Physics and astrophysics owe much to Mathematics: knowledge of the universe today would be impossible without it. What is surprising every day? The simplicity of the physical and mathematical models that Nature uses. Also behind elementary mathematics topics as continued fractions are hidden problems with greater complexity. The design of Nature is as if it were conceived in "bottom up" from the small elementary brick, until completion of the"cathedrals of the universe". It was discovered relatively recently that other scientific fields such as medicine, bioengineering, music, economics, etc., can draw on mathematical models of number theory. The authors in this article show how, starting from the simple continued fractions, one can reach the most advanced theories of physics, as the connections between the prime numbers and the strings adic, adelic and zeta-strings, furthermore the connections between the mathematics of the fractals and the golden number.


The classical picture of a star-forming filament is a near-equilibrium structure with its collapse dependent on its gravitational criticality. Recent observations have complicated this picture, revealing filaments to be a mess of apparently interacting subfilaments with transsonic internal velocity dispersions and mildly supersonic intra-subfilament dispersions. How structures like this form is unresolved. Here, we study the velocity structure of filamentary regions in a simulation of a turbulent molecular cloud. We present two main findings. First, the observed complex velocity features in filaments arise naturally in self-gravitating hydrodynamic simulations of turbulent clouds without the need for magnetic or other effects. Second, a region that is filamentary only in projection and is in fact made of spatially distinct features can display these same velocity characteristics. The fact that these disjoint structures can masquerade as coherent filaments in both projection and velocity diagnostics highlights the need to continue developing sophisticated filamentary analysis techniques for star formation observations.


BACKGROUND
Timely eye fundus examinations are essential to prevent the consequences of retinopathy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

AIM
To assess the coverage rate (CR) of eye fundus examination in the Chilean diabetic population, between 2011 and 2019.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Analysis of monthly statistical summaries of the Cardiovascular Health Program published online by the Chilean Ministry of Health. The number of patients aged 15 years or more with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes mellitus and the number of those who had an eye fundus examination within the same year, were obtained. Data was analyzed at a national and regional level.

RESULTS
The national eye fundus examination CR was 19.1% in 2011. In 2016, the figures became significantly higher, reaching 32.5%. In 2019, the highest value of 36.5% was recoded although not significantly different from 2016. The highest average annual CR was observed in Ñuble Health Service (49.5%), and the lowest in Central Metropolitan Service (15%). The highest CR positive absolute and relative variation between 2011 and 2019 was observed in Viña del Mar Quillota Health Service (38.9 and 489% respectively), and the lowest negative variation was observed in Araucania Norte Health Service (-8.42 and -24.21% respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
There is a low eye fundus examination CR in Chile, with important differences between regional health services.


Welded steel mesh has been widely utilised in underground coal mines for surface control for a long time. Previous studies on its behaviour were mainly conducted on relatively small sections of mesh in the laboratory. In this paper full scale pull tests on two types of welded steel mesh were performed in the laboratory, with the load-displacement response recorded. In addition to the laboratory tests numerical modelling was also completed. Weld shear tests together with tensile and bend tests on steel wires were also undertaken to provide the input parameters and other relevant information for the numerical models. It was found that the load-displacement curves generated by the physical tests and numerical models matched well. The platen used to pull the mesh was a dome like seat rather than the commonly used flat plate. The influence of the two types of platen on mesh behaviour was investigated numerically, the results showed that the flat plate yielded greater load at first wire failure but for all practical purpose a similar load-displacement curve. Disciplines Engineering | Science and Technology Studies Publication Details Shan, Z., Porter, I. & Nemcik, J. (2014). Performance of full scale welded steel mesh for surface control in underground coal mines. In B. I. Morsi (Eds.), 31st Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference: Coal Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, PCC 2014 (pp. 1-10). This conference paper is available at Research Online: http://ro.uow.edu.au/eispapers/4742


The overriding aim of this series of studies was to investigate the psychological, physiological, and psychophysiological effects of exposure to odours of purportedly sedative (petitgrain and Roman chamomile) and stimulant (rosemary and spike lavender) essential oils. More specifically, the purpose of these studies was to determine whether inhalation of essential oils produces reliable changes in mood, behavioural responding, physiological functioning, psychological functioning, and cognitive processing, as well as whether these changes are consistent with the supposed therapeutic effects of these oils as cited in aromatherapy literature. Furthermore, these studies aimed to extend the current knowledge regarding the mechanisms via which the inhalation of essential oils may produce changes in human functioning. In particular, the aim of the studies was to investigate the direct versus indirect action of essential oils on nervous system functioning by removing, controlling, or specifically assessing the effects of variables that are hypothesised to mediate an individual's response to an odour. These mediating variables include hedonic ratings of odour pleasantness, expectations regarding the purported therapeutic effects of the odours, and semantic associations arising from previous experiences with the odours. Consequently, all participants (n=17, females) were screened for knowledge of the experimental odours and were required to rate each odour according to its pleasantness and to identify whether exposure to each odour elicited particular memories. Study One measured changes in self-report ratings of 10 mood dimensions following odour exposure. Study Two assessed the effects of exposure to the odours of the experimental oils on accuracy and reaction time on a visual three-stimulus odd-ball task. In Study Three, changes in physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiration rate and respiratory sinus arrhythmia were assessed in response to odour exposure. Study Four investigated the effects of odour exposure on electroencephalographic responses in the alpha, beta, and theta frequencies. Finally, Study Five assessed the effects of exposure to the experimental odours on the Ni, N2, P2, P3a and P3b components of event-related potentials. In each of these studies, the overall effects of odour exposure on each of the experimental parameters was assessed, as well as the contributing effects of ratings of odour pleasantness and the presence or absence of semantic associations. Overall, the results revealed that there is a complex relationship between experimental parameters, odour type, hedonic ratings, and semantic associations. There are inconsistent results across studies for each of the experimental odours, and the effects of ratings of odour pleasantness or the existence of semantic associations on each experimental parameter varied between essential oil odour types. The fact that the variability in the results was not fully accounted for by the effects of the hedonic and semantic variables alone suggests that there may be other factors that contribute to the action of essential oils on humans.


Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.The aim of the research was to determine the relationship between knowledge sharing and knowledge loss through creation of a conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing and a conceptual toolkit, able to be used by managers as an analysis tool. A theoretical, constructive approach was taken to the research through the use of a theory-building methodology to create the conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing in organisations. Empirical research was carried out using a case study at an energy infrastructure organisation in the UK through questionnaires and formal interviews to validate the model. A new conceptual model of factors affecting knowledge sharing was developed and evaluated, further improving the model. The empirical research showed validation of past literature and created additional elements to the model. The main limitation is that only one industry case study was used for empirical validation. This was due to the limited timeframe of the research, which suggests that further research should involve multiple case studies, covering a wide variety of industries. The model of factors affecting knowledge sharing allows managers to analyse their knowledge management strategies and offers suggestions of ways to reduce any risk of knowledge loss. There is a lack of conceptual models based on knowledge loss, and this paper aims to solve this issue. This will be useful to businesses, helping them to improve their knowledge management initiatives, retain knowledge and gain competitive advantage over competitors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Since 1967, the New Catholic Encyclopedia, cited by Library Journal as one of the top 50 reference sources of the millennium, has been a standard in public, academic and high school libraries worldwide. Prized for its scholarly presentation of persons and subjects related to Catholicism and the humanities, the Encyclopedia is the first place you turn when your users have questions on topics such as abortion, divorce, witchcraft and tolerance. Gale, together with The Catholic University of America, is proud to announce a new and updated edition of this multi-volume set -- the first updated edition in more than 30 years. This revised edition features contributions from hundreds of scholars from all over the world, under the guidance of Catholic University of America's Reverend Berard Marthaler, O.F.M.Conv. and Gale. Incorporating content from the five supplementary volumes to the first edition of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, this edition also features revised and new articles. Among the 12,000 entries in the Encyclopedia are articles on theology, philosophy, history, literary figures, saints, musicians and much more. What impact did Catholicism have on Shakespeare? What role does music play in religious worship? Why is the fish a Christian symbol? What did John Paul II have to do with the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe? What's the difference between the Catholic and Protestant bibles? The only comprehensive source on Catholic teachings, the New Catholic Encyclopedia is the source to consult for answers to questions like these, and hundreds of others. In addition to the hundreds of new signed articles on a wide variety of topics, this new edition also features biographies of contemporary religious figures; thousands of photographs, maps and illustrations; and updated bibliographical citations. The 15th volume is a cumulative index to the entire encyclopedia.


OBJECTIVE: To describe an additional case of an uncommon variant of Sertoli cell testicular tumor. METHODS/RESULTS: A 34-year-old male infected with the human immunodeficiency virus presented with a right testicular tumor he had noted one year earlier. A right inguinal orchidectomy was performed. Histological examination demonstrated sclerosing Sertoli cell tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Sertoli cell tumor is a rare variant of testicular tumor from sexual cords. Although it is uncommon, histological variants have been described: classical Sertoli cell tumor, large calcifying cells and the sclerosing variant. The case of sclerosing Sertoli cell tumor described herein is a variant of which 11 cases have been reported in the world literature. The fact that our patient is HIV-positive makes this case even rarer.


