Objective
To assess changes over time in quality of hospital care in relation to the first accreditation cycle in Denmark.

Design, setting and participants
We performed a multi-level, longitudinal, stepped-wedge, nationwide study of process performance measures to evaluate the impact of a mandatory accreditation programme in all Danish public hospitals. Patient-level data (n = 1 624 518 processes of care) on stroke, heart failure, ulcer, diabetes, breast cancer and lung cancer care were obtained from national clinical quality registries.

Intervention
The Danish Healthcare Quality Programme was introduced in 2009, aiming to create a framework for continuous quality improvement.

Main outcome
Changes in week-by-week trends of hospital care during the study period of 269 weeks prior to, during and post-accreditation.

Results
The quality of hospital care improved over time throughout the study period. The overall positive change in trend odds ratio (OR) = 1.002 per week; 95% confidence interval (CI: 0.997-1.006) observed when comparing the period during accreditation with the period prior to accreditation was not significant. However, when restricting the analyses to processes of care where the performance did not meet target values for satisfactory quality prior to accreditation, we found a significant positive change in trend (OR = 1.006 per week; 95% CI: 1.001-1.011). When comparing the post-accreditation period with the period during accreditation, we found a significantly reduced trend (OR = 0.994 per week; 95% CI: 0.988-0.999), indicating the improvement in quality of care continued but at a lower rate than during accreditation.

Conclusion
These findings support the hypothesis that hospital accreditation leads to improvements in patient care.


The versatility in form factors of thermal shape memory alloys (SMA) in combination with their unique actuation and sensing abilities allow for the design and construction of innovative multifunctional systems. Despite the considerable number of advantages, like their exceptional energy density, only a few SMA-based actuator systems are commercially available. One of the main reasons for this is their inefficient thermal activation and the resulting high energy consumption. The efficiency of SMA-based actuator systems can be improved by innovative design and control approaches.
In the first part, the intelligent combination of SMA actuator wires with bi-stable, nonlinear spring elements is described. This combination eliminates oftentimes-quoted disadvantages of SMAs – slow actuation and energy-inefficiency – for a wide range of applications. In particular, two energy-free actuator configurations are realized, which can be applied to any non-proportional actuation tasks. The second approach for the realization of high-speed actuation and energy-efficiency is the activation of SMA wires with high voltage pulses, which leads to actuation times in the millisecond-range and energy-savings up to 80 % in comparison to the suppliers' recommendations. It is shown that even high AC voltages like typical mains supplies can be directly used for highly efficient SMA activation.


This paper assesses the economic value of changes in the attributes of farmers' irrigation water property rights in Tunisia. Changes on attributes generated by the transfer process of the property rights from the collective to the individual level in addition to changes in "constitutional" attributes were integrated into three scenarios. The valuation was conducted using the Contingent Valuation Method through the elicitation of individuals' willingness to pay. Results show positive willingness to pay values for all scenarios. However, farmers of the studied region are shown willing to pay more for changes in the constitutional attributes. Furthermore their willingness to pay appears to be most affected by their perceptions concerning the organization and the functioning of the water users' association to which they belong and by their productivity.


Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical practice changes in an effort to reduce peripherally inserted central catheter thrombosis risk. Patients and Method A retrospective analysis of adult patients in the acute care setting. Results A total number of 1307 charts of patients who received PICCs were reviewed encompassing the months of January 2008, October 2008 and August 2010. During the period from January 2008 to October 2008, clinical practice changes were made to include the use of ultrasound guidance. Ensuring catheter tip termination in the superior vena cava with the addition of ultrasound technology as an insertion practice combined to decrease symptomatic PICC related deep vein thrombosis rates from 4.8% to 2.9%. During the period from October 2008 to August 2010, an additional practice was introduced that involved measurement and documentation of vein diameters(without the use of a tourniquet) prior to all PICC insertion procedures. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) rates dropped further from 2.9% to 1.4% during this period. Conclusion Obtaining central tip location and using ultrasound guidance for PICC placement are effective in reducing PICC related DVT. Additionally, routine measurement of vein diameters in their native state and use of that information to ensure that the vessel diameter is at least twice the outer diameter of the catheter is an effective practice to reduce DVT rates and reduce thrombosis risk.


An architecture to deploy virtual IP networks with P2P-like dynamic topology management is described. Existing virtual IP network deployment mechanisms do not allow for dynamic topology adaptation and fault-tolerance since provisioning of IP tunnels is performed only once when a virtual network is deployed. We propose a P2P-XBone, in which a P2P protocol such as DHT drives the topology and the routing table of a virtual IP network consistent with its neighbor node state. We describe how to extend both the existing X-Bone system and P2P protocols to achieve interworking between them. The P2P-XBone not only provides P2P's characteristics such as self-organization, fault-tolerance and content-based routing to virtual IP networks but also provides higher forwarding performance and simpler implementation to P2P systems due to the availability of existing network services. We also show several evaluation results on the overhead of P2P-driven provisioning and on forwarding performance.


The wireless power transfer (WPT) circuits are very promising to conduct therapy in several conditions especially in neurological stimulation. In the WPT designs, a high efficiency rectification and a DC output regulation are performed simultaneously using active rectifier without the need of an additional regulating circuits. However, the significant ripple appeared at the DC output voltage waveform so that reducing the efficiency of the rectifier. This is due to the application of NMOS as a switching device, where the threshold voltage of NMOS is strongly influenced by the body bias voltage. In this paper, the design of the active class E rectifiers using PMOS switch produces the DC output voltage waveform with an average ripple over 0-100% duty cycle is 16.7%. With simple structure and compact size, this proposed active class E rectifier can be applied for the future Hybrid WPT applications especially in low power operations.


The primary purpose of this study was to determine the confidence levels of School-based Agricultural Education (SBAE) teachers to integrate biology concepts in plant and animal science courses. The researchers also sought to describe the demographic characteristics of New Mexico SBAE teachers. This study used a descriptive-correlational research design. Teachers were asked to identify their confidence levels to teach the state standards of the animal science and plant science course that matched course objectives in biology and life science. The teachers had an average age of 39 and reported having an average of 13 years of teaching experience. The majority of New Mexico SBAE teachers received secondary science teacher certification and over 70% had obtained a master's degree. Teachers felt the least confident to teach the processes of cell division, including binary fission, mitosis, and meiosis. Teachers felt the most confident integrating biology concepts within lessons dealing with the nutrients required by plants, how they obtain and transport those nutrients, as well as teaching the evolution of plants from green algae. The findings suggest that there are some relationships between years of teaching experience, school size, and teachers receiving the science certification.


Millimeter wave (mm-Wave) wireless technology has invaded every aspect of modern life because of its ability to transmit data quickly and securely. This paper presented a square patch antenna at a resonance frequency of 26.2GHz for millimeter wave wireless communication. The proposed antenna consists of single square radiating element. The suggested antenna was designed using CST Microwave Studio's version 2020 on a Rogers RO 3003 lossy substrate with a relative permittivity of 3 . The result of this paper shows a minimum S11 of 19.34 dB, a gain of 6.97dBi, with bandwidth of 2GHz at the resonant frequency of 26.2GHz. The gain was enhanced to 16dBi and 25.8dBi with a high radiation efficiency by converting the single element patch antenna to a uniform linear array of 8 elements and uniform planar array of 8 × 8 elements respectively. The simulation results show that despite the simple design of the patch (without holes and cracks), which facilitates manufacturing in a small size; However, it achieves higher gain than the more complex designs found in the previous literature to suit mm wave communication requirements. Also, we used CST Microwave Studio for simulation which provides two methods for implementing arrays: the array factor method, which builds virtual arrays (the direct method), or building arrays by repeating the elements depending on the required size of the array, A comparison has been conducted between the numerical analysis of both methods, and the results show that even though the numerical analysis of the second method gives more accurate results that can be close to a manufactured antenna array, it needs high processing ability and time. Creating arrays with array factor may save time and processing ability but the results may not be accurate. Therefore, a relation was driven to show the error that can be added to give precise results.


Folic acid-O-carboxymethyl chitosan ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (FA-OCMCS-USPIO-NPs) are a novel molecular targeting MR contrast agent. This paper reperts the pharmacokinetics and magnetic resonance response characteristics of FA-OCMCS-USPIO-NPs in normal rats and mice, and discussed its distributing regularity in animals, providing basis for tumor targeting imaging. O-phenanthroline method was used to determine iron content in rats' plasma and mice's organs following high and low doses of nanoparticles injected through tail vein, and the blood concentration-time curve was drawn, the calculated t1/2 of two groups were greater than 7 h. The results of tissue distribution showed that only a small part of nanoparticles were swallowed by the liver and spleen, while none in the heart, lung and kidney. At the same times, the phagocytosis of nanoparticles did not change with the dose. The results of MRI showed that renal excretion occurred 4 hours after injection, and signal to noise ratio (SNR) of liver and kidney returned to normal levels 24 hours after injection. There were no nanoparticles in the lungs. So a part of nanoparticles escaped from phagocytosis of liver and spleen, and it owned lower toxicity and longer half-life. indicated its use for tumor-targeting imaging. All of these indicated its use for tumor-targeting imaging.


