Background: Sufficient coronary perfusion pressure (CPP) to provide myocardial reperfusion is required for defibrillation success after prolonged ventricular fibrillation (VF) cardiac arrest. Chest compression interruptions cause a precipitous drop in CPP. Objective: To quantify the ex- tent to which CPP recovers to pre-pause levels following chest compression interruptions. Me- thods: This was a secondary analysis of data from two similar IACUC approved protocols. A total of 105 Yorkshire swine were included and VF was electrically induced. After 10 minutes of untreated VF in the first study (n = 52) and 12 minutes of untreated VF in the second (n = 53), CPR began and epinephrine was administered approximately 2 minutes prior to a planned 10-second pause to record an artifact-free ECG waveform segment. Following this pause, CPR was resumed for 20- seconds prior to defibrillation. CPP data were extracted from three time points: 2 minutes after epinephrine delivery (CPP1); following the chest compression pause (CPP2); and immediately before defibrillation (CPP3). Our primary outcome was defined as the ratio of CPP recovery (CPP3- CPP2) to the drop in CPP (CPP1-CPP2). Results: Interrupting compressions resulted in a significant drop in CPP (29.8 mmHg [95%CI: 26.2, 33.4] to 6.8 mmHg [95%CI: 5.4, 8.2]). Resuming CPR for restored 83% (95%CI: 78%, 86%) of the CPP lost. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that 83% of the decline in CPP values during a planned 10-second interruption in CPR can be restored with a short period of precordial compressions prior to defibrillation.


Background A hallmark of unregulated drug markets is their unpredictability and constant evolution with newly introduced substances. People who use drugs and the public health workforce are often unaware of the appearance of new drugs on the unregulated market and their type, safe dosage, and potential adverse effects. This increases risks to people who use drugs, including the risk of unknown consumption and unintentional drug poisoning. Early warning systems (EWSs) can help monitor the landscape of emerging drugs in a given community by collecting and tracking up-to-date information and determining trends. However, there are currently few ways to systematically monitor the appearance and harms of new drugs on the unregulated market in Canada. Objective The goal of this work is to examine how artificial intelligence can assist in identifying patterns of drug-related risks and harms, by monitoring the social media activity of public health and law enforcement groups. This information is beneficial in the form of an EWS as it can be used to identify new and emerging drug trends in various communities. Methods To collect data for this study, 145 relevant Twitter accounts throughout Quebec (n=33), Ontario (n=78), and British Columbia (n=34) were manually identified. Tweets posted between August 23 and December 21, 2021, were collected via the application programming interface developed by Twitter for a total of 40,393 tweets. Next, subject matter experts (1) developed keyword filters that reduced the data set to 3746 tweets and (2) manually identified relevant tweets for monitoring and early warning efforts for a total of 464 tweets. Using this information, a zero-shot classifier was applied to tweets from step 1 with a set of keep (drug arrest, drug discovery, and drug report) and not-keep (drug addiction support, public safety report, and others) labels to see how accurately it could extract the tweets identified in step 2. Results When looking at the accuracy in identifying relevant posts, the system extracted a total of 584 tweets and had an overlap of 392 out of 477 (specificity of ~84.5%) with the subject matter experts. Conversely, the system identified a total of 3162 irrelevant tweets and had an overlap of 3090 (sensitivity of ~94.1%) with the subject matter experts. Conclusions This study demonstrates the benefits of using artificial intelligence to assist in finding relevant tweets for an EWS. The results showed that it can be quite accurate in filtering out irrelevant information, which greatly reduces the amount of manual work required. Although the accuracy in retaining relevant information was observed to be lower, an analysis showed that the label definitions can impact the results significantly and would therefore be suitable for future work to refine. Nonetheless, the performance is promising and demonstrates the usefulness of artificial intelligence in this domain.


Source criticism is an important part of the national curriculum in the history subject in middle grade schools. This master thesis presents the development of a digital learning activity for teaching students about source criticism concepts. The learning activity was developed by first researching the history curriculum and how source criticism is taught within the subject. A conceptual design was drafted based on these findings and the design of an existing framework for teaching students within the history subject. The existing framework, and the developed learning activity, is based on learning-by-teaching implemented in the form of a teachable agent. The teachable agent act as a tutee that students have to teach themselves, increasing students' motivation and learning. By teaching the agent, students improve their own learning. The final implementation of the activity is integrated into both the technical framework and the narrative of the existing environment.


Background: Mismatch repair (MMR) deficiency through MSH6 alteration has been identified in approximately 30% of recurrent high grade gliomas, and represents a key molecular mechanism for the development of acquired resistance to the alkylating agent temozolomide (TMZ). Additionally, glioma progression post-TMZ treatment is frequently accompanied by distinct genomic alterations such as amplification of the MYC locus and resulting signaling activation. There is an urgent need to establish new treatment strategies that do not rely upon MMR to target MMR deficient, TMZ resistant glioma. Methods: We first screened 14 compounds that modulate DNA damage response for their ability to suppress viability of an MSH6 knockdown, TMZ resistant glioma cell line. Efficacy of PLK1 inhibitors and combination with TMZ were assessed in glioblastoma cells lines and patient-derived glioblastoma neurosphere lines engineered with MSH6 silencing, MYC overexpression and controls. Impacts of PLK1 blockade on cell cycle distribution, apoptosis, and DNA damage effects were examined. Results: The compound screening indentified PLK1 selective inhibitor, volasertib, as the most potent inhibitor of proliferation of both MMR intact and deficient glioblastoma cells. PLK1 inhibition induced G2/M cell cycle arrest, DNA damage and caspase-mediated apoptosis in glioblastoma cells, but no detectable toxicity in normal human astrocytes. Importantly, beneficial therapeutic effects of PLK1 inhibitors were not influenced by MMR deficiency due to MSH6 knockdown, whereas PLK1 inhibition had no additive or synergic effect when combined with TMZ. Furthermore, we found that MYC overexpression sensitized glioblastoma cells to PLK1 inhibitors. Conclusions: Selective PLK1 inhibitors are potently cytotoxic to glioblastoma and their action is independent of MMR status of the cells. Cells with deregulated MYC are vulnerable to PLK1 inhibition suggesting genomic MYC alteration as a biomarker for PLK inhibitor sensitivity. Thus PLK inhibitor represents a novel therapeutic option for MMR deficient TMZ resistant recurrent gliomas, particularly those driven by MYC. Citation Format: Fumi Higuchi, Daniel P. Cahill, Hiroaki Wakimoto. PLK1 inhibitor targets mismatch repair-deficient temozolomide-resistant tumors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-301. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-LB-301


"An Author event presented by The Friends of the University of Adelaide Library, 16 August 2012, Ira Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library."


As the second largest African oil producer, Angola had unsustainable government expenditures in effect until 2014 due to the drop in international oil prices. The Government responded with a comprehensive reform program including the gradual elimination of most fuel subsidies and an extension of the social protection program Cartao Kikuia. This report analyzes the impact of those reforms on poverty using micro-level simulations based on the most recent household consumption survey IBEP (2008). First, household data is projected to 2015 incorporating changes in population numbers as reported by the Population Census 2014. Second, the impact of the subsidy reforms is estimated by applying the price changes due to the reform to household budgets. Third, the extension of the Cartao Kikuia program is simulated as a cash transfer by adjusting budgets of targeted households with the non-cash benefit from Cartao Kikuia.


In the modern computing landscape, the challenge of tuning software systems is exacerbated by the necessity to accommodate multiple divergent execution environments and stakeholders. Achieving optimal performance requires a different configuration for every combination of hardware setups and business requirements. In addition, the state of the art in system tuning can involve complex statistical models, which require deep expertise not commonly possessed by the average software developer. This paper presents a novel approach to tuning complex software systems by leveraging sound to convey performance information during execution. We conducted a scientific survey to determine which sound characteristics (e.g., loudness, panning, pitch, tempo, etc.) are most accurate to express information to the average programmer. As determined by the survey, the characteristics that scored the highest across all the participants were used to create a proof-of-concept demonstration. The demonstration showed that a programmer who is not an expert in either software tuning or enterprise computing can configure the parameters of a real world enterprise application server, so that its resulting performance surpasses that exhibited under the standard configuration. Our results indicate that sound-based tuning approaches can provide valuable solutions to the challenges of configuring complex computer systems.


Editorial on Heeb et al. Thromb Haemost 2012; 107: 690-698. Since the isolation of protein S in 1979, initial studies demonstrated that protein S acted as a natural anticoagulant by promoting the serine protease activity of activated protein C (APC) on its substrates, the coagulation factors Va and VIIIa. This interaction required binding to phospholipid membranes through the vitamin K-dependent Gla residues of protein S. Later work showed that protein S interacts with other blood components, including a regulator of complement (C4b-binding protein), other components of the coagulation cascade (tissue factor pathway inhibitor and factor Xa), plasma lipoproteins and cells. The later interaction is mediated through specific membrane receptor tyrosine kinases belonging to the TAM family. This choreography of interactions predicted new biological functions, and protein S is now recognised as a regulator of essential processes in the response to damage, including regulation of phagocytosis of apoptotic cells (efferocytosis), cell survival and activation of innate immunity. Still, the anticoagulant function of protein S is central to its biological role, as it was first proposed by the association of protein S deficiency and thrombosis in human cohorts. This has been experimentally corroborated by the recent characterisation of the protein S knockout mouse phenotype (1). In the present issue of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, Heeb et al. (2) provide further evidence of the use of protein S in therapeutic anticoagulation independently of the infusion of APC. One of the reasons behind the late recognition of the APC-independent anticoagulant function of protein S derives from basic biochemical reasons. This functional property depends on the presence of Zn2+ ions, which were often removed during protein S purification procedures (3). The present study shows promises of using protein S as an anticoagulant drug on its own, independently of APC. This would add a new therapeutic substance that could be especially interesting for situations where control of both anticoagulation and inflammation has to be provided. This includes treatments for sepsis and atherosclerotic disease, were the role of protein S has been recently evaluated (4). Protein S is a complex molecule with several posttranslational modifications, and needs suitable animal models where its functional requirements are validated. The present work is an important step forward in this direction.


