Genetic variants in proteins can interfere with measurement of their circulating concentrations. Given the growing biomedical importance of GDF-15, we wished to establish whether a common histidine to aspartate variant present in position 6 of the mature GDF-15 protein (H202D variant) interfered with its measurement by two commonly used immunoassays. We first examined the detectability of recombinant monomers, homodimers and heterodimers of GDF-15 by assays and/or reagents used in two widely used immunoassays (Roche Elecsys GDF-15 and the R&D antibody combinations used in their Quantikine and DuoSet ELISAs). The Roche assay detected the H and D containing peptides similarly but the assays based on the R&D reagents consistently underreported concentrations of the D-containing variant peptide. Measurements of plasma concentrations of GDF-15 in genotyped human participants showed that the R&D reagents reported values in heterozygotes were ~25% lower, and in homozygotes, 50% lower than the Roche assay. We finally studied the activation of the GDF-15 receptor, GFRAL-Ret, in a cell based assay and found that the activities of the HH and DD containing GDF-15 peptide were indistinguishable. These results have implications for the interpretation of genetic epidemiological studies which have used the R&D reagents to measure GDF-15, and for the emerging clinical use of GDF-15 as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. We provide correction equations, which may be of utility for the analysis of data generated with the R&D reagents where the genotype of the participants is known.


of which seems to have relied on symptoms such as dizziness and hunger, which are not exclusive to hypoglycaemia and could be attributable to fasting itself. No information is given on whether external help was required for treatment of hypoglycaemia (the current definition of a severe episode) or whether the ingestion of oral carbohydrate resulted in the resolution of symptoms. Biochemical confirmation of a presumed low blood glucose concentration was not obtained. The quality of glycaemic control in the Muslim patients was poor, with mean total glycated haemoglobin concentrations of 13-14%, yet the overall frequency of hypoglycaemia that was documented can be calculated at about 0 8 episodes per patient per year.' This would be an exceptionally high rate in non-insulin dependent patients treated with a sulphonylurea, even if every minor episode of hypoglycaemia had been included in the estimated total. In a two year prospective study the frequency of symptomatic hypoglycaemia in diabetic patients treated with sulphonylurea was 0-019 episodes per patient per year'; severe hypoglycaemia is uncommon. Although a recent study suggested that a fifth of patients taking sulphonylureas had at least one episode of symptomatic hypoglycaemia in six months,' the estimated frequencies of hypoglycaemia in Belkhadir and colleagues' study seem to be unusually high. Because the identification of each episode of hypoglycaemia was subjective and insecure, the comparative frequencies of hypoglycaemia in the different groups of patients are uninterpretable and the study is inconclusive.


Aquatic stepping gaits in animals arguably display higher speed performance as well as energetic efficiency compared to other gaits using the limbs (i.e walking). This suggest that the foot structure and function contributes at a great extent on the propulsive force generation. This work presents the design of a salamander foot, in which the dimensions, angle range, aspect ratios and the kinematics of different salamander species were condensed in simple parameters. The foot implementation was based in the compliant SoftHand design of Pisa/IIT, in which one motor actuates the whole foot. The prototype design parameters are scaled up from the dimensions of a Tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum's) foot. The results from experiments using a motion capture system to retrieve the kinematics of the foot and the force plates to measure normal forces, allow to describe when and how each of the fingers act during the whole stride, impacting the ground reaction forces (GRFs). We attempt to provide a richer understanding in locomotion schemes of salamanders featuring robust ground placement and to make robotic platforms more accurate W.r.t. biology. Qualitative comparisons between the animal and the prototype show that the robotic foot is capable to generate a GRF pattern similar to that of the animals. As additional features, the foot also shows terrain adaptability and simultaneous high resilience to hitting obstacles during operation.


