Penetrating renal trauma often requires total nephrectomy. To minimize this high rate of renal loss, extracorporeal (bench) surgery, already an accepted method for treating renovascular and renal tumor, might be used in patients with parenchymal injuries to provide a more meticulous repair and improved renal function. To compare the effectiveness of this technique with that of in situ repair, 32 dogs were divided into two equal groups. They all received a standardized injury to the renal parenchyma. Contralateral nephrectomy was performed. Renal function was evaluated for 21 days. Serum creatinine values were comparable in the two groups. Bench repair offered excellent results but not better than in situ repair for parenchymal and collecting system injuries.


In order to explore the change of Green Space in Suzhou, a central City in China's Yangtze River Delta, and reveal the spatial characteristics, ecological benefits and its impact mechanism, this study extracted a distribution map of the patches of green spaces in Suzhou using Landsat remote-sensing image data from 1998 and 2007, analyzed and assessed the changes in scale and spatial layout of the green spaces using various landscape metrics including CA, PLAND, PD, MPS, LPI, NP, PD, TE, ED, MPI, and LSI. The result indicated that the scale of the green space and the number of the patches in Suzhou decreased significantly, the discrete degree of green space in each area increased in different extent, and the connectivity decreased clearly. More of the small green space patches have disappeared. The green space totally exhibited tendencies of decline and contraction. Green space patches were unevenly distributed in Suzhou. The green space patches in old urban area were founded to be less in quantity, poor in connectivity, and maximal in discrete distance. While the new urban area of Suzhou retained a large number of cultivated land, water and woodland, and there was no distinct rank difference from suburban country. In northern area like Taicang, Changshu and Zhangjiagang districts, the green space increased in scale, and it tended to be large, concentrated and stable in pattern. While in central and southern districts, the green space decreased in different level. Particularly, the green space of Wujiang and Kunshan in the southeast had the highest decrement rate, and the green space patterns turned to be fragmented for getting disturbed by urbanization.


Investigations were continued on the nature of the growth factor requirements of Corynebacterium diphtheriae gravis, strain Dundee. Hypoxanthine, or adenine + guanine, or adenine + xanthine, were found capable of replacing concentrates of the growth factor from liver and yeast.
Nucleoside and nucleotide fractions, prepared from electrophoretically-purified ribonucleic acid, were unable to replace the free purine bases. A purine extract was obtained from an active fish-liver concentrate by copper precipitation. In this extract, a large amount of hypoxanthine and a smaller amount of xanthine were found by chromatography to be the major purine constituents; traces of adenine and guanine were also detected. Chromatographic fractionation and spectro-photometric examination of the fractions confirmed the presence of hypoxanthine and xanthine, whose concentrations were estimated.
The purine extract supported less growth than the original fish-liver concentrates. Growth on the purine extract could be reproduced by a mixture of hypoxanthine and xanthine at an equivalent concentration.


Background/context Simulation in-situ is gaining popularity1 and is recognised as a method of identifying latent errors in the clinical setting to improve patient safety.2 We have previous local experience of using in-situ simulation in the operating theatre to identify latent errors.3 Aintree University Hospital is part of the Major Trauma Collaboration in Liverpool and is due to open a new Major Trauma Unit in the summer of 2015. We plan to use in-situ simulation to test the facility prior to opening and wish to present the outcomes of our study. Methodology (used or planned) Using the wireless mannequin SimMan 3G (Kent, UK) we intend to run the following fully immersive scenarios to involve the actual teams on call. Trauma Call Deteriorating Patient in the Resuscitation Bay Medical Emergency Team Call to Observation Ward Scenarios will be video recorded to allow an immediate debrief and a report will be written to allow any latent errors to be corrected prior to opening the facility Results/outcomes (anticipated or recorded to date) Previous work by Wheeler and colleagues2 identified latent errors in the categories of medication, equipment and systems and resources. We will seek to identify any latent errors and correct them immediately. Potential impact This exercise will allow rehearsal of complex trauma scenarios in a safe environment and the opportunity to correct any latent errors prior to opening our new facility. References Mercer SJ, Wimlett S. Simulation in situ. Bull Royal College Anaesthetists 2012;76:28–30 Wheeler DS, Geis G, Mack EH, et al. High-reliability emergency response teams in the hospital: improving quality and safety using in situ simulation training. BMJ Qual Saf 2013;22:507–514 Welfare E, Lacasia-Purroy C, Groom P, et al. Investing latent errors in the operating theatre using high fidelity simulation. BMJ J Simulation Technol Enhanced Learn 2014;99(S1):A67–68 [10.1136/bmjstel-2014-ASPiH_abstract.163]


ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 07 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of antioxidant [vitamin E (vit E)] and trace minerals [selenium (Se), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn)], high energy diet supplementation and its effect on allometric and physio-biochemical parameters in crossbred cows during transition period. For this, advanced pregnant crossbred cows (n = 20) of 2 nd to 4 th parity and lactation potential of >10 L/day at 28 days prepartum were divided into two groups viz. control (CON) and treatment (TRT) consisting of 10 animals each. TRT group was supplemented with Vit E @ 80 IU/kg DMI + Se @ 0.3 mg/kg DMI+ Cu @ 15.7 mg/kg DMI + Zn @ 22 mg/kg DMI incorporated in wheat flour bolus from -4 to 8 week of calving and were provided with 20% additional concentrate from 2 to 8 week of calving to TRT group. CON group was given only basal diet without any supplementation. Physiological responses, body weight (B.wt) and body condition score (BCS) of each animal was recorded. Blood samples were collected on weekly interval from -4 to 8 week of calving. Glucose, triglyceride and total cholesterol were estimated from serum using commercial kits. BCS and B.wt were maintained significantly better (p<0.05) in TRT than CON group. Physiological responses showed better adaptation in TRT as compare to CON group. Plasma cholesterol, triglyceride (p<0.05) and glucose (p<0.01) levels were also found significantly elevated in TRT versus CON group. Thus, Vit E, Se, Cu and Zn supplementation showed positive impact on overall health status and adaptability of the animals. K e y w o r d s


INTRODUCTION
Cancer is a leading cause of death in the United States. Although treatments have improved, patients and caregivers continue to report significant gaps in their care. The objective of this study was to examine the views of patients and caregivers on their experiences with current cancer care delivery and identify key strategies to improve the delivery of care.

METHODS AND MATERIALS
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 75 patients and 45 caregivers across the United States. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparative method of qualitative analysis.

RESULTS
Participants reported multiple gaps in care delivery, including barriers in health communication with health care providers, lack of elucidation of care goals, lack of care coordination, and challenges in accessing care. Participants identified that greater use of nonphysician providers and alternative formats, such as telephone-based care and home and community-based care, would narrow these gaps.

CONCLUSION
Understanding patients' and caregivers' experiences with gaps in cancer care delivery can inform cancer care delivery redesign efforts and lead to targeted interventions that result in patient-centered and family-oriented care.


SCOPE
High glycaemic sugars result in blood-glucose spikes, while large doses of post-prandial fructose inundate the liver, causing an imbalance in energy metabolism, both leading to increased risk of metabolic malfunction and type 2 diabetes. Acarbose, used for diabetes management, reduces post-prandial hyperglycaemia by delaying carbohydrate digestion.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Chamomile and green teas both inhibited digestive enzymes (α-amylase and maltase) related to intestinal sugar release, as already established for acarbose. However, acarbose had no effect on uptake of sugars using both differentiated human Caco-2 cell monolayers and Xenopus oocytes expressing human glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2) and GLUT5. Both teas effectively inhibited transport of fructose and glucose through GLUT2 inhibition, while chamomile tea also inhibited GLUT5. Long term incubation of Caco-2/TC7 cells with chamomile tea for 16 h or 4 days did not enhance the observed effects, indicating that inhibition is acute. Sucrase activity was directly inhibited by green tea and acarbose, but not chamomile.

CONCLUSION
These findings show that chamomile and green teas are potential tools to manage absorption and metabolism of sugars with efficacy against high sugar bolus stress inflicted, for example, by high fructose syrups, where the drug acarbose would be ineffective.


The anti-oxidation stability of soybean biodiesel (SME) was evaluated on an oxidation simulator set up by the author. The results showed that oxidative stability of SME was worse than that of petrodiesel by exhibiting higher acid values and peroxide values, as well as greater viscosity increases after oxidation. Furthermore, a conjecture was taken about the configurational changes and the oxidation mechanisms of unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester molecules in the oxidation process, according to the principles of free radical reactions and the results of both infrared and ultraviolet spectroscopic analysis. An idea was put forward that, during oxidation, cis-trans isomerization might occur in unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester molecules and conjugated double-bond might produce due to transfer of double-bond.


Regression equations of sediment rating curves are too biased due to the logarithmic of the discharge and suspended sediment data. In this study, correction coefficients were used to improve the results of river sediment estimation methods in Bashar and Zohreh hydrometric stations with different indices of accuracy and precision. The present study aims to evaluate the performance of five methods of rating curve including FAO, MVUE, QMLE, LRC, Ls in the case of intermediate categories and no category situations. Root mean square of error and coefficient of efficiency indicators were used to evaluate the performance of sediment rating curves and to choose the best of them. Results of root mean square of error and coefficient of efficiency indicators computation indicates that in the Bashar station LQMLE method is provided maximum coefficient of efficiency (CE=92) and the minimum error (RMSE=0.38) and LS method had the lowest coefficient of efficiency and highest error (CE=86 and RMSE=0.94). In normal state the same results has been obtained. Zohreh station correction coefficients results showed that the maximum coefficient of efficiency is related to LQMLE (CE=95) and FAO had lowest coefficient of efficiency and the highest root mean square of error (CE= -1.58 and RMSE=2.48). In normally condition the LRC method has achieved maximum coefficient of efficiency and minimum error (CE=95) and (RMSE=0.53). On the other hand, amongst the different methods, LS is provided the lowest coefficient of efficiency and the highest root mean square of error (CE=-7 and RMSE=3.88). In general, by application of different methods and different correction coefficients of sediment rating curves in cases of non-classified data and the intermediate state, concluded that in most models the LQMLE and LRC is the best method of calculating sediment.


