Self-authorships provided the theoretical lens for this exploration of a blended learning multicultural course. Universities must help students develop a complex array of capacities to function effectively in today's interconnected world. Self-authorship provides a framework to analyze student development across three domains: cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. Self-authorship development can be fostered through the use of the Learning Partnerships Model. This qualitative study used the theory of self-authorship to analyze interactions in the online discussion portion of one section of twenty-one students in a multicultural course at a rural Midwestern university. The course used dialogic principles in a blended learning environment, combining face-to-face interactions with an online platform which supported online journaling, a variety of resources including articles and videos, and an online discussion forum. Six students were interviewed to determine self-authorship development. Their interactions with classmates in the online discussion were analyzed. Some evidence of students' self-authorship development was found. Lack of facilitation in the online discussion appeared to have the potential to engender some resistance. A number of suggestions for course improvement could be made based on literature on dialogic principles, optimal online discussion formations and the Learning Partnerships Model.


Intermarriage is a phenomenon that is rife with the development of increasingly rapid technology weapons. Implementation of mixed marriages must not be separated from the constraints and risks will dihadi offender Mixed Marriage itself. One of the problems that arise are related to the occurrence of the Joint Treasure especially over land rights as legal consequences arising from the holding of intermarriage intermarriage especially if implemented without prenuptial agreement. The author of this thesis wants to study and analyze more about the law as a result of intermarriage without severance agreement treasure to land ownership and settlement of land ownership issues arising from mixed marriage without separation agreement treasure. The method used is a normative legal research, namely legal research done by researching library materials or secondary law while in locating and collecting data is done by two approaches, namely legislation and conceptual approaches.
The results showed that the legal consequences of intermarriage in the absence of agreement separating property to the ownership rights to the land after the enactment of Law No. 1 of 1974 About the marriage, property acquired during the marriage is community property as engaging joint property so that if it is not made an prenuptial agreement the property rights to land shall be released within a period of one (1) year or the land falls to the state. The resolution attempts to do to the problems of land ownership arising from mixed marriages without the agreement split the treasure is in the form of drafting of a treaty mate after marriage or reduction of land rights from property rights into rights of use in accordance with the provisions of that kind of tenure, which may possess by someone follow the status of their land rights subjects in accordance with the provisions of the legislation


Sequence Tagging, including part of speech tagging, chunking and named entity recognition, is an important task in NLP. Recurrent neural network models such as Bidirectional LSTMs have produced impressive results on sequence tagging. In this work, we first present a Bidirectional LSTM neural network model for sequence tagging tasks. Then we show a simple and fast greedy sequence tagging system using a feedforward neural network. We compare the speed and accuracy between the Bidirectional LSTM model and the greedy feedforward model. In addition, we propose two new models based on Mention2Vec by Stratos (2016): Feedforward-Mention2Vec for named entity recognition and chunking, and BPEMention2Vec for part-of-speech tagging. Feedforward-Mention2Vec predicts tag boundaries and corresponding types separately. BPE-Mention2Vec uses the Byte Pair Encoding algorithm to segment words first and then predicts the part-of-speech tags for the subword spans. We carefully design the experiments to demonstrate the speed and accuracy tradeoff in different models. The empirical results reveal that the greedy feedforward model can achieve comparable accuracy and faster speed than recurrent models for sequence tagging, and Feedforward-Mention2Vec is competitive with the fully structured BiLSTM model for named entity recognition while being more scalable in the number of named entity types.


Summary

1
Between 1997 and 2000 a plague of migratory locust in Madagascar triggered large-scale control operations. The widespread use of insecticides in a biodiversity hot-spot raised concern about hazards to wildlife. The aim of this study was to inform locust control policy by monitoring the effects of insecticides on key non-target organisms. The focus was on the harvester termite Coarctotermes clepsydra and its vertebrate predators.

2
Effects on Coarctotermes clepsydra were studied in two areas. At Ankazoabo in 1998, we monitored rainy season barrier treatments with fipronil and triflumuron. At Malaimbandy in 2000, we monitored early dry season, full-cover sprays with fipronil and deltamethrin and also studied effects on the lizards Chalarodon madagascariensis and Mabuya elegans, the lesser hedgehog tenrec Echinops telfairi and their non-termite arthropod prey.

3
At both sites, fipronil caused a strong reduction of the activity of Coarctotermes clepsydra colonies, culminating in high mortality. At Ankazoabo 10 months post-spray, colony mortality was 44·9%, 7·7% and 4·7%, respectively, in fipronil, triflumuron and unsprayed sites. Mortality within spray barriers was 90·7% and 10·8% for fipronil and triflumuron, respectively. Similar results were obtained at Malaimbandy 6 months post-spray, where fipronil caused 80·5% colony mortality, compared with 3·5% and 3·7% in unsprayed and deltamethrin plots.

4
We observed a significant decline in the relative abundance of Chalarodon madagascariensis and Mabuya elegans in fipronil plots at Malaimbandy, with effective reductions (compared with pre-spray levels) of 52·7% and 45·2%, respectively. Echinops telfairi was not found in fipronil plots, while being frequent in unsprayed and deltamethrin plots.

5
Termites proved to be important dietary components of all vertebrates studied, especially during the dry season. Echinops telfairi, the large-eared tenrec Geogale aurita and Mabuya elegans were more termite-specialized than Chalarodon madagascariensis.

6
The abundance of lizards and Echinops telfairi was positively correlated with the density of live Coarctotermes clepsydra colonies. This suggests that reduced abundance of these insectivorous species in fipronil plots resulted from deprivation of their principal prey.

7
Synthesis and applications. The present study provides evidence of food chain perturbations induced by fipronil. This has important implications for the management of locusts in Madagascar and other locust-affected countries. In recognition of the precautionary principle, we recommend that fipronil be withheld from full-cover spraying to ensure that locust control does not lead to biodiversity loss. Its use in barrier spraying requires further investigation of the long-term ecological effects, in particular with respect to the consequences of substantial termite mortality, before its environmental acceptability can be determined.


Background: We developed a low cost virtual reality [VR] platform using recent substantial advancements in the VR field (namely, Oculus Rift and Vive HTC headsets). Our novel platform comprehensively targets sensory integration for postural control in a manner that is salient and specific to the individual while being affordable, portable and clinically applicable. We aimed to establish the feasibility and test-retest reliability of our platform in adult patients with Vestibular dysfunction. Methods: Seventeen patients with a clinical diagnosis of peripheral vestibular dysfunction completed two testing sessions with our platform, one to four weeks apart. Their postural sway was recorded by a forceplate as they were standing upright on a firm or compliant surface while observing various scenes including three moving spheres scenes and one busy street ('City') scene. In another scene ('Park'), they tried to avoid a virtual ball approaching their head. We calculated Center-of-Pressure displacement, velocity and excursion per scene in the anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions. We compared these between sessions using Intraclass Correlations (ICCs). Results: Displacement and velocity had good reliability (>0.5, P<0.001) on all scenes in at least one direction and one surface conditions. ICCs for excursion were poor except for in the medio-lateral direction on the Park scene (ICC between 0.5 to 0.74, P<0.001). Side effects were minimal and occasionally moderate to severe, but transient. Patients swayed significantly more than healthy young adults (P<0.001) in both directions and on both surfaces. Conclusion: We designed a novel virtual reality platform via Unity for Oculus Rift to assess sensory integration and visuomotor processing for postural control. With carefully developed abstract and functional scenes, we are tapping into domains that were not accessible in the clinic before and are particularly salient for patients with vestibular dysfunction or other sensory deficits and associated balance problems. We established the feasibility, test-retest reliability and preliminary validity of our platform. We continue to develop our platform into a clinical assessment.


A monoclonal antibody to an antigen in the human germ cell membrane did not agglutinate or immobilize sperm but inhibited binding and penetration of zona-free hamster ova by human sperm and blocked murine fertilization in vitro. The antibody, of the 2a subclass of immunoglobulin G, was germ cell-specific but not species-specific. It recognized a single antigen of 23 kilodaltons that has been isolated from human germ cells. This fertilization antigen, located on the postacrosome , midpiece, and tail of human sperm, is a glycoprotein of testicular origin associated with some types of human involuntary immunoinfertility .


Handling Editor: Pieter De Frenne Abstract 1. Although crop rotation has been used for centuries to enhance agricultural production, there are surprisingly little data justifying the use of one rotation over another. Growers typically avoid growing plants in succession that belong to the same genus or family, but it is not clear whether closely related crops are indeed poor rotation partners and whether evolutionary history, overall, predicts legacy effects in agricultural soils. 2. Here, we use a plant–soil feedback framework to test the relationship between species relatedness and crop growth. Using tomato Solanum lycopersicum as our focal crop, we determined how 36 common crop and weed species that vary along a spectrum of phylogenetic relatedness influence tomato growth in subsequent plantings. We also tested whether soil conditioning affects the performance of an above-ground insect herbivore, the tobacco hornworm Manduca sexta. 3. Phylogenetic relatedness did not predict plant–soil feedback effects on tomato biomass or hornworm performance; rather, impacts of soil conditioning were highly speciesor family-specific. For example, tomatoes growing in soil previously containing plants in the Asteraceae family were notably resistant to caterpillar feeding. 4. There was also a disconnect between which plant species caused negative feedbacks on tomatoes vs. hornworms (e.g. thistle Cirsium discolor soil had strong negative effects on herbivory but no impact on plant growth). Hence, negative feedbacks on hornworms are likely due to enhanced defence instead of simply reducing leaf availability. 5. Synthesis and applications. These data demonstrate that, despite being widely recommended by agronomists in most cropping systems, phylogenetic relatedness is a poor predictor for the success of crop pairings in rotation, especially in tomato. Better understanding of species-specific effects of soil conditioning will lend insight into how polycultures can be better designed to optimize crop growth while reducing susceptibility to insect pests, which is particularly useful on diversified farms that cultivate a variety of crop species.


