Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune disease involving the acetylcholine receptors at neuromuscular junctions. Perioperative management of patients with myasthenia gravis is complicated by their enhanced sensitivity to nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents and their resistance to depolarizing drugs (1). Prolonged respiratory depression commonly occurs when these agents are used. Atracurium dibesilate is one of a new series of nondepolarizing agents and is promising by virtue of its rapid degradation by 'Hoffmann elimination', leaving products with little or no muscle blocking activity. After encouraging results were obtained with atracurium (2-6), we investigated the neuromuscular blocking effect of different doses of the drug (0.2 mg/kg, 0.5 mg/kg) in sixteen myasthenic patients undergoing thymectomy, with continuous monitoring of neuromuscular function.


All children in Olmsted County, Minnesota, who had a physeal fracture in the 10-year period 1979 through 1988 were identified in this population based study. Children with acute fractures from surrounding areas of Olmsted County and children with subacute, chronic fractures or complications of fractures among referral patients were not included. Eight-hundred fifty children sustained 951 physeal fractures; 561 boys (66%) sustained 637 fractures, and 289 girls (34%) experienced 314 fractures. The male:female ratio was 2:1 and incidence rates were greatest among 11-12 year-old girls and 14-year-old boys. The overall age- and sex-adjusted incidence of physeal fractures was 279.2 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval, 261.4-296.9). The most common site was the phalanges of fingers, which accounted for 37% of all physeal fractures. Salter-Harris type II was the most common type of fracture (54%), but 149 fractures (16%) did not fit into this classification. Therefore, two new, previously unclassified fracture types were added and are reported in detail (see Physeal Fractures: Part 2. Two Previously Unclassified Types, pp. 431-38). This led to a review of existing classifications and creation of a new one (see Physeal Fractures: Part 3. Classification, pp. 439-48).


When participants are given the opportunity to simultaneously feel an object and see it through a magnifying or reducing lens, adults estimate object size to be in-between visual and haptic size. Studies with young children, however, seem to demonstrate that their estimates are dominated by a single sense. In the present study, we examined whether this age difference observed in previous studies, can be accounted for by the large discrepancy between felt and seen size in the stimuli used in those studies. In addition, we studied the processes involved in combining the visual and haptic inputs. Adults and 6-year-old children judged objects that were presented to vision, haptics or simultaneously to both senses. The seen object length was reduced or magnified by different lenses. In the condition inducing large intersensory discrepancies, children's judgments in visuo-haptic conditions were almost dominated by vision, whereas adults weighted vision just by ~40%. Neither the adults' nor the children's discrimination thresholds were predicted by models of visuo-haptic integration. With smaller discrepancies, the children's visual weight approximated that of the adults and both the children's and adults' discrimination thresholds were well predicted by an integration model, which assumes that both visual and haptic inputs contribute to each single judgment. We conclude that children integrate seemingly corresponding multisensory information in similar ways as adults do, but focus on a single sense, when information from different senses is strongly discrepant.


Objective There is little data on the prevalence of eating disorders in Azarian populations. We therefore undertook this study to estimate disordered eating attitudes among high school girls in Tabriz, and their relation to demographic parameters. Methods 1887 high school girls were selected. Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26) and socioeconomical questions were used. An EAT-26 score of 20 or higher was defined as an eating disorder attitude. Results The translated EAT-26 had good reliability and validity. In total, 16.7% (95% CI 15.1 to 18.3%) of students had disordered eating attitudes. The mean of EAT-26 was higher in groups who considered themselves as obese, decided they wanted to lose weight, were smokers, and who had age of menarche less than 11. Parental literacy or job, birth order, family size or income and house ownership did not have any significant effect on EAT-26 score. Conclusions The Persian version of EAT-26 can be used in Azarian adolescents. Prevalence of disordered eating attitudes among Azarian adolescent girls are in the range of some studies. Body weight dissatisfaction, smoking and early menarche have important roles in eating attitudes.


Two dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) microcavity structures were fabricated using epitaxial ferroelectric thin film as the optical media and their resonant optical properties were measured. The PhC structures are utilized in order to achieve strong light localization to enhance the interaction between the incident light and the nonlinear optical barium titanate (BTO). Fluorescence measurements were used to assess the resonant properties. Two types of resonant structures were investigated consisting of either dopant or vacancy PhC arrays. The nano patterning on BTO thin films was achieved using dual beam focused ion beam (FIB). For the dopant type PhC microcavity structure, a larger air hole is generated in every 5 x 5 unit cells forming a super cell. The spatial profiles of PhC microcavity structures are characterized by laser scanning confocal microscopy. Structures with a feature size approaching the optical diffraction limit are clearly resolved. Fluorescence measurements on PhCs coated with a fluorescent dye were carried out to determine the relationship between the degree of light localization and the photonic band structure. Enhanced fluorescence at wavelengths 550-600 nm is observed in the dye covered PhCs with lattice period a =200 nm and a =400 nm. The large fluorescence enhancement results from the presence of PhC stop bands that increase the emission extraction efficiency due to the strong light confinement. Since the only allowed propagation direction for the scattered fluorescence light is out-of-plane, this enhances the vertically fluorescent extraction efficiency. These BTO optical microcavity structures can potentially serve as active nano-photonic components in bio-sensors and integrated photonic circuits.


Abstract There are a number of instances when consumers have imperfect information regarding the quantity they consume. This paper has two objectives: (1) to formally describe how quantity uncertainty is likely to affect consumer behavior and (2) to describe how these changes in behavior are likely to differ depending on how the quantity uncertain good is priced. We develop a theoretical model of consumer behavior under quantity uncertainty which we use to illustrate how different price structures and different locations within price structures matter for how information impacts behavior. We test these hypotheses using a unique panel data set containing information on water consumption habits of more than 88,000 households in the City of Aurora, Colorado. In 2005, Aurora subsidized the purchase of electronic devices for households to monitor water use. These devices provide households with real-time information on their water use. We find that, consistent with the aims of the program, households with the device decreased their water use during periods when they faced a constant marginal price; however, contrary to the aims of the program, their consumption increased during periods when they faced an increasing block rate pricing structure. These results are consistent with the predictions of the theoretical model developed herein.


Forty nine species belonging to 6 genera of 2 tribes of the subfamily coreinae leach including one new genus and three new species with eight species newly recorded form various localities of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent are described in detail with special references to metathoracic scent gland complex, male and female genitalia. Two species of Distant (1908) of the genus Aschistocoris Bergroth (i.e. A. sulcatus and A. nepalensis) are transferred to the genus anhomoeus of anhomoeini Hsiao, a recently established tribe. Two species of the genus Homoeocerus Burmeister i.e. H. Simiolus Distant 1902 and H. striicornis Scott 1874 are transferred to new genus Muzafferiana Ahmad and Perveen. All the above taxa including the new ones are compared with their most closely related allies and keys to their tribes, genera and species are formulated on the basis of the above more reliable distinctive and consistent characters, which help readily identify the above taxa. Characters of taxonomic importance are also breify described to help understand these characters.

The type species of the genera Homoeocerus Burmeister i.e. H. puncticornis (Burmeister) from Philippine and anhomoeus Hsiao i.e. A. fusiformis Hsiao form china are also included in order to develop a clear understanding of the respective genera. A cladistic analysis of the above taxa are also presented with the help of a cladogram


According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25.8 million people in the United States (8.3% of the population) have diabetes (1). Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90–95% of diabetes diagnoses, and >85% of people with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese (1). Increased BMI, which is common in the type 2 diabetes population, has a well-established association with symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (2,3). Central adiposity is an important risk factor in the development of reflux and, subsequently, erosive esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, esophageal adenocarcinoma, and gastric cardia adenocarcinoma (2,3).

Increased BMI is not the only risk factor for the development of GERD, particularly among people with diabetes. Among those with type 2 diabetes, peripheral neuropathy is an independent risk factor for erosive esophagitis (4). In this population, there is a greater incidence of erosive esophagitis among individuals with neuropathy than among those without neuropathy, although those with and without neuropathy experience similar GERD symptoms (4). Approximately 60–70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage, which may partly explain why low-grade esophageal dysplasia is twice as likely in individuals with than in those without diabetes (1,5). Additionally, both asymptomatic and symptomatic reflux is more prevalent in individuals with diabetes than in those without diabetes (6,7). Likewise, type 2 diabetes has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for symptomatic GERD (8).

Among individuals with diabetes, 40.7% experience symptomatic GERD, and 70% of those use oral antidiabetic medications. Thus, it is likely that millions of individuals are managing blood glucose and GERD concomitantly with oral medications (1,7) Therefore, it is important to assess the drug interactions and clinical sequelae that may occur with this particular …


In 2008, a mass grave was found on the grounds of the University of Kassel, Germany. There was no evidence helping to identify them or throwing light on the cause of their death. Mainly due to 14C age determination and initial hints on age and sex distribution, historians hypothesized that they had been soldiers of Napoleon's army who died in an epidemic in the winter of 1813/14.
To test this assumption, morphological and molecular analyses were carried out on the skeletal elements which were comingled in an emergency excavation. The morphological analyses comprised an age and sex determination as well as a macro- and micro-morphological inspection for pathological deviations after the commingled bones had been assembled as individuals. The molecular investigations aimed to identify the geographic origin of the remains due to Y-chromosomal haplotyping as well as the investigation of bacterial DNA linked to the postulated epidemic.
Altogether, 126 individuals could be identified, only one of them female. Most of the individuals died at the age between 20 and 30. Although the skeletal elements in some cases reveal some features which are linked to general physical stress, no evidence of trauma related to a possible cause of death could be found. The greatest similarities revealed by Y-haplogroup and haplotype distribution were to populations that live in what are now the Benelux countries or the Alsace, supporting the theory that the individuals indeed were part of Napoleonic troops. In some bones, the bacteria Bartonella quintana and Salmonella typhi could be detected, further supporting the postulated epidemic event.
Due to the results of this thesis, the identity of the individuals of the mass grave as soldiers of Napoleon's army who died in an epidemic could be scientifically confirmed.


