Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a growing global concern and often reversible. Saliva urea nitrogen (SUN) measured by a dipstick may allow rapid diagnosis. We studied longitudinal agreement between SUN and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and the diagnostic performance of both. Methods: Agreement between SUN and BUN and diagnostic performance to diagnose AKI severity in AKI patients in the United States and Brazil were studied. Bland-Altman analysis and linear mixed effects models were employed to test the agreement between SUN and BUN. Receiver operating characteristics statistics were used to test the diagnostic performance to diagnose AKI severity. Results: We found an underestimation of BUN by SUN, decreasing with increasing BUN levels in 37 studied patients, consistent on all observation days. The diagnostic performance of SUN (AUC 0.81, 95% CI 0.63-0.98) was comparable to BUN (AUC 0.85, 95% CI 0.71-0.98). Conclusion: SUN reflects BUN especially in severe AKI. It also allows monitoring treatment responses. Video Journal Club 'Cappuccino with Claudio Ronco' at http://www.karger.com/?doi=445041.


Intracellular calcium is considered to play a major role in secretory responses of various exocrine cell types. We examined whether xanthine derivatives can inhibit Ca2+ mobilization and entry in secretory cells in the airways. Therefore, the inhibitory effect of xanthines in the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in the isolated submucosal acinar cells of the guinea-pig nasal septum was investigated by means of fluorescence ratio microscopy. The inhibitory effects on Ca2+ release from stores was examined in Ca(2+)-free conditions. Effects on Ca2+ entry were estimated by two different protocols; 1) the sustained phase in a long-term application of acetylcholine (ACh) and 2) the [Ca2+]i overshoot following removal of ACh in Ca(2+)-free conditions. Xanthine derivatives, 3-isobutyl-1-methyl-xanthine (IBMX), caffeine, and theophylline, significantly inhibited the increase in [Ca2+]i evoked by ACh; both mobilization from internal Ca2+ stores and Ca2+ entry from the external space. The rank order of potency of these xanthine derivatives was IBMX > theophylline > caffeine. The addition of dibutyryl-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and forskolin to nasal gland acinar cells failed to inhibit the ACh-evoked increase in [Ca2+]i. Furthermore, a protein kinase A inhibitor, H-89, did not affect the inhibitory effect of the xanthine derivatives. The action of xanthines on the present acinar cells did not involve Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) or an interaction with purinergic receptors. Thus, xanthines have a direct inhibitory effect both on Ca2+ release and entry in nasal gland acinar cells, and might thereby have antisecretory activity within the airways.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of aripiprazole in the treatment of discrete symptoms of irritability associated with autistic disorder, as well as other symptoms captured on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC).

METHODS
This was a post hoc analysis of data from two 8-week, randomized, double-blind, multicenter trials to evaluate the efficacy of aripiprazole dosed flexibly (2-15 mg/day, n=47) or fixed (5, 10, or 15 mg/day, n = 166) versus placebo (flexibly dosed, n = 51; fixed dose, n = 52). The effects of treatment on the 58 ABC items were evaluated.

RESULTS
Statistically significantly greater improvement was seen with aripiprazole versus placebo (p < 0.05) for all arms in both trials on the ABC-Irritability total subscale score and on the following individual ABC-Irritability items: Mood changes quickly, cries/screams inappropriately, and stamps feet/bangs objects. Several additional items measuring tantrum-like behaviors improved in the flexibly dosed trial and at least one arm of the fixed-dose trial (p < 0.05). Measures of self-injurious behavior, which had low baseline values, demonstrated numerical, but not statistically significant, improvement in both trials. Statistically significantly greater improvement in ABC Stereotypic Behavior and Hyperactivity total subscale scores was also consistent across all arms in both trials. In particular, there was a cluster of items related to hyperkinesis that were consistently sensitive to treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Aripiprazole is efficacious in the treatment of irritability in children and adolescents with autistic disorder, particularly with respect to symptoms associated with tantrum behavior.


Summary
Urbanization has been identified as a global threat to biodiversity. Human population growth in coastal areas, including estuaries, is expected to increase considerably in coming decades, which will result in a proliferation of infrastructure such as jetties, wharfs and marinas. This infrastructure is often associated with artificial night lighting, yet the implications of these unnatural lighting regimes for the fish fauna in coastal ecosystems are unknown.
We conducted novel, night-time surveys of the fish community directly adjacent to an artificial structure using an acoustic camera (didson). By manipulating the artificial lighting conditions (lighting either 'on' or 'off'), we tested the effects of artificial light on fish abundance and behaviour.
Clear differences in the abundance of fish were observed between the two light treatments. The occurrence of large-bodied predators (>500 mm TL) increased when the artificial lights were on. The behaviour of these fish also differed as they attempted to maintain their position within the illuminated area adjacent to the associated anthropogenic structure. The abundance of small shoaling fish also increased when the lights were on.
It is possible that the conditions created by artificial lighting benefit piscivores through the concentration of prey and enhanced foraging capabilities in the case of visual predators. This has the potential to create unnatural top–down regulation of fish populations within urban estuarine and coastal waters.
Synthesis and applications. As a consequence of a positive phototaxic response, the findings of this study suggest that artificial light often associated with man-made structures has the potential to alter fish communities within urban estuarine ecosystems by creating optimal conditions for predators. Future coastal developments should consider the ecological implications of lighting on aquatic communities. We recommend that lighting be minimized around coastal infrastructure and the use of red lights, which have limited penetration though water, be considered.


Circadian clocks prepare the organism to cyclic environmental changes in light, temperature, or food availability. Here, we characterized the master clock in the brain of a strongly photoperiodic insect, the aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, immunohistochemically with antibodies against A. pisum Period (PER), Drosophila melanogaster Cryptochrome (CRY1), and crab Pigment-Dispersing Hormone (PDH). The latter antibody detects all so far known PDHs and PDFs (Pigment-Dispersing Factors), which play a dominant role in the circadian system of many arthropods. We found that, under long days, PER and CRY are expressed in a rhythmic manner in three regions of the brain: the dorsal and lateral protocerebrum and the lamina. No staining was detected with anti-PDH, suggesting that aphids lack PDF. All the CRY1-positive cells co-expressed PER and showed daily PER/CRY1 oscillations of high amplitude, while the PER oscillations of the CRY1-negative PER neurons were of considerable lower amplitude. The CRY1 oscillations were highly synchronous in all neurons, suggesting that aphid CRY1, similarly to Drosophila CRY1, is light sensitive and its oscillations are synchronized by light-dark cycles. Nevertheless, in contrast to Drosophila CRY1, aphid CRY1 was not degraded by light, but steadily increased during the day and decreased during the night. PER was always located in the nuclei of the clock neurons, while CRY was predominantly cytoplasmic and revealed the projections of the PER/CRY1-positive neurons. We traced the PER/CRY1-positive neurons through the aphid protocerebrum discovering striking similarities with the circadian clock of D. melanogaster: The CRY1 fibers innervate the dorsal and lateral protocerebrum and putatively connect the different PER-positive neurons with each other. They also run toward the pars intercerebralis, which controls hormone release via the neurohemal organ, the corpora cardiaca. In contrast to Drosophila, the CRY1-positive fibers additionally travel directly toward the corpora cardiaca and the close-by endocrine gland, corpora allata. This suggests a direct link between the circadian clock and the photoperiodic control of hormone release that can be studied in the future.


Effect of addition of viscoelastic additive on the stability and precision enhancement of the abrasive waterjet is studied. Cornstarch is chosen to be added to the mixture of water and abrasive for it is readily available in large quantities at low cost. Yet it shows major nonlinear properties valuable for waterjet machining. It is shown that the normal stresses developed in the nonlinear viscoelastic cornstarch remain substantially unchanged throughout effective jet length resulting in an almost completely prismatic jet, most desirable for precision and straight machining. Furthermore, the jet becomes more stable upon increasing the cornstarch percentage. The additive also causes the jet to produce less friction with the surrounding air avoiding possible jet disintegration. Clearly, due to the increase of elastic as well as viscous effects, there is restriction to the pump delivery upon adding the dilatant cornstarch. Different percentages of the additive are therefore examined. It is found that, a 22% additive results in the best performance based on the precision, available pump power and stability of the jet. The experiment was carried out on three products; marble, aluminum and glass. In all cases, kerf angle was reduced significantly. Simulation of the problem is in good agreement with the experimental observations.


Modeling correctly the transport of neutrinos is crucial in some astrophysical scenarios such as core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star mergers. In this paper, we focus on the truncated-moment formalism, considering only the first two moments (M1 scheme) within the grey approximation, which reduces Boltzmann seven-dimensional equation to a system of 3+1 equations closely resembling the hydrodynamic ones. Solving the M1 scheme is still mathematically challenging, since it is necessary to model the radiation-matter interaction in regimes where the evolution equations become stiff and behave as an advection-diffusion problem. Here, we present different global, high-order time integration schemes based on Implicit-Explicit Runge-Kutta methods designed to overcome the time-step restriction caused by such behavior while allowing us to use the explicit Runge-Kutta commonly employed for the magneto-hydrodynamics and Einstein equations. Finally, we analyze their performance in several numerical tests.


