Urothelial cancer of the bladder is the 4th most common malignancy in American men and the 9th most common in women. Although it is a chemosensitive disease, advanced bladder cancer seems to have reached a plateau with regard to median survival of patients. Standard first-line therapy remains gemcitabine plus cisplatin (gc) or methotrexate, vinblastine, doxorubicin, and cisplatin (mvac). In patients deemed unfit to receive cisplatin, gemcitabine plus carboplatin or gemcitabine plus paclitaxel can be considered. To date, no standard therapy has been established for patients who recur or are refractory to first-line therapy. Second-line vinflunine, by way of superiority over best supportive care, has shown promise in a phase iii trial. Cisplatin-based therapy (mvac or gc) can also be offered to patients previously treated with cisplatin, especially if they responded previously and are considered platinum-sensitive. Novel targeted therapies are sorely needed to further improve the delivery and efficacy of chemotherapy.


In Reply .—We agree with Gaudelus and colleagues that rib cage deformity is an important clue for the diagnosis of neonatal hyperparathyroidism. The deformity also had a great influence on the outcome of our patient. We now report the rest of the clinical course of our patient and add some comments on the case. After total parathyroidectomy, remineralization of the bones was observed roentgenographically, and the serum calcium level was maintained with administration of calcium and ergocalciferol. The maintenance dose of calcium and ergocalciferol was decreased gradually, and the patient no longer needed medication at the age of 5 months to maintain a normal serum calcium level. Laboratory examination showed the presence of parathyroid hormone in the patient's blood, and it was suspected that the patient had had more than four parathyroid glands or that a latent embryonic cell group with the potential for becoming parathyroid cells had been activated.


We compared regional blood flow in unanesthetized newborn lambs with that in adult sheep during acute, isocapnic hypoxic hypoxia [HH, 40-50% reduction of arterial O2 content (CaO2)]. The HH response in lambs and adults was qualitatively similar in heart, brain, and skeletal muscle, where flow increased; and in spleen, where it decreased. The response differed in skin and kidney, where flow decreased in lambs and was unchanged in adults, and in small intestine, where it was unchanged in lambs and increased in adults. Thus vasoconstriction during HH was less prominent in skin, kidney, and small intestine in adults. However, the trend toward lesser vasoconstriction in the adult cannot be attributed to a diminishing carotid chemoreflex and/or a more prominent vasodilatory lung inflation reflex because the same trend occurred during carbon monoxide hypoxia (COH). COH reduces CaO2 but stimulates neither the carotid chemoreflex nor, since hyperpnea is absent, the lung inflation reflex. Within each age group the responses to COH and HH were qualitatively the same. These data therefore provide no evidence for an active carotid chemoreflex in unanesthetized postnatal sheep. This is either because the peripheral circulatory effect of the chemoreflex is suppressed by the lung inflation reflex or, less likely, because the chemoreflex does not operate in the sheep at this level of HH.


The study was focused on the phytochemicals-mediated biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using leaf extracts and infusions from Cynara scolymus. To identify the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content, the 1,1-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and Folin-Ciocalteau methods were applied, respectively. The formation and stability of the reduced silver ions were monitored by UV-vis spectrophotometer. The particle sizes of the silver nanoparticles were characterised using the dynamic light scattering technique and scanning electron microscope. The phase composition of the obtained silver nanoparticles was characterised by X-ray diffraction. The silver nanoparticles suspension, artichoke infusion, and silver ions were separately tested towards potential cytotoxicity and pro-inflammatory effect using mouse fibroblasts and human monocytes cell line, respectively. The total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of ethanol extract and infusion were found significantly higher as compared to aqueous extract and infusion. The UV-visible spectrophotometric analysis revealed the presence of the characteristic absorption band of the Ag nanoparticles. Moreover, it was found that with the increasing volume of plant extract, the average size of particles was increased. Biocompatibility results evidently showed that silver nanoparticles do not induce monocyte activation, however in order to avoid their cytotoxicity suspension at a concentration <2 ppm should be applied.


During several months of 2002, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused by SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) spread rapidly from China throughout the world causing more than 800 deaths due to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Interestingly, a novel homologue of angiotensin converting-enzyme (ACE), termed angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) has been identified as a receptor for SARS-CoV. ACE and ACE2 share homology in their catalytic domain and provide different key functions in the renin-angiotensin system. ACE cleaves angiotensin I to generate angiotensin II that is a key effector peptide of the system and exerts multiple biological functions, whereas ACE2 reduces angiotensin II levels and thus is a negative regulator of the system. Importantly, our recent studies using ACE2 knockout mice have demonstrated that ACE2 protects murine lungs from ARDS. Furthermore, SARS-CoV infections and the Spike protein of the SARS-CoV reduce ACE2 expression. Notably, injection of SARS-CoV Spike into mice worsens acute lung failure in vivo that can be attenuated by blocking the renin-angiotensin pathway, suggesting the activation of pulmonary RAS influences the pathogenesis of ARDS and SARS.


The Cox proportional hazards model is a canonical method in survival analysis for prediction of the life expectancy of a patient given clinical or genetic covariates -- it is a linear model in its original form. In recent years, several methods have been proposed to generalize the Cox model to neural networks, but none of these are both numerically correct and computationally efficient. We propose FastCPH, a new method that runs in linear time and supports both the standard Breslow and Efron methods for tied events. We also demonstrate the performance of FastCPH combined with LassoNet, a neural network that provides interpretability through feature sparsity, on survival datasets. The final procedure is efficient, selects useful covariates and outperforms existing CoxPH approaches.


Everyday medical practice shows that most common problems within the hand result from overload, injuries and degeneration. Dorsal side pathologies such as de Quervain's and Wartenberg's disease, intersection syndrome or degenerative lesions of carpometa-carpal joint of the thumb discussed in the paper can be accurately diagnosed and differentiated by means of ultrasound examination. Ultrasound is similarly powerful in detection and grading of traumatic lesions involving extensor tendons and their sagittal bands or the flexor tendons and their pulleys. In the case of carpal tunnel syndrome one can not only visualize the median nerve but also other structures of the tunnel that may cause compression. Similarly ulnar nerve compression within the Guyon's canal can be well evaluated. In cases of nerve trauma one can precisely define the level, and in cases of nerve discontinuity, the distance between stumps can be measured which is important in surgery planning. Often nerve trauma is a sequelae of tendon reconstruction. In such cases scars and nerve entrapment can be depicted. Tumors within a hand are usually benign, of which the most common are ganglia. On ultrasound examination a connection between a ganglion and its source (usually a joint or sheath) can frequently be defined. The relationship of tumors to nerves, tendon sheaths or vessels may suggest their nature. Ultrasound with dynamic tissue assessment is a very valuable adjunct to clinical examination.


Of the serious corneal ulcers the most frequent are those due to pneumococci, while next in frequency of occurrence are those due to diplobacilli. The characteristics of the pneumococcus ulcer, or ulcus serpens, are so well known that it is not necessary to discuss them here at length, but it may be well to emphasize certain features. Undoubtedly the most common cause for this type of ulcer is trauma, but there are two other causes that are often not recognized, namely, herpes corneae and glaucoma. Peters,1in fact, insists that the peculiar character of ulcus serpens is dependent on a neuropathic basis. This I think is doubtful, but it is probable that in many cases corneal herpes permits the pneumococcus infection to take place. After the infection has become well established the herpetic condition is obscured and so escapes recognition. The course of these cases, however, usually seems to


The design and early results of the Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean (HICO) are presented. The performance requirements imposed on the sensor to measure the low signals and to differentiate the optically complex spectra of the coastal ocean are discussed. It is shown the as-built sensor meets or exceeds the design parameters. Further, environmental products from early retrievals of the HICO imagery are presented.


Do changes in the distribution of rainfall between ethnic groups increase the risk of armed conflicts within Nigeria? In this paper, we exploit variation in rainfall during the growing season, to study how resource inequality between ethnic groups affects the risks of violent conflicts in Nigeria. Our main results show that a one standard deviation change in between-group rainfall inequality during the growing season increases civil conflicts prevalence in Nigeria by about seven percentage points. This relationship is driven, in part, by declining social capital. Specifically, we demonstrated that an unequal distribution of rainfall between ethnic groups reinforces citizens grievances over government performance and creates mistrust between predominantly farming communities and those engaged in nomadic herding. The analysis highlights the need to develop conflict-sensitive mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce the adverse effects of climatic shock.


Circadian clocks provide an internal measure of external time allowing organisms to anticipate and exploit predictable daily changes in the environment. Rhythms driven by circadian clocks have a temperature compensated periodicity of approximately 24 hours that persists in constant conditions and can be reset by environmental time cues. Computational modelling has aided our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of circadian clocks, nevertheless it remains a major challenge to integrate the large number of clock components and their interactions into a single, comprehensive model that is able to account for the full breadth of clock phenotypes. Here we present a comprehensive dynamic model of the Neurospora crassa circadian clock that incorporates its key components and their transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation. The model accounts for a wide range of clock characteristics including: a periodicity of 21.6 hours, persistent oscillation in constant conditions, arrhythmicity in constant light, resetting by brief light pulses, and entrainment to full photoperiods. Crucial components influencing the period and amplitude of oscillations were identified by control analysis. Furthermore, simulations enabled us to propose a mechanism for temperature compensation, which is achieved by simultaneously increasing the translation of frq RNA and decreasing the nuclear import of FRQ protein.


