Fifty-five hematopoietic cell lines, including 19 T-, 16 B-, 5 pre-B-, 5 non-T non-B-, 1 erythroid, and 9 myeloid-monocytoid cells, were screened for production of human hematopoietic survival and stem cell growth factor (SCGF) by enzyme immunoassay using anti-SCGF monoclonal antibody. The KPB-M15 myeloid cell line constitutionally secreted a considerable quantity of SCGF, while other T- or myeloid-monocytoid cell lines did not secrete SCGF. Other biomaterials investigated were fetal calf, horse, and human serum; granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and erythropoietin preparations; human placental conditioned medium; lectin (phytohemagglutinin, concanavalin A, and pokeweed mitogen); and mixed leukocyte reaction-stimulated leukocyte-conditioned medium. SCGF was detected only in human placental conditioned medium. SCGF produced by the KPB-M15 cells was a protein with a molecular weight of 20,000. The molecule, highly purified by immunoadsorbent affinity chromatography, retained SCGF activity in vitro, e.g., erythroid burst-promoting activity and granulocyte-macrophage-colony potentiation. With the availability of purified SCGF, it is now possible to study in detail the mechanisms regulating hematopoietic stem cells.


Catalytic hydrolysis of ammonia borane is regarded as a safe and efficient way to produce hydrogen, which has received much attention in the fields of energy and catalysis. However, the development of heterogeneous catalysts with both high catalytic performance and low cost for this hydrolytic reaction is still a great challenge. In this work, we have developed a novel catalyst for the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, viz. a Ti-supported nanostructured MnCo2O4 film composed of nanoplates with a thickness of 10–20 nm, which is then characterized using an X-ray powder diffractometer, field emission scanning electron microscope, elemental mapping and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. In the hydrolysis of ammonia borane catalyzed by the as-prepared nanostructured MnCo2O4 film, the turnover frequency can reach 24.3 molhydrogen min−1 molcat−1, which is much higher than those of most noble-metal-free catalysts reported in the literature. More importantly, the film catalyst can retain 96% of its original activity after 7 cycles, demonstrating its high stability and good reusability. Considering its high activity, good reusability and low cost, the nanostructured MnCo2O4 film can be a promising catalyst towards the hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane for hydrogen production.


The 1960 earthquake in Chile was the largest one which magnitude was Mw 9.5 in the record. Then, the tsunami effected most of the cities in Pacific Ocean. In Taiwan, the tsunami height were 30cm and 66cm which were recorded in Keelung and Hualien. Although the event has been long time ago and there was no sever tsunami disaster happened after that, a big earthquake which was Mw 8.8 had been occurred again in 2010. Also, the tsunami height were recorded 52cm and 66cm in Houbihu and Wushi. It supposed to be faced up carefully as the area might be a potential dangerous zone.In this study, the tsunami numerical model COMCOT (Cornell Multi-grid Coupled Tsunami Model) was used for simulation and analysis. The analysis method was Impact Intensity Analysis (IIA) and was further combined with the Tsunami Arrival-Time Analysis (TATA). The IIA method was based on the Green's function. The tsunami was discretization as a point source, and the tsunami impact coefficient of each point source was analyzed to show the intensity of tsunami impact on the study site in each region. However, the tsunami directionality was ignored in IIA method. The tsunami directionality is especially important to the trench-type tsunami. In order to overcome this problem, we newly developed the TATA method to inspect the effect of similar arrival time from a series of unit-sources.According to the result of IIA, the signal of Keelung Port and Chile were stronger than Hualien. After analyzing the isochronism by the TATA method, simulate the condition by moving the epicenter northward for 500 km. The results have been shown the maximum wave height in Keelung Port was over 1 meter and negative wave was over 2 meters. As to Hualien area, the maximum wave closed to 1 meter. Therefore, the impact of earthquake tsunami in 1960 and 2010 on Taiwan were not the most serious two. All in all, Taiwan shall not ignore the potential tsunami risk in earthquake belt of Chile.


"The Most Dangerous Vestige of Cannibalism": Stalinist Anti-Semitism, 1948–1953 The period of late Stalinism witnessed a sharp rise of anti-Jewish discrimination on the part of the Soviet regime, often labeled "official" or "state anti-Semitism," accompanied by an increase in public anti-Jewish animosity. This paper gives an overview of the existing primary and secondary sources on the topic and, building upon them, it outlines the political background and the consequences of this shift in the relations between the Soviet government and the Jewish minority. It concentrates on three main milestones: the trial of the Jewish Antifascist Committee, the campaign against cosmopolitism, and the so-called "Doctors ' Plot." It reveals to which extent these anti-Jewish tensions reflected larger shifts in both the internal situation and the international environment. It concludes that compared to other forms of Anti-Jewish animosity, the anti-Semitism of the period of late Stalinism had a clear political character, and therefore it also had a strong propagandistic significance. Keywords:anti-Semitism, Cold War, cosmopolitism, propaganda, Soviet Jews, Stalinism, The Jewish Antifascist Committee


The rapid growth of the Internet influenced many of our daily activities. One of the very rapid growth area is ecommerce. Generally e-commerce provide facility for customers to write reviews related with its service. The existence of these reviews can be used as a source of information. For examples, companies can use it to make design decisions of their products or services, while potential customers can use it to decide either to buy or to use a product. Unfortunately, the importance of the review is misused by certain parties who tried to create fake reviews, both aimed at raising the popularity or to discredit the product. This research aims to detect fake reviews for a product by using the text and rating property from a review. In short, the proposed system (ICF++) will measure the honesty value of a review, the trustiness value of the reviewers and the reliability value of a product. The honesty value of a review will be measured by utilizing the text mining and opinion mining techniques. The result from the experiment shows that the proposed system has a better accuracy compared with the result from iterative computation framework (ICF) method.


Two procedures, the confidence interval method and Mountford's index, were tested in analyses of the microbial populations of 11 laboratory activated sludges acclimated to aromatic compounds. The two methods gave somewhat different results but indicated that the populations were quite dissimilar. The activity of seven of the sludges correlated well with the population structure. Some considerations in analysis of microbial population structure are discussed.


This paper evaluates the adsorption capacity of iron-rich adsorbent to remove arsenic from groundwater in decentralised water supply treatment; a pilot-scale with a capacity of 5 m3/day has been investigated at Cu Da Nursery School in Hanoi city, in which the concentration of arsenic in groundwater is abnormally high (175-400 μg/l). The pilot system was designed to include a series of processes, such as aeration, sedimentation, sand filtration, and adsorption, using the iron-rich adsorbent and activated carbon from coconut shells. The pilot system was tested with three operated modes. The results demonstrate that the treatment efficiency of the overall treatment processes was significantly higher than that of the traditional treatment system used by local people. After aeration, sedimentation, and sand filtration, the water quality was discovered to respond substantially in reducing iron by over 96% (from 8-12 mg/l to less than 0.3 mg/l) arsenic by 55 to 60%, but after iron-rich adsorbent, the concentration of arsenic decreased to less than 10 μg/l, which fulfills Vietnam National technical regulations concerning drinking water quality.


This is the first contribution of a series of interventions describing the EASY-NET research program (Bando Ricerca Finalizzata 2016, funds 2014-2015; NET-2016-02364191). Here, the objective is to illustrate the background and the research question, the structure and organization, the methodologies and the expected results of the programme. The main theme is audit&feedback (A&F), a proven and widespread technique for improving the quality of health care. EASY-NET, funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and by the governments of the participating Italian Regions, starts its research activities in 2019 with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of A&F in improving care for different clinical conditions in various organizational and legislative contexts. The research network involves seven Italian Regions, each conducting specific research activities described by as many work packages (WP): Lazio (the leading Region, coordinator of the research activities), Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Calabria, and Sicily. The involved clinical areas include the management of chronic diseases, emergency care for acute conditions, surgery in the oncological area, the treatment of heart disease, obstetrics, and the use of caesarean section and post-acute rehabilitation. The involved settings concern the community, the hospital, the emergency room, and the rehabilitation facilities. Different experimental or quasi-experimental study designs are applied in each WP to achieve specific objectives of the specific clinical and organizational context. In all WPs, the process and outcome indicators are calculated on the basis of the Health Information Systems (HIS) and, in some cases, they are integrated with measures obtained from ad hoc data collections. The programme aims to contribute to the scientific evidence on A&F also exploring the obstacles and favourable factors for its effectiveness and to promote its implementation in the health service, with the ultimate aim of improving the access to healthcare and the health outcomes for citizens.


The distributional impact of policy changes is usually considered in terms of equivalised household income, assuming that each individual within the household is being affected in the same way, as a result of complete income pooling. The aim of this paper is to extend this approach by introducing a gender perspective in the analysis of policy effects. We use EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the EU, to estimate the effects of changes in tax-benefit policies over the period 2008-2014 separately for men and women. The paper consists of two parts. First, we apply the standard approach based on the equal income sharing assumption but focus on lone parent families – a specific household type which makes gendered policy effects easier to observe. This analysis is performed for 18 EU countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Finland and Sweden. Second, we estimate the policy effects for men and women in couples. To obtain gender specific effects, we redefine income at the individual level by allocating income components to each adult within the household according to a set of assumptions. We present three alternative scenarios of intra-household income sharing. All scenarios assume that all individual incomes (e.g. earnings, individual benefits) are retained by their recipients, while common incomes (e.g. family benefits, housing allowances) are distributed following three different sets of sharing rules, which are defined in relation to the primary and the secondary earner status. We compare the outcomes of men and women in these three scenarios and in the baseline which assumes equal income sharing. This analysis is performed for six countries which differ in terms of the degree of defamilialisation their welfare regimes provide: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, France, Romania and Finland.