BP neural network has strong fault-tolerant and adaptive learning capacity, so it is widely used in pattern recognition. Based on the classic BP neural network, parameters of the BP algorithm has been optimized, which achieved a classification based on the improved BP neural network algorithm. By discussing the use of BP neural network in the application of pattern classification recognition, this paper detailedly studies the recognition effect of various parameters. Experimental results show that the improved algorithms has very good practical value.


During the past decade, environmental, health, economic and ethical concerns relating to increasing levels of meat consumption have attracted the interest of governments, media and the public. Existing literature has highlighted the impact of personal values and the perceived benefits that meat substitutes bring to consumer food choices and sustainable consumption. Food policy makers often put faith in food manufacturers to identify appropriate interventions aimed at changing consumer behaviour and encouraging more sustainable diets. The purpose of this paper is to explore how values and benefits influence consumer preferences for meat substitute products and consumer perceptions on how a meat substitute manufacturer can motivate people to replace meat.

Methodology

Quorn, the largest manufacturer of meat substitutes in the UK, is used as a case study to explore consumer perceptions of meat substitutes and related behaviour. Recently, Quorn has gone to great lengths to improve the image of substitute products, and employed various strategies to encourage substitution of meat with meat-free alternatives on the basis of health and sustainability. Using the means-end chain approach and Schwarz's (1992) theory of basic values, the research links the Quorn-specific attributes to the needs and values of UK consumers. Thirty-two vegetarians, meat reducers and meat eaters were recruited and participated in 4 group interview sessions that followed a 'hard' laddering approach, to measure the means-end chains and provide insights into consumer motivation when purchasing Quorn products. The results were coded using content analysis, and the themes were aggregated and presented in a set of Hierarchical Value Maps.

Findings

Even though Quorn products are perceived as more expensive, most consumers associate them with health and sustainability-related benefits driven by values of security, benevolence and universalism. Furthermore, hedonism and conformity are identified as important values, driving purchases of meat substitutes. A pleasant taste, easiness to replace meat in food dishes, and a fit with the current lifestyle are important.

Contribution
Our results show that differences exist between groups of consumers with respect to their meat consumption patterns, and therefore different interventions may be necessary to encourage meat substitution. The effectiveness of advertising, celebrity endorsement and digital media is discussed as having a positive impact on demand for meat substitutes, and therefore could be part of an intervention agenda aimed at encouraging more sustainable patterns of meat consumption.


In this thesis, we present a prototype for search engine to show how such a semantic search application based on ontology techniques contributes to save time for user, and improve the quality of relevant search results compared to a traditional search engine. This system is built as a query improvement module, which uses ontology and sorts the results search based on four predefined categories. The first and important part of the implementation of search engine prototype is to apply ontology to define the meaning and the relations between the queries in default domain of the study. Next, categorization of the results is carried out in order to improve the quality of result search presentation based on categorization-list. The ontology used in this search engine prototype includes sample of terms in safety and security domain, which is capable to be modified in this domain, or can be substituted by another ontology in the other fields of study. The process is continued by searching the enriched query through the Web using Google interface application search engine. The application uses ranking algorithms to categorize and organize the results of Google search in four categories, i.e. History, Mechanism, Prevention, and Case study. The predefined categories can be substituted to the other categories based on user preferences in other studies using different categorizes.


"The importance of the role of the mentor in the education and development of health care professionals who are fit to practice is well recognised. This book, which focuses on the role as it applies to nursing, is a timely and complementary addition to the growing 'pool' of available literature on this subject. The book offers mentors and 'would be mentors' a cogent approach built on practical experience and a rational synthesis constructed from the field of relevant literature. The author uses 'real world' anecdotal student comment to illustrate the points made thus providing valuable insight into the student perspective." Sylvia Hepworth, Principal lecturer / Subject Leader: Flexible Learning, University of Huddersfield, UK "Part of the nurses' role upon registration is developing student's knowledge and competence, therefore I believe this book is an asset for any nurse - mentor or not. It facilitates development of teaching skills and reinforces the various theories of learning ...The handbook assists the nurse to be a role model for students and provides fantastic points for providing feedback for improving students confidence, competence and knowledge." Amy Hutchinson, Staff Nurse "The book itself is laid out into bite-sized chapters making the whole book a pleasure to read and made it easier for me to find the information I needed for separate areas of my assignment...The student reflections of practice reminded me of situations I had faced and also made the content of the book easier to understand." Ellie Hickman, Mentor Preparation Course, University of Greenwich/ South London Healthcare NHS Trust, UK "This book covers all aspects of mentoring for nurses. It has clear links to current NMC Outcomes for mentors and links theory to practice really well exploring how mentors can support students in practice within the realities of limits on time and patients as the priority. The chapter on teaching and learning theory is a great overview of the complex theory around practice based learning. References and links onto other reading are weak in some sections, but as a starter book for new mentors it's a great introduction." Jan Royal, Lecturer, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy, The University of Nottingham, UK All nurses have a duty, via their professional code of conduct, to pass on their knowledge and this book is the ideal companion text for all new and trainee nurse mentors. This book provides a unique guide to strategies and ideas to help devise and enhance learning opportunities for their students. With a practical and accessible style, the book answers all those questions that mentors may have about the mentoring role, including: How can I create a good learning environment? How should I assess students in practice? How do I support failing students? What should I include in my mentors portfolio?The book includes cases, quotes from practitioners, strategies, tools and interventions that you can use in clinical practice. The Nurse Mentor's Handbook is centred around the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) mentor standards, and is easy to relate to nurse mentor courses and the requirements for effective updating.


This paper considers the propagation of TE‐modes in photonic crystal waveguides. The waveguide is created by introducing a linear defect into a periodic background medium. Both the periodic background problem and the perturbed problem are modelled by a divergence type equation. A feature of our analysis is that we allow discontinuities in the coefficients of the operator, which is required to model many photonic crystals. Using the Floquet–Bloch theory in negative‐order Sobolev spaces, we characterize the precise number of eigenvalues created by the line defect in terms of the band functions of the original periodic background medium for arbitrarily weak defects.


A microshutter array (MSA) has been developed for use as an aperture array for multi-object selections in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) technology. Light shields, molybdenum nitride (MoN) coating on shutters, and aluminum/aluminum oxide coatings on interior walls are put on each shutter for light leak prevention, and to enhance optical contrast. Individual shutters are patterned with a torsion flexure that permits shutters to open 90 deg. with a minimized mechanical stress concentration. The shutters are actuated magnetically, latched, and addressed electrostatically. Also, micromechanical features are tailored onto individual shutters to prevent stiction. An individual shutter consists of a torsion hinge, a shutter blade, a front electrode that is coated on the shutter blade, a backside electrode that is coated on the interior walls, and a magnetic cobalt-iron coating. The magnetic coating is patterned into stripes on microshutters so that shutters can respond to an external magnetic field for the magnetic actuation. A set of column electrodes is placed on top of shutters, and a set of row electrodes on sidewalls is underneath the shutters so that they can be electrostatically latched open. A linear permanent magnet is aligned with the shutter rows and is positioned above a flipped upside-down array, and sweeps across the array in a direction parallel to shutter columns. As the magnet sweeps across the array, sequential rows of shutters are rotated from their natural horizontal orientation to a vertical open position, where they approach vertical electrodes on the sidewalls. When the electrodes are biased with a sufficient electrostatic force to overcome the mechanical restoring force of torsion bars, shutters remain latched to vertical electrodes in their open state. When the bias is removed, or is insufficient, the shutters return to their horizontal, closed positions. To release a shutter, both the electrode on the shutter and the one on the back wall where the shutter sits are grounded. The shutters with one or both ungrounded electrodes are held open. Sub-micron bumps underneath light shields and silicon ribs on back walls are the two features to prevent stiction. These features ensure that the microshutter array functions properly in mechanical motions. The MSA technology can be used primarily in multi-object imaging and spectroscopy, photomask generation, light switches, and in the stepper equipment used to make integrated circuits and MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) devices.


The notion that people believe others to be more susceptible for media impact than themselves has attracted substantial scholarly interest in recent years. The present paper reports on the first field study of the third-person effect in Germany. On occasion of the Federal election campaign in 2002, a survey determined respondent's belief of how strongly the general public, their friends and family, and their own person was affected by six different sorts of communication sources. Results confirm the perceptual component of the third-person concept (including the social distance and the message desirability hypothesis) but fail to prove effects on the behavioural intention of voters. The magnitude of perceptual gaps is influenced by a person's voting experience, with first-time voters displaying smaller differences in impact assessments. But the part of media use and political involvement in this process of political communication is still unclear and requires further research.


Direct Metal Selective Laser Sintering (DMSLS) is a layer-by-layer additive process for metal powders, which allows quick production of complex geometry parts. The aim of this study is to analyse the improvement of DMSLS with "EOSINT M270", the new laser sintering machine developed by EOS. Tests were made on sintered parts of Direct Metal 20 (DM20), a bronze based powder with a mean grain dimension of 20 μm. Different properties and accuracy were evaluated for samples manufactured with three different exposure strategies. Besides mechanical properties, the manufacturing process was also examined in order to evaluate its characteristics. The quality of laser sintered parts is too affected by operator experience and skill. Furthermore, critical phases are not automatic and this causes an extension of time required for the production. Due to these limitations, DMSLS can be used for Rapid Manufacturing, but it is especially suitable to few sample series.