The critical levels for 7 essential micro-nutrients, and for silicon and the manganese/silicate ratio, have been determined for three cultivars of sugar-cane in Hawaii. Two yield parameters were used to measure the critical levels, tons cane per hectare (TCH) and tons sugar per hectare (TSH). Immature, elongating leaf sheaths were used as the index tissue in every case. The critical levels for both yield criteria were as follows: for Ca 0.20- 0.25 wt %, dry sugar-free; Mg, 0.10 wt %, dry, sugar-free; S, 0.30 wt %, dry, sugar-free; B, 2 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar-free; Mn, 10 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar-free. There are no significant differences among the three cultivars as far as these critical levels are concerned. The critical level for Cu depends on the yield parameter, with 5 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar-free, being optimum if TCH is used. If TSH is used, the critical level for Cu is 8 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar-free. The critical level for Zn is independent of yield parameters but varies with cultivar. The critical level for Zn in H53-263 is 7 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar free, whereas it is 10 ?g g-1 dry wt, sugar-free, in H59-3775 and H49·5. Silicate concentration in the immature sheaths per se is not a meaningful determinant in sugarcane growth and sugar yield. It is the Mn/SiO2 ratio that is important with a ratio value in the range 50-75 being optimum.


OBJECTIVE
To explore a time-efficient method of identifying motor and sensory fascicles in peripheral nerve trunk.

METHODS
Thirty Wistar rats were selected to obtain whole spine. The spinal dorsal roots and ventral roots, and sciatic nerve were harvested as sensor, motor, and mixed samples, annexin V and agrin specificities were observed with Western blot and immunohistochemistry. A total of 32 New Zealand rabbits were selected and killed. The roots of spinal nerves were exposed under an operating microscope, and the ventral and dorsal roots, ∼3 mm to 5 mm, were dissociated, and frozen as transverse sections of 30-μm thickness. The sections were examined by micro-Raman spectroscopy.

RESULTS
The annexin V and agrin were special substances of sensory and motor nerves, respectively, and can act as specific antigens for identifying different nerve fascicles. Sections of the same type of nerve fascicles showed reproducibility with similar spectral features. Significant differences in the spectral properties, such as the intensity and breadth of the peak, were found between motor and sensory fascicles in the frequency regions of 1,088 cm(-1), 1,276 cm(-1), 1,439 cm(-1), 1,579 cm(-1), and 1,659 cm(-1). With the peak intensity ratio of 1.06 (I(1276)/I(1439)) as a standard, we could identify motor fascicles with a sensitivity of 88%, specificity of 94%, positive predictive value of 93%, and negative predictive value of 88%. In the range of 2,700 cm(-1) to 3,500 cm(-1), the half-peak width of the motor fascicles was narrow and sharp, whereas that of the sensory fascicles was relatively wider. A total of 91% of the peak features were in accordance with the identification standard.

CONCLUSION
Motor and sensory fascicles exhibit different characteristics in Raman spectra, which are constant and reliable. Therefore, it is more effective than immunohistochemistry method in identifying different nerve fascicles according to the specific spectrum, and it possesses feasibility for clinical application.


Transnational marriage migration is an important global phenomenon, yet each marriage remains an intimate, personal, and life-shaping event. This article traces the life of a family in rural northeast China that has developed global connections through marriage. In particular, it focuses on the story of a Chinese husband and his Vietnamese wife, which provides insight into the expansion of marriage migrations to and from China over the last decade. The article analyzes how different streams of marriage migrations are linked, specifically the flow of wives from China to Japan and South Korea, and from Vietnam to Taiwan, South Korea, and China. These flows are interconnected in many ways, including through personal networks, brokerage, remittances, and flows of information. Such interconnections in turn exemplify how apparently independent and unrelated migration flows may present multilayered connections of migration factors, diversification, and increasing complexity of migration experiences.


ABSTRACT Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.), a weed, mainly from tropical origin and easily available worldwide. People used to eat it as a food mainly in South Africa. In our previous report we have thoroughly characterise several important phenolics, monoterpene and phenylpropane from methanol soluble fraction of Alternenthera leaves (fraction X) and also reported their α-glucosidase inhibitory, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. All these isolated natural compounds are well characterised and widely studied. In our present study we try to use this beneficial fraction (named fraction X) in green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (X-GNP). We also try to explore the beneficial aspects of green synthesis in comparison with commonly used chemical synthesis method (GNP) in context with their antimicrobial activity. UV/Vis spectroscopy, DLS, Zeta potential, FT-IR, EDAX and other microscopic techniques namely: SEM, AFM were used to characterise the synthesised nanoparticles. Different important microbial strains were used to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of prepared nanoparticles. Overall the studies suggest successful synthesis of green nanoparticles (X-GNP) and also showed the improvement in antimicrobial activity of X-GNP nanoparticles.


Within this paper we simulate the transmission of MPEG-2 transport stream (TS) packets over a wireless ATM network. Based on a finite state radio channel model for the physical layer of a wireless ATM link including the characteristics of the ATM and MAC layer, different packing schemes are evaluated for encapsulating MPEG-2 transport stream packets in ATM adaptation Layer 5 (AAL5) PDUs. We analyze the performance with respect to both delay and visual quality in terms of PSNR based on a calculated cell error ratio (CER) for each given state of the radio model. The statistics show, that the 1TP (one MPEG-2 TS per AAL5 PDU) scheme outperforms all other packing schemes in terms of visual quality. At medium channel quality (38 dB), quality is judged to be good, although the CER may be as high as 25%.


The gut microbiome contributes to host health and has therapeutic potential to treat metabolic disease. A newer class of lipids, PAHSAs, have antidiabetic effects in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice. We aimed to determine whether the gut microbiome contributes to the beneficial metabolic effects of PAHSAs and if these effects are transmissible by Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) in mice. In HFD-fed germ-free (GF) mice, PAHSA treatment for 35 days did not improve glucose homeostasis vs. vehicle-treated mice, in contrast to previous data in conventional HFD mice. Feces from conventional Chow fed mice with enhanced insulin sensitivity after PAHSA treatment for 21 days were used for oral FMT in HFD-GF mice. HFD-GF mice treated with feces from PAHSA-treated chow mice gained less weight, had reduced glycemia 5-hrs after food removal, and were more glucose tolerant and insulin sensitive than HFD-GF-mice that received feces from vehicle-treated Chow mice. Metagenome sequencing and metabolomics analysis performed on cecal contents from conventional Chow-fed PAHSA- and Vehicle-treated mice showed that 26 fatty acids (out of 600 metabolites) and several microbial species and their metabolic pathways correlated most highly with PAHSA-mediated insulin sensitivity. Also, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (Bt), a gut microbe associated with leanness in humans, and cecal C34:2 Phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), an abundant phospholipid class that is reduced in obese humans, were most strongly associated with the beneficial PAHSA effects. Initial studies with Bt treatment in male chow mice show improved glucose tolerance and lower glycemia 5-hrs after food removal vs. controls. Thus, the gut microbiota is necessary for the effects of PAHSAs to improve glucose homeostasis in HFD-fed mice. These effects can be conferred by FMT. PAHSA-associated microbes could provide novel gut-based therapeutic strategies to treat obesity and insulin resistance. Disclosure J. Lee: None. A. Rahnavard: None. K. Wellenstein: None. A.T. Nelson: None. C.B. Clish: None. D. Siegel: None. B. Kahn: Advisory Panel; Self; Harrington Discovery Institute, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Funding National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (1K01DK114162-01A1, DK1NADK-057521-01 to J.L.); JPB Foundation (to B.K.)


The use of peptidomimetics has emerged as a powerful means for overcoming the limitations inherent in the physical characteristics of peptides thus improving their therapeutic potential. A peptidomimetic approach that has emerged in recent years with significant potential, is the use of beta-amino acids. Beta-amino acids are similar to alpha-amino acids in that they contain an amino terminus and a carboxyl terminus. However, in beta-amino acids two carbon atoms separate these functional termini. beta-amino acids, with a specific side chain, can exist as the R or S isomers at either the alpha (C2) carbon or the beta (C3) carbon. This results in a total of 4 possible diastereoisomers for any given side chain. The flexibility to generate a vast range of stereo- and regioisomers, together with the possibility of disubstitution, significantly expands the structural diversity of beta-amino acids thereby providing enormous scope for molecular design. The incorporation of beta-amino acids has been successful in creating peptidomimetics that not only have potent biological activity, but are also resistant to proteolysis. This article reviews the rapidly expanding applications of beta-amino acids in the design of bioactive peptide analogues ranging from receptor agonists and antagonists, MHC-binding peptides, antimicrobial peptides and peptidase inhibitors. Given their structural diversity taken together with the ease of synthesis and incorporation into peptide sequences using standard solid-phase peptide synthesis techniques, beta-amino acids have the potential to form a new platform technology for peptidomimetic design and synthesis.


The quality of schooling and the teaching workforce are global issues. The author uses a futures methodology to reflect on the past and speculate on the future of initial teacher education policy. The first section looks back at initial teacher education over the last 10 years to clarify and critique the policy directions that are currently driving the preparation of the teaching workforces in England and Australia. The second section looks beyond this to speculate on key changes that are likely to impact on what will be expected of the teaching workforce in 10 years' time. Propositions on the knowledge, beliefs, values, commitments, roles and responsibilities that members of a teaching workforce might be expected to have in the future are then offered for consideration. Finally some suggestions are made as to ways in which initial teacher education could respond now to these possible changes.