Agreement among raters is an important issue in medicine, as well as in education and psychology. The agreement among two raters on a nominal or ordinal rating scale has been investigated in many articles. The multi-rater case with normally distributed ratings has also been explored at length. However, there is a lack of research on multiple raters using an ordinal rating scale. In this simulation study, several methods were compared with analyze rater agreement. The special case that was focused on was the multi-rater case using a bounded ordinal rating scale. The proposed methods for agreement were compared within different settings. Three main ordinal data simulation settings were used (normal, skewed and shifted data). In addition, the proposed methods were applied to a real data set from dermatology. The simulation results showed that the Kendall's W and mean gamma highly overestimated the agreement in data sets with shifts in data. ICC4 for bounded data should be avoided in agreement studies with rating scales<5, where this method highly overestimated the simulated agreement. The difference in bias for all methods under study, except the mean gamma and Kendall's W, decreased as the rating scale increased. The bias of ICC3 was consistent and small for nearly all simulation settings except the low agreement setting in the shifted data set. Researchers should be careful in selecting agreement methods, especially if shifts in ratings between raters exist and may apply more than one method before any conclusions are made.


We present a novel approach for robust manipulation of high-DOF deformable objects such as cloth. Our approach uses a random forest-based controller that maps the observed visual features of the cloth to an optimal control action of the manipulator. The topological structure of this random forest-based controller is determined automatically based on the training data consisting visual features and optimal control actions. This enables us to integrate the overall process of training data classification and controller optimization into an imitation learning (IL) approach. Our approach enables learning of robust control policy for cloth manipulation with guarantees on convergence.We have evaluated our approach on different multi-task cloth manipulation benchmarks such as flattening, folding and twisting. In practice, our approach works well with different deformable features learned based on the specific task or deep learning. Moreover, our controller outperforms a simple or piecewise linear controller in terms of robustness to noise. In addition, our approach is easy to implement and does not require much parameter tuning.


The micromixer, which has a rotor with a curved channel, is studied experimentally. The secondary flow in a curved channel of rectangular cross-section is investigated using PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) and LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) methods. Two walls of the channel (the inner and top walls) rotate around the center of curvature and a pressure gradient is imposed in the direction of the exit of the channel. The non-dimensional channel curvature δ=a/R is taken to be about 0.1, where 2a is the width of the channel, R the curvature radius of the channel. Other non-dimensional parameters concerned are the Dean number De=Reδ1/2, the Reynolds number Re=qdh/v, where q is the mean flow velocity in the channel axis direction, ν the kinematic viscosity, dh the hydraulic diameter of the channel, and the Taylor number Tr=2(2δ)1/2Ωa2/(δv), where Ω is the angular velocity of the rotor. Photographs of the flow in a cross-section at 180° downstream from the curved channel entrance are taken by changing the flux (De) at a constant rotational speed (Tr) of the channel walls. It is found that good mixing performance is obtained in the case of De≤0.1|Tr| and for that case secondary flows show chaotic behaviors. And then we have confirmed the occurrence of reversal of the mean axial flow.


Multi-mode combustion strategies may provide a considerable thermal efficiency improvement targeted at part-load operating conditions for light-duty spark-ignition (SI) engines. The extension from boosted SI mode at high loads to advanced compression ignition (ACI) mode at low loads can be achieved by increasing compression ratio and utilizing intake air heating. In order to enable an accurate control of intake charge condition for ACI control and rapid mode-switches, it is essential to gain fundamental insight into the autoignition process with regard to thermal and fuel-air mixture stratification in the combustion chamber. In this work, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is carried out to reveal some degrees of correlation between the mixture and thermal stratifications induced by the cylinder wall temperature and combustion-phasing across varying engine load conditions.
 The computational analysis begins with a calibrated simulation setup best matching the engine experiments, and subsequently evaluates the baseline setup for an extended range of engine load conditions for two excess-air ratio cases. The present study emphasizes the dominance of thermal stratifications for autoignition process due to wall temperature effects depending on the engine load conditions of interest. In addition, this study also aims to provide insight into the impact of mixture stratification on cyclic variability, especially at colder wall engine conditions (e.g., cold start). Observations herein provide highlight of the propensity of autoignition in correlation with mixture reactivity space.


External fluctuation torques acting on gear trains having clearances often cause vibro-impact motions with resultant rattle noise issues. In this study, an impact-velocity based rattle severity parameter that correlates to the resultant rattling noise is proposed for multi mesh gear trains. An experimental setup is employed to measure torsional vibro-impact motions and the corresponding sound pressure levels of a a three-axis gear train under various torque fluctuation conditions. A discrete torsional model of the experimental setup is developed and validated through comparisons to the vibration measurements. An impact velocity-based rattle severity index defined from the predicted response is proposed and shown to correlate well with the measured rattle noise sound pressure levels within a wide range of operating conditions. The demonstrated ability of the proposed rattle severity index in tracking rattle noise allows for the assessment of rattle consequences of a multi-mesh drivetrain solely from its predicted torsional response.


Abstract This review covers the current cognitive behavioural treatments available to address fear-avoidance beliefs in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP). Four types of treatment protocols were identified for inclusion in the review: (a) graded in vivo exposure (GivE); (b) graded activity (GA); (c) acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT); and (d) mixed cognitive behavioural protocols. Most of the research suggests that GivE and ACT result in the best outcomes for treating fear-avoidance beliefs in patients with CMP. There is also a readily apparent paucity of research from North America; indeed, most of the available studies were conducted in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. This relative absence of North American research raises potentially important questions about the role of compensation status and access to care, which differ between countries, on treatment outcome. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.


The latest book in our Bite-Size Brexit range is now published! 'Carmageddon?: Brexit & Beyond for UK Auto' looks at the manufacturing industry at the heart of the issues around Brexit, with the industry's sophisticated just in time and other major logistical challenges.


Existing research seems to agree that European Union (EU) accession conditionality facilitated processes of political and economic transformation for the recent enlargement rounds. However, despite its importance, systematic research beyond small-N qualitative studies that produces generalizable insights is scarce. Most strikingly, it remains unclear at which stage of the enlargement process and to what extent candidate countries complied with EU law in the context of accession conditionality. Building upon previous theoretical accounts, the authors argue that candidates' compliance behaviour can be examined more thoroughly when focusing on the credibility of EU conditionality at different phases over the process of accession negotiations, which are characterized by varying degrees of membership probability. The article's main contribution stems from the empirical analysis, which employs generalized additive models on new data of candidate countries' compliance with EU law under accession conditionality from 1998 to 2009.


Concerns about greenhouse gases as well as the price and security of oil supply have acted as a spur to sustainable automobile development. The hydrogen fuel cells electric vehicle (HFCEV) is generally recognised by leading automobile manufacturers and scientists as one of the optimum technologies for long-term future low carbon vehicle. In a typical HFCEV power train, a DC–DC converter is required to balance the voltage difference between the fuel cells (FCs) stack and batteries. However, research shows that a considerable amount of energy generated by the hydrogen FCs stack is deplete during this conversion process as heat. This experiment aims to improve the power train efficiency by eliminating the DC–DC converter by finding the best combination of FC stack and batteries, matching the size and capacity of the electrical components.


Abstract Many China watchers argue that Xi Jinping has concentrated power in his own hands in a manner unprecedented since the death of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This article tests the extent of Xi's power consolidation by comparing the strength of his faction during his time in power to similar periods under his two immediate predecessors, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. Furthermore, we investigate whether a dominant faction is emerging under Xi Jinping, replacing the power balancing between factions that was the norm throughout the reform era. Analysing factional affiliations of Chinese leaders in the top four ranks, we find that Xi has formed a dominant faction. Through statistical analysis of the promotion chances of provincial leaders, we find that Xi has been unusually successful when compared to previous leaders at promoting his clients. This suggests that Xi has boosted the power of his faction by elevating provincial leaders to an extent not seen since the death of Mao and Deng.


Purpose of the article: The objective of the article is to determine the impact of the financial crisis on South Moravian firms' performance and find evidences of inter-firm alliances between firms.
Methodology/methods: The article is based on primary research conducted among SMEs in the South Moravian Region and secondary data acquired from firm database Amadeus and expertise literature. The methods are applied within the framework of pilot research.
Scientific aim: The scientific aim of the article is to investigate the effect of financial and economic crisis on firm performance and explore the relevance of alliance formation during the period of 2007–2012.
Findings: Current results show that in spite of the sharp decrease in firm revenue during the crisis, the creation of value added on contrary, after stagnation in the most difficult period, rose slightly. Despite the crisis, 71% of firms claim that they are following growth strategy and the half of these firms is engaged in cooperation in a form of strategic alliance.
Conclusions: Strategic alliances are present in the South Moravian manufacturing firms' practise and – according to findings of earlier research papers – their impact on firm performance is of great importance. This research is a first step toward systematic investigation of firm performance in relation to inter-firm alliances in the South Moravian Region. In order to assess the impact of strategic alliances on firm performance, more comprehensive further research is needed. The findings conclude that alliance formation is a strategy for sustaining firm performance in extraordinary economic conditions.