The blind pouch syndrome is a series of symptoms associated with blind pouch formation, secondary to a side-to-side intestinal anastomosis. The diagnosis is easily suspected in a patient with anemia, episodes of diarrhea, intermittent crampy abdominal pain, weight loss and a history of a previous abdominal operation. The effectiveness of intubation-infusion barium studies of the small intestine in demonstrating obscure lesions therein, undetected by conventional methods, should be used for a prompt and precise diagnosis preoperatively. Surgical correction by means of resection of involved lateral anastomosis with end-to-end anastomosis has been successful, eliminating future complications.


A personal view is presented of electromagnetic field computing from 1962 to 1988. The major achievements are listed with a summary of the current state of the art. A software computing environment is described that embodies the latest developments, with particular emphasis on mesh adaptive solutions controlled by error predictions. It is conjectured that new hardware developments on parallel and vector processing will make practical the computation of moving and coupled systems. >


Worldwide, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death. It is widely accepted that both active smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) are associated with CVD. About 20% of the global population smoke tobacco or tobacco-related products. The global prevalence of smoking is increasing, although it is decreasing in some high-income and upper middle-income countries.
Globally, about a third of adults and 40% children are regularly exposed to SHS. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), only 16% of the global
population is protected by a comprehensive smoke-free legislation. Coronary
heart disease (CHD), stroke and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are all types of
atherosclerosis and often co-exist in the same patients. Therefore, they share
many common risk factors including cigarette smoking. However, previous
epidemiological studies on CVD including those on cigarette smoking mainly
focused on CHD and stroke and pay little attention to PAD. Evidence is increasing in support of the association between exposure to SHS and both CHD and stroke.
In contrast, there is a paucity of studies on SHS and the risk of PAD. The
overarching aim of this thesis was to collate the published evidence on the
association between active cigarette smoking and PAD, and examine the
association between exposure to SHS and PAD in the general population.
This thesis starts with a systematic review on the association between active
cigarette smoking, SHS and PAD undertaken using four databases: Medline,
Embase, PubMed and Web of Science to identify existing published evidence up to 30 April 2012 (Chapter 2). Prior to the published studies contained in this thesis, there had been no meta-analyses on the association between active cigarette smoking and PAD and only two studies published on the association between SHS and PAD. Therefore, this systematic review was followed by a meta-analysis on the association between active cigarette smoking and PAD. This meta-analysis
identified 55 studies: 43 cross-sectional, 10 cohort and 2 case-control. Of the 68 results for current smokers, 59 (86.8%) were statistically significant and the pooled odds ratio (OR) was 2.72 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.28-3.21). Of the 40 results for ex-smokers, 29 (72.5%) were statistically significant and the pooled OR was 1.67 (95% CI 1.54-1.81). Active cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of PAD, compared with never smokers. The magnitude of association between active cigarette smoking and PAD was greater in current smokers than ex-smokers.
In contrast, prior to my studies in this thesis, only two studies on SHS were
identified. Only one showed an overall association between self-report SHS and
PAD in Chinese never smokers, with a clear dose-response relationship. The other study used serum cotinine as measure for SHS exposure and found neither an overall association nor a dose-response relationship but suggested a very high cotinine concentration as threshold.
Chapter 3 examines the association between SHS exposure and PAD in adult non-smokers in Scotland. This chapter includes two cross-sectional studies using the Generation Scotland: Scottish Family Health Study (GS: SFHS) and the Scottish Health Survey (SHeS), and one retrospective cohort study using the record linkage of the SHeS. In the cross-sectional study using SFHS, PAD was measured using ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) but SHS exposure was self-report. Of the 5,686 never smokers, 134 (2.4%) had PAD (defined as an ABPI <0.9). Participants who reported overall high level of SHS exposure (exposed to ≥40 hours per week) were more likely to have PAD, compared with those who reported no exposure to SHS.
After adjustment for potential confounders, the association between SHS and PAD persisted (adjusted OR 4.53, 95% CI 1.51-13.56, p=0.007), with suggestion of a dose-response relationship. In the other cross-sectional study using SHeS, SHS exposure was measured objectively using cotinine concentration but PAD was based on self-report symptoms of intermittent claudication (IC) using the Edinburgh Claudication Questionnaire. Of the 4,231 non-smokers (defined as self-reported non-smokers with a salivary cotinine concentration <15 ng/mL), 134 (3.2%) had IC. Participants with high exposure to SHS (cotinine ≥2.7 ng/mL) were at significantly higher risk of IC, after adjustment for potential confounders (adjusted OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.04-3.00, p=0.036). A dose-response relationship was suggested, whereby the risk of IC increased with increasing cotinine concentration.
However, the association varied by age category. Participants aged <60 were more strongly associated with PAD. This may be explained by survival bias. For the third, retrospective cohort study in Chapter 3, I used record linkage of SHeS to Scottish Morbidity Record 01 (SMR01) records and death certificates to identify the first hospital admission/death following the SHeS in which PAD was recorded as the primary or secondary cause. Of the 4,045 confirmed non-smokers who were free of baseline IC were included. Over the follow-up period (mean follow-up 9 years), there were 568 deaths, none of which were coded as due to PAD, and 64 participants were hospitalised for PAD. High exposure to SHS was associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.42, 95% CI 1.09- 1.86, p=0.011) among all non-smokers and increased risk of incident PAD (adjusted HR 2.82, 95% CI 1.14-6.96, p=0.024) among male non-smokers. Increased cotinine concentrations at baseline were associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality, with a dose-response relationship.
SHS contains both sidestream smoke, from burning cigarette tips, and exhaled
mainstream smoke. Shortened telomere length is broadly viewed as a biomarker for biological ageing including atherosclerosis phenotypes such as PAD. Evidence is strong that active smoking increases telomere length attrition but whether such association occurs between SHS and telomere length is unknown. Therefore, Chapter 4 aimed to add to growing evidence that exposure to SHS is associated with disproportionately higher biomarkers of cardiovascular risk compared with active smoking and may accelerate normal biological ageing. This chapter includes two cross-sectional studies. The first study investigated the relationship between salivary cotinine and several preclinical cardiovascular biomarkers: C-reactive protein (CRP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, TC/HDL cholesterol ratio and fibrinogen in 10,081 adults from the SHeS. CRP concentration and the TC/HDL cholesterol ratio increased, and HDL cholesterol concentration decreased with increasing cotinine concentration among both non-smokers and active smokers. There were step changes in the relationship between tobacco exposure and cardiovascular biomarkers at the interface of non-smokers exposed to SHS and active smokers. Non-smokers with high exposure to SHS had lower cotinine concentrations than light active smokers but comparable concentrations of CRP (p=0.709), HDL cholesterol (p=0.931) and the TC/HDL cholesterol ratio (p=0.405). Fibrinogen concentration was less clear-cut and only increased in moderate and heavy active smokers. The second study in this chapter explored the association between self-reported levels of SHS exposure and telomere shortening per annum using a subgroup of participants from the SFHS. Of the 1,303 non-smokers, telomere length decreased more rapidly with increasing age among participants with high level of SHS exposure, compared with both those with no exposure (adjusted coefficient -0.006, 95% CI -0.008- -0.004) (high vs no SHS: p=0.010) or low exposure (adjusted coefficient -0.005, 95% CI -0.007- -0.003) (high vs low SHS: p=0.005).
In summary, there is now substantial evidence of an association between active
cigarette smoking and PAD. This thesis adds to the limited existing evidence on
SHS as an independent risk factor for PAD. There was an overall association
between exposure to SHS and PAD, with suggestion of a dose-response relationship.
However, the association varied by age category. Individuals aged <60 were more strongly associated with the prevalence of IC. SHS was significantly associated with incident PAD only in men. This thesis further demonstrates that exposure to SHS carries a disproportionately higher cardiovascular risk than active smoking for a given level of smoke exposure. Telomere shortening per year of age may be an intermediate step between SHS and CVD including PAD. This also supports the association between SHS exposure and the atherosclerosis-related biomarkers, which play an important role in the pathophysiology of PAD. Further research is needed in the future to better understand the association between SHS and PAD, and the underlying mechanisms. The research in this thesis supports the need to protect the general public from exposure to SHS.


Abstract. The unintended consequences of reductions in regional anthropogenic sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions implemented to protect human health are poorly understood. SO2 decreases began in the 1970s in the US and Europe and are expected to continue into the future, while recent emissions decreases in China are also projected to continue. In addition to the well documented climate effects (warming) from reducing aerosols, tropospheric oxidation is impacted via aerosol modification of photolysis rates and radical sinks. Impacts on the hydroxyl radical and other trace constituents directly affect climate and air quality metrics such as surface ozone levels. We use the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Atmospheric Model version 3 nudged towards National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis wind velocities to estimate the impact of SO2 emissions from the United States, Europe, and China by differencing a control simulation with an otherwise identical simulation in which 2015 anthropogenic SO2 emissions are set to zero over one of the regions. Springtime sulfate aerosol changes occur both locally to the emission region and also throughout the Northern Hemispheric troposphere, including remote oceanic regions and the Arctic. The presence of sulfate aerosol strongly reduces hydroxyl (OH) and hydroperoxy (HO2) radicals by up to 10 % year-round throughout most of the troposphere north of 30° N latitude, the latter of which is directly removed via heterogeneous chemistry on aerosol surfaces, including sulfate, in the model. Regional SO2 emissions significantly increase nitrogen oxides (NOx) by about 5–8 % throughout most of the free troposphere in the Northern hemisphere by increasing the NOx lifetime as the heterogeneous sink on sulfate aerosol declines. Despite the NOx increases, tropospheric ozone decreases at northern mid-latitudes by 1–4 % zonally averaged and by up to 5 ppbv in surface air over China, as its response is dominated by the larger decreases (up to 2x) in HO2 and OH. Since 2015 anthropogenic SO2 emissions in China exceed those in the US or Europe, the oxidative response is greatest for the China perturbation simulation. Chemical effects of aerosols on oxidation (reactive uptake) dominate over radiative effects (photolysis rates), the latter of which are only statistically significant locally for the large perturbation over China. We find that the emissions decrease in China, which has yet to be fully realized, will have the largest impact on oxidants and related species in the Northern Hemisphere free troposphere compared to changes in Europe or the USA. Our results bolster previous calls for a multipollutant strategy for air pollution mitigation, to avoid the unintended consequence of aerosol removal leading to surface ozone increases that offset or mask surface ozone gains achieved by regulation of other pollutants, especially in countries where current usage of high-sulfur emitting fuels may be phased out in the future.


