To assess ongoing changes in high latitude vegetation productivity we compared spatiotemporal patterns in remotely sensed vegetation productivity in the tundra and boreal zones of North America and Eurasia. We compared the long-term GIMMS (Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies) NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) to the more recent and advanced MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) NDVI data set, and mapped circumpolar trends in a gross productivity metric derived from the former. We then analyzed how temporal changes in productivity differed along an evergreen–deciduous gradient in boreal Alaska, along a shrub cover gradient in Arctic Alaska, and during succession after fire in boreal North America and northern Eurasia. We find that the earlier reported contrast between trends of increasing tundra and decreasing boreal forest productivity has amplified in recent years, particularly in North America. Decreases in boreal forest productivity are most prominent in areas of denser tree cover and, particularly in Alaska, evergreen forest stands. On the North Slope of Alaska, however, increases in tundra productivity do not appear restricted to areas of higher shrub cover, which suggests enhanced productivity across functional vegetation types. Differences in the recovery of post-disturbance vegetation productivity between North America and Eurasia are described using burn chronosequences, and the potential factors driving regional differences are discussed.


There is no theory which has received a big interest historically as Aristotelian syllogistic, despite the criticisms to which the theory was exposed by philosophers and logicians like Francis Bacon and Jean Stuart mill in their philosophical and logical works, they considered it as an epistemological obstacle to the development of scientific knowledge, and there is a need to get over it to new method and process, but It is still an interesting subject of study and updated by many logicians to nowadays. The most prominent attempts: the Intentional approach opposite to the comprehensive one, then the approach of the logician and philosopher Ian Łukasiewicz, who tried to read the syllogistic theory with the use of accurate and rigorous analysis tool in classical logic, which is the calculi of propositions where he considered the real form of Aristotelian syllogism moods is conditional (If ... so), i.e., as computable logical laws not inferential rules (If ... then). In order to reach this purpose Łukasiewicz present his hypotheses, some of them are verified for the others he have had to make several interpretations to make his theory consistent. These interpretations took him away from the spirit of the theory and from the essence of what did Aristotle. This made his approach the subject of numerous and harsh criticisms. This is what we will try to show it through a critical analysis to some hypotheses which he presented in his book "Aristotle's Syllogistic from the standpoint of Modern Formal Logic".


Iran's decision to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) is now 14 years old, among the longest cases in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and WTO history. Given the fact that negotiations have not yet started, it may be the longest accession process when Iran finally joins the Organization. This paper attempts to shed some light on the procedural and substantive aspects of the case. A brief account of the WTO accession procedures and a quick glance on the history of the Iran's application provides solid background for the more analytical parts of the paper. It will be shown how unnecessary application of "consensus rule" to the purely procedural stage of accession (establishment of the working party) cost Iran 9 years. Iran could have become full member during the same period in a less demanding negotiating context. The paper will also look briefly into the political environment surrounding Iran's application for membership. The paper also presents a critical outlook on the negotiations for accession and the accession outcomes. It criticizes WTO-plus commitments/WTO-minus rights paradigm which now prevails over the accession negotiations and argues that this paradigm contradicts the contractual nature of the WTO Agreement. It emphasizes that an acceding country should have a clear picture about rights and obligations of the membership. That should be the WTO Agreement as it is. The balance of rights and obligations (terms of contract) should not be changed in the course of negotiations. This paper also intends to serve as a basis for further research and discussion over an important and challenging area of Iran's trade and foreign policy.


The scattering theory can be used as a powerful theoretic approach to understand and process seismic data. Exploring inverse scattering series, which have been used to remove multiples from seismic data, depends on understanding how these series generate primaries and multiples. We are engaged in a study of time lapse seismic problem in the context of scattering theory. To begin this project, we here review the key theoretical antecedent of our near term project, the work of Matson (1996). Analytical calculation of the Born series shows that the higher order terms in the series alter the amplitude and adjust the velocity of the scattered wavefield as well as describe internal multiple reflections. Primary reflections are described by all of the terms in the series whereas a multiple which contains n reflections is described by then th and all higher order terms.


We developed an efficient method of isothermally amplifying DNA termed ICAN, Isothermal and Chimeric primer-initiated Amplification of Nucleic acids. This method allows the amplification of target DNA under isothermal conditions at around 55 degrees C using only a pair of 5'-DNA-RNA-3' chimeric primers, a thermostable RNaseH and a DNA polymerase with strong strand-displacing activity. ICAN is capable of amplifying DNA at least several times greater than the amount produced with PCR by increasing primer concentration. This method would be applicable for on-site DNA detection including gene diagnosis, and would also be suitable for 'real time' detection when combined with a cycling probe.


Since early civilization, herbal tea has been used as remedies for an abundance of different diseases. Among these herbal remedies, peppermint (Mentha piperita) was used for its effect on bowel related ailments. Even though peppermint was not described until late 17th century, it has been used since 1000 years before Christ by the Egyptians. In present day it is still considered a remedy for stomach pain etcetera, and much of the recent research is concentrated on the positive effects of peppermint on pain and bowel diseases. A large section of the research is also reviewing positive effects of peppermint on cancer, allergy and also on its potential as antibacterial agent. The substances that are known to have a possible effect on these diseases are polyphenols, which acts as antioxidants. Examples of such polyphenols are luteoline and other flavanoids. Luteoline seems to protect against the formation of tumors by inhibiting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. It also seems to lower the amount of histamine that is released from mast cells, which reduce the amount of allergic inconveniences. The main volatile components in peppermint, menthol and menthone, also seem to participate to some of the positive properties of peppermint. Menthol and menthone acts as analgesics by influencing the calcium channels in muscle tissue. Even though a lot of experiments have been performed, the number of human studies and clinical studies are limited. Such studies are required to enable a definitive conclusion to be drawn about peppermints health effects. Peppermint seems to have a lot of positive effects, but caution should always be made before conducting any remedies. Herbal remedies can have negative effects if the remedy is prolonged or is carried out in combination with medicines


Fail-soft systems with reconfigurable devices, which recover themselves by repeating isolation of faulty portions with graceful degradation, have been proposed [14]. In this paper, we proposed a fail-soft system on an FPGA and discuss the performance and availability of the system. The proposed system can infer the type of faults from obtained errors, and then adaptively reconfigure itself autonomously, so that it can achieve high availability while keeping high performance. Case studies show that the proposed system can achieve high availability with high performance by avoiding excessive recovery.


Diffuse pollution problems involve numerous different organizations and this requires decision makers to involve different actors if they want to develop policies that have a chance of being implemented effectively. A first step in such interactive policy development would be to gain an overview of the different actors involved in diffuse pollution problems, as well as their views on the problem, their interests and their means to influence policy development and implementation. Dynamic Actor Network Analysis (DANA) offers a method that helps analysts in providing such an overview, and the use of this method is explored through its application to a case in the Dutch province of North Holland. The described case specifically focuses on the use of herbicides in public space and involves actors from regional water management authorities, municipalities and private sector users. An important finding is that there is an imbalance in the perceptions of actors that needs to be addressed by water management authorities. The paper concludes that DANA is a promising tool for offering new and useful insights to decision makers, although more practical experience is needed to better assess the utility of this analysis tool.


Abstract This study showed the effective microanalytic methods for detection of saikosaponin by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using anti-saikosaponin a (SSa) monoclonal antibody (MAb). The results showed that the competitive ELISA had higher sensitivity than high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the detection of saikosaponin. ELISA showed a highly significant difference in SSa concentrations between the roots of Bupleurum falcatum with different origins. In addition, a difference in SSa concentrations was observed between cytologically different cultivars originating from Japan (2n = 26) and Korea (2n = 20). It also showed excellent performance in quantitative analysis of SSa in the small samples from regenerated plantlets and calli. In addition, Eastern blotting using anti-SSa MAb 3G10 multispecific to saikosaponins was applied to analyze the distribution of saikosaponins in Bupleurum falcatum roots and leaves. The localized distribution of saikosaponins in whole leaves and cork layer of the roots in B. falcatum was successfully demonstrated by this novel immunoassay.


Biomass is defined as the total mass of living plant matter in a given unit of an environment area.  Several factors influence the change in biomass content of an area. The rate of change varies from mass seasonal drying of grasslands to gradual degradation of forestry area.  It is in the interest of environmental monitoring and sustainable development that biomass change be constantly determined. There are various field methods used worldwide to determine density of forest resources but have several limitations because of the nature of factors influencing biomass change.  These include seasonal changes, human activities, forest fires etc.  Remote Sensing as an enabling technology provides an efficient avenue of assessment of biomass content of any area.  This research focused on biomass content that constituted forest resources. Two main methods used were qualitative analysis involving visual image interpretation relying on knowledge of spectral reflectance characteristics of ground cover types and quantitative analysis involving use of mathematical capacity of the computer to extract information on pixel digital number The techniques employed in these methods were complementary and were combined in a systematic manner to optimize the potential of remotely sensed data in biomass change. Comparison of two methods information, revealed that biomass content obtained from the remotely sensed data from the two study areas were almost identical. Extra ancillary data like population information and detailed land use data, can be integrated into GIS together with results from remote sensing analysis to enhance the decision making process. Keywords: Biomass, Forest, Image, Interpretation, Qualitative, Quantitative


This study investigates the relationship between capital investment in telecommunications infrastructure (TELCOM) and tourist arrivals in developing countries. Additionally, it examines whether the public–private sectors relationship moderates the effect of TELCOM on inbound tourism. The model is empirically tested for 46 developing countries for the years 2005–2019. Applying system generalized method of moments and dynamic fixed-effects estimators, the results show there is a positive and significant relationship between TELCOM and tourist arrivals. We also find that a stronger relationship between the public and private sectors magnifies the positive effect of TELCOM on inbound tourism. The moderating effect of quality of regulations on TELCOM-tourism nexus is a novel finding, highlighting the important role of governments in creating and implementing sound policies and regulations that permit and promote private sector development.