PURPOSE To investigate the effect of pressure and distance during air drying on the microtensile bond strength (μTBS) of a single-step self-etching adhesive to bovine dentin. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 36 bovine molars was used in this study. Twenty-seven teeth were used for μTBS testing and 9 teeth for the evaluation of the resin/dentin interface. The teeth were divided into 9 groups according to the variation in solvent evaporation pressure and the distance from the dentin surface. The adhesive was applied according to the manufacturer's instructions. The pressure was adjusted using a pressure regulator and the distance was fixed by measuring the distance from the tip of the syringe to the flat dentin surface. Each tooth was restored with a composite crown 6 mm in height and was cut to produce composite/dentin rectangular sticks with a cross-sectional area approximately 1 mm2 and 12 mm in length. The sticks were tested in tension until failure at a crosshead speed of 0.5 mm/min. The fracture pattern was evaluated using a stereomicroscope under 40X magnification. For the resin/dentin interface, the samples were gold sputtered and examined using SEM operated at 20 kV. RESULTS Two-way ANOVA showed that both pressure and distance from the dentin surface significantly affect the μTBS of the single-step self-etching adhesive (p = 0.001). The interaction of the two independent variables (pressure and distance from dentin surface) showed a significant difference (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION On the basis of the μTBS data generated in this study, the single-step self-etching adhesive used proved to be technique sensitive.


The biocompatibility of titanium implants with different surface properties is investigated. We prepared three types of specimens, one ground by the newly developed ELID grinding system, another ground by conventional ELID grinding, and the other polished by SiO2 powder. These surfaces were characterized and, the number of cell and cytotoxicity in in-vitro were measured. Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) revealed that the modified ELID system can create a significantly thick oxide layer and a diffused oxide layer, and also can control the thickness of a modified layer. The results of cell number and cytotoxicity showed that the sample ground by the modified system had the highest biocompatibility. This may have been caused by improvement of chemical properties due to a surface modified layer. The above results suggest that this newly developed ELID grinding system can create the desirable surface properties. Consequently, this system appears to offer significant future promise for use in biomaterials and other engineering components.


After numerous years in situ, ceramic fixed prostheses appear high in value when compared with the adjacent natural teeth, and the patient may desire the replacement of the prosthesis primarily for aesthetic reasons. This article provides exact information on preoperative shade evaluation, modification of a manufactured shade tab, custom shade fabrication, and soft tissue cast fabrication to help to ensure optimal results. The learning objective of this article is an enhanced understanding of the principles of aesthetic restorations.


This paper uses WITCH, an integrated assessment model with a game-theoretic structure, to explore the prospects for, and the stability of broad coalitions to achieve ambitious climate change mitigation action. Only coalitions including all large emitting regions are found to be technically able to meet a concentration stabilisation target below 550 ppm CO2eq by 2100. Once the free-riding incentives of non-participants are taken into account, only a "grand coalition" including virtually all regions can be successful. This grand coalition is profitable as a whole, implying that all countries can gain from participation provided appropriate transfers are made across them. However, neither the grand coalition nor smaller but still environmentally significant coalitions appear to be stable. This is because the collective welfare surplus from cooperation is not found to be large enough for transfers to offset the free-riding incentives of all countries simultaneously. Some factors omitted from the analysis, which might improve coalition stability, include the co-benefits from mitigation action, the costless removal of fossil fuel subsidies, as well as alternative assumptions regarding countries' bargaining behaviour.


imitations in the ability of parents to compare schools have important implications for market oriented educational systems, which rely on parents choices to improve quality through competition. To empirically study these limitations, we develop and estimate a static model of elementary school choice that distinguishes between preferences for academic quality, the ability to differentiate between schools of different quality, and constraints in terms of the schools available to different households. Because school quality might be endogenous to parents' choices, we identify the key parameters related to preferences for quality using exogenous variation in schools' funding introduced by a policy that substantially increased the voucher amount for each enrolled socioeconomically vulnerable student. We estimate the model using a combination of administrative and survey data from Chile, which includes rich information on how parents compare the academic quality of schools. Using counterfactual simulations, we find the interaction between limitations to tell schools apart and differences in preferences across households plays an important role in decreasing the quality of schools attended by Chilean children, especially for children with less educated parents.


Based on the intensified survey efforts (since 2003) of Greenlandic breeding colonies of black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), the total Greenland breeding population was estimated at roughly 110 000 breeding pairs, constituting about 4% of the total North Atlantic breeding population. This population estimate of black-legged kittiwake is the most reliable and updated estimate hitherto reported for Greenland. The results confirm considerable population declines in many areas of West Greenland. The breeding population of blacklegged kittiwakes in the Qaanaaq area appears healthy, whereas the rest of the west coast has experienced declines, especially the north-western region (in the area from Upernavik to Kangaatsiaq). Exactly when these reductions have occurred is uncertain because of the limited survey effort in the past, but some colonies declined as far back as the mid-1900s, whereas declines of other colonies have occurred since the 1970–80s. East Greenland data from the past are few, but recent aerial surveys confirm that the abundance of breeding kittiwakes on this inaccessible coast is low. The reasons for the West Greenland declines are not documented. Poor feeding conditions and a high hunting pressure, particularly prior to 2002 when the open season was shortened considerably, are possible explanations.


In family studies, the risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in relatives with factor V Leiden (FVL) or G20210A prothrombin (PT20210A) gene polymorphisms may differ according to genotype and clinical presentation of the proband. To address this hypothesis, a retrospective cohort family study was carried out on 192 kindreds with at least one member with homozygous FVL or PT20210A, for a total of 886 relatives. The proband of the family was heterozygous in 68 and homozygous or with both polymorphisms in 124 kindreds. Twenty-three probands were asymptomatic, 11 had had arterial thrombosis, 7 obstetrical complications, and 151 venous thrombosis (122 VTE and 29 superficial vein thrombosis). The incidence of VTE (per 1000 patient-years) in relatives was higher when the proband had heterozygous rather than homozygous polymorphism (1.25 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.73-1.91] vs 0.44 [0.19-0.78]) and when the proband had had VTE instead of other or no clinical manifestations (0.95 [0.57-1.42] vs 0.50 [0.19-0.96]). Compared with relatives belonging to kindreds with homozygous probands without VTE, the adjusted hazard ratio of VTE for relatives selected from kindreds with heterozygous probands with VTE was 4.14 (95% CI, 1.17-14.71). The genotype and clinical presentation of the proband influence the risk for VTE in relatives with FVL or PT20210A.


Background: Patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are managed according to treatment guidelines. This study aimed to determine the guideline adherence of health professionals at National District Hospital (NDH), Bloemfontein. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study included a study population of 149 patients admitted to NDH with suspected CAP from January 2015 to September 2016. Information was noted from the patient files and included signs and symptoms, investigations done and medication prescribed. Results: Most patients (n = 111, 75.0%) presented with a cough, 87 (60.0%) had a sputum test and 125 (83.9%) had a chest X-ray of whom 108 (86.4%) had a consolidation on the X-ray. The CURB-65 score of five (3.4%) patients was mentioned in the files, of which only three patients' scores were indicated. One patient had a noted CURB-65 score that required admission. Conclusion: The adherence of health professionals to the treatment guideline for suspected CAP patients is poor.


Recently, weakly supervised object detection (WSOD) with image-level annotation has attracted great attention in the field of computer vision. The problem is often formulated as multiple instance learning in the existing studies, which are often trapped by discriminative object parts and fail to localize the object boundary precisely. In this work, we alleviate this problem by exploiting contextual information that may potentially increase object localization accuracy. Specifically, we propose novel context proposal mining strategies and a Symmetry Context Module to leverage surrounding contextual information of precomputed region proposals. Both naive and Gaussian-based context proposal mining methods are adopted to yield informative context proposals symmetrically surrounding region proposals. Then mined context proposals are fed into our Symmetry Context Module to encourage the model to select proposals that contain the whole object, rather than the most discriminative object parts. Experimental results show that the mean Average Precision (mAP) of the proposed method achieves 52.4% on the PASCAL VOC 2007 dataset, outperforming the state-of-the-art methods and demonstrating its effectiveness for weakly supervised object detection.


Summary The almost worldwide distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sl spirochaetes promotes the association with different tick species and thus different epidemiological pattern can be observed. Seven B. burgdorferi genospecies are currently recognized in Europe. Two of them (B. bissettii and B. spielmani) are still poorly characterized and most details about distribution are ignored. This paper reports the PCR detection of B. spielmani in a tick in the city of Istanbul (Turkey) collected while biting a human. This genospecies was previously known from The Netherlands, Germany, France, Hungary and Slovenia. This finding contributes to the further knowledge of the distribution of the different genospecies of B. burgdorferi sl.


Abstract
In this chapter the development of new sugarcane varieties in Florida and Louisiana is examined, along with the accompanying advancement in mechanization technology through the widespread adoption of sugarcane harvesters. An econometric analysis is carried out to determine the impact of the price of raw sugar on raw-sugar yields in Louisiana and Florida. This study found that in the case of Louisiana, the 3-year lagged US raw-sugar price had a positive and significant impact on sugar yields. The change in raw-sugar prices did not have a significant impact on sugar yields for the Florida industry. Sugar production has increased over time, in part, due to the development of new sugarcane varieties accompanied by modern sugarcane harvesters. Given the relationship between price and yield, particularly in Louisiana, policy makers and producers must be mindful of the potential impact of policy-induced research and development (R&D) on the competitiveness of their industry.