Prion diseases, also known as Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs), are fatal neurodegenerative disorders with characteristic sponge-like microscopic appearance in the infected brain. They are caused by a protein-only particle consisting of an abnormal isoform (PrPSc) of the normal ubiquitous cellular prion protein PrPc. Prion diseases affect both human and animals, and can cause interspecies Corbiere. In humans, there are six different phonotypes of prion diseases, including kuru disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann- Straussler-Scheinker (GSS) syndrome, Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI), variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and variably protease sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr). There are five well-studied prion diseases in herbivorous animals and carnivorous animals, including scrapie, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy (TME), and Feline Spongiform Encephalopathy (FSE). As the pathogen of the diseases, PrPSc accumulates in tissues and body fluids of the affected individuals, and serves as the most reliable marker for diagnosis of prion diseases. The bioassay, immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry (IHC), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests have been used in prion disease diagnosis and surveillance, but they are not sufficient for the preclinical diagnosis. The newly improved in vitro PrPSc amplification methods, such as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), amyloid seeding assay (ASA), and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QUIC), showed greatly increased sensitivity. Recently, RT-QUIC and PMCA were applied to noninvasive tests targeting PrPSc in urine or nasal swab, making early diagnosis and surveillance of prion diseases become more practical.


The Institutional Collective Action (ICA) framework has contributed to understanding collective action problems in fragmented governance and identified mechanisms for overcoming them. Participation in collaboration is risky––even if it has the potential to make all parties better off. This framework has uniquely shown how collaboration risk and other transaction costs can be overcome to create effective collaborations for addressing complex policy issues. However, after over a decade of use, the framework is due for critical evaluation and articulation of its state of the art and science to better inform future scholarship. For this purpose, this article defines key concepts and formulates assumptions, as well as reviews the empirical contributions and longstanding limitations of the ICA framework. A robust agenda for future research is also outlined. To move forward, we believe ICA research should focus on the foundational core of the ICA framework, maintain flexibility in explanatory models, and expand the scope beyond the collective action problems at the local level.


The National Learning Network (NLN) is part of a response to the expectation that the further education (FE) sector within England will grow steadily over the next three years to fulfil the Department for Employment and Education's requirement to widen participation in this area of education. The NLN is just one of the initiatives aimed at (though not exclusive to) new students from non-traditional, disadvantaged and previously excluded groups, and is expected to bring the student population in FE to over four million. The Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) has noted that traditional FE learning paradigms are not suitable for this level of participation and that increased levels of information and learning technology (ILT) will need to be implemented to cope with these increased student numbers. DOI: 10.1080/0968776000080304


This article presents a study of the retroactive application of tax information exchange agreements (TIEAs) in Brazil, Colombia, South Africa and Uruguay, with a view to articulating policy recommendations for similar emerging economies.  Contracting states should adopt clear rules in their TIEAs as regards their temporal application. In the absence of such rules, contracting states should abstain from applying a TIEA retroactively. The authors further recommend that legislatures adopt clear rules in domestic law governing whether a TIEA should apply to pending proceedings at the time of signature of the TIEA. Countries wishing to provide for retroactive effect in respect of information that is still open for review under statute of limitations rules may include provisions to reflect this both in domestic law and in the TIEA itself. It is recommended that countries carefully review and agree whether exchanges of information should be restricted for cases that already have been subject to a reassessment proceeding and, thus, are closed, even when the statute of limitations period has not lapsed. Legislatures in emerging countries should also take a position in domestic law on the issue of whether taxpayer rights may be limited as the result of a retroactive TIEA application.


The aim of the present study was to evaluate pain perception and evoked responses by laser stimuli (LEPs) in mild not demented Huntington's Disease (HD) patients. Twenty-eight HD patients and 30 control subjects were selected. LEPs were obtained by four scalp electrodes, (Fz, Cz, referred to the nasion; T3, T4, referred to Fz), stimulating the dorsum of both hands. All patients were also evaluated by somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) by median nerve stimulation. Only 3 patients referred pain of arthralgic type. Laser pain perception was similar between HD patients and controls. An abnormal N2, P2 and N1 latency increase was evident in the majority of HD patients. LEPs features were similar between patients taking and not taking neuroleptics. The N2 and P2 latencies, showed a negative correlation with functional score and Mini Mental State Examination, and a positive correlation with the severity of hyperkinetic movements. A delay in nociceptive input processing emerged in HD, concurring with the main features of the disease, in absence of clinical evidence of abnormalities in pain perception. The dysfunction of pain signals transmission in HD may induce sub-clinical changes of sensory functions, which may probably interfere with sensory-motor integration and contribute to functional impairment.


The empirical evidence on investor disagreement and trading volume is difficult to reconcile in standard rational expectations models. We develop a dynamic model in which investors disagree about the interpretations of public information. We obtain a closed-form linear equilibrium that allows us to study what restrictions on the disagreement process yield empirically observed volume and return dynamics. We show that when investors have infrequent but major disagreements, there is positive autocorrelation in volume and positive correlation between volume and price volatility. We also derive novel empirical predictions that relate the degree and frequency of disagreement to volume and volatility dynamics.


Proteolytic cleavage of translation initiation factors is a means to interfere with mRNA circularization and to induce translation arrest during picornaviral replication or apoptosis. It was shown that the regulated cleavages of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4G and poly(A)-binding protein (PABP) by viral proteinases correlated with early and late arrest of host cap-dependent and viral internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-dependent translation, respectively. Here we show that in contrast to coxsackievirus, eIF4G is not a substrate of proteinase 3C of hepatitis A virus (HAV 3Cpro). However, PABP is cleaved by HAV 3Cpro in vitro and in vivo, separating the N-terminal RNA-binding domain (NTD) of PABP from the C-terminal protein-interaction domain. In vitro, NTD has a dominant negative effect on HAV IRES-dependent translation and an enhanced binding affinity to the RNA structural element pY1 in the 5′ nontranslated region of the HAV RNA that is essential for viral genome replication. The results point to a regulatory role of PABP cleavage in RNA template switching of viral translation to RNA synthesis.


The gross primary productivity of two seagrasses, Zostera marina and Ruppia maritima, and one green macroalga, Ulva intestinalis, was assessed in laboratory and field experiments to determine whether the photorespiratory pathway operates at a substantial level in these macrophytes and to what extent it is enhanced by naturally occurring shifts in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and O2 in dense vegetation. To achieve these conditions in laboratory experiments, seawater was incubated with U. intestinalis in light to obtain a range of higher pH and O2 levels and lower DIC levels. Gross photosynthetic O2 evolution was then measured in this pretreated seawater (pH, 7.8–9.8; high to low DIC:O2 ratio) at both natural and low O2concentrations (adjusted by N2 bubbling). The presence of photorespiration was indicated by a lower gross O2 evolution rate under natural O2 conditions than when O2 was reduced. In all three macrophytes, gross photosynthetic rates were negatively affected by higher pH and lower DIC. However, while both seagrasses exhibited significant photorespiratory activity at increasing pH values, the macroalga U. intestinalis exhibited no such activity. Rates of seagrass photosynthesis were then assessed in seawater collected from the natural habitats (i.e., shallow bays characterized by high macrophyte cover and by low DIC and high pH during daytime) and compared with open baymouth water conditions (where seawater DIC is in equilibrium with air, normal DIC, and pH). The gross photosynthetic rates of both seagrasses were significantly higher when incubated in the baymouth water, indicating that these grasses can be significantly carbon limited in shallow bays. Photorespiration was also detected in both seagrasses under shallow bay water conditions. Our findings indicate that natural carbon limitations caused by high community photosynthesis can enhance photorespiration and cause a significant decline in seagrass primary production in shallow waters.


A vaccine consisting of the melanocyte differentiation antigen Melan A (also called MART -1) encapsulated in noninfectious virus-like particles (VLP) with potential immunostimulating and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration, Melan-A VLP vaccine may activate the immune system to exert a specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CT L) response against cancer cells expressing the Melan A antigen, resulting in tumor cell lysis. Melan A is an antigen that is upregulated in most melanomas. VLP stimulates the immune system and promotes the CT L response. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) exists in the cytosol and mitochondria of mammalian cells as a signaling molecule. Scientists have explored many important physiological functions of H2S, such as regulating vasodilator relaxation, protecting living cells and avoiding damage. The measurement of H2S is therefore necessary for exploring the biological function of cells and tissues. Herein, we report the design and synthesis of a new aggregation-induced emission luminogen (AIEgen) with greater conjugation and more positive charges, based on previous research on mitochondrial-targeted luminogens. The Indo-TPE-Indo can enter cells rapidly, as compared with an AIEgen with only one indolium (TPE-indo), and can selectively recognize HS- in mitochondria with the nucleophilic reaction of indolium and HS-. The linear range (1-100 μM) of HS- sensing can satisfy the requirement for HS- concentration in living cells and tumors.


We present the results of the investigation of a possible mechanism which can cause migration of objects from the Kuiper belt, mutual collisions of the objects or collisions with other populations of small solar system bodies. Analytical theories about the existence of periodical solutions in the outer variant of an averaged restricted three-body problem (the Sun–Jupiter–small body) established the existence of the periodic solutions corresponding to Keplerian osculating orbits in which the eccentricity, inclination, and semi-major axis have only periodical perturbations. The node exhibits the secular motion. Therefore, only additional forces can have influence on the motion of the Kuiper belt objects and change their orbital elements, the eccentricity, inclination and semi-major axis, such that they will have secular perturbations. In our study we used model orbits of the Classical objects of the Kuiper belt with different values of the semi-major axis and studied their orbital behaviour after the collision with bodies in orbits similar to the Kreutz cometary orbits. The change of the tangential component of their orbital velocity lies within the interval of ±3 km s−1. Depending on its direction, the objects will migrate to the inner or outer part of the solar system.