We are concerned with spectral problems of the Goldberg-Coxeter construction for $3$- and $4$-valent finite graphs. The Goldberg-Coxeter constructions $\mathrm{GC}_{k,l}(X)$ of a finite $3$- or $4$-valent graph $X$ are considered as ``subdivisions'' of $X$, whose number of vertices are increasing at order $O(k^2+l^2)$, nevertheless which have bounded girth. It is shown that the first (resp. the last) $o(k^2)$ eigenvalues of the combinatorial Laplacian on $\mathrm{GC}_{k,0}(X)$ tend to $0$ (resp. tend to $6$ or $8$ in the $3$- or $4$-valent case, respectively) as $k$ goes to infinity. A concrete estimate for the first several eigenvalues of $\mathrm{GC}_{k,l}(X)$ by those of $X$ is also obtained for general $k$ and $l$. It is also shown that the specific values always appear as eigenvalues of $\mathrm{GC}_{2k,0}(X)$ with large multiplicities almost independently to the structure of the initial $X$. In contrast, some dependency of the graph structure of $X$ on the multiplicity of the specific values is also studied.


The frequency of melanoma doubles every 20 years. The early detection of malignant changes augments the therapy success. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) enables the noninvasive examination of skin tissue. To diminish the need for training and to improve diagnostic accuracy, computer-aided diagnostic systems are required. Two approaches are presented: a multiresolution analysis and an approach based on deep layer convolutional neural networks. For the diagnosis of the CLSM views, architectural structures such as micro-anatomic structures and cell nests are used as guidelines by the dermatologists. Features based on the wavelet transform enable an exploration of architectural structures at different spatial scales. The subjective diagnostic criteria are objectively reproduced. A tree-based machine-learning algo‐ rithm captures the decision structure explicitly and the decision steps are used as diagnostic rules. Deep layer neural networks require no a priori domain knowledge. They are capable of learning their own discriminatory features through the direct analysis of image data. However, deep layer neural networks require large amounts of processing power to learn. Therefore, modern neural network training is performed using graphics cards, which typically possess many hundreds of small, modestly powerful cores that calculate massively in parallel. Readers will learn how to apply multiresolution analysis and modern deep learning neural network techniques to medical image analysis problems.


Introduction: The study was undertaken to evaluate the reliability of cervical vertebrae as skeletal age maturation in response to chronological age and evaluate the relationship between DEMIRIJAN system of mandibular canine calcification and cervical vertebral maturation as a clinical method for skeletal maturation indicator.
Materials and Methods: 120 children (60 females and 60 males) were randomly selected in the age range of 8-14 years.
Results: 23.3% of males showed E stage of (canine calcification stage) CCS and stage II of cervical vertebral maturation (CVM), 16.6% showed F stage of CCS and stage III of CVM, 13.3% showed stage G of CCS and Stage III of CVM 8.3% showed stage G of CCS and stage IV of CVM. 13.3% of females showed E stage of CCS and stage II of CVM, 13.3% showed F stage of CCS and stage III of CVM, 16.67% showed stage G of CCS and Stage III of CVM, 15% shows stage G of CCS and stage IV of CVM,.
Conclusions: The correlation values between the Chronological age, dental calcification stages and cervical vertebrae maturation method were high. Attaining of maturity in canine calcification and cervical vertebrae maturational stages was ahead in females when compared to males.

Keywords: Cervical vertebrae, Cephalometrics, Canine calcification.


IntroductionAcute Kidney Injury (AKI) is a serious condition associated with increased mortality/morbidity and occurs in approximately 20% of hospital admissions. A Welsh AKI alert (e-alert) system has been in place since 2014, aiming to improve patient outcomes and care standards through early recognition of AKI using a retrospective dataset.
Objectives and ApproachThe e-alert algorithm was re-produced in SQL (structured query language) and applied to serum creatinine (SCr) values for patients from pathology departments in Abertawe Bro Morgannwg health board (ABMUHB)  2011-2014, held in the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank. The algorithm utilises ratios between current SCr value (C1) to lowest SCr value within the previous 7 days (RV1), SCr median values from the previous 8-365 days (RV2), and lowest SCr within 48hrs (D). >50% increase in RV1 or RV2 or >26µmol/L above D triggers an alert. Using a renal dataset to create a timeline we created a temporal AKI cohort.
Results2,407,590 SCr tests were performed on adult patients with 2,077,493 of these coming from people in the local area who were not on renal replacement during the time-period. The average ABMUHB population for 2011-2014 was 520,293 (2011: 517,981; 2012: 519,481; 2013: 520,710; 2014: 523,001). 85,272 (4.1%) of these tests triggered alerts for AKI. The incidence per 100,000 population of AKI for 2011-2014 were 1767, 1723, 1717, 1660 (average 1,717). The first AKI episodes per year for 2011-2014 respectively were stage 1 (least severe): 78.9%, 79.3%, 79.3%, 79.4% (average 79.2%); stage 2: 13.3%, 13.7%, 13.1%, 13.7% (average 13.5%);  stage 3 (most severe): 7.8%, 7.0%, 7.6%, 6.9% (average 7.3%).
Conclusion/ImplicationsThe AKI e-alert algorithm can be effectively reproduced using standard query language. The AKI findings in this population are comparable to others published. The use of a renal dataset using both records of renal replacement timeline and individual dialysis session may identify and rectify where alerts have not been generated.


Network reconfiguration for load balancing is the determination of switching-options for a particular set of loads on a distribution system that improves load balancing the most and is performed altering the topological structure of distribution feeders by changing open/closed status of sectionalizing and tie-switches. By transferring loads from the heavily loaded feeders to the lightly loaded ones, network reconfiguration can balance feeder loads and alleviate overload conditions of a network. In this paper a novel method is proposed by formulating an algorithm to reconfigure distribution networks for load balancing. Systematic logical approach is used to determine the feasible switching combinations, select the status of the switches, and find the best combination of switches for maximum improvement in load balancing. The algorithm has been developed in two stages. In the first stage, a limited number of switching combinations is formed by trinary logic principle. A simultaneous switching approach is applied logically to find the best combination by selecting the appropriate switching options, connecting the switches accordingly, and assigning the loads for the newly formed combinations. In the next stage, the search is extended to investigate whether any other switching combination gives rise to maximum improvement in load balancing, compared to the improvement obtained in the first stage. This is carried out by considering one after another, the branches next to the open-branches of the best configuration, and the switching configuration that gives the maximum improvement in load balancing is identified. The proposed method has been tested on a 69-bus test system, and the test results indicate that the algorithm proposed is able to determine the appropriate switching-options of the optimal (or near optimal) configuration with less computation. This paper proposes a scheme to implement the simultaneous switching algorithm for real-time on-line control of three-phase distribution networks, with symmetrical loading per phase.


The fabrication of base alloy frameworks are state of the art, but often they receive a "bad reputation" with claims of much of the population suffering from toxic or allergic reactions due to dental metallic materials. It's not to say that such reactions never occur, but when one compares the number of reported cases to the total number of units manufactured for patients, the ratio is very minimal. The risk of an allergy to food, such as strawberries or nuts, is much greater than the risk of having a reaction against a dental alloy compound.


Whereas aggregation of intracellular proteins was linked to the initiation of cardiac myopathy, the sequence of participating events, including myocyte apoptosis, autophagy, necrosis and fibrosis as the underlying mechanisms leading to heart failure, was not clear. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its derivatives induced cardiac dysfunction in mice when expressed in high quantity; however, the mechanism underlying the aggregation of fluorescent protein leading to heart failure remains unexplored.We created a transgenic mouse with switchable expression of the GFP monomer or the expression of DsRed, a red fluorescent protein (RFP) tetramer that tends to aggregate into a large protein complex. GFP mice were free of cardiac symptoms; in contrast, RFP mice with homozygous DsRed alleles developed myocyte necrosis, carditis, ventricular hypertrophy and fibrosis, left atrium thrombosis, dilated heart failure and death at the age of approximately five months. The hemizygote mice displayed similar symptoms at a later age. The expression of the microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 cleaved isoform II (LC3 II) and transglutaminase 2, and the expression of many myopathy- and fibrosis-related genes were significantly induced in the hearts of two-month-old RFP mice. Together with the findings of increased autophagosomes, lysosomes and dysfunctional mitochondria, these results suggest a marked induction of myocyte autophagy and fibrosis as the main underlying mechanism of heart failure in RFP mice. Interestingly, apoptosis was not elevated in RFP hearts. One of the most up-regulated genes in the early stage RFP heart was the tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases type 1 (TIMP-1), corroborating the role of TIMP-1 in cardiac remodeling and anti-apoptotic activity. The heart-origin of the morbidity in RFP mice was confirmed by expressing DsRed tetramers specifically in cardiac tissues, and the same phenotypes as in RFP mice were observed. In summary, in cardiac myocytes under the stress of protein aggregation, strong induction of TIMP-1 and down-regulation of MMP activity may play a significant role in enhancing the synthesis of extracellular matrix, resulting in fibrosis and heart failure.


: Spike activity of unitary motor cortex (area 4) neurons was recorded during performance of conditioned reflex postural adjustment in cats. Changes in activity of most neurons (increase of discharge frequency) correlated with conditioned-reflex supporting movement of the forelimb. These neuronal reactions had specific polycomponent patterns and preceded the conditional movements by 50-600 ms. Neuronal reactions connected with erroneous positive movement responses to differential stimuli and spontaneous "interstimular" movements had the same direction but were less intensive and occurred in most cases synchronously with these movements. Neuronal reactions and postural adjustments simultaneously disappeared during reflex extinction. The proposed method of elaboration of conditioned reflex of postural adjustments permits obtaining standard natural coordinated forelimb movements which form the necessary initial component of more complex behavioral reactions.