Based on a hierarchical computer-aided design model, the complexity of regular integrated circuit (IC) layout is simulated by a compactness ratio approach. Using a first-order approximation and regular array models, the general expression of the compactness ratio is derived and depicted graphically. The compactness ratio varied with the line width and spacing of the submodules within a circuit and thus can be applied to essentially any IC technology. Sample MOS design results further verify that the compactness ratio and module area are inversely proportional to the number of design levels in the design hierarchy. >


Our approach to present time and the theoretical and methodological contribution of a historical sociolinguistic theory is resolved on a first proposal, from the empirical sociolinguistic research on the theory of linguistic change in progress. An empirical sociolinguistic theory of change is the most adequate for a historical reconstruction, in that it leads to hypotheses more easily confirmed or refuted. In the recent past, the linguist has assumed, due to unquestionable methodological priority, the greatest degree of abstraction in his analysis of the grammatical descriptions of the successive states of a language (and of a family of languages), in order to obtain the evolution and the internal (and comparative) reconstruction of the sequence of grammars. From this point of view, he has achieved a regular and systematic analysis of the results of linguistic change. The present dilemma lies in the functional character of such an idealization, for it excludes the development of historical change, and requires different data and a different methodology for the investigation of the real process of change. The delimitation between the level of research and the level of the researched reality allows us to assume an abstract model that completes and reviews previous formulations, through the «heterogeneization» of the homogeneity. In particular, a historical sociolinguistics involves the following dimensions: a) The temporal (apparent), geographical, social and functional synchronic variability is the direct translation of linguistic change in progress, and the details of any evolution can only be studied fruitfully in the overall context of the speech community; b) The speaker is basically multilectal, for his sociolinguistic competence reaches far beyond his own lect (having a larger receptive than productive control), and he constantly revises the grammar throughout his life; c) A multilectal or polylectal grammar is based on an implicational scale of the rule systems of any speech community that is not unequivocally bilingual, i.e. where there is a speech-continuum with no clearly-defined break; d) (Synchronic) multilectal grammar, based on the sociolinguistic foundations of multilingualism and multilectism, is the most adequate theory for historical linguistics; e) The hypothesis of the regularity of linguistic change must be related to the principle of transition and embedding of linguistic change in progress. The question of the transition supposes a constant and regular revision of the multilectal grammar of successive generations of speakers, from the shifts of a passive competence to an active one. The phenomenon of embedding explains that it affects neither uniformly all the implicated forms nor simultaneously all the (sub)groups of speakers; f) Multilectism is the last general and historical principle of linguistic change, since speech is a technically open form of social behaviour. Social interaction is the tool of that principle; g) The systematic covariation of linguistic data and social factors through the probabilistic treatment of a quantitative paradigm, constitutes descriptively the main key to a correct understanding and explanation of the historical process of linguistic change, and h) Multilectal and historical studies involve a general sociolinguistic or interdisciplinary treatment, and assume special contributions by pragmatics and psycholinguistics.


An international team of researchers is about to launch a project that could help answer whether the mighty photosynthetic engine of the Amazon rainforest will consume enough atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) to slow global warming. Called AmazonFACE (Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment), it's based on a simple idea: For 12 years, researchers will spray pure CO2 into instrumented plots in the rainforest northwest of Manaus, Brazil, raising ambient concentrations to 600 parts per million—a level the world could reach as early as 2050—all the while taking meticulous measurements to determine how the gas affects the growth of plants. That's a key question because through photosynthesis, land plants currently take up about a quarter of the CO2 humans add to the atmosphere each year, sequestering it as wood and as soil carbon. This natural uptake slows the buildup of CO2 in the air, moderating global warming. FACE experiments have been conducted at dozens of sites in more than a dozen countries, but never before in the Amazon. Researchers must surmount a host of logistical challenges both before and after construction starts next year.


Cyber risks are some of the most dangerous risks of the twenty-first century. Many types of businesses, including retail stores, healthcare entities and financial institutions, as well as government entities, are the targets of cyber attacks. The simple reality is that no computer security system is completely safe. They all can be breached if the hackers are skilled enough and determined. Consequently, the worldwide damages caused by cyber attacks are predicted to reach $10.5 trillion by 2025. Insuring such risks is a monumental task.

The cyber insurance market currently is fragmented with hundreds of insurers selling their own cyber risk insurance policies that cover different types of cyber risks. This means the purchasers of cyber insurance must be experts in both insurance and cyber security in order to make a knowledgeable purchase. And, even knowledgeable purchasers of cyber insurance can only obtain limited coverage for cyber risks. This is because the insurance is sold on a named peril, as opposed to all-risk, basis and the policies contain numerous exclusions. Cyber policies also have relatively low policy limits in comparison to other lines of insurance and the enormity of the risks presented.

This Article explores ways the cyber insurance market could be improved. In doing so, it analyzes the current cyber insurance market, including the history of cyber insurance and the challenges that insuring cyber risks present. The Article then offers five different approaches to insuring cyber risks moving forward that address many of the problems with the current cyber insurance market. Ultimately, the article concludes the fifth approach, the novel "all-risk private-public" approach, would be the best one.


Being the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorder, the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains as major challenge for the biomedical community due to its unclear pathophysiology, the lack of effective therapeutic options, and its negative impact on a sufferer's quality of life. Not yet identified as a cause or a consequence, abnormal intestinal permeability characterises chronic inflammatory disorders such as coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis or diabetes, in which this phenomenon has been connected to the disappearance of key structural proteins of the intestinal epithelial barrier.1 Oddly enough, although altered intestinal permeability has also been reported in patients with IBS, and the grade of barrier defect related to the onset of symptoms,2 the mechanism responsible and the mediators are ignored. It is therefore of great importance to perform studies to unravel the underlying events, and ultimately design and develop improved diagnostic and therapeutic tools. In this respect, the study by Piche and colleague3 in this issue of Gut ( see page 195 ) represents a significant contribution to this endeavour.

IBS is still quoted as an archetype for functional digestive disorders. The truth is that this time-honoured truism should be revised based on mounting evidence for a low-grade inflammatory process as a plausible contributor to IBS manifestations, at least in some subtypes.4 Mucosal inflammation has been described throughout the gut, from the jejunum to the rectum, and includes the proliferation of various lamina propria immune cells, mostly CD3+/CD8+/CD25+ lymphocytes, tryptase/CD117+ mast cells, and endocrine cells.5 This cellular infiltrate is commonly paralleled by the subtle increase of para-inflammatory molecules or their genes (interleukin 1β (IL1β), tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), IL6, IL6r, transforming growth factor β (TGFβ), IL10, tryptase) in the mucosa, luminal content and peripheral circulation as well.6 7 Whether …


The focus of this paper is on the strengths and weaknesses of two holistic psychotherapies, Gestalt therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), specifically with regards to mental health and therapeutic change. The purpose of this presentation and exploration is to argue for the integration of the two approaches, suggesting that the strengths of each approach can address the respective drawbacks of the other. The review of published literature guides both the presentation of basic philosophy and theory of each approach and provides the foundation for further discussion as to how the approaches parallel, differ from, and may be integrated into each other. Despite particular 'differences in emphasis and treatment perspective, the two approaches have distinct similarities, which allow for integration to be explored. The behavioral orientation of ACT is argued to provide a framework to support Gestalt therapists in empirical and managed care domains, while the phenomenological perspective of Gestalt therapy is argued to be the factor that will allow ACT' clinicians to fully utilize the humanistic elements in their therapy.


Discussion of "daddies" has exploded in popular discourse, yet there is little sociological research on age-heterogenous partnerships. This paper uses data from the 2013 Midlife in the United States survey and the 2015–2016 National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to examine age-heterogenous partnerships at older ages (63 was the approximate average age of each sample). On most measures of life satisfaction and relationship well-being, individuals in age-heterogenous partnerships—regardless of age or gender—were not very different from their counterparts in age-homogenous relationships. Some differences did emerge, however, especially related to sexual well-being. Women partnered to older men had less sex and more issues related to sexual satisfaction than their counterparts in age-homogenous relationships. Latent class analyses suggest that these differences were driven by around 40 percent of younger women partnered to older men, a minority of whom were deeply dissatisfied. This research helps address the underrepresentation of sexuality research at older ages and the sociological research gap about age-heterogenous partnerships.