In this paper we present an overview of the German version of the Bell Labs text-to-speech system, a high-quality concatenative synthesis system with extensive text analysis capabilities. We discuss problems of text analysis, and our solutions to these problems, including: the integration of text normalization tasks into linguistic text analysis; the capability to morphologically analyze compounds and unseen words; name analysis and pronunciation. We briefly describe the prosodic components of the text-to-speech system and their underlying duration and intonation models. Finally, the phonetically motivated structure of the acoustic inventory is presented.


Computed Tomography (CT) is a wide-spread medical imaging modality. Traditional CT yields information on a patient's anatomy in form of slice images or volume data. Hounsfield Units (HU) are used to quantify the imaged tissue properties. Due to the polychromatic nature of X-rays in CT, the HU values for a specific tissue depend on its density and composition but also on CT system parameters and settings and the surrounding materials. The main objective of Quantitative CT (QCT) is measuring characteristic physical tissue or material properties quantitatively. These characteristics can, for instance, be density of contrast agents or local X-ray attenuation. Quantitative measurements enable specific medical applications such as perfusion diagnostic or attenuation correction for Positron Emission Tomography (PET). This work covers three main topics of QCT. After a short introduction to the physical and technological basics for QCT, we focus on spectral X-ray detection for CT. Here, we introduce two simulation concepts for spectral CT detectors, one for integrating scintillation and one for directly-converting counting detectors. These concepts are tailored specifically for the examined detector type and are supported by look-up tables. They enable whole scan simulations about 200 times quicker than standard particle interaction simulations without sacrificing the desired precision. These simulations can be used to optimize detector parameters with respect to the quality of the reconstructed final result. The results were verified with data from real detectors, prototypes and measuring stations. The second topic is QCT algorithms which use spectral CT data to realize QCT applications. The core concept introduced here is Local Spectral Reconstruction (LSR). LSR is an iterative reconstruction scheme which yields an analytic characterization of local spectral attenuation properties in object space. From this characterization, various quantitative measures can be computed. Within this theoretical framework, various QCT applications can be formulated. This is demonstrated for quantitative beam-hardening correction, PET and SPECT attenuation correction and material identification. The final part is dedicated to noise reduction for QCT. In CT noise reduction is directly linked to patient dose saving. Here, we introduce two novel techniques: Firstly an image-based noise reduction based on joint histograms of multi-energy data-sets. This method explicitly incorporates the typical signal properties of multispectral data. We demonstrate a dose saving potential of 20% on real and synthetic data. The second method is a non-linear filter applied to projection data. It uses a point-based projection model to identify and preserve structures in the projection domain. This principle is applied to a modified bilateral filter, where the photometric similarity measure is replaced with a structural similarity measure derived from this concept. We examine the properties of this filter on synthetic and real patient data. We get a noise reduction potential of about 15% without sacrificing image sharpness. This is verified on synthetic data and real phantom and patient scans.


Most advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) projects fail to live up to expectations. Lack of success may be due to misunderstanding or mismanagement of the risk underlying AMT projects. After studying two dozen such projects, the authors conclude that AMT projects have special risk profiles and that risk management strategies should mirror these profiles. A risk profile should reflect four types or sources of risk: market, strategy, technology, and organization. This article explores and illustrates each of these sources of risk and then develops risk management strategies appropriate for each risk profile. While no company included in this study explicitly developed a risk profile of their AMT project, several companies did develop plans that included elements of all four sources of risk. In addition, they employed a variety of strategies and tactics to manage these risks throughout the projects. These AMT projects were, on average, more successful.


This qualitative, exploratory study is aimed at inquiring the issue of professionalism of university English language professors. Previous research indicates that professionalism in English Language Teaching (ELT) has been a concern for the academia; nonetheless, new demands in the ELT career require teachers to constantly upgrade their performance in order to comply with higher education standards. Hence, traits, pedagogical practices, professional development, and challenges of these professionals are shown in this paper. Through a questionnaire, results revealed that participants felt satisfied with most of the newest teaching competencies. This study also identifies flaws in some teaching fields, which could be improved with professional development updates.


This study aims at identifying the impact of using Simulation programs on acquiring physics concepts, and development of lab activity skills. The sample consisted of (54) female students in grade 11 in the General Education at schools in Al-Batinah North Governorate. The sample was divided into two groups: The experimental group (n=28) that studied physics using simulation, and the control group (n=26) that studied the same material but using the traditional method of teaching. To achieve the study aims three tools were prepared: The Physics Concepts Test, the Laboratory Work Skills Test, and Laboratory Work Skills Observation Card. After conducting the tests before and after the study treatment, and observing the student while working on the experiments, the study results showed that no statistical differences was indicated between the experimental group and the control group in terms of gain of physics concepts, and all lab activity skills. In addition, the results of the Laboratory Work Skills Observation Card showed that simulation programs made the student make most of the lab activity skills. In view of the findings of the study, some suggestions and recommendations were proposed for future research.


Two-dimensional facial recognition has, traditionally, been an attractive biometric, however, the accuracy of 2D facial recognition (FR) is performance limited and insufficient when confronted with extensive numbers of people to screen and identify, and the numerous appearances that a 2D face can exhibit. In efforts to overcome many of the issues limiting 2D FR technology, researchers are beginning to focus their attention on 3D FR technology. In this paper, an analysis of a 3D FR system being developed at Sandia National Laboratories is performed. The study involves the use of 200 subjects on which verification (one-to-one) matches are performed using a single probe database (one correct match per subject) and 30 subjects on which identification matches are performed. The system is evaluated in terms of probability of detection (Pd) and probability of false accepts (FAR). The results presented will aid in providing an initial understanding of the performance of 3D FR.


Open a cess: www.balimedicaljournal.org and ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/bmj Overexpression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-кB) protein as a risk factor for anthracyclin chemoresistance in luminal a subtype locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) at Sanglah General Hospital, Bali Indonesia Prabudi1, Ida Bagus Tjakra Wibawa Manuaba2, I Wayan Sudarsa2* Background: Around 68.6% of women who have breast cancer seek medical treatment at a locally advanced stage (LABC), where the neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) modality is the initial choice therapy. Luminal A was recorded as the subtype with the chemotherapy response being the most resistant among others. The cause of chemoresistance is multi-factorial, and several studies correlate this condition with several anti-apoptotic agents expressed in the nucleus of cancer cells, especially nuclear factorkappa B (NF-кB). The NF-κB transcription factor as an anti-apoptotic agent in some cancers blocks the apoptotic pathway through the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways. NF-κB plays a vital role in the development of chemoresistance. Understanding the NF-κB pathway and perceiving more about the cellular characteristics of LABC is very important to develop NF-κB inhibitors as therapy. NFκB as a transcription factor can be considered a promising research target because it can affect oncogenes' transcription and play an essential role in prognostic and predictive biomarkers. This study was conducted to determine whether NF-κB overexpression is a risk factor for anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemoresistance in Luminal A subtype LABC patients at Sanglah General Hospital. Methods: An unpaired case-control study was conducted at Sanglah General Hospital. The research subjects were 40 people, divided into case groups (chemoresistance) and control groups (chemosensitive). Hereafter the NF-κB H-Score was carried out by IHC examination. Data are presented in table form and analyzed by Chi-square test or Fischer exact. Results: Samples of cases with NF-κB overexpression were obtained 13 (65%), compared with the control group 7 (35%) (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis has shown that NF-κB overexpression is an independent factor against anthracycline-based chemotherapy resistance in advanced LABC patients with local luminal subtypes with p=0.013; OR 3.45 (95% CI=2.94-12.65). Conclusion: NF-κB expression in Luminal A subtype LABC can be used as a predictor for anthracycline-based neoadjuvant chemoresistance. NF-κB overexpression is a predictor factor for NAC chemoresistance in luminal A subtype LABC.


The symptoms of coastal and estuarine eutrophication are the result of a number of interacting processes operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Thus, models developed to appropriately represent each of these processes are not easily combined into a single predictive model. We suggest that Bayesian networks provide a possible solution to this problem. The graphical structure explicitly represents cause-and-effect assumptions between system variables that may be obscured under other approaches. These assumptions allow the complex causal chain linking management actions to ecological consequences to be factored into an articulated sequence of conditional relationships. Each of these relationships can then be quantified independently using an approach suitable for the type and scale of information available. Probabilistic functions describing the relationships allow key known or expected mechanisms to be represented without the full complexity, or information needs, of highly reductionist models. To demonstrate the application of the approach, we develop a Bayesian network representing eutrophication in the Neuse River estuary, North Carolina from a collection of previously publ ished analyses. Relationships among variables were quantified using a variety of methods, including: process-based models statistically fit to longterm monitoring data, Bayesian hierarchical modeling of cross-system data, multivariate regression modeling of mesocosm experiments, and probability judgments elicited from scientific experts. We use the fully quantified model to generate predictions of ecosystem response to alternative nutrient management strategies.