A healthy cardiovascular system, with minimal arteriosclerosis, good endothelial function and well-compensated ventricular function has been observed at advanced ages, and linked to a healthy lifestyle. This has consisted of a plant-based diet, low in salt and fat, with monounsaturates as the principal fat. Other healthy lifestyle factors include regular physical activity (farming and traditional dance) and minimal tobacco use. The associated negative risk factors are low homocysteine, healthy cholesterol profile (Total:HDL ratio less than 3.5) and reasonable blood pressures throughout the life cycle. Hormone-dependent cancers including breast, ovary, prostate and colon and osteoporotic complications, such as hip fracture rates, are also less frequent compared to the west. Protective factors may include high anti-oxidant consumption, mainly flavonoids and carotenoids, through a high vegetable (e.g., onions) and soy intake. Related biological observations include low lipid peroxide, high superoxide dismutase activity and high serum hydroxyproline, a marker of bone formation. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its hormonal byproducts testosterone and oestrogen appear to be high in Okinawan serum compared with age-matched Americans, possibly reflecting a slower age-associated decline in the sex hormone axis in Okinawans. This may be linked to better cardiovascular and overall health. Further study is needed to delineate the reasons behind the impressive cardiovascular and overall health of the Okinawans.


Metal sulfide nanostructures, which have been widely studied in recent years, are one of the most promising candidates in energy devices. Herein, coralloid hierarchical structures composed of Co9S8 hollow nanoneedle trunks and CuS nanosheet branches are, for the first time, well-constructed on fluorinated tin oxide (FTO) substrates via a multistep route. A seeding assistant strategy is applied to grow uniform and firm metal sulfide films on the FTO substrates. It is revealed that different seeds (i.e., TiO2, CuS and ZnO) all have a positive effect to facilitate the film growth because of their surface roughening behavior on the FTO substrates. Significantly, such three dimensional (3D) Co9S8–CuS electrodes show superior electrocatalytic performance in the reduction reaction of polysulfide electrolyte, and yield an enhanced power conversion efficiency of 4.50% for CdS/CdSe quantum-dot sensitized solar cells as counter electrodes when compared with the one dimensional (1D) Co9S8 hollow nanoneedle (3.25%) and two dimensional (2D) CuS nanosheet (3.83%) electrodes. More impressively, the coralloid structure exhibits excellent stability in the electrochemical cycling tests, keeping 80% current after 500 cycles. Above all, the synthesis strategy here is also feasible to fabricate hybrid Co9S8–CuS films on various flexible substrates, such as carbon cloth, Ti mesh, and Ni foam for potential applications in wearable energy devices.


Mice were fed for 24 weeks with three different subtoxic dosages of gamma-HCH (0.012, 0.12 and 1.2 mg/kg) mixed in powdered feed. The immunological profile was assessed at an interval of one month during the entire exposure period. Both the cell mediated and humoral components of immunity showed a biphasic response characterized initially by stimulation followed by suppression in a dose dependent manner. However, gamma-HCH did not affect the functional properties of peritoneal macrophages. Histological changes in lymphoid organs were in accordance with the biphasic immunomodulatory effects of gamma-HCH.


ObjectiveThe psychopharmacologist designation currently pervades and heavily influences the practice, perception, and teaching of clinical psychiatry. The authors hope to make a case and provide the raw material for informed discussion of this role during psychiatric residency training.MethodA definition for the psychopharmacologist is sought. Historical trends in psychiatry which contributed most to its evolution are explored. Problems of the psychopharmacologist role are delineated. Extant solutions to psychiatry's problematic adaptation to an increasingly biological clinical role are critiqued, and a more effective one is pursued.ResultsThe term psychopharmacologist seems linked to presumed scientific and medical approaches, a goal of symptom relief through medication, and often other providers who are considered patients' "primary" treaters. The role derives largely from economic and remedicalization trends. Aspects of disengagement are determined to form the core problem of the psychopharmacologist. The authors propose that psychiatry is defined by its practice of the medical model and call attention to three areas where the psychopharmacologist role and the medical model collide.ConclusionsEngaging psychiatric residents in a new dialogue about their role as physician will challenge the previously unquestioned psychopharmacologist categorization, begin to address its problems and bring a vital element to trainees' professional identity development.


Thyroid cancer is the commonest endocrine malignancy. Several of the initiating genetic events in thyroid tumorigenesis have been identified, although the exact molecular mechanisms are unclear. Our thyrocyte model has demonstrated that p16INK4A is up-regulated in RAS-induced colonies which resemble follicular adenomas. Affymetrix microarrays revealed that many interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) are also up-regulated in these colonies. I hypothesised that p16 expression would be induced in follicular adenomas and lost in follicular cancers, consistent with their escape from growth control, and that ISG expression (HLA-DR, PKR, MxA) would be induced in follicular adenomas. I tested these hypotheses using immunohistochemistry, and correlated p16 expression with cyclin D1 and p21 expression to further investigate growth control. My original research demonstrates that p16 is expressed in adenomas, and surprisingly up-regulated in well-differentiated cancers. Loss of expression was only seen in poorly-differentiated carcinomas. Cyclin D1 expression increased during the transition from a benign to a malignant tumour, whereas p21 protein was expressed at a lower level in both adenomas and carcinomas. Unexpectedly, ISGS were not up-regulated in either the adenomas or carcinomas, but were expressed in some papillary carcinomas. PKR expression was positively correlated with p16 expression. I speculate that there must be two or more growth inhibitory pathways involved in thyroid tumorigenesis, one of which involves p16, and both must be inactivated for progression to a more aggressive phenotype. The cyclin D1 result is explained as a result of growth stimulation during tumorigenesis, whereas the basis and implication of p21 expression is uncertain. Thyroid cancers are unusual because the majority are slow-growing yet potentially fatal despite continued p16 expression. Further work is needed to elucidate the nature of the additional pathways controlling tumour growth, which will improve our understanding of thyroid tumorigenesis, and may potentially lead to the development of novel treatment strategies.


Norbert Peabody, Hindu Kingship and Polity in Precolonial India (Cambridge Studies in Indian History and Society). Cambridge University Press, 2003, 190pp. In this important contribution to the study of political culture in India, Norbert Peabody examines the dynamic and contested discourse on kingship in Kota, Rajasthan, in the late pre- and early colonial period. Peabody challenges recent ethnohistorical scholarship to more fully recognize the historical situation of precolonial societies and to emphasize processes of change rooted in the values of the cultures under study. Dirks' seminal ethnohistorical work The Hollow Crown (Cambridge, 1987) puts the raja at the center of a symbolic political economy and tends to minimize the overlapping and conflicting actors in the political field "in favour of more internally consistent, integrated, and consensual models of social organization that substantially homogenized the diversity of values and orientations present in local societies" (168). Peabody demonstrates that in eighteenth century north Indian society the meanings associated with political relations gave rise to "various tensions and disjunctions" (8) that served as sites for social and political transformation. Peabody powerfully demonstrates how attending to these dynamics would strengthen ethnohistorical analyses. Peabody's second challenge is to the legacy of Edward Said's Orientalism. Peabody outlines the classic criticisms of Said's work, namely that it dichotomizes Europe and the Orient, assuming a single, monologic discourse across diverse spaces and time that ignores entirely the agency of the colonized. Again, Peabody engages the dynamism of Indian society to develop a heteroglossic model of the construction of Orientalist discourse that includes the colonized themselves. Looking beyond the overly determined Saidian Orientalism "should allow us to see that Orientalism has a history too" (12). In both cases, Peabody's aim is to subvert the creation of monolithic discourses, be they ethnohistorical analyses of sovereignty or orientalist fictions of an undifferentiated other. He succeeds admirably in this ambitious task. Peabody analyzes carefully chosen and related spaces: lineage, religious patronage, fiscal relations and the transition to colonial rule. The chapter "Karmic kin(g)ship in Kota," examines the ethic of achieved status and kingly legitimacy through a reading of the textual and visual narratives surrounding of one of Kola's most illustrious Maharaos, Bhim Singh (r. 1707-20). A curious issue arises here, for textual narratives detail the battlefield death of Bhim Singh at the hands of a rebel governor of a neighboring province, while a monumental painting in the Kota Collection depicts just the opposite. Peabody perceptively reads this discrepancy neither as a simple error nor as an attempt to deny historical fact, but rather as an expression of a traditional ideal of Rajput kingship. In what Peabody terms a "karmalogical" lineage (40), the conquest of the Maharao transfers his status and legitimacy onto his vanquisher. The painting, therefore, depicts this continuation of the Maharao's valor. This traditional Rajput kingly emphasis on action and achievement as markers of royal status stands in stark contrast to a more modern calculus of genealogical royal legitimacy in Kota. Continuing to "Kings, saints and merchants," Peabody examines the close relationship between religious sectarian leaders, Rajasthan's powerful trading communities, and dynastic stability in Kota. Crucial to an understanding of political ideology in Kota is an understanding of the religious sect known as the Vallabha Sampraday. Vallabhacarya (1479-1531) was a Telegu Brahman and saint who founded this devotional (bhakti) sect that elevates the worldly duties of the householder (grhastha) as opposed to the traditional bhakti ethic of renunciation and asceticism. This focus on the worldly sacralizes the profane world, and assumes the immanence of Lord Krishna in the material of the idols of the sect. …


Local flow properties and regional weather or climate are strongly affected by land‐atmosphere interactions of momentum and scalars within the daytime convective boundary layer (CBL). In this study, we investigate the impact of green space scale on the daytime atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over a synthetic urban domain using a recently developed large‐eddy simulation‐land surface model (LES–LSM) framework. With the use of realistic soundings as initial conditions, a series of numerical experiments over synthetic urban surfaces with varied scale of vegetated area is performed. Simulated micrometeorological properties, surface fluxes, basic CBL characteristics, and cloud distribution are analysed. The results show reference‐level air potential temperature and specific humidity as well as surface fluxes over green space are significantly affected by the scale of green space in the urban domain. The surface organization due to vegetated area scale also has impacts on horizontally averaged scalar and momentum profiles; however, the magnitude in this study is smaller than the results of a previous study using a set of offline surface fluxes as the lower boundary condition for LES. In addition, even though this study only performs a daytime diurnal cycle, the impact of green space scale on cloud distribution in simulations is significant. The cases with more organized green space yield lower‐elevated cumulus cloud and larger‐cloud cover fraction, which impacts the energy budget at the top of boundary layer and, in turn, could lead to additional surface cooling with respect to longer‐term weather and climate. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The rising of maker's movement in recent years has been spoiled by the popularization of open source technologies like 3d printing and many others. The expiration of a set of patents have made possible the emergence of several and different communities that play and tinker with technology. At the same time, these new socio-technology based collectivities have its origins in other pre-existing ones such as "Do It Yourself" and "Hackers". Our goal in this paper is to perform a comprehensive analysis of all these trends reviewing the existing literature and identifying the main features, values and aspirations. Moreover, we argue some policy recommendations in order to maximize the impact of these spaces into the urban sphere trying to boost its potential in education and social innovation.


