocol for this systematic review and meta-analysis was registered in the international prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) with ID number of CRD42020218581. Systematic literature search was conducted by all authors up to October 2021 on: (1) PubMed, (2) EBSCOhost, (3) Scopus, (4) JSTOR, and (5) grey literatures. Hand-searching for relevant articles was also conducted. The following keywords with their synonyms and combinations using Boolean operators were applied to all database: "myelodysplastic syndrome", SRSF2", "SF3B1", "U2AF1", "ASXL1", "DNMT3A", "TET2", "IDH1", "IDH2", "RUNX1", "acute myeloid leukemia progression", and "leukemia free survival". Outcome was measured using hazard ratio (HR). Results: We identified 14 articles to be used for this systematic review and meta-analysis. There was no statistically significant difference in AML transformation risk between U2AF1 mutant and U2AF1 wildtype MDS patients (HR: 1.41; 95% CI: 0.95–2.07, p=0.08, I2=0%). Pooled HR showed that patients with SRSF2 mutation had higher risk of AML transformation (HR 2.62; 95% CI: 1.54-4.45; p= .0004; I2= 55%). The pooled HR for SF3B1 was 0.48 (95% CI: 0.22–1.06, p=0.07, I2=55%). Mutations of TET2, ASXL1, and EZH2 were not associated with AML transformation. Meanwhile, DNMT3A mutations were associated with AML transformation with pooled HR of 2.73 (95% CI: 1.43-5.21; p= 0.08; I2: 67%). The pooled HR for IDH genes was smaller (HR: 2.92; 95%CI: 1.21-7.06; p=0.02; I2:65%). Patients with RUNX1 mutation were associated with AML transformation (HR: 1.85; 95%CI: 1.11-3.09; p=0.02; I2:38%). Conclusion: Based from our analyses, MDS patients with mutations of SRSF2, DNMT3A, IDH, and RUNX1 have higher hazard ratio for AML transformation.


The main goal of this paper is to introduce the notion of 3-L-dendriform
 algebras which are the dendriform version of 3-pre-Lie algebras. In fact
 they are the algebraic structures behind the O-operator of 3-pre-Lie
 algebras. They can be also regarded as the ternary analogous of L-dendriform
 algebras. Moreover, we study the generalized derivations of 3-L-dendriform
 algebras. Finally, we explore the spaces of quasi-derivations, the centroids
 and the quasi-centroids and give some properties.


BACKGROUND
Early extubation in select cardiac surgery patients reduces tracheal intubation times, intensive care unit length of stay, and hospital length of stay. While there is good evidence in the literature to support early extubation, there is very little published research that describes how to study and redesign processes of care to increase early extubation rates.

OBJECTIVE
To improve rates of early extubation by redesigning patient care processes using Lean principles to remove barriers to desired care and facilitate early extubation with guideline management.

DESIGN
Retrospective data analysis.

SETTING
Sixteen-bed intensive care unit in a mid-sized, academic community hospital.

PATIENTS
Four hundred four patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery, aortic valve replacement, or mitral valve replacement/repair.

INTERVENTION
The process of care for cardiac surgery patients, beginning with the immediate preoperative period and ending with extubation in the postoperative period, was analyzed using Lean methodologies. A value stream analysis was performed to identify waste in the process, and root causes for the largest sources of waste were identified. Hypothermia on admission to the intensive care unit, prolonged weaning using arterial blood gas results, hypertension management with pain medications and sedation medications, and delays in obtaining equipment were the primary reasons early extubation was delayed. Process redesign using Lean work design principles was implemented to eliminate these issues.

MEASUREMENTS
The rate of patients being extubated in fewer than 6 hours and length of intubation.

RESULTS
One hundred ninety-five pre-intervention subjects were compared with 171 post-intervention subjects. The pre- and post- groups did not differ in demographic predictors (Table 1). The intervention predicted extubation in<6 hours (pre-intervention 27% versus post-intervention 50%, p = 0.0001). Age, renal failure, and gender also predicted whether intubation occurred within 6 hours. The median length of intubation was lower post-intervention (pre-intervention 9.7 v post-intervention 6.1 hours, p = 0.0019) LIMITATIONS: The effect of this nonrandomized intervention could be due to other factors associated with a different care epoch.

CONCLUSIONS
The closely planned, coordinated, and integrated care paradigm dramatically increased the likelihood of extubation within 6 hours of arrival in the SICU.


Introduction: Violence is increasingly recognised as a major public health issue yet health data are underutilised for describing the problem or developing responses. We use English emergency hospital admissions for assault over four years to examine assault demography and contribution to health inequalities. Methods: Geodemographic cross-sectional analyses utilising records of all individuals in England (n = 120 643) admitted between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2006. Results: Over 4 years, rates of admission increased by 29.56% across England. Admissions peaked on Saturdays (22.34%) and Sundays (20.38%). Higher rates were associated with deprivation across all ages, including those <15 years, with a sixfold increase in admission rates between the poorest and wealthiest quintiles of residence. Logistic regression analyses indicate males are 5.59 times more likely to be admitted to hospital for assault and such admissions peak in those aged 15–29 years. Modelling based on national assault admissions and limited Accident and Emergency (A&E) data suggest that while more serious assaults requiring hospital admission have increased, assault attendances at A&Es have fallen. Discussion: Hospital admission and A&E data identify a direct contribution made by violence to health inequalities. Levels of violence inhibit other interventions to improve people's health through, for instance, outdoor exercise or delivery of health-related services in affected areas. With disproportionate exposure to violence in poorer areas even in those under 15, early life primary prevention initiatives are required in disadvantaged communities to reduce childhood harm and the development of adult perpetrators and victims of violence.