In this paper, we present our efforts towards creating interfaces for networked media exploration and collaborative annotation. The problem is important since online social networks are emerging as conduits for exchange of everyday experiences. These networks do not currently provide media-rich communication environments. Our approach has two parts -- collaborative annotation, and a media exploration framework. The collaborative annotation takes place through a web based interface, and provides to each user personalized recommendations, based on media features, and by using a common sense inference toolkit. We develop three media exploration interfaces that allow for two-way interaction amongst the participants -- (a) spatio-temporal evolution, (b) event cones and (c) viewpoint centric interaction. We also analyze the user activity to determine important people and events, for each user. We also develop subtle visual interface cues for activity feedback. Preliminary user studies indicate that the system performs well and is well liked by the users.


When patients are advised to visit the local genitourinary medicine clinic, the suggestion often doesn't go down well. A qualitative study of young women in Glasgow found that attending a genitourinary medicine clinic was a stressful event, but not as bad as they had expected. Family planning clinics were perceived as benign compared with genitourinary medicine clinics, which are still associated with people who hold unacceptable social and moral traits (Sexually Transmitted Infections 2001;77:340.3).

The contraceptive pill hits the headlines again. This time it's being linked with reduced bone density (Canadian Medical Association Journal 2001;165:1023.9). Data taken from a sample of 524 women enrolled in the Canadian multicentre osteoporosis study showed that premenopausal "ever users" of the oral contraceptive pill have lower bone densities than "never users." The reduction in bone density could mean increased fracture risks of 20.30%.

A 64 year old woman at routine follow up for glaucoma reported a few months' history of visual deterioration of both eyes. She had been taking tamoxifen 20 mg daily for eight years …


India's growth story in recent years is being criticised for its inability to reduce the ever‐increasing income inequality and higher incidence of malnutrition among its children, particularly those belonging to marginalised groups such as Scheduled Castes (SCs). This article examines the prevalence of identity‐based discrimination in health and nutritional programmes and finds it to be one of the important reasons for the higher incidence of malnutrition among SC children. While examining the guidelines of two major nutritional support programmes – the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the Mid Day Meal (MDM) Scheme – the article argues for making these more caste‐ and gender‐sensitive in order to eliminate discrimination. It offers policy recommendations to address and monitor the discrimination in nutrition programmes. These include greater participation by marginalised groups like SCs in service planning and delivery, ensuring quality and promoting accountability; training and sensitisation of service providers; and the revision of administrative guidelines.


Across languages, certain types of adverbials, such as duration and frequency adverbials, have been identified as being accusative case-marked just like objects. As case is canonically assigned to nominal arguments such as objects, central questions have been whether the case on these adverbials is syntactic like that on objects, and how to characterize the realization of accusative case on adverbials. In addressing these questions, this paper proposes that accusative case on adverbials is syntactic. In particular, what this paper newly proposes is that accusative case is not aspectual, and thus not licensed by an aspectual functional head (e.g., Asp), unlike in some previous studies of Korean and other languages. This paper provides a minimalist syntactic analysis in which accusative case is the result of an Agree relation between an adverbial and a functional head that introduces an external argument. In the course of executing this analysis, the paper clarifies the contribution of animacy and agency to the realization of accusative case.


Ethiopia has very distinct natural, cultural and historic products that could attract visitors from all over the world. Meqdela Amba, a community in Ethiopia, is endowed with a unique historical heritage and outstanding biophysical features. The aim of this study was to identify the major barrier of the Meqdela Amba community based ecotourism development in Tenta district. The study used descriptive research design and also both probability and non-probability sampling methods. The data sources used both primary and secondary data, and the research approaches used mixed research method both qualitative and quantitative research. These were generated by employing qualitative (using key informant interview, focus group discussions and field observation) and quantitative (mainly using household survey questionnaires) methods. Checklists were the main data gathering tools with the total target population being 370. A sample of 193 questionnaires was distributed to local communities and 185 were returned. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, to interpret the result frequency and percentage. The barriers identified to Meqdela Amba community based ecotourism site were: lack of marketing and promotion activity, low level of knowledge and attitudes of local community towards community based ecotourism, lack of cooperation among stakeholders, lack of professional guides, lack of major infrastructure and facilities such as accommodation, electricity, and clean water supply. Attention should be given to reducing the major barriers from Meqdela Amba community based ecotourism site.

 Key words: Barriers, community based ecotourism, Meqdela Amba, Ethiopia.


Background and Aim Cancer survivors are gradually increasing, however, they suffer from various difficulties. We aimed to investigate the characteristics of cancer survivors and the effects of the services of the Korean Cancer Survivorship Center Pilot Project launched by the South Korean government on distress. Methods A prospective observational cohort study was performed on cancer survivors who completed primary treatment. Cancer survivors' distress and symptoms such as fatigue, pain, depressive mood, anxiety, and insomnia were evaluated by well-trained nurses. Regarding their needs, medical and psychosocial support services were provided. Results This study included 1,921 cancer survivors, with a mean age of 57.3 years (68.7% females). Breast cancer was most common, followed by stomach and colorectal cancer. Psychosocial and medical support decreased the percentage of the high-distress group from 50.9 to 30.5% and decreased the percentage of cancer survivors with high scores in fatigue, pain, anxiety, depressive mood, and insomnia. The independent predictors of a low distress level after the use of the services were older age, the relief of fatigue, pain, and insomnia. Conclusion This study showed that psychosocial and medical support is associated with the lower distress and physical and mental symptoms of cancer survivors. Psychosocial and medical support could contribute to distress relief in cancer survivors. Further management strategies for fatigue, pain and insomnia are required.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Walking while talking is a dual cognitive-motor task that predicts frailty, falls, and cognitive decline in the general elderly population. Adults with CKD have gait abnormalities during usual walking. It is unknown whether they have greater gait abnormalities and cognitive-motor interference during walking while talking.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS
Community-dwelling, nondisabled adults (n=330) ≥65 years of age underwent quantitative gait analysis, including walking while talking. Differences in walking while talking performance by CKD status were evaluated, and relative changes between walking while talking and walking alone performance were computed to quantify cognitive-motor interference (dual-task cost). Associations were tested using multivariable linear spline regression models, and independent gait domains were derived using factor analysis. CKD was defined as an eGFR<60 ml/min per 1.73 m2.

RESULTS
CKD was present in 134 (41%) participants. Participants with CKD had slower gait speed along with various gait cycle abnormalities during walking while talking: among those with CKD, every 10-ml/min per 1.73 m2 lower eGFR was associated with 3.3-cm/s (95% confidence interval, 0.4 to 6.1) slower gait speed, 1.8-cm (95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 3.0) shorter step length, 1.1% (95% confidence interval, 0.6 to 1.7) less time in the swing phase, and 1.4% (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 2.3) greater time in double support after multivariable adjustment. When comparing walking while talking with walking alone, every 10-ml/min per 1.73 m2 lower eGFR was associated with 1.8% (95% confidence interval, 0.5 to 3.2) greater decrease in time in the swing phase and 0.9% (95% confidence interval, 0.2 to 1.5) greater increase in time in the stance phase. Factor analysis identified three walking while talking domains and three dual-task cost domains: eGFR was associated specifically with the rhythm domain for both walking while talking and dual-task cost. Every 10-ml/min per 1.73 m2 lower eGFR was associated with a poorer performance of 0.2 SD (95% confidence interval, 0.1 to 0.3) for walking while talking and 0.2 SD (95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.3) for dual-task cost.

CONCLUSIONS
During walking while talking, CKD is associated with gait abnormalities, possibly due to increased cognitive-motor interference.


Three studies investigated implicit biases, and their modifiability, against overweight persons. In Study 1 (N = 144), the authors demonstrated strong implicit anti-fat attitudes and stereotypes using the Implicit Association Test, despite no explicit anti-fat bias. When participants were informed that obesity is caused predominantly by overeating and lack of exercise, higher implicit bias relative to controls was produced; informing participants that obesity is mainly due to genetic factors did not result in lower bias. In Studies 2A (N = 90) and 2B (N = 63), participants read stories of discrimination against obese persons to evoke empathy. This did not lead to lower bias compared with controls but did produce diminished implicit bias among overweight participants, suggesting an in-group bias.