Typical stereo displays stimulate incorrect focus cues because the light comes from a single surface. The consequences of incorrect focus cues include discomfort, difficulty perceiving the depth of stereo images, and incorrect perception of distance. This thesis describes a prototype stereo display comprising two independent volumetric displays. Each volumetric display is implemented with three image planes, which are fixed in position relative to the viewer, and are arranged so that the retinal image is the sum of light from three different focal distances. Scene geometry is rendered separately to the two fixed-viewpoint volumetric displays, using projections that are exact for each eye. Rendering is filtered in the depth dimension such that object radiance is apportioned to the two nearest image planes, in linear proportion based on reciprocal distance.
Fixed-viewpoint volumetric displays with adequate depth resolution are shown to generate near-correct stimulation of focus cues. Depth filtering, which is necessary to avoid visible artifacts, also improves the accuracy of the stimulus that directs changes in the focus of the eye. Specifically, the stimulus generated by depth filtering an object whose simulated distance falls between image-plane distances closely matches the stimulus that would be generated by an image plane at the desired distance. Viewers of the prototype display required substantially less time to perceive the depth of stereo images that were rendered with depth filtering to approximate correct focal distance.
Fixed-viewpoint volumetric displays are shown to be a potentially practical solution for virtual reality viewing. In addition to near-correct stimulation of focus cues, and unlike more familiar autostereoscopic volumetric displays, fixed-viewpoint volumetric displays retain important qualities of 3-D projective graphics. These include correct depiction of occlusions and reflections, utilization of modern graphics processor and 2-D display technology, and implementation of realistic fields of view and depths of field. The design and verification of the prototype display are fully described. While not a practical solution for general-purpose viewing, the prototype is a proof of concept and a platform for ongoing vision research.


Fecal incontinence is a devastating condition that has a severe impact on quality of life. This condition disproportionately affects women and its incidence is increasing with the aging United States population. Fecal continence is maintained by coordination of a functioning anal sphincter complex, intact sensation of the anorectum, rectal compliance, and the ability to consciously control defecation. Particularly important are the puborectalis sling of the levator ani muscle complex and intact innervation of the central and peripheral nervous systems. An understanding of the intricate anatomy required to maintain continence and regulate defecation will help clinicians to provide appropriate medical and surgical management and diminish the negative impact of fecal incontinence. In this article, we describe the anatomic and neural basis of fecal continence and normal defecation as well as changes that occur with fecal incontinence in women. Clin. Anat. 30:901–911, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Sixty‐four malignant lung tumours and 12 of their regional lymph node metastases were analysed for expression of the laminin γ2 chain by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. Expression of the laminin γ2 chain was strongest in squamous cell carcinomas, followed by adenocarcinomas and large cell carcinomas. Positive cells, except for large cell carcinomas, were located at the epithelial–stromal interface of tumour clusters. An important exception was small cell lung carcinoma, with only a low level of laminin γ2 chain expression. Apart from tumour type, this may reflect the relatively scanty fibrous stroma in these tumours and supports previous observations that small cell lung carcinoma cells, contrary to other types, lack surface expression of α6β4 integrin, the specific laminin‐5 binding receptor. In frozen sections, immunohistochemistry showed linear basement membranes around tumour clusters in squamous cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas. This shows that carcinoma cells are capable of heavy deposition of the laminin γ2 chain around tumour clusters and suggests that a laminin γ2 chain‐containing substrate may be of significance for the spread and growth of malignant tumours. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper addresses the challenge of sound typestate verification, with acceptable precision, for real-world Java programs. We present a novel framework for verification of typestate properties, including several new techniques to precisely treat aliases without undue performance costs. In particular, we present a flowsensitive, context-sensitive, integrated verifier that utilizes a parametric abstract domain combining typestate and aliasing information.To scale to real programs without compromising precision, we present a staged verification system in which faster verifiers run as early stages which reduce the workload for later, more precise, stages.We have evaluated our framework on a number of real Java programs, checking correct API usage for various Java standard libraries. The results show that our approach scales to hundreds of thousands of lines of code, and verifies correctness for 93% of the potential points of failure.


In this paper, a fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) based technique for the elimination of amplitude and phase distortions in the transmultiplexer (TMUX) is presented. The core elements of the TMUX, the synthesis and analysis filter banks cause amplitude and phase changes due to the filtering operations in the filter banks thereby altering the perfect reconstruction property. This study investigates a new approach to transmultiplexer design in the processing of the nonstationary signals.


The Leslie Street Spit is best known as an urban wilderness refuge but it has a fascinating, although obscure, social history. Archaeological methods are used here to uncover the material associations between the Leslie Street Spit and the City of Toronto. This approach reveals that the Spit reflects the past planning practice and creative destruction of the city. The Spit is found to contain artifacts of the past such as domestic items and rubble that resulted from slum clearing practices of the 1960s and development-driven planning practice of the 1980s. In its present state, the Leslie Street Spit acts as the romanticised ruins of the City of Toronto, composed of the material elements of the city that were discarded so that new and "up-to-date" forms of architecture could take their place.


The tensile properties and the microstructure of an Al-7%Si-0.6%Mg-0.5%Cu rheo-cast component were investigated. The material underwent a T5 treatment, consisting in ageing at 160, 175 and 190°C for durations ranging from 0.5 to 48h. Tensile testing indicated that the T5 treatment resulted in a relatively good level of strength and in a comparatively low ductility. In order to improve ductility, maintaining as low as possible the cost of the final component, a single solution treatment at 500°C for 4h was subsequently applied. The tensile strength and ductility of the solution treated and aged material were higher than in the T5 condition. These differences were attributed to the microstructural evolution occurring during exposure at 500°C, in particular to the spheroidization of eutectic-Si and to a more homogeneous distribution of the precipitates.


Chronic Kidney Disease ? Mineral Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD) is a systemic disorder which includes abnormal bone chemistry, vascular or soft tissue calcification, and abnormal bone formation. Many of the parameters of CKD-MBD have been associated with an increased mortality risk in renal patients. There were three main facets to this research project. The first aim of this research was to perform two different studies using the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Standards Implementation Study (CRISIS) data. This prospective epidemiological study is designed to identify factors associated with renal progression and survival in the pre-dialysis CKD population. We have shown that for each 0.323mmol/L (1mg/dL) increase in serum phosphate there was a significant stepwise increased risk of death. (HR1.3 (1.1, 1.5) P=0.01). The association of baseline phenotypic data against vascular stiffness measurements was also investigated. Augmentation index measured at the radial artery was associated with a raised systolic blood pressure but no association with biochemical abnormalities was found.We hypothesised that the phosphate effect on survival was related to the effects within the CKD-MBD spectrum and therefore control of secondary hyperparathyroidism would improve bone and cardiovascular parameters. Therefore for the second part of this research we performed a randomised controlled trial to examine the effects of cinacalcet with standard therapy compared to standard therapy alone on bone and cardiovascular parameters in haemodialysis patients with uncontrolled hyperparathyroidism. The change of biochemical parameters and cardiovascular markers were also further explored in secondary analyses alongside survival data. The primary end point of change in vascular calcification at 52 weeks showed no significant difference between arms. As equivalent control of phosphate and iPTH was achieved in both arms secondary analyses were performed. This showed a significant regression of left ventricular hypertrophy and carotid intima-media thickness associated with phosphate but not iPTH reduction. Patients whose phosphate reduced during the study had a survival advantage when followed for 5 years (HR=10.2 (1.1, 104.5) P=0.049). The third part of this research was to investigate iPTH assay variability. We explored the variation in iPTH assays across the North West and paired this with regional audit data. This study showed that despite there being significant variation among iPTH assays across the region the variation in clinical management was still accounting for some variation in achieving PTH targets.In conclusion, serum phosphate, within the normal laboratory range, is associated with an increased mortality in CKD patients. Haemodialysis patients may have improvement of cardiovascular outcomes with tight control of secondary hyperparathyroidism, by whichever therapeutic means. Intact PTH assays variation may alter our clinical management but variation in practice still affects guideline achievement.


Background: Increasing use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) is seen as a promising strategy to prevent unintended pregnancies, particularly among young women. In this study, we examined correlates of young women's interest in using an IUD, including sources of information about, knowledge of, and attitudes towards IUDs. Methods: We conducted a national Web survey of young adults (ages 18-29) in 2012. Using a subset of data from 382 sexually experienced young women who had never used an IUD, we employed multinominal logit regression models to examine differences in IUD interest. Findings: Twenty percent of women in the sample were interested in using an IUD in the future, while 32% were not and 48% were unsure. Women who thought IUDs were unattractive due to the devices being inside their bodies; the need for provider insertion and removal; or the potential for pain during insertion were less likely to be interested in ever using an IUD. Those who found IUDs attractive due to the ease of use; the ability to have sex without interruption or a barrier method; the option of a non-hormonal method; the potential length of use; the internal nature of the method; or the high level of effectiveness were more likely to be interested. Conclusions: These data suggest that young women's attitudes toward IUDs are strongly linked to their interest – or lack thereof – in using an IUD. Health care providers attuned to women's contraceptive preferences are well poised to help their patients match to methods that best accommodate these preferences.


Objectives
Low birthweight (LBW) is strongly associated with neonatal mortality. Evidence that nutrition education improves diet during pregnancy and reduces LBW is still weak. We investigated the effect of a nutrition education intervention for pregnant women in improving birthweight of infants. Our primary hypothesis was that women who receive the 'balanced plate nutrition education' during pregnancy would deliver babies 100 g heavier than those who receive standard nutrition education.

Methods
We conducted a parallel, two-arm, cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh, in which we randomly assigned 36 clusters in equal ratio to intervention or standard care. Participants in the intervention clusters received 'balanced plate nutrition education' with a practical demonstration from community health workers 4-7 times starting from the first trimester of pregnancy. The participants in the control clusters received standard nutrition education delivered by healthcare providers during antenatal care. Eligible participants were pregnant women of 12 weeks gestation or less. The primary outcome was mean birthweight and incidence of LBW (defined as birthweight less than 2500 gm). The trial is registered with number ACTRN12616000080426.