During the last days of March 2003 the tragic news of Dr Patricia Vinnicombe's death circulated throughout the Australian archaeological community. Pat's extensive networks of friends and colleagues both in Australia and overseas were immediately in touch with each other, trying to make sense of what was to many an inexplicable and untimely loss. As details of the circumstances of her death filtered through from her family it became clear that she had been involved in doing what she had passionately pursued for many decades: the study and protection of indigenous culture and rock-art in all its myriad forms. Having just completed a walking inspection of rock-engravings on the spectacular Burrup Peninsula during the last weekend of March, Pat was involved in a meeting of specialists being held at Karratha and concerned with the future management and monitoring of Aboriginal cultural heritage on the peninsula. Pat died from a heart attack during that meeting, with her son Gavin in near-attendance. Two years before arriving in Australia, Pat published People of the Eland, a magnificent account of the rock-art of the San of the Drakensberg Range, in southern Africa. This elegant volume not only brought an extraordinary and dynamic body of art to the attention of a global audience, but also helped to lay the foundations for a new generation of research into the meaning of prehistoric art. Earlier studies of the rock-art of southern Africa were stymied, on the one hand, by colonial attitudes towards the San as a people so primitive that they were devoid of religious or spiritual sensibilities, and, on the other hand, by uncritical application of interpretations developed for European rock-art. Exhorted by the doyenne of European rock-art research, the Abbe Breuil, to develop her own strategies for delving into the meaning of the Drakensberg art, Pat was to pioneer an approach which employed myth and metaphor as a key into the cognitive world of the artists. Pat's interest in this art was fostered in her youth, growing up as she did on a farm in the shadow of the Drakensberg Mountains. Together with her brother, John, Pat spent a lot of time exploring the art preserved on the cliffs and shelters of those mountains. From 1958 until 1961 she took time away from her work as an occupational therapist to make a detailed pictorial record of this art, producing hundreds of meticulous, painted copies, a selection of which were reproduced in People of the Eland. Although her marriage to Patrick Carter took her away from South Africa for several years, Pat eventually returned to the Drakensberg Mountains with her husband to undertake excavations at selected rockshelters. Subsequently, a Fellowship at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, gave her the opportunity to write a detailed account of her rock-art research, published in 1976 by the University of Natal Press as People of the Eland: Rock Paintings of the Drakensberg Bushmen as a Reflection of Their Life and Thought. In this work Pat combined quantitative analyses with insights drawn from anthropological and historical accounts to identify the visual metaphors that run through this body of art and to make inferences about what it was that the artists were celebrating in their paintings. Thus she showed that the Drakensberg art was an expression of both the lives and spiritual world of the Bushmen who had once inhabited this landscape. In 1977 Cambridge University awarded Pat a Doctorate of Philosophy for this seminal work. In 2000 Pat picked up the threads of her Drakensberg research, accepting an invitation to join the Rock-art Research Institute at the University of Witwatersrand for three months as a Visiting Research Fellow. This provided an opportunity to catalogue hundreds of her original painted records and to begin the task of transferring them to archival paper, for posterity. …


Spontaneously retrieving analogies from presented problem data is an important phase of analogical reasoning, influencing many related cognitive processes. Existing models have focused on semantic similarity, but structural similarity is also a necessary requirement of any analogical comparison. We present a new technique for performing structure based analogy retrieval. This is founded upon derived attributes that explicitly encode elementary structural qualities of a domains representation. Crucially, these attributes are unrelated to the semantic content of the domain information, and encode only its structural qualities. We describe a number of derived attributes and detail the computation of the corresponding attribute values. We examine our models operation, detailing how it retrieves both semantically related and unrelated domains. We also present a comparison of our algorithms performance with existing models, using a structure rich but semantically impoverished domain.


The structural and gas sensing properties of mesoporous Sr0.9La0.1TiO3 films for oxygen sensing applications were investigated as a function of surfactant concentration. Through the synthesis of Sr0.9La0.1TiO3 with a mesoporous structure, the surface area and pore connectivity were increased by increasing the surfactant concentration. Using a thermal treatment, interior pores were exposed to the surface thereby increasing the surface area. This increase in surface area induces an increase in oxygen absorption, which results in an enhanced oxygen sensitivity. The oxygen sensing properties of mesoporous Sr0.9La0.1TiO3 films were analyzed at an oxygen concentration of 30% and an analysis temperature of 550 °C. The results at these conditions showed the maximum oxygen sensitivity (9.43), response time (38 s), and recovery time (181 s). The inclusion of a surfactant during the preparation of mesoporous films was found to be a simple and effective method to enhance the surface area and interior pore connectivity of the films to enhance their gas sensing performance.


Abstract Background SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with hypercoagulability which predisposes to venous thromboembolism (VTE). We analyzed platelet and neutrophil activation in COVID-19 patients and their association with VTE. Methods Hospitalized COVID-19 patients and age- and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. Platelet and leukocyte activation, neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), a neutrophil-released enzyme, were measured. Four patients were re-studied after recovery. The activating effect of COVID-19 plasma on control platelets and leukocytes and the inhibiting activity of common antithrombotic agents on it were studied. Results 36 COVID-19 patients and 31 healthy controls were studied; 8/36 COVID-19 patients (22.2%) developed VTE. Platelets and neutrophils were activated in COVID-19 patients. NET, but not platelet activation, biomarkers correlated with disease severity and were associated with thrombosis. Plasmatic MMP-9 was significantly increased in COVID-19 patients. Platelet and neutrophil activation markers, but less so NETs, normalized after recovery. In vitro, plasma from COVID-19 patients triggered platelet and neutrophil activation and NET formation, the latter blocked by therapeutic dose low-molecular weight heparin, but not by aspirin or dypiridamole. Conclusions Platelet and neutrophil activation are key features of COVID-19 patients. NET biomarkers may help to predict clinical worsening and VTE, and may guide LMWH-treatment intensity.


Purpose: Returning to work requires a certain period of time for patients who have suffered a hand injury as a result of a work accident. Evaluating the factors influencing the time to return to work (time off work) is aimed.
Methods: A total of 111 patients were involved in the study. Data collected from medical records and phone reviews. Independent variables such as age, gender, Hand Injury Severity Scale (HISS) score, fracture on plain radiography, treatment method (surgical/conservative), physical demand of the occupation, mechanism of injury, and physiotherapy were reviewed. Afterwards, the relationship between these variables and time to return to work has been evaluated.
Results: In 111 subjects, 107 were able to resume their previous jobs after the injury. Average time to return to work was 58.6 days among patients who were able to return to work. It took more time for patients to return to work which were considered heavy/very heavy. Patients with fractures, higher HISS scores, who were treated surgically and undergone physiotherapy returned to work later. The effect of age, gender and mechanism of injury was statistically insignificant.
Conclusion: HISS score and fracture on radiography can be used to predict time off work following surgery. If the necessary counseling is given to the patients with these conditions, it will be easier to plan the return of the patients to their lives.


The main objective of the article is to analyze a few aspects of the Venezuelan democracy, with a particular focus on on the party system transformations related to decentralization, and the strategies by the political opposition and government respectively. The political parties (and their principal leaders) play the protogonic roles (as also to a certain limited extent the mass-media). The proceedings of the movement around current President Hugo Chavez (the Chavismo) and its connections to the political process since 1998 are worth a closer analysis, as well as certain aspects of populistic political leadership. The decentralization process is emphasized as a kind of historical context and a limitation of the focus. A mayority of the political opposition movements (and Chavismo) are rooted in the decentralization process. The contextual focus is the Venezuelan political party system and decentralization constitutes the independent variable. The study will reveal that the traditional two-party-system was undermined by decentralization. From some perspectives, the populism and power concentration of the Chavez movement constitutes a source of conflict for certain democratization principles of decentralization. Theoretically, a mixed/integrated approach will be used, combining actors´ rational choice with more process-structural approaches, particularly the political opportunity structures theories.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effectiveness of Sprinkles alongside infant and young child feeding (IYCF) education compared with IYCF education alone on anemia, deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, and zinc, and growth in Cambodian infants.

DESIGN
Cluster-randomized effectiveness study.

SETTING
Cambodian rural health district.

PARTICIPANTS
Among 3112 infants aged 6 months, a random subsample (n = 1350) was surveyed at baseline and 6-month intervals to age 24 months.

INTERVENTION
Daily micronutrient Sprinkles alongside IYCF education vs IYCF education alone for 6 months from ages 6 to 11 months.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Prevalence of anemia; iron, vitamin A, and zinc deficiencies; and growth via biomarkers and anthropometry.

RESULTS
Anemia prevalence (hemoglobin level <11.0 g/dL [to convert to grams per liter, multiply by 10.0]) was reduced in the intervention arm compared with the control arm by 20.6% at 12 months (95% CI, 9.4-30.2; P = .001), and the prevalence of moderate anemia (hemoglobin level <10.0 g/dL) was reduced by 27.1% (95% CI, 21.0-31.8; P < .001). At 12 and 18 months, iron deficiency prevalence was reduced by 23.5% (95% CI, 15.6-29.1; P < .001) and 11.6% (95% CI, 2.6-17.9; P = .02), respectively. The mean serum zinc concentration was increased at 12 months (2.88 μg/dL [to convert to micromoles per liter, multiply by 0.153]; 95% CI, 0.26-5.42; P = .03). There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of zinc and vitamin A deficiencies or in growth at any time.

CONCLUSIONS
Sprinkles reduced anemia and iron deficiency and increased the mean serum zinc concentration in Cambodian infants. Anemia and zinc effects did not persist beyond the intervention period. TRIAL REGISTRATION anzctr.org.au Identifier: ACTRN12608000069358.