Nanoparticles delivering therapeutic genes have promising applications in cancer treatments. Here, we used biodegradable heparin–polyethyleneimine (HPEI) nanoparticles to co-deliver two genes (vesicular stomatitis virus matrix protein, VSVMP; interleukin-12, IL12) for cancer therapy. These HPEI nanoparticles can bind the plasmid expressing VSVMP (pVSVMP) and the plasmid expressing IL12 (pIL12) through electrostatic interactions, and mediate the simultaneous expression of VSVMP and IL12 in colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. After intraperitoneal administration, the HPEI/pIL12 + pVSVMP complexes efficiently inhibit the growth of intraperitoneal metastasis of C-26 colon cancer, showing synergistic anticancer efficacy, without obvious systemic adverse effects. While VSVMP induces apoptosis, VSVMP and IL12 synergistically generate an anticancer immune response, which renders the potent anticancer effect of HPEI/pIL12 + pVSVMP. Our data suggest that VSVMP and IL12 could synergistically inhibit cancer survival in vivo, and the HPEI nanoparticle co-delivered VSVMP and IL12 might have potential application in treating intraperitoneal metastasis of colon cancer.


Endopleura uchi is a typical Amazonian tree and its bark is popularly employed in the preparation of teas against myomas, arthritis, influenza, diarrhea and cancer. In this study, the antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial activity of five different extracts of the bark, selected by their total tannin content, were assessed. The potential antioxidant activity of the extracts was determined by 2.2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay and the values found were very similar among the extracts and to the standards antioxidants used in the tests. Cytotoxicity analysis in mammalian cells indicated that all the tested extracts exhibited IC50 values higher than the highest concentration used, showing that they do not present a risk when consumed under these conditions. Extract tested against five bacterial strains and one yeast strain did not show satisfactory growth inhibitory activity, and even the extracts that showed some antimicrobial activity were not effective at any dilution to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration. The results may serve as a reference for subsequent works, since such reference values described in the literature for the bark of E. uchi.


The relationship of the cholinergic system of the brain to memory and cognitive functions was studied in human subjects by the use of scopolamine, methscopolamine bromide, and physostigmine. A battery of tests evaluated immediate memory span, memory storage (acquisition), and retrieval, as well as nonmemory cognitive ability. Subjects receiving scopolamine showed impairment of memory storage and possibly retrieval despite normal immediate memory span; nonmemory cognitive functions were also impaired. Neither methscopolamine (a peripherally acting scopolamine analogue) nor physostigmine (a centrally acting anticholinesterase agent) produced any significant changes in memory or other cognitive functions. Comparisons of the memory and cognitive deficits induced by scopolamine with the performance of aged subjects revealed a marked similarity of pattern. The possible theoretical explanations for the behavioral similarity seen with central cholinergic blockade and normal aging are discussed.


The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many facets of life. The rising usage of the internet, particularly social media platforms, is one of them. Individuals who use the internet more frequently may develop an internet addiction. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between stress and internet addiction in college students. This study utilized a survey-based correlational quantitative approach. The sample consisted of 81 students from the State University of Malang. The instruments utilized in this study were the Perceived Stress Scale-10 modified for COVID-19 to measure stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Internet Addiction Test to measure internet addiction. Data were analyzed using product moment correlation techniques. The study's findings revealed a substantial positive relationship between stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and internet addiction in college students (r = 0.333; p = 0.002). This implies that the higher the stress level related to the COVID-19 pandemic experienced by an individual, the higher the tendency for internet addiction.
Keywords: stress, internet addiction, COVID-19 pandemic, college students


The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly funded vouchers to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250% of the poverty line, allowing them to enroll in participating private schools. Initially established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP was expanded statewide in 2012. This article examines the experimental effects of using an LSP scholarship to enroll in one's first-choice private school on student achievement in the first 2 years following the program's expansion. Our results indicate that the use of an LSP scholarship has negatively affected both English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics achievement. We observe less negative effect estimates in the second year of the program, with the impacts on ELA only on the margin of statistical significance.


ABSTRACT This essay examines how, under the conditions that religion has been appropriated to serve political purposes in modern China, the Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden makes use of the Buddhist mode of thought to reflect upon the complex situations his community is facing in order to seek a way of life that has been alienated by many forms of control and infringement. While modernity's impacts are subtly examined and Tibetan traditions are critically reviewed, the reflexivity in Pema Tseden's movies also breaks down the false dichotomies that have been conventionally upheld. Their aesthetic and political productivity precisely lies in the tension between the subjective intervention of telling stories and the muteness of banal realities in Tibet overwhelmed by numerous stereotypical representations.


social problem, by Professor MacFarlane and Dr Biggs, suggests ideas for future organization and includes the role of the Haemophilia Society. A team as devoted as the Oxford team could be forgiven if at times they were to regard their particular interest as of paramount importance; but this is not the theme here it is the necessity of attention to detail so as to have the accurate laboratory information necessary to apply the best treatment at all times. The summing up of their experience over many years is supported by the actual evidence from the appropriate case records. Not only is this book a necessity for all hmmatologists but it is one which should be read by every physician, surgeon or dentist involved in the care of haemophilic patients. One may not agree with every detail, but there is no doubt that the advice given is always sound.


A radiocarbon-dated sediment core from Powers Fort Swale, located in the Western Lowlands of southeastern Missouri, provides sedimentological and palynological evidence for dynamic changes in fluvial regime and vegetation in the Central Mississippi Alluvial Valley during the late Pleistocene and Holocene intervals. During the late Wisconsinan glacial maximum, glacial meltwater carried by the Mississippi River maintained active braided streams. Sand grains in full-glacial and late-glacial sediments of Powers Fort Swale show evidence of reworking by eolian activity, with late Pleistocene formation of sand dunes continuing until 11,600 yr B.P. within the Western Lowlands. The sedimentological sequence indicates a progressive, stepwise loss of glacial meltwater and coarse sediment supply during the late-glacial interval, resulting in abandonment of braided-stream terraces. The initial, partial diversion of Mississippi River flow occurred in the late-glacial interval, possibly as early as 16,300 yr B.P., as the Mississippi River shifted from the Western Lowlands through the Bell City-Oran Gap in Crowleys Ridge and into the Eastern Lowlands. By 14,500 yr B.P., the complete diversion of meltwater through this gap coincided with a change in the Powers Fort sediment core from a spruce-dominated to an oak-dominated pollen assemblage. At 11,500 yr B.P., sedimentological changes reflected a changeover to a meandering river regime. The transition to pollen assemblages characteristic of Holocene temperate swamp forest occurred at 9500 yr B.P.


In eukaryotic cells, the biogenesis of spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoproteins (snRNPs) and likely other RNPs is mediated by an assemblyosome, the survival of motor neurons (SMN) complex. The SMN complex, composed of SMN and the Gemins (2-7), binds to the Sm proteins and to snRNAs and constructs the heptameric rings, the common cores of Sm proteins, on the Sm site (AU(56)G) of the snRNAs. We have determined the specific sequence and structural features of snRNAs for binding to the SMN complex and Sm core assembly. The minimal SMN complex-binding domain in snRNAs (except U1) is composed of an Sm site and a closely adjacent 3'stem-loop. Remarkably, the specific sequence of the stemloop is not important for SMN complex binding, but it must be located within a short distance of the 3'end of the RNA for an Sm core to assemble. This minimal snRNA-defining "snRNP code" is recognized by the SMN complex, which binds to it directly and with high affinity and assembles the Sm core. The recognition of the snRNAs is provided by Gemin5, a component of the SMN complex that directly binds the snRNP code. Gemin5 is a novel RNA-binding protein that is critical for snRNP biogenesis. Thus, the SMN complex is the identifier, as well as assembler, of the abundant class of snRNAs in cells. The function of the SMN complex, previously unanticipated because RNP biogenesis was believed to occur by self-assembly, confers stringent specificity on otherwise potentially illicit RNA-protein interactions.


Big data generated by remote sensing, ground-based measurements, models and simulations, social media and crowdsourcing, and a wide range of structured and unstructured sources necessitates significant data and knowledge management efforts. Innovations and developments in information technology over the last couple of decades have made data and knowledge management possible for an insurmountable amount of data collected and generated over the last decades. This enabled open knowledge networks to be built that led to new ideas in scientific research and the business world. To design and develop open knowledge networks, ontologies are essential since they form the backbone of conceptualization of a given knowledge domain. A systematic literature review was conducted to examine research involving ontologies related to hydrological processes and water resource management. Ontologies in the hydrology domain support the comprehension, monitoring, and representation of the hydrologic cycle's complex structure, as well as the predictions of its processes. They contribute to the development of ontology-based information and decision support systems; understanding of environmental and atmospheric phenomena; development of climate and water resiliency concepts; creation of educational tools with artificial intelligence; and strengthening of related cyberinfrastructures. This review provides an explanation of key issues and challenges in ontology development based on hydrologic processes to guide the development of next generation artificial intelligence applications. The study also discusses future research prospects in combination with artificial intelligence and hydroscience.


Abstract A squad of Premiership soccer players (n=24) provided informed consent to participate in this study. Using ISAK (International Society of Advancement of Kinanthropometry) accredited methods, a total of 39 measurements (sectioned as: skinfolds, girths, lengths, and breadths) were made for each player. The procedure involved three measures at each site to calculate a mean value and an acceptable technical error margin. All data collection was performed by an ISAK level 3 accredited anthropometrist. The data analysis consisted of demographic and anthropometric data, including fractionation of body mass and estimated body fat from sum of skinfolds. Scaling of the raw data was done by using the phantom strategem to obtain calculated data for inter-player comparison. Mean calculated scores for playing position were obtained. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed no differences between positions (F 15,41.810=0.783, P=0.688). Previous studies have reported heterogeneity between playing positions. However, in this study, stature and body mass were not different between strikers, midfielders, defenders, and goalkeepers. Research has suggested that a soccer player's anthropometric dimensions can be a major determinant for success within a playing position. In this study, within-position variation was quite large in some cases, which could indicate that a team that does not have the opportunity to hand-pick players, based on anthropometric characteristics, may be at a disadvantage.