Although scaling relations of power law forms have been revealed in a wide variety of complex systems, the origin of scaling relations in real systems remains mostly unsolved. Based on a long tradition in physics, we here explore the phase space dynamics of business companies, whose different measures of size have been found to exhibit multiple scaling relations. Using a large scale dataset of Japanese companies covering over two million companies for over two decades (1994–2015), we compile the data of three measures of size, namely, annual sales, number of employee and number of trading partners. Tracking the historical time evolution of companies, we first show that there exists a stable region that attracts most of the data points in the long time scale, although the company dynamics in the three-dimensional phase space looks random in a shorter time scale. We then elaborate on 'evolving flow diagrams' of the averaged motion in the 3D space. Remarkably, the flow diagrams indicate that a 3D curve which represents the scaling relations between the three size measures can be regarded as an approximate attractor of the averaged flows. The results could serve for better modeling and understanding of companies dynamics and our method can be applied to other dynamics such as social and biological phenomena.


Despite significant research on the role that media coverage of human suffering has on foreign policymaking, no study to date has examined the news media's impact on the use of economic sanctions, a widely used policy tool to address humanitarian problems. This study explores whether news media coverage of human rights abuses in Newsweek and the New York Times increases the likelihood of US economic sanctions. Synthesizing insights from agenda-setting theory with recent work on the domestic origins of sanction policy, we argue that press attention to human rights violations increases the threat and imposition of sanctions by mobilizing the public to pressure leaders to take action against abusive regimes. We find support for this argument in statistical tests of US sanction cases between the 1976 and 2000 period. The results also indicate that the media's effect is conditioned by US strategic ties to potential targets: the effect of critical press coverage is stronger for US non-allies than allies. Further, this conditional effect occurs even though abusive allies receive more media attention than abusive non-allies. Overall, this manuscript shows that nonstate actors can have an important role on foreign policy decision making generally, and specifically that news media influence the US decision to use economic sanctions. Our analyses also suggest that leaders balance the public's demand for action with the security imperative to maintain good relations with allies.


We propose a lightweight RFID authentication protocol that supports forward and backward security. The only cryptographic mechanism that this protocol uses is a pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) that is shared with the backend Server. Authentication is achieved by exchanging a few numbers (3 or 5) drawn from the PRNG. The lookup time is constant, and the protocol can be easily adapted to prevent online man-in-the-middle relay attacks. Security is proven in the UC security framework.


The strength of any recommendation depends on two factors: the trade-off between benefits and risks, and the strength of the methodology that leads us to estimates of the treatment effect. The framework that we used for this conference captures these factors. We grade the trade-off between benefits and risks in two categories: (1) the trade-off is clear enough that most patients, despite differences in values, would make the same choice; and (2) the trade-off is less clear, and each patient's values will likely lead to different choices. We grade methodologic strength in three categories: (1) randomized trials, ideally summarized in a meta-analysis, that show consistent results; (2) randomized trials with inconsistent results; and (3)observational studies. The framework summarized in Table 1 therefore generates recommendations from the very strong (1A: benefit/risk clear, methods strong) to the very weak (2C: benefit/risk questionable, methods weak). Whatever the grade of recommendation, clinicians must bring their judgment considering local and individual patient circumstances, and patient values, to bear in making individual decisions. In general, however, they should place progressively greater weight on expert recommendations as they move from 2C to 1A.


Popular and academic discourse typically analyze the strategies used to induce compliance with sport association policies and rules within a framework that shoehorns a diverse array of strategies into two categories: sanctions or compensation, This article proposes a taxonomy that goes beyond the "logic of consequences" inherent in the behavioral models of sanctions and compensation. Sport managers and scholars can encourage compliance through six ideal-type strategies: punitive, remunerative, generative, preventive, cognitive, and normative. These six categories provide the foundation for systematically evaluating the relative effectiveness of different strategies at altering the behavior of league members. This article delineates the different paths by which these different policy strategies influence behavior. Five questions designed to guide managers in the selection of strategies are offered. Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association is used as a case example throughout, the framework has...


Despite the fact that various studies have investigated the clinical relevance of ellagic acid (EA) as a naturally existing bioactive substance in cancer therapy, little has been reported regarding the efficient strategy for improving its oral bioavailability. In this study, we report the formulation of EA-loaded nanoparticles (EA-NPs) to find a way to enhance its bioactivity as well as bioavailability after oral administration. Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was selected as the biodegradable polymer for the formulation of EA-NPs through the emulsion–diffusion–evaporation technique. The obtained NPs have been characterized by measuring particle size, zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. The entrapment efficiency and the release profile of EA was also determined. In vitro cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of the obtained NPs were evaluated using Caco-2 and HCT-116 cell lines, respectively. Moreover, in vivo study has been performed to measure the oral bioavailability of EA-NPs compared to free EA, using New Zealand white rabbits. NPs with distinct shape were obtained with high entrapment and loading efficiencies. Diffusion-driven release profile of EA from the prepared NPs was determined. EA-NP-treated HCT-116 cells showed relatively lower cell viability compared to free EA-treated cells. Fluorometric imaging revealed the cellular uptake and efficient localization of EA-NPs in the nuclear region of Caco-2 cells. In vivo testing revealed that the oral administration of EA-NPs produced a 3.6 times increase in the area under the curve compared to that of EA. From these results, it can be concluded that incorporation of EA into PCL as NPs enhances its oral bioavailability and activity.


The piezo-actuated stages are composed of the piezo-electric actuator and the positioning mechanism. The positioning accuracy of the piezo-actuated stage is limited due to hysteretic nonlinearity of the PEA and friction behavior of the positioning mechanism. To compensate this nonlinearity of piezoelectric actuator, a PI feedback control associated with feedforward compensating based on the hysteresis observer is proposed in this paper. Identifying its parameters is very important; so the genetic algorithm is studied to find the optimal parameters. To verify the feasibility of the proposed method, it is implemented on the precision positioning task of the piezo-actuated stage in the real-time control architecture.


The Palo Alto and southern part of the Redwood Point 7-1/2' quadrangles cover an area on the San Francisco peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains. San Francisquito and Los Trancos Creeks, in the southeastern part of the map area, form the boundary between San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. The area covered by the geologic map extends from tidal and marsh lands at the edge of the bay southward across a gently sloping alluvial plain to the foothills of the northern Santa Cruz Mountains. The foothills are separated from the main mass of the mountains by two northwest-striking faults, the San Andreas and Pilarcitos, that cross the southwest corner of the map area (fig. 1). The map and adjoining areas are here divided into three structural blocks juxtaposed along these faults, adopting the scheme of Nilsen and Brabb (1979): (1) the San Francisco Bay block lying east of the San Andreas Fault Zone; (2) the Pilarcitos block lying between the San Andreas and Pilarcitos Faults; and (3) the La Honda block that includes the main mass of the Santa Cruz Mountains lying west of the Pilarcitos Fault. The west boundary of the La Honda block is the Seal Cove-San Gregorio Fault. Pre-late Pleistocene Cenozoic rocks of the foothills have been compressed into northwest-striking folds, which have been overridden by Mesozoic rocks along southwest-dipping low-angle faults. Coarseto fine-grained upper Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial and estuarine deposits, eroded from the foothills and composing the alluvial plain, are essentially undeformed. Most of the alluvial plain, including some parts of the marsh land that borders the bay, has been covered by residential and commercial developments, and virtually all of the remaining marsh land has been diked off and used as salt evaporating ponds. The map area includes parts of the municipalities of San Carlos, Redwood City, Atherton, Woodside, Portola Valley, Menlo Park, and East Palo Alto in San Mateo County; and Palo Alto, Stanford University, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills in Santa Clara County (fig. 2). Much of the university land remains as undeveloped open space surrounded by densely urbanized lands. Geologic maps of all or part of the present map area have been prepared previously by Branner and others (1909), Thomas (1949), Dobbs and Forbes (1960), Dibblee (1966), Page and Tabor (1967), Pampeyan (1970a, 1970b), Beaulieu (1970), Helley and others (1979), and by numerous Stanford University students working on topical earth science problems. In addition, numerous engineering geologic studies have been conducted for site investigations relating to residential and commercial developments and, in particular, for construction of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). The reports pertaining to SLAC are summarized in Skjei and others (1965) and more recently in a report by Earth Sciences Associates (1983). The interested reader is referred to Brabb and Pampeyan (1983), Brabb and others (1982), Wentworth and others (1985), Wieczorek and others (1985), Thomson and Evernden (1986), Brabb and Olson (1986), Youd and Perkins (1987), Perkins (1987), and Mark and Newman (1988) for information pertaining to geology, history, slope stability, seismic shaking, liquifaction potential, and faulting and seismicity in San Mateo County, some of which can be applied directly to northern Santa Clara County. Field work for the present geologic map was done in 1962-1964 and 1966 when SLAC and Interstate 280 were in early stages of construction. Only minor additions and revisions have been made since this mapping was first released (Pampeyan, 1970a; 1970b) as it was impractical to keep pace with accelerating urban development of the area. Geologic units of the flatlands area are largely adapted from Helley and Lajoie (1979).