While the Indonesian government has passed the Law on Child Protection to ensure the fulfillment of children's rights, there remain a substantial number of children who are victims of sexual violence. In fact, the cases reached 14,517 in 2021. For that reason, this paper aims to discuss the imposition of criminal sanction against sexual abusers and law protection for child victims of sexual abuse. This paper is a normative legal research that puts emphasis on the legal approach, especially the Child Protection Law. Regulations on procedures for imposition of sanction against sexual offenders are already included in the Child Protection Law, despite the fact that sanctions are not explicitly defined since there are minimum and maximum criminal sanctions. Therefore, it is perceived that judges can impose minimal criminal sanctions, including chemical castration, which is one of the additional sanctions as regulated in Law Number 17 of 2016. For those categorized as child victims, psychological advocacy is important to recover their mental condition and to move on from past trauma. This has been regulated as special protection that takes the forms of reproductive health education, inculcation of religious values and decency; social rehabilitation; psychosocial advocacy toward healing; and protection and advocacy at every stage of trial, from investigation, prosecution, up to examination in court. Imposition of criminal sanctions against the offender and advocacy for child victims of sexual abuse must be optimally implemented to ensure their optimal growth and development to become this country's future generation that succeed in making their dream come true.


A prototype archive for a selection of building energy data on thermal distribution systems in commercial buildings was developed and pilot tested. While the pilot demonstrated the successful development of the data archive prototype, several questions remain about the usefulness of such an archive. Specifically, questions on the audience, frequency of use, maintenance, and updating of the archive would need to be addressed before this prototype is taken to the next level.


A case of a young man with community-acquired pneumonia, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, and sepsis is reported. Treatment with antibiotics and various modes of mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit were unsuccessful. A urinary legionella antigen test was positive for Legionella pneumophila. (American Journal of Critical Care. 2007;16:320,317-319)


Environmental change interacts with population migration in complex ways that depend on interactions between impacts on individual households and on communities. These coupled individual-collective dynamics make agent-based simulations useful for studying environmental migration. We present an original agent-based model that simulates environment-migration dynamics in terms of the impacts of natural hazards on labor markets in rural communities, with households deciding whether to migrate based on maximizing their expected income. We use a pattern-oriented approach that seeks to reproduce observed patterns of environmentally-driven migration in Bangladesh. The model is parameterized with empirical data and unknown parameters are calibrated to reproduce the observed patterns. This model can reproduce these patterns, but only for a narrow range of parameters. Future work will compare income-maximizing decisions to psychologically complex decision heuristics that include non-economic considerations.


The serological properties and patterns of proton magnetic resonance spectra of cell wall mannans were characterized in 15 strains of Candida sake including the previous taxa C. tropicalis var. lambica, C. maltosa, C. vanriji, C. salmonicola, C. cloacae, C. parapsilosis var. intermedia, and C. natalensis. The proton magnetic resonance spectra of the mannans were divided into four patternographic types. Serological analyses also demonstrated a division into four serotypes that corresponded to the four proton magnetic resonance spectral types. Antigenic patterns of groups I and II closely resembled those of C. tropicalis and C. subtropicalis, respectively; strains of group III were related to both C. parapsilosis and S. cerevisiae; and strains of group IV were closely related to S. cerevisiae. The guanine plus cytosine contents of the deoxyribonucleic acid of group I and group II strains were heterogeneous, whereas strains of groups III and IV showed guanine plus cytosine values with narrow ranges within each group. These data suggest that the four groupings represent at least four species.


Autoimmune pancreatitis, a recently recognized type of chronic pancreatitis, is not rare in Japan, but reports of it elsewhere are relatively uncommon. We report the first preoperatively diagnosed case of autoimmune pancreatitis in Hungary, which responded well to steroid treatment and provided radiographic and functional evidence of this improvement. A 62-year-old female presented with a 4-month history of recurrent epigastric pain and a 5-kg weight loss. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) indicated diabetes mellitus and the result of the fecal elastase test was abnormal. Ultrasonography (US) and the CT scan demonstrated a diffusely enlarged pancreas, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) an irregular main pancreatic duct with long strictures in the head and tail. Autoimmune pancreatitis was diagnosed. The patient was started on 32 mg prednisolone daily. After 4 wk, the OGTT and faecal elastase test results had normalized. The repeated US and CT scan revealed a marked improvement of the diffuse pancreatic swelling, while on repeated ERCP, the main pancreatic duct narrowing was seen to be ameliorated. It is important to be aware of this disease and its diagnosis, because AIP can clinically resemble pancreatobiliary malignancies, or chronic or acute pancreatitis. However, in contrast with chronic pancreatitis, its symptoms and morphologic and laboratory alterations are completely reversed by oral steroid therapy.