While the pharmacological armamentarium for chronic constipation has expanded over the past few years, a substantial proportion of constipated patients do not respond to these medications. This review summarizes the pharmacological and behavioral options for managing constipation and details the management of refractory constipation. Refractory constipation is defined as an inadequate improvement in constipation symptoms evaluated with an objective scale despite adequate therapy (ie, pharmacological and/or behavioral) that is based on the underlying pathophysiology of constipation. Minimally invasive (ie, rectal irrigation and percutaneous endoscopic colostomy) and surgical therapies are used to manage refractory constipation. This review appraises these options, and in particular, percutaneous endoscopic colostomy, which as detailed by an article in this issue, is a less invasive option for managing refractory constipation than surgery. While these options benefit some patients, the evidence of the risk: benefit profile for these therapies is limited.


The SEASNAKE project - an OceanERA-NET project – is aiming for developing fully dynamic cables for ocean energy. Through new design and application of novel coatings the project is designing a dynamic cable that better suits the conditions and user requirements. In order to fully understand the benefits, the Wave Venture TEMPEST™ techno-economic analysis software will be used to simulate the performance of a proposed wave energy farm with a special focus on the contribution of the dynamic cable subsystem. The results obtained from the simulations will not only provide a deep understanding of the reliability and cost-risk areas regarding the use of dynamic cables, but will also allow a comparison with a baseline scenario consisting of a more traditional cabling system. The latter will be key to identify the advantages of the SEASNAKE project and its commercial viability. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will include farm availability and power production downtime as a direct result of cable related issues. The reliability, maintainability and survivability of the cabling subsystem will be tested and the KPIs will give clear indication on the performance benefits and ultimately the impact on the LCOE will be of greatest consideration.


Improvements in computer and networking technologies over the past decades produced new type of collaborative computing environment called grid networks. Grid is a parallel and distributed computing network system that provides the ability to perform higher throughput computing by taking advantage of many computing resources available in the network. Therefore, to achieve a scalable and reliable grid network system, we need to efficiently distribute the load among the resources accessible on the network. In this paper, we present a distributed and scalable load- balancing framework for grid networks. The generated network system is self-organized and depends only on local information for load distribution and resource discovery. Simulation results show that the generated network system provides an effective, scalable, and reliable load-balancing scheme for the distributed resources accessible on grid networks.


Image and video compression has become an increasingly important and active area. Many techniques have been developed in this area. Any compression technique can be modeled as a three-stage process. The first stage can be generally called a signal processing stage where an image or video signal is converted into a different domain. Usually, there is no or little loss of information in this stage. The second stage is quantization where loss of information occurs. The third stage is lossless coding that generates the compressed bit stream. The purpose of the signal processing stage is to convert an image or video signal into such a form that quantization can achieve better performance than without the signal processing stage. Because the quantization stage is the place where most of compression is achieved and loss of information occurs, it is naturally the central stage of any compression technique. Since scalar quantization or vector quantization may be used in the second stage, the operation in the first stage should be scalar-based or vector-based respectively in order to match the second stage so that the compression performance can be optimized. In this paper, we summarize the most recent research results on vector-based signal processing and quantization techniques that have shown high compression performance. >


Abstract Aims Cardiac electrophysiological heterogeneity includes: (i) regional differences in action potential (AP) waveform, (ii) AP waveform differences in cells isolated from a single region, (iii) variability of the contribution of individual ion currents in cells with similar AP durations (APDs). The aim of this study is to assess intra-regional AP waveform differences, to quantify the contribution of specific ion channels to the APD via drug responses and to generate a population of mathematical models to investigate the mechanisms underlying heterogeneity in rabbit ventricular cells. Methods and results APD in ∼50 isolated cells from subregions of the LV free wall of rabbit hearts were measured using a voltage-sensitive dye. When stimulated at 2 Hz, average APD90 value in cells from the basal epicardial region was 254 ± 25 ms (mean ± standard deviation) in 17 hearts with a mean interquartile range (IQR) of 53 ± 17 ms. Endo-epicardial and apical-basal APD90 differences accounted for ∼10% of the IQR value. Highly variable changes in APD occurred after IK(r) or ICa(L) block that included a sub-population of cells (HR) with an exaggerated (hyper) response to IK(r) inhibition. A set of 4471 AP models matching the experimental APD90 distribution was generated from a larger population of models created by random variation of the maximum conductances (Gmax) of 8 key ion channels/exchangers/pumps. This set reproduced the pattern of cell-specific responses to ICa(L) and IK(r) block, including the HR sub-population. The models exhibited a wide range of Gmax values with constrained relationships linking ICa(L) with IK(r), ICl, INCX, and INaK. Conclusion Modelling the measured range of inter-cell APDs required a larger range of key Gmax values indicating that ventricular tissue has considerable inter-cell variation in channel/pump/exchanger activity. AP morphology is retained by relationships linking specific ionic conductances. These interrelationships are necessary for stable repolarization despite large inter-cell variation of individual conductances and this explains the variable sensitivity to ion channel block.


Background and Objectives Recent studies showed that, in addition to parasympathetic nerves, cervical vagal nerves contained significant sympathetic nerves. We hypothesized that cervical vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) may capture the sympathetic nerves within the vagal nerve and activate the stellate ganglion. Materials and Methods We recorded left stellate ganglion nerve activity (SGNA), left thoracic vagal nerve activity (VNA), and subcutaneous electrocardiogram in seven dogs during left cervical VNS with 30 seconds on-time and 30 seconds off time. We then compared the SGNA between VNS on and off times. Results Cervical VNS at moderate (0.75 mA) output induced large SGNA, elevated heart rate (HR), and reduced HR variability, suggesting sympathetic activation. Further increase of the VNS output to >1.5 mA increased SGNA but did not significantly increase the HR, suggesting simultaneous sympathetic and parasympathetic activation. The differences of integrated SGNA and integrated VNA between VNS on and off times (ΔSGNA) increased progressively from 5.2 mV-s {95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25-9.06, p=0.018, n=7} at 1.0 mA to 13.7 mV-s (CI: 5.97-21.43, p=0.005, n=7) at 1.5 mA. The difference in HR (ΔHR, bpm) between on and off times was 5.8 bpm (CI: 0.28-11.29, p=0.042, n=7) at 1.0 mA and 5.3 bpm (CI 1.92 to 12.61, p=0.122, n=7) at 1.5 mA. Conclusion Intermittent cervical VNS may selectively capture the sympathetic components of the vagal nerve and excite the stellate ganglion at moderate output. Increasing the output may result in simultaneously sympathetic and parasympathetic capture.


Recently the existence of prototype mutants in β globin genes was proved. In this study a further and similar investigation was performed. The investigation concerns the Homo sapiens α globin. The prototype mutants were screened in the α globin DNA sequences. The results proved their existence. A selected α globin fragment contains the prototype mutant was used for searching both of the nucleotide and protein databases. The used fragment consists of nine nucleotides GGC AAG GTT and contain two silent mutants with the following amino acids sequences GKV. Searching the Blast protein database for the existence of correct mutants using the V00493.7 Homo sapiens 27 amino acids fragment was led to find 50 different sequences. Interestingly the protein sequences show similarity with marsupials, even-toed ungulates, odd-toad ungulates, placental, bats, rodents, carnivores, whales and dolphins; primates, insectivores, rabbits and hares. Species responsible for human bit or blood transfer are located and suggest gene recombination between different species occure through blood transfer. The restriction map for the 81 nucleotides for four nucleotide sequences (one prototype mutant, two correct mutants, and one normal) proved change in the restriction enzymes profile of the α globin sequences. That might be a proof for the existence of reduced α+ globin (also in case of β+ globin) macromolecules. The protein modelling in the selected different fragments show differences in the 3D structure and in their hydrophobicity. The unexpected exo-sources for the α globin put another load on the possibility of the haemoglobin illness solving. However, avoiding marriage from relatives, and from the same ethnic groups might be the best choice. Additionally avoiding blood contact with animals have compatible mutants is recommended. Further investigations are in need to prove/disprove the role of the gene recombination between species through blood in the transfer of the α globin mutants or even other ones.


The computational model of numerical analysis of a suspended pre-stressed steel reticulated shell subjected to fire load is established with using the software Marc. Based on the model presented here, numerical analysis of thermal response and structural response of the pre-stressed steel structure are computed. The different space height and different rise-span ratio are considered for analysis of response temperature, displacements and stresses of the pre-stressed lattice shell under fire for one fire source. It is also shown that displacement of the node right above the inner cable is the maximum among the four nodes presented here as the fire source is located at the position right below the second-ring cable of the structure. It is concluded that the influence degree of space height of the structure on the fire response of the structure is not great, but rise-span ratio has obvious and great effect on displacements and stresses of the pre-stressed steel structure with large span in fire.