This project is design, fabrication and development of a design and fabrication of pneumatic bicycle it is rear wheel drive. The conceptual design of this model is taken from manually operated bicycle. The complete body looks like a bicycle in which manual operation followed. This product is a pneumatic vehicle, useful for handicapped people, and also normal persons. The power transmission takes place from rear wheel through chain drive. The entire arrangement of power transmission by means of connecting rod of the actuator is taken along with the chain sprocket. When the Compressor is connected to, it would give a driving force due the pressure at which air is sent. Only one person is allowed on the bicycle at any time. The material, mild steel is choose as a main structure fastening by joint, and main components of this project is , air cylinder, solenoid valve, electrical control unit, pneumatic actuator, power transmitting chain, sprocket wheel, two wheeler rear wheel components of model attach by welding, part by part create then be fabricating together. At the end of the project, the model is tested by several people and their comment then being recorded and performed some tests. The concept of compressed air bicycle in practice reduces the air pollution to large extend as its exhaust is nothing but air. Keywords-Bicycle, Solenoid valve, Mild steel, Power transmission, Crankshaft, Air compressor


Background The public hospital of Aubagne (South of France) records about 15 000 patients each year. New prescriptions are scrupulously examined by pharmacists every day. This routine analysis leads to pharmaceutical notifications (PNs) if any anomalies are detected. Purpose The aim of this study is to retrospectively analyse the impact of these PNs over 3 months (from July to September 2011) in five clinical departments (internal medicine, geriatrics, pneumology, cardiology and cardiology intensive care). Materials and methods PNs were added to digital prescriptions during the validation process and therefore could be read at any time by clinicians. They were divided into five categories: indications, inadequate posologies due to physio-pathologic characteristics (renal failure, older people), medical interactions, duplicated prescriptions, and clerical errors (inappropriate unit or dosage). Data required to validate the prescriptions were collected on DOME software (stores clinical data, examination records, biological analyses) and THERIAQUE database (stores drug information). Results 102 PNs were issued out of 722 prescriptions delivered in 3 months, which represents about nine PNs per 1000 prescription lines. At the beginning of the study, the main problem was related to inadequacy of the posology (43.2% of PNs): thanks to pharmaceutical vigilance and collaboration between health professionals, this rate dropped to 15.4% in September. Moreover errors on inappropriate indications decreased from 18.9% to 12.8%, while other indicators did not show significant results. Overall, PN led to modifications of prescriptions in nearly 50% of cases. Conclusions This study shows how a meticulous examination of prescriptions by pharmacists can be efficient in preventing iatrogenic harm. In the future the authors hope to improve acceptance of these PNs by developing closer links between health teams.


The advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) constitute a class of heterogeneous molecules formed by amino-carbonyl reactions of a non-enzymatic nature, which occur at an accelerated rate in the hyperglycemic state of diabetes. Considered important pathogenic mediators of diabetic complications, AGEs are capable of irreversibly modifying the chemical properties and functions of diverse biological structures. In this review, recent data from literature is presented describing the pathways of AGEs formation, their metabolism, the main mechanisms of action of these substances in the triggering of pathological processes associated with diabetes, as well as methods of AGEs determination in biological samples. This text also points to new perspectives in anti-AGE therapies, an example of which is the studies involved with the action of natural compounds of food, which can represent a potential coadjuvant therapy for people with diabetes or other pathologies associated with the degenerative accumulation of AGEs.


This paper describes the creation of a NIME created from an iron and wooden ironing board. The ironing board acts as a resonator for the system which includes sensors embedded in the iron such as pressure, and piezo microphones. The iron has LEDs wired to the sides and at either end of the board are CCDs; using machine learning we can identify what kind of fabric is being ironed, and the position of the iron along the xand y-axes as well as its rotation and tilt. This instrument is part of a larger project, Women's Labor, that juxtaposes traditional musical instruments such as spinets and virginals designated for "ladies" with new interfaces for musical expression that repurpose older tools of women's work. Using embedded technologies, we reimagine domestic tools as musical interfaces, creating expressive instruments from the appliances of women's chores.


Endosperm lysine content is genetically variable in maize (Zea mays L.) germplasm, but its level is below the minimum dietary standard set by the FAO. Increasing the content of this essential amino acid in endosperm proteins depends on understanding the mechanisms regulating the synthesis and accumulation of lysine-rich proteins. In this study, we analyzed the variability for lysine and protein contents in maize endosperm. Amounts of total protein, zeins, and non-zeins measured by microKjeldahl, and lysine content, estimated by aminoacid analysis, were determined for 93 maize inbreds. Additionally, an ELISA was used to estimate the relative content of the protein synthesis factor EF-1α in 20 selected genotypes. Considerable differences in lysine content were observed among normal and opaque2 genotypes, with the effect of the mutation being highly dependent on the genetic background. We detected a high correlation between the lysine content and the concentration of total non-zein proteins and EF-1α. An assay for EF-1α concentration may provide a simple and inexpensive method from breeding programs to select for improved protein quality.


THE SYNDROME of transient diabetes mellitus in the newborn has been well documented by Cornblath and Schwartz 1 who collected and summarized 15 case reports. Aside from the fact that recovery is complete after weeks or months, the syndrome meets the diagnostic requirements of true diabetes mellitus: hyperglycemia, glycosuria, and control with exogenous insulin. Ketonuria, however, is not the rule. These neonates are wasted although alert in appearance, and rapidly become dehydrated in spite of adequate food intake and the absence of vomiting and diarrhea. The following cases are reported because of their unique familial relationship, the patients being paternal half sisters with a positive paternal family history of diabetes mellitus. These findings raised the question of possible genetic etiologic factors. Report of Cases Case1.—A white female, was delivered spontaneously at Mississippi Baptist Hospital on July 15, 1966, after 32 weeks' gestation, according to the mother's menstrual history. A


Abstract From the literature on art experience, we know that art experts and non-art experts have different cognitive information processes when encountering an artwork, but we don't know how this difference might influence the art experience. The purpose of this article is to test how expertise affects art experiences. Expertise is measured on several dimensions, one of them being the level of knowledge on the specific artwork, which is a new contribution to the literature. Our case is the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican Museum in Italy where the investigations took place in a real museum context.


With the introduction of tablet technology, faculty began asking ques t ions about when, where , and how tablet s might enhance curriculum oppor tuni - t ies for s tudent learning and facul ty teaching s trategies beyond their use as personal digital devices and smart phones (Swan, Smi th, Frisby, Shaf fer, & Hanson-Zalot , 2012). Personal digital devices (PDDs), including smart phones , had been used by nurs ing s tudent s for the pas t five years. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how tablet technology affected student and faculty teaching-learning processes and outcomes in an accelerated, pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing program.Following four months of planning, we integrated tablets into classroom teaching, simulation/laboratory sessions, and clinical experiences. With institutional review board approval, the researchers employed a qualitative descriptive design, using focus groups, to elicit data from students and faculty. Four focus groups were conducted, one with faculty and three with students. Eight faculty attended the session, representing 40 percent participation; 14 students attended the three sessions, representing 11 percent participation. Participants were asked about their experiences with tablets, concerns about implementation, and recommendations.Overall, there were surprising congruencies between faculty and students, especially in the area of using the tablet for classroom use. Although many in the four groups expressed a "cool" and "wow" reaction, the availability of appropriate software and limitations in the use of the technology influenced the experience of students and faculty.Experiences with the Tablets Most faculty had little previous experience with PDDs. Most students had experience with iTunes, and several had experience with Apple computers or iPhones; most were familiar with applications (apps) and how to use the iTunes store. This familiarity was not sufficient to overcome some of the most complicated aspects of the tablet software and app installations.Faculty received their tablets (Apple iPad2) approximately four weeks before classes started; all faculty agreed that this was not enough time to prepare for class, despite technical and instructional design support. Students also felt unprepared for the use of tablets; several reported "feeling lost" and sought out campus technical support. Of note, an instruction manual and one-onone student and faculty sessions, as well as group sessions with technical and instructional design staffwere offered frequently, but few students and faculty participated.Like faculty, students wanted time to learn more about the tablets before being required to use them. Students and faculty turned to peers who were "super users" for help with applications and software issues. While they found this additional assistance helpful, their need for technical support was not satisfied.Faculty noted they needed instruction on how to incorporate the technology into lesson plans, classroom activities, simulations, and clinicals. They thought more time and instruction would have helped with integration of the tablet into their teaching. Students commented that there was a disconnect between what instructors had in the syllabus or talked about in class and what was available on the tablet, specifically readings (chapters and page numbers) or the need to download additional apps.Faculty thought the tablet supported the integration of different teaching strategies with classroom content, yet several faculty stated they had not received sufficient training or had not made the time to adapt course content. Students had a different perception of the tablet in the classroom. The device offered too many opportunities to multitask, including checking email and Facebook. The students also noted that some faculty were facile with the device and integrated materials well into the classroom settings while others grossly underutilized the technology. …


In terms of convex analysis the revenue function of a country with a given factor endowment may be seen as the support function of the production possibility set. At the same time this revenue function is the so called convex-conjugate of the indicator function of the production possibility set. The task of this paper is to apply duality results of this kind to sums of functions, where Rockafellar (1972) has shown that the operations of addition and the infimal convolution of convex functions are dual to each other. To be more concrete, we refer to the theory of international trade, where the factor endowment of each country is given and the factors of production are internationally immobile. If the country specific outputs sum up to a world production, what is the meaning of the appropriate dual problem? The answer will deal with the national and world-wide problem of revenue maximization. Moreover, we shall discuss the properties of an optimal commodity price vector in relation to the "dual" world output and to the national commodity supply. Similar problems will be analyzed on a national level, where the factors of production can easily be moved from one firm or sector to another. The second part of the paper draws the attention to the inverse production technology, namely the input correspondence. Here, the results based on convex revenue functions are applied to concave cost functions.