Although independent unobserved heterogeneity--variables that affect the dependent variable but are independent from the other explanatory variables of interest--do not affect the point estimates or marginal effects in least squares regression, they do affect point estimates in nonlinear models such as logit and probit models. In these nonlinear models, independent unobserved heterogeneity changes the arbitrary normalization of the coefficients through the error variance. Therefore, any statistics derived from the estimated coefficients change when additional, seemingly irrelevant, variables are added to the model. Odds ratios must be interpreted as conditional on the data and model. There is no one odds ratio; each odds ratio estimated in a multivariate model is conditional on the data and model in a way that makes comparisons with other results difficult or impossible. This paper provides new Monte Carlo and graphical insights into why this is true, and new understanding of how to interpret fixed effects models, including case control studies. Marginal effects are largely unaffected by unobserved heterogeneity in both linear regression and nonlinear models, including logit and probit and their multinomial and ordered extensions.


Sleep breathing disorders (SBD) are related to obstructions resulting from repetitive narrowing and closure of the pharyngeal airway. Their diagnoses and treatment are critically dependent on an accurate identification of and discrimination between types of respiratory events. However, these disorders have been diagnosed using indirect or invasive measurements, which resulted in serious doubts concerning the correct evaluation of breathing events. The forced oscillation technique (FOT) has recently been suggested as a clinical tool able to accurately and non-invasively quantify respiratory obstruction during sleep. The present study investigates the morphology of the impedance signal during different sleep respiratory events and evaluates the ability of impedance measurements in providing adequate nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) titration. The results evidenced characteristic patterns in impedance signal morphology that are useful in the identification and classification of abnormal respiratory events. Moreover, significantly higher impedance values were obtained during apnoea and hypopnoea events when compared with normal values (p < 0.01). Studies using impedance measurements to adjust nCPAP showed a significant reduction (p < 0.01) of abnormal respiratory events, and a consequent normalization of the patients. These findings support the use of the FOT as a versatile clinic diagnostic tool helping SBD diagnosis and treatment.


In my opinion most of the legal and social problems that arise under the Constitution stem from the belief, held by some people, that they are better than other people. They do not hate anyone. They simply believe that they are superior and that the law ought to treat them better than the other group. This is true of whites who think they are superior to blacks, men who think they are superior to women, and heterosexuals who think they are superior to homosexuals. People have often justified these types of beliefs by appeal to religion and have attempted to enshrine these beliefs in our law. But the Free Exercise Clause does not support the proposition that some people - even a majority of the people - have the right to impose their religious beliefs upon others. To the contrary, religious belief is not even a legitimate reason for the law to treat groups of people differently or interfere with their fundamental rights.Under the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution gays and lesbians are entitled to equal rights, including equal marriage rights, because the love that they have for each other is indistinguishable from the love that men and women have for their partners. Their relationships are just as valuable to themselves and to society – just as important and just as sacred as the love between heterosexual couples. In that respect we are all created equal.


Abstract: The Importance Sampling method is used as an alternative approach to MCMC in repeated Bayesian estimations. In the particular context of numerous data sets, MCMC algorithms have to be called on several times which may become computationally expensive. Since Importance Sampling requires a sample from a posteriodistribution, our idea is to use MCMC to generate only a certain number of Markov chains and use them later in the subsequent IS estimations. For each Importance Sampling procedure, the suitable chain is selected by one of three criteria we present here. The first and second criteria are based on the L1 norm of the difference between two posterior distributions and their Kullback-Leibler divergence respectively. The third criterion results from minimizing the variance of IS estimate. A supplementary automatic selection procedure is also proposed to choose those posterior for which Markov chains will be generated and to avoid arbitrary choice of importance functions. The featured methods are illustrated in simulation studies on three types of Poisson model: simple Poisson model, Poisson regression model and Poisson regression model with extra Poisson variability. Different parameter settings are considered.


A model of individual earnings dynamics that admits population heterogeneity with respect to both the level and the variability of individual earnings series is applied to an investigation of the distribution of earnings instability among mature male earners. The results tend to support Robert Gibrat's "law of proportional effect" rather than expectations based on dual labor-market theory or on the notion of compensating differentials for unemployment risk. An additional assessment of the amount of transitory variation in Canadian earnings data finds it to be small compared to the permanent component of earnings differences.


This paper designs, for a broad class of rational-expectations dynamic stochastic general-equilibrium models, interest-rate rules which not only ensure the local determinacy of the targeted equilibrium within the neighbourhood of the targeted steady state, but also prevent the economy from gradually leaving this neighbourhood. We show that in most models these interest-rate rules are necessarily forward-looking (i.e. make necessarily the interest rate conditional on the private agents' expectations), while in all models non-forward-looking interest-rate rules exist which ensure only the local determinacy of the targeted equilibrium. We also discuss the robustness of the effectiveness of these rules to departures from various assumptions and show in particular that they can still be effective when the central bank has imperfect knowledge of the model's structural parameters. We finally argue that such rules could also serve as a useful guide in the reflections on the best monetary policy reaction to perceived asset-price bubbles or exchange-rate misalignments.


Introduction: The aim of our study is to investigate the etiological distribution of ILD in Turkey by stratifying the epidemiological characteristics of ILD cases, and the direct cost of initial diagnosis of the diagnosed patients. Material-Method: The study was conducted as a multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional, clinical observation study. Patients over the age of 18 and who accepted to participate to the study were included and evaluated as considered to be ILD. The findings of diagnosis, examination and treatment carried out by the centers in accordance with routine diagnostic procedures were recorded observationally. Results: In total,1070 patients were included in this study. 567 (53%) of the patients were male and 503 (47%) were female. The most frequently diagnosed disease was IPF (30.5%). Dyspnea (75.9%) was the highest incidence among the presenting symptoms. Physical examination found bibasilar inspiratory crackles in 56.2 % and radiological findings included reticular opacities and interlobular septal thickenings in 55.9 % of the cases. It was observed that clinical and radiological findings were used most frequently (74.9%) as a diagnostic tool. While the most common treatment approaches were the use of systemic steroids and antifibrotic drugs with a rate of 30.7% and 85.6%, respectively. The total median cost from the patient's admission to diagnosis was 540 Turkish Lira. Conclusion: We believe that our findings compared with data from other countries will be useful in showing the current situation of ILD in our country to discuss this problem and making plans for a solution.


Abstract. We generate synthetic catalogs of seismicity in northern California using a composite simulation. The basis of the simulation is the fault based "Virtual California" (VC) earthquake simulator. Back-slip velocities and mean recurrence intervals are specified on model strike-slip faults. A catalog of characteristic earthquakes is generated for a period of 100 000 yr. These earthquakes are predominantly in the range M = 6 to M = 8, but do not follow Gutenberg-Richter (GR) scaling at lower magnitudes. In order to model seismicity on unmapped faults we introduce background seismicity which occurs randomly in time with GR scaling and is spatially associated with the VC model faults. These earthquakes fill in the GR scaling down to M = 4 (the smallest earthquakes modeled). The rate of background seismicity is constrained by the observed rate of occurrence of M > 4 earthquakes in northern California. These earthquakes are then used to drive the BASS (branching aftershock sequence) model of aftershock occurrence. The BASS model is the self-similar limit of the ETAS (epidemic type aftershock sequence) model. Families of aftershocks are generated following each Virtual California and background main shock. In the simulations the rate of occurrence of aftershocks is essentially equal to the rate of occurrence of main shocks in the magnitude range 4


Margery Fish has often been called the 'Mother of Modern Gardening'. Today gardeners come from all over the world to visit her garden at East Lambrook in Somerset - to discover for themselves the glorious results of her special genius. She grew plants that pleased her and did not need too much work, and showed for the first time how it was possible to have flowers in the garden all year round.