This paper discusses a method for evaluating the competitive effects of reverse payments in the wake of the Supreme Court's Opinion in Actavis. Specifically, we demonstrate a method for evaluating actual reverse payments against a "maximum-efficient-reverse-payment" criterion under both consumer-welfare and total-welfare standards. Our analysis shows that the maximum efficient reverse payment is a multiple of total litigation costs and a function of the characteristics of prevailing competition. Our analysis also suggests that after Actavis, we should expect Hatch-Waxman-motivated settlements to provide for generic entry before patent expiration and that these arrangements are more likely to produce socially efficient reverse payments. Finally, we introduce the prospect of strategic entry of "authorized generics" by the patentee and its effect on the reverse payment settlement decision, competition and social welfare.


The current outcomes of peri-hilar cholangiocarcinoma (PH-CCA) are in general poor with no proven roles for any treatment modalities in improving survival apart from complete surgical extirpation. The dismal prognosis observed is contributed to by both delays in diagnosis and aggressive tumour biology. The advent of molecular targeting of solid cancers allows harnessing this property on microbubble and nanotechnology based platforms. Such a system provides for concurrent diagnosis and therapeutic effect (theragnosis), the feasibility of which is explored in this work.

The expression of two candidate biomarkers with established roles in cancer progression, namely Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) were examined by Immunohistochemistry in 54 human samples of resected PH-CCA. These markers were then evaluated for their potential as molecular targets in theragnostic platforms in cholangiocarcinoma.

Both NGAL and MMP9 were found to be abundantly expressed in both tumour tissue and control liver. Although higher NGAL expression was associated with nodal metastases, no prognostic impact was seen for either marker. NGAL expression was further interrogated in six cholangiocarcinoma cell lines by Western blotting, Immunofluorescence and ELISA techniques, which revealed localisation of NGAL to the cell membrane and its secretion, both indicating its suitability to a targeting platform. Nonetheless, its expression in normal liver tissue could lead to off-target effects.

Concurrently, the expression of vascular ligands CD31, CD105 and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 were each assessed in the same cohort of tissue samples. CD105 expression was found to be independently predictive of poorer overall survival. Subsequent in vitro flow assay experiments using CD105 antibody conjugated microbubbles showed it bound murine SVR endothelial cells significantly more in comparison to isotype control microbubbles. Furthermore, evaluation of in vivo targeting with the aid of high frequency ultrasound demonstrated CD105-microbubbles bound to tumour endothelium significantly more than control microbubbles in a subcutaneous murine xenograft model of cholangiocarcinoma.

This work therefore indicates NGAL is suited to a theragnostic approach in cholangiocarcinoma although larger data sets are required to explore its prognostic impact. CD105-microbubbles could be utilised in the delivery of such theragnostic particles to cholangiocarcinoma tissue, whilst in themselves providing a non-invasive index of tumour vascularity when imaged with ultrasound.


The role of speed in crash and injury risk is well established in road-transport system safety. This paper reviews the technologies available world-wide to enhance speed limit compliance. Speed indicator displays are a promising technology to reduce vehicle speeds, and have been shown to reduce average vehicle speeds in European trials. The benefit-cost ratios for using speed indicator displays were calculated for a range of common scenarios in Victoria. These calculations show that very attractive benefit-cost ratios can be realised from reductions in vehicle speeds, through the use of speed indicator displays in such circumstances. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E206143.


The problem of computing the singular system of the radiation operator pertaining to the case of strip currents is dealt with. The associate eigenvalue problem involves a space-variant operator whose kernel is not band-limited. As a consequence, the sampling approach, which has been recently introduced for computing the eigenwavefronts of some band-limited linear space-invariant imaging systems, cannot be used as such. To overcome this drawback, it is shown that the kernel function can be recast as a varying band-limited function. This allows exploiting the pseudo-sampling series theory from which a sampling approximation of the kernel function is derived and eventually used to set the discrete eigenvalue problem. In particular, unlike the classical sampling approach, the sampling points turn out to be non-uniformly distributed. Some numerical examples are used to check the theory. It is shown that the most significant part of the singular system can be very accurately computed by using a number of samples slightly greater than the Shannon number.


Non-linear Mendelian randomization is an extension to standard Mendelian randomization to explore the shape of the causal relationship between an exposure and outcome using an instrumental variable. The approach divides the population into strata and calculates separate instrumental variable estimates in each stratum. However, the standard implementation of stratification in non-linear Mendelian randomization, referred to as the residual method, relies on strong parametric assumptions of linearity and homogeneity between the instrument and the exposure to form the strata. If these stratification assumptions are violated, the instrumental variable assumptions may be violated in the strata even if they are satisfied in the population, resulting in misleading estimates. We propose a new stratification method, referred to as the doubly-ranked method, that does not require strict parametric assumptions to create strata with different average levels of the exposure such that the instrumental variable assumptions are satisfied within the strata. Our simulation study indicates that the doubly-ranked method can obtain unbiased stratum-specific estimates and appropriate coverage rates even when the effect of the instrument on the exposure is non-linear or heterogeneous. Moreover, it can also provide unbiased estimates when the exposure is coarsened (that is, rounded, binned into categories, or truncated), a scenario that is common in applied practice and leads to substantial bias in the residual method. We applied the proposed doubly-ranked method to investigate the effect of alcohol intake on systolic blood pressure, and found evidence of a positive effect of alcohol intake, particularly at higher levels of alcohol consumption.


In Ayurveda system of medicine individuals are classified into seven constitution types, "Prakriti", for assessing disease susceptibility and drug responsiveness. Prakriti evaluation involves clinical examination including questions about physiological and behavioural traits. A need was felt to develop models for accurately predicting Prakriti classes that have been shown to exhibit molecular differences. The present study was carried out on data of phenotypic attributes in 147 healthy individuals of three extreme Prakriti types, from a genetically homogeneous population of Western India. Unsupervised and supervised machine learning approaches were used to infer inherent structure of the data, and for feature selection and building classification models for Prakriti respectively. These models were validated in a North Indian population. Unsupervised clustering led to emergence of three natural clusters corresponding to three extreme Prakriti classes. The supervised modelling approaches could classify individuals, with distinct Prakriti types, in the training and validation sets. This study is the first to demonstrate that Prakriti types are distinct verifiable clusters within a multidimensional space of multiple interrelated phenotypic traits. It also provides a computational framework for predicting Prakriti classes from phenotypic attributes. This approach may be useful in precision medicine for stratification of endophenotypes in healthy and diseased populations.


The feasibility of using a capacitance method (CM) for direct antifungal susceptibility testing of yeasts in positive blood cultures was evaluated. The CM used the same test conditions as those recommended by the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. After direct inoculation of positive culture broths into module wells (Bactometer; bioMérieux, Inc., Hazelwood, Mo.), the end-point determination was made by monitoring the capacitance change in the culture broths with Bactometer. The MIC of amphotericin B was the lowest concentration at which yeast growth was completely inhibited, while the MICs of ketoconazole, flucytosine, and fluconazole were the concentrations at which a >/=80% reduction in capacitance change was observed. The MICs of the four drugs against each blood isolate obtained on subculture plates were also determined by the macrodilution method. For 51 positive blood cultures tested, the percent agreement (+/-2 log(2) dilutions) between the CM and the macrodilution method were as follows: amphotericin B (98%), ketoconazole (92%), flucytosine (84%), and fluconazole (96%). The CM was further used for breakpoint susceptibility testing of fluconazole (8 and 64 microg/ml) and flucytosine (4 and 32 microg/ml) against yeasts in positive blood cultures. After testing of 74 specimens by the CM, flucytosine and fluconazole produced one (1.4%) major error and two (2.8%) minor errors, respectively. All yeasts that displayed resistance to flucytosine or fluconazole were detected within 24 h after direct inoculation of the positive broths into Bactometer. The CM may be useful for the rapid detection of antifungal resistance in positive blood cultures containing yeasts.