Probation: Theory, Practice and Research is a core text on probation, edited by well-respected academics in the field. It is comprehensive and user friendly, covering various key topics in probation.The book also provides practical help to students and an up to date account of issues in criminal justice policy in the UK, as well as providing information to training officers, managers and practitioners in the field of probation and criminal justice.


Interaction of transition radiation of a charged particle with periodically modulated anisotropic magnetodielectric filling of the regular waveguide is considered. It is assumed, that the charged particle moves perpendicular to the waveguide axis with constant velocity. The analytical expressions for the transverse-magnetic (TM) field in the first approximation relative to the modulation indexes of filling are found. The energy of transition radiation in the region of "weak" (not resonant) interaction between the radiation wave and the modulated filling is calculated in the case of rectangular waveguide. Modulated filling of the waveguide leads to the fact that the TM field in the waveguide represents a set of space harmonics with different amplitudes. In the expression for the energy of transition radiation of the charged particle unlike the case of the unmodulated filling is added the member proportional to the modulation index of the first degree.


Development assistance is increasingly used to fund the provision of global public goods. However, in this case, the traditional classification of donor interests and recipient needs is not appropriate for analyzing donors' aid allocation decisions. Given the non-excludability characteristic of global public goods, aid targeting the provision of such goods should not flow to those places with the greatest needs – as assumed by the existing aid allocation literature – but to those where they can be provided most efficiently. After explaining the theoretical rationale behind this claim, we empirically show its implication at the example of aid for climate change mitigation (a global public good): At first glance, aid for mitigation appears much more donor-interest driven than aid for adaptation (a private or local public good) or than general aid where the consideration of recipient need seems to play a greater role. The picture changes when including appropriate control variables for mitigation efficiency. As the latter is positively correlated with economic development, donors allocating their aid in line with mitigation efficiency may be wrongly accused of allocating aid in their own interest.


About this transcript: Soon after Osler's death in 1919, Lady Osler asked their good friend Dr. Harvey Cushing to write
 a biography. For this project, Cushing gathered a wide variety of material, including a substantial amount of Osler correspondence
 and other memorabilia borrowed from Osler's family, friends, and colleagues. He employed three secretaries to transcribe
 these documents, and later donated the transcripts (along with his other working materials) to the Osler Library. Because
 many of the original documents were returned to the owners, the Cushing transcripts constitute the largest and most accessible
 collection of Osler's correspondence.


For years the advent of the digital economy has left countries stumped in their attempt to tax income earned by foreign firms without physical presence within their jurisdiction. International organizations and their member countries have failed in their attempts to tweak the rules of the international tax regime and address these challenges presented by the digital economy. This article argues that such conservative approach could not work, and fundamental reform is inevitable. The article proposes a withholding tax solution, explaining its merits and demonstrating its superiority over alternative reforms proposed to date.


Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders can create more artificial scarcity than the incentive effect warrants. Such overprotection not only denies the public access to the innovation without a corresponding gain in incentive, but it also retards future innovation by making it more difficult for follow-on innovators to make use of existing products. This is the downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs can actually be benefits. It does so by questioning one of the discussion's underlying assumptions: that innovation is always good. This assumption is usually valid, but not always; there are certain industries that society may prefer to suppress. If intellectual property reduces production and impedes innovation in those industries, then its protection would be a net gain for society. We examine a handful of such industries (tax planning, pornography, and others), demonstrate that keeping (or bringing) them under the intellectual property umbrella may be the best way to stifle them - an approach that runs contrary to the scholarly consensus - and thereby describe the circumstances under which intellectual property's downside can become society's upside.


The chaotic delta sigma modulator is a way to suppress the limit cycle oscillation caused by the input of a null or constant signal. By changing integrator gains, the output sequence becomes chaotic and the noise characteristic of the output is changed. This noise characteristic is an important factor for evaluating the performance of delta sigma modulation. The aim of this study is to analyze the noise characteristic of chaotic double loop delta sigma modulation when the null signal is input. We use a bifurcation diagram and FFT analysis to obtain the parameter dependence of the output state and noise characteristic, respectively. The output status of the chaotic double loop delta sigma modulation can be guessed from a bifurcation diagram with the brute force method. We also investigate the noise characteristic of the output signal of the chaotic modulator with FFT analysis and classify the various noise characteristics by changing the integrator gains of the double loop delta sigma modulator. We use FFT and the bifurcation diagram to classify these noise characteristics into three categories: suppressed tone (affected by the chaos), divergence, and the appearance of the limit cycle oscillation. We also confirm the existence of an unusual noise-shaping characteristic caused by the intermittent chaos.


PageRank has been widely used to measure the authority or the influence of a user in social networks. However, conventional PageRank only makes use of edge-based relations, ignoring higher-order structures captured by motifs, subgraphs consisting of a small number of nodes in complex networks. In this paper, we propose a novel framework, motif-based PageRank (MPR), to incorporate higher-order structures into conventional PageRank computation. We conduct extensive experiments in three real-world networks, i.e., DBLP, Epinions, and Ciao, to show that MPR can significantly improve the effectiveness of PageRank for ranking users in social networks. In addition to numerical results, we also provide detailed analysis for MPR to show how and why incorporating higher-order information works better than PageRank in ranking users in social networks.


That the advantage and restriction of using PDA to support teaching. Meanwhile, it probes into the cognitive will of teachers in Kaohsiung using PDA to support teaching. At first, developing the investigation meter of using cognitive will in PDA supporting teaching. The teachers in Kaohsiung information seed schools assist to investigate. There are 374 samples which are all effective samples. There is no invalid sample and returns-ratio 100%. Therefore, using One-way ANOVA analyses this effective questionnaire. The result of analysis will display teacher's experience period of service with PDA supporting teaching, and the difference of using will in network experience period of service. It shows: (1)「Perceived Usefulness」is the biggest influence factor of 「using will」in this research to the PDA supporting teaching. Next is「Perceived Easy of Use」. (2) 「Technical support」is also the direct influence factor of 「using will」. As regards this research sample, there are still 86.1% survey responsers who have not used PDA supporting teaching yet. Therefore, when users initially use the PDA supporting teaching system environment, they will have intensely the demand of "technical support" in the new technical installment, development and the use way. This is also a key point which the primary users are concerned. (3) The user, who has PDA support teaching experience, has stronger「using will」. (4) The user, whose network or computer period of service is longer, also has stronger「using will」. This research infers that PDA supporting teaching has brought more forward benefit.


We show the existence of a Locality-Sensitive Hashing (LSH) family for the angular distance that yields an approximate Near Neighbor Search algorithm with the asymptotically optimal running time exponent. Unlike earlier algorithms with this property (e.g., Spherical LSH [1, 2]), our algorithm is also practical, improving upon the well-studied hyperplane LSH [3] in practice. We also introduce a multiprobe version of this algorithm and conduct an experimental evaluation on real and synthetic data sets.

We complement the above positive results with a fine-grained lower bound for the quality of any LSH family for angular distance. Our lower bound implies that the above LSH family exhibits a trade-off between evaluation time and quality that is close to optimal for a natural class of LSH functions.


The poling conditions were studied in AOP process by second harmonic generation (SHG) for host-guest adulterant thin-films. The guest was 4'-Nitro-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene and host was PMMA. The experimental results showed that the optimal poling temperature was about room temperature, the optimal ratio of light intensity of fundamental signal (ω) and its second harmonic signal (2ω) during AOP was approximately 100, the thin films had the same rule that the saturated value of SHG depended on the ratio. In addition, we obtained a suitable thickness around 2200nm that the stronger SHG after poling was generated.


A compact, low-cost atmospheric pressure, chemical ionization mass spectrometer ("mini-CIMS") has been developed for continuous underway shipboard measurements of dimethylsulfide (DMS) in seawater. The instrument was used to analyze DMS in air equilibrated with flowing seawater across a porous Teflon membrane equilibrator. The equilibrated gas stream was diluted with air containing an isotopically-labeled internal standard. DMS is ionized at atmospheric pressure via proton transfer from water vapor, then declustered, mass filtered via quadrupole mass spectrometry, and detected with an electron multiplier. The instrument described here is based on a low-cost residual gas analyzer (Stanford Research Systems), which has been modified for use as a chemical ionization mass spectrometer. The mini-CIMS has a gas phase detection limit of 220 ppt DMS for a 1 min averaging time, which is roughly equivalent to a seawater DMS concentration of 0.1 nM DMS at 20°C. The mini-CIMS has the sensitivity, selectivity, and time response required for underway measurements of surface ocean DMS over the full range of oceanographic conditions. The simple, robust design and relatively low cost of the instrument are intended to facilitate use in process studies and surveys, with potential for long-term deployment on research vessels, ships of opportunity, and large buoys.