Results
We included all assigned participants in the intervention (445) and comparison (448) groups in the analyses (Figure 1). Baseline characteristics were balanced between the treatment groups (Table 1). The mean birthweight increased by 125.3 g (95% confidence interval (CI) 5·7, 244·9; P = 0·04) and the risk of LBW was reduced by 54% (relative risk (RR) 0·46; 95% CI 0·28, 0·78; P = 0·004) in the intervention compared to the comparison group (Table 2). In post hoc analyses amongst adolescent mothers we observed a significant improvement in birthweight and reduction in LBW (mean difference 297·3 g; 95% CI 85·0, 509·6; P = 0·006 and RR 0·31; 95% CI 0·12, 0·77; P = 0·01).

Conclusions
A community-based balanced plate nutrition education was effective in increasing birthweight and reducing the incidence of LBW in a rural population of Bangladesh.A community-based, balanced-plate nutrition education was effective in increasing birthweight and reducing the incidence of low birthweight in a rural population of Bangladesh.

Funding Sources
James P. Grant School of Public Health; Bangladesh, and Sydney Medical School; Australia.

Supporting Tables Images and/or Graphs


- The simulation of human processes using Artificial Intelligence (AI) features is finding place in various fields including the e-learning environment. Chatbot system using text and voice, recognizing images, analyzing the sentiments, and generating natural language is latest utility based on AI concepts. The chatbot systems are becoming more common due to their benefits as a support mechanism helping human beings in their day to day tasks. This project aimed at developing and testing a chatbot system to communicate with the education sector users using natural language through android based application creating a smart education environment. The project developed an online chatting platform using Artificial Linguistic Internet Computer Entity (ALICE) Pattern Matching techniques where students could communicate related to their learning activities such as submission deadline of the reports and assignments, student's information, co-curricular and extracurricular activities. The system design uses a Raspberry Pi 3 which works as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) server and uses three different types of pattern matching techniques which are keyword detection, symbolic reduction, and synonyms resolution. An android user interface application is also designed which works as TCP client. The system design uses a database for student information system in the Python server. The obtained results are in voice and text format from the android user interface application and are displayed on Python Interpreter. The developed project system can enhance the student engagement in learning activities. This system can also help teachers in saving their time and to support them to utilize their class timings for other co-curricular activities like synchronous and asynchronous activities to support active learning and flipped learning. The proposed system has the potential to test and analyze various factors as use of technology, student learning including impact of student engagements in their learning activities.


ABSTRACT Background: Human Resources for Health (HRH) are important towards attainment of the health sector reform goal of universal health coverage in resource-constrained health systems. We used the Decision Space Approach to analyse decision space, innovation, and change in HRH reform policy interventions in Epworth, a peri-urban community in Zimbabwe. Methods: The study design was exploratory and cross-sectional. In this, we firstly explored the healthcare worker reform policy at the principal level to determine the main policy result areas. Findings enabled us to develop an HRH Decision Space Mapping Analysis Conceptual Tool consisting of six main policy result areas. We then used it to analyse decision space, innovation, and outcomes towards healthcare worker reform at the agent level in Epworth. Interpretive thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were used to facilitate analysis. Findings: Narrow decision space and functional innovation in the context of moderate decision space helps not only initiate healthcare worker reform interventions but also mitigate local incapacities to sustain the process. Future research may adopt the Conceptual Tool developed to facilitate analysis of decision space, innovation, and outcomes in local health systems focusing on the six policy result areas towards the health system reform goal of universal health coverage.


Numerous Grid workflow engines exist, each generally specialized for a single application domain such as protein folding. Although the underlying purpose and functionality of the Grid workflow engines are similar, and they make use of a common set of Grid protocols, the implementations vary vastly, making interoperation among them nearly impossible. On the other hand, the concept of workflows of Web services is very popular in the enterprise domain and many engines exist for business workflows. These mostly revolve around the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL), an emerging standard for Web services workflow description. We study three different business workflow engines - Microsoft's BizTalk Server, Microsoft's Windows Workflow Foundation and Oracle's Business Process Manager and analyze how each of these engines can be adapted to e-science and the Grid environment. We have implemented widely-used grid workflows on each of these engines and show quantitatively and qualitatively that each business engine has positive and negative aspects for large-scale e-science.


This paper presents a theoretical and empirical analysis of Expected Sarsa, a variation on Sarsa, the classic on-policy temporal-difference method for model-free reinforcement learning. Expected Sarsa exploits knowledge about stochasticity in the behavior policy to perform updates with lower variance. Doing so allows for higher learning rates and thus faster learning. In deterministic environments, Expected Sarsas updates have zero variance, enabling a learning rate of 1. We prove that Expected Sarsa converges under the same conditions as Sarsa and formulate specific hypotheses about when Expected Sarsa will outperform Sarsa and Q-learning. Experiments in multiple domains confirm these hypotheses and demonstrate that Expected Sarsa has significant advantages over these more commonly used methods.


Interactions among microbes within microbial communities have been shown to play crucial roles in human health. In spite of recent progress, low-level knowledge of bacteria driving microbial interactions within microbiomes remains unknown, limiting our ability to fully understand and control microbial communities. In this study, we present a novel approach for identifying driver species within microbiomes. Bakdrive infers ecological networks of given metagenomic sequencing samples and identifies minimum sets of driver species using control theory. Bakdrive has three key innovations in this space: (i) it leverages inherent information from metagenomic sequencing samples to identify driver species, (ii) it explicitly takes host-specific variation into consideration, and (iii) it does not require a known ecological network. In extensive simulated data, we demonstrate identifying driver species identified from healthy donor samples and introducing them to the disease samples, we can restore the gut microbiome in recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection patients to a healthy state. We also applied Bakdrive to two real datasets, rCDI and Crohn's disease patients, uncovering driver species consistent with previous work. In summary, Bakdrive provides a novel approach for teasing apart microbial interactions. Bakdrive is open-source and available at https://gitlab.com/treangenlab/bakdrive


In manufacturing, the descriptions on manufacturing tasks are usually vague, incomplete and inconsistent in industry. The task model and its semantic description method are the guarantee of quality of service (QoS), also the foundation for further study of ontology-based service discovery and matching in manufacturing grid (MG). The definition and types of MG task are presented. The combination of ontology with MG study, in terms of analyzing basic classes in MG, and basic ontology classes, requirement model of service capacity and description mode of MG task are proposed. According to the description model of service capacity, the semantic description method for MG tasks is put forward.


This paper investigates how a non-profit, interest-free bank applies market orientation to provide superior value to customers. A theoretical framework integrating market orientation, trust, organisational networking and superior customer value has been developed. A qualitative method was used for data collection and analysis. E-mails, printed booklets, bank newsletters, member surveys and other studies on the bank provided additional information. This research offers an understanding of how networking and trust are developed to ensure effective market orientation for value creation. As a theoretical contribution, three value categories, i.e. product-led, customer-led and market-led, were identified in the non-profit organisational context.


Göbekli Tepe is the name of a remarkable archaeological site that challenges long held assumptions about the Neolithic Revolution, that is, our first transition from hunters and gatherers into settled farmers. Instead of permanent settlements and agriculture being prerequisite for religion, social specialization, and writing, evidence from Göbekli Tepe suggests that may be backward, and that such psychological changes are what afforded sedentism and agriculture. Three aspects of the site—who built it, its use as a "temple," and evidence of the earliest known proto-writings—are discussed to illustrate Göbekli Tepe's relevance to psychology. In turn, the social psychological phenomenon of storytelling is used to illustrate psychology's potential relevance to cognitive archeology.


It is been estimated that nearly 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's Disease (AD), making finding its cause one of medicine's top priorities. It has long been known that genetics plays a major role in the development of Alzheimer's Disease, but this does not fully explain why or when the disease manifests itself. Alzheimer's is likely not a single-origin disease, but rather a disease that arises from a combination of both genetic and environmental factors that occur in the "right mix" at the "right time" to produce a phenotype indicative of AD. A major component of Alzheimer's is the plaques of amyloid-_ protein that form in the brains of its victims. One of the cells in the brain that has been shown to control the levels of amyloid-_ is the microglia. Studies show that these microglia experience a "critical window" of heightened susceptibility to environmental contaminants early in development from post-natal day (PND) 5-15. In this study, 3x-Tg-AD mice were dosed during this critical window with a proven neurotoxicant, lead acetate, in the form of drinking water. The levels and states of microglia were observed and compared to the levels of control mice, and the levels of amyloid-_ were tested using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This study hoped to uncover the relationship between microglia and amyloid-_ levels as well as determine whether introduction of an environmental toxicant during a period of heightened susceptibility could exacerbate the onset of AD pathologies later in life.


BACKGROUND
The gold standard end point in randomized clinical trials in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is overall survival (OS). Although therapeutics have been approved based on progression-free survival (PFS), its use as a primary end point is controversial. We aimed to assess to what extent PFS may be used as a surrogate for OS in randomized trials of anti-HER2 agents in HER2+ MBC.

METHODS
Eligible trials accrued HER2+ MBC patients in 1992-2008. A correlation approach was used: at the individual level, to estimate the association between investigator-assessed PFS and OS using a bivariate model and at the trial level, to estimate the association between treatment effects on PFS and OS. Correlation values close to 1.0 would indicate strong surrogacy.