We study the extension of total variation (TV), total deformation (TD), and (second-order) total generalized variation ($\TGV^2$) to symmetric tensor fields. We show that for a suitable choice of finite-dimensional norm, these variational seminorms are rotation-invariant in a sense natural and well suited for application to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Combined with a positive definiteness constraint, we employ these novel seminorms as regularizers in Rudin--Osher--Fatemi (ROF) type denoising of medical in vivo brain images. For the numerical realization, we employ the Chambolle--Pock algorithm, for which we develop a novel duality-based stopping criterion which guarantees error bounds with respect to the functional values. Our findings indicate that TD and $\TGV^2$, both of which employ the symmetrized differential, provide improved results compared to other evaluated approaches.


Received: 2015-11-03 | Accepted: 2015-11-26 | Available online: 2016-03-24 dx.doi.org/10.15414/afz.2016.19.01.03-06 In this work, we have focused on the use of fats in the diet of sport horses. We watched the fat, and his effect as an energy source. But we watched also the influence of fat additions and their potential impact on the metabolic conversion of other received  nutrients. For the addition of fat, we used  evening primrose oil - EPO by which can be assumed to influence the metabolism in the body of sport horses. The 16 weeks experiment was performed on  clinically healthy racehorses. All the horses were enrolled in a regular training program. Addition of EPO was 150 g per day. The blood samples were collected every 4 weeks during the experiment. There were analysed a selected biochemical parameters. Values of glucose and cholesterol were after administration of EPO significantly higher. Keywords : evening primrose oil, sport horses, glucose, TAG, cholesterol References  ART, T. and LEKEUX, P. (2005) Exercise-induced physiological adjustments to stressful conditions in sport horses. Livestock Product. Sci. 92, pp. 101-111. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.livprodsci.2004.11.013 BERGERO, D. et al. (2004) Effect of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin E on serum oxidative status in horses performing very light exercise. Ital. J. of Anim. Sci ., vol. 3, pp. 121-145. DE LA CRUZ, J.P. et al. (1997) Effect of evening primrore oil on platelet aggregation in rabbits fed an atherogenic diet. Thrombosis Research , vol. 87, pp. 141-149. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0049-3848(97)00113-8 ESTERBAUER H. and ZOLLNER H. (1989) Methods for determination of aldehydic lipid peroxidation products. Free Radicals Biology and Medicine , vol. 7, pp.197-203. GOMES, E.C., SILVA, A.N. and DE OLIVEIRA M.R. (2012) Oxidants, antioxidants, and the beneficial roles of exercise – induced production of reactive species. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. vol. 2012, pp. 12. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/756132 KINNUNEN, S. et al. (2005) Effect of prolonged exercise on oxidative stress and antioxidant defence in endurance horse. J. of Sports Sci. and Medecine , vol. 4, pp. 415-421. MEYER, H. and COENEN, M. (2002 ) Pferdefutterung. Berlin: Parey Verlag . 250 p. NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES COMMITTEE ON NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS OF HORSE . (2007). Nutrient requirements of horse: Animal nutrition series. 6th rev. edition. Washington: National Research Council National Academies Press. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17226/11653 PAGAN, J.D. et al. (2002) Effect of adaptation on glucose kinetics and substrate oxidation during low-intensity exercise. Equine Veterinary J ., 34. pp. 33-38. SAS Institute Inc. (2003) The SAS System for Windows . Release 9.1.3. SEN, C.K. and PACKER, L. (2000) Thiol homeostasis and supplements in physical exercise. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , vol. 72, pp. 653-669. TREIBER, K.H. et al. (2013) Dietary energy source affects glucose kinetics in trained arabian geldings at rest and during endurance exercise. The J. of Nutrition, vol. 138, pp. 964-970. WETTASINGHE, M. and SHAHIDI, F. (2002) Iron (II) chelation activity of extracts of borage and evening primrose meals. Food Research International , vol. 35, no.1, pp. 65-71. ZEMAN, L. et al. (2005) Nutrient requirements and nutritive value of feeds for horses . Brno: Mendel University, pp. 116.


The murine fourth component of complement (C4) and sex-limited protein (Slp) are two closely related serum proteins whose structural genes map to the S region of H-2. Serum C4 levels vary as much as 20-fold between C4 high (C4H) and C4 low (C4L) strains, and Slp expression can be null (SlpO), limited to male mice of a subset of C4H strains (Slp+), or "constitutive" (SlpC), in which female as well as male mice express Slp. In this study, we compare, by genomic Southern blot analysis, the C4 and Slp genes from eight congenic inbred mouse strains representative of three distinct phenotypes: C4H, Slp+ (two strains), C4H, SlpO (two strains), C4H, SlpC (three strains), and C4L, SlpO (one strain). By using cDNA probes that recognize both C4 and Slp genes, and are derived from the extreme 5' and 3' ends of the mRNA as well as internal coding sequences, we find no evidence to suggest that strain-specific variations in the expression of C4 and Slp are due to gross deletions of major portions of the structural genes. In most cases, two distinct C4/Slp genes are detected; hybridization with C4- and Slp-specific probes indicate that one of these is C4 and the other is Slp. The three SlpC strains are exceptional: they carry at least four C4/Slp genes; one of these hybridizes to the C4-specific probe whereas the remaining genes hybridize to the Slp-specific probe. Hence, multiple duplication of a gene containing Slp sequences has occurred in certain strains of mice, and this is accompanied by constitutive expression of the Slp protein.


Minimally Invasive Surgery techniques are growing in quantity and complexity to cover a wider range of interventions. More specifically, the Hand Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery (HALS) involves the use of one surgeon's hand inside the patient whereas the other one manages a single laparoscopic tool. In this scenario, those surgical procedures performed with an additional tool require the aid of an assistant. Furthermore, in the case of a human-robot assistant a fluid communication is mandatory. This Human-Machine Interaction must combine both, explicit orders and implicit information from the surgical gestures. In this context, this paper focuses on the development of a hand gesture recognition system for HALS. The recognition is based on a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) algorithm with an improved automated training step, which can also learn during the online surgical procedure.


COPD is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways where many patients have recurrent lower airway bacterial infection, most commonly nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi). Corticosteroids are commonly used antiinflammatory drugs in COPD with limited clinical benefit. Previous studies focused on corticosteroid responsiveness in COPD did not consider the role of airway NTHi infection. Alveolar macrophages are the main inflammatory cells in COPD pathogenesis, a shift in their phenotype was highlighted in COPD patients. Some bacteria can modify alveolar macrophage phenotype to persist in the lower airways. I have optimised a clinically relevant in vitro model of NTHi infection; human alveolar macrophages were stimulated with an increasing load of live NTHi clinical isolate (R2846). NTHi provoked time-dependent release of TNF-α, IL-6, CXCL8 and IL-10 from alveolar macrophages, which was correlated with bacterial growth, lysis and phagocytosis in the model. Furthermore, NTHi load was inversely correlated with IL-10 release. These findings suggest that NTHi infection is a dynamic inflammatory process in human alveolar macrophages and pointed to the possible role of IL-10 in the NTHi persistence in the lower airways. NTHi-induced cytokines in alveolar macrophages showed reduced corticosteroid responsiveness, CXCL8 was particularly corticosteroid unresponsive cytokine. NTHi-induced glucocorticoid receptor (GR) phosphorylation at ser 226 residue, which would encourage GR nuclear exportation. This might be one possible mechanism of reduced corticosteroid response in the model. In line with the latter finding, NTHi impaired the corticosteroid-induced GR nuclear localisation, which was partially reversed by p38 MAPK inhibitor (BIRB-796). These results suggest the role of NTHi in corticosteroid unresponsiveness in COPD alveolar macrophages. NTHi-induced cytokine release in alveolar macrophages was mediated by NF-κB, p38 and ERK MAPK pathways. Combination of corticosteroid (dexamethasone) with p38 and ERK MAPK inhibitors (BIRB-796 and AZD6244 respectively) showed a potential synergistic anti-inflammatory effect in the model. Therefore, inhibitors of MAPK pathways might serve as future anti-inflammatory therapies in NTHi-infected COPD patients. NTHi in vitro infection caused upregulation of the pro-inflammatory (TNF-α, CXCL8, CD38) and the anti-inflammatory (IL-10) markers' mRNA levels in COPD alveolar macrophages. Meanwhile, NTHi downregulated the antigen-presentation molecule (HLA-DR) and the scavenger receptors (CD14, CD36, CD163 and CD206) mRNA levels in COPD alveolar macrophages. Moreover, sputum macrophages from NTHiinfected stable COPD patients showed lower mRNA levels of CD36 and HLA-DR. These findings suggest that the NTHi modification of alveolar macrophage functions, especially antigen presentation and efferocytosis, might be a possible mechanism of NTHi chronic infection and COPD disease progression.