Abstract Disorders of initiation and maintenance of sleep (DIMS), excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) are common and clinically significant in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of the study was the evaluation of the effects of the dopamine agonist pramipexole on DIMS and EDS in PD. Sixty-seven patients with PD (mean age 63.2+/-9.9 years old, mean illness duration 6.5+/-4.2 years) were enrolled in the study. Forty patients received pramipexole as add-on to the other antiparkinsonian medications in mean daily dosage 2.64+/-0.6 mg. Clinical symptoms were assessed using the UPDRS, the PDSS, the PSO, the ESS, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Spielberger's State Anxiety Inventory, the SCOPA-Cog, the PDQ-39. The most common sleep complaints were sleep fragmentation and early awakening. DIMS, EDS were the main factors which negatively influenced the overall quality of sleep. The administration of pramipexole significantly improved the overall quality of sleep, decreased sleep initiation difficulties and sleep fragmentation, night and early morning dystonia, early morning tremor; restlessness, troublesome sensations in extremities, nocturia. We speculate that the effects of therapy on DIMS are caused by the decrease of nocturnal PD motor (hypokinesia, dystonia, tremor) and nonmotor (nocturia, sensor disturbances) symptoms; 15% of patients had moderate ESS in the early treatment period.


Purpose of review Bioelectrical impedance analysis is a popular, noninvasive and practical method for assessment of body composition. The last decade has seen the development of impedance analyzers designed to assess the composition of body segments as well as the whole body. This review outlines the theoretical basis for segmental impedance analysis, validity and use in practice. Recent findings Segmental impedance analysis tends to underestimate fat-free mass and overestimate fat mass when compared to reference techniques, although the magnitude of these differences can be small. Performance is improved with population-specific prediction equations; algorithms in-built into instrument firmware should not be relied upon. Prediction of whole-body composition from the sum of the individual segments, although theoretically preferable, shows little advantage over whole body wrist to ankle impedance approaches. Prediction of appendicular skeletal muscle mass, although promising, requires further research. The use of measured impedance data directly as indices of composition, rather than for prediction, has not found extensive application in nutritional research despite its success in other fields. Summary Segmental bioimpedance techniques have advanced substantially in recent years due to availability of simple-to-use analyzers and simplified measurement protocols. The method has been well validated and increasingly adopted in nutritional and clinical practice. Segmental impedance, like conventional whole body impedance approaches, provides indirect prediction of body composition whose accuracy is yet to achieve that of reference techniques such as magnetic reference imaging. This lack of accuracy, however, is outweighed by the method's practicality of use in many settings.


An old conjecture of Sierpinski asserts that for every integer k \ge 2, there is a number m for which the equation \phi(x)=m has exactly k solutions. Here \phi is Euler's totient function. In 1961, Schinzel deduced this conjecture from his Hypothesis H. The purpose of this paper is to present an unconditional proof of Sierpinski's conjecture. The proof uses many results from sieve theory, in particular the famous theorem of Chen.


Climatologies derived from satellite data (1998 to 2007) were used to elucidate seasonal and latitudinal patterns in winds, sea surface temperature (SST), and chlorophyll concentrations (chl) over the Oregon shelf. These were further used to reveal oceanographic conditions normally associ- ated with harmful algal blooms (HABs) and toxic shellfish events along the Oregon coast. South of 43° N, around Cape Blanco, summer upwelling started earlier and finished later than north of 43° N. Spring blooms occur when light limitation is relieved, before the initiation of upwelling, and sec- ondary, more intense blooms occur approximately 2 wk after upwelling is established. North of 45° N, SST and chl are heavily influenced by the Columbia River plume, which delays upwelling-driven cooling of the surface coastal ocean in spring, and causes phytoplankton blooms (as indicated by increased chl) earlier than expected. The presence of saxitoxin in coastal shellfish, which causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, was generally associated with late summer upwelling. The presence of domoic acid in shellfish, which leads to amnesic shellfish poisoning, was greatest during the transi- tion between upwelling and downwelling regimes. This work demonstrates that satellite data can indicate physical situations when HABs are more likely to occur, thus providing a management tool useful in predicting or monitoring HABs.


Geoengineering is fraught with problems, but research on three approaches could lead to the greatest climate benefits with the smallest chance of unintentional environmental harm. The authors propose a model for thinking about geoengineering based on the concept of restoration, suggesting the term "atmospheric restoration." Under this model geoengineering efforts are prioritized based on three principles: to treat the cause of the disease itself, to reduce the chance of harm, and to prioritize activities with the greatest chance of public acceptance.Based on these principles, the authors propose three forms of geoengineering that could provide the greatest climate benefits with the smallest chance of unintentional harm to the environment. Forest protection and restoration is an opportunity available now. The other two, industrial carbon removal and bioenergy linked to carbon capture and storage, need extensive research to make them effective and to reduce their costs. These options will be cheaper than most forms of geoengineering and will provide many additional benefits, including improved air and water quality, national security, balance of trade, and human health.Our climate is already changing, and we need to explore at least some kinds of carbon-removal technologies, because energy efficiency and renewables cannot take CO2 out of the air once it's there. Some scientists increasingly argue that we need to do research on sunshade technologies as a backup plan if climate change starts to accelerate dangerously. This argument has merit. However, the sooner we invest in and make progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions today and promote ways to restore the atmosphere through carbon-scrubbing technologies in the future, the less likely we are ever to need global sunshades. The principle of atmospheric restoration should guide us in curing climate change outright, not in treating a few of its symptoms.


Postoperative pain scores are widely monitored and collected in the electronic health record, yet current methods fail to fully leverage the data with fast implementation. A robust linear regression was fitted to describe the association between the log-scaled pain score and time from discharge after total knee replacement. The estimated trajectories were used for a subsequent K-medians cluster analysis to categorize the longitudinal pain score patterns into distinct clusters. For each cluster, a mixture regression model estimated the association between pain score and time to discharge adjusting for confounding. The fitted regression model generated the pain trajectory pattern for given cluster. Finally, regression analyses examined the association between pain trajectories and patient outcomes. A total of 3442 surgeries were identified with a median of 22 pain scores at an academic hospital during 2009–2016. Four pain trajectory patterns were identified and one was associated with higher rates of outcomes. In conclusion, we described a novel approach with fast implementation to model patients' pain experience using electronic health records. In the era of big data science, clinical research should be learning from all available data regarding a patient's episode of care instead of focusing on the "average" patient outcomes.


Size constancy is a property of the visual perceptual system that can keep relatively constant the perceived size of an object despite the size of the retinal image. The relationship between size and reaction time (RT) is well known: RT is faster in response to larger than smaller stimuli. The two studies reported here aimed to verify whether this effect depends upon retinal or perceived stimulus size. In Experiment 1, we found that the larger stimuli were responded to faster than the smaller ones even when they were positioned at a different distance so as to subtend the same retinal image. Clearly, this effect can be attributed to size constancy affecting RT. In Experiment 2, the role of size constancy cues was removed by using a pinhole for stimulus viewing. As a consequence, RT depended on stimulus retinal size. In sum, these results demonstrate that simple RT reflects perceived rather than retinal size.


Whereas deoxyrhamnojirimycin (LRJ) 1 shows no significant inhibition of naringinase (an α-L-rhamnosidase), its C-5 epimer2 is a potent and specific inhibitor of the enzyme and demonstrates the value of unambiguous chemical synthesis of such materials in the evaluation of their biological properties. In contrast, moderately weak inhibition towards anα-D-mannosidase is shown by both deoxymannojirimycin (DMJ) 5 and its C-5 epimer 6. Mimics of L-rhamnose which are recognised by enzymes that synthesise or process L-rhamnose may inhibit either the biosynthesis of the sugar or its incorporation into mycobacterial cell walls, providing new strategies for the treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy. Molecular modelling studies provide a rationale for the surprisingly potent activity of the C-5 epimer 2 compared with LRJ1 and support a general hypothesis that potent piperidine glycosidase inhibitors mimic the H3 conformation of the relevant glycopyranosyl cation intermediate. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


A simplified variant of Set-Based Design (SBD) was created and combined with creative methods such as the 6-3-5 method and the gallery method. This made it easy to introduce in one day, which has been verified by tests in industrial firms. In total 45 experienced designers have tested the method on real mechanical design problems. The method was perceived easy to understand and was well received by the designers. The introduction of it was less cumbersome compared to the full version of SBD. The conclusion is that the developed method makes it easier to introduce parts of SBD with good results.


In this note, we propose new receding horizon H/sub /spl infin// control (RHHC) schemes for linear input-constrained discrete time-invariant systems with disturbances. The proposed control schemes are based on the dynamic game problem of a finite-horizon cost function with a fixed finite terminal weighting matrix and a one-horizon cost function with time-varying finite terminal weighting matrices, respectively. We show that the resulting RHHCs guarantee closed-loop stability in the absence of disturbances and H/sub /spl infin// norm bound for 2-norm bounded disturbances. We also show that the proposed schemes can easily be implemented via linear matrix inequality optimization. We illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed schemes through simulations.