It is shown that partial information about the airborne/spacebased (A/S) clutter covariance matrix (CCM) can be used effectively to significantly enhance the convergence performance of a block-processed space/time adaptive processor (STAP) in a clutter and jamming environment. The partial knowledge of the CCM is based upon the simplified general clutter model (GCM) which has been developed by the airborne radar community. A priori knowledge of parameters which should be readily measurable (but not necessarily accurate) by the radar platform associated with this model is assumed. The GCM generates an assumed CCM. The assumed CCM along with exact knowledge of the thermal noise covariance matrix is used to form a maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the unknown interference covariance matrix which is used by the STAP. The new algorithm that employs the a priori clutter and thermal noise covariance information is evaluated using two clutter models: 1) a mismatched GCM, and 2) the high-fidelity Research Laboratory STAP clutter model. For both clutter models, the new algorithm performed significantly better (i.e., converged faster) than the sample matrix inversion (SMI) and fast maximum likelihood (FML) STAP algorithms, the latter of which uses only information about the thermal noise covariance matrix.


A 70-78-GHz integrated frequency synthesizer is implemented in 65-nm CMOS. It has been integrated in a two-step zero-IF millimeter-wave transceiver for emerging applications, such as 81-86-GHz satellite communication, short-distance high-speed wireless link, as well as imaging and radar. The transceiver utilizes synthesizer voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) output as the first LORF and 1/8 of LORF as the second LORF to cover the desired frequency band. The proposed synthesizer adopts integer-N architecture with 50-MHz reference. It also features coarse phase rotation to provide beam-forming capability for the intended transceiver. The synthesizer phase noise (PN) has been measured at 1/8 of the VCO frequency, about -102.2 dBc/Hz @ 1-MHz offset, and the measured reference spur for LORF is less than -49 dBc. Thus, the extrapolated PN performance is better than -84 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz at 70-78 GHz LORF. The embedded frequency synthesizer occupies 0.16-mm2 chip area, including the angular rotator and buffers, and consumes 65 mW under 1-V supply.


The purpose of this research is to determine the antecedents of employee engagement such as reward/recognition, role clarity and teamwork against workers at Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) Kampus Wilayah Selatan. Institut Tadbiran Awam Negara (INTAN) Kampus Wilayah Selatan is a training center located under the Public Service Department. INTAN has it main campus which located at Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur. Besides, INTAN also has several branch campuses. Which is INTAN Kampus Wilayah Tengah (INTENGAH) at Jalan Elmu, Kuala Lumpur; INTAN Kampus Wilayah Utara (INTURA) at Sungai Petani, Kedah; INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan (IKWAS) at Kluang, Johor; INTAN Kampus Wilayah Timur (INTIM) at Kemaman, Terengganu; INTAN Kampus Sabah at Tuaran, Sabah; and INTAN Kampus Sarawak at Kota Samarahan, Sarawak. This research focus more to workers at INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan. INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan has around 69 workers. All the workers in INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan were appointed by Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA).
This research use descriptive study to determine employee engagement at INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan. The targeted population is 69 of the workers at INTAN Kampus Wilayah Selatan and the sample size in this research is 59 respondents out of 69 workers. All of the respondents is selected through simple random sampling techniques. Questionnaires which is primary data were used in this research to collect all the data. In this research all the data that have been collected were analyze by using Reliability analysis, Frequency distribution analysis, Descriptive statistical analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis, Multiple regression analysis and Hypothesis testing. Nevertheless, the result of this research indicates that the antecedents of employee engagement is reward/recognition, role clarity and teamwork. All the antecedents have positive relationship with employee engagement.


We present a multiscale coupling method to address contact problems. The components of the model are a molecular dynamics engine, a finite element program and a coupling scheme. We validate the approach, first on Hertzian contact and then with a rough surface contacting a rigid body plane. Various measures are provided to highlight limitations and new opportunities in conducting large‐scale simulations of contact brought by the proposed multiscale approach. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Pyogenic granuloma (PG) is an acquired vascular growth on the skin and mucous membranes. Even though PG is a benign tumor, treatment is required due to associated risk of ulceration and bleeding, cosmetic concerns, and the low likelihood of spontaneous regression. Treatment entails excisional surgery, cryotherapy, or electrocautery; recurrence however is a major problem. Beta-blockers became an attractive option for the treatment of vascular growths after it got approved for infantile hemangioma. PG was found to express beta adrenergic receptors, similarly to infantile hemangioma. Several publications have reported the use of oral and topical beta blockers such as timolol, propranolol, and betaxolol for the treatment of PG. In this study, we summarized the literature with regards to the effectiveness of topical beta blockers for the treatment of PG, and discussed all published case reports, case series, and open-label single arm trials.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2019;18(10):1006-1010.


This thesis focuses on understanding the complex relationships between geography
teachers' conceptions and practice. Through the use of a Foucauldian (1971, 1979)
perspective on discourse, knowledge and power, it examines the discursive structures
that produce knowledge about geography and 'good' geography teachers (Moore,
2004) in Singapore. The research explores why pre-service teachers conceive
geography in particular ways, and the links between their conceptions and practice. It
emphasises the ways in which discursive power affects this relationship.
The study focuses on six geography pre-service secondary school teachers over the
course of one year of teacher education. Utilising concept maps, elicitation exercises
and in-depth interviews, it highlights that the national curriculum was powerful in
shaping respondents' discussions of geography, but its impact was mediated by their
own professional identities and past experiences of geography. The data also suggests
that these conceptions did not always translate into practice because of discourses
operating in the school context, which placed respondents in asymmetrical power
relationships with their mentors. The mentors' conceptions of 'good' geography
teaching usually influenced respondents' practice more than their own conceptions of
geography. Nevertheless, respondents sometimes resisted their mentors, especially if
they experienced conflict between the type of teaching that was demanded of them
and their own professional identities.
iv
The research calls on teacher educators and policy makers to acknowledge that
programmes to develop teachers' knowledge in their academic disciplines can be
undermined by powerful competing discourses that stress examinable content in
school curricula. It highlights the need for teacher education institutions to examine
their partnerships with schools for possible conflicts between discourses about 'good'
teaching in schools and institutional intended outcomes. It suggests that there is a
need to strengthen the professional identities of teachers as 'geographers' given that
identity forms an important base from which teachers respond to discourse.


ABSTRACT Kenya and South Africa are two settings in which the upwardly-aspiring 'new middle class' has been particularly noted: its members desire to transcend the hierarchies and inequalities that once kept some from achieving prosperity. Based on research in South Africa, this article goes beyond a focus on narrowly economic aspects of this class to explore the role of the Pentecostal or neo-charismatic churches in articulating and (re)shaping its subjective values and orientations. Alongside expectations of abundant wealth, these churches affirm the positive qualities that work can endow, a capitalist-style interest in property investment, an inculcation of rational subdivision and allocation of one's income to diverse ends, and a redistributive approach to economic arrangements. At the same time, church membership allows for self-reflection and critical citizenship: congregants have a nuanced self-awareness of the way in which their new status separates them from those with fewer privileges and less access to the benefits of modernity, and are able to deliberate reflexively about the character of these privileges.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined impact of obesity and physical activity (PA) on the health of older adults. Pedometer-determined steps/d, body-mass index (BMI), resting blood pressure, and fasting glucose (FG) were assessed in 137 older adults (69.0 +/- 8.9 yr). The active group (>4,227 steps/d) had lower systolic blood pressure (SBP; p = .001), diastolic blood pressure (DBP; p = .028), and FG (p < .001) than the inactive group (< or = 4,227 steps/d). The normal-BMI group (18.5-24.9 kg/m2) had lower SBP (p < .001) and DBP (p = .01) than the obese group (> or =30 kg/m2). There were no differences in SBP (p = .963) or DBP (p = 1.0) between active obese and inactive normal-BMI groups. The active obese group, however, had a more favorable FG than the inactive normal-BMI group (chi 2 = 18.9, df = 3, p = .001). Efforts to increase PA of older adults should receive the same priority as reducing obesity to improve BP and FG levels.


Against the background of bad labor market conditions with high unemployment, poor job prospects, and low wages, East Germany used to experience long-standing high net migration outflows. During the last years, however, the situation on the East German labor market changed fundamentally, and employers nowadays increasingly experience problems with the recruitment of qualified workers. One popular way to stabilize labor supply has become the systematic approach of East Germans who migrated to West Germany to induce their return. So far, however, the few empirical studies on this topic have relied on survey data or case studies, thereby providing only selective insights on return migration to East Germany. It is thus still an open question how many return migrants there are, which regions they return to, and how relevant their return would be for the local labor markets. In this paper, we analyze labor-market related return migration from West to East Germany and provide some answers to the question on the relevance for local labor markets. Using a unique data set that covers all labor market participants in Germany, we trace the migration and employment history of East Germans as of December 31st, 2012 from 1999 onwards. Our research adds to the existing literature in several ways. First, complementing survey-based findings, we provide detailed and comprehensive descriptive evidence on migration from West to East Germany. Second, we map the spatial migration patterns of the return migrants on the level of NUTS3-regions. Special emphasis is given to the relocation of the place of living only against the simultaneous relocation of the place of work. Third, we take a detailed look at all labor market participants. Apart from employees liable to social security, we consider unemployed, apprentices, and marginally employed. For all four groups, we investigate whether they maintained or improved their labor market status by migration. This way, we contribute to the discussion on the relevance of economic motives versus social ties as motives for return migration. Our results provide good news for the East German districts directly at the former intra-German border, the larger cities and the regions surrounding Berlin that might well profit from return migration for the stabilization of regional labor supply. However, for the remaining mostly rural regions they rather provide bad news.