The effects of sonic energy waves on the settling velocity of small particles in water were studied. A design of experiment (DOE) with five variables (frequency, amplitude, particle diameter, particle density and fluid viscosity) at two or three levels was conducted to obtain the particle settling velocity as the response. The DOE data were analyzed both experimentally and by a statistical multiple regression software. It was concluded that when sound frequency and amplitude in the range of 0 to 500 Hz and 2 to 3 Vrms (root mean square) respectively were applied to plastic particles of three different diameters (2,381 μm, 3,175 μm, and 4,763 μm) and two different densities ... their effects on the particle settling velocity in hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) solutions of three different viscosities ... were insignificant. The regression analysis gave an equation that is in good agreement with the experimental data.


Tanned sheep erythrocytes stabilized with pyruvic aldehyde and glutaraldehyde, called double-aldehyde-stabilized cells, were used to standardize passive hemagglutination assay (PHA) for detection of antibody responses to sonicate extract of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Cysticercus cellulosae soluble antigens. PHA was performed in the following groups of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples: group I - chronic infections of the central nervous system with the possible diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis (TBM), tuberculoma and neurocysticercosis (NCC) (n=88), and group II - controls which included (a) non-infectious non-neurological conditions (n=30), (b) infectious neurological conditions (n=21) and (c) non-infectious neurological conditions (n=133). PHA could detect anti-mycobacterial antibodies at the sensitivity level of 80.76% with a specificity of 92.4% and anti-cysticercal antibodies with a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 92.94%. However, in 6.33% (i.e. 14/221) of group I and group II (c) CSFs both anti-mycobacterial and anti-cysticercal antibodies were detected. Immunoblot analysis of CSFs derived from TBM patients reacted predominantly to 120-kDa, 96-kDa, 65-kDa, 38-kDa, 26-kDa, 23-kDa, 19-kDa and 12-14-kDa and 4-6-kDa antigens of M. tuberculosis sonicate extract (MTSE), whilst CSFs of proven NCC reacted to >110-kDa, 96-kDa, 80-kDa, 66-68-kDa, 52-kDa and 26-28-kDa antigens of porcine whole cyst sonicate extract (PCSE). On immunoblot analysis, some of the CSFs of TBM patients were PHA positive for both MTSE and PCSE showed antibody reactivity to 70-kDa and 10-kDa antigens of C. cellulosae. Similarly CSF antibody of some Guillain Barre syndrome and myeloradiculopathy patients reacted with cysticercal antigens. But per se no cross-reactivity between MTSE and anti-cysticercal antibodies and vice-versa were observed. However, findings of this study should alert laboratory personnel especially in endemic areas to be extra careful in interpretation of antibody detection results.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Platinum-based drug like cisplatin is the standard first-line drug to treat patients with bladder cancer. However, tumors may recur and develop into multiple-drug resistant characteristics. The acquisition of resistance to conventional chemotherapy is a challenge in the treatment of bladder cancer relapse. Cancer stem cell (CSC) hypothesis has been an attractive theory. CSCs can resist therapeutic assaults, giving rise to multiple drug resistance and promotion of tumor relapse and metastasis. It has been shown that the fraction of cancer cells expressing MDR1 that functions as an energy-dependent drug efflux pump may be associated with Oct-4 expression. We have demonstrated that Oct-4 expression in bladder cancer predicts tumor progression. In the present study, we proposed that Oct-4 expression in bladder cancer increases MDR1 gene expression and thereby results in multiple drug resistance. We found a positive correlation between Oct-4 and MDR1 expression levels in clinical samples of bladder cancer. Furthermore, overexpression of Oct-4 increased MDR1 expression, which resulted in poor response to cisplatin in human bladder transitional cell carcinoma cells. Conversely, knockdown of Oct-4 reduced MDR1 expression and rendered cells hypersensitive to cisplatin. We also verified that Oct-4 transactivated the MDR1 gene promoter by binding to the Oct-4 response element (ORE). More importantly, Oct-4 and MDR1 gene expression could be induced by treatment with cisplatin, suggesting that Oct-4 is a member of the MDR1 enhanceosome. Our data can explain, in part, the high recurrence rate and drug resistance of bladder cancer. For clinical implication, we demonstrated that reduction of Oct-4 expression by all-trans retinoic acid, a derivative of vitamin A, improved sensitivity of bladder cancer cells to gemcitabine and cisplatin. In addition, we found that high expression levels of Oct-4 and MDR1 were associated with high tumor recurrence. Taken together, our results provide evidence that Oct-4 plays an important role in cisplatin-acquired resistance in bladder cancer. They also implicate Oct-4 as a therapeutic target.

Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting.

Citation Format: Chia-Sing Lu, Ai-Li Shiau, Gia-Shing Shieh, Bing-Hua Su, Wu-Chou Su, Wen-Horng Yang, Chao-Liang Wu. Acquisition of Oct-4 upregulation transactivates MDR1 and is associated with increased tumor recurrence in bladder cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4701. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4701


With the rapid advance of enabling technologies, the era of 3D ICs is near. Yet, there are several practical problems to be solved for 3D ICs. Especially, heat removal and power delivery have become two major reliability concerns in 3D stacked IC technology. Recently, liquid cooling based on micro-fluidic channels is proposed as a viable solution to dramatically reduce the temperature of 3D ICs. In addition, a highly complex power distribution network is required to deliver currents to all parts of the 3D IC stack while suppressing power noise to an acceptable level. These technologies pose major challenges to signal routing. With a given amount of silicon area, signal, power, and thermal interconnects compete against one another for routing space. This paper presents an optimization study on signal, power, and thermal networks in 3D ICs. We demonstrate how to optimize various design parameters by adopting design of experiments and response surface method.


Abstract Complex formation between PbII and the common environmental inorganic ligands, Cl–, OH–, CO32–, SO42–, and PO43–, can be significant in natural waters with low concentrations of organic matter. Numerical modeling of the speciation of PbII amongst these inorganic ligands requires reliable values for the relevant stability (formation) constants. This paper provides a critical review of such constants and related thermodynamic data. It recommends values of log10 βp,q,r° valid at Im = 0 mol kg–1 and 25 °C (298.15 K), along with the equations and empirical coefficients required to calculate log10βp,q,r values at higher ionic strengths using the Brønsted–Guggenheim–Scatchard specific ion interaction theory (SIT). Some values for reaction enthalpies, ΔrH, are also reported. In weakly acidic fresh water systems (–log10 {[H+]/c°} < 6), the speciation of PbII is similar to that of CuII. In the absence of organic ligands, PbII speciation is dominated by Pb2+(aq), with PbSO4(aq) as a minor species. In weakly alkaline solutions, 8.0 < –log10 {[H+]/c°} < 9.0, the speciation is dominated by the carbonato species PbCO3(aq) and Pb(CO3)22–. In weakly acidic saline systems (–log10 {[H+]/c°} < 6), the speciation is dominated by PbCln(2–n)+ complexes, (n = 0–3), with Pb2+(aq) as a minor species. In this medium (and in seawater), the speciation contrasts with that of CuII because of the higher stability of the Pb2+-chlorido- complexes. In seawater at –log10 {[H+]/c°} = 8.2, the calculated speciation is less well defined, although it is clearly dominated by the uncharged species PbCO3(aq) (41 % of [Pb]T) with a significant contribution (16 %) from Pb(CO3)Cl– and minor contributions (5–10 %) from PbCln(2–n)+, (n = 0–3) and Pb(CO3)22–. The uncertainty in calculations of PbII speciation in seawater arises from (a) the large uncertainty in the stability constant for the apparently dominant species PbCO3(aq), (b) the reliance on statistical predictions for stability constants of the ternary species Pb(CO3)Cl– and Pb(CO3)OH–, and (c) the uncertainty in the stability constant for PbCl42–, the available value being considered "indicative" only. There is scope for additional detailed high-quality measurements in the Pb2+ + CO32– + Cl– system.


Practice guidelines, prediction rules, and protocols are now everywhere. During the past decade, a number of guidelines and prediction rules have become available to assist clinicians and patients in the diagnosis and treatment of many different conditions. Whether clinical recommendations are expressed as clinical practice guidelines, prediction rules, or protocols the intent is clear: to inform medical decisions and to decrease variations in care by systematically influencing clinical decisions. Specifically, the goal is to change the way we care for patients. In the past, there have been few intrusions in the privacy of the physician-patient relationship, and some clinicians are bcoming concerned that prediction rules and guidelines will devalue the "art of medicine" and threaten clinical autonomy. See also p 1935. Other clinicians may dismiss guidelines and prediction rules as another fad in health care management that will be replaced by the next up-and-coming fad. In support of their argument


The history of using tiles in Persian architecture dates back to the eleventh century. In the beginning, tiles were made of bricks and mounted with plaster. Thereafter, however, tiles were replaced with mosaics to decorate buildings. The technique of applying mosaics began in the thirteenth century and reached its summit during the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods between the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries. One of the most outstanding buildings in which mosaics were widely used is Ghaffarieh Dome, a fourteenth-century building in Maragheh, Eastern Azerbaijan. The Dome is especially noteworthy for its unique mosaic workings. Therefore, a thorough examination of the mosaics used in the Dome may pave the way for closer studies of the Ilkhanid mosaics (tile-workings) in Iran. Since there is little information on the material aspects of mosaics used in the Ghaffarieh Dome, the body and glaze of the mosaics were examined through instrumental analyses. In order to interpret the results of the analyses, they were compared with existing data about similar mosaics of Islamic lands. The presence of pyroxene (aluminum diopside) in some of the mosaic bodies revealed that the firing temperature limit in the kiln was not, most likely, uniform. Two kinds of glazes, alkaline and lead-based, were used to produce black and turquoise colors.