The distribution of animal populations within an assemblage includes a wide variety of patterns, which are fundamental to understanding population dynamics and aid in conservation actions. We examined a snake assemblage in an urban area to describe species distribution patterns and to identify which places are more likely to contain snakes, both venomous and non-venomous. The study was conducted in the urban area of the municipality of Rio Tinto in north-east Brazil. We used a geostatistical modelling technique called ordinary kriging to identify which places were more likely to contain snakes, and a statistical spatial method (average nearest neighbour distance) to detect distribution patterns of snake species within the study area. A total of 291 individuals distributed among 28 species were recorded. The snakes were found in streets, homes, churches, university campus, streams, and even in local supermarkets. Ordinary kriging showed that the area of distribution of individuals was concentrated at three distinct points located in the centre of the urban area. The significant results of the average nearest neighbour distance analysis showed a clustered distribution for two species and dispersed distributions for eight species. Information on urban sites where snakes are more likely to be found is important not only for conservation, but also to help local citizens better understand and live amongst snakes


Background Providing care for patients with advanced cancer is often the responsibility of the partner. Being confronted with an incurable cancer diagnosis can be highly disruptive for the patient's partner and can be considered a potentially traumatic event. However, most caregivers seem to adapt well during the process of providing care. This finding is in line with the concept of resilience in literature: a dynamic process of adapting well, resulting from the interplay between intrinsic and extrinsic resources and risks. Resilience is age-related, with the elderly population being higher in resilience as compared to the younger generation. However, resilience has been understudied in middle-aged caregivers. Aim To explore what intrinsic and extrinsic resources facilitate or hamper resilience in the middle-aged partner of a patient with incurable cancer. Methods Nine middle-aged partners of patients who died at home of cancer were selected and interviewed in depth within the first year following the death of their partner. A thematic analysis utilizing an inductive approach was conducted. Findings Resilience was challenged by the partner's diagnosis of incurable cancer. All participants made use of a set of interacting, caregiver-specific and context-related resources, facilitating a resilient process and leading to positive feelings and even personal growth. The partners demonstrated individual competences: adaptive flexibility, positivism, a sense of self-initiative and adaptive dependency. Furthermore, they relied on their context: cancer-related professionals and relatives. Context and situation interact continuously. The resulting dynamics were based on the context-availability, meaningful relationships and the patient's role. Conclusion A resilient trajectory results from an interplay between individual and contextual resources. To build resilience in middle-aged partners of patients with incurable cancer, health care professionals should address all available resources. Moreover, they should be aware of being part of the caregiver's context, a complex adaptive system that can be either resilience-supporting or -threatening.


The aim of the EU-funded EGEE (Enabling Grids for E-sciencE) project is to build on recent advances in grid technology and develop a grid service for scientific applications. This paper provides an overview of the EGEE project goals and structure and explains the work being performed in the areas of grid operations, middleware re-engineering and application deployment and support. We also give an overview of the collaborations EGEE is engaged in with other grid-related organisations and projects.


We extend earlier constructions of the effective action for neutrino-photon scattering, using the connection between low-energy neutrino-photon and photon-photon scattering together with the known effective Lagrangian describing low-energy photon scattering in QED. We use this effective action to calculate analytic expressions for the low-energy cross section for the (unpolarised) processes $\nu \nubar \to 5 \gamma$, $\nu \gamma \to \nu + 4 \gamma$ and $\gamma \gamma \to \nu \nubar + 3 \gamma$. As a byproduct we derive compact expressions for the $N$-body phase-space integrals for massless particles, including those having non-trivial tensor-structure.


INTRODUCTION
Oxygen for refractory dyspnea at the end of life is commonly prescribed, even when the criteria for long-term home oxygen therapy are not met. Is palliative oxygen less likely to be prescribed when a person lives alone at the end of life?

METHODS
Three years of consecutively collected clinical data from a regional community palliative care program in Western Australia were used in univariate analyses utilizing chi(2) and analysis of variance, as appropriate. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify characteristics of people for who oxygen has been prescribed.

RESULTS
Of the study population (n = 5203), 9.8% (n = 507) did not have a caregiver. Oxygen was less likely to be prescribed for patients living alone (11.8% versus caregiver 20.6%; p < 0.001), those with cancer (18.8% versus noncancer 26.5%; p < 0.001), and older people (oxygen 68.1 years versus no oxygen 69.6 years; p = 0.005), and more likely to be prescribed for those with worse dyspnea (mean score 7/10, oxygen 7.6 versus no oxygen 4.2; p < 0.001). With severe dyspnea (= 7/10), people who lived alone had twice as many clinician visits before oxygen was prescribed (4.2 versus caregiver 1.7; p = 0.03). In multifactor analyses lung disease, dyspnea severity, and female gender predicted oxygen prescription, while not having a caregiver reduced the likelihood significantly (odds ration [OR] 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35-0.74; p < 0.001).

DISCUSSION
Presence of a caregiver in the home is associated with palliative oxygen prescription having controlled for time in hospital. This study raises questions about the reasons for oxygen prescription, and the role caregivers may play in initiating requests for therapy.


In this thesis, we try to treat the problem of oriented paths in n-chromatic digraphs. We first treat the case of antidirected paths in 5-chromatic digraphs, where we explain El-Sahili's theorem and provide an elementary and shorter proof of it. We then treat the case of paths with two blocks in n-chromatic digraphs with n greater than 4, where we explain the two different approaches of Addario-Berry et al. and of El-Sahili. We indicate a mistake in Addario-Berry et al.'s proof and provide a correction for it.


This article focuses on social agents' own understandings of socio-economic mobility and social achievement, exploring the possibilities offered by the tool of family life history in the context of formerly Untouchable communities in western India, Maharashtra. While arguing in favour of family life histories as both resource and method in the Indian context, I reconsider the positivist functionalist stance dominant in studies of social mobility until the last decade. This stance raises issues of strategy and contingency, which are discussed in the particular setting of the mechanics industry in Kolhapur. Furthermore, exploring the relationship between determinism and contingency in life-paths raises important questions about how people construct their life stories in retrospect. Focusing on the case study of one family known over many years allows me to unravel the complex and subjective positionings at play in narrative research as it is mutually constituted by the story teller(s) and the anthropologist.


In this paper, a generalized multivalent fuzzy measure of extensional L-measure, called high order extensional L-measure, is proposed. It is proved that if the value of order index is equal to one, this new measure is just the extensional L-measure, and the larger the value of order index is, the more sensitive it is. A real data set with 5- fold cross-validation MSE is conducted, for comparing the performances of the Choquet integral regression model based on this new measure with other four measures, P-measure and λ-measure, and authors' two measures, L-measure and extensional L-measure, and two traditional regression model, multiple regression model and ridge regression model, the result show that the Choquet integral regression model based on this new measure has the best performance.


Taking the full network observability of power system and the least number of PMU as objective, to appearing fault situation in the grid, this paper proposes Differential Evolution and Particle Swarm Optimization (DEPSO) algorithm in view of the system failure rate. The improved DEPSO algorithm is global optimization, the algorithm takes the constraint condition of fault rate into account during the course of seeking optimal solutions. At the end, through the examples show that the algorithm compares with the existing optimization methods, which can reduce the number of PMU configuration and achieve completely observability of the system, at the same time, and stable operation of the system, through the simulation results verify feasibility and valibity of the algorithm.


Gender budgeting exercises attempt to assess how far prevailing gender-based biases are incorporated into budgetary exercises. Such analyses also provide women with vital information regarding the contents and focus of existing government policies. The aim is to promote greater transparency and enhance democracy. After the late 1990s, when gender budgeting exercises were first set in motion, such exercises have quickly come into vogue and many scholars have undertaken them. This period has also been marked by shifts in economic policies, especially in developing countries. Reforms in the name of development that have had a pernicious effect on women have been implemented. Recent studies in India have looked at the many well-intentioned public schemes that have failed to achieve significant results. The set of papers included in this review illustrates the progress made so far. While there is still need for crucial interaction between analysis and the structures of gender that currently exist in society as well as with the elements necessary for transforming gender relations, these efforts, as presented here, are a step towards opening a meaningful dialogue with policy-makers to make them appreciate exactly what it is that women want and in what form.


Pattern-matching algorithms, which are essential to intrusion detection and virus scanning applications, typically only make limited use of the Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) capabilities available in new generations of general-purpose processors. This paper presents the initial results of a study to increase the SIMD exploitation by pattern-matching schemes consisting of a novel vectorized state-machine implementation that is able to utilize the vector-processing units in the Cell Broadband Engine almost fully for all its processing steps by storing most of the data structure in the large internal register sets. The implementation provides an extremely deterministic aggregate processing rate of 6.7 Gb/s for a single vector unit, which can be scaled up to 50 Gb/s for one Cell Broadband Engine and up to 100 Gb/s for a blade for small pattern sets. It also supports configurations in which the scan rate can be partially traded off for increasing the number of patterns supported.


The blackberry cultivation has a great potential in the production chain of small fruits in Brazil, being a rich source of nutritious compounds and natural antioxidants. This study aimed to quantify some bioactive (phenolic compounds, anthocyanins, vitamin C, etc.), determine the antioxidant potential and evaluate the stability of this potential for the development of two formulations of blackberry chutney, with a 60% pulp and another with 80%. The study also presents the development of sensory analysis to evaluate acceptance and purchase intent by the tasters. A partial degradation of the evaluated compounds occurred during the drafting process of chutneys; however, this degradation was less intense in 80% chutney, which was the expected result. The sensory analysis showed good acceptability for the 80% chutney, however, the 60% chutney did not reach the average required for acceptance of 70%. Being an innovative product that does not have extensive marketing, it can be said that the blackberry chutney is a viable alternative for consumers, who are increasingly seeking healthier products, and for the food industry that is always looking for news to offer to the public.


Fiber reinforced composites have been an important way to utilize agriculture plant fibers. Flax fiber is plant fiber and strong, biodegradable, anti-fungi and bacterial. Flax fiber reinforced PP fiberboard is thermoplastic with the advantages of low density, low cost, low energy consumption, and recyclable. The influences of flax / PP fiber blending ratio, molding temperature, molding time on the mechanical properties of flax / PP board were carefully investigated. After mathematical manipulations and experimental validation, it was found that the thermoplastic composite board had maximum tensile and bending strengths when the flax fibers were at 50% of the total weight, the molding temperature was 181 , and the molding time was 48 minutes.