By putting a Kondo system of limited dimension inside an insulating matrix, the Kondo screening cloud is confined by the size of the system. This allows us to distinguish the bulk and nano-particle behaviors of such system. We have investigated the magnetic properties of 0.3 at. % Fe-doped Cu clusters with dimensions less than 20 nm embedded in a SiO2 matrix. The magnetic measurements are consistent with the Kondo interaction, and net antiferromagnetic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions between several Fe atoms in one cluster are estimated to have a very small effect. To understand the low-temperature susceptibility reduction, we compare Brillouin functions with exact quantum-mechanical solutions for interacting spin-1 particles and with the Kondo predictions for confined nanoparticles.By putting a Kondo system of limited dimension inside an insulating matrix, the Kondo screening cloud is confined by the size of the system. This allows us to distinguish the bulk and nano-particle behaviors of such system. We have investigated the magnetic properties of 0.3 at. % Fe-doped Cu clusters with dimensions less than 20 nm embedded in a SiO2 matrix. The magnetic measurements are consistent with the Kondo interaction, and net antiferromagnetic Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interactions between several Fe atoms in one cluster are estimated to have a very small effect. To understand the low-temperature susceptibility reduction, we compare Brillouin functions with exact quantum-mechanical solutions for interacting spin-1 particles and with the Kondo predictions for confined nanoparticles.


Forty-seven corn samples were collected in 1989 from Linxian and Shangqiu Counties in Henan Province, the high- and low-risk areas, respectively, for human esophageal cancer in the People's Republic of China. The samples were analyzed for fumonisin (fumonisin B1 [FB1] and FB2) contamination. Of the fumonisin-positive samples, the mean levels in Linxian corn were found to be 872 ng/g for FB1 and 448 ng/g for FB2, while the Shangqiu corns had 890 ng of FB1 and 330 ng of FB2 per g. The incidence of fumonisin contamination of Linxian corn (48%) was about two times higher than that of Shangqiu corn (25%), and the former corn samples were frequently cocontaminated with trichothecenes. Fusarium species isolated from corn from Linxian County produced FB1 at levels ranging from 1,280 to 11,300 micrograms/g.


Sensing how people interact with their mobile phones under real-world conditions can be an expensive and time-consuming task, especially if data from a large number of users and over a long period of time is needed. However, in order to improve the utility and usability of mobile applications, field studies are often considered to be more suitable than laboratory evaluations. In this paper, we present an innovative approach towards the automatic and transparent sensing of mobile phone usage, which is based on the background observation and analysis of user interactions with a mobile application under real-world conditions. We have implemented a software framework for this purpose, which can easily be added to an Android application, in order to record how users interact with it and transmit the acquired data to a server. We evaluated our framework with regard to its performance and memory consumption on the one hand, and by adding it to an application in the marketplace on the other hand. The results from about 300 users over one week showed that the framework runs stable and with very low resource demands.


Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often reported to have deficits of time perception. However, there is a strong relation between performance on tasks of working memory and time perception. Thus, it is possible that the poor performance of children with ADHD on time perception results from their deficit of working memory. In this study, the working memory of participants was separately assessed; therefore, we could explore the relationship between working memory and time perception of children with ADHD. Fifty-six children with ADHD and those of healthy controls completed tasks measuring working memory and time perception. The results showed that the time discrimination ability of children with ADHD was poorer than that of controls. However, there was a strong association between time perception and working memory. After controlling working memory and intelligence, the time discrimination ability of children with ADHD was not significantly poorer than that of controls. We suggest that there is an interdependent relationship between time perception and working memory for children with ADHD.


Background
Back and neck pain are the primary musculoskeletal complaints responsible for absenteeism from work as well as high healthcare costs. A large proportion of back and neck pain sufferers still experience pain at 12 months and most patients experience relapses. Although musculoskeletal complaints are the second most common reason people take sick leave in the UK, guidelines produced by various bodies both in the UK and abroad for managing back and neck pain have failed to significantly reduce work disability. Self-report subjective outcome measures are being used increasingly in healthcare to assess the quality of care received by patients. However, despite years of research, there is no consensus in the literature as to how one categorises improved patients from those who have not improved using these outcome measures. Moreover, although researchers have investigated predictors of outcome for back and neck pain patients undergoing manual therapy, these is a lack of consensus about whether or not it is possible to predict outcomes in patients, and if it is, which factors consistently do so.

Methods
Consecutive new patients with back and neck pain presenting at a private chiropractic practice in Bristol completed a questionnaire consisting of a pain diagram and a self-report outcome measure, namely the Bournemouth Questionnaire (BQ). This questionnaire consists of seven questions which assess the commonly-measured domains of the biopsychosocial model of musculoskeletal conditions. This questionnaire is preceded by demographic information on the patient and clinical questions about the patient's complaint. For the purposes of reassessment on the 4th/5th treatment and the 10th treatment, a post-treatment BQ, which includes a Patient Global Improvement Scale (PGIS), was completed by the patients. Three methods were used to determine 'improvement' in patients, (i) the direct method, using the PGIS, (ii) the anchorbased method, comparing total BQ change scores with the response on the PGIS as the anchor, and (iii) the distribution-based method, using 0.5 of the standard deviation of the group change score as the cut-off for 'improvement'. All potential predictor variables that were significantly associated with self-reported 'improvement' were entered into multivariable regression analysis to determine final predictive models consisting of predictors independently associated with the outcome. The sensitivity and specificity of the model was calculated to determine the ability of the model to discriminate between improved and non-improved patients. To calculate the diagnostic accuracy of the model, the area under the Receiver Operator Characteristic Curve (AUC) was calculated.

Results
The clinical and demographic characteristics were similar to other back and neck research populations. There was moderate to good agreement between the three methods of defining improvement in these cohorts with best agreement between the anchor and distribution-based methods. As a result the anchor-based method was used to identify patients who had improved. In the back pain cohort, the final predictive models had good sensitivity (86.1% at treatment 4/5 and 92.4% at treatment 10) for correctly identifying improvement but less specificity (48.5% at treatment 4/5 and 48.9% at treatment 10) for correctly identifying nonimprovers. The discriminative ability of the models (AUC) was 0.75 at treatment 4/5 and 0.83 at treatment 10. In both models a short history of pain, a smaller area shaded on the pain diagram and a total BQ score of over 30/70 were identified as predictors of outcome. At treatment 4/5 patients who had good treatment expectation and rated their general health as good were also associated with improvement. At treatment 10 inappropriate markings on the pain diagram and regular alcohol consumption were also associated with improvement.
In common with back pain, the predictive model in the neck pain cohort included a total baseline BQ score over 30/70 as associated with the outcome. At treatment 4/5, in common with the back pain, patients improved if they had a short pain history, good general health perception and shaded a smaller area on the pain diagram. At treatment 10 neck pain patients who smoked were associated with improvement. The final predictive model for neck pain patients had good sensitivity (77.8%) and moderate specificity (66.5%) at treatment 4/5, and the same sensitivity and specificity (67%) at treatment 10. The discriminative ability of the models (AUC) at treatment 4/5 and 10 was 0.76 and 0.71 respectively.

Conclusion
Being able to distinguish between and identify patients at an early stage with good and poor prognosis gives the clinician the opportunity to direct treatment approaches and manage patients more effectively. This study has shown that it is possible to identify characteristics of patients and their condition at baseline that can predict outcome at a later stage in their treatment. As might be expected, patients with more acute conditions, less severe pain and disability and less area in pain are more likely to improve. It is believed that this is the first time the area shaded on the pain diagram has been identified as a predictor of outcome.


This review article is intended to highlight the analytical methods of aspirin, clopidogrel and rosuvastatin in individual as well as combined pharmaceutical dosage form. Aspirin, clopidogrel and rosuvastatin play an important role in the various cardiovascular diseases. Aspirin and clopidogrel are the antiplatelet whereas Rosuvastatin is antilipemic agent which are used in the treatment of various cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular diseases. Now these days these drugs are easily available in the market in their individual form as well as in their combined dosage form. Aspirin, clopidogrel and rosuvastatin are official in the pharmacopoeias .Various analytical methods have been reported for the estimation of these drugs in their individual form as well as in their combined dosage form.


The idea that globalization impairs the sovereignty of the modern nation-State is increasingly accepted in some academic, government and international circles. Currently, there is generalized concern over the progressive erosion of national authorities' leeway for making decisions on matters of internal interest independently of outside influences. This perception has reached its extreme among those who feel that globalization has transformed the nation-State into a dysfunctional entity in a world without frontiers. It is understandable that a consensus should have grown up around this thesis, in view of its general nature and in particular because of the conceptual flexibility with which the notions of globalization and sovereignty are usually treated in some professional circles. The term globalization is frequently used in the fields of communications, culture, politics and economics, while the notion of sovereignty is current in the political and military areas, whence it has been extended to apply to economic matters too. This paper examines the thesis in question, restricting it to the economic sphere. Even in this limited form, there is a certain lack of clarity in the idea that globalization of the economy curtails the autonomy of the authorities responsible for economic policy, since there is no single, or at least generally prevalent, interpretation of the concept of globalization within the field of economics. Similarly, the fact that the concept of autonomy did not originate in the economic sphere means that it is used with some latitude. In order to analyse the content, scope and limitations of the thesis, various examples are drawn from the areas of banking, monetary, exchange-rate and fiscal policy.


A total of 1139 representatives of various groups of the USSR population (indigenous inhabitants of Chukotsk and the Altai, migrants to Chukotsk living there for various periods of time and citizens of Novosibirsk) was studied to determine whether the assay of Lp (a)-lipoproteins, a normal genetic marker, can be used as a novel diagnostic test for coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease was shown to be correlated with the presence of Lp (a)-lipoprotein, with X2 being statistically significant.