Abstract Surface mass-balance and geometry data are key to quantifying the climate response of glaciers, and confidence in data synthesis and model interpretations and forecasts requires data from as wide a range of locations and glacier types as possible. This paper presents measurements of surface elevation change at the Svalbard surge-type glacier Finsterwalderbreen, by comparing a 1990 digital elevation model (DEM) with a surface GPS profile from 2003. The pattern of elevation change is consistent with that previously noted between 1970 and 1990, and reflects the continued quiescent-phase evolution of the glacier, with mass loss in the down-glacier/receiving area of up to –1.25mw.e. a–1, and mass gain in the up-glacier/reservoir area of up to 0.60 mw.e. a–1; the area-weighted, mean change for the whole glacier is 0.19mw.e. a–1. The spatial pattern of elevation increase and decrease is complex, and the boundary between thickening and thinning determined by combining GPS and DEM data does not appear to correspond with the equilibrium-line altitude determined from surface mass-balance measurements. There is no evidence yet of a decrease in the rate of reservoir area build-up driven by mass-balance change resulting from the warmer winter air temperatures, and decreased proportion of snowfall in total precipitation, noted at meteorological stations in Svalbard.


Neuromorphic artificial neural networks attempt to understand the essential computations that take place in the dense networks of interconnected neurons making up the central nervous systems in living creatures. This paper demonstrates that artificial spiking neural networks, – built to resemble the biological model– encoding information in the timing of single spikes are capable of computing and learning clusters from realistic data. It shows how a spiking neural network based on spike-time coding can successfully perform unsupervised and supervised clustering on real-world data. A temporal encoding of continuously valued data is developed. These models are validated through software simulation and then used to develop suitable hardware implementations on FPGA circuits. Fully parallel implementations are investigated and compared with solutions that make use of embedded soft-core microcontrollers to implement some of the most resource-consuming components of the artificial neural network. Details of the implementation are given, with test bench description. Measurement results are presented and compared to related findings in the specific literature.


Purpose: Expose the electromyography and spirometry relationship and establish the chronology of the contraction of Scalene and Rectus abdominis which works together in synergy antagonism in physiological breathing.

Methods: 128 electromyographic tests were performed during the respiratory cycle on 43 healthy adults. EMG signals of Scalene, Rectus abdominis were recorded. The breathing was recorded by using a spirometer (vernier®).

Results: The duration of the contraction of Scalene are superior to Rectus abdominis 82% p-value=0.000058, the amplitude of Scalene is superior of Rectus abdominis, p-value=0.000000073. 109 tests of Scalene contraction begin before that of Rectus abdominis (63.74%), p-value=0.000012. RMS is 0.02 ± 0.011 μv for Rectus abdominis and 0.04 ± 0.021 μv for Scalene, p-value=6.76591E-06. Duration of inspiration is 1.25 s ± 0.19, the expiration is 1.04 s ± 0.19. The mean frequency of Rectus abdominis is 54.19 Hz ± 6.35, it is 57.21 Hz ± 7.08 for Scalene, p-value is 9.84081E-08. The median frequency of Rectus abdominis is 51.05 Hz ± 6.51, it is 52.72 Hz ± 6.94 for Scalene, p-value is 0.0098. The muscle fatigue of Rectus abdominis decreased from 60.40 ± 0.45 to 19.98 ± 4.32. For Scalene it decreased from 60.41 ± 0.4 to 23.52 ± 4.41.

Conclusion: There is a synergistic-antagonism relationship between Scalene and Rectus abdominis during respiration. Scalene is a main inspiratory muscle, its contraction is important in amplitude, duration and frequency. Both muscles are fatigable during the inspiratory cycle.


In this paper, the use of an accelerometer in precision motion control of linear motors is investigated. The acceleration measurement can provide several advantages. In particular, it can be used with the position measurement for estimation of the position and velocity based on a kinematic model. It can be further utilized for identification of dynamic parameters such as coulomb friction and cogging force as well as for estimation of disturbance. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed estimation/identification schemes. These schemes are integrated into a two-degree of freedom control system for precision motion control of linear motors. The proposed schemes are evaluated by experiments performed on a linear permanent-magnet motor.


The subject of this case study was a 43-year-old male with a hypernasality problem due to a right hemiparesis of the velum (soft palate) following a Cerebro-Vascular Accident (CVA). The patient was subjected to videofluoroscopic assessment of the soft palate and the posterior pharyngeal wall to detect and measure the existing gap causing hypernasality. The ultimate goal was to design a palatal lift to function as a static mechanical prosthesis. The existing gap was measured and a palatal lift was designed accordingly, then modified to achieve the best possible vocal resonance quality. Nasometric evaluation (measurement of the nasalance scores) was conducted pre and post palatal lift fitting. Perceptual judgment of the patient's vocal resonance quality was also conducted pre and post palatal lift fitting by three speech-language pathologists, one dentist and two M.A. students of speech-language pathology. Post palatal lift results showed that Nasometric readings were within normal limits. Also, vocal resonance was checked and the patient achieved normal resonance. Optimal prosthetic management of the palato-pharyngeal port requires close interaction between a number of professionals (e.g.the dentist and speech pathologist and the x-ray specialist) in the use of videofluoroscopy for design, placement and modification of the prosthesis.


Eight sessile serrated adenoma (SSA), right colon polypectomies with focal invasive adenocarcinoma or high-grade dysplasia were studied to identify features indicating a high risk of transformation and characterize the morphologic features of serrated dysplasia; 6 cases had invasive adenocarcinoma; 2 were high-grade dysplasia. All 8 were microsatellite unstable-high and had absent hMLH1 nuclear immunoreactivity. The mean patient age at polypectomy was 69.5 years (range, 57.1-83.9 years). Mean polyp maximum dimension was 8.5 mm (range, 6-12 mm). The majority of each polyp was nonmalignant SSA. All 8 cases had an abrupt transition from benign to high-grade in situ or invasive malignancy. In the 6 invasive adenocarcinomas, the neoplasm extended directly down into the submucosa without lateral intramucosal spread. The mean maximum dimension of the invasive adenocarcinoma was 2.9 mm (range, 2-4 mm). All 8 cases had high-grade serrated-type dysplasia. The nonmalignant SSAs had marked expansion of the proliferative zone. Crypts adjacent to malignancy had moderately enlarged nuclei, irregular nuclear membranes, and overly prominent nucleoli. SSA crypts were lined by a variety of gastric-type cells; no cell type predominated. Foci of adjacent crypts had similar cytologic features. Small proximal SSAs can transform into adenocarcinoma without a component of adenomatous dysplasia.


This work was intended to direct the choice of an image interpolation/zoom algorithm for use in UND's Open Prototype for Educational Nanosats (OPEN) satellite program. Whether intended for a space-borne platform or a balloon-borne platform, we expect to use a low cost camera (Raspberry Pi) and expect to have very limited bandwidth for image transmission. However, the technique developed could be used for any imaging application. The approach developed analyzes overlapping $3\times 3$ blocks of pixels looking for "L" patterns that suggest the center pixel should be changed such that a triangle pattern results. We compare this approach against different types of single-frame image interpolation algorithms, such as zero-order-hold (ZOH), bilinear, bicubic, and the directional cubic convolution interpolation (DCCI) approach. We use the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and mean squared error (MSE) as the primary means of comparison. In all but one of the test cases the proposed method resulted in a lower MSE and higher PSNR than the other methods. Meaning this method results in a more accurate image after zooming than the other methods.


PURSH'S STATION FOR SCOLOPENDRIUM3 VULGARE RE-DISCOVERED -That the ladies of the Syracuse Botanical Club are both zealous and fortuinate may be shown by the following note from their Secretary, Mrs. M. J. Myers: "We have to day (Sept. 30) found Pursh's locality for Scolopendriurm vulgare.. Dr. Torrey in his work published in 1843, says: "It was first detected in N orth America by Pursh, who found it among loose rocks, in shady woods, near Onondaga, on the plantation of J. Geddes, Esq." That gentlemlian was grandfather to the present owvner, Mr. James (Greddes. The fern was discovered wheni his father, Mr. Geo. Geddes, was a lad. He saved a frond and many botanists have since that day searched for the fern, but it was left for us to rediscover it to-day. Some twenlty of us visited the farm to-dayc, anld separating inito two parties, explored thoroughly. Mrs. Barnes, our Vice-President, was probably the first lady who saw it, but several othlers were not far behind. The locality is not far from tle new station for Botrychium?, Lwnaria and Epipactis."


Discrete choice experiments (DCEs) are economic tools that elicit the stated preferences of respondents. Because of their increasing importance in informing the design of health products and services, it is critical to understand the extent to which DCEs give reliable predictions outside of the experimental context. We systematically reviewed the literature of published DCE studies comparing predictions to choices made in reality; we extracted individual-level data to estimate a bivariate mixed-effects model of pooled sensitivity and specificity. Eight studies met the inclusion criteria, and six of these gave sufficient data for inclusion in a meta-analysis. Pooled sensitivity and specificity estimates were 88% (95% CI 81, 92%) and 34% (95% CI 23, 46%), respectively, and the area under the SROC curve (AUC) was 0.60 (95% CI 0.55, 0.64). Results indicate that DCEs can produce reasonable predictions of health-related behaviors. There is a great need for future research on the external validity of DCEs, particularly empirical studies assessing predicted and revealed preferences of a representative sample of participants.


The field of evolutionary biology arose from the desire to understand the origin and diversity of biological forms. In recent years, however, evolutionary genetics, with its focus on the modification and inheritance of presumed genetic programs, has all but overwhelmed other aspects of evolutionary biology. This has led to the neglect of the study of the generative origins of biological form. Drawing on work from developmental biology, paleontology, developmental and population genetics, cancer research, physics, and theoretical biology, this book explores the multiple factors responsible for the origination of biological form. It examines the essential problems of morphological evolution -- why, for example, the basic body plans of nearly all metazoans arose within a relatively short time span, why similar morphological design motifs appear in phylogenetically independent lineages, and how new structural elements are added to the body plan of a given phylogenetic lineage. It also examines discordances between genetic and phenotypic change, the physical determinants of morphogenesis, and the role of epigenetic processes in evolution. The book discusses these and other topics within the framework of evolutionary developmental biology, a new research agenda that concerns the interaction of development and evolution in the generation of biological form. By placing epigenetic processes, rather than gene sequence and gene expression changes, at the center of morphological origination, this book points the way to a more comprehensive theory of evolution.