RESULTS
We identified 2545 eligible patients in 13 randomized trials testing trastuzumab or lapatinib. We collected individual patient data from 1963 patients and retained 1839 patients from 9 trials for analysis (7 first-line trials). During follow-up, 1072 deaths and 1462 progression or deaths occurred. The median survival time was 22 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 21-23 months] and the median PFS was 5.7 months (95% CI 5.5-6.1 months). At the individual level, the Spearman correlation was equal to ρ = 0.67 (95% CI 0.66-0.67) corresponding to a squared correlation value of 0.45. At the trial level, the squared correlation between treatment effects (log hazard ratios) on PFS and OS was provided by R(2) = 0.51 (95% CI 0.22-0.81).

CONCLUSIONS
In trials of HER2-targeted agents in HER2+ MBC, PFS moderately correlates with OS at the individual level and treatment effects on PFS correlate moderately with those on overall mortality, providing only modest support for considering PFS as a surrogate. PFS does not completely substitute for OS in this setting.


The no-hair theorem postulates that the only externally observable properties of a black hole are its mass, its electric charge, and its angular momentum. In scalar-tensor theories of gravity, a matter distribution around a black hole can lead to the so called 'spontaneous scalarisation' instability that triggers the development of scalar hair. In the Brans–Dicke type theories, this effect can be understood as a result of tachyonic effective mass of the scalar field. Here we consider the instability in the generalised class of scalar-theories that feature non-conformal, i.e. 'disformal', couplings to matter. Such theories have gained considerable interest in the recent years and have been studied in a wide variety of systems, both cosmological and astrophysical. In view of the prospects of gravitational wave astronomy, it is relevant to explore the implications of the theories in the strong-gravity regime. In this article, we concentrate on the spontaneous scalarisation of matter configurations around Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes. We find that in the more generic scalar-tensor theories, the instability of the Brans–Dicke theory can be enhanced, suggesting violations of the no-hair theorem. On the other hand, we find that, especially if the coupling is very strong, or if the gradients in the matter distribution are negligible, the disformal coupling tends to stabilise the system.


Abstract. The localization and detailed assessment of damaged buildings after a disastrous event is of utmost importance to guide response operations, recovery tasks or for insurance purposes. Several remote sensing platforms and sensors are currently used for the manual detection of building damages. However, there is an overall interest in the use of automated methods to perform this task, regardless of the used platform. Owing to its synoptic coverage and predictable availability, satellite imagery is currently used as input for the identification of building damages by the International Charter, as well as the Copernicus Emergency Management Service for the production of damage grading and reference maps. Recently proposed methods to perform image classification of building damages rely on convolutional neural networks (CNN). These are usually trained with only satellite image samples in a binary classification problem, however the number of samples derived from these images is often limited, affecting the quality of the classification results. The use of up/down-sampling image samples during the training of a CNN, has demonstrated to improve several image recognition tasks in remote sensing. However, it is currently unclear if this multi resolution information can also be captured from images with different spatial resolutions like satellite and airborne imagery (from both manned and unmanned platforms). In this paper, a CNN framework using residual connections and dilated convolutions is used considering both manned and unmanned aerial image samples to perform the satellite image classification of building damages. Three network configurations, trained with multi-resolution image samples are compared against two benchmark networks where only satellite image samples are used. Combining feature maps generated from airborne and satellite image samples, and refining these using only the satellite image samples, improved nearly 4 % the overall satellite image classification of building damages.


This paper argues that demographers must reexamine their assumptions and methodologies for making world population projections because the majority of the population of the less developed countries have recently entered a phase of moderately rapid fertility decline. The paper has 4 sections: 1) a review of the evidence for fertility decline in LDCs; 2) a review of research on the causal factors in fertility decline; 3) a discussion of the implications of these findings for future projections of world population, and development of an appropriate set of assumptions for new projections; and 4) a summary of the results of application of the new assumptions to projection of future world population. The authors contend that between 1968 and 1975 the average family size throughout the world declined by 12%, from 4.6 to 4.1 births per woman, and that 90% of the population of less developed nations lived in countries which experienced a measurable fertility decline. They conclude that the major cause of the unexpected fertility decline between 1968 and 1975 was the amount of effort expended on family planning programs, and further that fertility decline in the remainder of this century will be determined almost as much by the amount of family planning effort as by the amount of other socioeconomic development. Criticisms of their work by other demographers are cited and discussed.


Waterlogged archaeological wood (WAW) artifacts, made of natural biodegradable polymers, are important parts of many precious cultural heritages. It is of great importance to understand the hygroscopic behavior of WAW in different deterioration states for the development of optimal drying processes and choices of safe storage in varying conditions. This was investigated in a case-study using two Hopea (Giam) and two Tectona (Teak) WAW samples collected from the Xiaobaijiao No.1 shipwreck. The deterioration state of WAW was evaluated by the maximum water content (MWC) method and by the cell morphological structure. Both Hopea and Tectona WAW could be classified into moderately and less decayed WAW. The hygroscopic behavior of moderately and less decayed WAW was then comparatively investigated using Dynamic Vapor Sorption (DVS) measurements alongside two sorption fitting models. Compositional analysis and hydroxyl accessibility measurements of WAW cell walls were shown to correlate with the hygroscopicity of WAW in different deterioration states. It was concluded that moderately decayed WAW possessed higher hygroscopicity and hysteresis than less decayed WAW because of the lower relative content of polysaccharides and the higher relative content of lignin, including the slow hydrolysis of O-acetyl groups of xylan and the partial breakage of β-O-4 interlinks, accompanied by an increased hydroxyl accessibility. This work helps in deciding on which consolidation measures are advised for shipwreck restauration, i.e., pretreatments with specific consolidates during wood drying, particularly for wooden artifacts displayed in museums.


Flexible and thin conductive films of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) on PET substrate were obtained by an in- situ vapor-phase polymerization (VPP) method using ferric toluene sulfonate as an oxidant. The addition of epoxy acrylate resin used as a binder to provide adhesive strength between PEDOT and PET also afforded the possibility of the surface patterning through UV exposure. The electrical and optical properties of the conductive PEDOT films were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and conductivity measurement. Surface resistance below 150./sq. was achieved for 100 nm thick films with UV-vis-spectrum transparency exceeding 80%. The combination of these properties makes the films highly suitable for numerous device applications.


Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) is added to reformulated gasoline to meet the 1990 Clean Air Act directives. Widespread use of MTBE in gasoline has resulted in groundwater contamination. Because of its undesirable effects on drinking water and ecologically harmful effects, MTBE removal has become a public health and environmental concern. In this study, we have isolated a mixed bacterial culture which is capable of degrading the MTBE as a sole carbon and energy source. This consortium was developed from mixed urban and petrochemical activated sludge after 4 month's enrichment. Enrichment was conducted in batch reactor, fitted with a screw cap and butyl rubber septum. MTBE concentration was measured in head space by gas chromatography. Degradation was determined by MTBE removal. MTBE biodegradation was depended to Dissolved Oxygen (DO) concentration and not affected by the changes in concentration of trace element solution or other stimulator Substances. Degradation rates were nearly 1.478 mg MTBE h-1 g-1 (wet biomass) and didn't change with MTBE concentration (up 500 mg L-1).


In High Performance Computing (HPC) the demand for more performance is satisfied by increasing the number of components. With the growing scale of HPC applications has came an increase in the number of interruptions as a consequence of hardware failures. The remarkable decrease of Mean Times Between Failures (MTBF) in current systems encourages the research of suitable Fault Tolerance (FT) solutions which makes it possible to guarantee the successful completion of parallel applications. By executing applications on HPC systems, we aim to improve the performance despite the failures that may affect systems. Our research focuses on analyzing and reducing the impact of scalable FT techniques based on rollback-recovery (e.g. uncoordinated checkpoint). As message logging is normally the main source of overhead when using uncoordinated checkpoint approaches, our research focuses on analyzing and reducing the impact of current pessimistic receiver-based message logging techniques. Taking into account the advent of multicore machines, our main contributions aim to make an efficient use of the parallel environment considering the interaction between applications processes and fault tolerance tasks.


HtrA1 (high-temperature requirement protein A1) is a secreted multidomain protein with proven serine protease activity and the ability to regulate TGF-beta (transforming growth factor-beta)/BMP (bone morphogenetic protein) signalling. There is increasing evidence that HtrA1 regulates several pathological processes, including tumour development, Alzheimer's disease, age-related macular degeneration and osteoarthritis, although the mechanism(s) by which it regulates these processes have not been fully elucidated. Using overexpression and knock-down strategies, we have evidence demonstrating that HtrA1 is also a key regulator of physiological and pathological matrix mineralization in vitro. We propose that HtrA1 regulates mineralization by inhibiting TGF-beta/BMP signalling and/or by cleaving specific matrix proteins, including decorin and MGP (matrix Gla protein). Taken together, these studies suggest that HtrA1 may be a novel therapeutic target for several diseases.