Tropical rivers and estuaries are highly dynamic environments, where environmental conditions change dramatically over spatial and temporal scales. This creates both physiological and ecological challenges for euryhaline elasmobranchs, where fluctuations in salinity can impact not only osmoregulatory function, but also the ability to find and acquire prey.
We investigated how spatial and temporal variation in environmental salinity influences physiological homeostasis, habitat utilisation, and migration timing in two euryhaline carcharhinid sharks within a tropical river in northern Australia. Neonate and juvenile bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas and speartooth sharks Glyphis glyphis were tracked over a four‐year period using implanted acoustic tags and an array of hydrophone receivers. Tissue samples were also collected from captured sharks and analysed for interspecific differences in plasma osmolarity, urea and electrolyte (Na+ and K+) concentrations, and the stable isotopes δ13C and δ15N.
We discovered that immature C. leucas and G. glyphis segregate spatially along a salinity gradient between September and December, where the mean volume of intersection between species dropped as low as 0.01. While G. glyphis used higher salinity environments (mean salinity = 19.22) located between 30 and 70 km from the mouth of the estuary, C. leucas occupied freshwater reaches (mean salinity = 1.98) between 60 and 110 km upstream. Plasma osmolarities of both species were always hyperosmotic to the environment, with electrolyte concentrations maintained within a narrow range independent of environmental osmolarities. At the onset of the wet season, both C. leucas and G. glyphis undertook a coordinated downstream migration towards the lower estuary before returning upstream.
C. leucas blood tissues were more enriched in δ15N and δ13C than samples collected from similar size G. glyphis , suggesting that these species not only spatially segregate within low salinity habitats but also prey on different dietary resources. Furthermore, a loss of enriched isotopic values in fin tissue with increasing body length provides further support for marine‐use by adult sharks in conjunction with dependence on rivers as important nursery habitat. Our results illustrate the importance of long‐term integrative studies into resource competition and the significance of discrete brackish habitats for threatened euryhaline elasmobranchs.


In this article the authors report a patient with cholesterol gallstone formation shortly after a jejunoileal bypass for treatment of morbid obesity. The etiological factors for gallstones in the general population as well as jejunoileal bypassed patients are reviewed and discussed.


This paper explores the different approaches to juvenile justice across Australian jurisdictions, and examines whether or not Australia is compliant with international standards. Compliance is assessed according to three principles: the use of imprisonment and detention as a last resort, the availability and use of diversion options, and the prohibition against racial discrimination. The paper includes an outline of potential improvements to diversionary strategies, and the need for legislation to provide clarity and consistency.


Ru coating prior to aluminizing is one of the effective methods to reduce the harmful intermediate layer that forms under the coating (SRZ) on a 4th generation Ni-base SC superalloy. This study examined the short-term isothermal oxidation behavior of this Ru-modified coating at 1373 K in air. Surface observation by SEM showed that the scale becomes flat and uniform in comparison to simple aluminide coating. XRD and cross-sectional analysis results also showed that phase transformation from β-NiAl to γ'-Ni3Al seldom occurs in the Ru-modified coating layer leading to the prevention of local oxidation.


Reinforcement learning (RL) requires skillful definition and remarkable computational efforts to solve optimization and control problems, which could impair its prospect. Introducing human guidance into RL is a promising way to improve learning performance. In this article, a comprehensive human guidance-based RL framework is established. A novel prioritized experience replay mechanism that adapts to human guidance in the RL process is proposed to boost the efficiency and performance of the RL algorithm. To relieve the heavy workload on human participants, a behavior model is established based on an incremental online learning method to mimic human actions. We design two challenging autonomous driving tasks for evaluating the proposed algorithm. Experiments are conducted to access the training and testing performance and learning mechanism of the proposed algorithm. Comparative results against the state-of-the-art methods suggest the advantages of our algorithm in terms of learning efficiency, performance, and robustness.


Learning, taking into account full distribution of the data, referred to as generative, is not feasible with deep neural networks (DNNs) because they model only the conditional distribution of the outputs given the inputs. Current solutions are either based on joint probability models facing difficult estimation problems or learn two separate networks, mapping inputs to outputs (recognition) and vice-versa (generation). We propose an intermediate approach. First, we show that forward computation in DNNs with logistic sigmoid activations corresponds to a simplified approximate Bayesian inference in a directed probabilistic multi-layer model. This connection allows to interpret DNN as a probabilistic model of the output and all hidden units given the input. Second, we propose that in order for the recognition and generation networks to be more consistent with the joint model of the data, weights of the recognition and generator network should be related by transposition. We demonstrate in a tentative experiment that such a coupled pair can be learned generatively, modelling the full distribution of the data, and has enough capacity to perform well in both recognition and generation.