A friend, correspondent and intellectual successor to David Ricardo, John Ramsay McCulloch (1789–1864) forged his reputation in the emerging field of political economy by publishing deeply researched articles in Scottish periodicals and the Encyclopaedia Britannica. From 1828 he spent nearly a decade as professor of political economy at the newly founded University of London, thereafter becoming comptroller of the Stationery Office. Perhaps the first professional economist, McCulloch had become internationally renowned by the middle of the century, recognised for sharing his ideas through lucid lecturing and writing. The present reference work, first published in 1832 and later revised, expanded and updated multiple times, made McCulloch considerable sums of money. His critical and analytical treatment of the data he had largely compiled himself made this much more than a mere book of facts. Several other works written or edited by McCulloch are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.


The transport, retention, and excretion of transuranic elements from the body have been widely studied for many years. A summary of the results is given with an emphasis on the distribution of these elements in bone. Implications of these studies for understanding the relationships between lead in blood and lead in bone are presented. The expected distribution of lead at various bone sites is also considered.


Objectives: To review the function of an otolaryngology (ENT) specialist outreach service in the various towns of Ekiti by the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido-Ekiti (FETHI) ENT team over a 5 year period(2013 to 2018).The purpose is to highlight the various ENT Problems and the difficulties being faced by the populace which discouraged them from attending the ENT tertiary facilities. Methods: The ENT and Community Medicine departments' staff maintained a record of all outreach towns and patients profiles seen during each outreach. Data recorded for each visit included the number of patients, biometrics, occupations, ENT Problems with the patients, the procedure/operations done at the outreach site and at FETHI. All these data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23 in an attempt to qualitatively measure the impact of the visits. Results: From 2013 to 2018 a total of 8188 were seen in our outreach out of which 2394 had ENT related problems. From Table 1, it can be seen that most of the patients with ENT problems (N = 672, %age = 28.1) lies in the age group between 41 years to 50 years. There are22.6% patients in age group of 31— 40 years, 15.7% in age group of 21 – 30 years, 11.2% in age group of 51 – 61 years, 10.7% in age group of 11 – 20 years, and 6.9% in age group of 01 – 10 years. There are only 4.8% ENT patients (N = 115) having age of 61 or more years. It can be seen that most of the patients with ENT problem lies from age group of 11 -60 years. The patients having age less than 11 years or more than 60 years relatively have less ENT problem as compared to other age group. Conclusion: In developed countries, outreach by ENT surgeons is important in as much as addressing critical lack of access ENT care in developing countries. However, it should be done on shared values, mutual respect, aspirations, and desire to build a durable and sustainable impact, and best practice which is accepted inte rnationally.


We present an accurate parametrization of density functional theory augmented with an empirical correction term to describe properly pi-stacking interactions in nucleic acids. The approach is based on the popular Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE), Becke-Perdew (BP), and hybrid Becke-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) density functionals augmented by a classical London C(6)R(-6) dispersion term. The novelty of our implementation lies in the accurate tuning of the empirical parameters, included in the [formula: see text] damping function, to reproduce high-level post Hartree-Fock calculations. In particular, we present sets of parameters and the needed code to correct the PBE, BP, and B3LYP results from the Turbomole and ADF packages in connection with basis sets of double and triple zeta quality. The developed approach is validated by comparison with the JSCH-2005 benchmark and with best quality stacking energies reported in the literature for the stacking of H-bonded nucleic acids base pairs.


The aim of this study is to identify and critically to analyse the ordinary christologies of a group of thirty regular Anglican churchgoers. Ordinary christology, by the definition employed here, is the account, by believers who have received no formal theological education, of who Jesus was/is (christology) and what he did/does (soteriology). Data was gathered by means of in-depth interviews. Three main christologies are identified: these are designated as fuctional, ontological and sceptical christology. Functional christology considers Jesus to be the Son of God, not God and is effectively Arian; ontological christology holds the orthodox doctrine that Jesus is God; and sceptical christology doubts or denies altogether the divinity of Jesus. Three main soteriologies are also identified: these are named as exemplarist, traditionalist and evangelical soteriology. Exemplarist soteriology emphasises the life and death of Jesus as exemplary; traditionalist soteriology cannot articulate a theology of the cross at all; and evangelical soteriology hinges on substitutionary atonement and a personal relationship with Jesus. Functional christology and exemplarist soteriology dominate the sample. Difficulties with the 'traditional' theology of the cross, and the idea that God's forgiveness is dependent on Jesus' atoning death, are widespread amongst the sample, indicating that new ways of telling the story of how Jesus saves are urgently required if Christianity is to capture again the imagination of our contemporary world. Various formal characteristics of ordinary christology are also brought to light. The ordinary Christology of this sample is story-shaped, avoids metaphysical speculation, highlights the affective dimension of christology, resists learning cliristological dogma and is primarily non-cognitive. It also shows that christology is at heart an on-going hermeneutical process rather than a doctrinal system, and it suggests that what matters most in christology is not right doctrine, but letting the story of Jesus have its way with us.


A video region-of-interest (ROI) scalable coding scheme can ensure the priority of ROI. Error protection schemes can be used to guarantee the correct receipt of the ROI stream when transporting ROI scalable video over an error-prone network. However, we find that the correct receipt of ROI bitstreams cannot ensure the correct decoding of ROI due to the unique issue of the cross error propagation between ROI and background in ROI scalable coding. In this letter, we propose an ROI scalable coding framework based on leaky prediction (LP) for robustly transporting video over an error-prone network. Although several LP approaches have been proposed to improve layered coding, they cannot be applied to ROI scalable coding straightforwardly due to the cross error propagation issue. We deploy a leaky factor to weigh the two predictions: one from the constrained motion estimation (ME) within the ROI layer of the reference frame, and the other from the unrestricted ME in the overall reference frame. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme enhances the robustness of ROI scalability while maintaining coding efficiency.


The European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry (EAPD) strongly endorses that fluoride use should be part of any preventive programme for the control of dental caries in children. Each child under the care of a dentist should have a carefully planned programme appropriate to the level of caries risk and age of each child. Such a preventive programme should be reevaluated at least every six or 12 months and changed according to the patient's risk and the improvement or not of his or her's overall health. It is the combination of the use of an appropriate fluoride toothpaste with good oral hygiene that is the key to good dental health. This policy document deals with guidelines for systemic use of fluorides, fluoride supplements, topical methods (varnishes, mouthrinses and gels) and toothpastes. Moreover some recommendations are given to toothpaste manufacturers.


Lymphatic vessels play vital roles in immune surveillance and immune regulation by conveying antigen loaded dendritic cells, memory T cells, macrophages and neutrophils from the peripheral tissues to draining lymph nodes where they initiate as well as modify immune responses. Until relatively recently however, there was little understanding of how entry and migration through lymphatic vessels is organized or the specific molecular mechanisms that might be involved. Within the last decade, the situation has been transformed by an explosion of knowledge generated largely through the application of microscopic imaging, transgenic animals, specific markers and function blocking mAbs that is beginning to provide a rational conceptual framework. This article provides a critical review of the recent literature, highlighting seminal discoveries that have revealed the fascinating ultrastructure of leucocyte entry sites in lymphatic vessels, as well as generating controversies over the involvement of integrin adhesion, chemotactic and haptotactic mechanisms in DC entry under normal and inflamed conditions. It also discusses the major changes in lymphatic architecture that occur during inflammation and the different modes of leucocyte entry and trafficking within inflamed lymphatic vessels, as well as presenting a timely update on the likely role of hyaluronan and the major lymphatic endothelial hyaluronan receptor LYVE-1 in leucocyte transit.


Anyone who has served as a technical program committee (TPC) chair for a conference (or program manager for a funding agency) understands that paper (or proposal panel) review assignment is a demanding job that takes a lot of time, and reviewers are rarely satisfied with the end results. This article presents signal processing tools for two critical ?mass assignment? tasks: assigning papers (or proposals) to reviewers in a way that matches reviewing expertise to scientific content while respecting the reviewers? capacity constraints and splitting accepted papers (or submitted proposals) to sessions (panels) while adhering to session (panel) capacity constraints. The basic idea is to use feature vectors to represent papers and reviewers. Features can be key words or phrases (e.g., optimization or sensor networks) or other types of attributes (e.g., timeliness). This viewpoint enables optimal assignment problem formulations that make sense from a scientific and practical point of view. While optimal solutions are hard to compute for a large number of papers and reviewers, high-quality approximate solutions of moderate complexity are developed here using familiar signal processing and optimization tools. These algorithmic solutions easily outperform days of expert manual work as demonstrated in experiments with real conference data.


SUMMARY: We attempted to transform proflavine-sensitive strains of Escherichia coli to proflavine resistance by growth in the presence of deoxyribonucleic acid-containing extracts from resistant organisms. Three methods were used to obtain the DNA preparations. Method 1 (Boivin, 1947) did not give active transforming principle, even when a variety of modifications was introduced. Method 2 (McCarty & Avery, 1946) and Method 3 (Mayers & Spizizen, 1954) gave extracts which were active in transformation. With DNA prepared by Method 2, an increase in the number of resistant organisms was found in one of four rough sensitive strains. We concluded that only a small proportion of the organisms of this strain were competent. We were able to increase the proportion of these competent organisms by a method of 'double replica plating'. According to Method 3, organisms were lysed by sodium dodecylsulphate (Duponol) in presence of citrate, and protein removed by sodium acetate. From the supernatant fluid transforming principle was precipitated by acidified ethanol, and then dissolved in saline. The smooth strain of Escherichia coli used in most of our experiments served as the recipient strain. The transforming principle from resistant organisms was not active alone, but was active in the presence of the protein precipitate. The activity appeared to be lost when the transforming principle was treated with DNAase. No activity was shown by extracts from sensitive organisms. The activation of transforming principle by the protein precipitate is thought to be due to the Duponol carried with it. Duponol appears to inhibit DNAase, so that it might act by preserving transforming DNA from destruction by the enzyme present in the recipient organisms. Our experiments did not always give positive results. Whilst we believe that we have demonstrated transformation in this system, the low reproducibility of our results makes it necessary to repeat and extend.