Minimal residual disease (MRD) has been found to offer an independent post-remission prognostic marker in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We have confirmed this in a large blinded study in which MRD was assessed in parallel to a HOVON therapy protocol. Subsequently, MRD is now included as part of a new risk classification in a HOVON/SAKK treatment protocol where intermediate risk patients, previously all scheduled for allogeneic stem cell transplantation, are scheduled for autologous transplantation in case of MRD-negativity. In parallel, leukaemia stem cell load at clinical follow up was identified as a factor that adds significantly to the prognostic value of MRD load. Especially relapse in MRD-negative patients can now be better predicted based on leukaemia stem cell (LSC) frequency. A single tube assay was therefore developed which facilitates stem cell load assessment and allows this in the majority of patients. Lastly, false-negative MRD and false-negative LSC cases may be identified by monitoring upcoming aberrant populations that, due to low frequencies, were not properly identified at diagnosis. Introduction Treatment of AML patients usually is performed according to classification in risk groups defined by molecular, cytogenetic and clinical parameters, which thereby identify patients with favourable, intermediate and poor/very poor risk.1 Although very useful, this classification is still far from the ideal situation in which patients should have individualized risk assessment, potentially allowing individualized therapy: all risk groups still harbour patients with good and poor outcome, even the most favourable patient group, while the poor risk patient group still harbours good performing patients. Parameters that would integrate all known and unknown factors contributing to individual patient's clinical outcome were therefore thought to be urgently needed. A post-remission parameter like MRD has been proposed to represent such a factor and is meanwhile extensively studied. 2 Our recent study in the HOVON/SAKK consortium (http://www. HOVON.nl) has shown for young patients (HO42A, for details see website) that MRD assessed by flowcytometry in an unbiased way (prospective sampling and MRD quantitation in a multiinstitutional way, with complete lack of knowledge on clinical outcome until final analysis) is an independent prognostic factor in all individual risk groups. However, despite these improvements, still a considerable portion of MRD-negative group (defined as having MRD below a threshold level of 0.1% of WBC) relapse. 3 Also, the terms MRDnegative and MRD-positive (above the threshold level of 0.1%) have a different meaning in the different risk groups: MRDpositive patients in the favourable risk group still have relatively good prognosis, while MRD-negative patients in the poor risk group still have relatively poor prognosis. Intrinsic properties of MRD cells may underlie this phenomenon and one of the factors may be the LSC load. LSC are hypothesized to initiate leukaemia, to be therapy resistant, and at the basis of re-growth of the leukaemia after treatment. 4 As a single independent parameter it has been shown that stem cell load at diagnosis is a prognostic marker5,6,7,8 and, more recently in the HO42A study, we also showed prognostic impact after therapy. 7 The stem cell load, when taken into account in a risk assessment that also includes MRD, may further improve MRD based risk assessment. Methods Flowcytometric MRD was performed using the approach in which leukaemia associated immunophenotypes (LAIP) were defined at diagnosis.3 In the HOVON42A study risk was based on the combination of cytogenetics, molecular aberrations and clinical parameters. LSC can be defined as CD34+CD38-. Strategies to define such population at diagnosis and at follow up have been described elsewhere. 7 LSC specific markers (not expressed on CD34+ CD38- normal hematopoietic stem cells, HSC), included lineage markers like CD7, CD19, CD569and, in addition, CLL- 1 (CLEC12A)10 , were originally included in the LSC panel. 7 In a new protocol, tested in more than 500 AML samples, additional markers have been included (e.g CD123, CD33, CD96, TIM-3, CD44). The combination of MRD and LSC frequencies after induction therapy was tested for relapse free survival in a small (n=91) patient group. Threshold levels used for LSC were much lower than for MRD: 1 in 100,000 cells to one in a million cells.7 Results MRD: Based on the prognostic impact of MRD in the HO42A clinical study, the present HO132 protocol contains a risk group previously designated as intermediate risk, but now, based on MRD positivity (MRD % >0.1) after induction courses, is part of the poor risk group. Since MRD had the strongest prognostic impact after the second induction course, for logistical and financial reasons it was decided to restrict the protocol toMRD assessment after the second induction course. MRD status after consolidation, although informative 3,11 is not considered in decision making, since it does not comply with the timely finding of an allogeneic donor for part of the patients. Based on previous validation study 12, it was decided to perform MRD assessment in a largely centralized way. Accrual of patients has started (target number 800; 83 patients already included). LSC +/-MRD: When combiningMRD load and stem cell load (Figure 1) it was found that: 1. The MRD negative group consists of two different groups with different prognosis based on LSC load; 2. The LSC negative group can be divided in a MRD-positive and aMRD-negative group with different prognosis; 3.Double negativity goes along with good prognosis, while double positivity goes along with very poor prognosis. Fig1: Combination of MRD and LSC in prognosis of patients. ForMRD a threshold value of 0.1% defines MRD positive group. For LSC similarly 0.0002% defines LSC positive group. Data for another threshold value have been published.7 LSC could be accurately determined in part of the patients only.7 Therefore, additional markers were studied with the aim to increase that part. Using the markers indicated inMethods, it is now possible to assess LSC in >90% of the patients. Based on extensive study of the redundancy of markers, we are now able to assess total LSC load in a givenAML both at diagnosis and after therapy in a one tube assay that includes 13 different markers. This approach is included as a side study in the HO132 protocol, where the possible contribution of LSC load assessment to prognosis will be studied. Immunophenotype shifts in MRD and LSC assessment: Although LSC markedly improves risk stratification based on well-known risk factors and now also includingMRD load, still the double negative patient group (MRD- LSC-) contains relapsing patients while the two single positive groups still contain both relapsing and non-relapsing patients (Figure 1). We and others found immunophenotype shifts in around 60% (median in different studies,13) of patients, and these contribute to MRD- and LSC false negatives. With the knowledge of immunophenotype and molecular shifts in mind, the present HO132 protocol, apart from the inclusion of LSC load assessment, also assesses the contribution of immunophenotype shifts to MRD (and LSC) negativity. Conclusions We conclude that, based on many studies, and especially on our recent unbiased MRD study, MRD contributes significantly to the existing risk group stratification that is based on cytogenetic and molecular factors as well as on clinical factors. The decision-making process whether a patient is allocated to an allogeneic stem cell transplantation can now be guided by MRD assessment. Moreover, the inclusion of other factors like stem cell load and immunophenotype changes, as seen forMRD and LSC, will contribute to the final goal of individualized therapy.


Abstract The Stommel box model elegantly demonstrates that the oceanic response to mixed boundary conditions, combining a temperature relaxation with a fixed salt flux forcing, is non-linear owing to the so-called salt advection feedback. This non-linearity produces a parameter range of bi-stability associated with hysteresis effects characterised by a fast thermally driven mode and a slow salinity-driven mode. Here, we investigate whether a similar dynamical behaviour can be found in the thermohaline loop model, a one-dimensional analogue of the box model. A semi-analytical method to compute possible steady states of the loop model is presented, followed by a linear stability analysis carried out for a large range of loop configurations. While the salt advection feedback is found as in the box model, a major difference is obtained for the fast mode: an oscillatory instability is observed near the turning point of the fast mode branch, such that the range of bi-stability is systematically reduced, or even removed, in some cases. The oscillatory instability originates from a salinity anomaly that grows exponentially as it turns around the loop, a situation that may occur only when the salinity torque is directed against the loop flow. Factors such as mixing intensity, the relative strength of thermal and haline forcings, the non-linearity of the equation of state or the loop geometry can strongly affect the stability properties of the loop.


Most heterodox theories of the business enterprise base themselves on the Veblenian going concern in which managers pursue the long-run survival and growth of the enterprise, whereas absentee owners are occupied with short-run financial interests. Since Veblen's era, the capitalist social provisioning process has evolved toward money manager capitalism in a dialectical fashion. At the heart of the transformation are changes in the business enterprise. In this paper, we make a threefold argument. First, while the Veblenian account of a going concern still holds true for many enterprises, more and more of the economy is being directed toward financial concerns. Second, as a consequence, the social provisioning process becomes more unstable and people's welfare becomes more vulnerable. Third, the concept of a going concern is therefore to be modified in order to put the business enterprise in the context of money manager capitalism.


This paper presents a novel acoustic modeling framework that naturally extends the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) approach. The novel models reduce the errors caused by speaker variability by means of a local spectral mismatch reduction. A more complex and flexible speech production scheme can be assumed, in which the local temporal and frequency elastic deformations of the speech are captured by the model. In the new framework the states of a standard HMM, which are usually associated with temporal transitions, are expanded so that a new degree of freedom for the model is provided and it is then possible to estimate an optimum frequency warping factor at the same time as the decoder finds the best state sequence. In the local spectral warping based models the states become time-frequency related states and the number of parameters of the model is comparable to the standard HMM since they share a certain amount of parameters as it will be shown. The novel models are evaluated in the noise-free TIDIGITS corpus, which includes connected digits uttered by male, female and children. It has been found that, under speaker group (age-gender) mismatch conditions, the local frequency warping reduced Word Error Rate (WER) in mean by a 70%, using the initial models. When matched speaker group conditions were tested the error was reduced in mean in a 9.7% after reestimating the models. Index Terms: speaker variability, local frequency warping.


Due to the network and multimedia application development information security become important since information can be attacked over the transmission channels and the combination of cryptography and chaotic become important filed of information security, where many encryption algorithm are based on chaotic mapping due to the inherent features of image like high redundancy and bulk data capacity. In this paper, three chaotic maps are used to achieve good diffused image by setting the initial conditions to generate the shuffling sequence randomly by 2D zaslevskii map and employ them in 2D cat map for shuffling the image pixels positions, also baker map is used to decomposed image into four rectangles and shuffle them. To increase the security level of the encryption algorithm Geffe random key generator is used to generate 128 bit key and employ it with exclusive-OR equation to the diffused image. The results indicated that the combination of chaotic and cryptography proved to be good for high security level. All the experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is secure due to the large key space and the high sensitivity to the secret key.


We report on a thermal actuator based on asymmetrical thermal expansion of two beams caused by ohmic heating. Because of the intervention of the different heat transfer mode (such as conduction, convection and radiation), the motion simulation can be complexed. This work demonstrates a good comprehension of the phenomena during a Joule heating process for micro systems and the development of an analytical model and a finite element analysis. Comparisons between theory and experimental results validate the steady-state conditions. Therefore, this actuator has been successfully integrated in an optical bench and allows the displacement of a micro-lens supported by a movable silicon-frame.


Background Repetitive stresses during spike movements in volleyball, make the shoulder one of the most commonly exposed body parts, bringing athletes to prematurely interrupt their career. Objective Different spike techniques are supposed to be associated to different risk shoulder damage. Here we compared the kinematics of the 2 most diffused spike techniques, also with respect to performance. Design Cross sectional-experimental study. Setting Subjects were selected from high-level National teams. Participants 10 female and 11 male (22.4±6.5 years, 1.88±0.07 m, 79.08±9.41 kg). Interventions Subjects performed the traditional (TT) and alternative (AT) spike movement technique without jumping, jumping with and without hitting the ball. 3D kinematic of the upper right limb and trunk was recorded with an optoelectronic system. Glenohumeral joint was set as the centre of an imaginary sphere intersected by the distal end of the humerus. In order to obtain intersection angles (azimuth: longitude and elevation: latitude) independently from the overall body's movements, the sphere was considered attached to trunk. Humerus intra-extra rotation was calculated with Eulerian angles. Linear and angular velocities have been measured as well ball speed and jump height. Main outcome measurements Humerus trajectory of the 2 techniques travels along significantly different paths on the imaginary sphere. Results: Maximal humerus elevation was reduced by 7% in AT, while azimuth was significantly higher, when compared to TT. No difference between TT and AT was found for extra-rotation angles, while intra and extra-rotation angular velocities were significantly higher when adopting the AT. Conclusions Our method shows that AT could be potentially a preventive solution to the shoulder chronic pathologies, while maintaining, or even enhancing, athletes' performance. Furthermore it proved to be effective in visualizing the risks associated to different spike manoeuvres, showing in the same 3D space information regarding both humerus angles and velocities.