Background: Studies indicate an effect of dietary calcium on change in body weight (BW) and waist circumference (WC), but the results are inconsistent. Furthermore, a relation could depend on genetic predisposition to obesity. Objective: The objective was to examine whether genetic predisposition to higher body mass index (BMI), WC, or waist-hip ratio (WHR) interacts with dietary calcium in relation to subsequent annual change in BW (DBW) and WC (DWC). Design: The study is based on 7569 individuals from the MONItoring trends and determinants of CArdiovascular disease Study, a sample from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health Study and the INTER99 study, with information on diet; 54 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with BMI, WC, or WHR adjusted for BMI; and potential confounders. The SNPs were combined in 4 scores as indicators of genetic predisposition; all SNPs in a general score and a score for each of 3 phenotype: BMI, WC, and WHR. Linear regression was used to examine the association between calcium intake and DBW or DWC adjusted for concurrent DBW. SNP score 3 calcium interactions were examined by adding product terms to the models. Results: We found a significant DBW of 20.076 kg (P = 0.021; 95% CI: 20.140, 20.012) per 1000 mg Ca. No significant association was observed between dietary calcium and DWC. In the analyses with DBW as outcome, we found no significant interactions between the developed predisposition scores and calcium. However, we found a significant interaction between a score of 6 WC-associated SNPs and calcium in relation to DWC. Each risk allele was associated with a DWC of 20.043 cm (P = 0.038; 95% CI: 20.083, 20.002) per 1000 mg Ca. Conclusions: Our study suggests that dietary calcium relates weakly to BW loss. We found no evidence of a general association between calcium and DWC, but calcium may reduce WC among people genetically predisposed to a high WC. However, further replication of this finding is needed. Am J Clin Nutr doi: 10.


Five years upon entry into force, this research conducts a three level analysis of the effects of the Switzerland-Japan Free Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement. A macro analysis comparing the development of relative volumes of trade, i.e., the flow of goods whose trade has been effectively liberalized by FTEPA and the flow of goods not affected by the FTEPA documents a significant increase growth differential for Swiss exports into Japan, but not vice versa. A subsequent meso analysis of customs data at the level of industrial sectors computes the share of Japanese goods exported under the FTEPA and tracks its development over time. This analysis reveals a significant increase in utilization rate both by Swiss and by Japanese exporters. Finally, a meta analysis of the utilization rates comparing utilization by Japanese exporters with the utilization of other FTAs by the exporters from other FTA partner countries of Switzerland, we find that utilization by Japanese exporters was swift and sustained. Direct comparison, however, would require more detailed analysis.


Abstract Not only is social media a new channel to obtain financial market information, it has also become a venue for investors to share and exchange investment ideas. We examine the performance consequences of providing monetary incentive to both existing and new amateur analysts on social media and its implications for online investor communities. We find that monetary incentive is effective in increasing the amount of content output and generating more interest from the community, but it leads to neither better nor worse stock recommendations. Additional analysis suggests that monetary incentive results in wider stock and industry coverage, a sign of increased content diversity. This study contributes to the understanding of the role of monetary incentive in stimulating the sharing of value-relevant information by investors in social media communities.


The organizational commitment of volunteers has been recognized as essential for the effective management of community-based sport. Despite this, little is known about the nature of sport volunteer commitment and, more specifically, its dimensionality and targets. This study developed measures of sport volunteer commitment within a framework of multiple dimensions of commitment and multiple targets of commitment to three organizational targets in the sport volunteering setting: the organization (in this context, the athletic center), the volunteer work team, and the volunteer role. Drawing on Meyer and Herscovitch's (2001) general commitment model, we adapted measures from previous work of Engelberg, Skinner, and Zakus (2006) of commitment to each of these targets and tested the proposed model using partial least squares regression (PLS) modeling. Results provided support for a two-dimensional model within and across each of the targets, and also showed that the measures had adequate discriminant validity...


GrpE proteins function as nucleotide exchange factors for DnaK-type Hsp70s. We have previously identified a chloroplast homolog of GrpE in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, termed CGE1. CGE1 exists as two isoforms, CGE1a and CGE1b, which are generated by temperature-dependent alternative splicing. CGE1b contains additional valine and glutamine residues in its extreme NH2-terminal region. Here we show that CGE1a is predominant at lower temperatures but that CGE1b becomes as abundant as CGE1a at elevated temperatures. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments revealed that CGE1b had a ∼25% higher affinity for its chloroplast chaperone partner HSP70B than CGE1a. Modeling of the structure of CGE1b revealed that the extended α-helix formed by GrpE NH2 termini is 34 amino acids longer in CGE1 than in Escherichia coli GrpE and appears to contain a coiled coil motif. Progressive deletions of this coiled coil increasingly impaired the ability of CGE1 to form dimers, to interact with DnaK at elevated temperatures, and to complement temperature-sensitive growth of a ΔgrpE E. coli strain. In contrast, deletion of the four-helix bundle required for dimerization of E. coli GrpE did not affect CGE1 dimer formation. Circular dichroism measurements revealed that CGE1, like GrpE, undergoes two thermal transitions, the first of which is in the physiologically relevant temperature range (midpoint ∼45 °C). Truncating the NH2-terminal coiled coil shifted the second transition to lower temperatures, whereas removal of the four-helix bundle abolished the first transition. Our data suggest that bacterial GrpE and chloroplast CGE1 share similar structural and biochemical properties, but some of these, like dimerization, are realized by different domains.


Seeking to reassess Plato's views on how we might investigate and explain the natural world, this book argues that many of the common charges against Plato (disinterest, ignorance, dismissal of observation) are unfounded, and that Plato had a series of important and cogent criticisms of the early atomists and other physiologoi. His views on science, and on astronomy and cosmology in particular, develop in interesting ways. It also argues that Plato can best be seen as someone who is struggling with the foundations of scientific realism, and that he has interesting epistemological, cosmological and nomological reasons for his teleological approach.


Agave tequilana is native to Mexico and famous for its use in the production of alcoholic beverage tequila. Due to the growing demands of tequila it has been intensively cultivated through asexual means resulting in a narrow genetic variability. The crop is extremely prone to insects and diseases and a breeding programme for selection and conservation of the crop is required. However poorly understood classification of agave and limited availability of molecular data is a big hurdle in establishing a useful breeding programme. Retrotransposons are mobile genetic elements that can replicate through a copy and paste mechanism occupying large proportions of genomes in short periods of time. They can play a vital role in the organisation and evolution of plant genomes and retrotransposon based molecular markers can be used as powerful molecular tools. Retrotransposons can play a key role in understanding Agave tequilana genetics as well as its relationship with other agave species and cultivars. In the work described here Ty1-copia retrotransposon have been isolated and characterised, retrotransposon based molecular markers have been used to evaluate the asexual genetic diversity in different vegitatively propagated mother and daughter plants. The phylogenetic relationship of these sequences revealed that Ty1-copia retrotransposons are heterogeneous in nature and they might have been actively replicating in recent past. The copy number of Ty1- copia retreotransposon was also evaluated and it was found that a large proportion of agave genome is occupied by these elements. Ty1-copia retrotransposons were also found to be polymorphic in agave tissue culture lines suggesting that they might be activated under the effect of stressed conditions. The findings of this study will help in understanding the genetics of Agave tequilana, and will provide a basis for further research on retrotransposon mediated asexual genetic variability in agave and other clonally propagated plants in general. It will also help us understand the activity of retrotransposons in the genome of agave in unusual environmental conditions.


Landfill reclamation is a good solution to utilize the wasted land occupied by municipal solid waste dumpsites or landfill sites. This also offers a good means to recover valuable materials and form environmentally benign green refuse-derived fuel (RDF) for use in power production. However, due to the heterogenous composition of the wastes, it is crucial to homogenize and upgrade the waste hydrocarbon fuel properties. Torrefaction is a thermochemical process that utilizes low temperature and inert environment to drive off the moisture and volatile fractions present in wastes to form valuable fuel. This upgraded RDF from reclaimed landfills offer high energy density and favorable hydrophobicity for use as a fuel feedstock in gasification to produce syngas for power generation. The objectives of this study are to first upgrading the reclaimed landfill wastes to RDF using torrefaction followed by its conversion to form clean syngas in a downdraft gasifier. This study examines the effect of air ratio on syngas heating value and cold gas efficiency. A comparison is made on the syngas produced from gasification using reclaimed landfill wastes and torrefied RDF. Experiments were conducted using a 10 kg/h lab-scale downdraft gasifier. The air ratios examined were 0.22, 0.27, and 0.32. The results showed an optimum air ratio of 0.27 operated with a gasifier using torrefied RDF. The results showed improved syngas quality, in terms of syngas composition, lower heating value, and cold gas efficiency. The lower heating value of 4.22 MJ/Nm3 and the cold gas efficiency of 65.84% were achieved. The results showed that landfill mining can provide ultimate solution to get rid of dumped wastes from landfills using torrefaction for high-quality fuel followed by the recovery of green and clean syngas energy using gasification.


The field of strategy has mounted an enormous effort to understand, define, predict, and measure how organizational capabilities shape competitive advantage. While the notion that capabilities influence strategy dates back to the work of Andrews (1971), attempts to formalize a "capabilities based" approach to strategy only began to take shape in the past twenty years. In particular, the publication of Teece and Pisano (1994) and Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997) work on "dynamic capabilities" triggered a flood of debate and discussion on the topic. Because strategy is a normative field, its theories must be evaluated in terms of how well they inform and impact practice. Judging by this standard, the dynamic research capabilities research program has come up short. It has become mired in endless debates about definitions and has engaged obsessively in an elusive search for properties that make organizations adaptable. In this paper, I argue that the research program on dynamic capabilities needs to be reset around the fundamental strategic problem facing firms: how to identify and select capabilities that lead to competitive advantage. I frame the firm's capability strategy problem as one of choosing among different types of capability enhancing investments, ranging from general-purpose know-how to application-specific know-how. The framework also draws a distinction between investments designed to deepen the firm's existing base of capabilities and those designed to broaden its repertoire into new realms. I explore the applicability of this framework to three general types of competitive circumstances: stable product market competition, Schumpeterian entry, and Penrosian dynamics. A major goal of the paper is to identify important gaps in our theoretical and empirical knowledge that should be a focus for future scholarly research.