Abstract Aims Six Delta is a six-dimensional independent platform for outcome-based pricing/contracting. The fifth dimension (δ5) estimates prices on the basis of the risk of efficacy failure of a drug. We describe this dimension's methodology and present a proof-of-concept application to the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR mutation with osimertinib. Materials and methods The risk of efficacy failure pricing dimension utilizes a seven-step method: (1) defining risk; (2) extracting data; (3) predicting models; (4) performing Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to estimate risk of efficacy failure; 5) estimating ranges for a payback; (6) adjusting for medical inflation; and (7) performing Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) to estimate the DSPRisk of efficacy failure. A proof-of-concept exercise with osimertinib in NSCLC was performed for two hypothetical outcome-based contracts: 1-year (2019–2020) and 2-year (2019–2021). We estimated the risk of efficacy failure for osimertinib in terms of overall and progression-free survival versus standard of care. We used the estimated risk to estimate the price reduction on the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) for the two hypothetical contracts: a 1-year (2019–2020) and 2-year contract (2019–2021). From this we estimated the DSPRisk of efficacy failure. Results Based on the risk of OS and PFS efficacy failure for osimertinib in OS and PFS, in the 1-year contract, the DSPRisk of efficacy failure was estimated at $12,652 (or −13.44% the 2018 WAC) for a 30-day prescription. For the 2-year contract (2019–2021), the DSPRisk of efficacy failure was estimated at $13,019 (or −10.93% the 2018 WAC). Conclusions We demonstrated that pricing methods based on risk of efficacy failure methods can be integrated into our proposed Six Delta platform for outcome-based pricing/contracting.


Abstract Recently, a pathogen has been identified as a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and found to trigger novel pneumonia (COVID-19) in human beings and some other mammals. The uncontrolled release of cytokines is seen from the primary stages of symptoms to last acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Thus, it is necessary to find out safe and effective drugs against this deadly coronavirus as soon as possible. Here, we downloaded the three-dimensional model of NSP10/NSP16 methyltransferase (PDB-ID: 6w6l) and main protease (PDB-ID: 6lu7) of COVID-19. Using these molecular models, we performed virtual screening with our anti-viral, inti-infectious, and anti-protease compounds, which are attractive therapeutics to prevent infection of the COVID-19. We found that top screened compound binds with protein molecules with good dock score with the help of hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding. We observed that protease complexed with Cyclocytidine hydrochloride (anti-viral and anti-cancer), Trifluridine (anti-viral), Adonitol, and Meropenem (anti-bacterial), and Penciclovir (anti-viral) bound with a good docking score ranging from −6.8 to −5.1 (Kcal/mol). Further, NSP10/NSP16 methyltransferase complexed with Telbivudine, Oxytetracycline dihydrate (anti-viral), Methylgallate (anti-malarial), 2-deoxyglucose and Daphnetin (anti-cancer) from the docking score of −7.0 to −5.7 (Kcal/mol). In conclusion, the selected compounds may be used as a novel therapeutic agent to combat this deadly pandemic disease, SARS-CoV-2 infection, but needs further experimental research. Highlights NSP10/NSP16 methyltransferase and main protease complex of SARS CoV-2 bind with selected drugs. NSP10/NSP16 methyltransferase and protease interacted with drugs by hydrophobic interactions. Compounds show good DG binging free energy with protein complexes. Ligands were found to follow the Lipinski rule of five.


We develop a new methodology and tool for knowledge acquisition under uncertainty. A new knowledge representation called Bayesian Knowledge Bases provides a powerful key to our approach and is well-grounded in probability theory. In this paper, we demonstrate the ease and flexibility with which knowledge acquisition can be accomplished while ensuring the consistency of the knowledge base as data is both acquired and subsequently maintained. We present the MACK tool and apply it to NASA's Post-Test Diagnostics System which locates anomalies aboard the Space Shuttles' Main Engines.


Suffident crop residues on soil surfaces are needed for protection from water and wind erosion in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) crop grown in this region lacks sufficient crop residues which leads to severe soil erosion in subsequent crops. The objectives of this study were (i) determine the relationship between physiological and morphological traits that affect biomass and residue production, and (ii) identify suitable selection criteria for increasing biomass and residue production by lentil crops. Thirty nine breeding lines were evaluated at three sites each year from 1993 to 1995. Straw yield in 1993 was correlated with days to flower (r = 0.72 ** ), days to maturity (r = 0,82 ** ), plant height (r = 0.76 ** ), harvest index (r = -0.97 ** ), and seed yield (r = -0.71 ** ). In addition there were significant correlations between straw yield and harvest index (r = -0.48 ** ) in 1995, and between straw yield and seed yield (r = 0.59 ** ) in 1994. The regression coefficient (b) indicated that for each day that flowering and maturity were delayed, there were increases of 214 kg/ha and 734 kg/ha straw yield, respectively. A 1 cm increase in plant height resulted in a 277 kg/ha increase in straw yield. Results indicated that plant height could be used for indirect selection for increased biomass. Seed yield can also be improved by selecting for larger vegetative biomass while keeping harvest index constant.


We present an interactive image enhancement technique to adjust the global color composition of an image by finding and replacing color gradients. We show how color gradient transformations can perform the basic operations of color editing. To recolor an image, the user designates a mapping of source color gradients to corresponding target color gradients. Each color gradient can be represented by a spherical parameterization, consisting of its midpoint color, contrast radius, as well as hue and luminance angles, in order to give the user separate and independent control over color shift, contrast adjustment, and color variation. Color gradients provide not only a flexible way of selecting color features but also a powerful way of manipulating image colors, as each mapping between a source and a target color gradient defines an affine color transformation. To determine the region of influence of each color mapping, perceptual similarity between colors is evaluated by applying Shepard's law of generalization to color differences. Through a feature-based warping approach, our color warping algorithm applies a continuous, nonlinear, volumetric deformation to the color space in order to approximate the requested color mappings. By making interactive color correction easier to control, our technique may prove useful in a variety of color image enhancement tasks in digital photography, video processing, and information visualization.


Abstract This paper reviews current research and literature on the issue of informal payments for health care and its context and suggests a new perspective for a better understanding of this phenomenon. This perspective, based on political culture and behavior and on wider social processes, is already used to explain various phenomena from different fields of public policy. The paper explains the impact of a specific type of political culture, called 'alternative politics' (AP) in the Israeli literature, on healthcare policy and institutional healthcare settings. AP is based on a 'do-it-yourself' approach adopted by citizens to address their dissatisfaction with governmental services. When such a mode of political culture is diffused to all sectors and levels of society, all players, including bureaucrats and politicians, are guided by short-term considerations and apply unilateral strategies that bypass formal rules either through illegal activity or by marginalizing formal rules. Explaining informal payments by analyzing social processes and political culture and behavior has some disadvantages, but it provides us with a better understanding of the phenomenon while covering most of its characteristics and configurations.


Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control diet (7 g/100 g soybean oil) or a conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) diet (6.5 g/100 g soybean oil and 0.5 g/100 g CLA) beginning on d 7 of gestation to determine whether pre- and postnatal CLA affects short- and long-term growth and adiposity. At weaning (d 21), progeny were assigned control or CLA diet and fed until 11 wk of age. At birth, litter size and weight were not different between treatments. There were age- and sex-dependent changes in inguinal adipose fatty acid composition at birth and weaning, whereas there were no differences in lipid accretion or adipocyte proliferation. At weaning, CLA did not alter inguinal adipocyte proliferation but increased (P < 0.01) CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha expression in inguinal adipose tissue from females, whereas there was no difference in expression in males. Significant differences in size distribution of inguinal adipocytes at weaning and retroperitoneal adipocytes at 11 wk of age were observed. In general, CLA increased the proportion of smaller cells and decreased the proportion of larger cells. The main long-term effect of the dams' diet was the significantly heavier gastrocnemius and soleus muscles, and significantly longer tail lengths, an indication of skeletal growth, of male pups whose dams were fed CLA. Postweaning diet reduced fat pad weights in female but not male pups fed CLA. This response was due to differences in cell size rather than number. Response to CLA treatment may depend on the sex and age of the animal as well as duration of feeding.


Introduction: Respiratory function is a critical predictor of survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We aimed to determine if slow vital capacity (SVC) is a predictor of functional loss in ALS as compared to forced vital capacity (FVC). Methods: Consecutive ALS patients in whom respiratory tests were performed at baseline and 6 months later were included. All patients were evaluated with revised ALS functional rating scale (ALSFRS-R) and the respiratory tests, SVC, and FVC. Significant independent variables of functional decay were assessed by univariate Kaplan-Meier log-rank test and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. A monthly decay not exceeding 0.92 in ALSFRS was considered as the time event. Results: We included 232 patients (134 men; mean onset-age 59.1 ± 11.23 years; mean disease duration from first symptoms to first visit: 14.5 ± 12.9 months; 166 spinal and 66 bulbar onset). All variables studied declined significantly between the two evaluations (p < 0.001). FVC and SVC were strongly correlated at study entry (r2 = 0.98, p < 0.001) and FVC and SVC decays between first evaluation and 6 months after were the only significant prognostic variables of functional decay (p < 0.001). Conclusion: FVC and SVC decay are inter-changeable in predicting functional decay in ALS. Pharmacological interventions reducing the decline rate of FVC and SVC can have a positive impact on the global functional impairment, with relevant implications for clinical trials' design and interpretation.