A new Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) of the large-scale wheel loader was designed based on a buffer-induced structure. Dynamic Finite Element analysis model of the entire vehicle was created and boundary conditions of typical rollover cases were given. Optimization design of this new ROPS was obtained through a comprehensive analysis of 16 dynamic simulation samples, which were designed by Orthogonal Experimental Method. Comparison analysis of dynamic response results between original ROPS and optimal new ROPS indicates that this new ROPS effectively prolonged the duration time of the first collision and reduced the acting time of peak force. Deformation extent of main structure of this new ROPS is significantly smaller than that of the original ROPS. Buffer-induced structures can increase the kinetic energy absorption capability of ROPS. Therefore, it can reduce the possibility of brittle fracture of ROPS and improve the probability of operator survival.


Data augmentation (DA) is an efficient strategy for improving the performance of deep neural networks. Recent DA strategies have demonstrated utility in single image super-resolution (SR). Little research has, however, focused on the DA strategy for light field SR, in which multi-view information utilization is required. For the first time in light field SR, we propose a potent DA strategy called CutMIB to improve the performance of existing light field SR networks while keeping their structures unchanged. Specifically, Cut-MIB first cuts low-resolution (LR) patches from each view at the same location. Then CutMIB blends all LR patches to generate the blended patch and finally pastes the blended patch to the corresponding regions of high-resolution light field views, and vice versa. By doing so, CutMIB enables light field SR networks to learn from implicit geometric information during the training stage. Experimental results demonstrate that CutMIB can improve the reconstruction performance and the angular consistency of existing light field SR networks. We further verify the effectiveness of CutMIB on real-world light field SR and light field denoising. The implementation code is available at https://github.com/zeyuxiao1997/CutMIB.


Today's Environment, Web contributes greatly to the creation of an ever-increasing global information database. Web is a collection of billions of web pages. Web 2.0 is purely based on keyword based searching. Because of using keyword based search engine, people may get relevant or irrelevant information. The amount of time spent to search data from web is enormous. To avoid these difficulties a meaning based search engine is needed. Semantic web is a platform to organize the web in meaningful way for better knowledge management. Our paper focuses on importance of semantic web, how the data are organized in the semantic web using RDF to frame ontology.


To define suitable holding conditions for fish used in experimental studies on food consumption and growth, the effect of cover on growth at two ration levels was quantified for immature individuals of two common, freshwater species: the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus: Gasterosteidae) and the European minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus: Cyprinidae). In the European minnow, the presence of cover significantly increased growth rates and also the rate of food consumption at ad libitum rations; however, cover had no significant effect on the growth of the threespine stickleback. In both species, fish fed ad libitum rations had higher growth rates than fish fed 4% of body weight per day. This study illustrates the need for species specific holding conditions and illustrates an approach to welfare using measurements of traits closely related to fitness.


As demand for fresh water increases in tandem with human population growth and a changing climate, the need to understand the ecological tradeoffs of flow regulation gains greater importance. Environmental classification is a first step towards quantifying these tradeoffs by creating the framework necessary for analysing the effects of flow variability on riverine biota. Our study presents a spatially explicit hydrogeomorphic classification of streams and rivers in Washington State, USA and investigates how projected climate change is likely to affect flow regimes in the future. We calculated 99 hydrologic metrics from 15 years of continuous daily discharge data for 64 gauges with negligible upstream impact, which were entered into a Bayesian mixture model to classify flow regimes into seven major classes described by their dominant flow source as follows: groundwater (GW), rainfall (RF), rain‐with‐snow (RS), snow‐and‐rain (SandR), snow‐with‐rain (SR), snowmelt (SM) and ultra‐snowmelt (US). The largest class sizes were represented by the transitional RS and SandR classes (14 and 12 gauges, respectively), which are ubiquitous in temperate, mountainous landscapes found in Washington. We used a recursive partitioning algorithm and random forests to predict flow class based on a suite of environmental and climate variables. Overall classification success was 75%, and the model was used to predict normative flow classes at the reach scale for the entire state. Application of future climate change scenarios to the model inputs indicated shifts of varying magnitude from snow‐dominated to rain‐dominated flow classes. Lastly, a geomorphic classification was developed using a digital elevation model (DEM) and climatic data to assign stream segments as either dominantly able or unable to migrate, which was cross‐tabulated with the flow types to produce a 14‐tier hydrogeomorphic classification. The hydrogeomorphic classification provides a framework upon which empirical flow alteration–ecological response relationships can subsequently be developed using ecological information collected throughout the region. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Confusion matrix is a useful and comprehensive presentation of the classifier performance. It is commonly used in the evaluation of multi-class, single-label classification models, where each data instance can belong to just one class at any given point in time. However, the real world is rarely unambiguous and hard classification of data instance to a single class, i.e. defining its properties with single distinctive feature, is not always possible. For example, an image can contain multiple objects and regions which makes multi-class classification inappropriate to describe its content. Proposed solutions to this set of problems are based on multi-label classification model where each data instance is assigned one or more labels describing its features. While most of the evaluation measures used to evaluate single-label classifier can be adapted to a multi-label classification model, presentation and evaluation of the obtained results using standard confusion matrices cannot be expanded to this case. In this paper we propose a novel method for the computation of a confusion matrix for multi-label classification. The proposed algorithm overcomes the limitations of the existing approaches in modeling relations between the classifier output and the Ground Truth (i.e. hand-labeled) classification, and due to its versatility can be used in many different research fields.


IUFD. Other losses were related to PPROM prior to 25 weeks. Long term follow up (> 1 yr) shows normal outcomes except in two cases with PPROM 26 and 28 weeks. Iatrogenic PPROM remains thus the leading complication, occurring in about 10%. Selective fetocide may also be contemplated more electively. For instance, some centres practise an active early management for TRAP sequence, because of the technical advantages and the inability to predict outcome early on in gestation. This may however lead to unnecessary treatment of a number of cases. In MC twins discordant for a non-lethal severe structural anomaly or chromosomal defect, the predictable poor quality of life for the abnormal twin may not be acceptable to the parents. Instead of termination of the entire pregnancy, selective feticide may be a more valuable option, given approval of the ethics committee and if no legal constraints apply. In these situations the disadvantages of an invasive procedure without benefit for the normal co-twin but with a clinically relevant risk must be outweighed against the potential but remote benefits parents expect. Once the decision for elective fetocide has been taken, it may be contemplated to perform this procedure later in gestation, to avoid the risks of an early iPPROM, compromising the co-twin, again given ethics committee consultation and only in countries where the law would permit this. Currently, it is not possible to say what the optimal method is for selective feticide in MC pregnancies. Different techniques are applicable at different gestational ages and for different indications. The surgeon should ideally be familiar with several techniques in order to tailor therapy to the individual requirements of each case. Of interest is that bipolar cord coagulation can be used late in pregnancy and is effective in TRAP as well as in MC twins with normal hemodynamics.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence and clinicoradiologic characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis with lymphatic involvement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 126 adults with active tuberculosis who underwent CT were enrolled. A retrospective investigation of CT images focused on the presence of perilymphatic micronodules, as well as other CT features of active tuberculosis. We selected two groups of patients with micronodules according to distribution (perilymphatic vs centrilobular). We compared clinical and CT findings between the two groups.

RESULTS
Fifteen patients were excluded because of coexisting pulmonary disease. Among 111 patients, the prevalence of perilymphatic micronodules, galaxy or cluster signs, and interlobular septal thickening was 64 (58%), 18 (16%), and 30 (27%), respectively. Of 106 patients with micronodules, 37 and 40 were classified into the perilymphatic and centrilobular groups, respectively. Compared with the centrilobular group, the perilymphatic group had statistically significantly lower frequencies of positive acid-fast bacilli smears (32% vs 70%), consolidation (70% vs 98%), and cavitation (30% vs 60%). However, frequencies of interlobular septal thickening (41% vs 18%), galaxy or cluster signs (30% vs 0%), and pleural effusion (43% vs 20%) were statistically significantly higher in the perilymphatic group.

CONCLUSION
CT findings representing pulmonary perilymphatic involvement are relatively common in adults with tuberculosis. These findings may represent lymphatic spread of tuberculosis and provide an explanation for the unusual CT features of pulmonary tuberculosis mimicking sarcoidosis and the low detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in patients with micronodules.


We are dealing with the validity of a large deviation principle for a class of reaction–diffusion equations with polynomial non-linearity, perturbed by a Gaussian random forcing. We are here interested in the regime where both the strength of the noise and its correlation are vanishing, on a length scale (cid:2) and δ((cid:2)) , respectively, with 0 < (cid:2), δ((cid:2)) (cid:2) 1. We prove that, under the assumption that (cid:2) and δ((cid:2)) satisfy a suitable scaling limit, a large deviation principle holds in the space of continuous trajectories with values both in the space of square-integrable functions and in Sobolev spaces of negative exponent. Our result is valid, without any restriction on the degree of the polynomial nor on the space dimension.


The last two decades have witnessed a shift in the conversation on secularism and secular identities. The debate that religious identities have decreased and that religious thinking, religious practices and religious institutions were once at the core of the life in western societies, is now redirected. At a time when multi- -faith societies and institutions are largely recognized, the need for reconstructing the meaning and the role of religion and belief rises. Drawing from current research undertaken by the author in the UK, this article aims to depict the role of religion in contemporary professional practice and the attitude of the religious literacy of health care professionals, through an overview of the history of religion in the UK.