: Planning maintenance costs is not an easy task. The amount of costs depends on many factors, such as value, age, condition of the property, availability of necessary resources and adopted maintenance strategy. The paper presents a selection of models which allow to estimate the costs of building maintenance, which are then applied to an exemplary office building. The two of the models allow a quick estimation of the budget for the maintenance of the building, following only indicative values. Two other methods take into account the change in the value of money over time and allow to estimate, assuming the adopted strategy and assumed costs, the value of the current amount allocated to the maintenance of the building. The final model is based on the assumptions provided for in Polish legislation. Due to significant simplifications in the models, the obtained results are characterized by a considerable discrepancy. However, they may form the basis for the initial budget planning related to the maintenance of the building. The choice of the method is left to the decision makers, but it is important what input data the decision maker has and the purpose for which he performs the cost calculation.


This article contributes to the debate on time series properties of commodity cash and futures markets and the impact of speculation on commodity futures markets. We reconcile production theory, which predicts cash commodity prices will be mean-reverting, with the efficient market hypothesis which is consistent with unit root process for futures prices. It is shown that when the underlying cash price series does not contain a unit root, a nearby futures price series can be nonlinear, having martingale properties within each contract segment, and mean-reverting changes at contract rollover points. We develop a novel ECM-BEKK-MEX model that handles nonlinearities in futures prices in a simple and practical way, and allows full flexibility in modeling the impact of speculation on conditional cash and futures price variances while preserving positive definiteness of the bivariate variance matrix. The model is applied to the U.S. dairy sector.


The last truly significant revisions to federal water pollution legislation (the "Clean Water Act" or "CWA") occurred in 1972. The CWA has been among the nation's more successful environmental statutes, especially with respect to control of point source discharges of pollutants into surface waters. However, when viewed from the broader statutory objective to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters," the statutory tools are either too dull to accomplish the task, or in some cases the appropriate tools have yet to be forged at all. In this Article, I argue that the focus of the CWA should be modified or expanded in four ways. First, we need to make better use of current concepts of ecosystem resilience rather than the notion of ecosystem "stability" that prevailed when the 1972 law was passed. Second, we need to develop the statutory and other tools necessary to press forward with the restoration goal of the statute. Third, we need to pursue the long-recognized statutory gap in redressing non-industrial forms of water pollution from a much wider range of sources than traditional industrial and municipal point source discharges. Finally, we need to revise our definitions of "waters" and "waters of the United States" to focus on the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems for human and natural uses, rather than on the antiquated concept of navigability.


Known for their striking full-body tattoos and severed fingertips, Japan's gangsters comprise a criminal class eighty thousand strong--more than four times the size of the American Mafia. Despite their criminal nature, the yakuza are accepted by fellow Japanese to a degree guaranteed to shock most Westerners. Here is the first book to reveal the extraordinary reach of Japan's Mafia. Originally published in 1986, Yakuza was so controversial in Japan that it could not be published there for five years. But in the West it has long served as the standard reference on Japanese organized crime, inspiring novels, screenplays, and criminal investigations. David E. Kaplan and Alec Dubro spent nearly two decades conducting hundreds of interviews with everyone from street-level hoodlums and police to Japan's most powerful godfathers. The result is a searing indictment of corruption in the world's second-largest economy. This updated, expanded, and thoroughly revised edition of Yakuza tells the full story of Japan's remarkable crime syndicates, from their feudal start as bands of medieval outlaws to their emergence as billion-dollar investors in real estate, big business, art, and more.


OBJECTIVE: We conduct this study to investigate the expression level of miR-210 in elderly patients with COPD combined with ischemic stroke and analyzed its application value as a sensitive diagnostic indicator. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 50 cases of elderly patients with COPD combined with ischemic stroke were selected as group A, 50 cases of elderly patients with COPD were selected as group B, 50 cases of elderly patients with ischemic stroke were selected as group C, and 50 cases of healthy volunteers as group D. Real-time PCR assay for quantification was used to detect the expression level of miR-210 in peripheral blood and receiver operating curve (ROC) was used to analyze the diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy. RESULTS: MiR-210 level of group A was the lowest, followed by group B and group C; group D had the highest levels. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). MiR-210 levels decreased with an increasing decline degree of lung function and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). After miR-210 diagnosis, COPD sensitivity was 85.6%, the specificity was 72.6%, accuracy (AUC) was 0.821, and 95% CI 0.632-0.924. CONCLUSIONS: The down-regulation of MiR-210 expression in the COPD combined with ischemic stroke can be regarded as a sensitive index in diagnosis of COPD and ischemic stroke.


Grandparents' pressure groups have been campaigning for enhanced legal rights in relation to grandchildren. This article examines those campaigns and their outcomes in the context of contact disputes with parents. Although the groups have not achieved their objective of legislative change, it is suggested that they have made gains in other ways. In England and Wales grandparents have been included as significant figures in the new parenting plans and in Scotland there is a new charter for grandchildren. It is argued that grandparent pressure groups have succeeded in establishing an extra-legal norm favouring contact between grandparents and grandchildren. It is suggested that this success cannot be attributed to empirical evidence demonstrating the benefits of such contact; the evidence is not conclusive. Rather it can be attributed to strategies aimed at reconstructing children's welfare to include ties with grandparents. In addition, the welfare principle has been re-interpreted to designate as harmful any resistance on the part of resident parents, usually mothers. Grandparent groups have benefited directly and indirectly from the campaigns of fathers' rights groups which have not only emphasised contact and continuity, but have politicised the issue and have opened the way to the condemnation of mothers who oppose contact. The effect of the success of these campaigns is likely to be increased pressure on resident mothers to accede to contact. This may be to the detriment of both mothers and children.


Fan noise is an important noise source in computers. The noise spectrum of fans contains tonal noise, found at the so-called Blade Passing Frequency (BPF) and its higher harmonics, that plays an important role in the perceived sound quality. An acoustic resonator integrated in the duct of an induct axial fan causes an impedance change in the duct and, depending on the dimensions and location, the resonator acts as an acoustic mirror reflecting the noise back to the fan. By using a resonator on both the inlet and outlet side of the fan the emitted noise can be contained between the resonators thus reducing the noise radiated to the surroundings. In previous publications by the authors, a model was outlined describing viscothermal wave propagation in the duct and in different resonator geometries. A model of the complete resonator setup can be constructed by coupling the solutions for wave propagation in the different elements of the setup. Such a modular model can be used to determine the resonator dimensions and position to optimally reflect noise near the BPF. An important factor in this model is the element that describes noise generation and scattering of incident sound waves by the fan. The description of such an element was not yet available and is presented in this paper. Furthermore, an experimental setup is presented that was built to obtain the different model parameters and to experimentally validate the theory.


Aims: To describe early linear and ponderal growth, collagen turnover, bone osteoblastic activity and growth, and insulin like growth factor (IGF) axis activity during rehabilitation of severely malnourished children and compare the effect of 3 regimens of zinc supplementation. Methods: 141 children were randomised in a double blind trial to either regimen 1: 1.5 mg/kg/day (mg of elemental zinc per kg body weight of zinc sulphate) for 15 days followed by placebo for 15 days, or regimen 2: 6.0mg/kg/day for 15 days followed by placebo for 15 days, or regimen 3: 6.0mg/kg/day for 30 days. Markers of collagen formation (serum pro-collagen type 1 c terminal propeptide (PICP), and type 3 n terminal propeptide (P3NP)) and degradation (plasma cross-linked telopeptide of type 1 collagen (ICTP)), osteoblastic activity (bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP)), IGFl and insulin like growth factor binding proteins 2 and 3 (IGFBP2 and IGFBP3) were assessed. Results: There were no significant differences between zinc regimens in anthropometric or biochemical marker change. Mortality was significantly increased in children who received high dose zinc (6.0mg/kg) initially (Yates corrected chi-square p value of 0.033). Linear growth was significantly associated with initial weight-for-height Z score (WHZ). Plasma IGF-I, IGFBP-3, PICP, P3NP and BAP were low and increased whilst IGFBP-2 and ICTP were increased and fell during refeeding (P 0.001). IGFBP2 correlated positively with ICTP and negatively with PICP, BAP, IGFl and IGFBP3 (p 0.01). Ponderal growth correlated with increases in IGF-I, IGFBP-3, PICP, P3NP and BAP over 30 days (P 0.01). Linear growth over 90 days correlated with increases of IGFBP-3 (P 0.05), PICP (P 0.01) and P3NP (P 0.01). Conclusions: Alterations in the Growth Hormone /IGF axis in response to diet may control the coupling of bone resorption to formation and collagen deposition. There is no benefit in using higher dose zinc regimens and they might contribute to increased mortality.