Traditional osteometric reassociation uses an error-mitigation approach, which seeks to eliminate possible matches, rather than a predictive approach, where possible matches are directly compared. This study examines the utility of a Bayesian approach for resolving commingling by using a probabilistic framework to predict correct matches. Comparisons were grouped into three types: paired elements, articulating elements, and other elements. Ten individuals were randomly removed from the total sample ( N = 833), acting as a small-scale, closed-population commingled assemblage. One element was chosen as the independent variable, with the ten possible matching elements representing the dependent variable. A Bayesian regression model was constructed using the remaining total sample, resulting in a distribution of possible values that were smoothed into a probability density, and probabilities were calculated. The element with the highest posterior probability was considered the best match. This process was repeated 500 times for each comparison. The correct match was identified 51.60% of the time. Paired elements performed the best, at 80.76%, followed by 42.10% for articulating and 33.63% for other comparisons. These results suggest that metric analysis of commingled assemblages is complex and that both elimination-based and prediction-based approaches have a role in resolving commingling. In this regard, the strength of a Bayesian approach is versatility, allowing for prediction of the correct match and elimination of possible matches, as well as integration of independent lines of evidence within one cohesive model.


Students culture mouse macrophage cells to confluence in a six-well plate and then unleash these
cells on cultured Escherichia coli bacteria.
Three aspects of phagocytosis are examined:
Visualizing E. coli within the macrophage.
Determining how many bacteria are ingested by the macrophage cells.
Determining the number of bacteria still viable after a 1-hour exposure to the macrophages'
lethal oxidative abilities.
A simple quantitative methodology for evaluating host-microbe interaction is introduced.
Assessment is a review of the student's laboratory notebook, questions in the handout, experimental
results, and a brief laboratory report that integrates data analysis with discussion.


In this paper, we consider diffusion semigroups generated by second-order differential operators of degenerate type. The operators that we consider do not, in general, satisfy the Hörmander condition and are not hypoelliptic. In particular, instead of working under the Hörmander paradigm, we consider the so-called UFG (uniformly finitely generated) condition, introduced by Kusuoka and Strook in the 1980s. The UFG condition is weaker than the uniform Hörmander condition, the smoothing effect taking place only in certain directions (rather than in every direction, as it is the case when the Hörmander condition is assumed). Under the UFG condition, Kusuoka and Strook deduced sharp small time asymptotic bounds for the derivatives of the semigroup in the directions where smoothing occurs. In this paper, we study the large time asymptotics for the gradients of the diffusion semigroup in the same set of directions and under the same UFG condition. In particular, we identify conditions under which the derivatives of the diffusion semigroup in the smoothing directions decay exponentially in time. This paper constitutes, therefore, a stepping stone in the analysis of the long-time behaviour of diffusions which do not satisfy the Hörmander condition.


Analytical methods for estimating on-chip network performance can be very useful to accelerate and simplify the design process of Networks on Chip. However, in order to increase the confidence in these approaches it is fundamental to perform systematic studies that assess their potential. We present a methodical investigation on the tightness between analytical end-to-end delay bounds and worst-case simulation latencies in various scenarios. We first introduce our network calculus based analytical technique to derive per-flow communication delay bounds. Then, we examine the worst-case performance analysis process in NoCs outlining the major aspects that affect the tightness. Finally, experimental results confirm our deductions and allow us to provide general guidelines to avoid pitfalls in the validation process of analytical delay bounds.