In this study, the activities of major enzymes participating in free radical metabolism (xanthine oxidase, XO; Cu,Zn and Mn superoxide dismutases, SOD; glutathione peroxidase, GSH-Px; catalase, CAT) were measured in kidney tissues from guinea pigs treated with gentamicin alone (200 mg/kg/day), gentamicin plus vitamin C (600 mg/kg/day), gentamicin plus vitamin E (400 mg/kg/day), and gentamicin plus vitamins C and E together for 10 days, and from animals treated with physiological saline solution alone during this period. We found no significant differences between control and gentamicin groups with respect to XO and Cu,Zn-SOD activities. However, the activities of Mn-SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT were found to be significantly depressed in the gentamicin-treated group relative to controls. In the gentamicin plus vitamin C group, the renal tissue Mn-SOD activity was found to be higher as compared with control and gentamicin groups. In this group, XO, GSH-Px and CAT activities were also higher than in the gentamicin-treated group, but no statistically significant differences existed between the values of this group and controls. Similar results were also observed in the gentamicin plus vitamin E group for Mn-SOD, GSH-Px, CAT, and XO. In this group, the Cu,Zn-SOD activity was found to be decreased as compared with control and gentamicin groups. In the gentamicin plus vitamins C and E group, the Cu,Zn-SOD activity was found to be decreased, the XO activity to be unchanged, and Mn-SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT activities to be increased as compared with the gentamicin and control groups. The results suggest that the enzymatic antioxidant defense system was significantly disturbed because of the suppressed activities of Mn-SOD, GSH-Px, and CAT in the kidney tissues from animals treated with gentamicin. However, vitamins C and E given concurrently with gentamicin completely abrogated this enzymatic suppression.


This paper describes the characteristics of polycrystalline 3C-SiC micro resonators with 3 ×1017 - 1×1019 cm-3 in-situ N-doping concentrations. In this work, the 1.2 μm thick cantilevers and the 0.4 μm thick doubly-clamped beam micro resonators with various lengths were implemented using in-situ doping poly 3C-SiC thin films. The characteristics of the poly 3C-SiC micro resonators were evaluated using quartz actuator and optical read-out vibrometer under vacuum conditions at room temperature. The resonant frequencies of the SiC micro resonators decreased with doping concentrations owing to the reduction of the Young's modulus of the poly 3C-SiC thin films. It was confirmed that the resonant frequencies of the poly 3C-SiC micro- resonators are controllable by adjusting the doping concentrations.


Dynamic time-division multiplexing (DTDM) is a flexible network transport technique capable of handling both continuous and bursty traffic effectively. By using three different multiplexing architectures in the network, DTDM permits graceful evolution of the existing circuit switching network into a flexible broadband packet communications network supporting integrated voice, data, and video traffic. The first multiplexing stage uses a packet assembler to multiplex different broadband services into a common DTDM-format serial bit stream. The second multiplexing stage uses a statistical packet multiplexer to concentrate network traffic for more efficient use of transmission facilities. The third multiplexing stage uses a synchronous time-division multiplexer for high-speed point-to-point transparent transmission. The multiplexer uses a simple tributary synchronization scheme based on positive and negative block justification, which combines the concept of controlled-slip and bit-stuffing techniques while maintaining information integrity. A generic CMOS LSI chip has been designed for use in the three-stage multiplexing system. >


It is difficult to study the interiors of terrestrial planets in the Solar System and the problem is magnified for distant exoplanets. However, sometimes nature is helpful. Some planetary bodies are torn to fragments and consumed by the strong gravity close to the descendants of Sun-like stars, white dwarfs. We can deduce the general composition of the planet when we observe the spectroscopic signature of the white dwarf. Most planetary fragments that fall into white dwarfs appear to be rocky with a variable fraction of associated ice and carbon. These white dwarf planetary systems provide a unique opportunity to study the geology of exoplanetary systems.


We detect previously unreported 1 Hz scattered waves at epicentral distances between 30° and 50° and at times between 2300 and 2450 s after the earthquake origin. These waves likely result from off-azimuth scattering of PKPbc to PKPbc in the upper mantle and crust and provide a new tool for mapping variations in fine-scale (10 km) mantle heterogeneity. Array beams from the Large Aperture Seismic Array (LASA) clearly image the scattered energy gradually emerging from the noise and reaching its peak amplitude about 80 s later, and returning to the noise level after 150 s. Stacks of transverse versus radial slowness (ρt, ρr) show two peaks at about (2, 2) and 2; 2 s=°, indicating the waves arrive along the major arc path (180° to 360°) and significantly off azimuth. We propose a mantle and surface PKPbc to PKPbc scattering mechanism for these observations because (1) it agrees with the initiation time and distinctive slowness signature of the scattered waves and (2) it follows a scattering path analogous to previously observed deep-mantle PK•KP scattering (Chang and Cleary, 1981). The observed upper-mantle scattered waves and PK•KP waves fit into a broader set of scattered waves that we call P0•d•P0, which can scatter from any depth, d, in the mantle.


Abstract This body of work comprises a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), research paper and a critical appraisal. SLR Background: There has been an increasing trend to develop self-report assessments of voices. Assessments are crucial for research and clinical practice. However, no SLR of measures has been conducted since 2009. Methods: Databases were systematically searched (MEDLINE, PsychINFO and Scopus) from 2009 to 2019. Measures were assessed for the quality of methods used and measurement properties. Results: Twenty-one measures were identified, none of which were rated at 'adequate' or better in more than 3 of 10 areas in their methods used in measure development. No measures had involved voice hearers in the development of item pools. Conclusion: Further research is necessary to develop measures. This should involve people with lived experience. Research paper Background: Relational therapeutic approaches may be beneficial for voice hearers. However, there is currently no English language measure of the Voice Hearer Relationship (VHR) which assesses both positive and negative aspects of the relationship. This study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of VHR with a view to developing an item pool for such a measure. Methods: Qualitative interviews were conducted with voice hearers (n=7) and clinicians (n=8). Results: Thematic analysis revealed four themes. Based on this analysis 93 items were generated regarding the VHR. This item pool will form the basis of a new measure of the VHR.. Conclusion: This study highlights that it is feasible to conduct qualitative research with voice hearers and clinicians for the purposes of developing an item pool regarding the VHR and this may contribute to the comprehensiveness of the measure. Critical Appraisal This chapter discusses: my epistemological position, the choice of analysis, biases in this research (and steps taken to address these), and future directions of this research.


Illingworth, famous professor of child health at the University of Sheffield, in writing a book for general practitioners on symptoms as seen in pediatrics has produced a personal, almost intimate work of merit. Pediatricians will find many fascinating and sometimes stimulating comments on such common symptoms as headaches and abdominal pain. At the same time, one may be disappointed to find glaring omission in lists of causes of other symptoms. The author, however, explains he has not attempted to write an encylopedic tome. His discussions, occasionally repetitious but rarely dull, are prejudiced as to length and depth by his many years of experience. More than occasionally a patient is briefly described to illustrate a dictum that Illingworth considers especially important. The references at the end of the discussion of most symptoms are distinctly personal selections from English and American literature, and vary in number from 27 on "Failure to Thrive"


The presentation outlines themes emerging from an ESRC-funded exploration of the impact of recent UK policy changes on the field of sexualities equalities work. The two and a half year research project involves cross-cultural comparison of the Welsh, Northern Irish and English situations, in the context of 'interesting times' in local government, driven by the current modernisation agenda.

The project has involved Action Learning Sets, each of which provides an opportunity for professionals working in the area of equality and diversity to share action-planning and exchange peer support and encouragement in a time-limited group. Action Learning Sets have been successfully completed in Wales and the North East of England, and will be underway in Northern Ireland and the South of England by early summer 2009. In addition, in-depth interviews have been completed in two case study areas, and will have been conducted in two further areas by summer 2009.

The requirement that every council produce a policy in relation to protecting people from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is forward-looking. An emerging theme, expressed in interviews and Action Learning Sets by people with responsibility for implementing policy in local government settings, is the tension between looking forward and moving the agenda on, and the backward pull (on the part of some) of discriminatory views and resistance to change.

Interim findings suggest that initiatives aiming to implement sexualities equalities policy are spread unevenly across authorities, despite an overarching national legislative and policy shift. In areas where positions of resistance are held by some politicians and/or constituents, policy officers and practitioners can feel nervous and potentially disempowered. Even where the principle of equality in relation to sexualities is soundly embedded in local policy, it may not always be easy to effect change.

The project builds on existing research and the findings will contribute to ongoing policy debates concerning sexuality, citizenship and local democracy, and also to the development of commissioning frameworks for local strategic partnerships.


Power plant store keeps in stock the items that are of high value and critical to the power plant operation and maintenance. Useful working life of a power plant varies with the type of power plant used. Factors for example long working life of the power plant, uniqueness of the spare parts, dependency on foreign manufacturer for spare parts, rapid change of technology, fluctuations of the currency rate, long procurement lead time, bureaucracy in the procurement process etc influence the power plant to keep in stock the valuable items for long time. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that are affecting the performance of local store and their impact on power plant operation and also to identify the most important areas of storage system that require immediate improvement. Data were collected using the questionnaire with a sample size of 31. The respondents were asked to response in four areas of storage system and they were store facility, record keeping system, staff performance and store security system. Officials of the power station who are directly or indirectly involved with the operation of the power plant store as well as operation of the power plant provided their opinion. Data were analyzed using frequency analysis, reliability test, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, regression analysis and chi-square test. Results revealed that the store is suffering from poor store capacity, poor record keeping system and poor employee performance. Store security is comparatively better as store security is involved with the power plant security as a whole. However the store has no alarming system, no security signs and hitting and air-conditioning system. Regression analyses showed significant relationships between store performance and three of the five attribute factors. Chi-square analyses also showed significant relationship between store performance and three of the five attribute factors.


In many low income African countries, three factors are placing an undue burden on the elderly. First, the burden on the elderly has enormously increased with the increase in mortality of prime age adults due to HIV AIDS pandemic and regional conflicts. Second, the traditional safety net of the extended family has become ineffective and unreliable for the elderly. Third, in a few countries, the elderly are called upon to shoulder the responsibility of the family as they became the principal breadwinners and caregivers for young children. While a number of studies have examined the welfare consequences of these developments on children, few studies have systematically analyzed the poverty situation among the elderly (relative to other groups) in low income countries Africa, and the role of social pensions. This study aims to fill this gap.