Debris flows have proved to be a major worldwide hazard for more than 100 years causing destruction of lives, property and infrastructures. This occurrence of debris flows is likely to increase in the future due to the impending climate change. The large runout distance of the debris flow due to its ability to entrain materials along its way is one of the main causes for destruction. The objective of this study was to research the mechanism of entrainment in debris flows and to investigate the different methods that can be used for debris flow modelling. While empirical methods are mostly used to model debris flows due to their simplicity, numerical methods can be advantageous in representing debris flows with more accuracy. Literature study was carried out on the existing attempts to include entrainment in these methods and it was found that the mechanism of entrainment is not fully understood and hence used in terms of empirical coefficients or user defined entrainment rates. RAMMS was used for the numerical modelling of debris flows and a detailed explanation of the software and its governing equations was presented. Two debris flows, one of a physical model prepared in the laboratory and another of a real event in Almåskroken, SørTrøndelag were back calculated using RAMMS. These events were used first for the calibration of the input parameters applying the Voellmy rheology followed by the sensitivity analysis of the calibrated input parameters. RAMMS was able to replicate the runout distance of the physical model and the Almåskroken debris flow. The runout distance was found to be most sensitive to the friction coefficient μ, followed by the turbulent coefficient ξ. Entrainment was included in the simulation of the real case event. Although RAMMS was not completely successful to simulate the final deposit volume, the volume of simulated eroded materials was most sensitive to the entrainment coefficient K used in RAMMS. Thus RAMMS can be a useful tool to for numerical modelling of debris flows due to the applicability of its Voellmy rheology to debris flows but for a complete understanding of the entrainment mechanism, more theoretical studies and laboratory experiments are essential.


We explored the reliability of radiocarbon ages obtained on organic carbon phases in opal-rich Southern Ocean sediments. Paired biogenic carbonate and total organic carbon (TOC) 14C analyses for three Southern Ocean cores showed that the TOC ages were systematically younger than the carbonate ages. Carbonate ages were consistent with oxygen isotopic and bio-stratigraphy, indicating error in TOC ages that could be explained by 5–24% of modern carbon contamination of TOC samples. Two possible sources of contamination are: 1) adsorption of atmospheric CO2 or volatile organic compounds to reactive opal surface sites, and 2) fixation of atmospheric CO2 by chemosynthetic bacteria during core storage. In an effort to reduce the modern carbon contamination, diatoms were separated from sediments, purified, and pre-oxidized by concentrated nitric and perchloric acids to permit dating of opal-intrinsic organic carbon (~0.1–0.3% by weight). 14C ages of chemically pre-oxidized opal showed a significant amount of modern carbon contamination, from 11 to 32%, indicating adsorption from the atmosphere of modern carbon onto opal surfaces that were previously cleaned by acid oxidation. Several experiments designed to eliminate the modern C contamination were attempted, but so far we have not been able to obtain a radiocarbon age on 14C-dead Southern Ocean opal-rich sediments, either bulk TOC or purified diatom opal samples, as old as our procedural blank.


The metabolism of the synthetic substrate 7-ethoxyresorut in is a selective measure of the activity of cytochrome P-448 monooxygenase, the subset of cytochrome P450-mediated enzymes preferentially induced by polycycilc aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds. 7Ethoxycoumarin metabolism, on the other hand, reflects total (nonselective) cytochrome P450 monooxygenase activity. Either substrate yields a single, highly fluorescent product, amenable to direct, sensitive assay with the portable centrifugal analyzer. We used these assays with liver microsomes from C57/BL6 mice for the short-term bioassay of the dose-dependent effects of exposure to selected environmental toxins, including synthetic petroleums, polychiorinated biphenyls, and their oxidative degradation products.


In this paper, we study new schemes to maximize network and users' minimum EE energy efficiency through transmission power control. The problem is formulated as fractional optimization programming and solved with a successive convex approximation. The EE metrics are analysed via extensive numerical simulations under different clustering algorithms, namely a variant of nearest neighbor clustering and clusters with a distance limit between transmitters and receivers.


The prognosis of neurotic patients followed on a outpatient service was determined by calculation of probabilities of "improvement", "worsening" or "lack of changes" on successive examinations. These criteria were established for evaluation of 157 patients, 20 to 59 years old, who entered the study during a 12 month observation period.


This dissertation compares the performance of five existing Genetic Algorithms (GAs) that do not require the manual tuning of their parameters, and are thus called Parameterless Genetic Algorithms (pGAs). The five pGAs selected for evaluation span the three most important categories of Parameterless GAs: Deterministic, Adaptive and Self-Adaptive pGAs. The five test functions used to evaluate the performance of the pGAs include unimodal, multimodal and deceptive functions. We assess performance in terms of fitness, diversity, reliability, speed and memory load. Surprisingly , the simplest Parameterless GA tested proves to be the best overall performer. Last, but not least, we describe a new parameterless Genetic Algorithm (nGA), one that is easy to understand and implement, and which bests all five tested pGAs in terms of performance, particularly on hard and deceptive surfaces.


Carcinogenesis is thought to be a multistep process, with clonal evolution playing a central role in the process. Clonal evolution involves the repeated 'selection and succession' of rare variant cells that acquire a growth advantage over the remaining cell population through the acquisition of 'driver mutations' enabling a selective advantage in a particular micro-environment. Clonal selection is the driving force behind tumorigenesis and possesses three basic requirements: (i) effective competitive proliferation of the variant clone when compared with its neighboring cells, (ii) acquisition of an indefinite capacity for self-renewal, and (iii) establishment of sufficiently high levels of genetic and epigenetic variability to permit the emergence of rare variants. However, several questions regarding the process of clonal evolution remain. Which cellular processes initiate carcinogenesis in the first place? To what extent are environmental carcinogens responsible for the initiation of clonal evolution? What are the roles of genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogens in carcinogenesis?


Although continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) is now an established form of treatment for patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF), it is not being used on a large scale in developing countries (DC). One of the limiting factors in this regard is peritonitis which is the most common complication of CAPD. Data on 70 patients on CAPD in our center were analyzed to study the impact of peritonitis on long-term outcome of this treatment. The mean age of the study patients was 37.2 years and the mean follow-up was 32.8 months per patient. A total of 41 patients (58.6%) received CAPD as first choice, 27 (38.6%) were started on CAPD after being on hemodialysis earlier and two (2.8%) were started on CAPD after a failed renal transplantation. Thirty three patients (47.1%) used safe-leur lock system, 23 (32.9%) used the spike system and 14 (20%) used safe-leur system initially and subsequently were changed to spike system. The overall incidence of peritonitis encountered was one episode per 32.3 patients months and was higher among patients who started CAPD as second choice. The incidence of peritonitis was not influenced by sex, age, profession or presence of diabetes mellitus or cardiovascular disease. This study shows that peritonitis rate in CAPD patients in our hospital is low and compares favorably with results from established centers in the developed countries. Thus, worries about recerrent peritonitis should not hinder CAPD programs in DC.


As dynamic-level scheduling algorithm does not consider the risk taken by resource nodes and users' demand, it proposes an analytic hierarchy process approach (AHP) based improved DLS algorithm. By such AHP approach, it manages the task provided by users, and obtains the weight value which reflects users' demand. Because the weight value contains the information about deadline, reparation duty and profit of task, it integrates DLS and the weight value to get an improved DLS, called R-DLS which contains the degree of risk taken by resource nodes. Experiments show that R-DLS receives higher average success rate of task execution and profit in one unit of time with task number increasing than DLS.


Crohn's disease (CD) is characterized by severe transmural inflammation with subsequent destruction of the intestinal barrier. Bacterial infiltration across this leaky gut facilitates access to the mesenteric fat and the development of a subsequent inflammatory reaction in the surrounding adipose tissue named creeping fat (CF). Dysbiosis in CD patients has been associated with an increase in succinate-producing bacteria and a decrease in succinate-consuming bacteria. In fact, elevated succinate levels have been found in the intestine and feces of CD patients. Furthermore, succinate is an inductor of beige adipogenesis in white adipose tissue progenitors.

 Visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue biopsies (VAT and SAT), serum, and plasma were obtained from a cohort of active CD (n=20), inactive CD (n=12), and control group (n=15). From adipose tissue biopsies, adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) and adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) were isolated. Different experiments were performed such as protein uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1)-immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence, gene expression studies, adipose tissue explants, proteomic analysis of ASCs, succinate determinations, bio-impedancemetry, and infrared photographs.

 Succinate treatment increased markers of beige adipose tissue in ASCs from controls and inactive CD patients (Fig. A). Surprisingly, the markers of beige adipose tissue were already high in ASCs isolated from active CD, due to being exposed to an environment with high levels of succinate in vivo. Proteomic analysis of isolated CD-ASCs revealed that these cells secrete beige adipose tissue-related proteins compared to Control-ASCs (Fig. B). Furthermore, bacterial translocation increases the conversion of pre-adipocytes from white to beige adipose tissue in CD individuals (Fig. C). Immunohistochemical study of UCP-1, confirms increased staining in adipose samples from CD patients from both depots (SAT and VAT) (Fig. D). Altogether, adipose tissue depots from CD patients had a conversion from white to beige adipose tissue with a high protein UCP1-gene expression. Thermic images show an increase of temperature in the intestinal area of active CD patients that is not observed in inactive CD patients or the control group.

 Understanding the role of beige adipose tissue in CD could help develop new therapeutic or diagnostic strategies in these patients.