Seismic "noise" can be used to monitor climate change effects, locate storms, and elucidate the structure of Earth's crust. Intense cyclonic storm systems generate strong ocean-surface winds that transfer atmospheric energy into ocean gravity waves. Some of the ocean wave energy couples to the solid earth, causing what seismologists have long considered as ambient "noise," because it interferes with the study of earthquake signals measured by seismometers. However, rising ambient noise levels imply increasing oceanic storminess (1), which is linked to climate change. In this context, the roles are reversed, with earthquakes being the noise that needs to be excluded from the climate-related signals. Studies of long-term seismic records suggest that wave-generated ambient noise is increasing globally (2).


Purpose: The objective of this review is to evaluate the literature on medications associated with delirium after cardiac surgery and potential prophylactic agents for preventing it. Source: Articles were searched in MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health, and EMBASE with the MeSH headings: delirium, cardiac surgical procedures, and risk factors, and the keywords: delirium, cardiac surgery, risk factors, and drugs. Principle inclusion criteria include having patient samples receiving cardiac procedures on cardiopulmonary bypass, and using DSM-IV-TR criteria or a standardized tool for the diagnosis of delirium. Principal Findings: Fifteen studies were reviewed. Two single drugs (intraoperative fentanyl and ketamine), and two classes of drugs (preoperative antipsychotics and postoperative inotropes) were identified in the literature as being independently associated with delirium after cardiac surgery. Another seven classes of drugs (preoperative antihypertensives, anticholinergics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, opioids, and statins, and postoperative opioids) and three single drugs (intraoperative diazepam, and postoperative dexmedetomidine and rivastigmine) have mixed findings. One drug (risperidone) has been shown to prevent delirium when taken immediately upon awakening from cardiac surgery. None of these findings was replicated in the studies reviewed. Conclusion: These studies have shown that drugs taken perioperatively by cardiac surgery patients need to be considered in delirium risk management strategies. While medications with direct neurological actions are clearly important, this review has shown that specific cardiovascular drugs may also require attention. Future studies that are methodologically consistent are required to further validate these findings and improve their utility.


Techniques are needed for conserving water and shortening the cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) fruiting season in irrigated areas. We conducted field tests at Phoenix, Arizona during the summers of 1978 and 1979 to determine the influence of delaying the first irrigation on subsequent growth, fruiting, and yield of cotton grown in an Avondale clay loam (fine-loamy, hyperthermic, Typic Torrifluvents). In 1978, the first post-plant irrigation was applied when the first flower bud (square) became visible (E) or 14 days later (L). Two levels of irrigation during the remainder of the season, normal (N) or 0.6 normal (D), were used as subplots. Delaying the first irrigation slowed growth, square production, and leaf area development, and slightly decreased the number of bolls set by any given date. Despite these apparent adverse effects the LN treatment produced heavier bolls, fewer damaged bolls, and the highest yield. Although LN received 13 cm less water than EN, it produced an average of 606 kg more seed cotton per ha. Water deficit during the remainder of the season (D) greatly decreased growth and yield. In 1979, the first post-plant irrigation was applied at the time of first visible square (E), 7 days later (M), or 16 days later (L). Two plant populations, 94,000 (Hi) and 52,000 (Lo) plants per ha were also variables. The final irrigation was applied 13 August to shorten the season. Despite a 16-day delay in the first irrigation, one less irrigation, and a short-season (early termination), L produced about the same yield as E. The low population produced slightly fewer blooms, but retained more and produced slightly higher yields than the high population. Treatment MLo produced the highest yield, and LLo gave the greatest water-use efficiency. Delaying the first irrigation conserved water and gave satisfactory yields despite early termination in 1979. Although water deficit during the bloom stage hastened cutout, delaying the first irrigation had little effect on earliness. Likewise, low plant population caused no appreciable delay in setting the crop.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the relationship between serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity and serum IgG concentration in neonatal crias.

DESIGN
Prospective observational study.

ANIMALS
21 llama and 4 alpaca crias from 0 to 5 days old.

PROCEDURE
Serum GGT activity was measured, using a commercially available kit. Serum IgG concentration was determined by use of radial immunodiffusion. With a serum IgG concentration of 1,000 mg/dl (considered adequate passive transfer), specificity and sensitivity of serum GGT activity in the detection of failure of passive transfer were determined. Regression models were developed to determine the relationship between serum GGT activity and serum IgG concentration.

RESULTS
Sensitivity ranged from 0.56 to 0.89, and specificity ranged from 0.88 to 0.31, depending on the value of serum GGT activity chosen as a threshold. Proportion of crias correctly classified ranged from 0.76 to 0.52. Regression models failed to demonstrate a significant relationship between serum GGT activity and serum IgG concentration.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
Passive transfer status in crias cannot be accurately predicted on the basis of serum GGT activity.