The aging process of lead frame Cu-Cr-Sn-Zn alloy has only been studied empirically by trial-and-error method so far. This paper builds up the prediction model of the aging properties via a supervised artificial neural network(ANN) to model the non-linear relationship between parameters of aging process with respect to hardness and electrical conductivity properties of the alloy. The improved model is developed by the Levenberg- Marquardt training algorithm. The predicted values of the ANN coincide with the tested data. So the ANN system is effective and successful for predicting and analyzing the properties of Cu-Cr-Sn-Zn alloy. The optimized processing parameters are available at 475 C ° -520 C ° aging for 2h-1h.


Businesses are starting to use several cloud computing services, but we do not know much about how these business-to-business B2B customers view the service value that they receive from these services. Service value in the business-to-consumer B2C literature has been seen to be made up of four components, all shown to relate to the customer's satisfaction and intention to repurchase. In this current paper, we examine whether these same four components can be used in a model explaining satisfaction and repurchase intention for B2B cloud computing services. We describe a two-step research project consisting of 1 a set of exploratory interviews and 2 a questionnaire survey of 328 information technology IT managers. The interview step resulted in confirmation of the existing four components of service value from the B2C literature. We also uncovered a fifth component that we have called cloud service governance. We then developed a survey instrument to measure these five service value dimensions as well as satisfaction and intention to repurchase. We used structural equation modeling SEM to estimate a structural model that linked the perceptions of these service value components to customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Our results will enable B2B customers to better understand the components of service value in cloud services, and cloud service vendors will be able to measure how well their services are leading to value and satisfaction for their customers.


To find an evidence based approach in embryo transfer technique by reviewing relevant studies in the literature. Although the embryo transfer technique has an important role for success, there are limited randomised controlled studies about this issue in the literature. When the results of the studies are reviewed; performing the transfer by ultrasound guidance, with ease and with an atraumatic technique and using soft catheters seem to be related with success. Using appropriate techniques in embryo transfer procedure will enable increased pregnancy rates


Thermonuclear supernovae take many forms, as demonstrated by the increasing evidence of diversity among type Ia supernovae, particularly at early times, and subclasses of peculiar objects. This thesis presents new observations and modelling tools that explore the diversity of thermonuclear supernovae. We present colour light curves, and optical and near-infrared spectra for SN 2015H, a type Iax supernova, beginning a few days post-explosion. We compare these observations to synthetic light curves and spectra predicted from multi-dimensional explosion models invoking weak deflagrations of Chandrasekhar-mass carbon-oxygen white dwarfs, and find reasonable agreement with a model producing only ∼0.07 M of 56Ni. Our results demonstrate that the observational signatures of this explosion scenario are consistent with type Iax supernovae across a range of luminosities. Our analysis of SN 2015H shows that the strength of the deflagration, and hence amount of 56Ni produced during the explosion, can explain some of the diversity observed among type Iax supernovae. In a subsequent study, we present observations of PS1-12bwh that demonstrate this is not the sole factor affecting the appearance of type Iax supernovae. While the light curve and post-maximum spectra of PS1-12bwh are virtually identical to the prototypical SN 2005hk, the premaximum spectrum of the former does not resemble spectra of the latter at a comparable epoch. We perform spectral modelling and find that the unique pre-maximum appearance of PS1-12bwh is consistent with a lower density in the outer ejecta compared to SN 2005hk. Both objects showed similar light curve peaks and shapes, therefore our analysis indicates that there are additional factors responsible for the diversity of type Iax supernovae apart from the amount of 56Ni produced; hence, type Iax supernovae are not a one-parameter family. The early light curves of type Ia supernovae also display diversity in their colours and shapes. We therefore present a new Monte Carlo radiative transfer code designed for modelling light curves of radioactively driven transients. We perform a parameter study, focusing on the effects of the 56Ni distribution and density profile within the supernova ejecta. Models with 56Ni extending throughout the entire ejecta show brighter and bluer light curves at early times. The density profile also plays a significant role in shaping the early light curve; however, this has been neglected in previous studies. Our models show that comparisons with full colour light curves are necessary to constrain the ejecta properties of type Ia supernovae, such as 56Ni distribution and density profile. ii


Bergson's views on communication can be deduced from his theory of selfhood, in which he identifies the human self as heterogeneous duration a complex process that can only be adequately understood from within, when we intuit our own inner life. Another person, accessing us from outside, inevitably distorts and misunderstands our nature because duration is incommunicable. Does Bergsonism assert the failure of communication in principle? No, if we develop Bergson's theory further and identify the process of communication as heterogeneous duration. As such, it is intuited from within by its participants who engage with each other in the process of dealing with the same object. They intuit the process of which they are part and thus intuit each other's involvement in it as well. To appreciate the importance of this implicit mutual communicative engagement we only need to imagine an empty airport with just one passenger or a deserted pleasure beach.
Bergson does not have a theory of communication per se but his views on communication can be extracted from his ontology and epistemology. These views may account for some apparent failures of communication conflicts, loneliness, hostility and Bergson uses them to suggest a way out towards better and more harmonious intersubjective relations.
Bergson claims that we misunderstand reality in general and each other in particular. Instead of trying to grasp human nature directly in intuition we analyse its being and create a distorted view of one another. If we were able to conceive the human self as it is, we would see it as duration and might be able to reach the state of an open society where people's love towards one another is ontologically backed up by their openness towards each other's being.
However, the Bergsonian theory of duration and intuition, promising to resolve the difficulties of communication, reasserts these difficulties metaphysically. The idea of duration entails the impossibility of accessing it from outside, as the genuine view of it is only possible from within. This paper, instead of trying to salvage a model of communication where people strive to intuit each other's uniqueness, locates intuition in the very act of communication. Bergson himself finds intuition in artistic creation where the artist and spectators communicate by intuiting a common object without learning any personal details about each other. We find that communication is itself duration and that the communicating participants are heterogeneous elements of that duration. As such they are subservient to the act of communication that displays features of autonomous existence. Our model of communication, although accepting the impenetrability of one's person for a complete cognitive penetration from outside, allows for the partial fusion of minds engaged in the same act of communication and negotiating the same subject matter.


In more recent discussions on the future of Cohesion policy, however, both critics and supporters have tended to agree on the need for a "modernisation" of the policy, in recognition of existing weakness in the current approach and of the emerging challenges faced by the European economy, society and broader integration process. In this context of reform, this paper will take a step back in time to examine the origins and evolution of Cohesion policy, with a view to shedding some light on its core dynamics and revealing some of the lessons of history. In doing so, the main objectives of this paper are to identify the main historical turning points in Cohesion policy, the trends and nature of changes witnessed, and the key underlying factors facilitating or obstructing policy reform over time.


Soft decoding of block codes can be done by representing the block code into the trellis. One method of soft decoding commonly used is the maximum a posteriori probability (MAP). However, the implementation of this method requires a high computational complexity. Reducing the complexity can be done by changing the trellis shape of the block code. This paper shows the process of the block code's trellis formation and the evaluation of computational complexity and bit error ratio for every trellis shape of block codes. The evaluation of codes using the MAP method is compared to the evaluation of the soft output Viterbi algorithm (SOVA) method. The result shows that soft decoding using MAP method is better than soft coding using SOVA method and hard decoding method.


She Answered Every Call: The Life ofPublic Health Nurse, Mona Gordon Wilson (1894-1981). Douglas O. Baldwin. Charlottetown: Indigo Press, 1997. The Women of Royaumont: A Scottish Women's Hospital on the Western Front. Eileen Crofton. East Lothian: Tuckwell Press, 1997 The Military Nurses of Canada: Recollections of Canadian Military Nurses. Vol. 1 E.A. Landells, ed. Whiterock, BC: Co-Publishing, 1995. Bedside Matters: The Transformation of Canadian Nursing, 1900-1990. Kathryn McPherson. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996. Nobody Ever Wins a Wan The World War I Diaries of Ella Mae Bongard, R.N. Eric Scott, ed. Ottawa: Janeric Enterprises, 1997. Jean I Gunn: Nursing Leader. Natalie Riegler. Markham: A.M.S./Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1997. Canadian nursing history is strongly rooted in conventional biography and the descriptive narrative style. Consequently, the careful recording of events and preservation of archival material has ensured a rich resource for future research in nursing's early development and its notable leaders (Gibbon and Mathewson). While recording the contributions of exceptional nurses, this method necessarily limits analysis of the role of the wider community of nursing practitioners, preventing comprehensive understanding of nursing's history and development and its place in the history of women's work. In 1991, historian Veronica Strong-Boag confidently predicted that "the history of nurses is changing women's history and the history of Canada"; she noted a new interest in nurses and nursing among social historians as they began to question nursing's relationship to issues of gender, class and race (231). Yet historians Kathryn McPherson and Meryn Stuart have cautioned that not all nursing scholars welcome these new "historical studies informed or motivated by political theory," and many prefer that nursing history mainly serve nursing's own interests (18). This conservative approach history has led to cautious consideration of nursing within the broader context of Canadian social history. By comparison, in the 1980s American scholarship took the lead in examining the work and culture of nursing. New interpretations by American historians Barbara Melosh in "The Physician's Hand": Work, Culture and Conflict ill American Nursing (1982) and Susan Reverby in Ordered to Care: the Dilemma of American Nursing, 1856-1945 (1987), directed American nursing scholarship towards labour history as a model for analysis. Until recently, Canadian nursing lacked a similar analytical framework for interpretation of its own historical development. The history of nursing in Canada spans the centuries; before the religious nursing orders brought to the continent by the earliest European colonists were the healing practices of Aboriginal peoples. Yet nursing as an organised and structured profession for Canadian women dates only from the late nineteenth century, when the Victorian enthusiasm for order and institution building gave rise to the development of the hospital system (Rosenberg). The regularised training of Canadian nurses was initiated as educated, single, young women were recruited to prepare for certification as graduate nurses over a two- or three-year period while working on the hospital wards. The new century saw the evolution of standardised, professional nursing in Canada, with much credit due to a generation of remarkable leaders, each of whom put a distinctive stamp on her own training programme. The history of these inspired women has dominated the wider development of Canadian nursing history into the 1990s, but the achievements of the much larger force of working nurses who trained in the schools, served in the field of public health, and were a major component in the development of a much-heralded Canadian hospital-care system, deserves equal scrutiny; Kathryn McPherson's Bedside Matters: The Transformation of Canadian Nursing, 1900-1990 has finally given Canadian nursing history its own comprehensive analysis. …