Aim Alcohol abuse and self-determination-a mapping of the conditions for home care work with older persons with alcohol problems in Sweden. The aim of this study was to investigate the conditions within home care services when working with older persons with alcohol abuse. Design A telephone survey has been carried out and middle managers for needs assessment officers and middle managers for home care staff have been interviewed. The managers in 25 municipalities in the Stockholm area took part in the study. Results It was common that care workers were in regular contact with older people with alcohol abuse. However, very few had any training regarding how to treat older people with alcohol abuse and there was no specialization within this field. A conflicting task was the question of buying alcohol to alcohol addicts. The self determination of older people was the guideline. The home care workers had little or no cooperation with misuse teams in the municipalities. The municipalities had no guidelines for the work with older people with alcohol abuse and the responsibility was pressed down to the lowest level in the organization. Conclusions To a great extent, home care workers stand alone in the work with older people with alcohol problems.


Growth retardation as well as the development of Cushingoid features in adrenally insufficient patients treated with the currently accepted replacement dose of cortisol (33-41 mumol/day.m2; 12-15 mg/m2.day) prompted us to reevaluate the cortisol production rate (FPR) in normal subjects and patients with Cushing's syndrome, using a recently developed thermospray liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method. The stable isotope [9,12,12-2H3]cortisol was infused continuously for 31 h at about 5% of the anticipated FPR. Blood samples were obtained at 20-min intervals for 24 h, spun, and pooled in 4-h groups. Tracer dilution in plasma was determined by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The method was validated with controlled infusions in 6 patients with adrenal insufficiency. Results from 12 normal volunteers revealed a FPR of 27.3 +/- 7.5 mumol/day (9.9 +/- 2.7 mg/day) or 15.7 mumol/day.m2; 5.7 mg/m2. day). A previously unreported circadian variation in FPR was observed. Patients with Cushing's syndrome demonstrated unequivocal elevation of FPR and cortisol concentration correlated during each sample period in normal volunteers, indicating that cortisol secretion, rather than metabolism, is mainly responsible for changes in plasma cortisol. Our data suggest that the FPR in normal subjects may be lower than previously believed.


A single-chip implementation of the analog signal processing functions required for full-duplex voice-band modem operation over twisted pair wires is described. Echo path signal-to-signal harmonic distortion plus noise exceeds 65 dB. The device is implemented in a 3.5-/spl mu/m twin-tub CMOS process, and typically dissipates 180 mW.


Three experiments tested subjects' ability to recognize spoken words based on word‐final phonological information. Experiment 1 replicated the finding [A. Salasoo and D. B. Pisoni, J. Memory Lang. 24, 210–231 (1985)] that when presented with phonological information incrementally beginning from word‐offset (backward gating), subjects correctly identified spoken words in the absence of word‐initial phonemes. Additionally, experiment 1 demonstrated that acoustic neighborhood size is a significant predictor of recognition probability for both forward and backward gated words. In experiment 2, word‐initial and word‐final acoustic word fragments were used as primes in a crossmodal identity priming task with a naming response. Both word‐initial and word‐final primes significantly facilitated subsequent naming reaction times. Experiment 3 replicated experiment 2 using an associative priming paradigm. The results are interpreted from a connectionist perspective. [Work supported by NICHD.]


This LibGuide was created to accompany the Visions & Voices event: A Midsummer Night's Dream . On Thursday, April 10, USC students will have a chance to attend Bristol Old Vic with Handspring Puppet Company's performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream.


Aims: To measure the association between number of patient encounters and training provided to residents, as well as the residents' perceived achievement of training objectives.
Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study was done on Family Medicine residents in Eastern province, Makkah and Asir regions.
 Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was developed by the investigator and validated by two experts. All residents, except first year residents, were included. Data were collected by the investigator through direct contact with the residents.
Statistical analysis: Cronbach's alpha, analysis of variance, t-test, and univariate regression model were used. Results: Reliability of the questionnaire was found to be 75.4%. One hundred and seven residents (response rate, 83.6%) had completed the questionnaire. The mean age was 29.1 ± 2.5 years, half of the residents were male, most of them (83.2%) were married, and more than half (54.2%) of the residents had worked in primary health care (PHC) before joining the programme. Age and duration of work in PHC before joining the programme were significantly and positively associated with the outcome. In Family Medicine rotations, continuity of care, percentage of patients discussed, and number of trainers were associated with the outcome. On the other hand, percentage of patients discussed in different settings and opportunity for the residents to evaluate patients in an outpatient setting were among the factors affecting the outcome in the hospital rotations. Conclusions: Factors identified (age, duration of work in PHC, discussion, and opportunity to evaluate patients) might help residents, trainers, and decision makers in ensuring residents benefit from the different rotations. Further studies to link the effect of the identified factors on resident outcome and patient care are required.


Increasing customer demands for individualized solutions has a major impact on the
manufacturing sector. Companies are confronted with producing high volumes in order to meet
market demand while customizing their offering to meet specifc customers' requirements. One
of the subsequent major challenges of this situation is to cope with the high offering variety
while ensuring higher performance within the production system and supply chain of the solution
provider. This paper deals with the impact of integrating products and services on the varietyinduced
complexity. Based on a consistent literature review, a model is proposed to conceptualize
the main drivers of variety management of product and service offering. The ultimate objective
of the model is to support decision makers in the identifcation of balances between customer
satisfaction and supply chain performance.


The criteria listed in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) from the American Psychiatric Association are the most used ones for the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) being based on field studies with children and adolescents. The Adult Self-Report Scale (ASRS, version 1.1) was developed to adapt those symptoms to an adult life context. The present study consisted of a transcultural adaptation of the original instrument in English into a final version to be used in Brazil. Results indicated a satisfactory equivalence between versions, with some modifications being done after debriefing, supporting the importance of this step in studies like this.


Known to have a long history of timber extraction, Mursala Island on the west coast of North Sumatra Province is a small island home to the endemic tree Dipterocarpus cinereus and many other Dipterocarpaceae species. In the present study, distance sampling using line-transect was used to assess the species diversity and population status of Dipterocarpaceae species on the Island. A total of 26 Dipterocarpaceae species from 6 genera was identified from Mursala Island. The genus that was represented by the highest number of species was Shorea (13 species), followed by Vatica (5), Dipterocarpus (4), Hopea (2), Cotylelobium (1) and Dryobalanops (1). Among these, two Mursala Island endemic were identified: D. cinereus and H. bancana. Furthermore, according to IUCN Red List category, 11 species (42.3%) were classified as critically endangered, four species (15.4%) were of endangered, 5 species (15.2%) were of vulnerable, one species was of near threatened, 2 species were of least concern and 3 species were not assessed yet. Based on distance analysis, the species with the highest individual density was S. multiflora (21.72±10.96 individual/ha), whereas species with the lowest density was S. johorensis (0.06±0.01 individual/ha). Two main threats for Dipterocarpaceae species in Mursala Island were observed during the survey: illegal logging and habitat conversion. Increasing the protection level of the island was recommended to conserve all the species of Dipterocarpaceae. Besides, providing alternative sources of living for the illegal logger through commercialization of non-timber forest products, ecotourism, and the sustainable fishery was recommended so that they could stop illegal logging activity. Keywords— Dipterocarpaceae; Dipterocarpus cinereus; distance sampling; endemic tree; Hopea bancana; Mursala Island.


The concept of loading monopole antennas with composite right/left-handed (CRLH) unit cell is extended to cover other types of resonant antennas, namely loop antennas. The proposed structure consists of a Loop antenna loaded with a composite right/left-handed (CRLH) unit cell, operates at two narrow band 0.9 GHz, 1.57 GHz and one wide band around 2.6 GHz. It covers several communication standards. By adding one unit cell, these antennas achieve three operating bands while their sizes unmodified. The new frequencies are lower than the unloaded antenna's nominal frequency.


Have you ever wondered how organizations decide which news is important? This insightful book portrays in detail everyday work in three news agencies: Swedish TT, Italian ANSA and the worldwide Reuters. This unique study is about organizing rather than journalism, revealing two accelerating phenomena: cybernization (machines play a more and more central role in news production) and cyborgization (people rely more and more on machines). Barbara Czarniawska reveals that technological developments lead to many unexpected consequences and complications. Cyberfactories will prove essential to researchers interested in contemporary forms of organizing, studies of technology, and media. It will also appeal to a lay reader interested in how news is produced.