With advanced analog cable settop boxes, early digital satellite boxes and recently with digital set-top boxes, television viewers are getting used to more than just audio-visual (NV) content. Enhanced broadcast includes graphical and data enhancements to the specific NV program, such as additional text, graphics, user choices, teleshopping, etc. Standalone applications such as electronic program guides are becoming a norm. All current deployment of such systems is based on proprietary solutions. The Internet and the Web in particular was enabled by platform independent content formats such as HTML and Java. The same must happen in order to deliver enhanced content and downloadable applications to digital TV receivers of all kinds including terrestrial receivers, cable set-tops, satellite receivers and computers. A platform independent content format is not enough to provide a rich, well-integrated audio/video/data content to all possible receivers. These devices must have a common set of application programming interfaces (API) in order to make downloadable content and applications truly interoperable. The goal of these AP/s is to provide access to the receiver functions such as tuning and channel changing, receiver resources such as a return channel and the TV screen, as well as system information necessary for channel navigation and program guides. User-specific data such as user preferences and personal data may also be made available to applications via these AP/s. This paper addresses the current workin-progress in the ATSC T3/S17 specialist group also known as the DTV Application Software Environment (DASE), specifically the definition of Java AP/s. Classification of downloadable applications is presented together with a set of requirements that must be met in order to enable such interoperable applications. Also a detailed description of all DTV receiver system services that are being abstracted by the Java AP/s is presented. The focus of this paper is on Java-based downloadable applications that are enabled by the presence of a Java interpreter in the form of a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and a set of Java AP/s providing access to the DTV receiver functionality.


Tackling climate change has often been considered the responsibility of national governments. But do individuals also have a duty to act in the face of this problem? In particular, do they have a duty to adopt a greener lifestyle or to press their government to act? This review critically examines the arguments provided for and against such duties in the relevant philosophic literature. It first discusses the problem of causal inefficacy—namely the fact that individual greenhouse gas emissions appear to make no difference to the harmful consequences of climate change—and whether it clears individuals from any moral obligations related to climate change. Then, it considers various other arguments for the existence of such duties, including integrity, fairness, universalizability, or virtue. Finally, it assesses the existence of a duty to promote collective action through active citizenship. The conclusion emphasizes that most writers agree on the fact that individuals have at least some duties to take action against climate change, but that disagreement remains about the exact nature and, above all, the extent of these duties. WIREs Clim Change 2016, 7:798–814. doi: 10.1002/wcc.422


A drama manager is an omniscient background agent responsible for guiding players through the story space and delivering an enjoyable and coherent experience. Most previous drama managers only consider the designer's intent. We present a drama manager that uses data-driven techniques to model players and provides personalized guidance in the story space without removing player agency. In order to guide players' experiences, our drama manager manipulates the story space to maximize the probability of the players making choices intended by the drama manager. Our system is evaluated on an interactive storytelling game. Results show that our drama manager can significantly increase the likelihood of the drama manager's desired story continuation.


Low-intensity laser irradiation is a modality widely practiced in otorhinolaryngology. Basing on extensive personal experience and literature data the authors provide ENT specialists with relevant techniques and parameters of the radiation for different otorhinolaryngological diseases.


Social isolation confounds cattle fear tests. Fear tests often require individuals to be isolated from the herd, possibly eliciting other emotions (i.e. panic and grief) outside of fear. To test this, steer (n = 32) behavior during an individual startle test (IST) and a group startle test (GST) were video recorded. During IST, one steer was placed in a solid sided pen and, after 60 seconds, two umbrellas opened simultaneously. Behavior was video recorded for an additional four minutes. For GST, the same procedures were followed, except 4 familiar steers were in the pen simultaneously. Within each test, steers were evaluated in a random order. IST retesting (IST_2) occurred five weeks after the first IST (IST_1). The GST took place one week after IST_2 testing completed. Video recordings of IST_1, IST_2, and GST were decoded for frequency and duration of behavior (steps, standing bouts, time spent standing, eliminations). Relationships among behavior, test, and minute of test were analyzed using Generalized Linear Mixed Model (PROC MIXED). Minute and test affected number of steps (P < 0.0001) and time spent standing (P < 0.0001). During GST, steers performed fewer steps than in the IST_1 (P < 0.0001) and IST_2 (P = 0.0003). There were no differences in step count between IST_1 and IST_2. Steers spent more time standing during GST than IST_1 (P < 0.0001) and IST_2 (P = 0.004). No differences in time-spent standing were seen between IST_1 and IST_2. Number of standing bouts were impacted by test (P = 0.0008). Steers stood more during GST than in IST_1 (P = 0.0007) and IST_2 (PP = 0.03) with no differences observed between IST_1 and IST_2. The IST is repeatable, yet the strength of the behavioral response is reduced during GST. This is the first quantifiable representation of the impact of social isolation on the fear response in beef cattle.


The Mg-9Al-3Zn-0.6Mn-xNd alloys, preformed with φ300mm size, has been prepared by spray forming technology under a protective atmosphere. The microstructure and mechanical properties have been investigated by XRD, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and strengths tested mechine. As a result, the precipitate phases in the alloys were the finest when the Nd content was 1% compared the alloys with the Nd content were 2% and 3%, the size of precipitation phases are between 1-2um and there are phases like Mg2Ca,Al2Ca,and MgZn2 in the alloys. After extrusion, recrystallization microstructures were found in the alloys. The tensile strengths are between 400-450MPa and the yield strengths are between 350-370MPa respectively as the differences content of Nd in the alloys after heat treatment.


Geographical Indications are mechanisms of intellectual property, qualitative differentiation and territorial development that are receiving increasing attention in Brazil. This paper analyzes the process of governance and institutionalization of this mechanism. From qualitative research conducted through documental review, participant observation of decision spaces, and interviews with policy makers and stakeholders, the paper identifies the multiple actors in the governance of GIs, defines their positions in different forums and typifies the referentials that guide their speeches and practices. From this, and taking into account the characteristics of the Brazilian institutional context, it discusses the different participatory governance alternatives that have been proposed as spaces of mediation and building of compromises between public and private organizations.


Analysis of current GaAs and related device market initiated in a number of earlier works has been continued. Binary semiconductor GaAs compound is a conventional MW electronics material. Until recently GaAs based HF ICs for mobile phones were among the most rapidly growing segments of GaAs market. However the GaAs market development trend is changing. Photonics and Terahertz engineering are becoming the new world GaAs market drivers. This means that the current emphasize of GaAs single crystal technologies will shift toward vertical directional crystallization of "optoelectronic quality" crystals. In the medium and longer terms the world GaAs wafer and epitaxial structure markets will continue growing. In the shorter term we all will have to take into account COVID epidemic consequences. Still the GaAs market is closely related to Smartphone market novelties. Quite probably after a long growth period the GaAs market will keep on shrinking for the second consecutive year: GaAs production may decline by 11–12% in 2020. Assuming that the epidemic will be somehow taken under control in 2021 the overall Smartphone production can probably be expected to grow starting from 2021. Currently the Russian market of semiconductor compounds for photonics and electronic components (GaAs etc.) is but moderate and in predictable terms is not expected to achieve a level that is required for the emergence of a competitive domestic manufacturer, even though all importation replacement programs are accomplished. Meanwhile there is understanding that developing an advanced electronic components industry in Russia requires larger production of source materials.


In this work, the normalized interference pattern produced by a coherence interferometer system was represented as a complex function. The Laplace transform was applied for the transformation. Poles and zeros were determined from this complex function, and then, its pole-zero map and its Bode diagram were proposed. Both graphical representations were implemented numerically. From our numerical results, pole location and zero location depend on the optical path difference (OPD), while the Bode diagram gives us information about the OPD parameter. Based on the results obtained from the graphical representations, the coherence interferometer systems, the low-coherence interferometer systems, the interferometric sensing systems, and the fiber optic sensors can be analyze on the complex s-plane.


Software-defined networks (SDNs) only logically centralize the control plane. In reality, SDN controllers are distributed entities, which may exhibit different behavior on event triggers. We identify several classes of faults that afflict an SDN controller cluster and demonstrate them on two enterprise SDN controllers, ONOS and OpenDaylight. We present JURY, a system to validate controller activities in a clustered SDN deployment, involving topological and forwarding state, without imposing any restrictions on the controller behavior. Our evaluation shows that JURY requires minimal changes to the SDN controllers for deployment, and is capable of validating controller actions in near real time with low performance overheads.