Forecasting Parapapillary atrophy (PPA), i.e., a symptom related to most irreversible eye diseases, provides an alarm for implementing an intervention to slow down the disease progression at early stage. A key question for this forecast is: how to fully utilize the historical data (e.g., retinal image) up to the current stage for future disease prediction? In this paper, we provide an answer with a novel framework, namely \textbf{D}isease \textbf{F}orecast via \textbf{P}rogression \textbf{L}earning (\textbf{DFPL}), which exploits the irreversibility prior (i.e., cannot be reversed once diagnosed). Specifically, based on this prior, we decompose two factors that contribute to the prediction of the future disease: i) the current disease label given the data (retinal image, clinical attributes) at present and ii) the future disease label given the progression of the retinal images that from the current to the future. To model these two factors, we introduce the current and progression predictors in DFPL, respectively. In order to account for the degree of progression of the disease, we propose a temporal generative model to accurately generate the future image and compare it with the current one to get a residual image. The generative model is implemented by a recurrent neural network, in order to exploit the dependency of the historical data. To verify our approach, we apply it to a PPA in-house dataset and it yields a significant improvement (\textit{e.g.}, \textbf{4.48\%} of accuracy; \textbf{3.45\%} of AUC) over others. Besides, our generative model can accurately localize the disease-related regions.


At some stage, laying hen farming is likely to be subjected to sub-optimum temperatures (SOTem) due to climate change. While egg enrichment with n-3 fatty acids is a common practice in the poultry industry, in SOTem it has been less investigated. This study tested the effects of egg enrichment through extruded flaxseed (FLX) (180 g/kg) alone or along with hulled-soaked barley (H-SB) (170 g/kg), namely FLBA, with and without a cold-temperament additive mix (CTA) (25 g/kg: 5 g/kg flixweed (Descurainia sophia), 10 g/kg dried herb-extraction residues from pussy willow (Salix aegyptiaca) and 10 g/kg dried lemon (Citrus limon) residue) in two temperatures (20°C and SOTem: 27°C) on egg performance, yolk fatty acids, lipid components, blood biochemistry, serological enzymes, antioxidant and immune system of Hy-Line W-36 53-week-old for 9 weeks. Two hundred seventy layers were randomly distributed to nine treatments, resulting in six replicates with five hens. Hens fed flaxseed diets, regardless of temperature or CTA, had higher levels of n-3 fatty acids in yolks than others. Temperature negatively influenced feed intake and egg production. FLX + H27 and FLBA + H27 groups outperformed the other groups regarding cholesterol in yolk (10.1, 10.3 mg/g yolk), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) (5.19, 4.93 mg/g yolk), total protein (FLX + H27: 6.82 mg/dl), HDL in the blood (FLBA + H27:83.8 mg/dl), superoxide dismutase (FLBA + H27:90.4 U/ml), glutathione reductase (FLBA + H27: 1042.1 U/ml), glutathione peroxidase (FLX + H27: 1149.7 U/ml) and catalase (FLBA + H27: 12.5 U/ml). Total antibody, immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M after 42 days were significantly higher in chicks fed CTA-added diets (p < 0.05). Replacing corn and soya bean meal with H-SB did not negatively change the above-mentioned factors. Our findings collectively suggest that egg enrichment with n-3 fatty acids through dietary FLBA + H27 (180 g/kg flaxseed, 170 g/kg H-SB, and 25 g/kg CTA) in SOtem is suggested without any adverse impacts.


Complexity theory offers a variety of concise computational models for computing boolean functions - branching programs, circuits, decision trees and ordered binary decision diagrams to name a few. A natural question that arises in this context with respect to any such model is this:
Given a function f:{0,1}^n \to {0,1}, can we compute the optimal complexity of computing f in the computational model in question? (according to some desirable measure).
A critical issue regarding this question is how exactly is f given, since a more elaborate description of f allows the algorithm to use more computational resources. Among the possible representations are black-box access to f (such as in computational learning theory), a representation of f in the desired computational model or a representation of f in some other model. One might conjecture that if f is given as its complete truth table (i.e., a list of f's values on each of its 2^n possible inputs), the most elaborate description conceivable, then any computational model can be efficiently computed, since the algorithm computing it can run poly(2^n) time. Several recent studies show that this is far from the truth - some models have efficient and simple algorithms that yield the desired result, others are believed to be hard, and for some models this problem remains open.
In this thesis we will discuss the computational complexity of this question regarding several common types of computational models. We shall present several new hardness results and efficient algorithms, as well as new proofs and extensions for known theorems, for variants of decision trees, formulas and branching programs.


Communication is one of the basic necessities of human beings. File transfer is one of the basic forms of communication. Reliability is the key issue raised due to complex nature of network and growth of computer science. In this paper we have devised a technique for file transfer which identifies whether some portion of the file is received corrupt or not, and if yes then exactly what portion is corrupt. This technique provides reliability by eliminating the corruption from a file, hence requiring less bandwidth of the network by reducing the amount of data to be re-sent in case of corruption. The reliability is ensured with the help of file signature generation method which we have devised in this paper. The beauty of this technique that it generates hashes which are not easy to break, hence ensuring security of the file. We have used TCP as the underlying protocol, whereas TCP is already considered to be reliable, but the fact is that it does not ensure the reliable transfer over the network due to the fact that it uses CRC which is still vulnerable to network conditions and malicious attacks. Our technique operates at the application layer and tries to finish the cope up with the reliability over the file transfer. We have also developed a prototype to test the integrity of our technique. Empirical results ensure the reliability of our technique. The emphasis of this paper is to provide users with the corrupt free file transfer over the network, so that their time and valuable resources might be saved


Recently, a form of T-cell lymphoma associated with seropositivity for human T-lymphotrop virus type 1 (HTLV-1) antibody has been described in the adult population. The lymphoma frequently presents with massive hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and circulating malignant cells, with a normal bone marrow. HTLV-1-associated lymphoma has been seen most frequently in adults from Japan, the Caribbean, and the southeastern United States. We report the first known case of a child with a lymphoma having the clinical and serological features of an HTLV-1-associated T-cell lymphoma.


C. Fred Bergsten The decision by the House of Representatives on April 10 to change the rules for Congressional action on trade agreements drives a gaping hole in US trade policy and poses the gravest threat to the global trading system in decades. By rejecting long-settled procedures that prevented Congressional sidetracking of trade deals agreed by fully authorized Presidents, it instantaneously destroyed the credibility of the United States as a negotiating partner in the eyes of the rest of the world. Unless reversed soon, the House action will severely damage both the US economy and US foreign policy. It will particularly undermine the presumed goal of any new Administration in 2009 to restore our country's standing as a reliable partner in a cooperative multilateral world. It would help if Congress and the present Administration could pick up the pieces and pass the Colombia agreement, and the pending South Korea and Panama agreements as well. But the fundamental problem of US international credibility on trade will remain until a foolproof Trade Promotion Authority, or some equivalent successor, is renewed and indeed ensconced permanently. This can only be done, probably by the next Administration, as part of a "grand bargain" that recognizes the costs of liberalization and thus includes a major expansion of governmental assistance to workers dislocated by trade and perhaps other sources of dynamic change in our economy. In the absence of such a renewed foundation for an open and active US trade policy, both our economy and our foreign policy will suffer severely.