Objective: To study the clinical profile of patients presenting with primary and secondary neurological disorders during pregnancy and puerperium. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at the Lady Harding Medical College between February 2004 and January 2005. All patients in pregnancy, postabortal or postpartum period attending to the Lady Harding Medical College between February 2004 and January 2005 and requiring neurological consultation were included in this study. Women with eclampsia were excluded. Results: There were 76 women included in this study (incidence of neurological disorders was 584 per 100,000 deliveries), with 46 cases of primary and 30 of secondary neurological disorders. The former included epilepsy (22), CNS infections (12), cerebrovascular disorders (9) [cerebral venous thrombosis - CVT (5), arterial infarctions (3) and haemorrhage (1)], CNS glioma (1), traumatic quadriparesis (1) and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (1). The latter included hepatic encephalopathy [HE] (28), enteric encephalopathy (1) and critical illness polyneuropathy (1). In patients of epilepsy, the seizures had an equitable distribution in the trimesters and post-partum period, were mainly of generalized type (77.27%) and were controlled in the majority (90.9%). No fetal congenital malformations were seen. Tubercular meningitis [TBM] (7), pyogenic meningitis (4) and viral encephalitis (1) were the CNS infections encountered and pregnancy outcome was good in most cases. All cases of CVT presented in the postpartum period with fever and neurological signs following home delivery. Outcomes included recovery (2), residual deficits (1), persisting seizures (1) and death (1). HE affected patients mainly during the latter half of pregnancy or the post-partum period and was associated with 64.3% mortality. Death in HE showed correlation with grade of HE ( P =0.007); Glasgow Coma Scale ( P =0.006); Liver span ( P =0.049); bilirubin ( P =0.005) and retained foetus ( P =0.044). Conclusion: The incidence of neurological disorders in pregnancy and puerperium was fairly high. Epilepsy and hepatic encephalopathy were the commonest primary and secondary neurological disorders, respectively.


Recent advances in Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have significantly improved the quality of synthetic images or deepfakes. Photorealistic images generated by GANs start to challenge the boundary of human perception of reality, and brings new threats to many critical domains, e.g., journalism, and online media. Detecting whether an image is generated by GAN or a real camera has become an important yet under-investigated area. In this work, we propose a blind detection approach called NoiseScope for discovering GAN images among other real images. A blind approach requires no a priori access to GAN images for training, and demonstrably generalizes better than supervised detection schemes. Our key insight is that, similar to images from cameras, GAN images also carry unique patterns in the noise space. We extract such patterns in an unsupervised manner to identify GAN images. We evaluate NoiseScope on 11 diverse datasets containing GAN images, and achieve up to 99.68% F1 score in detecting GAN images. We test the limitations of NoiseScope against a variety of countermeasures, observing that NoiseScope holds robust or is easily adaptable.


The usefulness of dynamic analysis tools for programcomprehension increases with the amount oftime a given analyzed program is monitored. Thus, monitoring the analyzed program in a production environment should give the best picture of how the program actually works. However, high performance overhead is especially undesirable in such a setting, because it decreases the user's productivity. Performance overhead occurs due to recognizing events that are of interest to the agent monitoring the program run and storing those events in data-structures. We propose to address this issue by creating a custom-made agent for each program. By using static analysis to get a priori knowledge about which events of interest can occur and where they can occur, tailored code for recognizing and storing those events can be generated for each program. We evaluate our idea by comparing a "general purpose" dynamic agent that captures fine-grained points-to information with custom-made agents that do the same job for specific programs. The latter show highly reduced performance overhead in practice. We also investigate how the precision of the static analysis affects the performance of the custom-made agents.


Previously, 135 strains of Trichoderma isolated from buried soils of Tatarstan have been identified as T. asperellum, T. viride, T. atroviride, T. harzianum, T. hamatum, T. citrinoviride and T. longibrachiatum. At this stage, the biochemical analysis of the strains was carried out using the Biolog system, which being a simple screening test enables rapid preparation of strains based on 95 substrates. We have revealed that each species has only a specific substrate utilisation profile. Biochemical analysis provides a large amount of information that can then be used for optimization of biotechnological processes, in particular, the selection of effective nutrient media.


The comparative study of the signs of pathogenicity in enterobacteria (119 strains) isolated from the blood of 145 patients with the clinical symptoms of sepsis and from the feces of healthy persons (560 strains from 220 persons) has demonstrated that the same species of opportunistic microorganisms may essentially differ in the formation of DNase, RNase, as well as in their capacity for the positive reaction with Congo red. The possibility of using the above-mentioned signs of pathogenicity for diagnostic purposes as additional signs for the differentiation of virulent cultures of opportunistic enterobacteria from avirulent ones is suggested.


Background and Aim: Diabetes has emerged as a major healthcare problem in India. Diabetes and periodontitis interact in a bidirectional manner; therefore, there is a need to screen patients for diabetes in dental clinics. Development of an intraoral blood sampling technique would make screening easier for dental practitioners. Routine oral examination of patients with periodontal inflammation with or without diabetes produce ample bleeding which can be used in glucometers for screening diabetes mellitus. Therefore, the aim is to assess if gingival crevicular blood (GCB) is as efficient as capillary finger prick technique in estimating the glycemic status. Settings and Design: This was a cross-sectional study. Materials and Methods: Fifty-eight participants with gingivitis or periodontitis with bleeding on probing from at least one site were chosen. Periodontal parameters such as Probing pocket depth and gingival index were measured using William's graduated periodontal probe. GCB and capillary finger prick blood (CFB) were collected for the estimation of blood glucose with the help of glucometer. Statistical Analysis: Performed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: The Pearson correlation coefficient of GCB and CFB was 0.982 with a P < 0.001. Conclusion: It can be concluded that GCB can be used for the estimation of glycemic status.


Distance education through electronic learning (e-learning) technologies has been accepted as a viable knowledge transfer tool by universities; however, it has not provided the learning benefits that were originally anticipated. This study examines the role of individual learner characteristics, goal-orientation beliefs, and social learning in influencing e-learning success. Experimental data was collected from students undergoing online courses. Preliminary results indicate that the learner characteristics of self-regulation and computer-learning self-efficacy, complemented by social learning through the electronic learning network influence e-learning success.


A study of the incidence of depigmentation of the male genitalia in patients attending a dermatology clinic is presented. Of the 5,000 consecutive new male patients examined, thirty-eight patients had white patches on the genitalia, sixteen of which were leukoderma due to post inflammatory hypopigmentation. The remaining twenty-two were classified as vitiligo, with no known cause.


infection. In young individuals, as in the case of the junior hospital doctors discussed in my article, previous BCG vaccination should not be considered an adequate explanation for a strongly positive tuberculin reaction. Superinfection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the more likely cause. In other cases, however, a strongly positive tuberculin reaction may be due to either healed primary or adult tuberculosis; in both tuberculin hypersensitivity may remain high for many years.2 Dr Gatley's survey of tuberculin reactions cannot be interpreted without further information, including the details mentioned above.


Azulene-containing conjugated polymers with near-infrared absorption up to 1.5 μm and beyond are achieved by treating with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Density functional theory calculations reveal that the near-infrared absorption arises from a strong intramolecular charge transfer transition on the polymer backbone, and the near-infrared absorption can be tuned by the degree of protonation. Furthermore, TFA treated polymers show a ten-fold enhancement in electrochromic contrast and significantly improved switching stability, suggesting that these polymers are promising candidates for fabrication of the first generation organic near-infrared devices.


Recently discovered skeletal material greatly expands our knowledge of the embolomeres from the Early Pennsylvanian locality of Joggins, Nova Scotia. These specimens are probably attributable to Calligenethlon watsoni Steen that has been described previously from this locality, but despite their articulated condition and relative completeness, this assignment is equivocal. Inclusion of the most complete specimen, NSM 994 GF 1.1, in a previous phylogenetic analysis of the Embolomeri results in a sistergroup relationship between NSM 994 GF 1.1 and Anthracosaurus. However, none of the 16 synapomorphies supporting this relationship are unique to these two taxa, but rather all occur in one or more of the other taxa in the analysis. This indicates extensive homoplasy within embolomeres and emphasizes the difficulties inherent in resolving embolomere interrelationships. The dirth of unequivocal synapomorphies is probably also reflects the conservative nature and basal status of embolomeres within the initial Pal...


A controlled clinical therapeutic study in hospitalized patients compared artesunate with quinine and mefloquine in patients with uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Forty two patients entered the trial and the follow up was for 28 days with thick blood film taken every 12 hours until became negative. Laboratory examinations included haematological and biochemical tests before and after treatment. Patients had a mean parasitaemia of 42.568 per microliter. Twenty six patients completed 28 days of follow up but 16 did not fulfil this protocol. One in each of the therapeutic groups showed delayed R I resistance. A further patient in the quinine group showed R III resistance. The cure rate was 88.8% for artesunate. 85.7% for mefloquine and 81.8% for quinine; no significant difference was found, the same occurring with the clearance of fever. The artesunate group had a quicker parasitaemia clearance time (37.3 +/- 11.5 hours) when compared with quinine (65.2 +/- 17.4) showing a significant difference (p = 0.0016). Parasite clearance with mefloquine, was intermediate (58.9 +/- 16.6 ours) between the artesunate and quinine. No important side effects were observed with any of the therapeutic regimens and no deaths registered.


The discovery and commercialization of biotechnology innovations often rely on collaborations between universities and for-profit firms. In the United States, the federal government funds much of university life sciences research and, under the Bayh-Dole Act, has some rights to research arising from that funding. Two important strands of invention ownership issues in this web of collaboration arose under litigation that culminated in the recent United States Supreme Court decision Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. ('Stanford v. Roche' or 'Stanford'). The first is the question of whether Bayh-Dole trumps any other invention assignment agreements when federal funding was used in any part for the invention. The second is whether a 1991 development in the case law of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the 'Federal Circuit') regarding invention assignments is binding federal common law. While the Supreme Court limited itself to the first question - because the petition for certiorari was so limited - some of the justices addressed the second in a concurrence and a dissent. This article discusses both strands, while paying particular attention to the emerging battle over the Federal Circuit's 'federal common law' of assignments. Part I reviews the facts of the case. Part II delves into the Bayh-Dole issues. Part III concludes the article by analyzing the Federal Circuit's federal common law of assignments and addressing the open issues which may result in a Supreme Court challenge next year.