The "Shelah Conjecture" proposes a description of fields whose first-order theories are without the Independence Property (IP): they are finite, separably closed, real closed, or admit a non-trivial henselian valuation. One of the most prominent dividing lines in the contemporary model-theoretic universe, IP holds in a theory if there is a formula that can define arbitrary subsets of arbitrarily large finite sets. In 2020, Johnson gave a proof of the conjecture in an important case; namely, the case of dp-finite (roughly: finite dimensional) theories of fields. Combined with a result of Halevi–Hasson–Jahnke, Johnson's Theorem completely classifies the dp-finite theories of fields. We will explain this classification, describe some ingredients of the proof, and explore how Johnson's Theorem and the Shelah Conjecture fit into the bigger picture.


Background When partial coverage restorations (veneers, inlays, onlays…) must be cemented to dentin, bond strength may not reach the same predictable values as to enamel. The purpose of this study was: 1. To compare, with a shear bond test, the bond strength to dentin of a total-etch and a self-etching bonding agent. 2. To determine whether creating microretention improves the bond strength to dentin. Material and Methods Two bonding agents were assayed, Optibond FL® (Kerr), two-bottle adhesive requiring acid etching, and Clearfil SE Bond® (Kuraray), two-bottle self-etching adhesive. The vestibular, lingual, distal and mesial surfaces of ten molars (n=10) were ground to remove all enamel and 40 ceramic samples were cemented with Variolink II® (Ivoclar Vivadent). Half the molar surfaces were treated to create round microretention (pits) to determine whether these could influence bond strength to dentin. The 40 molar surfaces were divided into four groups (n=10): Optibond FL (O); Clearfil SE (C); Optibond FL + microretention (OM); Clearfil SE + micro retention (CM). A shear bond test was performed and the bond failures provoked examined under an optical microscope. Results O=35.27±8.02 MPa; C=36.23±11.23 MPa; OM=28.61±6.27 MPa; CM=27.01±7.57 MPa. No statistically significant differences were found between the adhesives. Optibond FL showed less statistical dispersion than Clearfil SE. The presence of microretentions reduced bond strength values regardless of the adhesive used. Conclusions 1. Clearfil SE self-etching adhesive and Optibond FL acid-etch showed adequate bond strengths and can be recommended for bonding ceramic restorations to dentin. 2. The creation of round microretention pits compromises these adhesives' bond strength to dentin. Key words:Adhesion to dentin, bonding agent, Optibond FL, Clearfil SE, microretention, shear bond test.


The mTOR pathway integrates diverse environmental inputs, including immune signals and metabolic cues, to direct the innate and adaptive immune responses. MDSCs are a heterogeneous cell population that plays a crucial regulatory effect in immune‐related diseases. However, whether mTOR signaling affects the functions of MDSCs remains largely unknown. Here, we show that mTOR signaling is a pivotal negative determinant of MDSC recruitment in IMH disease. In the context of IMH, inhibition of mTOR with rapamycin in CD11b+Gr1+ MDSCs mediates protection against IMH and serves as a functional, suppressive immune modulator that results in increased CD11b+Gr1+Ly6Chigh MDSC recruitment to inflammatory sites. In agreement with this, mTOR down‐regulation promotes CD11b+Gr1+Ly6Chigh MDSC migration in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, mTOR activity down‐regulation in MDSCs induced iNOS expression and NO production. Pharmacologic inhibition of iNOS completely eliminated MDSC recruitment. This study identifies MDSCs as an essential component for protection against IMH following rapamycin treatment. Rapamycin treatment or mTOR inhibition promotes CD11b+Gr1+Ly6Chigh MDSC recruitment and is critically required for protection against hepatic injury. This study further validates the targeting of mTOR signaling as a potential therapeutic approach to IMH‐related diseases.


This paper attempts to analyze the psychological biases that affect investors in making risky investment decisions based on the theory of Myopic Loss Aversion (MLA). The data were obtained from two sources (students and stock investors) which in turn were manipulated by two types of treatment (frequent and infrequent), using a mixed design of betweenwithin subjects with a 2 x 2 factorial. The experimental result showed the consistency of the two groups of participants to the theory of the MLA. Analysis of the gender showed that the boldness levels of the male participants and female participants in the group of investors were the same, while in the student group, gender showed a significant influence. Other findings included a "shock-effect" experienced by the participants during the experiment.  Keywords: behavioral finance, myopic loss aversion, frequent-infrequent, gender, and shock-effect


X-ray crystallography is the most powerful technique for structural determination of proteins, a vital research tool, enabling insight at the atomic level, of the three dimensional structure of key protein receptors for potential drug compounds. To be successful, single, high quality crystals of the compound in question are required. Current methods to produce crystals involve frustratingly long timescales, extensive trial and error using large amounts of material, and have no guarantee of success. Polymorphic compounds add another level of frustration, requiring the thermodynamic control of crystallisation in order to overcome Ostwald's rule of stages, which considers crystallisation from bulk solution to be under kinetic control with metastable polymorphs often crystallising initially. These factors have led to what is currently referred to as the "bottle-neck" of protein crystallisation, an acute problem motivating the rapid development of protein crystallisation techniques.
This thesis aims to alleviate the bottle-neck found in protein crystallisation by exploring protein crystallisation using microemulsions; a technique, which until now, has only been successfully applied to the thermodynamic control of crystallisation for small compounds, such as 5-methyl-2-[(2-nitrophenyl)amino]-3-thiophenecarbonitrile (commonly known as ROY) and glycine. Through the application of several different surfactant systems for the crystallisation of model protein, Lysozyme, this thesis explores the use of microemulsions with the aim of producing high quality single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction experiments.
Numerous, large, high quality, single crystals of Lysozyme were successfully grown using a TritonX-100/1-hexanol surfactant system in which an anti-solvent, mixed microemulsion method was applied. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was effectively used to confirm formation of microemulsions and led to the determination of droplet sizes using generalised indirect Fourier Transform (GIFT) analysis. X-ray diffraction experiments showed single crystals grown from microemulsions to have a high internal order, with the resultant data sets of a publishable quality and of a comparative quality to data sets collected from crystals grown using standard vapour diffusion crystallisation techniques.
This thesis demonstrates, for the first time, that microemulsions can be successfully used to produce high quality, single crystals of the protein, Lysozyme, shining light on this novel technique as a potential means of relieving the bottle-neck of protein crystallisation. Future directions of this work include exploring the robustness of the microemulsion crystallisation technique with other proteins such as insulin, glucose isomerase and albumin. Expanding this novel technique to the crystallisation of membrane proteins may be initially explored through the crystallisation of a 25 residue, membrane spanning part of the M2 protein of the influenza virus. This would provide an interesting starting point due to the proteins' biological importance as a target of anti-influenza drugs.


Sterile alpha motif (SAM) domains are common protein modules in eukaryotic cells. It has not been possible to assign functions to uncharacterized SAM domains because they have been found to participate in diverse functions ranging from protein–protein interactions to RNA binding. Here we computationally identify likely members of the subclass of SAM domains that form polymers. Sequences were virtually threaded onto known polymer structures and then evaluated for compatibility with the polymer. We find that known SAM polymers score better than the vast majority of known nonpolymers: 100% (7 of 7) of known polymers and only 8% of known nonpolymers (1 of 12) score above a defined threshold value. Of 2901 SAM family members, we find 694 that score above the threshold and are likely polymers, including SAM domains from the proteins Lethal Malignant Brain Tumor, Bicaudal‐C, Liprin‐β, Adenylate Cyclase, and Atherin. Proteins 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Creating robots that can perform general-purpose service tasks in a human-populated environment has been a longstanding grand challenge for AI and Robotics research. One particularly valuable skill that is relevant to a wide variety of tasks is the ability to locate and retrieve objects upon request. This paper models this skill as a Scavenger Hunt (SH) game, which we formulate as a variation of the NP-hard stochastic traveling purchaser problem. In this problem, the goal is to find a set of objects as quickly as possible, given probability distributions of where they may be found. We investigate the performance of several solution algorithms for the SH problem, both in simulation and on a real mobile robot. We use Reinforcement Learning (RL) to train an agent to plan a minimal cost path, and show that the RL agent can outperform a range of heuristic algorithms, achieving near optimal performance. In order to stimulate research on this problem, we introduce a publicly available software stack and associated website that enable users to upload scavenger hunts which robots can download, perform, and learn from to continually improve their performance on future hunts.


PURPOSE
To examine the direct relationship between the extent of treatment with krypton red laser photocoagulation and visual acuity loss in eyes with choroidal neovascularization secondary to ocular histoplasmosis or age-related macular degeneration.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Photographic and visual acuity records from 129 eyes treated in the Ocular Histoplasmosis Study--Krypton Laser and 224 eyes treated in the Age-Related Macular Degeneration Study--Krypton Laser were reviewed. The proportion of eyes with severe visual acuity loss (6 or more lines of loss) was examined for subgroups of eyes based on the distance of the neovascular lesion from the center of the foveal avascular zone and on the extent of laser treatment to the lesion. Differences in the proportions with severe visual acuity loss were evaluated by longitudinal data analysis methods.