Geological, geomorphological, and seismological data are used to postulate the existence of a lateral domain‐bounding fault, the Roum fault zone in SW Lebanon. The fault zone accommodates transpression at the margins of the Lebanese restraining bend, abruptly dividing the transpressional Mount Lebanon (Jebel Barouk) uplift from the extension of the Tyre Nabatiye plateau. Transpressional deformation at the SW margin of the restraining bend is mainly seen through large scale folding trending parallel to the restraining bend. Such folding is thought to be accommodated laterally along a 100 km length of fault zone in SW Lebanon, the Roum fault zone. Mapped lineaments and topographic expression show the fault zone to die out to the south of Beirut. Offsets of incised river valleys decrease northwards from 7.2 km to 0.2 km along the length of the fault zone over a distance of 80 km, also inferring a postulated fault tip to the south of Beirut. Strain gradients along both sides of the fault zone wall rocks shows several deformation mechanisms to be involved; pressure solution, folding, distributed shear, and normal faulting. The postulated fault tip coincides with the extent of transpression of the Mount Lebanon block. A new seismicity catalogue (2100 BC–AD 1995: 32–35°N, 34–37°E: 1725 events: all magnitudes converted to ISN‐reported ML) was compiled from published sources. Seismicity is apparently sparse around the northern Yammouneh fault but concentrates in SW Lebanon, especially in a diffuse 50–100 km wide zone around the southern Roum fault zone. Epicentral uncertainties are typically 10–25 km for modern reporting, although depths are poorly known. The seismic b‐value is 0.75 ± 0.07 for the Beirut area compared to 0.88 ± 0.09 for the Dead Sea transform to the south: mapping of b‐values for the SW Lebanon area suggests a gradual reduction northward along the Roum fault zone. These observations are interpreted as the signature of a fault zone whose tip lies to the south of Beirut. The transition from transpression to extended crust, at the western edge of the Lebanese restraining bend, is accommodated along a 100 km length of fault zone. Decreasing seismic activity (over the time of the catalogue) and seismic b‐values imply a differing style or mechanism of faulting in the short term along the Roum fault zone, toward Beirut.


We study the order parameter probability distribution at the critical point for the three-dimensional spin-1/2 and spin-1 Ising models on the simple cubic lattice under periodic boundary conditions. The finite size scaling relation for the order parameter probability distribution is tested and verified numerically by microcanonical Creutz cellular automata simulations. The state critical exponent δ, which characterizes the far tail regime of the scaling order parameter probability distribution, is estimated for three-dimensional Ising models using the cellular automaton simulations at the critical temperature. The results are in good agreement with the Monte Carlo calculations.


In this paper we study the stability of nonlinear and time-varying switched systems under restricted switching. We approach the problem by decomposing the system dynamics into a nominal-like part and a perturbation-like one. Most stability results for perturbed systems are based on the use of strong Lyapunov functions, i.e. functions of time and state whose total time derivative along the nominal system trajectories is bounded by a negative definite function of the state. However, switched systems under restricted switching may not admit strong Lyapunov functions, even when asymptotic stability is uniform over the set of switching signals considered. The main contribution of the current paper consists in providing stability results that are based on the stability of the nominal-like part of the system and require only a weak Lyapunov function. These results may have wider applicability than results based on strong Lyapunov functions. The results provided follow two lines. First, we give very general global uniform asymptotic stability results under reasonable boundedness conditions on the functions that define the dynamics of the nominal-like and the perturbation-like parts of the system. Second, we provide input-to-state stability (ISS) results for the case when the nominal-like part is switched linear-time-varying. We provide two types of ISS results: standard ISS that involves the essential supremum norm of the input and a modified ISS that involves a power-type norm.


Survey research shows that Americans have a deep fear of child molestation. They are more concerned about child molest then terrorism, and they believe that child molesters can never be rehabilitated. Yet research contradicts these beliefs. This paper seeks to understand why perception of child molesters is so far off from reality. The hypothesis is that availability of stories in the media in conjunction with people's deep seated outrage about child molestation distorts people's perceptions. This hypothesis is tested by comparing the number of stories published from 2000-2005 with the incidence of different crimes. An analysis is also done of bias in reporting of sex crimes and sex offenders.