An electronic nose (EN) based system, which employs an array of four inexpensive commercial tin-oxide odour sensors, has been used to analyse the state of freshness of eggs. Measurements were taken from the headspace of four sets of eggs over a period of 20–40 days, two 'types of egg data' being gathered using our EN; one type of 'data' related to eggs without a hole in the shells and the other type of 'data' related to eggs wherein we made tiny holes in the shells. Principal component analysis, fuzzy C means, self-organizing maps and 3D scatter plots were used to define regions of clustering in multisensor space according to the state of freshness of the eggs. These were correlated with the 'use by date' of the eggs. Then four supervised classifiers, namely multilayer perceptron, learning vector quantization, probabilistic neural network and radial basis function network, were used to classify the samples into the three observed states of freshness. A comparative evaluation of the classifiers was conducted for this application. The best results suggest that we are able to predict egg freshness into one of three states with up to 95% accuracy. This shows good potential for commercial exploitation.


Techniques based on common sub-computation extraction can be used to minimize number of additions in the multiplier-less implementations of Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters. We present two types of coefficient transforms which used in conjunction with these techniques enable area-efficient realization of multiplier-less FIR filters. (i) Number theoretic transforms-that use redundant binary representations such as Canonical Sign Digit (CSD) (ii) Signal Flow Graph transformations that modify the coefficient values while retaining the output functionality. We demonstrate this with results of 6 different coefficient transforms for 14 low pass FIR filters with number of taps ranging from 16 to 128.


Human-human joint-action in short-cycle repetitive handover tasks was investigated for a bottle handover task using a three-fold approach: work-methods field studies in multiple supermarkets, simulation analysis using an ergonomics software package and by conducting an in-house lab experiment on human-human collaboration by re-creating the environment and conditions of a supermarket. Evaluation included both objective and subjective measures. Subjective evaluation was done taking a psychological perspective and showcases among other things, the differences in the way a common joint-action is being perceived by individual team partners depending upon their role (giver or receiver). The proposed approach can provide a systematic method to analyze similar tasks. Combining the results of all the three analyses, this research gives insight into the science of joint-action for short-cycle repetitive tasks and its implications for human-robot collaborative system design.


Dense video event captioning aims to generate a sequence of descriptive captions for each event in a long untrimmed video. Video-level context provides important information and facilities the model to generate consistent and less redundant captions between events. In this paper, we introduce a novel Hierarchical Context-aware Network for dense video event captioning (HCN) to capture context from various aspects. In detail, the model leverages local and global context with different mechanisms to jointly learn to generate coherent captions. The local context module performs full interaction between neighbor frames and the global context module selectively attends to previous or future events. According to our extensive experiment on both Youcook2 and Activitynet Captioning datasets, the video-level HCN model outperforms the event-level context-agnostic model by a large margin. The code is available at https://github.com/KirkGuo/HCN.


It has been projected as per United Nation that India's
population could surpass that of China's around 2024, two years
later than previously estimated and is projected to touch 1.5 billion
in 2030...


Nivolumab is a standard treatment option in several advanced malignancies, but safety and efficacy are still unknown in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We describe a case series of people living with HIV (PLWH) receiving nivolumab in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) and report responses and toxicities. We identified all PLWH who received nivolumab at any VA facility since 2000 in the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), which provides nationwide research access to VA electronic medical records. We identified 16 HIV-infected nivolumab recipients. The median number of nivolumab doses received was 6 (range, 1–32). Changes in CD4 count during therapy were variable, with 70% (7/10) of patients experiencing increases. Half of PLWH were treated for non–small-cell lung cancer; 2 for Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), 2 for renal cell carcinoma, and 4 for off-label cancers. For non–small-cell lung cancer, 7 patients had evaluable responses. Although 5 of 7 patients immediately progressed, 1 had a partial response and 1 had stable disease, which were both durable. Two of 16 (14%) PLWH had complete responses; both with HL (2/2 HL, 100%). The prevalence of immune-related adverse effects was 40% overall (6/15); 27% (4/15) had pneumonitis. To our knowledge, this is the largest case series reporting outcomes with nivolumab in PLWH. Outcomes were comparable with those seen in studies of HIV-uninfected patients, and particularly interesting for HL. The reason for the high proportions of immune-related adverse effects is unclear, but needs to be confirmed in larger studies.


Lychee is damaged by the litchi fruit borer (LFB), Conopomorpha sinensis severely reduces the yield and marketable quality of the fruits, and farmers face a substantial financial loss. An experiment was conducted for two consecutive years in the commercial litchi orchard. The study evaluated the efficacy of some insecticides under the group of pyrethroids, such as cypermethrin (Ripcord 10 EC), deltamethrin (Decis 2.5 EC), and fenvalerate (Fenfen 20 EC), neonicotinoids as imidacloprid (Imitaf 20 SL), thiamethoxam (Actara 25 WG), and pre-formulation of chlorantraniliprole+thiamethoxam (Voliam flexi 300 SC) and organophosphate (Hilthion 57 EC). All insecticides are used with recommended doses against C. sinensis to develop an appropriate management strategy. Among the treatments, spraying of voliam flexi 300 SC observed the maximum reduction of infestations over the control trees (99.47%), followed by imitaf, actara, decis, ripcord, fenfen, and hilthion. The highest benefit-cost ratio was obtained from the treated fruit trees with voliam flexi (12.11:1) and near about in fenfen and decis. Considering the effectiveness, spraying of voliam flexi at the rate of 0.5 ml per litre of water, followed by two sprays, first at ten days after the fruit set and then 20 days after the first spray. It is the most promising insecticidal approach for managing C. sinensis and may reduce the health risk to humans and save desirable components of the environment.


The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is an important contributor to India's GDP and it is the fourth largest sector of the Indian economy. Globally, the FMCG sector has been successful in selling products to the lower and middleincome groups, and the same is true in India. Over 70% of sales are made to middle classhouseholds today and over 50% is in rural India. The sector is excited about a burgeoning ruralpopulation whose incomes are rising and which is willing to spend on goods designed to improvelifestyle. Also with a near saturation and cut throat competition in urban India, many producersof FMCGs are driven to chalk out bold new strategies for targeting the rural consumer in a bigway.FMCG Industry in India is witnessing a change – a change in the pattern in which it is growing – needless to say, with the changing demographics, the pattern of marketing would also change. As rural penetration increases, the rural markets would command more and more share of the overall FMCG space. Though the urban markets are growing too, the incremental addition in consumers / households is much more in rural space as compared to urban markets. Rural marketing has become the latest marketing mantra of most FMCG majors. The rural India is vast with unlimited opportunities, waiting to be tapped by FMCG's. Hence the Indian FMCG sector is busy putting in place a parallel rural marketing strategy. Therefor a comparative study is made on growth, opportunity and challenges of FMCG's in rural market. This paper will providedetailed information about the growth of FMCG industry in rural market of India and examining the challenges, opportunities for the FMCG's in rural market with growing awareness and brand consciousness among people across different socio-economic classes in rural area of India and how the rural markets are witnessing significant growth.


Fully differential filter design is usually made departing from a single-ended prototype. This procedure guarantees the desired differential-mode response, but does not take into account common-mode dynamics, which could present nonacceptable transient responses or stability problems. A state-space design technique, which provides control of both differential and common-mode responses, is proposed. It is based on a feedback topology that allows independent assignment of differential and common-mode eigenvalues. This technique ensures circuit stability and also provides a high common-mode rejection ratio, which is independent of component unbalances. Experimental results on a first-order state-space filter are presented.


Tightness is a generalisation of the notion of convexity: a space is tight if and only if it is "as convex as possible", given its topological constraints. For a simplicial complex, deciding tightness has a straightforward exponential time algorithm, but more efficient methods to decide tightness are only known in the trivial setting of triangulated surfaces. In this article, we present a new polynomial time procedure to decide tightness for triangulations of 3-manifolds – a problem which previously was thought to be hard. In addition, for the more difficult problem of deciding tightness of 4-dimensional combinatorial manifolds, we describe an algorithm that is fixed parameter tractable in the treewidth of the 1-skeletons of the vertex links. Finally, we show that simpler treewidth parameters are not viable: for all non-trivial inputs, we show that the treewidths of both the 1-skeleton and the dual graph must grow too quickly for a standard treewidth-based algorithm to remain tractable.


Spatially explicit, wall-to-wall rainfall data provide foundational climatic information but alone are inadequate for characterizing meteorological, hydrological, agricultural, or ecological drought. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) is one of the most widely used indicators of drought and defines localized conditions of both drought and excess rainfall based on period-specific (e.g., 1-month, 6-month, 12-month) accumulated precipitation relative to multi-year averages. A 93-year (1920–2012), high-resolution (250 m) gridded dataset of monthly rainfall available for the State of Hawai'i was used to derive gridded, monthly SPI values for 1-, 3-, 6-, 9-, 12-, 24-, 36-, 48-, and 60-month intervals. Gridded SPI data were validated against independent, station-based calculations of SPI provided by the National Weather Service. The gridded SPI product was also compared with the U.S. Drought Monitor during the overlapping period. This SPI product provides several advantages over currently available drought indices for Hawai'i in that it has statewide coverage over a long historical period at high spatial resolution to capture fine-scale climatic gradients and monitor changes in local drought severity.