The fatigue crack growth experiments of 2024-T4 aluminum alloy were carried out to study the thickness effects on the fatigue crack growth rate. Round compact specimens with two different thickness, 3.8mm and 12.5mm, were subjected to Mode I loading with four R-ratios (0.05, 0.1, 0.5 and 0.75) and loading amplitudes. An optical reading microscope with a magnification of 40 was used to measure the crack length. Stable crack growth is characterized by the standard form of the Paris law, material constants of the Paris law corresponding to each R-ratio were obtained by fitting the experimental data. The fatigue crack growth rate of specimens with a thickness of 12.5mm is apparently higher than that of specimens with a thickness of 3.8mm when R-ratio is equal to 0.1, 0.5 and 0.75. While the effect of thickness is relatively less significant for the case of . It can be concluded that the fatigue crack growth rate increases with R-ratio or thickness when one of them is identical.


Bursa Agricultural Society (1927) and its journal Asri Ciftci Sevtap Kadioglu Bursa Agricultural Society was founded in 1927 in Bursa, a province in Western Anatolia. The aim of the society was to create mutual communication between the farmers, to seek to resolve their problems and to widespread the practice of modern agricultural techniques in the region. To fulfill these goals, the society launched in 1927 a journal Asri Ciftci (The Modern Farmer). The title of the journal reflects par excellence the aim of the society. Ten issues were published between August 15th, 1927 and May 15th, 1928. The target readership comprised the farmers, agriculturists, the sericulturists and the stockbreeders. Therefore, the articles dealt mostly with the application of farming techniques, and were easy to read. The journal also published articles on the foundation of the Society, its regulations, members and activities. Thus, it can be regarded as a reference publication for the history of the farming in early 20th century Turkey since it informed the reader on the issues affecting the agricultural production in the early years of the Turkish Republic. Published by a society, the journal differentiate from other Turkish agricultural journals that were published by state's educational institutions or ministries. The members of the editorial board and the authors that contributed to the journal were, however, state officials such as the agricultural officers of various districts of Bursa province, the surgeon of the military veterinary hospital, the director of the Bursa chamber of commerce and industry, the head of the comittee to fight against malaria, the Public Health Authority and directors and teachers at the Bursa School of Agriculture, and the School of Sericulture. The journal seems to have been published through the efforts of Sadullah Bey, the secretary of the Society, the editor-in-chief of the journal, and professor at the schools of agriculture and commerce in Bursa. The reasons why and how the society and the journal come to an end still need to be investigated. Key words: Agriculture, Bursa, farming, journal,, society, Turkey; Anahtar kelimeler : Bursa, cemiyet, ciftcilik, dergi, sureli yayin, tarim, Turkiye, ziraat.


This article explores the use of ethnofiction, a technique emerging from the field of visual anthropology, which blends documentary and fiction filmmaking for ethnographic purposes. From Imamura Shōhei's A Man Vanishes (Ningen jōhatsu, 1967) to Hou Hsiao Hsien's Cafe Lumieré (Kōhi jikō, 2003), Japanese cinema, including Japan-set and Japan-associated cinema, has employed ethnofiction filmmaking techniques to alternately exploit and circumvent the structural barriers to filmmaking found in everyday life. Yet the dominant understanding in Japanese visual ethnography positions ethnofiction as an imported genre, reaching Japan through Jean Rouch and French cinema-verité. Blending visual analysis of Imamura and Hou's ethnofiction films with an auto-ethnographic account of my own experience of four years of visual anthropology in Kansai, I interrogate the organizational barriers constructed around geographical perception and genre definition to argue for ethnofiction as a filmmaking technique that simultaneously emerged in French cinema-verité and Japanese feature filmmaking of the 1960s. Blurring the boundaries between Japanese, French, and East Asian co-production films, and between documentary and fiction genres, allows us to understand ethnofiction as a truly global innovation, with certain regional specificities.


Periodontal diseases have long been recognized as a humankind health problem. Awareness of the destructive nature of periodontal diseases and the importance of an impervious control of bacterial plaque are the basic concepts of periodontal treatment. In the past decade, there has been a conceptual shift from periodontal diseases; as an oral problem to periodontitis having an impact on our systemic health. Recent evidence suggests a strong relationship between periodontal inflammatory disease and systemic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease. It is now generally accepted that inflammation plays an important role in atherosclerosis, and the factors that systemically amplify inflammation are under close investigation. In common with periodontal disease, the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is not completely understood and both of the diseases are currently under intensive investigation. This article discuss about the correlation of evidence that is gathered from many scientific studies showing either strong, modest, weak or even no links along with their critical analyses. Keywords: Atherosclerosis, dental plaque, bacteraemia, blood viscosity Cite this Article Ronak S Modh, Bimal Jathal, Shalini Gupta et al. Periodontal Diseases Contribution to Cardiovascular Disease: An Update on the Associations and Risk. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Dentistry . 2017; 8(3): 18–25p.


In this study, the effects of using aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanofoam films as adhesive reinforcements to enhance the shear strength of composite joints are examined. The MWCNT reinforced adhesive nanofoam films are used to bond carbon/epoxy composite adherends. Mechanical characterization of the samples is performed using single lap joint samples to measure average shear strengths experimentally. Shear strength and other multifunctional properties of such nano-adhesives are discussed employing the results obtained in this work.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Because different mathematical practices are aligned with different ontologies, it matters what kind of mathematics we bring to bear in social theory. This article explores the open and urgent question as to whether and how calculation becomes an inventive practice that doesn't simply serve the control society. In search of a non-axiomatic mathematical problematic, I examine the infinitesimal for its enigmatic role in calculation and show how Deleuze and Guattari use the infinitesimal to (a) rethink the relationship between matter and meaning, and (b) describe a recombinant fractal subject well suited to our digital times. The infinitesimal is a sort of changeling number with one foot in the virtual and one foot in the actual, and thus pivotal to considerations of vitalist new mixtures of number and matter.


This paper explores using theater to develop literacy and deepen the comprehension of literature for elementary aged students. Using Louise Rosenblatt's (1994) framework for aesthetic reading, it discusses the ways in which theater facilitates the reader's selection, interpretations, and analysis of plots, settings, and characters. This transactional relationship between the reader and text is explored with particular focus on the multi-sensory experiences in theater which support students' perspective taking. In particular, it explores the visual and kinesthetic opportunities that theater offers to differentiate instruction for diverse learners. In addition, when children engage with theater as participants, they practice expression, building fluency as readers, and benefit socially from engaging in collaborative activities with their peers in a developmentally appropriate manner. Finally, a sample scene from a theatrical adaptation of Peter Pan is analyzed to show educators the opportunities available for building these skills with their students in the classroom or on a stage.


In this paper the format of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for use as a database for the Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling of agricultural policy reform in South Africa is detailed. It is shown that the published South African SAMs impose limitations upon their suitability as databases for CGE models, but that they can be readily modified. An additional benefit of a SAM is its use as a framework for the specification of the behavioural relationships necessary to the development of a model. Finally, a Macro SAM for 1993 is reported and the proposed disaggregation of the agricultural sector is identified.


Objective: To observe the association of blood transfusion and clinical outcome in cardiac surgery patients.
Material and Methods: Forty patients underwent cardiac surgery during a period of two months in a single institution. Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) was performed in 21 (52.5%) patients, Mitral valve replacement (MVR) in 15 (37.5%) patients, aortic valve replacement (AVR) in 2 (5%) patients and Atrial septal defect (ASD) was closed in 2 (5%) patients. The mean age of the patients were 41.7±18 years, 80% were male.
Results: Twenty five (62.5%) patients required blood transfusion. Transfusion group showed chest wound infection (7.5%), pulmonary oedema (12.5%) and shortness of breath (10%). Total leukocyte count and platelets count were significantly lower in transfusion group.
Conclusion: We conclude that blood transfusion is associated with increased rate of infection and pulmonary oedema, with high cost and resource utilization. Blood transfusion should be used with appropriate caution. (Rawal Med J 2008;33:208-210).


We propose architectural properties required for supporting automatic service composition. After defining composable service architecture, we proceed to examine the role of trust and reputation systems in such environment. Based on the proposed infrastructure we give several options for achieving automatic service composition, under the assumption that previously defined requirements are architecturally supported. Finally, we discuss the impact and outlook for automatic composition.


In this paper, we give an in-depth error analysis for surrogate models generated by a variant of the Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamics (SINDy) method. We start with an overview of a variety of non-linear system identification techniques, namely, SINDy, weak-SINDy, and the occupation kernel method. Under the assumption that the dynamics are a finite linear combination of a set of basis functions, these methods establish a matrix equation to recover coefficients. We illuminate the structural similarities between these techniques and establish a projection property for the weak-SINDy technique. Following the overview, we analyze the error of surrogate models generated by a simplified version of weak-SINDy. In particular, under the assumption of boundedness of a composition operator given by the solution, we show that (i) the surrogate dynamics converges towards the true dynamics and (ii) the solution of the surrogate model is reasonably close to the true solution. Finally, as an application, we discuss the use of a combination of weak-SINDy surrogate modeling and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) to build a surrogate model for partial differential equations (PDEs).