It is hard to connect a single power semiconductor switch directly to medium voltage grids (2.3, 3.3, 4.16, or 6.9 kV). For these reasons, a new family of multilevel inverters has emerged as the solution for working with higher voltage levels. Multilevel inverters have received more attention in industrial application, such as motor drives, static VAR compensators and renewable energy systems, etc. Primarily multilevel inverters are known to have output voltages with more than two levels. As a result, the inverter output voltages have reduced harmonic distortions and high quality of waveforms. Additionally, the devices are confined to fraction of dc-link voltage. These characteristics make multilevel inverter to adopt for high-power and high-voltage applications. A good number of multilevel inverter topologies have been proposed during the last two decades. Contemporary research has engaged novel converter topologies and unique modulation schemes. Moreover, four major multilevel inverter structures have been reported in the literature these are as follows: cascaded H-bridges inverter (CHB) with separate dc sources, diode clamped (neutral-clamped), and flying capacitors (capacitor clamped), P2 Multilevel inverters. Although different multilevel inverter exists, Cascade Multilevel Inverter (CMI) is one of the productive topology from multilevel family. In reality, on comparing with other multilevel based topologies, CMI feature a high modularity degree because each inverter can be seen as a module with similar circuit topology, control structure, and modulation. Therefore, in the case of a fault in one of these modules, it is possible to replace it quickly and easily. Moreover, with an appropriated control strategy, it is possible to bypass the faulty module without stopping the load, bringing an almost continuous overall availability. All this features make CMI an outstanding power converter. However, one of the greatest limitations of CMI is utilization of separate DC source for each H-Bridge cell. This not only increases cost but also affects the reliability of the system. This is the key motivation for this dissertation. In the present work, we have investigated different CMI based topologies with separate and single DC sources and finally proposed a new CMI based configuration with single dc source by using three-phase transformers. The proposed CMI based inverter presented in this thesis is well defined with logical and mathematical approach. Additionally
to illustrate the merits, it is compared with traditional multilevel inverters. The feasibility of proposed inverter is demonstrated with different illustrations and confirmed by experimental results. The proposed CMI is well suited for grid / photovoltaic and FACTS systems. To elevate the application of proposed CMI a shunt active power filter (APF) design is demonstrated. In this case, the goal is to inject, in parallel with the load, compensation current to get a sinusoidal source current. The proposed APF is verified through Matlabsimulation. Finally, Opal-RT verifications are performed to verify the final design.


The Geologic Analysis System is a multipurpose data-management and applications software package designed to graphically integrate massive amounts of data to help solve oil and gas exploration and research problems. The Geologic Analysis System includes: (1) TECH/SYS, a technical file-management system that can accommodate multiple files, (2) PICS, a user-friendly geologic mapping and contouring system, and (3) applications programs, which retrieve, manipulate, list, and display a wide variety of rock sample analytical data. Benefits to the stratigrapher include: (1) publication- or report-ready graphic displays, (2) database edit routines, and (3) both graphically and statistically displayed outcrop sections and cores that objectives define the stratigraphic character of a rock sequence. The utility of the Geologic Analysis System is demonstrated by a case study involving the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Blackleaf Formation in southwestern Montana. A TECH/SYS database was created for a composite stratigraphic section of the Blackleaf Formation near Lima. Analysis of the database reveals 4 Blackleaf lithofacies units: (1) lower transitional clastic unit, (2) lower shale unit, (3) upper clastic unit, and (4) upper volcaniclastic unit. To define lithofacies variation objectively, stratigraphically variant data items are graphically displayed and analyzed. These data items include textural elements, porosity, mineralogy, lithology, paleontology, paleocurrentmore » direction, and diagenetic features. Where applicable, bivariate plots, ternary diagrams, and multivariate statistical routines, such as discriminant function analysis and cluster analysis, are used to define the lithofacies variation.« less


Membrane lipid peroxidation and DNA damage are the main and most studied consequences of free radicals. The mechanisms underlying these deleterious processes are mostly known and there are increasing evidence that they might be modulated by a correct quality of food intake and post-translational modification reactions (namely poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation), respectively.
Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, catalysed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, affects many cellular events and has a recognized epigenetic role. Nuclear poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases 1 and 2 are hyperactivated by DNA strand breaks. They auto-modify with large polymers of ADP-ribose and recruit DNA repair proteins. The more the DNA strand breaks, the more poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase modifies itself.
On the other hand, dietary lipids can be signaling molecules, lead to pro-(ω6)/anti-(ω3) inflammatory compounds, and be included in biomembranes, good biomarkers of their unbalance.
Here, we report the results obtained from a study to establish whether the combination of two different analyses, i.e. detecting auto-modified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase levels and analyzing erythrocyte membrane fatty acid composition, might help to monitor the physio-pathological state of the cell, and to correlate with lifestyle, diet or diseases. The two analyses were carried blindly on 95 subjects undergoing endoscopy. They were first interviewed, to collect anamnesis and clinical data, if present. Lymphocytes and erythrocytes were prepared from venous blood to assay poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase automodification and membrane fatty acid content, respectively. The results were statistically evaluated. The measure of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase automodification confirmed that its levels correlate with DNA damage extent, within the same pathology, and allowed to monitor the clinical activity of the disease, depending on ongoing surgical/therapeutic treatment. Membrane fat profile was able to evidence unbalance of lipids linked to both diet/lifestyle and inflammatory states leading to diseases. In most analysed cases, each test demonstrated to evidence, separately, specific features of the physio-pathological state of the subject, i.e. membrane lipid unbalance, altered function(s) of specific pathways of DNA and/or lipid metabolism. In other cases, a correlation between both analyses and specific pathologies emerged. This finding suggested that in the laboratory routine, combining the two tests might be a preliminary step to investigate the occurrence of a given disease, before confirming the diagnosis with other specific clinical analyses.
Both PARP automodification and membrane lipidomic profile provide possible biomarkers for sensible, non-invasive and routine monitoring.


The importance of dissolved Fe (dFe) in regulating ocean primary production and the carbon cycle is well established. However, the large-scale distribution and temporal dynamics of dFe remain poorly constrained in part due to incomplete observational coverage. In this study, we use a compilation of published dFe observations (n=32,344) with paired environmental predictors from contemporaneous satellite observations and reanalysis products to build a data-driven surface-to-seafloor dFe climatology with 1°×1° resolution using three machine-learning approaches (random forest, supper vector machine and artificial neural network). Among the three approaches, random forest achieves the highest accuracy with overall R2 and root mean standard error of 0.8 and 0.3 nmol L-1, respectively. Using this data-driven climatology, we explore the possible mechanisms governing the dFe distribution at various depth horizons using statistical metrics such as Pearson correlation coefficients and the rank of predictors importance in the model construction. Our results are consistent with the critical role of aeolian iron supply in enriching surface dFe in the low latitude regions and suggest a far-reaching impact of this source at depth. Away from the surface layer, the strong correlation between dFe and apparent oxygen utilization implies that a combination of regeneration, scavenging and large-scale ocean circulation are controlling the interior distribution of dFe, with hydrothermal inputs important in some regions. Finally, our data-driven dFe climatology can be used as an alternative reference to evaluate the performance of ocean biogeochemical models. Overall, the new global scale climatology of dFe achieved in our study is an important step toward improved representation of dFe in the contemporary ocean and may also be used to guide future sampling strategies.


In humans, early life stress (ELS) is associated with an increased risk for developing both alcohol use disorder (AUD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We have previously used an infant footshock model to explore this shared predisposition. Infant footshock produces stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) in rats and mice and increases aversion-resistant alcohol drinking in rats. The goal of the current study was to extend this model of comorbid PTSD and AUD to male and female C57BL/6J mice. Acute ELS was induced using 15 foot-shocks on postnatal day 17. In adulthood, after PND 90, ethanol drinking behavior was tested in one of three two-bottle choice drinking paradigms: continuous access, limited access drinking in the dark, or intermittent access. In continuous access, mice were given 24 h access to 5% or 10% ethanol and water. Each ethanol concentration was provided for five consecutive drinking sessions. In limited access drinking in the dark, mice were given 2 h of access to 15% ethanol and water across 15 sessions. Ethanol was provided 3 h into the dark cycle to maximize task engagement when mice are most active. In intermittent access, mice were presented with 20% ethanol and water Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for four consecutive weeks. In a fifth week of intermittent access drinking, increasing concentrations of quinine (10 mg/L, 100 mg/L, and 200 mg/L) were added to the ethanol to test aversion-resistant drinking. Our results indicate that infant footshock does not influence adult ethanol consumption in mice. Infant footshock did not affect ethanol-only consumption or preference in any of the three drinking paradigms. Further, and in contrast to our previous results in rats, infant footshock did not appear to influence consumption of quinine-adulterated ethanol. The biological sex of the mice did affect ethanol-only consumption in all three drinking paradigms, with females consuming more ethanol than males. Preference for ethanol vs. water was higher in females only under continuous access conditions. Our results suggest that infant footshock alone may not be sufficient to increase drinking levels in mice. We hypothesize that infant footshock may require a secondary, adolescent stress exposure to influence ethanol drinking behavior. Further research is needed to create a valid model of PTSD-AUD comorbidity in male and female mice.


Childhood abuse is an important public health problem; however, little is known about the effects of abuse on the brain and neurobiological development. This article reviews the behavioral and biological consequences of childhood abuse and places them in a developmental context. Animal studies show that both positive and negative events early in life can influence neurobiological development in unique ways. Early stressors such as maternal separation result in lasting effects on stress-responsive neurobiological systems, including the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and noradrenergic systems. These studies also implicate a brain area involved in learning and memory, the hippocampus, in the long-term consequences of early stress. Clinical studies of patients with a history of abuse also implicate dysfunction in the HPA axis and the noradrenergic and hippocampal systems; however, there are multiple questions related to chronicity of stress, developmental epoch at the time of the stressor, presence of stress-related psychiatric disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder and depression, and psychological factors mediating the response to trauma that need to be addressed in this field of research. Understanding the effects of abuse on the development of the brain and neurobiology will nevertheless have important treatment and policy implications.