The imaging algorithm used in the 3-D microwave imaging system for breast cancer screening, currently being developed at the Technical University of Denmark, is based on an iterative Newton-type algorithm. In this algorithm, the distribution of the electromagnetic constitutive parameters is updated in each iteration based on a comparison between the measured signals and the signals computed by a forward solver for the current parameter distribution. A key feature of the algorithm is the use of the log-phase formulation in which the measured complex signals are represented by the logarithm of their amplitudes and their unwrapped phases. In this paper, simplifications of the log-phase formulation are proposed, namely the log formulation, in which only the logarithm of the amplitudes are used, and the phase formulation, in which only the unwrapped phases are used. These formulations allow for the use of simpler tomographic systems in which only the amplitudes or the phases of the signals are measured. The performance of the algorithms using the two proposed formulations is investigated by reconstructing images of data collected with the above-mentioned imaging system, and the resulting images are compared with those obtained using the log-phase formulation.


Offshore geological hazards can occur in any marine domain or environment and represent a serious threat to society, the economy, and the environment. Seismicity, slope sedimentary instabilities, submarine volcanism, fluid flow processes, and bottom currents are considered here because they are the most common hazardous processes; tsunamis are also examined because they are a secondary hazard generated mostly by earthquakes, slope instabilities, or volcanic eruptions. The hazards can co-occur and interact, inducing a cascading sequence of events, especially in certain contexts, such as tectonic indentations, volcanic islands, and canyon heads close to the coast. We analyze the key characteristics and main shortcomings of offshore geological hazards to identify their present and future directions for marine geoscience investigations of their identification and characterization. This review establishes that future research will rely on studies including a high level of multidisciplinarity. This approach, which also involves scientific and technological challenges, will require effective integration and interplay between multiscale analysis, mapping, direct deep-sea observations and testing, modelling, and linking offshore observations with onshore observations.


At the closing of the 20th century, Europe decided the time was ripe to take bold steps towards the creation of a truly integrated European judicial space. Of its overall goals for the new millennium, judicial integration ranked at the top as this reflected shifting global challenges in an increasingly diversified world. After more than a decade, the reality is still that of a policy area in which multiple practices of cooperation coexist. Indeed, political and cultural factors matter in explaining how judicial decisions and practices are harmonised and integrated by EU member states. The article focuses on a number of socialisation mechanisms adopted by the EU to build mutual trust among national authorities and also looks at the European Arrest Warrant as an important test bed of the strengths and weaknesses of European judicial cooperation.


Abstract: Sudden unexpected natural death (SUND) was uncommon in our environment; with the adoption of western life style and societal pressures this mode of death is becoming more common. Understanding the causes of sudden natural death is important for prevention and improving treatment outcomes. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the demographic data, the immediate cause of death and associated risk factors in the sudden unexpected natural death (SUND) cases in Imo state. Methodology: The archived case notes, Post-mortem registers and reports in the data bases of Departments of Pathology and Medical records and Biostastics of Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri were used as the sources of data for this study from January 2003 to December 2012. Full post-mortem examinations were performed by consultant pathologists in the department using laid down protocols. Results: The male to female ratio was 3.3:1 with mean age of 45.2 ± 17.0. The age range was 15 to 80 years. The peak age of incidence was in the 41-50 years age group. The leading causes of SUND were the cardiovascular system (CVS) 55.4%, followed by central nervous system (CNS) which made up 23.1%, gastrointestinal system (GIT) constituted 8.5%, the Respiratory system (4.2%), Vascular disorder (4.2%) and undetermined causes (6.4%). The associated risk factors included dietary factors 14 cases (29.8%), alcohol use 9 cases (19.15%), cigarette smoking (17.02%), Diabetes mellitus 6 cases (12.76%), family history 5 cases (10.64%), those without associated factors 3 cases (6.38%) and congenital anomalies 2 cases (4.25%). Conclusion: In Nigeria, with increased western lifestyle, changes in dietary habits and rise in socioeconomic status, cardiovascular diseases especially complications of hypertension has become the most important cause of sudden unexpected natural death in our society. This calls for immediate and effective management of hypertension through effective clinical and public health policy implementation.


The old saying that it takes twenty years to build a reputation, but only five minutes to ruin it, has never been more relevant than it is today in a world dominated by social media. Social media platforms have changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. Founded only 11 years ago, Facebook is South Africa's most used social network with over 14 million registered users. Twitter has seven million registered users in South Africa and globally sees over 500million tweets every day. If you include users of Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn and YouTube, you can count over 2.2 billion active users on social media platforms in the world.


In the given research we study a leadership formation of the most influential nodes in networks. Specifically, we analyze the competition between a leader and a follower based on the Stackelberg leadership model. Applying the concept of Shapley value to measure node's importance, we represent the mechanism of Shapley-based Stackelberg leadership formation in networks. The approach is tested and represented in tabular and graphical formats.


ABSTRACT Cell entry of reovirus requires a series of ordered steps, which include conformational changes in outer capsid protein μ1 and its autocleavage. The μ1N fragment released as a consequence of these events interacts with host cell membranes and mediates their disruption, leading to delivery of the viral core into the cytoplasm. The prototype reovirus strains T1L and T3D exhibit differences in the efficiency of autocleavage, in the propensity to undergo conformational changes required for membrane penetration, and in the capacity for penetrating host cell membranes. To better understand how polymorphic differences in μ1 influence reovirus entry events, we generated recombinant viruses that express chimeric T1L-T3D μ1 proteins and characterized them for the capacity to efficiently complete each step required for membrane penetration. Our studies revealed two important functions for the central δ region of μ1. First, we found that μ1 autocleavage is regulated by the N-terminal portion of δ, which forms an α-helical pedestal structure. Second, we observed that the C-terminal portion of δ, which forms a jelly-roll β barrel structure, regulates membrane penetration by influencing the efficiency of ISVP* formation. Thus, our studies highlight the molecular basis for differences in the membrane penetration efficiency displayed by prototype reovirus strains and suggest that distinct portions of the reovirus δ domain influence different steps during entry.


BACKGROUND
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) remain significant clinical problems for patients, especially nausea. The D2-antagonist droperidol was popular for prophylaxis until safety concerns limited its use. In early testing, APD421 (amisulpride for i.v. injection), a D2/D3-antagonist, has shown promising antiemetic efficacy at very low doses. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, dose-finding study to investigate APD421 in PONV prophylaxis.

METHODS
Adult surgical patients with ≥2 Apfel risk factors for PONV undergoing surgery expected to last ≥1 h and receiving standard inhalation anaesthesia were randomized to receive placebo or one of three doses of APD421 (1, 5, or 20 mg) as a single i.v. administration at anaesthesia induction. The primary endpoint was PONV (vomiting/retching or antiemetic rescue) in the 24 h period after surgery.

RESULTS
Two hundred and fifteen patients received study drug, 92% female and 60% with ≥3 risk factors. Groups were well balanced for baseline characteristics and risk factors. The PONV incidence was 37/54 [69%; 90% confidence interval (CI), 57-79%] in the placebo group; 28/58 (48%; 90% CI, 37-60%) with 1 mg APD421 (P=0.048); 20/50 (40%; 90% CI, 28-53%) with 5 mg (P=0.006); and 30/53 (57%; 90% CI, 44-68%) with 20 mg (P>0.1). APD421 at 5 mg also significantly improved vomiting, rescue medication use, and nausea rates. The safety profile of APD421 was similar to that of placebo at all doses, with no significant central nervous system (CNS) or cardiac side-effects.

CONCLUSIONS
APD421 given i.v. before surgery is safe and effective at reducing PONV in moderate/high-risk adult surgical patients. The optimal dose tested was 5 mg.


The locus coeruleus (LC) projects throughout the brain and spinal cord and is the major source of central noradrenaline. It remains unclear whether the LC acts functionally as a single global effector or as discrete modules. Specifically, while spinal-projections from LC neurons can exert analgesic actions, it is not known whether they can act independently of ascending LC projections. Using viral vectors taken up at axon terminals, we expressed chemogenetic actuators selectively in LC neurons with spinal (LC:SC) or prefrontal cortex (LC:PFC) projections. Activation of the LC:SC module produced robust, lateralised anti-nociception while activation of LC:PFC produced aversion. In a neuropathic pain model, LC:SC activation reduced hind-limb sensitisation and induced conditioned place preference. By contrast, activation of LC:PFC exacerbated spontaneous pain, produced aversion and increased anxiety-like behaviour. This independent, contrasting modulation of pain-related behaviours mediated by distinct noradrenergic neuronal populations provides evidence for a modular functional organisation of the LC.


We report resolution of an epileptic encephalopathy by administration of transdermal nicotine patches in an adolescent with severe nonlesional refractory frontal lobe epilepsy. The 18.5‐year‐old female patient had refractory epilepsy from the age of 11. Recurrent electroencephalography (EEG) recordings showed mostly generalized activity, albeit with right frontal predominance. Almost all antiepileptic medications failed to provide benefit. She developed an encephalopathic state with cognitive decline. The nonlesional frontal lobe epilepsy and a family history of a cousin with nocturnal epilepsy with frontal origin suggested genetic etiology. Transdermal nicotine patches brought complete resolution of the seizures, normalization of the EEG, and a significant improvement in her thinking process and speech organization. Sequencing of the CHRNB2 and CHRNA4 genes did not detect a mutation. Transdermal nicotine patches should be considered in severe pharmacoresistant frontal lobe epilepsy.