The photodegradation of the electro-optic chromophore 4N,N′-dimethylamino-4′nitrostilbene was investigated as a function of wavelength, temperature, local atmosphere, and local molecular environment, i.e., attached as a side chain to a polymer or dissolved as a guest in a host polymer.


BACKGROUND
Hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HIBI) occurs as a result of complete or partial disruption of cerebral oxygen supply. The physical and cognitive sequelae of adults following hypoxia varies widely.

OBJECTIVE
To systematically review studies exploring the neuropsychological outcomes following hypoxic brain insult in adults.

METHODS
Data was sourced using six databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, Medline, PsycInfo and Web of Science). Initial MESH terms identified 2,962 articles. After a three-stage independent review process, 18 articles, 9 case studies and 9 group studies were available for data synthesis from 1990-2012. Case study data was converted to standardised scores and compared to available test norms. Cohen's d was calculated to permit group data interpretation.

RESULTS
Intellectual decrement was observed in some studies although difficult to delineate given the lack of use of measures of premorbid ability. Cognitive sequelae varied albeit with predominant disturbance in verbal memory, learning ability and executive function observed across studies. Wechsler Memory Scale Revised (WMS-R) visual memory was comparable to normative data. Impaired Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCFT) performance was found among group studies. Across visuo-constructional and attention domains, performance varied, although no significant difference relative to reported means was observed.

CONCLUSIONS
Future studies should consider the use of standardised assessment protocols, which include measures of premorbid functioning and performance validity.


The paper presents a process-replication protocol which aims at providing fault-tolerance as well as performance improvement to applications such as long-running and real-time tasks. Identical delivering order of messages are enforced on all replicas of a troupe using multicasts for inter- and intra-troupe communication. The detailed design of the protocol is given in the paper. The protocol is self-contained in the sense that crashes in a troupe are handled internally without affecting the operation of other troupes. The crash-handling procedure is simple and associated overhead during fail-free operation is small. The protocol takes advantages of the redundancy of processes to expedite the completion of a distributed task by speeding up the determination of message sequences and transmission of outgoing data messages at the expense of small control messages. Simulation is carried out to show the performance improvement.<<ETX>>


In this study different treatment methods such as H2O2/UV, Fenton and photo-Fenton (Fe+n/H2O2/UV) treatments, have been used to investigate the removal of theMordant red 7 (MR7) azo dye fromaqueous solution. In photo-Fenton treatment, iron (Fe) powder was used as a cheap source of Fe2+ ions. Complete decolorization ofMR7 usingH2O2/UVprocess, achieved in less than 60 min. The photodegradation process was mainly effected by different parameters such as initial dye concentrations, [H2O2], pH value and presence of different inorganic salts such as carbonate, nitrate and chloride ions. The decrease in the degradation percent was in the order of Carbonate > chloride > nitrate ions. In comparison, the photo-Fenton treatment, using Fei'° powder as a source of Fe2+ ions, was more efficient in the decolorization ofMR7. It was found that complete decolorization ofMR 7 obtained in about 30 min. Furthermore,mineralization ofMR 7 was investigated using chemical oxygen demand (COD) experiment. The results indicated that, 66.67%of theMR7 dye wasmineralized usingH2O2/UVprocess in a 3.0 h photoperiod. While photo-Fenton treatment (in presence of Fe0 powder), wasmore efficient and resulted in completemineralization ofMR7 dye in about 2.0 h of photoperiod.


Ambient intelligence (AmI) is considered as the composition of three emergent technologies: ubiquitous computing, ubiquitous communication and intelligent user interfaces. The aim of integration of aforesaid technologies is to make wider the interaction between human beings and information technology equipment through the usage of an invisible network of ubiquitous computing devices composing dynamic computational-ecosystems capable of satisfying the users' requirements. Many works focus the attention on the interaction from users to devices in order to allow an universal and immediate access to available content and services provided by the environment. This paper, vice versa, focuses on the reverse interactions, from devices to users, in order to realize a collection of autonomous control services able to minimize the human effort. In particular, by merging computational intelligence methodologies with standard Web technologies we show how ubiquitous devices will be able to find the suitable set of 'intelligent' services in a transparent way.


OBJECTIVE
Atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) attacks is one of the common arrhythmias adversely affecting quality of life. The Umea 22 (U22) is a questionnaire developed for the assessment of symptoms associated with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), and it is found to be effective in evaluation of quality of life after radiofrequency ablation. Using this questionnaire, the study aimed to assess quality of life among Turkish patients with ANRT before and after the successful RFA.

METHODS
The study was conducted between January 2011 and September 2013, and included 57 patients who had undergone RFA due to AVNRT. The U22 questionnaire was administered pre-procedure and at 6 months post-procedure. The participants were asked to report on their general well-being, arrhythmia effects on their wellbeing, and intensity of discomfort associated with episodes. They were asked to provide a score from 1 to 10 in order to determine to severity of discomfort, and the quantity of symptoms was then assessed according to the visual analogue scale (VAS).

RESULTS
Patients' general wellbeing (7.5±2.3 vs. 8.7±1.8, p<0.001), the effects of arrhythmia episodes on general well-being (8.1±1.7 vs. 1.0±2.1, p<0.001), frequency of symptoms (2.8±0.8 vs. 0.4±0.9, p<0.001) and duration of symptoms were reduced significantly after RFA. The rate of drug use among patients also decreased after RFA (70% vs. 23%, p=0.017).

CONCLUSION
Treatment success was high in patients undergoing RFA due to AVNRT according to the U22 quality of life questionnaire. General and arrhythmia-associated quality of life had improved significantly by the 6th month post-procedure.


Particularly in low-data regimes, an outstanding challenge in machine learning is developing principled techniques for augmenting our models with suitable priors. This is to encourage them to learn in ways that are compatible with our understanding of the world. But in contrast to generic priors such as shrinkage or sparsity, we draw inspiration from the recent successes of large-scale language models (LMs) to construct task-specific priors distilled from the rich knowledge of LMs. Our method, Language Model Priors (LMPriors), incorporates auxiliary natural language metadata about the task—such as variable names and descriptions—to encourage downstream model outputs to be consistent with the LM's common-sense reasoning based on the metadata. Empirically, we demonstrate that LMPriors improve model performance in settings where such natural language descriptions are available, and perform well on several tasks that benefit from such prior knowledge, such as feature selection, causal inference, and safe reinforcement learning.


The idea of implementing reinforcement learning in a computer was one of the earliest ideas about the possibility of AI, but reinforcement learning remained on the margin of AI until relatively recently. Today we see reinforcement learning playing essential roles in some of the most impressive AI applications. This article presents observations from the author's personal experience with reinforcement learning over the most recent 40 years of its history in AI, focusing on striking connections that emerged between largely separate disciplines and on some of the findings that surprised him along the way. These connections and surprises place reinforcement learning in a historical context, and they help explain the success it is finding in modern AI. The article concludes by discussing some of the challenges that need to be faced as reinforcement learning moves out into real world.


Abstract Dental matrix systems are instruments used in the treatment of simple caries which replace the missing wall of the tooth during restoration. The aim of the study is to evaluate, using a questionnaire-based survey, the most used matrix systems among dentists and dentistry students. Materials and methods: Two hundred and fifty questionnaires containing 8 questions were distributed in electronic and printed format to dentists in Mureș and Harghita countries and dentistry students from 4th to 6th year of study at George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș. The obtained data were then analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SSPS 20.0.0. Statistical analysis was performed using the one tailed ANOVA and Tukey/ Kramer test. Significance level was set at a value of p<0.05. Results: Of the persons who completed the questionnaire 97.78% consider it important to use a matrix system during tooth restoration, 98.25 % use it when restoring class II Black cavities. Sectional matrixes are used most commonly during class II Black cavity restoration, for MOD cavities the circular matrix systems are the preferred ones. During class V Black cavity restoration only 5.45% of the doctors and students use a matrix system. Wooden wedge is used most frequently in combination with a matrix system. Only 3.3% always ask for a control X-ray after a tooth restoration. Conclusion: The use of matrix systems is considered to be very important by both dental students and dentists in the restoration of simple caries lesions and are most commonly used for a Black class II, III, IV, and MOD cavity. More importance should be given to follow-up X-rays after tooth restoration.


Based on a sample of 1,701 college and university students from 4 different sites in Switzerland, the U.S. and Argentina, this study investigated the interrelationships between insufficient coping skills under chronic stress and impaired general health. We aimed at developing standardized means for the "early" identification of students at risk for mental health problems, as these students might benefit from "early" interventions before psychiatric symptoms develop and may reach clinically relevant thresholds. All students completed 2 self-report questionnaires: the Coping Strategies Inventory "COPE" and the Zurich Health Questionnaire "ZHQ" which assesses "regular exercises", "consump¬tion behavior", "impaired physical health", "psychosomatic disturbances", and "impaired mental health". The data were subjected to structure analyses by means of Neural Network approaches, using the data subsets of the different study sites as independent "learning" and "test" samples. We found 2 highly stable COPE scales that quantified basic coping behavior in terms of "activity-passivity" and "defeatism-resilience". Excellent reproducibility across study sites suggested that the new scales represent socio-culturally independent personality traits. Correlation analyses carried out for external validation revealed a close relationship between high scores on the defeatism scale and impaired physical and mental health, thus underlining the clinical relevance of these scales. Specifically, our results suggested that (1) the proposed method provides powerful screening tools in the field of early detection and prevention of psychiatric disorders; and (2) physical activity (regular exercises) is likely to play a significant role not only in the prevention of health problems but also in early intervention programs.