The development of Integrated Pest Management on mango requires the knowledge of the main pests, their biological cycle and their relationships with mango. The objective of this study was to survey pests in mango orchards on Reunion Island and to rank them according to the severity of damage produced. As flowering is a key stage for mango production, a particular focus was made on pests affecting this stage of growth. Five orchards situated in three locations of the mango production area were monitored over a two-year period with visual assessment and the use of insect traps. The two main cultivars planted in Reunion Island are the Floridian cultivar 'Cogshall' and the local cultivar 'Jose'. The main phenological stages of the trees were recorded: vegetative growth, flowering and fruit maturity. Overall, thirteen pests were observed in mango orchards and six of them were of economic importance: three species of fruit flies, two gall midges and one bug. The blossom mango gall midge (Procontarinia mangiferae Felt) and the green bug (Orthops palus Taylor) primarily affect the flowering stage. The blossom mango gall midge is a mango-specific pest, of which larvae grow within the axis of inflorescence, whereas the green bug is a polyphagous non-specific pest, of which larvae and adults feed on inflorescences. Each of these species can destroy the inflorescences within a few days. Young bursting inflorescences are damaged more by the blossom mango gall midge, whereas mature flowering inflorescences are damaged by the green bug. This is the first report of damage on mango caused by this Miridae. The long duration of flowering in mango orchards contributes to maintaining high levels of these pest populations and is consequently a main drawback to control their populations and damage. Technical practices aimed at synchronizing flowering could be useful in controlling these pests without the use of pesticides. (Resume d'auteur)


We explore the zero-temperature behavior of an assembly of bosons interacting through a zero-range, attractive potential. Because the two-body interaction admits a bound state, the many-body model is best described by a Hamiltonian that includes the coupling between atomic and molecular components. Due to the positive scattering length, the low-density collection is expected to remain stable against collapse despite the attraction between particles. Although a variational many-body analysis indicates a collapsing solution with only a molecular component to its condensate at low density, the expected atomic condensate solution can be obtained if the chemical potential is allowed to be complex valued. In addition to revealing two discrete eigenfrequencies associated with the molecular case, an expansion in small oscillations quantifies the imaginary part of the chemical potential as proportional to a coherent decay rate of the atomic condensate into a continuum of collective phonon excitations about the collapsing lower state.


THE AUTHORS examined the effectiveness of the thermal water of Puspokladany on 62 patients suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee in a double-blind, placebo controlled study. Thermal water decreased pain in movement and tenderness of the knee significantly compared to that of the control group. Bath-reaction (increase of ESR, leukocyte number and spontaneous pain) was observed only in the group treated with thermal water. The results indi cate, that the thermal water of Puspokladany is suitable for treating patients suffering from degenerative arthopathies. In a previous announcement, Varga and his colleagues had established that a 20-days bath treat ment in the thermal water of Puspokladany signifi cantly reduced the pain of spondylosis patients when the treatment was applied in the undiluted thermal water. Bath reaction was shown on the patients who were treated in the undiluted thermal water, which was proved by the significant increase of the leucocyte number. The present paper deals with the study and tests we conducted to establish the effect of Puspokla dany's thermal water on patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.


The purpose of this research is to capture and interpret the stories of "outsider" managers who make the transition to the public sector. These experiences are considered in the context of efforts to shift public management culture in a direction consistent with meeting contemporary demands placed on public sector organisations. It is often noted that an important strategy for changing culture is the infusion of outsiders. Outsiders are thought to bring new perspectives that, through a dialectical process (Van de Ven 1995), create the potential for change. While there have been cross-sector comparisons (Broussine 1990; Silfvast 1994; Redman 1997), little attention has been given to the experience of those who make the transition in the context of efforts to reform public sector management culture.

Not only is the infusion of private sector managers into the public sector a potential culture change strategy, it is also a personal experience for those who make the transition. Boundary crossing is typically an anxiety provoking experience (Van Maanen & Schein 1979) and the quality of this experience influences decisions to commit, engage, disengage or exit. The quality of the experience is likely to be affected by how the public organisation responds to people making this transition, that is, their investment in people processing (Saks 2007). The cost of recruitment and selection processes at middle and senior management levels warrants a greater research focus on this transition.

In this paper we argue that the experiences of those who make the transition from private to public sectors has much to tell us about the traps that transition managers experience in making this change, the implications for injecting outsider managers as a strategy for achieving public management culture change, and how reform-oriented public organisations can manage the transitions of outsider managers into the public sector in order that best value might be achieved for both the individual and organisational change goals.


Objectives: To assess the validity of 213-item semi-qualified food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in estimating habitual energy and protein intake in a sample of older South Africans. Repeatability of the FFQ was assessed by comparison of reported intakes after a 6-month period. Design: Cross-sectional analytic study Methods: Twenty-one subjects were selected from a baseline sample of 200 non-institutional subjects aged 65 years and over in Cape Town, who had previously been randomly selected for a nurtition and health survey using a two-stage cluster design. Reported dietary energy and protein intakes, estimated by means of the FFQ method, were compared with 24-hour energy expenditure, measured by the heart-rate monitoring technique and 24 hour urinary nitrogen excretion, respectively. Results: Spearman correlation coefficients for reported energy intake (using the FFQ) versus measured energy expenditure were 0.31 (P=0.482) and 0.36 (P=0.35) for men and women, respectively. Men tended to underreport energy intake, while women tended systematically to overestimate energy intake by 21% and 25%, respectively. In men, reported protein intake using the FFQ closely matched urinary protein excretion and a good association between the two measures was found (r=0.62; P=0.061). In women, no association was found between reported protein intake and urinary nitrogen excretion. The FFQ resulted in a twofold overestimate of protein intake, based on urinary nitrogen excretion. In women, correlations between 6-month repeated measures of energy and protein intake using the FFQ were 0.69 (P=0.067) and 0.61 (P=0.053), respectively; however a poor between measure association was found in men. Conclusions: The study findings demonstrate that the semi-quantified FFQ method underestimated food energy intake in older men and overestimated both energy and protein intake in older women.


Serratia plymuthica AS13 is a plant-associated Gammaproteobacteria, isolated from rapeseed roots. It is of special interest because of its ability to inhibit fungal pathogens of rapeseed and to promote plant growth. The complete genome of S. plymuthica AS13 consists of a 5,442,549 bp circular chromosome. The chromosome contains 4,951 protein-coding genes, 87 tRNA genes and 7 rRNA operons. This genome was sequenced as part of the project entitled "Genomics of four rapeseed plant growth promoting bacteria with antagonistic effect on plant pathogens" within the 2010 DOE-JGI Community Sequencing Program (CSP2010).


CONTEXT
One underappreciated consequence of modern clinical and public health practices is that the experience of being at risk for disease has been converging with the experience of disease itself. This is especially true for certain chronic diseases, in which early diagnosis and aggressive treatment have led to symptom-less and sign-less disease and in which treatments have largely been aimed at altering the disease's future course.

METHODS
This article reviews the historical scholarship and medical literature pertinent to transformations in the chronic disease and risk experiences.

FINDINGS
The experience of chronic disease increasingly resembles or has become indistinguishable from risk because of (1) new clinical interventions that have directly changed the natural history of disease; (2) increased biological, clinical, and epidemiological knowledge about the risk of chronic disease; (3) the recruitment of larger numbers into chronic disease diagnoses via new screening and diagnostic technology and disease definitions; (4) new ways of conceptualizing efficacy; and (5) intense diagnostic testing and medical interventions.

CONCLUSIONS
The converged experience of risk and disease has led to some unsettling and generally underappreciated consequences that might be subjected to more clinical and policy reflection and response: (1) some puzzling trends in medical decision making, such as the steep and uniform increase in the numbers of women across a broad spectrum of risk/disease in breast cancer who have opted for prophylactic mastectomies; (2) a larger and highly mobilized disease/risk population, resulting in an expanded market for interventions and greater clout for disease advocates; (3) shifts in the perceived severity of the disease, with ripple effects on how people experience and understand their illness and risk of disease; and (4) interventions that promise both to reduce the risk of disease and to treat its symptoms.


ABSTRACT Substrates of cyclin-cdk2 kinases contain two distinct primary sequence motifs: a cyclin-binding RXL motif and one or more phosphoacceptor sites (consensus S/TPXK/R or S/TP). To identify novel cyclin-cdk2 substrates, we searched the database for proteins containing both of these motifs. One such protein is human HIRA, the homologue of two cell cycle-regulated repressors of histone gene expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Hir1p and Hir2p. Here we demonstrate that human HIRA is an in vivo substrate of a cyclin-cdk2 kinase. First, HIRA bound to and was phosphorylated by cyclin A- and E-cdk2 in vitro in an RXL-dependent manner. Second, HIRA was phosphorylated in vivo on two consensus cyclin-cdk2 phosphoacceptor sites and at least one of these, threonine 555, was phosphorylated by cyclin A-cdk2 in vitro. Third, phosphorylation of HIRA in vivo was blocked by cyclin-cdk2 inhibitor p21cip1. Fourth, HIRA became phosphorylated on threonine 555 in S phase when cyclin-cdk2 kinases are active. Fifth, HIRA was localized preferentially to the nucleus, where active cyclin A- and E-cdk2 are located. Finally, ectopic expression of HIRA in cells caused arrest in S phase and this is consistent with the notion that it is a cyclin-cdk2 substrate that has a role in control of the cell cycle.


Feminism developed and widened its scope to different disciplines such as literature, history, and sociology. It is associated with various other schools and theories like Marxism and poststructuralism, as well. In the field of literature, feminist literary criticism managed to throw away the dust that cumulated on women's writing and succeeded in raising interest in those forgotten female artists. Some critics in the field of feminism claim that there are no separate spheres, masculine and feminine, whereas others have opted for post-feminist thinking. Some women writers used metafiction to write literary criticism. Therefore, how do Gaskell and Woolf implement metafiction in their stories? Accordingly, this work aims at shedding light on Wives and Daughters by Gaskell and Orlando by Woolf to tackle metafiction from a feminist perspective. Examples from both novels about intertextuality, narration, and other aspects, that are part of metafiction, will be provided to illustrate how and where metafiction is used.