Indigenous Wild edible plants (IWEPs) are consumed daily in some form by at least one in seven people worldwide. Many of them are rich in essential nutrients with the potential for dietary and nutrition improvement particularly for poor households. They are, however, often overlooked. This study investigated diversity, consumption frequency, and perceptions of IWEPs and the contribution they make to the food security of communities in Turkana County, northern Kenya. Our findings are aimed at stimulating targeted discussions among stakeholders involved in food security programs on best way to overcome the poverty stigma associated with IWEPs consumption and to promote their utilization for food security, nutritional and dietary improvement, and enhanced community resilience.Applying a mixed-methods approach, we collected data using 12 gender-disaggregated focus group discussions and a questionnaire applied to a random sample of 360 households.Participants identified 73 IWEPs, of which 24 were consumed in the preceding six months by 48.5% of households. Almost all surveyed households (96%) were classified as severely food insecure, and food insecurity did not differ significantly between households that consumed IWEPs and those that did not. Our results indicate that more IWEPs consumers than non-consumers reported eating foods they had not wanted to consume to cope with food scarcity, as well as having to eat fewer meals than normal. Just over half of the respondents (57.1%) held positive attitudes towards IWEPs, which was positively associated with a higher likelihood of IWEPs consumption. Long distances to harvest sites, lack of knowledge about the plants, their seasonality, and how to cook them appetizingly, coupled with overall unfavorable perceptions, are probable reasons for non-consumption of IWEPs among the survey respondents. In line with other studies cited on wild foods, we conclude that IWEPs have the potential to bridge food and nutritional deficits in food insecure households in the study area, although currently their consumption remains limited. Given this potential, further analysis of IWEPs' nutritional composition and restoration of wild edible foods to local areas should be given priority, as well as interventions that help to overcome the challenges to their consumption and promote their wider use.


The current 4D NCAT phantom includes a flexible, parameterized respiratory model based on respiratory-gated CT data of a normal subject. A limitation of this model is that it is based on only one realization of the normal respiratory motion. The data upon which it was based also had a resolution lower than that offered by more advanced CT scanners and consisted of only four time frames that did not adequately cover normal tidal breathing.We further develop the 4D NCAT to more accurately model normal and abnormal states of respiration. Over two- hundred sets of 4D respiratory gated CT image data from normal and abnormal patients obtained from the Massachusetts General Hospital were used to characterize variations in the respiratory motion. Each dataset contains twenty time frames over the respiratory cycle with the patient breathing normally.With the improved resolution and better coverage of tidal breathing, this data was used to improve the respiratory model of the 4D NCAT phantom. Using automatic and semiautomatic techniques, the different respiratory structures were segmented from each time frame of each CT dataset. The time series of segmented structures were used to characterize the respiratory motion in each case. From an analysis of all normal and abnormal patient datasets, we determined the range of sizes and shapes of the right and left lungs and the range in motion (expansion in the anterior and inferior (diaphragm)directions)in the different lung regions. This analysis was used to further parameterize the general respiratory model of the 4D NCAT to more realistically model normal and abnormal variations in anatomy and in the respiratory motion. With the ability to model variations in the respiratory motion indicative of a patient population, the phantom will be a great resource to investigate the effects of respiratory motion on medical imaging and to develop compensation methods for these effects.


It is often expected that the first women to advance in male-dominated fields will promote other women who follow them. Two studies test the hypothesis that some women show this expected pattern of promoting women but that others show the opposite pattern, favoring men over women. In two studies, women's gender identification moderated the extent to which they favored men over women when they advanced in a male-dominated field. Specifically, the weaker women's gender identification, the more favoritism they showed for a male relative to a female subordinate. Gender identification did not moderate women's behavior in a context in which women were not underrepresented, pointing to the power of the situation in eliciting this relationship. Implications for the advancement of women in male-dominated fields are discussed.


This thesis explores the work of the German-Jewish photographer, Lisel Haas (1898 – 1989). It focuses on a selection of her portrait photographs spanning a period of almost 40 years, from before the Second World War to the early 1970s. Haas's work has not been the focus of any publication to date; this thesis situates her within the fields of photography and exile studies by focusing on the significance of memory and identity. This approach places Haas within emigre photography rather than exile photography. The latter places emphasis on political persecution; this study rather concentrates on the formation of memory and identity of an emigre. The present work has utilised the extensive archival material of the uncatalogued Lisel Haas Collection at the Birmingham City Archives in order to construct a contextual basis for Haas's work. This thesis has been influenced primarily by the work of Annette Kuhn and Marianne Hirsch whose research has developed an understanding of the significance of the relationship between photography and memory, particularly in light of the Holocaust. The study introduces an original approach to Haas's work; it examines the role of photography in memory at the time of the Holocaust, developing a discussion surrounding the creation of memories in family photography before exploring the role of the photograph in the construction of the photographer's identity.


The design of asphalt pavements in china is currently based on the multilayered elastic method, which is analytical in nature and yields stresses, strains, and deflections in the pavement system for a particular loading condition and pavement geometry, which are compared with established failure criteria to determine the performance of the given pavement. This design approaches is deterministic. In this paper, typical asphalt pavement structure reliability analysis was performed in which factors that affect pavement reliability regarded as input random , pavement surface deflection, layers of bottom stress and limit state function regarded as output variables , by reliability tool infinite element analysis, base on Monte Carlo's Latin hypercube sampling method.At last the paper pertinently offered decision basis for improve the reliability of pavement structure and important reference values for drafting and selecting of asphalt pavement design parameters through calculating the reliability of pavement structure, sensitivity analysis of the design parameters is made.


Compressed Sensing (CS) has been considered a very effective means of reducing energy consumption at the energy-constrained wireless body sensor networks for monitoring the multi-lead Electrocardiogram (MECG) signals. This paper develops the compressed sensing theory for sparse modeling and effective multi-channel ECG compression. A basis matrix with Gaussian kernels is proposed to obtain the sparse representation of each channel, which showed the closest similarity to the ECG signals. Thereafter, the greedy orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) method is used to obtain the sparse representation of the signals. After obtaining the sparse representation of each ECG signal, the compressed sensing theory could be used to compress the signals as much as possible. Following the compression, the compressed signal is reconstructed utilizing the greedy orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) optimization technique to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the algorithm. Moreover, as the wavelet basis matrix is another sparsifying basis to sparse representations of ECG signals, the compressed sensing is applied to the ECG signals using the wavelet basis matrix. The simulation results indicated that the proposed algorithm with Gaussian basis matrix reduces the reconstruction error and increases the compression ratio.


Most CPEs should soon be dual stack, but a large installed base of
IPv4-only CPEs is likely to remain for several years. Also, with the
IPv4 address shortage, more and more ISPs will assign private IPv4
addresses to their customers. The need for IPv6 connectivity therefore
concerns hosts behind IPv4-only CPEs, including such CPEs that are
assigned private addresses. The 6a44 mechanism specified in this
document addresses this need, without limitations and operational
complexities of Tunnel Brokers and Teredo to do the same. 6a44 is
based on an address mapping and on a mechanism whereby suitably
upgraded hosts behind a NAT may obtain IPv6 connectivity via a
stateless 6a44 server function operated by their Internet Service
Provider. With it, traffic between two 6a44 hosts in a single site
remains within the site. Except for IANA numbers that remain to be
assigned, the specification is intended to be complete enough for
running codes to be independently written and interwork.


Obtaining the necessary official approval for setting up waste disposal facilities is usually complex and time-consuming. The promoters of such undertakings regard these procedures as a serious obstacle for their investments. Neighbors of such entities, on the other hand, are concerned that their interests are not sufficiently taken care of. This conflict exists in Japan as well as in Germany and poses a specific challenge for the regulatory authorities in both countries which can hardly be dealt with by the traditional regulatory instruments. This is where administrative guidance comes into the picture in the form of seemingly non-binding contacts between the authorities and the promoters well before the official legal approval procedures start. In Germany, administrative theory did not take notice of this specific form of administrative action until the early 1980s. In Japan, however, it has been established as part of Japanese administrative law since Meiji times. Since the 1960s, certain forms of informal administrative action have been summarized under the term gyosei shido, which normally is translated as "administrative guidance." If one looks at the approval proceedings for factories with an impact on the environment in Japan and Germany, one finds in both countries similar informal actions before the official administrative proceedings start. Before filing the complete application with the pertinent authorities, the promoter usually contacts the authorities on an informal level, asking for information and help to guarantee a successful approval proceeding. The parties involved discuss the necessary documentation, legal requirements, and the probable chances of a successful completion of the proceeding. It is then that the basic structural decisions for the proceedings are agreed upon between the authority and the promoter. This informal proceeding helps to speed up and simplify the subsequent official proceedings. Furthermore, it creates the possibility to include or integrate third parties concerned by the project into the approval proceedings. This in turn helps to ease conflicts of interest between the promoters and future neighbors of the planned factory. This kind of compromise was of special relevance in Japan, because until 1997 the official approval proceedings for waste disposal facilities did not grant any right of procedural participation for concerned citizens. Informal administrative proceedings were an integral part of the approval proceedings in both countries, but for a considerable time they were not regulated by law. Thus mistakes happened that were caused by a lack of transparency and equal treatment in the course of administrative action. As a reaction to this, both Japan and Germany took appropriate steps to institutionalize informal proceedings for the sake of reducing inherent legal dangers. Both countries now have specific regulations as part of the approval proceedings for waste disposal facilities. In Japan, the pertinent provision is Art. 15 IV-VI of the Waste Disposal Law and in Germany § 71 c II of the Administrative Procedure Law as well as § 2 Abs. II of the 9 th Ordinance to the Federal Pollution Law. The article discusses the Japanese solution and its development in the context of the administrative approval proceedings for waste disposal facilities. This is followed by an evaluation and then contrasted with the law-based German solution for a comparison of both legal regimes. Finally, the author discusses whether the Japanese insights can be used to improve the pertinent German legal regime. (English translation by the Editors)


In future climate projections there is a notable lack of warming in the North Atlantic subpolar gyre, known as the North Atlantic warming hole (NAWH). In a set of large-ensemble atmospheric simulations with the Community Earth System Model, the NAWH was previously shown to contribute to the projected poleward shift and eastward elongation of the North Atlantic jet. The current study investigates the impact of the warming hole on sensible weather, particularly over Europe, using the same simulations. North Atlantic jet regimes are classified within the model simulations by applying self-organizing maps analysis to winter daily wind speeds on the dynamic tropopause. The NAWH is found to increase the prevalence of jet regimes with stronger and more-poleward-shifted jets. A previously identified transient eddy-mean response to the NAWH that leads to a downstream enhancement of wind speeds is found to be dependent on the jet regime. These localized regime-specific changes vary by latitude and strength, combining to form the broad increase in seasonal-mean wind speeds over Eurasia. Impacts on surface temperature and precipitation within the various North Atlantic jet regimes are also investigated. A large decrease in surface temperature over Eurasia is found to be associated with the NAWH in regimes where air masses are advected eastward over the subpolar gyre prior to reaching Eurasia. Precipitation is found to be locally suppressed over the warming hole region and increased directly downstream. The impact of this downstream response on coastal European precipitation is dependent on the strength of the NAWH.