Cereals are introduced to infants between the ages of 4 and 6 months to supplement breast milk and follow-on formula. Our objectives were to examine the content and in vitro availability of Fe, Ca, and Zn from five commercially available infant cereals mixed with water or follow-on formula before and after dephytinization. We estimated the bioaccessibility by measuring the soluble or dialyzable mineral fraction resulting from in vitro gastrointestinal digestion of the sample. For most infant cereals analyzed, dephytinization increased the in vitro availability of iron and zinc. This finding was especially dramatic among infant cereals mixed with follow-on formula rather than with water. However, the liquid used for reconstitution did not always show a significant (p < 0.05) interaction with phytase addition and in vitro mineral availability. The results of this study indicate that adding follow-on formula to infant cereals does not improve the bioaccessibility of iron, calcium, and zinc, despite the increase in mineral content it implies. Results obtained also showed that mineral solubility and dialyzability do not always follow parallel trends.


Background: Movement asymmetry during lameness has been extensively studied using quantitative gait analysis, but limited information exists about adaptive muscle activity occurring during lameness. Objectives: To investigate whether asymmetric muscle activity occurs in superficial pelvic and thoracic limb muscles before and after induced forelimb (FL) and hindlimb (HL) lameness using surface electromyography (sEMG). Study Design: Experimental. Methods: sEMG sensors were attached bilaterally above Biceps Femoris (BF) and Triceps Brachii (TB) in a preliminary sample of five clinically non-lame horses. sEMG and 3D-kinematic data were collected during in-hand trot. FL and HL lameness (2-3/5 AAEP) were induced on separate days using a modified horseshoe, with baseline data initially collected each day. To quantify lameness, MinDiff was calculated from poll (HDMin) and pelvis (PDMin) vertical displacement for FL and HL lameness, respectively. Raw sEMG signals were DC-offset removed, high-pass filtered, and full-wave rectified. Integrated EMG (iEMG) was calculated using stride duration as the temporal domain. iEMG from each horse were normalised to the maximum observed value of individual muscles in the baseline condition. The difference between right and left iEMG values for each muscle were calculated for each stride to quantify muscle asymmetry (iEMGDiff). Repeated measures ANOVA compared iEMGDiff data for each muscle between conditions (baseline, induced FL and HL lameness). Results: Absolute mean±sd for HDMin (61.6±27.1) and PDMin (16.0±9.1) were congruent with the degree of induced lameness. Mean±sd baseline iEMGDiff was 14.2±5.7 across both muscles. BFiEMGDiff was significantly greater than baseline (15.2±6.9 vs. 80.9±46.1, p<0.05, pn2=0.704) during HL lameness and TBiEMGDiff during FL lameness (10.0±1.7 vs. 40.7±18.7, p<0.05, pn2=0.754). Main Limitations: Clinical lameness cases must confirm findings. Conclusions: FL and HL lameness cause differential increases in iEMG asymmetry in TB and BF. sEMG symmetry parameters could help understand neuromuscular adaptations to lameness and could compliment kinematic methods for objective lameness evaluation.


PURPOSE: verify the cytological and histological aspects of the regeneration of fragments of autologous and heterotopic spleen implanted in peritoneal cavity and subcutaneous screen in Wistar albino rats. METHODS: forty four Wistar rats were assigned to one of two groups A(n=22) and B(n=22), which received their implants in subcutaneous screen and peritoneal cavity, respectively, under anesthesia. Those groups were redistributed in two other subgroups A1 (n=11) and B1(n=11), which received one and four splenic fragments in the areas of study. The remaining spleen was guided for cytological and histological processing, and was used as a control group. After five weeks, they were submitted to euthanasia, and peritoneal cavity opening took place as well as subcutaneous screen was taken off in order to search for regenerated splenic tissue. Cytological and histological assessment in the regenerated splenic tissue was performed, and the results were compared to the control group. Statistical analysis no parametric tests (p=>0,05) were used for. RESULTS: there were no statistically significant differences in relation to regenerated splenic tissue in subcutaneous screen (n=22) and the peritoneal cavity (n=22). In relation between presence and absence of regeneration, they're no statistically significant differences (p=0,182). Cytological and histological assessment did not show any statistically significant difference in relation to the control group. CONCLUSION: regeneration of autologous and heterotopic splenic tissue in mice is viable, and occurs frequently. Cytological and histological aspects are similar to normal spleen.


This report has been made for the bachelorassignment, part of the Industrieel Ontwerpen programme at the Universiteit Twente. The bachelorassignment started in the third quartile of the academic year 2013-2014 and was completed in the first quartile of the academic year 2014-2015. The subject of this report is the design of a cockpit for the V20 solarracer.
The V20 is the newest generation of solarboats from Vripack, a large yachtdesign company based in Sneek. The V20 is a boat that will be used for solarrace events like the Dong Energy Solar Challenge. In these races the boats have to depend on solar-energy to navigate over the water. To increase speed from the limited power that is provided by the solarpanels the V20 is equiped with hydrofoils that lift the boat out of the water. With the V20 Vripack makes a new leap in the development of solarboats. The V20 is the first solarboat that will commerciale available. The intention of the company is to make participating in solarraces available for organisations that do not have the means or the knowledge to build their own solarracer. Because the boat will be sold the design of the cockpit has to be more elaborate than the average solarracer.
To achieve this, the demands for the cockpit have been determined by making analyses about the designfilosofie of the V20, the characteristics of the V20 and the rules the boat has to comply with.
In the investigation of the designfilosofie the intentions of Vripack with the solarracer were found. In addition to this the designstyle of the company was researched. From this research it was concluded that the company does not strive for a fixed stylingmethod. However it does have a distinguishing designmethod. This method is called the Holistic Design Approach and is used by the company to be able to develop an entire ship from design till productiondrawings. In the last part of the research after the designfilosofie the inspirationssources used for the design of the V20 were investigated.
In the analysis of the characteristics of the V20 important information about the functions of the boat, the used materials, shapes, colors and dimensions were collected. The requirements which were derived from these characteristics have been collected. In adition to requirements which are imposed by the solarraceorganisations for participating solarboats also weight and producability put restrictions on the cockpit. These requirements were determined and collected.
The final requirements were determined using an analysis of the use of the V20 by writing a scenario, making a useranalysis and an analysis of the occuring forces. All requirements were collected in a schedule of requirements which was used to base the design upon. Also moodboards and designstudies were made and partial solutions for the design problems were identified. With this information three concepts were created. These concepts, the Luxury & Performance concept, Futuristic & Ecologic concept en het Dynamic & Sporty concept were rated using the schedule of requirements. The best concept was developed into the final design of the cockpit. In order to make the final design designsketches and clay-models were made. This resulted in a 3D model that captures the geometry of the final design.
In the last fase of the assignment the final design was evaluated using the schedule of requirements to see if the cockpit satisfies all requirements. It was determined that the functions of the cockpit are useable, that the driver can comfortably sit in the cockpit and that the cockpit is suficiently safe. After this the strength, weight and producability were evaluated. If a requirement was not met by the design recommendations were given. In the conclusion of the assignment the execution of the assignment was reviewed. It was determined that the cockpitdesign satisfies the research question.


This paper presents a branch-and-bound algorithm for nonconvex quadratic programming, which is based on solving semidefinite relaxations at each node of the enumeration tree. The method is motivated by a recent branch-and-cut approach for the box-constrained case that employs linear relaxations of the first-order KKT conditions. We discuss certain limitations of linear relaxations when handling general constraints and instead propose semidefinite relaxations of the KKT conditions, which do not suffer from the same drawbacks. Computational results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, with a particular highlight being that only a small number of branch-andbound nodes are required. Furthermore, specialization to the box-constrained case yields a state-of-the-art method for globally solving this class of problems.


INTRODUCTION The ERCP examination after Billroth II gastrectomy is more difficult than in patients with normal anatomy. The success rate is smaller and the complication rate is higher in this situation. AIM The author compares their results of ERCP performed in patients with conventional Billroth II gastrectomy to the literature data. He analyses the different solutions of technical difficulties on the basis of his own experiences and the literature. PATIENTS AND METHOD ERCP was tried in 26 patients with Billroth II gastrectomy between 1st March, 1997 and 1st December, 2003 in 37 cases. Indications were: obstructive jaundice in 25 patients and postoperative pancreas fistula in 1 patient. 32 investigations were performed with duodenoscope, 5 with gastroscope. Duodenoscopy was preceded by gastroscopy in 15 cases. RESULTS The examination was successful in 22 patients (84.6%). Exact diagnosis was achieved in 19 patients (73%), and endoscopic therapy was needed in 15 cases. The therapeutic interventions were successful in 10 patients. CONCLUSION In author's opinion only ERCP with therapeutic aim gives reason to perform it. He found the balloon dilation of sphincter of Oddi and the needle-knife papillotomy controlled by stent insertion the more effective and safe method to prepare the common bile duct interventions than push-sphincterotomy. Previously performed gastroscopy may facilitate to find the afferent loop and to get there by duodenoscopy.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether tepoxalin alters kidney function in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

ANIMALS
16 dogs with CKD (International Renal Interest Society stage 2 or 3) and osteoarthritis.

PROCEDURES
Kidney function was assessed via serum biochemical analysis, urinalysis, urine protein-to-creatinine concentration ratio, urine γ-glutamyl transpeptidase-to-creatinine concentration ratio, iohexol plasma clearance, and indirect blood pressure measurement twice before treatment. Dogs received tepoxalin (10 mg/kg, PO, q 24 h) for 28 days (acute phase; n = 16) and an additional 6 months (chronic phase; 10). Recheck examinations were performed weekly (acute phase) and at 1, 3, and 6 months (chronic phase). Kidney function variables were analyzed via repeated-measures ANOVA.