RESULTS
Among eyes in the Ocular Histoplasmosis Study--Krypton Laser with lesions less than 200 microns from the center of the foveal avascular zone, only 5% of eyes with laser treatment that covered the foveal side and had a narrow (< or = 100 microns) border of treatment to adjacent uninvolved retina experienced severe visual acuity loss compared with approximately 25% of eyes with either some of the foveal side of the lesion left untreated or a wide border of treatment on the foveal side. Treatment extent had little influence on severe visual acuity loss in eyes in the Ocular Histoplasmosis Study--Krypton Laser with neovascular lesions 200 to 500 microns from the center of the foveal avascular zone or in eyes in the Age-Related Macular Degeneration Study--Krypton Laser with lesions in either distance category.

CONCLUSIONS
Accurate, complete treatment of choroidal neovascularization close to the foveal center is required to provide the patient with the best chance of avoiding further severe visual acuity loss, especially in patients with ocular histoplasmosis. Even among experienced retinal specialists, the required accuracy of treatment is difficult to achieve.


We point out that the existence of global symmetries in a field theory is not an essential ingredient in its relation with an integrable model. We describe an obvious construction which, given an integrable spin chain, yields a field theory whose 1-loop scale transformations are generated by the spin chain Hamiltonian. We also identify a necessary condition for a given field theory to be related to an integrable spin chain. As an example, we describe an anisotropic and parity-breaking generalization of the XXZ Heisenberg spin chain and its associated field theory. The system has no nonabelian global symmetries and does not admit a supersymmetric extension without the introduction of more propagating bosonic fields. For the case of a 2-state chain we find the spectrum and the eigenstates. For certain values of its coupling constants the field theory associated to this general type of chain is the bosonic sector of the Leigh-Strassler deformation of N = 4 SYM theory.


We herein present the first case of energy transfer process in an inorganic chalcogenide-based semiconductor zeolite material (coded as RWY) serving as UV–vis light-harvesting host. A multistep vectorial energy transfer assay was fabricated by encapsulating acridine orange (AO) molecules into the RWY porous framework and further covering the formed capsules with rhodamine B (RhB) molecules. The UV high-energy excitations absorbed by RWY host were channeled to AO molecules and then onto RhB molecules to give rise to visible-light emission. The steady-state fluorescence and confocal microscope as well as fluorescent dynamics of emission reveal successfully the process of multistep vectorial energy transfer. This inorganic-host-involved energy transfer process has never been observed in an insulating oxide-based zeolite host system. Therefore, chalcogenide-based semiconductor zeolites could be a class of promising host materials to be further explored in the field of energy transfer and electron transfer bet...


The subject of this thesis is the application of Support Vector Machines on two totally different applications, facial expressions recognition and remote sensing.The basic idea of kernel algorithms is to transpose input data in a higher dimensional space, the feature space, in which linear operations on the data can be processed more easily. These operations in the feature space can be expressed in terms of input data thanks to the kernel functions. Support Vector Machines is a classifier using this kernel method by computing, in the feature space and on basis of examples of the different classes, hyperplanes that separate the classes. The hyperplanes in the feature space correspond to non linear surfaces in the input space.Concerning facial expressions, the aim is to train and test a classifier able to recognise, on basis of some pictures of faces, which emotion (among these six ones: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sad, and surprise) that is expressed by the person in the picture. In this application, each picture has to be seen has a point in an N-dimensional space where N is the number of pixels in the image.The second application is the detection of camouflage nets hidden in vegetation using a hyperspectral image taken by an aircraft. In this case the classification is computed for each pixel, represented by a vector whose elements are the different frequency bands of this pixel.


Recent experimental studies have indicated the potential for ultraviolet-C irradiation at 222nm (Far-UVC) to be used in occupied rooms to safely reduce exposure to airborne pathogens. We present simulations applying a Monte Carlo radiation transfer model with a computational fluid dynamics model to predict the spatial variation in airborne microorganism inactivation. Our simulations effectively reproduce data from steady state experiments in a room-sized bio-aerosol chamber for the reduction of aerosolised Staphylococcus aureus. Application of the validated model suggests that germicidal Far-UVC lamps could reduce levels of airborne human coronavirus by more than 90% in rooms with low ventilation rates. The inactivation of pathogens by Far-UVC is more efficient than previously thought, due to the complex path that particles take within the three dimensional airflow and UVC irradiance pattern. Depending on the UVC-susceptibility of the aerosolised pathogen, Far-UVC lamps have the potential to provide effective room air change rates in excess of 100 equivalent air changes per hour, much greater than is possible with mechanical ventilation or filtration devices. The success of our simulations at reproducing the experimental data provides confidence that we can simulate larger environments and inform best practices for installations of germicidal Far-UVC lamps.


After years of research being dominated by Western scientific models and ways of knowing, Indigenous knowledge production and translation is gaining increasing attention and recognition. As a consequence this has led to the development of Collaborative Centres of Indigenous Health Research such as the Lowitja Institute in Australia. It is believed that a sharing of knowledge between Indigenous and non-Inidgenous people will lead to a collborative, culturally appropriate approach to research that can achieve postive benefits to 'close the gap' in Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander health disparities.


Animal experiments and limited data in humans suggest that electrical stimulation of the vestibular end organs could be used to treat loss of vestibular function. In this paper we demonstrate that canal-specific two-dimensionally (2D) measured eye velocities are elicited from intermittent brief 2 s biphasic pulse electrical stimulation in four human subjects implanted with a vestibular prosthesis. The 2D measured direction of the slow phase eye movements changed with the canal stimulated. Increasing pulse current over a 0-400 μA range typically produced a monotonic increase in slow phase eye velocity. The responses decremented or in some cases fluctuated over time in most implanted canals but could be partially restored by changing the return path of the stimulation current. Implantation of the device in Meniere's patients produced hearing and vestibular loss in the implanted ear. Electrical stimulation was well tolerated, producing no sensation of pain, nausea, or auditory percept with stimulation that elicited robust eye movements. There were changes in slow phase eye velocity with current and over time, and changes in electrically evoked compound action potentials produced by stimulation and recorded with the implanted device. Perceived rotation in subjects was consistent with the slow phase eye movements in direction and scaled with stimulation current in magnitude. These results suggest that electrical stimulation of the vestibular end organ in human subjects provided controlled vestibular inputs over time, but in Meniere's patients this apparently came at the cost of hearing and vestibular function in the implanted ear.


Purpose:Spatially fractionated GRID therapy is utilized to treat large tumors by irradiating the volume through isolated small openings. The technique has shown high efficacy for bulky tumors, but it is used at relatively few facilities. In this study, we exploit the use of a prototype brass GRID, which could make GRID therapy more attractive to physicians and more widely available to patients. Method and Materials: A prototype GRID compensator was constructed by milling divergent holes of 1 cm diameter at the isocenter in a cube of brass. The GRID block is manufactured so that it can irradiate a maximum field size of 25×25cm2. Measurements for the characterization of the dosimetric properties of the GRID were performed using a Varian 23Ex linac, in a solid water phantom at 100cm SSD, for both 6MV and 18MV. Radiographic films were placed perpendicular to the beam axis to obtain lateral profiles, and parallel to the beam axis to find the percent depth doses (PDDs). A pinpoint ion chamber under the central hole was used to find the output factors. Results: The profiles have an obvious peak and valley pattern, with transmissions under the solid portion of the block of approximately 15% for 6MV and 30% for 18MV. The PDDs are less penetrating than their open‐field counterparts, for both 6MV and 18MV when compared against the 10×10cm2 open field. Conclusion: This prototype brass GRID compensator is a viable alternative to the cerrobend compensators or MLC‐based fields currently in use. Its ease of creation and use give it decided advantages. We believe this compensator can be put to clinical use, and will allow more centers to offer GRID therapy to their patients. Research sponsored by .decimal corporation.


The maximum flooding event within a depositional sequence is an important datum for correlation because it represents a virtually synchronous horizon. This event is typically recognized by a distinctive physical surface and/or a significant change in microfossil assemblages (relative fossil abundance peaks) in siliciclastic deposits from shoreline to continental slope environments in a passive margin setting. Recognition of maximum flooding events in mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments is more complicated because the entire section usually represents deposition in continental shelf environments with varying rates of biologic and carbonate productivity versus siliciclastic influx. Hence, this event cannot be consistently identified simply by relative fossil abundance peaks. Factors such as siliciclastic input, carbonate productivity, sediment accumulation rates, and paleoenvironmental conditions dramatically affect the relative abundances of microfossils. Failure to recognize these complications can lead to a sequence stratigraphic interpretation that substantially overestimates the number of depositional sequences of 1 to 10 m.y. duration.


In this paper we study data mining techniques as tools for reducing the time needed to access Web pages in the environment of a corporation where users connect to the Internet through a proxy server. We add a data mining server to the traditional Web architecture. This server computes, using sequential patterns, the pages likely to be requested by the users, taking into account their Web access history. Then, the server loads these pages into the proxy's cache in order to have them available when they are actually asked for. We describe our implementation and the results obtained, showing that the average access time to a Web page can be dramatically reduced using this technique. Further, we also implemented our proposal using simple association rules, showing that sequential patterns result in a smaller and more accurate set of rules, as a consequence of taking into account the order of the requests. Finally, we discuss the differences with other prefetching proposals.


The importance of economic growth cannot be overstated. Income growth is ssential for achieving economic, social, and even political development. Countries that grow strongly and for sustained periods of time are able to reduce their poverty levels significantly, strengthen their democratic and political stability, improve the quality of their natural environment, and even diminish the incidence of crime and violence. Economic growth is not a panacea, but it greatly facilitates the implementation of public programs that complement its effects and correct its deficiencies, even if its direct beneficial impacts are modest.


Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are commonly used for modeling complex distributions of data. Both the generators and discriminators of GANs are often modeled by neural networks, posing a non-transparent optimization problem which is non-convex and non-concave over the generator and discriminator, respectively. Such networks are often heuristically optimized with gradient descent-ascent (GDA), but it is unclear whether the optimization problem contains any saddle points, or whether heuristic methods can find them in practice. In this work, we analyze the training of Wasserstein GANs with two-layer neural network discriminators through the lens of convex duality, and for a variety of generators expose the conditions under which Wasserstein GANs can be solved exactly with convex optimization approaches, or can be represented as convex-concave games. Using this convex duality interpretation, we further demonstrate the impact of different activation functions of the discriminator. Our observations are verified with numerical results demonstrating the power of the convex interpretation, with applications in progressive training of convex architectures corresponding to linear generators and quadratic-activation discriminators for CelebA image generation. The code for our experiments is available at https://github.com/ardasahiner/ProCoGAN.


The objective of this descriptive study was to evaluate the level of patient`s care complexity in a hospital unit belonging to a school hospital located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Data collection was carried out using the "Patient Classification System: a proposal to complement the instrument", by Fugulin et al., during thirty consecutive days. The use of this instrument resulted in 1.080 observations obtained from 156 patients' records. The majority of the patients required high level of care dependency; there were differences among the patient`s wards regarding gender and age, type of treatment and patients' level of care complexity. We concluded that there was a need to evaluate the health care providers in the institution, as well as to make adjustments regarding demands for technological and materials resources.


PEGDA hydrogels copolymerized with NVP using free-radical photopolymerization are used in biomedical applications. These networks consist of a poly(acrylate-co-vinyl pyrrolidone) backbone crosslinked with PEG chains whose crosslink density is dependent on the backbone molecular weight and composition. Insight into the network structure and characterization of the backbone molecular weight and composition is achieved by considering hydrogel degradation through ester bond hydrolysis resulting in the release of PEG and poly(acrylic acid-co-vinyl pyrrolidone). A model is developed to determine the influence of kinetic constants and phenomena on the backbone formation and is compared to experimental data. Results indicate that the backbone molecular weight is related to the amount of NVP and unaffected by polymerization time.


The LHCb detector is a forward spectrometer at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The experiment is designed for precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of beauty and charm hadrons. In this paper the performance of the various LHCb sub-detectors and the trigger system are described, using data taken from 2010 to 2012. It is shown that the design criteria of the experiment have been met. The excellent performance of the detector has allowed the LHCb collaboration to publish a wide range of physics results, demonstrating LHCb's unique role, both as a heavy flavour experiment and as a general purpose detector in the forward region.


Travel literature is abundant in the 14th century, and several literary works narrate a journey into the Mediterranean Sea: many are the stories of men traveling into those waters, but a few feature female protagonists. The intervention of this essay is twofold. First, on the basis of Fernand Braudel's definition of the Mediterranean as a "sea-movement" it explores the role of the Mediterranean in The Decameron by Boccaccio and "elsewhere," especially Boccaccio's own Filocolo, Piero da Siena's Bella Camilla, Le Roman de Floriant et de Florete and other stories featuring women navigating in the Mediterranean in 14th century literary works. Second, it establishes who the women traveling in those waters are by asking why they travel and whether or not they themselves chose to travel. Above all, it examines the consequences of their travels on their lives. From here we arrive at the ironic title of this essay: "Mediterranean Metamorphosis." When we wonder to what extent women have or have not been modified by their travels in the Mediterranean (the same body of water that men were constantly crossing), that sea changes from a "sea-in-movement" to a "sea-crystallized." Women travel, leave home and return exactly as they were when they left, possibly because theirs was mostly a journey they had not chosen to make. Thus we arrive at the second part of the title, "Traveling Penelopes": the situation of women traveling in the Mediterranean in The Decameron and "elsewhere" encompasses an illumination of a French manuscript of Boccaccio's De Casibus, where Penelope is seen calm and smiling, working her spindle while her suitors are behind her killing each other. Therefore, most women travel in the Mediterranean paradoxically in a dimension of total immobility; no modification from who they are at their departure is foreseen. For the Mediterranean to be a "social space" or "a place of exchange and sharing", a woman must be disguised as a man, like Zinevra and Camilla, or, like the Christian Gostanza from Lipari (Decameron V, 4). The Mediterranean in the 14th century is a dangerous place for women who have not chosen to travel in those waters, and remains a "social space" for men only.


In recent years, educational assistants (EAs) have taken on an integral role in special education. They often work with the most challenging and vulnerable student population (i.e., students with exceptionalities). To prepare EAs, some of Ontario's publicly funded colleges have developed pre-service training programs. In Ontario, the number of students receiving special education services from kindergarten to Grade 12 is increasing, and policy trends are advocating for inclusion. Literature has suggested that educators' attitudes toward educational inclusion may impact the extent to which inclusive strategies are implemented. Despite the importance that EAs bring to the special education team, very few studies have investigated their attitudes toward inclusion. This qualitative study investigated four pre-service EAs' attitudes toward educational inclusion through the use of semi-structured interviews. Participants held mostly positive attitudes toward inclusion, but expressed concerns about implementation. Recommendations are made for policy, practice, and research based on three themes that emerged from the data.


The High Court describes legislative intent as the outcome of 'accepted' rules of statutory interpretation 'assumed' by the judiciary, Parliament and the executive. The drafters of statutes, the parliamentary counsel, have been included as key players who work on the basis of these 'accepted' rules. But their work proceeds on explicit, not assumed, rules. At the federal level at least, there is publicly available material revealing principles actually adopted by the Commonwealth parliamentary counsel when drafting statutes. This article examines these materials and argues for the merit in considering them as an extrinsic interpretive aid. Knowing and understanding them will have implications for the 'accepted' rules of statutory interpretation and the notion of legislative intent.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: It is unclear whether the proportion of infants with a disorder of sex development who are raised as male or female has changed over time. The temporal trends in sex assignment of affected cases entered in the International Disorder of Sex Development (I-DSD) Registry were studied. METHODS: Cases of disorders of sex development reported as partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS; n = 118), disorder of gonadal development (DGD; n = 232), and disorder of androgen synthesis (DAS; n = 104) were divided into those who were born before 1990, 1990–1999, and after 1999. External appearance of the genitalia was described by the external masculinization score. RESULTS: The median (5th–95th percentile) external masculinization scores of those infants with PAIS, DGD, and DAS who were raised as boys were 6 (2–9), 6 (3–9), and 6 (1–12), respectively, and were significantly higher than in those raised as girls (2 [0–6], 2 [0–7], and 0 [0–5], respectively); this difference was maintained in the 3 temporal birth cohorts (P < .01). Of the 118 cases in the pre-1990 cohort, 41 (35%) were raised as boys; of the 148 cases in the 1990–1999 cohort, 60 (41%) were raised as boys; and of the 188 cases in the post-1999 cohort, 128 (68%) were raised as boys. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is an association between the external appearance of the genitalia and the choice of sex assignment, there are clear temporal trends in this practice pointing toward an increased likelihood of affected infants being raised as boys. The impact of this change in practice on long-term health outcomes requires additional focus.


There are several advantages with m-banking. Several related studies have shown that m-banking and indeed SMS-based mobile banking applications have become popular in many countries in Europe and America. The phenomenon remains not widely used in many others such as Nigeria. This study identified and investigated the factors that influence academics in Nigeria to use mbanking with focus on the evaluation of SMS-based mobile banking. The research model was adopted from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model (UTAUT). A survey questionnaire was administered to collect data from 150 academic staff and 350 university students of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The results show a positive correlation between customer service, type of bank and perceived ease of use and the use of m-banking. The implications of the results are crucial for technology adoption research and managers of banks in Nigeria.


We study three budget-neutral reforms of the German tax and transfer system designed to improve work incentives for people with low incomes: a feasible flat tax reform that provides a basic income which is equal to the current level of the means tested unemployment benefit, and two alternative reforms that involve employment subsidies to stimulate participation and full-time work, respectively. We estimate labor supply reactions and welfare effects using a microsimulation model based on household data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a structural labor supply model. We find that all three reforms increase labor supply in the first decile of the income distribution. However, the flat tax scenario reduces overall labor supply by 4.9%, the reform scenario designed to increase participation reduces labor supply by 1%, while the reform that provides improved incentives to work full-time has negligible effects on overall labor supply. With equal welfare weights, aggregate welfare gains are realizable under all three reforms.


We show, by considering some specific examples, that in the nonlinear theory of elasticity the application of the semi-inverse method has to be carried out very carefully. Usually, the strategy followed in applying the semi-inverse method while dealing with complex models is to generalize forms of solutions already known within the framework of a simpler theory. This is a smart strategy from a mathematical point of view, but from the physical point of view, it may be imprudent. For example, in the theory of nonlinear elasticity, we are at times motivated by the results obtained in the incompressible case to arrive at an understanding of what happens in the compressible case, and by doing so, many important exact solutions for special classes of compressible elastic materials have been obtained successfully. Sometimes, the admissibility of a given deformation field is considered to delineate special classes of constitutive laws. We wish to point out that the classes of constitutive equations thus identified from the standpoint that it may admit a type of deformation may lead to models that exhibit physically unacceptable mechanical behavior. To illustrate the dangers inherent to merely turning the mathematical crank to determine classes of constitutive equations where a certain class of deformations are possible, we consider the torsion of a cylindrical shaft and the propagation of transverse waves in a compressible nonlinear elastic material and show that care has to be exercised in appealing to the semi-inverse method.