The term "diamond pipeline" (used in the diamond industry) is the medium through which discourses characterizing Afro-Arab relations have been rendered. Through journalistic and human rights narratives, framed by discourses of security and containment characterizing the "War on Terror," blood diamonds have highly profiled the relationship between Africa and the Arab world. This article argues that the logic of containment is exclusionary in casting Lebanese migration as a threat. It analyzes two novels on Lebanese migration to Africa in order to address the logic of containment, also in the form of Lebanese nationalism. The novels and the rhetoric of journalism and human rights reporting are analyzed to show how one discourse promotes containment and the other disrupts it, as well as to delineate the scope of discourses that bind and unify Africa and the Arab world.


Management of thirteen cases of malignant ovarian germ cell tumours was reported. Of these, 5 (38%) were immature teratoma, 3 (23%) were endodermal sinus tumour, 1 (8%) was dysgerminoma and 4 (31%) were mixed germ cell tumour. Eight (61%) had stage I, 1 (8%) had stage II and 4 (31%) had stage III diseases. Six had unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, 6 had total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and 1 had bilateral oophorectomy. Ten (77%) had adjuvant chemotherapy predominantly with bleomycin/etoposide/cisplatin combination. All patients with stage I and stage II tumours were alive with no evidence of disease at 1/2 year to 5 years followup. Of the 4 patients with stage IIIC diseases, 2 with optimal debulking surgery were alive and disease free at 4 and 7 years after surgery. The other 2 patients with stage IIIC tumours had multiple bulky residual tumours. One of them with a combination of endodermal sinus tumour and embryonal carcinoma died of progressive disease despite chemotherapy 6 months after surgery and the other with mixed endodermal sinus tumour and dysgerminoma was alive with disease at 6 months. Alpha-fetoprotein levels were raised in all 6 patients with endodermal sinus tumour, either pure or combined with other tumours. Regression of alpha-fetoprotein levels was of important prognostic significance in endodermal sinus tumour.


The Web, previously only for a repository for text and images, is evolving into a provider of services. Nowadays, the Web acts as information-providing services, such as search engines, flight-booking programs, a variety of e-commerce and B2B applications. However, the Web still has a problem because it is designed primarily for human interpretation and use. It presents large volumes of information in a format tailored for viewing by people so that machines cannot understand the content of that information and manipulate it meaningfully. This paper discusses Semantic Web envisioned by Tim-Berneers Lee that can be an answer to the problem. Moreover, it discusses the technology behind Semantic Web such as XML, RDF, OWL. In the last section, we also discuss a Java framework for developing Semantic Web applications called Jena.


Depression is considered the third most important burden of disease globally; further, it is ranked first in middle and high-income countries. It is well understood that depression is has a heritability of 31-43%, but no genetic associations predisposing individuals to depression have been found. A small group of individuals have previously been identified with treatment resistant major depressive disorder (TR-MDD), suicidality and a myriad of metabolic alterations. This is considered a neuropsychiatric inborn error of metabolism that initially presents with psychiatric manifestation. The most common metabolic finding is cerebral folate deficiency. Supplementation of folinic acid has been shown to result in a reduction of symptoms. Understanding this group of individuals, particularly with the knowledge that metabolic disease commonly manifests with psychiatric illness, has implications for the way depression may be diagnosed and treated in the future. This study captured and analyzed the family histories of 36 individuals in an attempt to discern whether the transmission of depression and suicide in these families fits known Mendelian inheritance patterns. By using segregation analysis in addition to an observational analysis this study has assessed autosomal recessive and autosomal dominant inheritance patterns. Observation of family histories showed male-to-male transmission and thus excluded the possibility of X-linked or mitochondrial inheritance in this group. The observational study identified that 6/36 families (16.7%) met all criteria for autosomal dominant inheritance and no families met all criteria for autosomal recessive inheritance. The just over 30% of families met a few, but not all of the criteria for autosomal dominant inheritance (11/36) and 33 of 36 families or 91.67% met only one criterion for autosomal recessive inheritance. This suggests that these families are transmitting depression and suicidality in a polygenic or multifactorial pattern. The statistical analysis supports this conclusion finding that the families fit a non-Mendelian pattern of inheritance. Understanding the way depression is being transmitted in these families has significant public health relevance as it may inform our understanding and future studies of the genetics of depression, a significant health burden.


Exceptions are a commodity hardware functionality which is central to multi-tasking OSes as well as event-driven user applications. Normally, the OS assists the user application by lifting the semantics of exceptions received from hardware to program-friendly user signals and exception handling interfaces. However, can exception handlers work securely in user enclaves, such as those enabled by Intel SGX, where the OS is not trusted by the enclave code? In this paper, we introduce a new attack called SmashEx which exploits the OS-enclave interface for asynchronous exceptions in SGX. It demonstrates the importance of a fundamental property of safe atomic execution that is required on this interface. In the absence of atomicity, we show that asynchronous exception handling in SGX enclaves is complicated and prone to re-entrancy vulnerabilities. Our attacks do not assume any memory errors in the enclave code, side channels, or application-specific logic flaws. We concretely demonstrate exploits that cause arbitrary disclosure of enclave private memory and code-reuse (ROP) attacks in the enclave. We show reliable exploits on two widely-used SGX runtimes, Intel SGX SDK and Microsoft Open Enclave, running OpenSSL and cURL libraries respectively. We tested a total of 14 frameworks, including Intel SGX SDK and Microsoft Open Enclave, 10 of which are vulnerable. We discuss how the vulnerability manifests on both SGX1-based and SGX2-based platforms. We present potential mitigation and long-term defenses for SmashEx.


Water pollutant treatment has become a critical issue in environmental engineering and protection. Adsorption techniques via solid adsorbents have been widely applied for the efficient removal of metal ions from wastewater solutions, where polymer-based composites have attracted much attention due to their intrinsic environmentally harmless and degradable properties. Particularly, polymer-based nanocomposites often present superior physical, chemical and mechanical properties, as well as superior compatibility, as compared with single polymers, by incorporating the advantages of both counterparts in the composites. This article is an overview of the versatile polymer-based composites containing different functional organic and/or inorganic counterparts for the removal of hazardous metal ions from wastewater. The synthesis of the adsorbents, adsorption process features and mechanism investigation are highlighted and discussed in detail. The future perspectives and trends in this field are also outlined. We hope that this review will provide some inspiring information for designing and fabricating polymer-based nanocomposites for the removal of diverse heavy metal ions from aqueous solution, and pollution management in the near future.


We present a Bayesian probabilistic framework for quantifying and propagating the uncertainties in the parameters of force fields employed in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We propose a highly parallel implementation of the transitional Markov chain Monte Carlo for populating the posterior probability distribution of the MD force-field parameters. Efficient scheduling algorithms are proposed to handle the MD model runs and to distribute the computations in clusters with heterogeneous architectures. Furthermore, adaptive surrogate models are proposed in order to reduce the computational cost associated with the large number of MD model runs. The effectiveness and computational efficiency of the proposed Bayesian framework is demonstrated in MD simulations of liquid and gaseous argon.


With the increasing percentage of embedded devices dedicated to analyse motion (robotic, IoT), it is crucial to assess which nonlinear fusion algorithm fits to a given application. We wonder if it is possible to design a framework for an extensive comparison of attitude fusion algorithms. In a simulated environment, we tested different patterns of motion, different types of noise and different algorithms, i.e: Extended Kalman Filter (EKF), Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF), Quaternion Estimate (QUEST), Particles Filter (PF) and a nonlinear observer (CGO). We also developed a new variant of PF that was only theoretically examined. Because computing resources are often limited in an embedded context, we propose, here, two different scores, one more classical (s1) based on RMS attitude error and another one (s2) that is a compromise between accuracy and computation duration. We showed, on a simulated platform, that depending of the type of noise the s1 score can vary sharply. UKF and CGO are efficient for additive gaussian noise and PF is more efficient with different types of noise (multiplicative and impulsive). However, the s2 score is very stable with CGO that dominates the ranking and PF which is the last performer. We validated our results obtained by simulation with human motion thanks to real data from a smartphone device. In a context of additive gaussian noise for the sensors, we advice to use a non linear observer like CGO for embedded computation,for remote computation an UKF algorithm is a good choice and if the noise is not gaussian in a remote computation context the best choice is a PF algorithm.


OVER the past few years, there have appeared a number of books dealing with tumours of various regions and organs. Few have been able to draw from such a wealth of clinical material as Coley of the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases In New York. Whereas the average orthopsedic surgeon sees no more than a score of primary bone neoplasms in his lifetime, Coley's figures run Into hundreds. Furthermore, his thirty years' experience In the Bone Tumour Service at the Memorial Hospital Is supplemented by his father's forty years spent in treating cancer In bone.


Complications in urinary tract nervous routes due to herpes viruses as VZV and HSV-2 are well known. Acute urinary retention and chronic neuropathic pain are not rare when sacral dermatomes are involved by these viruses. However, an analogous condition has not yet been clearly ascribed to HSV-1 infection. We present a 32-year-old immunocompetent patient with fever, lumbar pain and acute urinary retention who had never had herpetic clinical manifestations. Urodynamic studies diagnosed a neurologic bladder with an absent filling sensation. Cystoscopic assessment revealed the presence of reddened and isolated small mucosal areas in the bladder walls. The search for herpes viruses in plasma and CSF by PCR assay were positive for HSV-1. After treatment with antiviral therapy the disease resolved. Intermittent catheterization was necessary and voiding dysfunction resolved after three weeks by its appearance. Neurological damage to the central nervous system (CNS) and/or PNS due to HSV-1 seems to be the most likely reason. The course of disease was benign and self-remitting.