Gupta RG. Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology. Academic Press, Elsevier; 2011,1202pp, $250 (hardcover), ISBN 9780123820327. As a trained toxicologist, I realized early on the complexity of the specialized field of reproductive and developmental toxicology. Understanding the toxicological impact and changes occurring at the interface of the complicated 3 component system: parent, placenta, and fetus, is by no means an easy task. This book, Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology, provides the most intricate and comprehensive overview of both historical and current knowledge of reproductive and developmental toxicology. The book is divided into 15 sections that address various aspects of this field of toxicology. Each section is further comprised of individual chapters that cover detailed background and recent information pertinent to the discussed topic. While the primary focus of the book is on human species, it also provides unique coverage of the toxicological impact on other organisms, ranging from those used in toxicological testing to wildlife species. The reference list at the end of each chapter offers an invaluable resource for up-to-date information on a wide array of reproductive and developmental toxicology topics. The book is in hardcover, well indexed, and packed with figures and tables, with an additional elegant color plate section at the end of the book. The first 2 sections of the book focus on general topics that pertain to reproductive and developmental toxicology, providing solid background introductions to reproductive anatomy and physiology, pharmacokinetics of the mother and fetal compartments during pregnancy, physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models for reproductive and developmental toxicity, and the excretion of medical as well as environmental pollutants into breast milk. The book then transitions into a comprehensive review of various in vitro and in vivo models assessing reproductive and developmental toxicity. A detailed description of the internationally recognized guidelines for toxicity testing is provided, with elaborate explanation of the different available models, both validated and nonvalidated, as well as the novel techniques of in silico and CAESAR (computer-assisted evaluation of industrial chemical substances according to regulation) methods. Commonly used animal models including zebra fish, C.elegans, as well as primate models are further explained with particular emphasis on neuro- and immune-toxicity aspects. An in-depth discussion of the in vitro biomarkers of developmental neurotoxicity is provided in a separate chapter, followed by detailed description of in vivo biomarkers of reproductive and developmental toxicity, with particular emphasis on examples of biomonitoring of exposure to pesticides. The next 8 sections of the book are dedicated to an in-depth description of reproductive and developmental toxicity of a wide array of toxic agents. The compounds discussed include nanoparticles and radiation; gases and solvents; cigarette smoking, alcohol, and drugs of abuse; food additives; pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals; metals; pesticides and environmental contaminants; phytotoxicants; and biotoxins. Each chapter starts with a comprehensive introduction that provides a historical background as well as basic knowledge of the chemical addressed. I enjoyed the systematic coverage of the toxicity of individual chemicals, particularly the detailed in vitro as well as in vivo studies addressing the risk and mechanism of such toxicity. The chapters are further enriched by summary tables that recapitulate toxicity reports, proposed mechanisms, or effects observed in experimental animals. A distinctive feature of this book is dedicating a few chapters to the toxicities of select compounds (eg, melamine and cyanuric acid) in livetstock, poultry, cats, and dogs. Section 11 of the book includes coverage of special topics highly relevant to the field of reproductive and developmental toxicology. …


Victor won a LCC (London County Council) scholarship to Dulwich College, 1931-8. In July 1934, rising 15, he passed the school certificate with credits in English, maths, and physics. He stayed at school for another four years, where he reorganised the school museum and library. He was a prefect and head of science side. He played cricket for the third XI and was president of the Science and Photographic Society. He developed a lifelong love of cricket.

He went up to Brasenose College, Oxford, as a Hulme exhibitioner, 1938-41. He played hockey, cricket, and squash for the college. Parts 1 and 2 of his medical degree were graded 1st class in 1941, his BA formally being awarded on 7 June 1941. Victor loved his time at Oxford and would have stayed on except he needed to qualify urgently because the second world war was in deadly full swing. Victor proceeded to King's College Hospital, London, to finish his medical training, where he excelled and won a pathology exhibition and the senior scholarship awarded to the best student in the year.

The war was at its height, and no one knew how long it would last. During the day the hospital had to continue with business as usual. He graduated in 1944. Many evenings there would be up to 80 critically injured people from the Blitz. As one of the senior resident doctors he had to carry out triage. Recently he related with sorrow the case of a man who insisted that Victor attend to his daughter first …


It has been proposed that age‐dependent accumulation of somatic mutations in mtDNA is responsible for some aspects of the aging process. However, most cells contain hundreds to thousands of mtDNA molecules. Any nascent somatic mutant therefore appears as a single copy among a majority of wild‐type species. A single mutant molecule is unlikely to influence the physiology of the cell and thus cannot play a role in the aging process. To affect cellular physiology, the nascent somatic mutants must somehow accumulate clonally in the cell to significant levels. The evidence supporting the view that, indeed, clonal expansion of mtDNA mutations is a widespread process in various human tissues, and the mechanisms by which clonal expansions may affect the aging process, are reviewed. Originally, clonal expansion was demonstrated for mtDNA with large deletions in muscle. Cell‐by‐cell analysis of human cardiomyocytes and buccal epithelial cells revealed that clonal expansion affects point mtDNA mutations as well as deletions. Expansions are not limited to muscle, but likely are present in most tissues, and almost every cell of an aged tissue is likely to be affected by an expansion. While the very existence of clonal expansion is beyond doubt, the mechanisms driving this process are largely controversial. The hypotheses explaining expansion includes random or various selective mechanisms, or both. We show that the spectra of expanded point mutations are drastically different in cardiomyocytes and epithelial cells. This suggests that the mechanisms of expansion in these tissues are different. In particular, we propose random segregation and positive selection models for epithelial and muscle cells, respectively.


The role of the anti-commutator term of the chiral current in a Skyrme-like model was studied associated with the symmetric Skyrmion and the nucleon properties in terms of the zero-mode quantization.It is shown that the Skyrmion is stable only when the anti-commutator term in the model has a negative coupling constant(-k2) while a QCD functional analysis gives a positive coupling constant.This implies either the coupling is negligibly small and negative,or the soliton picture for the baryons is beyond the approximation of QCD at the level of the quark loop.


Malaysia nowadays is a developing country that becoming industrialized nation by the year of 2020. Accordingly, to rapid growth of industry, the amounts of scheduled wastes generated also increased and lead our country to be more alert about this problem. Therefore, many rules and regulations have been enforcing to ensure the amount of scheduled wastes generated can be disposed in proper ways. The Department of Environment 7 years ago has already started an electronic reporting system called E-SWIS (Electronic Scheduled Waste Information System) and EConsign (Electronic Consignment) which involved less paperwork and quicker tracking of waste movements, but its effectiveness is unproven. The system failed to discern and comprehend the material in-flow and out-flow of such complex successive scheduled wastes generators, transporters, recoveries and recycles, within the boundary system (country, unit operation, facilities).The lack of complete historical records of quantity and quality has resulted in a situation that makes the long-term system planning and/or short-term expansion programs intangible. A smart system, called SWSPro-1 was developed to overcome the problems. SWSPro-1 is a future waste management analysis tool for the sustainable optimization of multiple disposal and recycling prediction The main goal of SWSPro-1 applications are to help and assist waste generators, policy makers, and environmental consultants, making prediction regarding the amount of scheduled waste categories and estimated cost required for disposing their wastes, estimated landfill life span, and promoting waste minimization and sustainability. Besides, this application will help decision makers to identify the new and old scheduled wastes code, description for each code and the status of wastes. The software also can determine the Electronic Waste and can works as standalone software. This study needs further research to undergo a deem research to be more reliable and consist more functionality such as integrate with web browser, improve mathematical model equation to predict the composition and generation of scheduled waste, and increase the accuracy and alternative in the process selection of waste management by adding the number of treatment facilities. This application has a significant impact on the scheduled waste management encompass cost, time consumption, technical effectiveness, waste minimization, and environmental. SWSPro-1 has been extensively validated. The results have been tested using established data and compared with results from published literature and waste management software to check the validity of equations used and programmed. The results obtained from the tools are found to be consistent and no significant deviation arising in all of the trials. Thus, SWSPro-1 is a good computational software for the consequence modeling of scheduled waste management.


Compared to other European countries, the employment rate of older workers in Belgium is rather low. This paper argues that one of the most relevant factors underlying the problems of this low employment rate in Belgium is the social policies directed at older workers. Indeed, when unemployment became a widespread phenomenon in the1970s and 80s, early-retirement schemes were designed to alleviate the financial implications on an aging workforce. The government encouraged anyone over 50 to leave the labour market through early retirement schemes, unemployment payment programs, medical retirement, and career breaks. These practises were based on a wide consensus of government, business, and workers. However, for some years now, international organizations have been concerned about the viability of pension systems and their ability to achieve their objectives. In recent years, different factors have led policy makers to rethink this policy. But changing the trend and keeping people on the job has proven more difficult than foreseen. The transformations of public policies begun at the dawn of the 21st century radically changed the balance between the state, workers, and employers, who had all previously seen early retirement as favourable. This paper also tries to show how early retirement is not simply a desire to escape, but can also be explained as an aggression against the person by the labour market. Leaving professional life early thus seems more to be a case of necessity, in fact not a choice at all, but an obligation, or even a sacrifice, and must be seen in the perspective of professional duties and their evolution.