Lift systems is one of the most important vertical transportation systems in a multi storey and/or high rise building. Its positioning placement needs to be of exacting standards as it affects the efficiency of movement for the building's occupants. The title of this research is "Major Causes of Lift Breakdown in High Rise Building at Shah Alam" covers a little bit on the aspects of lift maintenances of component, planning of the maintenances and to find out the cause of lift breakdown. The case study building are includes Menara MRCB, Bangunan Darul Ehsan and Plaza Perangsang. The aim of this research is to identify the major cause of lift breakdown and purpose to select the relevant method to reduce and furthermore to avoid the lift breakdown at the selected case study. This research also to identify that any component of the lift that usually need the maintenance purpose to achieved the target of research. This research included how to indentified or find any error reach out from all component of elevator. The understanding about lift components and major causes will help to integrate the planning and implementation of the maintenance works. The method for get any results and finding using by questionnaire and observation at the case study and analyze the question with use the Microsoft excel for get pie chart and gathered all information from the respondents.


BACKGROUND
It has been proposed that body positioning in preterm infants, as compared with other, more invasive measures, may be an effective method of reducing clinically significant apnoea.

OBJECTIVES
To determine effects of body positioning on cardiorespiratory parameters in spontaneously breathing preterm infants with clinically significant apnoea.Subgroup analyses examined effects of body positioning of spontaneously breathing preterm infants with apnoea from the following subgroups.• Gestational age < 28 weeks or birth weight less than 1000 grams.• Apnoea managed with methylxanthines.• Frequent apnoea (> 10 events/d).• Type of apnoea measured (central vs mixed vs obstructive)

SEARCH METHODS
We used the standard search strategy of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group (CNRG) to search the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; 2016, Issue 10), MEDLINE via PubMed (1966 to 14 November 2016), Embase (1980 to 14 November 2016) and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL; 1982 to 2016 November 14). We also searched clinical trials databases and conference proceedings for randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised trials.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised and quasi-randomised controlled clinical trials with parallel, factorial or cross-over design comparing the impact of different body positions on apnoea in spontaneously breathing preterm infants were eligible for our review.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
We assessed trial quality, data extraction and synthesis of data using standard methods of the CNRG. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the quality of evidence.

MAIN RESULTS
The search conducted in November 2016 identified no new studies. Five studies (N = 114) were eligible for inclusion. None of the individual studies nor meta-analyses showed a reduction in apnoea, bradycardia, oxygen desaturation or oxygen saturation with body positioning (supine vs prone; prone vs right lateral; prone vs left lateral; right lateral vs left lateral; prone horizontal vs prone head elevated; right lateral horizontal vs right lateral head elevated, left lateral horizontal vs left lateral head elevated).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
We found insufficient evidence to determine effects of body positioning on apnoea, bradycardia and oxygen saturation in preterm infants. No new studies have been conducted since the original review was published. Large, multi-centre studies are warranted to provide conclusive evidence, but it may be plausible to conclude that positioning of spontaneously breathing preterm infants has no effect on their cardiorespiratory parameters.


For an even integer k, let r2k(n) be the number of representations of n as a sum of 2k squares. The quantity r2k(n) is approximated by the classical singular series ρ2k(n) nk−1. Deligne's bound on the Fourier coefficients of Hecke eigenforms gives that r2k(n) = ρ2k(n) + O(d(n)n k−1 2 ). We determine the optimal implied constant in this estimate provided that either k/2 or n is odd. The proof requires a delicate positivity argument involving Petersson inner products.


This study is motivated by the growing importance of Integrated Reporting as an innovative reporting initiative to foster representation of sustainable value creation over time. Focusing on the International Integrated Reporting Council's (IIRC) framework on Integrated Reporting , it examines: whether adoption is associated with Integrated Thinking, conceived as a long-term and broad concept of value creation focused on financial and nonfinancial capitals (e.g. human, natural, social, or intellectual), as well as with Integrated Performance, a balanced view of results based on economic, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pillars. To capture Integrated Thinking, it looks at nonfinancial and long-term targets in CEO compensation and the presence of 'integrated' strategy and management, while it considers the combined economic, environmental, social and governance scores, as proxies of Integrated Performance. Evidence shows that, compared to non-adopters, adopters (as identified in the IIRC's website) are more likely to embrace Integrated Thinking by linking CEO compensation to non-financial targets (human, intellectual, social, and natural) and to the ability to create value in the long term. Furthermore, such firms achieve superior Integrated Performance and better ESG results. Finally, they are also transparent about executives' incentive and remuneration and their link with value creation by mean of the capitals, disclosing such information through the . Overall, these results shed light on the potential of to increase Integrated Thinking and performance measured both in financial and non-financial terms and also show that plays a role in fostering transparency for remuneration, and more generally for incentives policies.


AIMS: The safety of bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) has recently been challenged. However, it is unclear whether outcomes depend on the complexity of the lesion or on the technique used to implant the device. The aim of this study was to report on the outcomes after BRS implantation in complex lesions. METHODS AND RESULTS: This investigator-initiated, single-centre, single-arm observational study recruited 657 consecutive patients (79% male, 66.7% acute coronary syndrome, age 63±12 years). Three hundred and twenty-two lesions (42.3%) in 297 (45.2%) patients with type B2 or C lesions were classified as the "complex lesions group". Post-procedural residual stenosis was slightly but significantly greater in the complex lesions group (15.7±11.3% vs. 13.5±10.2%, p=0.0109). The median follow-up was 1,076 (762-1,206) days without difference between groups. The Kaplan-Meier rates of early scaffold thrombosis (3.5% vs. 1.1%, p=0.0478, HR 3.03 [1.06-8.70]) and scaffold restenosis (9.9% vs. 9.1%, p=0.0262, HR 2.34 [1.11-4.94]) were higher in patients with complex lesions than in those with simple lesions. Late/very late thrombosis, death, repeat myocardial infarction, or repeat coronary interventions were not different. In patients in whom strict guidelines for implantation were applied, the incidence of thrombosis was reduced by 76% in complex lesions and by 92% in simple ones, such that there were no differences between groups (2.3% vs. 0.5%, p=0.3899). In contrast, the incidence of scaffold restenosis was reduced by 59% and 89%, and a difference between groups persisted (7.0% vs. 1.6%, p=0.0235). CONCLUSIONS: BRS implantation in complex lesions is, as expected, associated with higher incidence of events as compared to simple ones. The technique used at the time of the implantation, however, reduces the incidence of adverse outcomes.


The whole-genome shotgun sequencing technique has been successfully applied to environmental genomes. However, a considerable amount of DNA sequences and small contigs remain generally unassembled after the shotgun sequencing. Binning is a step of grouping these sequences based on some biological and molecular features. The combination of oligonucleotide frequency and Self-Organising Maps (SOM) clustering algorithm shows high potential as a compositional binning tool. As the previous work did not provide methods for assessing results, we proposed a systematic quantitative method to evaluate the clustering results specifically for this type of application. We used this method to investigate the suitability of each of di, tri, tetra and pentanucleotide frequencies as training feature for this binning technique. The results show that dinucleotide frequency is unable to bin Wkb DNA sequence fragments into well-clustered species groups. Furthermore, we noticed that increasing order of oligonucleotide frequency may deteriorate the assignment of DNA sequences to classes in our test, which indicates the possible existence of optimal species-specific oligonucleotide frequency. Results suggest that using trinucleotide frequency for the combination of oligonucleotide frequency and SOM as a binning process gives sufficiently good clustering quality in this case.


Due to the enormous energy consumption and associated environmental concerns, data centers have been increasingly pressured to reduce long-term net carbon footprint to zero, i.e., carbon neutrality. In this paper, we propose an online algorithm, called COCA (optimizing for COst minimization and CArbon neutrality), for minimizing data center operational cost while satisfying carbon neutrality without long-term future information. Unlike the existing research, COCA enables distributed server-level resource management: each server autonomously adjusts its processing speed and optimally decides the amount of workloads to process. We prove that COCA achieves a close-to-minimum operational cost (incorporating both electricity and delay costs) compared to the optimal algorithm with future information, while bounding the potential violation of carbon neutrality. We also perform trace-based simulation studies to complement the analysis, and the results show that COCA reduces cost by more than 25% (compared to state of the art) while resulting in a smaller carbon footprint.