RESULTS
There was no difference over time for any variables in dogs completing both phases of the study. Adverse drug events (ADEs) resulting in discontinuation of tepoxalin administration included increased serum creatinine concentration (1 dog; week 1), collapse (1 dog; week 1), increased liver enzyme activities (1 dog; week 4), vomiting and diarrhea (1 dog; week 8), hematochezia (1 dog; week 24), and gastrointestinal ulceration or perforation (1 dog; week 26). Preexisting medical conditions and concomitant drug use may have contributed to ADEs. Kidney function was not affected in the latter 5 dogs. Discontinuation of tepoxalin administration stabilized kidney function in the former dog and resolved the ADEs in 4 of the 5 latter dogs.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Tepoxalin may be used, with appropriate monitoring, in dogs with International Renal Interest Society stage 2 or 3 CKD and osteoarthritis.


AFTER an open-heart surgical procedure, when the left ventricle has been involved by arrest, previous disease, dilatation during fibrillation, or similar noxious event, it has been customary to decompress the left atrium or ventricle for a short period of time at the conclusion of the intracardiac procedure. Then filling is slowly allowed to occur as the left atrial pressure is monitored until it is adjusted to a certain range (usually above normal) then bypass is discontinued. This has been a workable but not routinely satisfactory procedure. There is usually a considerable personal assessment by the operating surgeon associated with the process. A simple, easy-to-use indicator for this situation would be helpful even though the background to its format could be complex. In the process of studying elective cardiac arrest quantitatively in dogs, it was necessary to develop a standardized method of refilling the heart to minimize this known variable and


This study is devoted to engine application of bio-diesel manufactured by transerification reaction with alkali process from waste cooking oil. The performance & pollutant emission of vehicle engine application are little different in the idle condition for the engine test of the garbage collecting trunk with PD (practical diesel), B20 (20% biodiesel mixture with diesel) and B100 (100% biodiesel). In the full loading condition, the pollutant degree is decreased obviously with the addition of biodiesel especially for full alternative B100 for PD. The CO emission is down 51%, the SOx emission is down 73%, the NOx is down 13%, and, the carbon participate emission is down 69% in this test. But, the decreasing motion horsepower (down 10%) and the increasing fuel consumption (up 11.3%) are the evidences that the above effect is focused on the healthy to the environment only.


Increasing competition in the market requires manufacturers to bring high technology solutions to optimize production processes on the one hand and to offer personalized products on the other hand. In the current conditions of digitization, namely the application of information and computer technologies requires the use of new management approaches. The report attempts to systematize the approaches and challenges of applying high technology to the modern industry.


Background. Despite advances in modern technology of dialysis, prognosis of patients with acute renal failure (ARF) remains poor. To give the clinicians the most useful information, a model that accurately predicts outcome early in the course of ARF is required. However, because ARF is a heterogeneous syndrome and occurs in patients with diverse etiologies and some coexisting diseases, predicting outcome early is hard. The aim of this study is to evaluate prospectively the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) and organ system failure (OSF) models, evaluated prior to dialysis, in predicting hospital mortality. Methods. From June 2002 to March 2004, ARF patients requiring dialysis at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, were prospectively recruited for this study. The worst clinical and laboratory data in the 24 hours before initiation of dialysis were prospectively evaluated, and the patients' APACHE II score and OSF number were assessed. Results. A total of 61 patients (40 male and 21 female) were enrolled, of whom 38 (62.3%) died before discharge. By multivariate logistic regression, the APACHE II score (odds ratio 1.3 per increase in one score; P< 0.001), or OSF number (odds ratio 1.9 per increase in one OSF; P< 0.01) and oliguria (odds ratio 4.2; P = 0.04), were found to be statistically significant prognostic factors for hospital mortality. Mortality increased progressively and significantly as OSF number (chi-square for trend; P = 0.001) or the APACHE II score (chi-square for trend; P< 0.001) increased. By using Youden's index, the best cut-off value for APACHE II was 24, with 63% sensitivity and 96% specificity. The best cut-off value for OSF number was 2, with a sensitivity of 81.6% and a specificity of 60.9%. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for APACHE II and OSF number were 0.847 (95% confidence interval (CI)= 0.752–0.942; P< 0.01) and 0.769 (95% CI = 0.646–892; P< 0.001), respectively, indicating good model discrimination. Conclusions. This study concludes that APACHE II and OSF number measured prior to initiation of dialysis reliably predict outcomes of ARF patients requiring dialysis. The mortality rates increase as the APACHE II score or OSF number increases. For predicting mortality, the APACHE II score ≥ 24 was found to have 63% sensitivity and 96% specificity, and OSF number ≥ 2 had 81.6% sensitivity and 60.9% specificity.


OBJECTIVE
During embryogenesis of mandible, the initial ossification centre begins at the bifurcation of the inferior alveolar (IA) and the mental nerves. Additionally, in congenital anomalies like craniofacial microsomia (CFM), the IA canal is completely absent on the microsomic side. These observations led us to hypothesise that there may be a morphological integration between these structures - the IA nerve and the mandibular shapes. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to test for morphological integration between these structures and the secondary objective was to determine if there were shape variations in these structures among skeletal Classes I, II and III subjects.

SETTING AND SAMPLE POPULATION
The sample size of the study is 80 full-head cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans (age 16-56 years).

METHODS
We retrieved CBCT scans from our archived database using specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. In the de-identified CBCT scans, traditional coordinate landmarks and sliding semi-landmarks were placed on the mandible and the IA canal (proxy for IA nerve). Using geometric morphometric analyses, we tested integration between the IA canal and the mandibular shapes. We used Procrustes ANOVA to test for overall shape variations among the three skeletal classes (Classes I, II and III).

RESULTS
The IA canal and posterior/inferior border of mandible showed strong integration (r-PLS = .845, P = .001). Similar strong integration was also observed between the IA canal and the overall shape of the mandible (r-PLS = .866, P = .001). Additionally, there was a statistically significant variation in overall shape between skeletal Class I and Class II (P = .008) and Class II and Class III (P = .001).

CONCLUSIONS
The strong integration between two structures suggests that the IA nerve may play a role in establishing mandibular shape early in development. We posit this may be important in driving mandibular defects seen in CFM, which warrants further investigation.


In this paper, a hybrid optical amplifier is suggested comprising an Er/Ybco-doped fiber amplifier (EYCDFA) as a preamplifier and a Raman fiber amplifier (RA) as a post amplifier. The performance characteristics of the hybrid amplifier (EYCDRHA) are theoretically and experimentally studied including gain and noise figure. In the theoretical model, the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) as well as the background losses and the up-conversion effect between Er ions and Yb ions are taken into consideration. The performance characteristics are investigated using dual pump configuration, forward EYCDFA pump at 980 nm and backward RA pump at 1450 nm at different values of input signal power, EYCDFA and RA pump powers and lengths at two different values of input signal wavelength; 1530 and 1600 nm. A high gain and low noise performance are obtained for the suggested amplifier. Furthermore, a good agreement between the theoretical and experimental values of the gain and noise figure at the input parameters is obtained.


Karol Mysliwiec is a professor of archaeology at Warsaw University, the director of the Polish excavation at Saqqara in Egypt, and the author of Pan Obydwu Krajdw (1993), which has been translated into English as The Twilight of Ancient Egypt: First Millennium B.C.E. (1998). In Eros on the Nile, originally Eros nad Nilem (1998), he draws on literature and material culture to present an overview of love and sexuality in ancient Egypt that is neither prudish nor sensationalistic. Mysliwiec devotes most of Ems on the Nile to theogony and fertility religion. At the end of the book, he explains, "It would be difficult to separate the emotional life and sexual relations of the ancient Egyptians from their religion, which was present in every situation at practically every moment, even if only in the form of magic" (150). Fortunately, although Mysliwiec focuses on subjects such as the Heliopolitan creation myth, the contention of Horus and Seth, and the miraculous conception of kings, he uses them to introduce topics like marriage, homosexuality, and pregnancy. There are a few problems in Eros on the Nile. Mysliwiec treats the corpus of Ramesside love poetry, the most important source for romance in ancient Egypt, in less than four pages. He devotes only a little more space to the Turin Erotic Papyrus, an obscene parody of the sun's night journey in the Book of Amduat. Finally, among his illustrations, Mysliwiec includes a photo of a "hermaphroditic" statue of the pharaoh Akhenaten from Kamak (69, cf. 35-36). Yet, he fails to note that this statue is a modem reconstruction and that it may be a blunder. The head of Akhenaten seems to have been mistakenly attached to the body of his wife, Nefertiti. Minus these deficiencies, most of which probably stem from the need for brevity rather than negligence, Eros on the Nile is a good book. Readers will no doubt appreciate Mysliwiec's discussion of sexual symbols, both obvious, such as the bull, and obscure, such as the lettuce plant, as well as his insight


Background The creation of a stoma for discharge is a common procedure after a bowel resection. It is associated with complications such as high output stoma (HOS) (volume >2000 ml) that involves large losses of water and electrolytes, as well as long-term malnutrition. HOSs are rarely identified and commonly overlooked by clinicians. Purpose To identify inpatients with HOS and assess the benefits of a protocol for HOS management developed by the pharmacy department. Materials and methods A prospective study was performed. All inpatients with new colostomy/ileostomy were included except those who had stayed more than 7 days in intensive care unit after surgery. Informed consent was requested from all inpatients before participation. Daily volumes as well as other variables of interest were collected. A management protocol consisting of 4 phases of action depending on the duration of HOS was implemented by pharmacists (pharmacological and nutritional recommendations), and the effects of it on inpatient outcome were recorded, as well as readmissions because of stoma complications. Results 16 patients were recruited, age range between 23–77 years, 69% men, BMI 26.5 ± 6.8. 56.4% were colostomies and 43.4% ileostomies. Principal cause of stoma formation was colorectal cancer (65.3%) and the median resected length was 24 cm. 75% of patients required nutritional monitoring, 50% were diagnosed with undernutrition (67% protein-caloric and 33% caloric) and 31% were treated with individualised and monitored parenteral nutrition. All patients with HOS had an ileostomy. The underlying cause of HOS was identified in 50% of cases. The protocol was applied in all patients, 75% recovered after the first phase, and the rest after the second phase. There were 3 readmissions due to HOS, one with hypomagnesaemia. Conclusions HOS appears to be a common complication after stoma creation. Nutritional support and electrolytes monitoring are necessary because of a high amount of diagnosed undernutrition. Appropriate treatment is important to prevent readmissions related to HOS. No conflict of interest.