Intellectual property (IP) blocks often contain known design rule checking errors that have been "waived" by the foundry, meaning they acknowledge the error as a design rule violation, but do not consider it to be a critical yield-limiting defect. Because this waiver information is not conveyed in any consistent manner with the IP, waived IP design rule violations that reappear when the IP is integrated into a full-chip design must typically be investigated as though they are new violations. This paper will review various historic methods used to identify waived errors at the chip level, then propose a new automated method for identifying and eliminating waived errors, allowing chip designers to achieve accurate design rule checking results while minimizing debug time.


Measurements of nitrous oxide were made at pilot- and full-scale plants to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from one-step partial nitritation/anammox processes applied in moving bed biofilm reactors treating reject water. It was found that 0.51-1.29% and 0.35-1.33% of the total nitrogen loads in the pilot- and full-scale reactor, respectively, were emitted as nitrous oxide. Between 80 and 90% of nitrous oxide emissions were in gaseous form and the rest amount was found in the reactor effluent; over 90% of nitrous oxide emissions occurred in the aerated period and less than 8% in the non-aerated period in the full-scale study. Nitrous oxide productions/consumptions were closely related to aeration and the nitrogen loads applied in the system.


West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus with a rapidly expanding global distribution. Infection can cause severe neurological disease and fatality in humans. Efforts are ongoing to develop antiviral drugs that inhibit the WNV protease, a viral enzyme required for polyprotein processing. Unfortunately, little is known about the solution structure of recombinant WNV protease (NS2B-NS3pro) used for antiviral drug discovery and development, although X-ray crystal structures and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies have provided valuable insights into the interactions between NS2B-NS3pro and peptide-based inhibitors. We completed small-angle X-ray scattering and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy experiments to determine the solution structure and dynamics of WNV NS2B-NS3pro in the absence of a bound substrate or inhibitor. Importantly, these solution studies suggested that all or most of the NS2B cofactor was highly flexible and formed an ensemble of structures, in contrast to the NS2B tertiary structures observed in crystallographic and NMR studies. The secondary structure of NS2B-NS3pro in solution had high β-content, similar to the secondary structure observed in crystallographic studies. This work provided evidence of the intrinsic flexibility and conformational heterogeneity of the NS2B chain of the WNV protease in the absence of substratelike ligands, which should be considered during antiviral drug discovery and development efforts.


Marine renewable energy is a relatively new phenomenon that is becoming cost-competitive with traditional sources of energy. Marine hydrokinetic energy (MHK), as it moves to commercial scale, will be subject to myriad laws and regulations associated with wildlife impacts and efforts to avoid unsustainable adverse effects. At the same time that MHK is developing in this arena in the U.S., regulations and policies are changing, creating a moving target and affecting already established industries, such as oil and gas. To ensure that MHK can be cost-effective and to reduce risks of delays and impracticable project adjustments and mitigation in the U.S., early consideration of laws governing wildlife and how they are applied will be key. Planning to address wildlife priorities associated with statutory needs and industry/stakeholder goals can drive development of technology, engineering choices, siting, planning, mitigation, and adaptive management practices. Other marine industries have been recently affected by U.S. wildlife laws. For example, offshore wind is experiencing delay on the U.S. East Coast in part due to challenges with environmental statutory requirements and agency concerns about impacts. In oil and gas, it is unclear how new regulatory requirements, such as the Incidental Take Regulation pending for geophysical surveys in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the industry. MHK and other marine energy industries can leverage proactive planning and agency engagement to reduce risks of delays and costs that could significantly affect proposed projects.


Abstract : Static and impact loading of the heads of embalmed cadavers wearing protective helmets have been conducted for the purpose of understanding the mechanics of fracture-dislocation injury to the cervical spine. Some of the cadavers were cut down on one side of the neck for high-speed photographic observation of the spine during impact. Others were instrumented with strain gages on the bodies and near the facets to assist in correlating spine movements and load configuration with strain distribution. Results indicate that static loading can be a useful predictor of failure site under dynamic conditions. Those conditions which were found to be most influential on injury site and level of strain were: (1) The extent to which the head was gripped by the impact surface to allow or restrict motion at the atlanto-occipital injunction; (2) Impact location; and, (3) Impact force alignment with the spine. It was found that very little could be done with energy-absorbing material in the crown to reduce spine strain due to a crown impact. Also, the rear rim was not a 'guillotine' threat to fracture-dislocation from blows which cause hypertension, and the higher cut rear rim recommended to reduce of eliminate this alleged hazard caused higher strain by virtue of allowing greater extension of the neck. (Author)


The recently introduced Canadian Engineering Accreditation (CEAB) requirements for Graduate Attributes [1] require demonstrated learning outcomes for the first time. CDIO has required outcomes and benchmarking for more than a decade, and the CDIO Syllabus [2] has provided a detailed and proven framework within which to organize the topics covered by those outcomes. The latest revision of the syllabus informs many of our programs, and can provide the detail on how we can document a set of outcomes that meet the more general requirements of the CEAB Graduate Attributes. This paper provides a framework for Canadian engineering programs to satisfy CEAB requirements through a mapping of the CDIO Syllabus Version 2.10 topics to the CEAB Attributes, and verification of the completeness of that list. An engineering program can meet all of the CEAB Graduate Attribute requirements by addressing a subset of the CDIO Syllabus, however a CEAB accredited program may not meet all of the requirements of CDIO.


Online signature recognition is one of the important behavioral biometric trait. This signature has information of x, y, z variations, pressure, azimuth of pen tip, pen tip altitude. This makes online handwritten signature based biometric system more accurate than the static ones. In this paper new set of features are proposed for online or dynamic signature recognition. These features were originally proposed for static systems and in this research they are modified for the dynamic signature based system. Grid & texture features based feature vector and their extraction mechanism is proposed here. The results indicate that the online system give better accuracy and convergence as compared to the static system.


Sitophilus zeamais is considered one of the most important pests of stored grain. In order to search alternative methods for controlling this pest the action of neem was evaluated in laboratory (Azadirachta indica A. juss.) in the behavioral and food processes of adults of S. zeamais. In this study extracts produced from three parts of the neem tree (leaves, seeds and peels) were tested. In the verification of the extracts in relation to the repellent, three arenas formed by five plastic boxes connected by polyethylene hose were used. In the test were used 40g of corn treated with 6g of the extracts from leaves, seeds and peels of neem. The verification of the effect of the extracts studied was based on the number of present insects on the test plant (treated containers), and on the number of insects present on the control plant (untreated container). In the repellency analysis, leaves and seeds showed satisfactory results, with repellency indexes (RI) equals to 0.5 and 0.3, respectively, being characterized as repellent plant. The repellency index of the peel extract was 1.1, qualifying the plant as attractive one, to present RI > 1. Therefore, the leaves and seed extracts from neem can be considered as a viable alternative for controlling the Sitophilus zeamais in stored corn. DOI:  http://dx.doi.org/10.14685/rebrapa.v1i1.4


The geothermal reservoir in Waiwera has been subject to active exploitation for a long time. It is located below the village on the Northern Island of New Zealand and was used commercially since 1863. The continuous production of geothermal water, to supply hotels and spas, had a negative impact on the reservoir. Until the year 1969 from all wells drilled the warm water flow was artesian. Due to overproduction the water had to be pumped from the 1970s on. Further, within the years 1975 to 1976 the warm water seeps on the beach of Waiwera ran dry. In order to protect the reservoir and the historical and tourist site in the early 1980s a water management plan was deployed. The "Auckland Council" established guidelines to enable sustainable management of the resource [1]. However, shortly after the recent shutdown of the primary user (Waiwera Thermal Resort & Spa) renewed artesian activity was reported by locals and newly obtained observation data indicate revived activity of the hot springs on the beachfront of Waiwera [2].

So far, the physical relation between abstraction rates and water level change of the hydrogeological system is only fairly understood [3]. The aim of this work was to link the influence of rates to actual reservoir properties and measured water level data. For this purpose, the daily abstraction history was investigated by means of a variable-rate well test analysis. For the analysis, a modified deconvolution algorithm of Von Schroeter et al. was implemented [4]. The algorithm derives the reservoir response function by solving a least square problem with the unique feature of imposing only implicit constraints on the solution space. To investigate the theoretical performance of the algorithm with respect to stability and error propagation a sensitivity analysis was conducted. The results for Waiwera were obtained by subjecting the implementation to a bootstrapping method which selected time periods to analyse on a random base.

Results throughout all years show radial flow during middle-time behaviour and a leaky flow boundary during late-time behaviour. As opposed to the expected model, a double-porosity flow or a constant head boundary were not determined. For middle-time behaviour, the findings agree very well with prior results of a pumping test. The late-time behaviour cannot be observed during the short pumping test but is in accordance with the expected model.

[1] Kühn M., Stöfen H. (2005) A reactive flow model of the geothermal reservoir Waiwera, New Zealand. Hydrogeology Journal 13, 606-626, doi: 10.1007/s10040-004-0377-6
[2] Präg M., Becker I., Hilgers C., Walter T.R., Kühn M. (2020) Thermal UAS survey of reactivated hot spring activity in Waiwera, New Zealand. Adv. Geosci. 54, 165-171, doi: 10.5194/adgeo-54-165-2020
[3] Kühn M., Schöne T. (2017) Multi variate regression model of the water level and production rate time series of the geothermal reservoir Waiwera (New Zealand). Energy Procedia 125, 571-579, doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.08.196
[4] Schroeter T., Hollaender F., Gringarten A.C. (2004) Deconvolution of well-test data as a nonlinear total least-squares problem. SPE Journal, 9, Society of Petroleum Engineers.