OBJECTIVE Impaired awareness of hypoglycemia (IAH) is a risk factor for severe hypoglycemia in people with insulin-treated diabetes; autonomic neuropathy has been suggested to underlie its development. The aim was to evaluate a putative association between IAH and autonomic dysfunction using novel and sensitive measures of autonomic neural function. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Sixty-six adults with type 1 diabetes were studied, 33 with IAH and 33 with normal awareness of hypoglycemia (NAH), confirmed by formal testing. Participants were matched for age, sex, and diabetes duration. Clinical and laboratory evaluations included extensive autonomic function testing, peripheral nerve conduction studies, and quantitative sensory testing. Composite abnormality Z scores were used for group comparisons. RESULTS The IAH and NAH group had similar median (interquartile range) age of 48 (14.5) vs. 47 (14.5) years, diabetes duration of 30 (13.5) vs. 31 (13.5) years, and mean ± SD HbA1c 7.8 ± 2.2% vs. 8.1 ± 1.9%, respectively. The autonomic composite Z score did not differ between the two groups (mean difference −0.15, 95% CI −0.46, 0.16; P = 0.33), nor did the thermal detection (mean difference 0.15, 95% CI −0.31, 0.61; P = 0.51) or nerve conduction scores (mean difference 0.03, 95% CI −0.43, 0.49; P = 0.89). CONCLUSIONS In adults with type 1 diabetes, IAH was not associated with autonomic dysfunction or peripheral neuropathy.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the association of 7 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) including rs13278062 (TNFRSF10A), rs3750846 (ARMS2-HTRA1), rs429358 (APOE), rs5817082 (CEPT), rs2043085 (LIPC), rs1626340 (TGFBR1), and rs8135665 (SLC16A8) identified through genome-wide association study (GWAS) with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) among ethnic Han Chinese from Sichuan, China.

METHODS
A cohort of 576 AMD patients and 572 healthy controls were enrolled in a case-control study. The SNPs were genotyped by a Mass array MALDI-TOF System. On the premise that the genotype distribution of each SNP locus in both groups satisfied Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the genetic pattern was analyzed and the scores of allele and genotype frequencies ware compared.

RESULTS
There was a significant association between TNFRSF10A rs13278062 and AMD under the heterozygous model (P = 0.000, OR = 1.529, 95%CI = 1.196-1.954) and the dominant model (P = 0.002, OR = 1.459, 95%CI = 1.154-1.865), suggesting that subjects carrying rs13278062GT and rs13278062TT + GT are more likely to develop the AMD, whereas no significant difference was observed for rs13278062 under other models. No association was detected with the other six SNPs and AMD under various genetic models.

CONCLUSION
This case-control association study has indicated that TNFRSF10A rs13278062 is associated with AMD under the heterozygous and dominant models, suggesting that the TNFRSF10A variant may be involved in the development of AMD among ethnic Han Chinese population.


Background: Ireland's health services are undergoing dramatic reorganisation. The establishment of general practitioner (GP) out of hours cooperatives and the integration of current ambulance services into a national ambulance service are among the issues that will impact on prehospital care of emergencies. The study aimed to explore the perceptions of GPs and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) of their own and each other's roles in the context of such reforms. Methods: A census of all GPs (511) and EMTs (301) in three of Ireland's eight health board regions was undertaken. A questionnaire containing 31 statements asked respondents to indicate their agreement (or lack of it) in areas such as general relationships, care, and training, roles in emergencies and future developments. Results: Of the personnel contacted, 72% of GPs and 75% of EMTs responded. They report excellent working relationships, agree that the ambulance service is of high quality, and that GPs are willing to provide care in emergencies. However, working links are less satisfactory for EMTs, who report a far higher perception of GP use of emergency ambulances than reported by GPs. Both groups are interested in innovative future links. Discussion: Convergence between the professional groups in different geographic areas and between the disciplines across the areas is striking. They include areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The need for improved liaison between the disciplines is clear.


This article is intended for an edited volume in the series "The New Harvard Bookshelf: Towards a Liberal Education for the 21st Century." The purpose of that collection is to bring together articles that capture the basic ideas of various courses offered in the general education curriculum of Harvard College. This article is based on the syllabus of my course Human Rights: A Philosophical Introduction (ER11). It begins with a brief historical introduction to the human rights movement and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, the main goal of this article is to explore three different approaches to arguing that human beings have rights in virtue of being human. I conclude with a few remarks on the universalism/relativism debate.


Niobinm is attractive as a metal or alloy for use at high temperatures and in the fields of nuclear energy and apace travel because of its high melting point (4470DEF), good intrinsic dactility, reasonable chemical resistance, low thermal neutron capture cross section, and low density (7.9 g/cm/sup 3/). The current prices and delivery times of commercial Nb are a little lower, although still high. Progress made from 1955 to 1960 in the removal of C, O, aad N from Nb is shown. Problems commonly encountered in processing (casting) Nb alloys and teating are described; it is best to conduct high-temperature thats in vacuum. Some data are given and plotted (2000 deg F) for the effects of alloying elements (e.g., Zr, Ti, Mo, W, C, and O) on the oxidation resistance and strength of Nb. Commercially available Nb alloys are given together with laboratory and pilot alloys, and strength va. tsmperature and time plots are given for some of them. The future of Nb alloys is discussed. (D.L.C.)


ABSTRACT Xylella fastidiosa is a phytopathogenic bacterium that causes serious diseases in a wide range of economically important crops. Despite extensive comparative analyses of genome sequences of Xylella pathogenic strains from different plant hosts, nonpathogenic strains have not been studied. In this report, we show that X. fastidiosa strain J1a12, associated with citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), is nonpathogenic when injected into citrus and tobacco plants. Furthermore, a DNA microarray-based comparison of J1a12 with 9a5c, a CVC strain that is highly pathogenic and had its genome completely sequenced, revealed that 14 coding sequences of strain 9a5c are absent or highly divergent in strain J1a12. Among them, we found an arginase and a fimbrial adhesin precursor of type III pilus, which were confirmed to be absent in the nonpathogenic strain by PCR and DNA sequencing. The absence of arginase can be correlated to the inability of J1a12 to multiply in host plants. This enzyme has been recently shown to act as a bacterial survival mechanism by down-regulating host nitric oxide production. The lack of the adhesin precursor gene is in accordance with the less aggregated phenotype observed for J1a12 cells growing in vitro. Thus, the absence of both genes can be associated with the failure of the J1a12 strain to establish and spread in citrus and tobacco plants. These results provide the first detailed comparison between a nonpathogenic strain and a pathogenic strain of X. fastidiosa, constituting an important step towards understanding the molecular basis of the disease.


Intelligent Mobility (IM) is a growing development area challenging an integrated management and operations of diversity (heterogeneous) of both cyber-physical and informatics (systems) infrastructures. The approach that has been taken by A-to-Be, powered by Brisa in the SCOOP@F Part 2 project on developing cooperative systems assuring the interoperability among different road operators and across borders, based on vehicle to vehicle/infrastructure (V2X) communications, is presented and discussed. The project is challenging making transparent the specificities of the involved stakeholders for drivers from Portugal, Spain, France, and Austria to freely travel multi-concessions and multi-country road infrastructures under a continuous offering of a suite of mobility services. This requires, beyond a proper operation of the On-Board Units (OBU), an efficient coordination among the participating road operators' infrastructure (stakeholders). Collaborative models where stakeholders with different technologies, processes, and organizational culture are invited to participate is also discussed.


Early warning system is one of the technology to detect land fires by utilizing a network of wireless sensors. Constant data transmission by the sensor nodes consumes a large amount of energy on the nodes' sides that could affect the battery's longevity. This research is done to discover the amount of power consumption and battery longevity during fire emergencies, and during non-emergency situation on peatlands. Power saving on the fire detecting system uses an LM35 temperature sensor, ATmega8 micro-controller and HC-12 transmission module. The overall result of powered by a 9 volt battery during fire emergencies, and during non-emergency, the power consumption reaches up to 1 Wh, with various longevity levels of the battery. The implementation of sleep/wake up mode scheduling during fire emergencies and non-emergencies could save battery for 2 hours compared to those without the power saving mode implementation. Power saving during fire emergency could be minimalized by activating the sleep mode activation power-down on the micro controller and it can also set the data transmission schedule to minimalize data USAge during fire emergency, so that the USAge of sleep/wake up mode interval scheduling during transmission could minimalize energy consumption and elongate the power supply active period.


BACKGROUND
Neurotoxicity can occur in patients being treated with lithium. Features are cognitive dysfunctioning and motor symptoms. Some results of research performed on adults up to the age of 65 indicate that lithium can cause mild cognitive dysfunctioning. It is not clear, however, whether elderly patients are more susceptible than young adults to this form of neurotoxicity or, if this is the case, whether the dosage of lithium should be reduced.

AIM
To determine whether elderly patients treated with lithium run an increased risk of neurotoxicity, and to discuss the pharmacodynamic aspects of lithium use in the elderly which may cause neurotoxicity.

METHOD
Literature review in Cochrane (all EBM), Embase, PsycINFO, Medline and PubMed, with cross-checked references.

RESULTS
Few studies described possible neurotoxic effects of lithium. We found no indications for cognitive dysfunctioning in elderly patients being treated with lithium. However, a lithiumassociated tremor was seen more often in elderly patients than in younger adults. Pharmacodynamic effects of aging, such as an increase in the lithium concentration in the brain with no change in the serum level, may give rise to side-effects. More research is needed into the relationship between the serum level and the neurotoxic effects of lithium in the elderly.

CONCLUSION
There are no indications that lithium causes more neurotoxicity in the elderly than in younger adults. If the use of lithium is indicated, it can be safely prescribed for the elderly, provided age-related pharmacodynamics are taken into account.


The Mars Pathfinder, Mars Surveyor '98, and Mars Surveyor '01 lander designs all utilize CCD-based cameras to conduct scientific investigations, assist with navigation of surface reverse and/or confirm sample acquisition and delivery by robotic arms. The extreme temperature and pressure environment of the Martian surface, the vibration and shock experienced during launch and landing, and the tight volume, mass, and power budgets challenge the designer and scientist alike to develop instruments and associated electronics that will function properly to provide the desired data. This paper provides an overview of the optical and mechanical design of two of the camera configurations, as well as a detailed description of the camera electronics. The cameras described are a gimbal-mounted stereo multi-spectral imager with 1 mrad/pixel resolution, and a variable focus robotic arm camera capable of 23-/spl mu/m/pixel resolution and provided with a self-contained three-color illumination system. The electronics, housed in the cameras and in separate enclosures, utilizes such subsystems as FPGAs for digital control, VME bus-mapped video memory, and multiplexed stepper motor select/phase driver circuitry.