This study examines the effectiveness of the strategic human resource management (HRM) function performed by the corporate human resource department of an Australian public-sector entity, before and after its corporatization. Multiple methods (including a survey of senior managers and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect the data. Despite an improvement in the overall level of strategic integration between HRM and strategic management, the rating of strategic HRM role effectiveness remained low. The results indicate that the strategic HRM function, as a corporate headquarters function, was more effective in its administrative role than in a value-adding function. The difficulty in balancing the dual roles of a corporate headquarter unit, together with the challenges of becoming a strategic business partner to line managers, provided the major impediments to effective strategic HRM.


In the next few years, as the number of EVs will become important, the smart grid will be solicited to satisfy high power demands. To deal with this problem, efficient power charge scheduling techniquesare required. In this paper, a scheduling protocol with a load management technique is introduced. The scheduling protocol is aimed first at minimizing peak loads due to multiple EVs charging at home while using pricing policies. Second, it aims at coordinating charging and discharging processes to achieve cost optimization and improve grid stability. An analytical formulation is given for the scheduling problem with a load management strategy. The simulation results showed the effectiveness of the proposed approach in minimizing peak loads, optimization cost and improving grid stability while satisfying the defined constraints.


E-learning has introduced new opportunities in teaching and learning electrical engineering subjects. This paper presents the architecture of a virtual engineering laboratory, designed to allow remote training in the control of DC, brushless DC, and stepper servomotors. An example of DC servomotors control on virtual laboratory is also presented.


BackgroundThere is growing recognition of the need for consistent and reliable reporting on mental health and addiction (MHA) services in Canada. While there have been improvements in the area of reporting within provinces, comparable measures across provinces are often confined to hospitalization data. The aim of this project was to test the feasibility of creating MHA performance indicators that could be compared across Canadian provinces.
MethodsA team of scientists from five provinces collaboratively developed the following six MHA performance indicators for ages 10 and up, using hospital, emergency, physician billing and mortality data (pop. 33.2 million):

Access to the same family physician for people with MHA problems
First contact for MHA problems was in an emergency department
Physician follow-up after hospitalization for MHA problems
Rate of suicide attempts among people diagnosed with MHA problems
Suicide rates among people diagnosed with MHA problems
Mortality of people diagnosed with MHA problems

To facilitate meaningful inter-provincial comparisons, consensus definitions and standardized analytic processes were developed. Within age groups, 95% CI's were calculated to determine if there were significant differences across years within age bands. Results are presented in a comparative format.
FindingsWe found similar patterns across provinces but significant variation in the absolute rates, with no province consistently best across all indicators. In general, outcomes were poor among adolescents and young adults compared to older groups.
ConclusionsThe results of this pilot indicate the process is feasible and meaningful. Future work could include generating comparisons on a regular basis to track system improvement; development of other measures of importance to stakeholders; and the expansion of the process to other provinces and territories. To our knowledge, this is the first report of provincial teams working collaboratively to generate comparable data on the performance of mental health services in Canada.


Abstract Urban morphology is important in a broad range of investigations across the fields of city planning, transportation, climate, energy, and urban data science. Characterising buildings with a set of numerical metrics is fundamental to studying the urban form. Despite the rapid developments in 3D geoinformation science, and the growing 3D data availability, most studies simplify buildings to their 2D footprint, and when taking their height into account, they at most assume one height value per building, i.e. simple 3D. We take the first step in elevating building metrics into full/true 3D, uncovering the use of higher levels of detail, and taking into account the detailed shape of a building. We set the foundation of the new research line on 3D urban morphology by providing a comprehensive set of 3D metrics, implementing them in openly released software, generating an open dataset containing 2D and 3D metrics for 823,000 buildings in the Netherlands, and demonstrating a use case where clusters and architectural patterns are analysed through time. Our experiments suggest the added value of 3D metrics to complement existing counterparts, reducing ambiguity, and providing advanced insights. Furthermore, we provide a comparative analysis using different levels of detail of 3D building models.


This paper reviews the theories of the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD), with a particular emphasis on its immunopathogenesis. The contribution of predisposing factors, immunopathogenic factors and provoking factors in the pathogenesis of AD are considered. Predisposing factors explored in this article include genetics and the disturbance of skin function. Immunopathogenic factors reviewed include T cell dysfunction, biphasic cytokine expression and the role of immunoglobulin E. Provoking factors considered include microbial factors, psychosomatic interactions, contact allergens and irritants, inhalant allergens, food and climate. Immunosuppressive treatments reviewed include cyclosporin, azathioprine, methotrexate, tacrolimus, interferon‐γ, phosphodiesterase inhibitors and pimecrolimus (SDZ ASM 981).


The influence of driver licensure on child motor vehicle crash (MVC) deaths in Kansas was investigated. Fatalities from 1994–2000 due to MVCs were extracted from the Kansas State Child Death Review Board and the Fatality Analysis Reporting Systems databases. It was found that 14% (52 of 363) of child fatalities from MVCs in Kansas occurred in vehicles where the driver was not licensed. Driver licence status was associated with use of safety restraints, the victim's age and race, weekend driving and rural county location. All child deaths involving unlicensed drivers were preventable. New legislation on vehicle sanctions may be required to assist law enforcement. Safety restraint laws should be enforced and promoted to the public. Transportation options are necessary for unlicensed drivers, particularly if they have young children and live in a rural community. Thus, a multi-system approach involving law enforcement, accident prevention strategies and transportation options will save the lives of children.


In this paper we present a discussion of the use of educational tests in guidance services as seen in the light of modern developments in statistical theory and computer technology, and of the increasing demands for such services. A focus and vocabulary for this discussion is found in Turnbull's recent article on "Relevance in Testing" (1968). Following an introductory discussion of the need for guidance services, some very recent work in Bayesian inference is reviewed and the implications of this work for educational research methodology are noted. Special attention is given to the Lindley equations which provide solutions for a number of problems in the comparative prediction of academic achievement. We suggest that in a changing educational environment the Bayesian methodology can provide an increase in the effectiveness of such programs as Horst's monumental Washington Pre-College Testing Program. We see comparative prediction as an idea whose time has come.


PURPOSE To investigate the image quality of a new direct digital mammography system using a large-area amorphous silicon X-ray detector in a phantom study. MATERIALS AND METHODS The contrast-detail resolution as a function of the tube voltages, the magnification factors and the mean glandular doses were investigated using dedicated test objects. RESULTS The contrast-detail resolution was significantly improved in comparison with conventional screen-film mammography. Usually, the doses necessary to obtain these high-quality survey mammograms were smaller. CONCLUSIONS By combining the direct magnification technique and a digital flat panel detector the limited spatial resolution of such image receptors can be overcome. With this direct digital mammography technique, a digital image was directly captured without an intermediate step of optical or mechanical scan.


We propose Markov two-components processes (M2CP) as a probabilistic model of asynchronous systems based on the trace semantics for concurrency. Consid- ering an asynchronous system distributed over two sites, we introduce concepts and tools to manipulate random trajectories in an asynchronous framework: stopping times, an Asynchronous Strong Markov property, recurrent and transient states and irreducible com- ponents of asynchronous probabilistic processes. The asynchrony assumption implies that there is no global totally ordered clock ruling the system. Instead, time appears as partially ordered and random. We construct and characterize M2CP through a nite family of transition matrices. M2CP have a local independence property that guarantees that local components are independent in the probabilistic sense, conditionally to their synchronization constraints. A synchronization product of two Markov chains is introduced, as a natural example of M2CP.


This paper proposes a novel algorithm that calibrates multiple cameras scattered across a broad area. The key idea of the proposed method is "using the position of an omnidirectional camera as a reference point." The common approach to calibrating multiple cameras assumes that the cameras capture at least some common points. This means calibration becomes quite difficult if there are no shared points in each camera's field of view (FOV). The proposed method uses the position of an omnidirectional camera to determine point correspondence. The position of an omnidirectional camera relative to the calibrated camera is estimated by the theory of epipolar geometry, even if the omnidirectional camera is placed outside the camera's FOV. This property makes our method applicable to multiple cameras scattered across a broad area. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations using synthesized and real data, e.g., a sports field, demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method.


In Market Complicity and Market Ethics (2011), Albino Barrera singles out the "principle of cooperation in another's wrongdoing" (PCW) as Catholic moral theology's main contribution to the issue. However, he deems it unsuitable for assessing our responsibility for accumulative yet unstructured market harms and proposes an alternative framework. This article argues that PCW works better for assessing market complicity. It operates with a more sophisticated account of agency and avoids certain inconsistencies that arise within Barrera's proposed framework. It is well-suited for an analysis of market complicity because it involves an appreciation of how one is not necessarily responsible for all the consequences of one's actions in per accidens causal arrangements, such as those of the market. Dominic Farrell, "Does the Principle of Cooperation in Wrongdoing Work When Assessing Economic Complicity?" Journal of Markets & Morality 22, no. 1 (Spring 2019): 99-116.