Functional imagery training (FIT) extends multisensory imagery training by involving athletes with goal setting and appraisal. The authors measured the effect of FIT on 24 professional soccer players' grit, a personality trait associated with perseverance for a long-term goal. In a stepped-wedge design, an immediate (n = 9) and a delayed (n = 10) group received FIT at Week 1 or 6 and were measured at Week 12. A self-selected control group (n = 5) received no intervention. The delayed group was also measured at Week 6 just before their intervention, and at Week 18. Grit scores in both intervention groups increased after the intervention, but the control group's did not. The delayed group increased in grit between Weeks 6 and 12, showing the effectiveness of the intervention over a relatively short time, and continued to improve to Week 18. In the intervention groups, vividness of goal imagery also increased and players perceived that FIT improved sport performance.


Deep neural networks (DNNs), which learn a hierarchical representation of features, have shown remarkable performance in big data analytics of remote sensing. However, previous research indicates that DNNs are easily spoofed by adversarial examples, which are crafted images with artificial perturbations that fool DNN models toward wrong predictions. To comprehensively evaluate the impact of adversarial examples on the remote sensing image (RSI) scene classification, this study tests eight state-of-the-art classification DNNs on six RSI benchmarks. These data sets include both optical and synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) images of different spectral and spatial resolutions. In the experiment, we create 48 classification scenarios and use four cutting-edge attack algorithms to investigate the influence of the adversarial example on the classification of RSIs. The experimental result shows that the fooling rates of the attacks are all over 98% across the 48 scenarios. We also find that, for the optical data, the seriousness of the adversarial problem has a negative relationship with the richness of the feature information. Besides, adversarial examples generated from SAR images are used easily for fooling the models with an average fooling rate of 76.01%. By analyzing the class distribution of these adversarial examples, we find that the distribution of the misclassifications is not affected by the types of models and attack algorithms—adversarial examples of RSIs of the same class cluster on fixed several classes. The analysis of classes of adversarial examples not only helps us explore the relationships between data set classes but also provides insights for further designing defensive algorithms.


All major exporting countries of agricultural commodities have some form of credit guarantee program. As the importance of credit programs escalates, it is incumbent on policy makers to examine the value of their program relative to those of competitors. In this study, a model based on option pricing theory was developed to estimate the value of credit guarantees extended to importers and applied to U.S. and competing countries' programs. The Canadian guarantee has the lowest implicit value, followed by the U.S., Australian, and French guarantees. French guarantees had the highest implicit value due to higher coverage for interest and freight and insurance.


Hypothesis testing, statistical power, and confidence limits are concepts from classical statistics that require data from observations. In some important recent applications some of the data are not observational but are reconstructed by computer models. There is generally epistemic uncertainty in model formulations, as well as in parameter and input values. The resulting epistemic uncertainty of the reconstructed data is determined by an uncertainty analysis and is expressed by subjective probability distributions. Sometimes only the mean or median values of the distributions are used in the concepts mentioned above, which hides the uncertainty of the data thereby rendering misleading results. Misleading results are also obtained if the epistemic uncertainty of the data is combined incorrectly with the stochastic variability of the outcome of the actual random complex concerned. This paper argues that an uncertainty analysis of the application of classical statistical concepts is essentially the correct way of dealing with the epistemic uncertainty of the data. A practical example serves as an illustration.


Since the Bulletin of the United Nations and the Department of State Bulletin are standard sources in the field of international organization, references in these two periodicals have for the most part been omitted from the following compilation. For a more comprehensive listing of documentary materials, see Documents of International Organizations: A Selected Bibliography (Boston, World Peace Foundation, quarterly, $2.50 per year).


The drug discovery and development pipeline have more and more relied on in vitro testing and in silico predictions to reduce investments and optimize lead compounds. A comprehensive set of in vitro assays is available to determine key parameters of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, for example, lipophilicity, solubility, and plasma stability. Such test systems aid the evaluation of the pharmacological properties of a compound and serve as surrogates before entering in vivo testing and clinical trials. Nowadays, computer-aided techniques are employed not just in the discovery of new lead compounds but embedded as part of the entire drug development process where the ADME profiling and big data analyses add a new layer of complexity to those systems. Herein, we give a short overview of the history of the drug development pipeline presenting state-of-the-art ADME in vitro assays as established in academia and industry. We will further introduce the underlying good practices and give an example of the compound development pipeline. In the next step, recent advances at in silico techniques will be highlighted with special emphasis on how pharmacogenomics and in silico PK profiling can enhance drug monitoring and individualization of drug therapy.


Abstract According to multivariate analysis, the following were established (a) kaolinite crystallinity index (KCI) values determined by XRD are highly correlated to one another and seemingly influenced by kaolin impurities; (b) kaolin minerals are concentrated mainly in the fractions <4 µm; (c) the kaolin surface area as determined by the BET (nitrogen adsorption) method is more markedly affected by kaolin impurities than by kaolin minerals themselves; (d) BET surfaces increase when kaolinite crystallinity decreases; (e) brightness is inversely correlated with kaolin impurities; (f) the more ordered the kaolinite and the greater the proportion in the <4 µm fraction of the kaolin, the greater the brightness; and (g) KCI values are particle size-distribution dependent for sedimentary-residual kaolins. The correlations obtained were better when kaolins were selected according to their origin because the kaolin minerals and their impurities, particle size-distribution and texture were more alike. The industrial properties of kaolin can not be predicted from other basic properties such as mineralogy, KCI, etc., because they are intricately related to one another.


Background: Competencies have emerged as being important to develop health professionals, including managers in healthcare. Professional institutions adopted specific competency frameworks to guide designing professional development opportunities for health service managers, in particularly managers working in the area of health informatics. The fast-growing nature of healthcare settings means that the required competencies continue to evolve.
Objective: The aim of this protocol is to outline a reflexive thematic analysis process, including using an automated content analysis approach, and identify what is missing in existing health service management competency empirical studies in relation to health informatics competencies.

Methods: A rapid literature review has been performed using a PRISMA approach for eligibility screening, with 185 publications meeting the inclusion criteria. The Leximancer natural language processing software was used to transform a large corpus of literature from natural language into semantic themes and concepts. A reflexive thematic analysis was then undertaken using the text mining automated content analysis approach to identify predominant concepts and the co-occurrence between them.

Results: A search strategy was developed using three primary electronic databases: 1) Scopus; 2) ProQuest; and 3) the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); and five secondary electronic databases: 1) Web of Science 2) PubMed; 3) ACM Digital Library; 4) Open Access Theses and Dissertations Database, and 5) Google Scholar. The initial search undertaken on 10 November 2020 resulted in 1,212 publications. The results of the reflexive thematic analysis will be submitted for publication by November 2021.

Conclusions: New understanding and knowledge in the area of health management competencies, specifically relating to informatics will be developed. Health informatics competencies will be defined for Australian health service managers. Further, this study helps inform the discourse regarding automated content analysis for the healthcare and informatics industry, healthcare organisations and university course requirements.


The use of 3D seismic attributes has expanded dramatically and shows substantial promise for current and future applications. Two of the more common attributes, seismic anisotropy and curvature, have been compared to well and core data to understand the correlation between small scale rock physics at the borehole and their manifestation on surface seismic. Surface azimuthal anisotropy directions are shown to correlate with the borehole sonic data. The magnitude of the surface seismic anisotropy is seen to be greater in the faster rocks. This is consistent with the sonic logs which show higher anisotropy in the faster, more fractured limestones. Curvature is seen to be related to anisotropy and can be explained by fractures opening or closing, depending on the curvature.


Purpose This study aimed to examine the effect of taurine ingestion on maximal voluntary muscle torque and power in trained male athletes with different caffeine habits. Methods Fourteen male athletes 21.8 ± 2.5 yr old were separated into caffeine and noncaffeine consumers to control for the effect of caffeine withdrawal on muscle function. On separate occasions, participants performed four isokinetic or three maximal isometric knee extensions with and without taurine (40 mg·kg−1 body mass) after a double-blind, counterbalanced design. Muscle contractile performances were compared between the first sets as well as between the sets where these variables scored best. Results In response to isokinetic contraction, taurine treatment in the noncaffeine consumers resulted in a significant fall in first (−16.1%; P = 0.013) and best peak torque (−5.0%; P = 0.016) as well as in first (−17.7%; P = 0.015) and best power output (−8.0%; P = 0.008). In the caffeine consumers deprived of caffeine, taurine intake improved best power (5.2%; P = 0.045). With respect to the isometric variables, there was a significant decrease in the first (−5.1%; P = 0.002) and best peak torque (−4.3%; P = 0.032) in the noncaffeine group, but no effect in the group of caffeine consumers deprived of caffeine. Taurine ingestion increased blood taurine levels but had no effect on plasma amino acid levels. Conclusions Taurine ingestion is detrimental to maximal voluntary muscle power and both maximal isokinetic and isometric peak torque in noncaffeine consumers, whereas taurine ingestion in caffeine-deprived caffeine consumers improves maximal voluntary muscle power but has no effect on other aspects of contractile performance.


This paper examines the content of the Tangut text in one of the largest joinable pieces of Tangut fragments with Tibetan phonetic glosses, Fr. 3(8), Fr. 9(14), and Fr. 1(6) from инв. 8363 of the Archives of Orientalists of the Institute of Oriental Manuscript, Russian Academy of Sciences. A detailed sentence-based translation of the Tangut text is provided. The interpretation of these fragments suggests that the Tangut text is an instruction for vase breathing and inner fire meditation, which is also known as "tummo." This text should relate to the Six Yogas of Nāropa, which was mainly practiced by the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism during the Tangut era. The content of the text should help further study on the identification of the origin of the text, and on the examination of the date of the fragments, which would be critical in the study of the Tibetan phonetic glosses of the Tangut characters.