This paper presents the silicon-proven design of a novel on-chip network to support guaranteed traffic permutation in multiprocessor system-on-chip applications. The proposed network employs a pipelined circuit-switching approach combined with a dynamic path-setup scheme under a multistage network topology. The dynamic path-setup scheme enables runtime path arrangement for arbitrary traffic permutations. The circuit-switching approach offers a guarantee of permuted data and its compact overhead enables the benefit of stacking multiple networks. A 0.13m CMOS test-chip validates the feasibility and efficiency of the proposed design. Experimental results show that the proposed on-chip network achieves 1.9 to 8.2 reduction of silicon overhead compared to other design approaches.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text In light of the rising evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of bone morphogenic protein and its use as an adjunct or an alternative in spinal fusions, a comprehensive examination of its utilization in the American population was performed. Study Design Retrospective. Objective The aim of this study was to explore the utilization trends of recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein (rh-BMP) in the United States using the largest inpatient administrative database. Summary of Background Data Since 2002, the rh-BMP has been widely used by the surgical spine community in fusion surgery. In light of the rising evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of this novel and expensive bone biological technology, a comprehensive examination of its utilization in the American population is warranted. Methods We queried the 2002-Q3 2015 National Inpatient Sample for patients that underwent spinal fusion with rh-BMP. We calculated population-level estimates of rh-BMP utilization trends per 100,000 spinal fusions. Trends were estimated for the overall use as well as broken down by primary versus revision fusion, fusion type, number of levels, age category, US region, and hospital type. Results A total of 5,563,282 fusions were performed, of which 19.9% (n = 1,108,984) utilized rh-BMP. We detected an increase in rh-BMP use in spinal fusion surgery from 0.7% in 2002 to a peak of 29.5% in 2010, followed by a gradual decline till Q3 2015, where it represented 14.7% of all fusion surgeries. These trends paralleled all fusion types. It was most commonly used in fusions spanning two to three levels. The South remained the most common region, whereas West has recently surpassed the Midwest. Its use is becoming more pervasive among older patients, particularly in the 65- to 74 years' age group. Conclusion Further studies are needed to provide insights into the correlation of these trends with the technology's safety and efficacy profile in contemporary series. Level of Evidence: 3


Evidence of ineffective foreign assistance is widespread in Africa. The debate on how aid can be effective and contribute to Africa's development is, however, still ongoing without any clear way forward. This paper adopts a deductive approach to explaining aid and development in Africa. There is a high volume of literature on the impact of foreign aid on development in Africa, yet not many of them recognize all the factors that contribute to aid (in) effectiveness. The focus is often on macro-economic indicators which do not fairly represent the realities of poverty and suffering in many African countries. We offer an analysis of the theories that have been propounded to explain the relationship between aid and (under) development in Africa. In this paper, we critically examine such findings and test their validity against the backdrop that socio-cultural factors have not been given adequate consideration.

 Key words: Aid, development, culture, dependence, poverty, economic growth.


The advent of the discipline of molecular genetics over the past decade has led to a dramatic growth in our understanding of the genetics of a myriad of diseases. Ophthalmology has benefited greatly from this new technology, with significant advances in our knowledge about conditions as varied as aniridia and retinitis pigmentosa.1 2 Our understanding of the genetics of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) may not be as clear as with some other ophthalmic conditions but, nevertheless, there have been great advances since the last review about the genetics of glaucoma published in the BJO in 1980.3 At that time, our knowledge was based on a number of conflicting studies attempting to link human polymorphisms, such as the ability to taste phenyl thiocarbamide, with glaucoma.4 Nowadays, the positions of genes responsible for various forms of glaucoma have been localised, not just to individual chromosomes, but to specific small regions on those chromosomes. Recently, for the first time, a gene responsible for a specific form of POAG has been identified. This review aims to highlight and explain the important recent advances in our understanding of the genetics of POAG.

Primary open angle glaucoma, for the purpose of this review, refers to those cases of glaucoma in which there is not only no evident antecedent or related ocular disease but also the angle of the anterior chamber remains open at all times.5 The possibility of a genetic predisposition to glaucoma was first realised in 1842 when Benedict reported the occurrence of glaucoma in two sisters.6 Despite the intervening 150 years, our understanding of the genetics of POAG remains unclear. Certainly, most POAG pedigrees do not show a simple Mendelian pattern of inheritance. However, relatives of patients with glaucoma do run an increased risk of developing the condition …


MOTIVATION
The association between two blocks of 'omics' data brings challenging issues in computational biology due to their size and complexity. Here, we focus on a class of multivariate statistical methods called partial least square (PLS). Sparse version of PLS (sPLS) operates integration of two datasets while simultaneously selecting the contributing variables. However, these methods do not take into account the important structural or group effects due to the relationship between markers among biological pathways. Hence, considering the predefined groups of markers (e.g. genesets), this could improve the relevance and the efficacy of the PLS approach.

RESULTS
We propose two PLS extensions called group PLS (gPLS) and sparse gPLS (sgPLS). Our algorithm enables to study the relationship between two different types of omics data (e.g. SNP and gene expression) or between an omics dataset and multivariate phenotypes (e.g. cytokine secretion). We demonstrate the good performance of gPLS and sgPLS compared with the sPLS in the context of grouped data. Then, these methods are compared through an HIV therapeutic vaccine trial. Our approaches provide parsimonious models to reveal the relationship between gene abundance and the immunological response to the vaccine.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION
The approach is implemented in a comprehensive R package called sgPLS available on the CRAN.

CONTACT
email@example.com

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


This study explored the level of women participation in leadership identifying some of the challenges thereto in the selected rural district of Sanyati, Zimbabwe. The study sought to address the following aspects: roles of women in Sanyati, sociocultural beliefs with regards to leadership, and the depth of the effects of women's nonparticipation in leadership. The research guided by the role congruity theory was qualitative in nature trying to understand human behavior and experience influenced by sociocultural norms. Research population composed of chiefs, headmen, village heads, elderly women and men, and councilors who had a sound appreciation of the subject. Twenty-seven participants, nine from each of the three wards, were purposively sampled and deemed enough as the research anchored on antipositivism. Data collection was necessitated through the use of in-depth interviews and questionnaires, after which latent content analysis was used to analyze data. The study established that the involvement and interest of women in leadership was low because of illiteracy, culture, and ignorance on the part of the women.


ABSTRACTHospital solid waste incinerator (HSWI) fly ash is an extremely complex mixture because it contains carbon constituents, toxic heavy metals, and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). We investigated the distribution of carbon constituents, PCDD/Fs, and heavy metals in the five different particle size fractions (+106 µm, –106 + 75 µm, –75 + 38 µm, –38 + 25 µm, and –25 µm) of HSWI fly ash. The loss on ignition (LOI) in the particle size fraction of –25 µm was higher than that in the particle size fractions of other sizes. Moreover, 82.63% of the fly ash particles were in the size range of –75 + 25 µm, and this particle size range was suitable for direct flotation treatment. Because powder-activated carbon adsorbed a higher amount of low-chlorinated PCDD/Fs in the gaseous phase, the concentration of each PCDD/F congener, particularly of low-chlorinated PCDD/Fs, generally increased with a decrease in the particle size. The total toxic equivalent (TEQ) of the fraction of –75 µm did not satisfy the landfill site standard (3 ng-TEQ g–1). The highest concentration of Pb, Zn, and Cd was observed in the fraction of –38 + 25 µm rather than in the fraction of –25 µm. The exchangeable speciation of Zn, Pb, and Cd was relatively high in the particle size fraction of –75 µm. The carbonate speciation of Pb and Zn was the highest in the particle size fraction of –38 + 25 µm. The leaching concentrations of Pb and Cd in all particle size fractions exceeded landfill allowable thresholds.