In attempting to gain some insight into the synthesis and analysis of a stable platform system the simple assumption that the platform can be analyzed on a single-axis basis is adopted. The single-axis analysis is then made applicable to the three-axis case by introducing a coupling factor. Of course, the shortcomings of this assumption, such as the omission of mechanical interactions, must be recognized. The inherently close association of the stability of the servo-system and the basis character of the input-output response will generally require that design requirements be compromised. The servosystem is essential to effect a suitable reduction in the influence of disturbances, and the factors involved in achieving stiffness must necessarily be considered. Finally, in discussing the design and features of the servoamplifiers it should be realized that the conditionally stable character of the system and the large attenuation involved in securing adequate phase lead create a difficult circuitry problem. In this regard, active research and development programs are under way toward the development of improved transistorized amplifiers.


The anti-obesity drug development is presently not a bright story. So far, drugs reported to be effective have stimulated controversies due to side effects they elicit. Obesity and its co-morbidities continue however to constitute major problems in both developed and developing countries. This has resulted in a continuous search for novel, cost-effective, safe and potent alternatives. This study investigated the ethanolic extracts of two Nigerian Aframomum species for their anti-lipase and anti-oxidant activities as well as estimates of their polyphenol contents. Lipase activity was determined using glyceryltrioleate emulsion as a substrate and measuring the release rate of oleic acid from it. Percentage inhibition of lipase by the methanolic extracts of plants was determined spectrophotometrically at T 0 and T 30 (30 minutes after incubation at 37 o C). DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity of the extracts and that of gallic acid as control was measured using the stable radical DPPH method and absorbance at 515 nm using a spectrophotometer. The IC 50 (half-maximal inhibitory concentration) value was calculated by linear regression analysis and the total phenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteau method at 765 nm. The standard curve was prepared by solutions of Gallic acid in methanol: water (50:50, v/v). Total phenol values are expressed in terms of Gallic acid equivalent (w/w of dry mass). Aframomum melegueta exhibited the highest phenolic content of 60.4 ± 2.36 mgGAE/g, a percentage antioxidant activity of 86.6 % at 200μg/ml and percentage lipase inhibition of 89% at 1mg/ml while Aframomum danielli revealed a total phenolic content of33.3 ± 2.71mgGAE/g, a percentage antioxidant activity of 77.3% at 200μg/ml and percentage lipase inhibition of 73% at 1 mg/ml. The result provides some justifications for the use of these plants in ethno-medicine for the management of obesity. The species exhibited properties that are beneficial to health and therefore could find use as an alternative and/or complementary strategy in managing associated co-morbidities of obesity, and also as possible template for future anti-obesity drug development. Keywords: Pancreatic lipase, Aframomum , Orlistat ® , Obesity


ICRH is often used in experiments to simulate destabilization of Alfven eigenmodes by thermonuclear α‐particles. Whereas the slowing down distribution of α‐particles is nearly isotropic, the ICRH creates an anisotropic distribution function with non‐standard orbits. The ICRH does not only build up gradients in phase space, which destabilizes the AEs, but it also provides a strong phase decorrelation mechanism between ions and AEs. Renewal of the distribution function by thermonuclear reactions and losses of α‐particles to the wall lead to a continuous drive of the AEs. Simulations of the non‐linear dynamics of AEs and the impact they have on the heating profile due to particle redistribution are presented.


In a study of the distribution of the woody vegetation along the Arkansas River in Finney County, Kansas, it was found that the dominant species were salt cedar (Tamarix pentandra), plains cottonwood (Populus sargentii), and sandbar willow (Salix interior). Those species which occurred, but less frequently were peach leaved willow (Salix amygdaloides), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Russian olive (Elaegnus angustifolia), mulberry (Morus rubra), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and coyote bush (Baccharis glutinosa). Of the three dominant species cottonwood showed the greatest total foliage cover, followed by salt cedar and sandbar willow, respectively. Although cottonwood produced the greatest amount of foliage cover it was second to salt cedar in the number of plants encountered in the transects. Foliage cover of all the plants encountered was greater in the eastern part of the country than in the west, but when the percent of foliage cover per transect was considered, just the opposite was true. When considering the total number of plants of all species the greatest number occurred in the western end of the county and the fewest in the eastern most part of the study area. In height and crown depth of the dominant plants it was found that salt cedar was tallest in the west and shortest in the east. The average height and crown depth of cottonwood was relatively stable all the way across the county. Sandbar willow was tallest in the east and shortest in the west. When comparing the north side of the river with the south side, it was found that the greatest number of woody plants occurred on the north side. Considering the dominant species individually, it was found that both salt cedar and cottonwood were more numerous on the north side than on the south side but the opposite was true when considering sandbar willow. The heights and crown depths did not vary greatly from one side to the other. Due to the flooding which occurred during the summer of 1965, considerable damage was done to the herbaceous vegetation. The survey of herbaceous vegetation cannot be of great value when considering the normal conditions. Woody vegetation during the same flood seemed to be less affected.


Recently, point set surfaces have been the focus of a large number of research efforts. Several different methods have been proposed to define surfaces from points and have been used in a variety of applications. However, so far little is know about the mathematical properties of the resulting surface. A central assumption for most algorithms is that the surface construction is well defined within a neighborhood of the samples. However, it is not clear that given an irregular sampling of a surface this is the case. The fundamental problem is that point based methods often use a weighted least squares fit of a plane to approximate a surface normal. If this minimization problem is ill-defined so is the surface construction. In this paper, we provide a proof that given reasonable sampling conditions the normal approximations are well defined within a neighborhood of the samples. Similar to methods in surface reconstruction, our sampling conditions are based on the local feature size and thus allow the sampling density to vary according to geometric complexity.


Background: Our aim was to explore the role of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) questionnaires in transition from no cognitive impairment to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in comparison to neuropsychological tests. Methods: We monitored 397 community-dwelling elderly from a Memory Clinic every 6 months with Nottingham IADL, mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), Addenbrooke cognitive assessment and frontal assessment battery. Results: IADL impairment in older people free of dementia was a powerful predictor of incident dementia similar in magnitude to neuropsychological tests. IADL had high correlations (r = 0.37 - 0.47) with initial MMSE, MoCA, frontal assessment battery and Addenbrooke cognitive examination-R (ACE-R) with highly significant P values (< 0.0001). There were also high correlations between IADL at baseline and at 6, 12 and 24 months. Literature search disclosed 22 articles measuring IADL questionnaires (IADL-Q). Conclusions: IADL-Q are a simple cost-free method for measuring cognitive function and predicting incident dementia. J Neurol Res. 2015;5(1-2):153-159 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jnr316w


Local bentonite claywas organicallymodified via cation exchange reaction using four ionic liquids (ILs: MPrPI,MPrPPI,BMIMandBrPrMIM) differing in their chemical architecture. In order to confirm the insertion of these ILs in layered silicates, basal spacings of interlamellar structure, have been characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, results indicate that the interlayer spacing of the piperidiniumorgano-bentonite ranged from14.46 to 14.86 A, while it ranged between 13.10 and 14.46 A in imidazolium organo-bentonite. More specifically, a monolayer configuration of ILs within the interlayer space was indicated by XRD results. To obtain information on the thermal stability and degradation products, thermals properties of these imidazolium and piperidinium ions exchanged on the surface of bentonite were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG) fromroom temperature to 400°C. These thermal measurements revealed that organobentonite showed two distinct regions; (I) from 50 to 150°C corresponds to the removal of adsorbed water and the elimination of the water species coordinated to the interlayer cations; (II) thermal degradation of ionic liquids took place in the temperature range of 150 - 350°C, also, the imidazolium modified bentonites were thermally more stable than those modified with piperidinium. These results seem to be promising regarding to the potential application of these modified bentonites as adsorbents or for the melt processing preparation of nanocomposites.


We model the decisions of young individuals to stay in school or drop-out and engage in criminal activities. We build on the literature on human capital and crime engagement and use the framework of Banerjee (1993) that assumes that the information needed to engage in crime arrives in the form of a rumor and that individuals update their beliefs about the profitability of crime relative to education. These assumptions allow us to study the effect of social interactions on crime. We first show that a society with fully rational students is less vulnerable to crime than an otherwise identical society with boundedly rational students. We also investigate the spillovers from the actions of talented students to less talented students and show that policies that decrease the cost of education for talented students may increase the vulnerability of less talented students to crime. This is always the case when the heterogeneity of students with respect to talent is sufficiently small.


A recent review by Hendy et al 1 discusses the use of anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) drug and anti-drug antibody (ADAb) measurements to achieve a personalised approach to treating patients with inflammatory bowel disease with loss of response (LOR) to protein-based TNF-antagonist therapy. While highly appreciated and filling an important gap in the current management of patients with LOR, the review leaves out important pharmacoimmunological information related to drug immunogenicity, particularly the clinical relevance of technologies used to measure ADAb.2

It should be noted that blood levels of infused or injected anti-TNF drugs vary considerably in the periods between repeated drug administrations (figure 1). Assessing circulating drug levels is therefore highly dependent upon the time from drug administration to blood sampling. If ADAb develops, these variations are even more complex, and assessments of drug and ADAb become dependent on time of blood sampling and on the kinetics of binding between drug and ADAb. The latter governs formation of immune complexes containing drug and ADAb, the size and stability of these complexes, their ability to bind and activate other serum components such as complement and, subsequently, elimination of the immune complexes from the circulation. In this scenario, the test characteristics of a given assay will markedly affect the reported levels of both drug and ADAb. While a test designed …


Physicians are losing revenue every day by failing to capture the charges for all of the work that we do. In an attempt to capture charges more efficiently, my partner and I decided to incorporate a mobile charge capture solution, maxRVU, into our practice. With just three simple procedure codes, my partner and I were able to capture charges for about 350 more patients, resulting in over $100,000 more in captured charges. In this medical environment of diminishing reimbursement and increasing practice costs, physicians should capture and charge for all of the work they are doing, which can be easily done using mobile charge capture.