The current study has examined the market segmentation practices of the commercial banks in Kenya by commercial banks in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to analyze the extent to which market segmentation strategy is used in service provision by the commercial banks in Kenya; to assess the factors that influence market segmentation by commercial banks in Kenya; and to evaluate challenges to effective implementation of market segmentation. A descriptive design was used to undertake the current study. In this case, it was possible for the researcher to administer the data collection tools to the respondents in their workstations, which was relatively easy, with high likelihood of increasing the response rate. The population of interest in this study was all the commercial banks in Kenya. According to the Central Bank of Kenya report as at 30 th June 2008, there were 42 commercial banks in Kenya. A census was considered for the study owing to the fact the all the commercial banks have their offices strategically located within the Nairobi Central Business District and its environs. The study respondents from each of the banks were the heads of business development or their equivalent since they are the people charged with the responsibility of spearheading the strategic direction of their organization's business. Primary data was collected from the respondents using Semi-structured questionnaires. The researcher used interview schedules with open questions, aimed at meeting the objectives of the study. For purposes of the current study, the data was analyzed by employing descriptive statistics such as percentages, mean scores and standard deviations. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the basic features of the data in the study. Descriptive Statistics is used to present quantitative descriptions in a manageable form and aid in simplifying large amounts of data in a sensible way. Each descriptive statistic reduces lots of data into a simpler summary. For purposes of presentation, frequency tables, charts and bar graphs were used. Findings of the study show that the segmentation used by commercial banks in Kenya include behavioral, demographic, psychographic/Lifestyle, benefits, usage, loyalty, image, situation and geographic. The factors that influence adoption of market segmentation by commercial banks in Kenya includes; changing customer preferences, competition and technological Changes. Other influencing factors include; customer retention and quality services. Challenges to effective implementation of market segmentation include political factors, technological factors, legal factors, resource constrains, competition, different customer social backgrounds, religious background, and different customer preferences. Key w ords: Market segmentation, Commercial banks, Changing customer preferences, Competition, Technological changes, Customer retention, Quality services


Massive extinction of species is to a large extent caused by a combination of poverty and population growth, as biodiversity overlaps with poverty stricken regions leading to the spiral of degradation induced by poverty-environment nexus. Present plethora of protectionist approaches focused on nature conservation detached from market based solutions targeting human populations in biodiversity hotspot zones, can be labelled as shortsighted as the principal cause for damage – sustained destructive activity of Homo Sapiens Sapiens - has not been tackled. Although microfinance as a tool to combat poverty can offer a complementary tool for nature protection through creation of frameworks that take into account the value of biodiverse environment, being one of the main economic assets of the local population, the relationship between microfinance and biodiversity conservation remains unexplored. This paper studies microfinance clientele in an Indonesian biodiversity hotspot and proposes an institutional combination of intelligent funding instruments for assistencialist MFIs, linking fight against poverty with pro-biodiversity business.


There is a scene in the film Crocodile Dundee in which a young hoodlum threatens the titular protagonist with a knife. In response to his girlfriend's tremulous observation of this fact, Dundee, unfazed, brandishes a comically much larger knife and quips sardonically, "that's not a knife . . . THIS is a knife." The hood turns tail, Dundee returns the knife to its sheath, and the film chugs merrily on. I was reminded of this scene several times while reading Robert J. Sampson's Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect (GAC). With respect to social scientists past, present, and future: THIS is a book. For starters, the empirical core of GAC relies on no fewer than six original (both words merit emphasis, in my view) data collection efforts—all with several to many thousands of cases and most with multiple waves—grouped under the umbrella moniker Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). At least three additional secondary data sources were concatenated to the family of PHDCN studies to measure neighborhood demographics, crime, and the incidence of stranger assistance to heart attack victims. Like tiles in a mosaic, each data set focuses on particular types of neighborhood social processes and outcomes. Sampson and several collaborators employed the PHDCN data to investigate the causes and consequences of neighborhood effects; that is, the structural bases, emergent social properties, and spatially ordered outcomes of local communities. The first part of the book describes the motivations and theory animating the PHDCN, while the second describes the analytic approach and details of the project itself. Indeed, one of the many treasures of the book is Chapter 4, which describes the techniques, challenges, and dramas of putting the PHDCN together. This chapter includes details on both the project logic and associated sampling strategies, but also juicier tidbits on bruised egos, bribes, and lawsuits. Here Sampson shows that social science research is itself a social process. Parts III and IV collectively are the theoretical and empirical centerpiece of the book. Part III focuses on what most readers have probably run across if they have read previous work by Sampson and his collaborators. This section includes chapters on the spatial clustering of a variety of variables and processes, including socioeconomic disadvantage, the relationship between actual and perceived disorder, collective efficacy, civic events and neighborhood organizational capacity, and social altruism and cynicism. The last chapter in this section contains wholly new findings that provide intriguing evidence on the relationships between collective efficacy, altruistic social behavior, and neighborhood violence. Part IV moves beyond between-neighborhood differences and focuses on the linkages and spatial interdependencies of neighborhoods. In this section Sampson shows that neighborhoods are deeply interconnected in Chicago via mobility flows and elite networks. He also uses this section to reprise his critique of the conclusion (somewhat overstated in social science gossip


This book presents a methodology and philosophy of empirical science based on large scale lossless data compression. In this view a theory is scientific if it can be used to build a data compression program, and it is valuable if it can compress a standard benchmark database to a small size, taking into account the length of the compressor itself. This methodology therefore includes an Occam principle as well as a solution to the problem of demarcation. Because of the fundamental difficulty of lossless compression, this type of research must be empirical in nature: compression can only be achieved by discovering and characterizing empirical regularities in the data. Because of this, the philosophy provides a way to reformulate fields such as computer vision and computational linguistics as empirical sciences: the former by attempting to compress databases of natural images, the latter by attempting to compress large text databases. The book argues that the rigor and objectivity of the compression principle should set the stage for systematic progress in these fields. The argument is especially strong in the context of computer vision, which is plagued by chronic problems of evaluation.
The book also considers the field of machine learning. Here the traditional approach requires that the models proposed to solve learning problems be extremely simple, in order to avoid overfitting. However, the world may contain intrinsically complex phenomena, which would require complex models to understand. The compression philosophy can justify complex models because of the large quantity of data being modeled (if the target database is 100 Gb, it is easy to justify a 10 Mb model). The complex models and abstractions learned on the basis of the raw data (images, language, etc) can then be reused to solve any specific learning problem, such as face recognition or machine translation.


Background: The T1D Exchange Quality Improvement Collaborative (T1DX-QI) is a learning network of over forty US type 1 diabetes clinics. Participating clinics share data for benchmarking, population health trends and monitoring quality improvement activities.
 Method: T1DX-QI clinics complete an extensive data-mapping process to submit reports from clinic electronic medical records (EMR) system. The T1DX EMR database contains information for over 55,000 US patients and allows for robust population health analysis including percentage of patients using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) or insulin pump. The percentage of patients using either device was calculated from 2016-2021.
 Results: From 2016 to 2021, the percentage of patients using CGM increased from 59% to 72%. Over the same time period, the percentage of patients using pumps remained stable (median 54%) . For both devices, racial disparity persisted: there was a 27% and 31% difference in percentage of non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) patients using CGM in 2016 (N = 17431) and 2021 (N = 20908) , respectively; in the same years, there was a 36% and 37% difference in percentage of NHW and NHB patients using a pump.
 Conclusion: While there is robust increase in diabetes device uptake, inequities persist in access to these technologies.

 O.Ebekozien: None. H.K.Akturk: Research Support; Dexcom, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, REMD Biotherapeutics. A.Mungmode: None. B.Miyazaki: None. S.Rompicherla: None. S.Lyons: None. M.Alwazeer: None. J.Sarhis: None. A.B.Mekhoubad: None. M.Desimone: None.

 The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust


In October 2017, Raya Sarkar, a law student of Indian descent, posted a crowdsourced list on Facebook of male academics who allegedly harassed women. India's academic world splintered and the #MeToo movement became a student movement emerging from campuses resisting a culture of widespread sexism, abuse, and violence which is rife in Indian academia. Some academics criticised the List for leaving out the names of accusers and specific details of the alleged incidents, raising questions about anonymity and accountability. However, the List also received extensive support as for decades survivors have tried unsuccessfully to get justice through the system following informal and formal complaint mechanisms, and it became a manifestation of years of frustration against institutions. Keeping the List at its core, this article explores ideas of due process, the need for intersectional approaches to fight sexual and gender-based violence in academia, and finally the ideas of institutional accountability.


With the advancements in technology and science, electronics have been getting smaller and smaller, which enables researchers and scientist to weave the electronics and interconnections into the fabric. This new technology enables to establish a new concept called "electronic-textiles (e-Textiles)", which allows cost-effective and efficient solutions for various applications. In this paper, the main idea is monitoring vital body signs by placing the electronic devices into a garment in a compact way. Among many vital body signs, posture, respiration rate and body activities like walking, running have been monitored. The measurements have been performed with a MEMS based accelerometer which is widely used in many applications. The electronic components have been placed into the fabric to form the ARF-Shirt to monitor vital body signs. Collected data from 10 subjects with ARF-Shirt system have been transmitted by RF transmission and monitored in real-time. After forming the ARF-Shirt, data were collected from subjects and then analyzed with Labview. The characteristic amplitude and frequency ranges were obtained for each activity. With this project, measuring a vital body sign with MEMS accelerometer, transmitting the data by RF Transmission, signal processing and analysis with Labview in real-time have been realized.


Broadcast communication prevails for data dissemination and resource discovery. In mission-critical applications, extensive information sharing and coordination endow broadcast with new features: a large number of active broadcast sources, probabilistic broadcast reception and high receiving rate. We identify this type of broadcast traffic as ASP Bcast traffic. Many efforts have been made to authenticate broadcast source and prevent content modification in a light-weighted way using one-way hash chain (TESLA). However, they do not scale to a large number of senders. In addition, authentication delay increases under packet losses and probabilistic broadcast. The longer authentication is postponed, the longer packets are buffered, which poses a memory-based denial-of-service (DoS) threat. In this paper, we will present an efficient authentication protocol for ASP Bcast traffic, called ChainFarm. We propose an algorithm for parameter configuration to satisfy both memory and delay requirements with maximal resilience against compromise. Simulation results agree with our analysis and show distinct performance improvement.