In this paper we evaluate the feasibility of short range outdoor mm-wave MIMO links in the 70 GHz portion of the E-band (71–76 GHz). We use phased arrays in order to strongly reduce the impact of the multipath components, thus making the channel mainly line-of-sight (LOS). We design the array using a simple patch as a single element and simulate the performances for a 200 m link and a MIMO system with equal element spacing at the transmitter and the receiver. Each node of the MIMO system consists of a uniform rectangular array (URA) where the single element is a patch antenna, in order to achieve higher gains and narrow beams. Such configuration is much more compact compared to the antennas currently employed for the same bandwidth. We optimize the interelement distances at the transmitter and the receiver and evaluate the capacity achievable with different array sizes. The results show that, for the proposed link budget, capacity up to 29 bit/s/Hz is achievable at a range of 200 m, with practical dimensions. We also show that the beamforming capabilities make the design much more flexible than the single reflector antenna systems. In the last part of the paper, we verify that our antenna can also operate in rainy conditions and longer ranges.


This study is based on the description and analysis of acting exercises in which actors work with concrete objects. The exercises are drawn from various acting methodologies, including disused and marginal methodologies as well as those in common use in British and American acting schools and studios. It is argued that every theory of acting presents a theory of human relations to the material world, and that the specific possibilities of interaction with the material world which are offered by an acting methodology are demonstrated by its treatment of concrete objects. The introduction places these 'object exercises' in the context of contemporary actor training. It surveys the main trends in actor training in British drama schools, and notes a problematic division (reflected in prospectuses and timetables) between 'acting' and 'movement' studies, and a further division between 'Stanislavski-based' approaches and the various approaches gathered under the heading of 'improvisation'. It is suggested that the concept of 'improvisation' has an importance which goes beyond the conventional taxonomy of theatre practice. 'Improvisation' refers to a particular attitude to the world, a form of 'free play within constraints', which can be found in various acting exercises from different traditions, in musical improvisation, and in the practice of 'bricolage' or 'making do'. The question of how humans interact with matter, which is raised by 'object exercises' for actors, has a bearing on wider questions of material transformation and physical work. The second section of the study places the theories of acting under consideration within the cultural context of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines the trope of 'work' - as a theme for drama, a subject of movement analysis and an image of the performer's activity, looking particularly at the work of Decroux and Meyerhold. A distinction is drawn between two approaches to objects in performance: objects may be treated as 'constraints' or as 'texts'. The object treated as a constraint denies the actor access to habitual responses and socialised behaviour and thereby frees the potential for other ways of being; the object treated as a text is seen as a reservoir which both records its own history and proposes actions to the performer. Examples of both approaches are given in five sections which analyse specific acting exercises -- in the exercises described in the first two sections, the object is primarily treated as a constraint, and in those described in the remaining sections, the object is primarily treated as a text. Section One looks at the simple, concrete use of objects such as balls and sticks in exercises to develop physical, mental and interactive skills, and at how these exercises promote a 'dialogue' between human and object. The practitioners discussed include Clive Barker, Meyerhold, Stanislavski, and Lee Strasberg. Section Two looks further at the 'dialogue' between actor and object, and at how various 'ways of being' on stage can be transmitted through specific approaches to concrete objects. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is the only cultivated species in Pistacia genus and one of the most important nut crop in terms of production. Pistachio cultivars have significant level of variation in their phenotypic appearance and productivity. Understanding the genetic diversity between pistachio cultivars could facilitate breeding programs. Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are powerful tools in genetic diversity and germplasm collection studies. However, published information about the characterization of large scale pistachio cultivar germplasm with adequate number of SSR markers is limited. In this study, sixty-six pistachio cultivars and genotypes originated from six different countries were characterized and fingerprinted by 74 genomic and 18 genic SSR markers. SSR analysis identified 576 alleles for all 66 cultivars and genotypes. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 20 (CUPOhBa1592) alleles with a mean value of six alleles per locus. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.07 (CUPVEST2939) to 0.87 (CUPSiOh2460) with a mean PIC value of 0.58. The pistachio cultivars and genotypes were divided into five clusters according to Structure and UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Average) analysis. Total of 61 cultivar specific alleles were detected in 34 cultivars, among them three primers (CUPOhBa1592, CUPBaPa1606 and CUPOhBa2127) produced more than four cultivar-specific loci therefore very promising for cultivar identification, fingerprinting and breeding studies in pistachio.


p 318). We have continued the study to include 21 patients, using fenoterol, and have recalibrated our flow-volume differentiator. We found that the differentiator gave readings on average 9.5% higher than pneumotachograph-derived flow rates. The mean FEV t was 46% predicted (for 21 patients) and their mean peak inspiratory flow rate was therefore 1921/min compared to the mean slow inspiratory flow rate of 641/min. I agree that there is no published evidence in favour of inhaling a bronchodilator from FRC instead of from RV, as is recommended in most instruction leaflets. However, Newman et al. (1979, 1980) have given evidence that the lung volume of aerosol release is unimportant. Moreover, we have studied 8 patients inhaling fenoteroI from FRC or RV and have shown no significant difference in bronchodilator response (Lawford & McKenzie 1981). If this is substantiated, inhalation time could then be further shortened (5.4 seconds may still be uncomfortably long for some asthmatics) and, in addition, poor performers and newly-referred asthmatics may find it easier to learn a single synchronized manoeuvre (fire and inhale) rather than the currently advised exhale (to RV), fire and inhale. Certainly, we lack data in all these aspects of inhaler technique. I was interested that Newman et al. could not substantiate Connolly's (1975) suggestion of greater bronchodilatation with an open mouth technique. Our study along similar lines is incomplete, but if our findings agree with Newman et al., then their recommendation to reduce the width of the annulus between activator and canister assumes greater importance. P LAWFORD 24 March 1981


Wnt proteins are a large and diverse family of secreted signalling factors that play key
roles in the development of the nervous system, including control of neuronal proliferation and differentiation, axon guidance, dendritogenesis and synaptogenesis.
Despite recent advances in our understanding of Wnt function at synapses, key
questions remain unanswered. For example the role of Wnt signalling in central
postsynaptic development remains unclear, as does the specificity of Wnts for
regulating different sub-types of synapse. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the
role of Wnts in regulating the formation and function of central glutamatergic and
GABAergic synapses in the rodent hippocampus, using complementary cell biological
and electrophysiological approaches.
I find that Wnt7a specifically promotes the formation of excitatory glutamatergic
synapses in cultured hippocampal neurons, with no effect on inhibitory GABAergic
synapses. Furthermore, specific postsynaptic activation of Wnt signalling results in
increased dendritic spine size, increased clustering of the postsynaptic protein PSD-95
and increased presynaptic innervation of dendritic spines. In contrast, GABAergic
synapses are unaffected by Dishevelled-1 expression.
I also find that endogenous Wnt signalling regulates excitatory synaptic function. Acute
blockade of endogenous Wnt signalling using the Wnt antagonists sFRP1, 2 and 3
results in a decrease in mEPSC frequency and evoked release probability at
glutamatergic synapses, with no effect on GABAergic synapses. A similar decrease in
evoked release probability is observed at glutamatergic Schaffer collateral-CA1
synapses in hippocampal slices from Wnt7a-/-; Dvl1-/- double knockout mice. Finally,
I demonstrate that a prolonged reduction in glutamatergic release probability caused by
chronic Wnt signalling blockade elicits a homeostatic increase in glutamatergic synapse
number that acts to maintain normal levels of excitatory signalling.
In conclusion, the work presented in this thesis significantly advances our
understanding of the role of Wnts at central synapses. Wnt signalling regulates multiple
processes throughout the lifetime of an excitatory glutamatergic synapse. Wnt7a
promotes the formation of excitatory synapses through the co-ordinated clustering of
pre- and postsynaptic proteins. Postsynaptic Wnt signalling can directly regulate excitatory postsynaptic formation at central synapses, and can also signal back to the
presynaptic side. Endogenous Wnt signalling plays a role in maintaining normal levels
of glutamate release, and chronic perturbation of this signalling results in compensatory
changes in synapse density.


Abstract Widespread amphibian declines and habitat fragmentation, coupled with advancements in tracking, have sparked increased emphasis on studying movements and the use of terrestrial habitats by amphibians. Peñalara Natural Park, Sierra de Guadarrama, Central Spain, provides habitat for a number of amphibians that use upland sites. In response to increased pressure on habitat in this region by tourism, we used 4 months of radiotelemetry data for 17 adult Common Toads (Bufo bufo) to characterize the terrestrial movements, assess the factors influencing these movements, and determine the distribution and cover characteristics of summer refugia for these toads. We found that: 1) movements were most pronounced following the breeding season in June, and adults made movements of up to 470 m away from breeding sites, 2) movements were not influenced by basin size, climatic variables, or the sex of the individual, 3) the amount of terrestrial habitat used by toads ranged from 245 m2 to 2.5 ha, and 4) within these areas toads most often used rock piles and juniper patches (Juniperus communis nana) as cover during the summer. Our study emphasizes the importance of considering terrestrial landscapes when developing conservation strategies, and we suggest that a buffer of minimal development extending 550 m from the shoreline of each natal pond be considered when conservation plans are developed for Common Toad habitat in Peñalara Natural Park.