1. Skeletal muscle has an extensive capacity for regeneration, a property conferred on this tissue by a resident population of skeletal muscle stem cells (MuSCs). Any impairment to this population of stem cells can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. MuSCs normally exist in a quiescent state marked by the paired box transcription factor Pax7. In response to an activating signal, MuSCs rapidly undergo a process of activation and cell-cycle re-entry. At this early stage, MuSCs begin to express the myogenic determination factor MyoD and initiate the process of commitment to the myogenic lineage. Importantly, a sub-population of MuSCs will return to quiescence so as to prevent depletion of the stem cell pool. This decision for MuSCs to either undergo commitment or self-renewal remains ill defined. Studies in cancer, and developmental and stem cell biology has identified cellular metabolism as playing a key role in directing changes associated with stem cell self-renewal, lineage specification and the processes of proliferation and differentiation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate this link between metabolism and the processes of self-renewal and myogenic commitment in MuSCs and to identify how metabolism may regulate these processes.

2. To efficiently isolate a large number of primary MuSCs I utilized Pax7creERT2xROSA26eYFP transgenic mice which allows for the fluorescent labelling of MuSCs and subsequent isolation via fluorescence activated cell sorting. To examine the link between innate cell metabolism and MuSC heterogeneity, single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) was performed on either freshly isolated MuSCs or MuSCs that had been cultured ex vivo for 96 hrs. The scRNAseq results revealed that while freshly isolated MuSCs are largely homogeneous, cultured MuSCs exhibited significant heterogeneity with divergent metabolic signatures. These metabolic signatures marked cells either undergoing myogenic commitment or self-renewal.

3. To examine the role of the metabolic microenvironment in regulating MuSC lineage specification whole skeletal muscle fibres, isolated primary MuSCs or C2C12 cells were cultured in media containing different carbohydrate conditions; high glucose (25 mM glucose, HG), low glucose (5 mM glucose, LG) or galactose (10 mM galactose, GAL). Following culture, the downstream effects on metabolism, including measurements of mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial abundance, key electron transport chain proteins and cellular bioenergetics was assessed. Myogenic specification was assessed via examination of key myogenic regulatory factors by PCR, western immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, whole transcriptome sequencing and single cell sequencing (scRNAseq). Finally, to link alterations to metabolism to changes in gene transcription, global histone acetylation was examined.
Extracellular carbohydrate availability directly regulates both innate cellular metabolism and gene expression via acetyl-CoA availability and histone acetylation. Importantly, use of several pharmacological modulators of metabolism confirm a central role of carbohydrate metabolism in histone acetylation. Combining both whole transcriptome sequencing and scRNAseq, extracellular carbohydrate availability was shown to directly influence lineage fate decisions, with reduced carbohydrate availability linked to a reduction in the proportion of cells undergoing myogenic commitment. The scRNAseq dataset presented provides entirely new information of subpopulations of cells; including true MuSCs, primed MuSCs, early committed muscle progenitors (CMPs) and late CMPs and show that the extracellular metabolic environment directly influences the proportion of cells in each of these subpopulations. Finally, single fibre experiments showed that reduced carbohydrate availability was linked to increased rates of asymmetric division and self-renewal.

4. These results provide the first evidence that the extracellular metabolic microenvironment is able to directly alter MuSC lineage commitment and self-renewal with reduced carbohydrate availability leading to a maintenance of the true MuSC population a result of an increased proportions of asymmetric divisions. Finally, metabolic remodelling can be used to enhance the efficiency of MuSC transplantation.


An early thermogenic response has been described following the ingestion of palatable food. This study was designed to investigate the possible relationship between this so-called cephalic response, the sensory stimulation of feeding, and the declining feeling of hunger as the meal progresses. O2 consumption, carbohydrate and lipid oxidation, as well as ratings of hunger were measured in four experimental situations in which the subjects, after overnight fast, ate either two small caramel cakes at one time or the same amount of calories divided in eight portions that were eaten at 10-min intervals. The third experiment, the sham-feeding experiment, was similar to the last one except that the food was spit out instead of being swallowed after being chewed. A control experiment was added in which no food was given but during which the subject mimicked the act of chewing as was done in the preceding experiment. A small increase in O2 consumed was observed in the control experiment. After the one-meal experiment, the increase was larger for the first 90 min and declined thereafter. During the first 40 min of the sham-feeding experiment, O2 consumption increased more than when the eight meals were eaten, indicating that during this period the sensory stimulation per se is responsible for the cephalic thermic response to food. At 90 min, the ratings of hunger were diminished not only in the eight meals experiment but in the eight sham meals experiment as well, showing the role of sensory stimulation in the control of hunger. These results indicate a possible causal relationship between the cephalic thermogenesis, the control of hunger, and the prandial sensory stimulations.


The aim of the paper is to critically analyse the results obtained by recent literature concerning the most important aspects of application of Non Invasive Mechanical Ventilation for the treatment of Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema, and to elaborate a definition of what is, on the whole, widely accepted, focusing the attention on those issues which still remain unanswered and therefore require further studies. MEDLINE was searched and the bibliography of a selected group of articles was perused. The literature was analysed and the information gathered has proved to address the questions in a systematic way. All studies concerning the use of a non invasive ventilation technique in the treatment of acute pulmonary edema or acute respiratory failure which included pulmonary edema have been considered. New physiological issues have been introduced on the pathogenesis of acute pulmonary edema. Even though very little non invasive ventilation has been performed outside intensive care units, a growing interest is rising in the opportunity of transferring this technique to a different setting which would include critically ill patients. No random controlled trials and studies have ever established whether positive pressure support is really better than continuous airway pressure, but several trials appear to have excluded the potential for high-risk in the use of assisted ventilation. General opinion has not yet confirmed foreseeable failures in non invasive ventilation at the time of patient admission. A good deal of favorable experimental evidence supports the use of non invasive ventilation in the acute pulmonary edema and guarantees safety when used in intensive care units. Very few trials have been carried out in order to explore application on severe pulmonary edema outside intensive care unit. A whole new world of old and new issues on patient selection criteria, ventilation times, type of ventilation and predictability of failure, could be discovered.


The role of HR has developed over time from the administrative function towards more strategic partnership. A major driving force behind this evolution has been the technological development. The collecting, storing and processing of data has been in central role in the gradual evolution of HRM. Still throughout past decades academics and practitioners have questioned the success of HR ́s development to more strategic role. One challenge has been the ability to produce accurate information of people related issues and make fact-based strategic HRM decisions. In recent years a growing belief have risen that HR analytics could be the answer to these challenges and improve the data-driven HRM in a way that could help HR achieve its strategic position. Still relatively limited amount of research related to HR analytics can be found and therefore its real potential remains to be a question mark. Hence the purpose of this thesis is to deepen the understanding of HR analytics and its implementation. Also the possible connections between HR analytics and broader concept of data-driven HRM are examined. The research of this thesis is based on data collected from blogs of HR professionals on five major online HR communities in the US and Europe. The data was collected on the basis of predefined keywords and altogether 510 blog posts were collected from the years 2009-2015. The first phase of the data analysis was made by quantitative methods with the software Leximancer, which was then followed by a qualitative analysis aiming to reveal the most prominent discussions of HR professionals related to the implementation of HR analytics and data-driven HRM. The findings of this thesis indicate that HR is still in its infancy in HR analytics and data-driven HRM. HR as a function is currently routine-oriented and the focus is mainly on universal HR processes and metrics without any further analysis. Data-driven HRM as a term is not yet very widely used among HR professionals. Still it was concluded that in order to achieve the strategic role, HR needs to become more decision-oriented function with the focus of generating value to the business. HR analytics was seen as a possible way to make this happen, although the different possibilities related to HR analytics still remain unfamiliar to most HR professionals and it is currently focused mainly on monetary issues and on descriptive analysis. HR analytics and datadriven HRM was concluded to be context-based, which should be planned and used according to the organisation and its strategy and situation. This means that the successful implementation of HR analytics is depended on the capabilities of the people utilising these tools, their ability to understand how they can be used and knowing what tools to use and when.


Abstract Resource-based activity provides a strong stimulus to local economies, largely through the high incomes paid to employees in the resources sector, plus the large levels of expenditure through supporting business chains. However, the role that resource development plays in driving regional population dynamics remains poorly understood, particularly with respect to the rising use of non-resident labour force practices. Supply of labour via fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in, drive-out (DIDO) options creates a range of direct and indirect pressures on host communities. These are predominantly linked with difficulties in counting the non-resident population, and hence planning for, and investing in, the social infrastructure required to meet the new demand. Non-residency also represents a distinct 'opportunity cost' for regions, because local population growth is a powerful business case for public and private investment in infrastructure and services. The dual effect of FIFO/DIDO is thus not only to introduce new demand for infrastructure and services, but also to deny regions the chance for baseline population growth, and with it, the likelihood of improving living standards. This paper presents a case study illustrating the value of resource activity in stimulating local population growth in Central Queensland, and how the strength of this stimulus varies with patterns of resident and non-resident workforce mixes. Demographic modelling prepared using the economic multiplier approach suggest that in excess of up to 180,000 additional people could move into the region by 2018 in direct response to resource sector growth, if the workforce was fully resident. However, the extent of population in-migration – and consequent economic growth – reduces as the proportion of non-resident workforce increases. Under predominantly DIDO or predominantly FIFO scenario, the regional population boost is decreased by up to 23% or 44%, respectively. Populating regional Australia will be an essential part of the national growth strategy going forward. However, without a change in policy to re-emphasise the importance of supplying labour locally, the role that resource regions will play in this growth, and the positive impacts associated with local population increases, will not be maximised.