Background: Many governments especially in the Middle East countries have been promoting premarital medical examinations since the first half of the 20th century. However, the prevalence of inherited disorders and consanguinity remains high Objectives: To explore the process of implementation of premarital care programs and highlight the possible barriers and challenges to program effectiveness in the Middle East countries. Recommendations to add momentum to current health care efforts were also outlined. Methods: Relevant works of literature were retrieved from different journals and web pages. The electronic databases were searched using the key. The review included both Arabic and English literature related to the premarital care program. Results: A review of the effectiveness of premarital screening programs in the Middle East countries indicated that the program did not achieve the stated objectives in discouraging at-risk marriages and lowering genetic disease prevalence except in some countries providing prenatal detection and therapeutic abortion. Scarcity of resources, lack of trained health professionals, lax enforcement of PMS laws, and high prevalence of consanguineous marriage were the major barriers to the successful implementation of premarital screening programs in the Middle East. Knowledge about inherited genetic disorders and the outcome of the diseases is low. Screening timing, access to prenatal detection and abortion, religious beliefs, also have a role in the success of the program. Conclusions: Efforts should be directed to policy advocacy and public education strategies. A life cycle approach to prevention, incorporation of school screening, awareness campaigns, reconsideration of therapeutic abortion are likely to improve the effectiveness of such programs in the Middle Eastern region.


Heterotic supergravity with (1+3)–dimensional domain wall configurations and (warped) internal, six dimensional, almost-Kähler manifolds X are studied. Considering on ten dimensional spacetime, nonholonomic distributions with conventional double fibrations, 2+2+...=2+2+3+3, and associated SU(3) structures on internal space, we generalize for real, internal, almost symplectic gravitational structures the constructions with gravitational and gauge instantons of tanh-kink type [1, 2]. They include the first α corrections to the heterotic supergravity action, parameterized in a form to imply nonholonomic deformations of the Yang-Mills sector and corresponding Bianchi identities. We show how it is possible to construct a variety of solutions, depending on the type of nonholonomic distributions and deformations of 'prime' instanton configurations characterized by two real supercharges. This corresponds to N = 1/2 supersymmetric, nonholonomic manifolds from the four dimensional point of view. Our method provides a unified description of embedding nonholonomically deformed tanh-kink-type instantons into half-BPS solutions of heterotic supergravity. This allows us to elaborate new geometric methods of constructing exact solutions of motion equations, with first order α corrections to the heterotic supergravity. Such a formalism is applied for general and/or warped almost-Kähler configurations, which allows us to generate nontrivial (1+3)-d domain walls. This formalism is utilized in our associated publication [3] in order to construct and study generic off-diagonal nonholonomic deformations of the Kerr metric, encoding contributions from heterotic supergravity.


This study describes an experimental investigation of the thermal efficiency of stainless steel mesh and steel wool as a porous medium in the lower channel of a double pass solar air heater. An experimental setup was planned and developed. Various types of porous media with high thermal conductivity and with different porosities have been tested. The effects of the porosity of wire mesh, the thermal conductivity of porous media, mass flow rate, and the intensity of radiation have been studied. Experimental results show that thermal efficiency with using porous media is greater than without using porous media. When used steel wool as a porous medium, the thermal efficiency reached 79.82 percent while it can be achieved 76.  The percent by using stainless mesh as porous material. The reduction in porosity increasing thermal efficiency. The thermal efficiency of multi-pass solar air collector when used steel wool as porous media is 6, 12.6 and31.7percent higher than without porous media at porosity 98.75, 97.5, and 96.25percent. While it can increase 8.1 and 28.5 percent at porosity 97.875 and 95.75 percent when using stainless steel as porous media.


This paper presents an in-situ storage topology for ultra-high-speed burst mode imagers, enabling low noise operation while keeping a high frame depth. The proposed pixel architecture contains a 4T pinned photodiode, a correlated double sampling (CDS) amplification stage, and an in-situ memory bank. Focusing on the sampling noise, the system level trade-off of the proposed pixel architecture is discussed, showing its advantages on the noise, power, and scaling capability. Integrated with an AC coupling CDS stage, the amplification is obtained by exploiting the strong capacitance to the voltage relation of a single NMOS transistor. A comprehensive noise model is developed for optimizing the trade-off between the area and noise. As a proof-of-concept, a prototype imager with a 30 µm pixel pitch was fabricated in a CMOS 130 nm technology. A 108-cell memory bank is implemented allowing dense layout and parallel readout. Two types of CDS amplification stages were investigated. Despite the limited memory capacitance of 10 fF/cell, the photon transfer curves of both pixel types were measured over different operation speeds up to 20 Mfps showing a noise performance of 8.4 e−.


Abstract To improve understanding of relationships between crop diversity, weed management practices, and weed population dynamics, we used data from a field experiment and matrix models to examine how contrasting crop rotations affect velvetleaf. We compared a 2-yr rotation system (corn–soybean) managed with conventional rates of herbicides with a 4-yr rotation (corn–soybean–triticale + alfalfa–alfalfa) that received 82% less herbicide. In November 2002, a pulse of velvetleaf seeds (500 seeds m−2) was added to 7- by 7-m areas within replicate plots of each crop phase–rotation system combination. Velvetleaf seed, seedling, and reproductive adult population densities, seed production, and seed losses to predators were measured during the next year. Velvetleaf seed production was greater in the 4-yr rotation than in the 2-yr rotation (460 vs. 16 seeds m−2). Averaged over 12 sampling periods from late May to mid-November 2003, loss of velvetleaf seeds to predators also was greater in the 4-yr rotation than in the 2-yr rotation (32 vs. 17% per 2 d). Modeling analyses indicated that velvetleaf density in the 4-yr rotation should decline if cumulative losses of seeds produced in the soybean phase exceeded 40%. Achieving such a level of predation appears possible, given the observed rates of velvetleaf seed predation. In addition, no tillage occurs in the 4-yr rotation for 26 mo after soybean harvest, thus favoring seed exposure on the soil surface to predators. Models that included estimates of seed predation indicated that to prevent increases in velvetleaf density, weed control efficacy in soybean must be ≥ 93% in the 2-yr rotation, but could drop to 86% in the 4-yr rotation. These results support the hypothesis that diverse rotations that exploit multiple stress and mortality factors, including weed seed predation, can contribute to effective weed suppression with less reliance on herbicides. Nomenclature: Velvetleaf, Abutilon theophrasti Medicus ABUTH; alfalfa, Medicago sativa L.; corn, Zea mays L.; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr.; triticale, Triticosecale spp.


Transforming Ethnomusicology aims to deepen and broaden the dialogue about social engagement within the discipline of ethnomusicology. It draws upon a very wide array of perspectives that stem from different ethnocultural contexts, philosophical histories, and cultural situations. Volume I begins with overviews of ethical praxis and collaboration in different countries and institutions. Some of the following studies reflect on the challenges that ethnomusicologists have faced and the strategies they have adopted when working in situations as diverse and challenging as the courtrooms of America, the refugee camps of Kenya, the post-earthquake urban context of Haiti, and war-torn South Sudan. Other studies reflect on community activism and the complexities of sustaining and reviving cultural traditions. The final chapter offers a new perspective on disciplinary practice and methodology by examining the power relations implicit in ethnography and the potential of shifting our position to "witnessing." Volume II focuses on social and ecological issues and includes Indigenous perspectives from America, Australia, and South Africa. The volume as a whole recognizes the interlinking of colonial and environmental damage as institutions that failed to respect the land and its peoples. As in Chapter 1, the authors deal with the challenging circumstances of the present day where historical practices and modern neoliberal institutions threaten the creation and sustaining of musical knowledge, the memory of the land (both urban and rural), and the dignity of human life. As in Volume I, the second volume ends with a model for change, a radical rethinking of the structure of knowledge already underway in Brazil.


As the standard especially for the storage and transmission of medical images, the standard of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is popular to the people of the world. And as a result, almost all the outputs of the computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and ultrasonography (US) are saved as DICOM format. However, the DICOM format files can be opened by the original programs of windows OS, which is not convenient with the further research in image processing. The paper mainly does some research in the conversion from DICOM format files into general image/ media files. The procedure is to convert DICOM format files into bitmaps and then convert the bitmaps into other general image/ media files. The images then can be viewed directly by the original programs of Windows OS, which will facilitate the further researches on image process. The DICOM format files can be displayed while being converted; the images displayed can also be done with some further operations, such as the process of lightness and contrast gradient of image, image filtering and segmentation.


Background:
Targeted multi-professional services are necessary worldwide for best care of children with complex needs. 15% of UK children under five have a complex long-term condition (Brooks 2013). Nursing and health visiting contributions are associated with better outcomes, however there is ongoing need for access to postregistration education (Cowley et al 2013). A 3 hour interactive multi-professional workshop for health visitors was developed and delivered in a community setting in the North of England.

Aims:
Drawing on a realist approach (Pawson and Tilley, 1997) this study explored contextual factors, mechanisms at play and short to medium term outcomes.

Methods:
Data collection (documentary, observation, interview, questionnaire) was undertaken at multiple points between June 2014 and May 2015. To identify, unpick and track context, mechanism and outcome configurations, analysis was iterative drawing on notions of constant comparison. Data workshops facilitated discussion, debate, challenge and agreement of findings. 17 Health Visitors participated (80%).

Findings:
Several temporally located contextual factors, mechanisms and outcomes emerged. A conceptual map will be presented and discussed. The development of 'emotional safety for learning' was important and involved mechanisms of reciprocity, interactivity and relevance. Short term outcomes included network development, informative learning and increased confidence. Medium term practice outcomes including accessing support and early referral were linked directly to workshop attendance. While the workshops positioned health visitors as learners and others as facilitators, the unanticipated question 'who actually was the learner' emerged to challenge underlying assumptions.

Conclusion:
The structure, context and facilitation of the workshops engendered various facilitatory and inhibitory mechanisms leading to a range of outcomes including practice changes. Learning can be taken from the workshop format and facilitation which may be transferable across contexts and continents.