When working with diagrams in visual environments like graphical diagram editors, diagrams have to be represented by an internal model. Graphs and hypergraphs are well-known concepts for such internal models. This paper shows how hypergraphs can be uniformly used for a wide range of different diagram types where hyperedges are used to represent diagram components as well as spatial relations between components. Using such an internal model requires a method for translating diagrams into their hypergraph model. Such a graphical scanning method is proposed in this paper. The scanner makes use of a specification of the diagram language. Since the scanner also considers how diagram components are embedded into their context, it is applicable to a wide range of diagram languages and their hypergraph models.


For several decades, the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel have been contaminated by heavy metals despite the many ecosystem services it provides. Therefore, this paper is devoted to the systematic assessment of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb) pollution in soft sediments of the Severn Estuary and Inner Bristol Channel. An unpublished 2016 monitoring survey data of the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel was obtained from the UK Environment Agency to assess seasonal variations, spatial distribution, exceedances, ecological risk, and potential sources of heavy metals. Seasonal variations between the concentration of heavy metals during summer and winter revealed that irrespective of seasons the concentration of heavy metals had the trend Zn > Cr > Pb > Ni > Cd. Concentrations of metals were higher in summer than winter, and there was a significant difference between metals concentration in summer and winter (P < 0.05). Spatial distribution of metals using the Empirical Bayesian Kriging (EBK) model revealed that irrespective of the seasons, concentrations of Cd, Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb in the distinct reaches of the estuary followed the trend Severn middle > Severn lower > Inner Bristol Channel > Severn upper. One-way ANOVA, which was followed by the Tukey's HSD test, showed a significant difference between the mean concentration of heavy metals in the distinct reaches of the study area at p ≤ 0.05. Assessment of heavy metals using the USEPA Sediment Quality Guideline revealed that none of the reaches of the estuary was polluted with Cd. The Severn upper was not polluted with Pb. The Severn middle was moderately polluted by Ni but heavily polluted with Zn, Cr and Pb. Other reaches of the estuary were moderately polluted with Cr, Ni, Zn and Pb. Assessment of ecological risk of heavy metals using pollution indices such as geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), metal pollution index (MPI) and pollution load index (PLI) revealed that heavy metals such as Zn, Pb, Ni and Cr in the distinct reaches of the estuary and might pose an adverse effect on biota and ecosystem services of the Severn Estuary and Inner Bristol Channel. Identification of potential sources of metals using Pearson correlation, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that heavy metals all originated from anthropogenic sources.


History has much to offer education in emergencies scholars and practitioners. Most research in this field comprises qualitative case studies and, to a lesser extent, quantitative experimental studies, both of which tend to focus on either the impact of interventions or whether education processes or structures are a cause or effect of conflict. I argue that historical approaches enable researchers to ask different questions, to construct a narrative that establishes why specific policies and programs for refugee education were developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or in particular refugee camps or settlements, and to determine why and how the field has changed over time. This enables the researcher to consider why and how policy and programmatic changes often have not brought lasting change to the challenges of refugee education, and to critically consider what future changes might be possible. In this article, I make the case for a turn to historical approaches in refugee education research by providing an example of how I used historical methods to reconstruct the education narrative of Kenya's Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.


We consider three ways a market for wireless communication can be organized in the open spectrum. First, a network of hotspots might be owned by a telecommunications company ('telco'). Second, a decentral- ized network ('free radio') might arise in which users connect to indi- vidually owned hotspots. Third, a hotspot aggregator might intermediate between users and individual hotspot providers. The number of hotspots can be larger for the telco market type than for free radio if users care enough about coverage. If the sensitivity of technology to spectrum con- gestion is high, free radio is to be preferred to a telco market. The number of hotspots for a market with a hotspot aggregator is smaller than for free radio because of 'double marginalization'. None of the three market types is socially optimal because of monopolistic behavior and because of an externality induced by a preference for coverage.


A detailed comparative assessment was made of the use of solid-phase-coupled antibodies in radioimmunoassay, by using an assay for human placental lactogen as a model system. The major advantages of the solid-phase technique are: (1) in common with the use of a second antibody, it is universally applicable; (2) separation can be carried out rapidly; (3) in contrast with some other techniques, the separation of antibody-bound and free antigen is virtually complete. The disadvantages when compared with other procedures are: (1) a considerable proportion of the antibody may be lost during the initial coupling reaction; (2) the tubes must be continuously mixed during incubation, and much effort is expended in removing and replacing the caps; (3) there is a decrease in the apparent affinity constant of the antibody after coupling, which is reflected in a lower sensitivity of the assay system. It is concluded that solid-phase antibodies are of greatest value in those systems in which the supply of antiserum is abundant, and in which the achievement of high sensitivity is not a requirement.


In the consensus problem considered in this paper, each agent can impose a lower and an upper bound on the achievable consensus values. We show that if such state constraints are implemented by saturating the value transmitted to the neighboring nodes, the resulting constrained consensus problem must converge to the intersection of the intervals imposed by the individual agents.


Recently, diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) have attracted the attention of both scientific and industry community. This class of materials is made of some ordinary semiconductors containing a small fraction of magnetic impurities in their lattice.
DMSs have some unique properties, which enhance their potential use in a wide range of opto-electronic devices. They behave in a similar way to their non-magnetic counterpart semiconductors, in the absence of any applied external magnetic field. The lattice constant and the band gap can be tuned by changing the concentration of the added magnetic impurities.
The possibility for band gap engineering in these systems makes them useful for different device applications, while the tunability of the lattice parameter with magnetic ion content, also extends their application to the field of heterostructures, where lattice matching is fundamental.
The presence of substituted magnetic ions in the DMS results in magnetic properties that distinguish them from ordinary semiconductors. In DMSs an applied magnetic field changes the energy band and impurity level parameters but, most of all, a ferromagnetic order can be induced in the material, coexisting with the ordinary semiconducting behaviour.
A unique and important feature of DMSs is the spin-spin exchange interaction between the localized magnetic moment of a magnetic ion and the charge carrier in the conduction or valence band. This interaction affects the energy band, electronic structure and impurity level parameters of the semiconductors, resulting in new physical effects particularly when in presence of strong magnetic fields. The consequences may be quite dramatic: g-factor is effectively enhanced by up to two order of magnitude, Faraday rotations become very large and the magneto-resistance can become negative, reaching exceptionally large values and leading to an insulator to metal transition induced by increasing magnetic field.
So far, the most extensively studied DMSs are II-Mn-VI compound systems, which can accommodate the highest possible magnetic ion content without destroying the structure of the host II-VI semiconductors.
VI


Fault trees are used in reliability modeling to create logical models of fault combinations that can lead to undesirable events. The output of a fault tree analysis (the top event probability) is expressed in terms of the failure probabilities of basic events that are input to the model. Typically, the basic event probabilities are not known exactly, but are modeled as probability distributions: therefore, the top event probability is also represented as an uncertainty distribution. Monte Carlo methods are generally used for evaluating the uncertainty distribution, but such calculations are computationally intensive and do not readily reveal the dominant contributors to the uncertainty. In this article, a closed‐form approximation for the fault tree top event uncertainty distribution is developed, which is applicable when the uncertainties in the basic events of the model are lognormally distributed. The results of the approximate method are compared with results from two sampling‐based methods: namely, the Monte Carlo method and the Wilks method based on order statistics. It is shown that the closed‐form expression can provide a reasonable approximation to results obtained by Monte Carlo sampling, without incurring the computational expense. The Wilks method is found to be a useful means of providing an upper bound for the percentiles of the uncertainty distribution while being computationally inexpensive compared with full Monte Carlo sampling. The lognormal approximation method and Wilks's method appear attractive, practical alternatives for the evaluation of uncertainty in the output of fault trees and similar multilinear models.


Public access cable channels, remnants of competitive cable franchise battles, are often in the center of heated controversy over allowance of utterances that are at sharp odds with community values. This article reiterates that broad public discussion is both a legal and a philosophical mandate in this country, concluding that more harm than good emerges from preventing groups from airing their opinions. The opportunity is always available for countering messages that have been aired.


: The prevalence and incidence of both degenerative (Alzheimer) and vascular dementias rise exponentially with aging. In both forms of dementia hypertension is a predisposing factor. The interval between the onset of hypertension and the manifestation of dementia amounts to 12-15 years. A complicating factor is the observation that initial dementia may be accompanied by secondary decrease in blood pressure. A preventive effect of current antihypertensive treatment is likely, according to preliminary evidence (particularly with regard to the use of the calcium antagonist nitrendipine), but the hopeful perspective of protection against dementias through antihypertensive treatment remains to be confirmed by further prospective comparative trials.


A curated list of documentaries, films, and television on the topic of race, racism, and anti-racism available in the University of Alabama Libraries streaming databases.


In terms of scalability, cost and ease of deployment, the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) approach has emerged as a promising solution for video streaming applications. Its architecture enables end-hosts, called peers, to relay the video stream to each other. P2P systems are in fact networks of users who control peers. Thus, user behavior is crucial to the performance of these systems because it directly impacts the streaming flow. To understand user behavior, several measurement studies have been carried out over different video streaming systems. Each measurement analyzes a particular system focusing on specific metrics and presents insights. However, a single study based on a particular system and specific metrics is not sufficient to provide a complete model of user behavior considering all of its components and the impact of external factors on them. In this paper, we propose a comparison and a synthesis of these measurements. First of all, we review video streaming architectures, followed by a survey on the user behavior measurements in these architectures. Then, we gather insights revealed in these measurements and compare them for consensual and contrasting points. Finally, we extract components of user behavior, their external impacting factors and relationships among them. We also point out those aspects of user behavior which require further investigations.