Ai Wu Ji Wu, which was also titled The Power of Drawing in Beijing, was a solo travelling exhibition that was exhibited in three venues in Northern China – Beijing, Shenyang and Shi Jia Zhong. The exhibition was comprised of 46 works mostly large scale drawings produced over 20 years, and was selected to demonstrate the development of visual language through the drawing process. The most recent and substantial component of the exhibition being based on work since 2000 and the influence of China upon my work. This exhibition contained 18 new or previously unseen works which were added to a larger body of the survey exhibition.
Today Museum and Art Gallery is the first non- governmental not for profit art museums in China which is linked to the Today Art Publishing House. It promotes major Chinese and International artists. The gallery boasts two significant venues in Beijing. The exhibition was reviewed by J. Wang "The Power of Drawing" in Oriental Art No. 6, 2006. A major work 'Jiang Xin Bi Xin I' was purchased by Today Museum for its permanent collection.
Lu Xun Academy of Fine Art is one of the top three art institutions in China. The gallery provided three large spaces for the exhibition and the show was reviewed in the Journal of Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts as 'See What I think and How I Think.' The Academy purchased five of the works for their collection and the exhibition was covered by television by two different TV companies - Lioning TV Channel on 'Talk Show' televised on the 25th November 2006, and Liao Ning Satellite TV Channel on 'Every Morning' on the 27th November 2006.
 The show then travelled to Shi Jia Zhong and was exhibited at the Hebei Normal University Gallery.
The exhibition was funded by the three venues and the 35 page catalogue 'Ai Wu Ji Wu : Michael Esson –Drawings'(no isbn number) funded and published by Lu Xun Academy of Fine Art


This thesis is an edition of Floamanna Saga based on a selected number of its many manuscripts. The Introduction consists of three chapters: Chapter I deals with the textual history of the saga. First, the 67 extant manuscripts known to the present editor are listed. Special attention is then given to those used for this edition, which are as follows: AM 445 b, 4to (M); AM 516, 4to (K); AM 517, 4to (A); Cod. Holm. Isl. papp. fol. No. 60 (S); IB 45, 4to (B); AM 165 m, fol. (J); AM 515, 4to (P). While this last manuscript is being discussed, the fact that part of it is a(n) (inferior) copy of lost leaves of AM 445 b, 4to is stressed and an attempt to assess its value in this respect is made. The relationship between the texts of the seven selected manuscripts is then investigated. It is first demonstrated that while M and parts of P represent a longer redaction of the saga (M-version), the other manuscripts (and the remaining parts of P) (called the X-group) represent a shorter one (X-version). The manuscripts which represent the X-version are then discussed. It is argued that K, A and S (Y-group) represent a far better text of the saga than B J and the majority of P (Z-group). Further, it is shown that, contrary to the belief of various previous editors, the latest common source for J, A and most the variants added by Arni Magnusson in K (called AM) is a different and older manuscript (called *Y) than the latest common source for A and M (called *y). The scribe of *y is, on the basis of Stefan Karlsson's investigations, identified as Magnus Porhallsson and the manuscript itself is identified as one of those given by Peder Resen to the University of Copenhagen at the end of the seventeenth century. The relationship between the longer (M-) and the shorter (X-) versions of the saga is then given detailed attention: it is suggested that, wherever the two texts diverge, it is, in the majority of cases, the M-version which agrees most closely with the saga as it was in its original form. Two older theories on the nature of the original text of the saga, that put forward by Dr. P. Nijhoff and that in Origines Islandicae, are discussed and dismissed. Previous editions and translations of Floamanna Saga are enumerated and the method by which the text of the present edition is arrived at is explained. Chapter II is divided into two sections. The first deals with the relationship between Floamanna Saga and Landnamabok. An attempt is made to show that Floamanna Saga and the Hauksbok-redaction of Landnamabok have as their latest common source a manuscript of the Sturlubok-redaction which was not identical with Sturla Porðarson's original. The text of chapters 1-10 and 18 of Floamanna Saga is compared with the parts of Landnamabok from which it borrows and various observations made on the way the author of the saga has adapted this particular source and on the borrowed elements he has worked into the framework it provides. It is also shown how borrowings from Landnamabok are probably to be found in chapters of Floamanna Saga other than chapters 1-10 and 18. Some older theories on the relationship between the saga and Landnamabok are reviewed. The second section of Chapter II is devoted to borrowed and stereotyped elements in the body of the saga and a large number of sources and parallels (a number of which have gone unnoticed by previous investigators) are pointed to. Egils Saga is mentioned as the source for a number of borrowings from hagiographic sources are mentioned, or sources which themselves show strong hagiographic influences. The Section is prefaced by various terminological and methodological considerations. Chapter III falls into three sections. In the first of these it is argued that the historical elements in Floamanna Saga is minimal and that it draws on oral traditions to no appreciable extent. The second section considers the artistry of the saga and its place in Old Icelandic literature; an attempt is made to account for the curious blend of religious and profane elements to be found in the saga. In Section C, it is firstly argued that Floamanna Saga was written in Floi by a cleric, almost certainly between 1290 and 1385 and less certainly between 1290 and 1330. Finally, the more specific suggestion is made that the saga was written at Gaulverjabaer in Floi for Haukr Erlendsson (died 1334), or was merely written for Haukr Erlendsson. The Main Text of the saga is given on pages 1-61. This is an attempt to reconstruct the text of *Y (see above), a text which closely resembled the latest common source for the X-group. The Main Text is followed by the part of P which is mainly a copy of lost parts of M (pages 63-75). Finally the preserved fragments of M are to be found on pages 77-85 and 87-9. All the texts are given in normalized form. They are followed by the Textual Notes, which, in the case of the Main Text, give selected variants from other manuscripts. After the Textual Notes comes the Commentary on the text ('Notes'), which is intended to be as comprehensive as possible. Points of particular interest or importance are discussed in the following Notes: 1/6; 12/4-6; 13/19; 13/22-3; 26/23-5, 27/3-4; 32/4-5; 40/6; 40/15-8; 47/6; 61/6-9; 61/8-9; 64/12-3; 70/5; 79/16-7; 79/18-9. The thesis is concluded with three Appendices. In the first of these, a section of P is edited which has relevance to the question of the point at which the scribe of that manuscript started copying lost parts of *M (see pages *38 ff.). In Appendix II, the rune-inscribed oar mentioned in the M-version at 77/20-78/3 fully discussed: it is argued that the verse itself is a rowing chant. Finally, in Appendix III, on the basis of a reading in Flo, an emendation to Harbarðsljoð, verse 60 is suggested.


The ever expanding requirements of wireless resources to connect people and machines put more and more pressure on the radiofrequency spectrum. Considering its intrinsic limitation, the "command and control" static frequency allocation scheme leads to a congestion of the spectrum itself. Cognitive radio is expected to be a solution to this problem by introducing an opportunistic use of the frequency bands that are not heavily occupied by licensed users. One of the key points of this technique is the capability to reliably detect the actual use of spectrum by legitimate users, in order to avoid interference with cognitive ones. In this work we present the generation of coverage maps in terms of probability of missed detection (PMD) for active usersystems, e.g. GSM 900 and 1800 and UMTS. The analysis is carried out considering propagation dependent path-loss. This is evaluated using a deterministic ray-launching approach, that is able to provide accurate results in terms of scenario dependence at the cost of a significant computational complexity.


Extensive flooded cave systems are developed in a zone 8–12 km inland of the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico. In plan, the systems comprise cross-linked anastomosing networks composed of horizontal elliptical tubes (which are actively developing where associated with the present fresh water/saline water mixing zone) and canyon-shaped passages. Both forms are heavily modified by sediment and speleothem infill, and extensive collapse. The pattern of Quintana Roo caves differs both from the mixing chamber form of flank-margin eogenetic caves, and also the dendritic and rectilinear maze patterns of epigenetic continental (telogenetic) caves. Unlike the latter, Quintana Roo caves are formed by coastal zone fresh water/saline water mixing processes. While mixing dissolution is also responsible for development of flank-margin caves, these may be typical of small islands and arid areas with limited coastal discharge, whereas Quintana Roo–type caves are formed when coastal discharge is greater. In the Quintana Roo caves, multiple phases of cave development are associated with glacio-eustatic changes in sea level. Two critical conditions control cave development following lowstands: (1) if the passage remains occupied by the mixing zone and connected to underlying deep cave systems, and (2) for passages above the mixing zone, if active freshwater flow is maintained by tributaries. In the first case, inflow of saline water drives mixing dissolution, enabling removal of the lowstand carbonate fill and continued passage enlargement. In the second, despite limited dissolution in the fresh water, continued removal of uncemented sediments can maintain the cave void. Where neither of these conditions is met, enlargement will cease, and the cave void will become occluded by collapse and sediment infill.


This article aims to compare health conditions among transportation workers and the general population. Data were obtained from the health survey supplement of the National Sample Household Survey (1998) and were estimated by means of a logistic regression model with socio-demographic characteristics as predictive variables. Production losses resulting from time off the job due to disease was estimated. Age, years of schooling, work in the cargo transportation industry, and being a driver were significantly associated with the odds of cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases. The average number of working days lost by drivers and fare collectors was 6.28, representing a wage loss of approximately 2.6 million US dollars.