Detecting seasonal movements between the Nile Valley and the adjacent desert in the Early Holocene period is a difficult task. The material production, especially the lithic industries, may have been oriented to different economic activities forwarded in these two different environments. Identifying lithic products as the output of the same cultural group moving from one area to the other may be, for this reason, quite complex. The Nabta region and the II nd Cataract offer an interesting hint on this argument. This contribution will try to highlight similarities between groups living in the Nile Valley and the Western Desert considering artefacts and faunal remains left by the inhabitants of Nabta/Kiseiba area and the Khartoum Variant sites of the Nile Valley II nd Cataract. This analysis will also make possible to advance a new chronological attribution for the Khartoum Variant cultural phase.


In this manuscript we describe a guanidinium-modified zinc phthalocyanine (Zn-DIGP) that is the first example of a high-affinity G-quadruplex ligand exhibiting both "turn-on" luminescence and the ability to knock-down RNA expression. With a dissociation constant < 2 nM, the interaction between Zn-DIGP and c-Myc G-quadruplex DNA is the highest affinity G-quadruplex – small molecule binding interaction reported to date. Zn-DIGP's luminescence properties allowed for direct DNA binding assays in vitro and its imaging in vivo. The cellular uptake and localization of Zn-DIGP was different from duplex DNA probes like Hoechst 33342, and at relatively low doses (1 uM) it caused a rapid 3-fold knock-down of c-MYC mRNA in neuroblastoma cells. The exact mechanism responsible for this knock-down is still under investigation, but our results are consistent with quadruplex-mediated promoter deactivation. Taken together, these results indicate that Zn-DIGP is a new tool uniquely suited to help decipher G-quadruplex structure and function.


The Michigan State University (MSU) Dairy Team conducted an industry survey with the objectives of identifying and rating industry priorities. After holding discussion groups across the state, two questionnaires were developed and sent to 2,237 dairy farm owners and operators and 480 allied industry professionals in the state; 23.4% of the dairy farmers and 28.1% of the allied industry professionals returned questionnaires with useable data. This report summarizes respondents' ratings of industry issues, as well as education and knowledge needs. In addition, educational preferences, management practices, Internet use and access, demographic information, and farm characteristics are outlined.


Corpora and corpus-based methods can make a contribution to the study of variability in learner language for two main reasons. One reason is that the study of linguistic variation itself is particularly amenable to quantitative and corpus-based analysis. The corpus, especially when used in combination with metadata about the learners represented and about the situation in which the language was produced, enables the researcher to quantify and compare data in systematic ways. The quantitative corpus results can then be used to verify or falsify claims made in the second language acquisition (SLA) literature or to generate new hypotheses about learner language. Another reason is that the focus on naturally occurring language in corpus work means that the types of learner data studied represent authentic language use. There is much experimental work in SLA, which means that the language analysed is produced in an experimental setting (such as a laboratory), typically solely for the express purpose of linguistic analysis. While there are many good reasons for the experimental elicitation of linguistic data – the complexity of language use is reduced; the language production and variables potentially affecting it can be controlled; the likelihood of capturing relevant types of linguistic output can be maximised – it is also the case that such data simply do not represent the full gamut of authentic language use. Almost inevitably, researchers who study learner corpus data will encounter linguistic variability and will need to account for it. Learner corpus research has paid a great deal of attention to the influence of the mother-tongue background on learner language (see Chapter 15, this volume), but it has tended to neglect other factors that may exert an influence and that may serve to account for some of the variability attested in learner corpora. This chapter will discuss some of these alternative factors and demonstrate how important they can be in language production in general and in foreign/second language production in particular. 2 Core issues Language is not a static phenomenon, but rather varies – sometimes considerably – depending on why it is used, where it is used, by whom it is used, and so on.


In this paper we are concerned with the practical issues of working with data sets common to finance, statistics, and other related fields. pandas is a new library which aims to facilitate working with these data sets and to provide a set of fundamental building blocks for implementing statistical models. We will discuss specific design issues encountered in the course of developing pandas with relevant examples and some comparisons with the R language. We conclude by discussing possible future directions for statistical computing and data analysis using Python.


The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how technology's being is revealed through its applications, which is expressive by means of the mode and manifestation of its being. The designation of technology as a mode of being refers to its nature, and the designation of technology as a manifestation of being refers to its activity as proof of technology's being. Both mode and manifestation indicate how the being of technology is applied. Although distinguishable as two aspects of technology, both mode and manifestation are essential to revealing the essence of technology and its interplay with the world. Since human culture has a technological underpinning, the applications of technology not only reveal its metaphysics, but also indicate its importance to human culture. In addition to technology's underlying method, these applications also pertain to the artifacts (or objects) of invention, mathematics, the consciousness of time, writing, alphabetization, science, and society.


Fire occurrence probability mapping provides a detailed understanding of the spatial distribution of the fire occurrence probability and it is useful in fire management. The binary logistic regression (BLR) can combine continuous and categorical variables together in the analysis. Here we use BLR analysis to map the fire occurrence probability of Northeast China which has the largest forest area in China. Ten predictor variables including altitude (Alt), slope (Sl), aspect (As), distance to the nearest village (Dv), distance to the nearest path (Dp), distance to the nearest water bodies (Dw), land cover (LC), Fuel Moisture Content (FMC), land surface temperature (LST) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are employed and multi-temporal random sampling methodology is used to create the training subset, and then the training subset is utilized to build the fire occurrence probability spatial model. Here, a backwards stepwise procedure based on the likelihood ratio estimation is used in the model development. Assessed by the area under a relative operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC-area under curve) procedure, the model's fitness accuracy is 84.2%. The interpretations of the estimated coefficients show that NDVI best explain fire occurrence in the region. Evaluated by the inner testing and independent validation, better reliability and discrimination capacity of the developed spatial model can be concluded from 17 fires among the total 18 fires. Good performance suggests that the developed model is valuable to fire managers or can be directly applied to fire management in Northeast China.


This interdisciplinary investigation of aspects of 3D character animation synthesizes relevant research findings from diverse perspectives, including neuroscience, narratology, robotics, anthropology, cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind, and considers how they might be integrated as theory for animators and animation studies. The article focuses on the creative nature of character conception and creation in a 3D animated environment and on aspects of character — narrative and style, in particular. It examines how findings from interdisciplinary research on the embodied mind—brain, including neuroscientific research with regard to mentalizing and simulation theory, can inform the creative animation process and might be gainfully synthesized in an animation studies context to inform both pedagogy and creative practice.


Survey data show that many respondents save for retirement in unconventional retirement accounts, such as investments in real estate. In countries where retirement savings are not mandatory for self-employed, representatives of this group often report this as an argument against making retirement savings compulsory. Our study shows that self-employed retirement savings are low and below individually pre-stated saving intentions, even though this group has generally no occupational pension. We also study the relation between the importance of a broad spectrum of saving motives, such as saving for retirement, and saving behavior. We show that finding the retirement motive important does not directly translate in additional retirement savings, both for self-employed and employees. The (median) annuity stream generated by conventional and unconventional accounts from age 67 is small; most savings are residual and are not being put aside for a specific motive.


Hardenability is an important property of steel, that is characterised through a curve known as Jominy profile. The paper presents a neural network-based approach to the prediction of this curve on the basis of steel chemical composition. The proposed approach is divided in two parts: firstly a set of neural networks is exploited for the sequential estimation of the points of the curve. Afterwards an additional network estimate the reliability of the profile prediction at each point. The model proved to be effective through tests on a real industrial dataset.


This study explores the six foundations in Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory and how they manifest in Livy's History and Augustan policy. Their presence within each of those areas will demonstrate how strongly the foundations were entrenched in Roman culture and may help explain the successful transition from a republic to an empire by examining how these foundations encourage group cohesion. Added to this, this study may also help provide more support for Haidt's theory. Moral Foundations Theory posits that there are six moral foundations of culture that have developed over time, each responding to a unique trigger: Care, Loyalty, Fairness, Authority, Liberty, and Sanctity. With the advent of culture, the way these foundations were triggered changed (i.e. some cultures only trigger some). Roman culture was able to trigger all six, which helped their civilization lasted so long. To explore this I analyzed the first ten books of Livy, finding many episodes in which the foundations were present (the ones presented are those in which the foundations are most prominent). I also looked at the way in which Augustan policy triggered the foundations thereby allowing the Romans to come back together after decades of civil war and aiding him in forming an empire which would last for centuries. The examples presented also display that these foundations are mutually reinforcing, that is several will occur in one situation thus making each other stronger. This study found that the foundations were abundantly present in Roman culture and their presence not only helps confirm Moral Foundations Theory but also allows us to see how Roman culture triggered these foundations.