Background Job insecurity resulting from new types of employment contracts, together with organizational dynamics such as restructuring and internationalization, is emerging as an important source of organizational and individual stress, often transforming the workplace into a hostile and, above all, extremely demanding context from a psychological point of view. Materials and methods The aim of this study was to identify the possible relationships between individual and organizational dimensions of work (such as engagement, autonomy, personal and collective efficacy at work, and satisfaction) and their impact on stress levels. The survey involved 120 Italian workers: 72 females (60%) and 48 males (40%), with a mean age of 41.8 years ±7.31 years. The groups of participants were selected on the basis of employment contract type (traditional or atypical) to emphasize potential differences. The study was conducted using a set of self-administered questionnaires, including the Psychological Stress Measure and Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Results The data show that personal and collective efficacy at work correlates negatively with stress, which in turn correlates negatively with engagement and satisfaction. The results support the hypothesis that job insecurity could be considered a strong predictor of poor health. Conclusion The study should be considered as a preliminary assessment prior to studies of broader interventions to increase quality of life.


Processor implementation and performance analysis are fundamental in computer architecture education. A processor can be described at different abstraction levels: a black box with inputs and outputs, the composition of RT (Register-Transfer) level components, the composition of gate level components, etc. Performance of a processor is impacted by factors such as clock cycle, programs, and componentspsila propagation delays. With the traditional text-based educational material, teaching and learning of the processor implementation is difficult. Processor simulation offers an effective way for education through dynamic visualization and flexible experimentation. This paper presents a MIPS32 Processor Simulator that models the single-cycle, multi-cycle, and pipeline processors described in the classic textbook, ldquoComputer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interfacerdquo written by Patterson and Hennessy. The Simulator is developed in DEVSJAVA simulator, a realization of the Discrete Event System Specification with support for modeling parallel, hierarchical, and component-based systems. This simulator provides animation at RT-level during instruction execution, collects performance data (including cycle count, execution time, and instruction count), allows viewing components at desired abstraction levels, and is platform independent. The simulator can also be easily extended/reused to develop other processor types. Existing MIPS processor simulators do not provide sufficient support for the above mentioned features.


In this review I examine the different approaches to power theorized in this collection, attending particularly to the power dynamics of language choice in multilingual, multicultural encounters. Together the essays demonstrate a considerable range of conceptual positions on the spectrum of critical discourse analytic and sociolinguistic approaches to language use. A particularly significant difference in the approaches taken by these works is the extent to which claims and observations are grounded in concrete details of transcripts, as opposed to inferences about internal states - emotion, intention, cognition, perception - drawn from recorded and transcribed interactions. Those differences, I propose, amount to grounding claims of power difference primarily within data (transcribed details of talk) as opposed to critical theory. The range of positions represented on those deeply contested issues is an especially valuable component of the collection.


Based on a straightforward physical model, a new lightning parameterization has been developed: A twoplate
capacitor represents the basic dipole charge structure of a thunderstorm, which is charged by the
generator current and discharged by lightning. In this approach, the generator current as well as the
discharge strength are parameterized using the graupel-mass field. If these two quantities are known, and
if the charging and discharging are in equilibrium, then the flash rate is uniquely determined. This
approach remedies shortcomings of earlier theoretical approaches that relate the flash rate e.g., to
generator power. No distinction is made between intracloud and cloud-to-ground discharges in this
approach.
In order to test this approach, polarimetric radar data were used, from which the graupel distribution in
observed thunderstorms could be inferred. The lightning activity was detected using the LINET network.
The comparison between theoretically-predicted and measured flash rates is encouraging: Over a wide
range of flash rates, the new approach yields accurate results for isolated thunderstorms. The investigated
cases include intense supercellular hailstorms, as well as weak and comparatively shallow storms at the
weak end of the spectrum. This approach is compared with an existing approach which is based on the
cold cloud depth of the thunderstorm.
These approaches were implemented in the convection-resolving model, COSMO-DE. The output
includes the time and the geographic location of each simulated discharge. Real-world scenarios were
simulated and results will be shown for a severe hailstorm that affected southern Germany in August
2008.


The inexpensive sources of fossil fuels in the world are limited, and will deplete soon because of the huge demand on the energy and growing economies worldwide. Thus, many research activities have been focused on the non-fossil fuel based energy sources, and this will continue next few decades. Water splitting using photocatalysts is one of the major alternative energy technologies to produce hydrogen directly from water using photon energy of the sun. Numerous solid photocatalysts have been used by researchers for water splitting. In the present study, nickel oxide and strontium titanata were chosen as photocatalysts for water splitting. Poly (vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) was incorporated with nickel oxide [Ni2O3] (co-catalyst), while poly (vinyl acetate) (PVAc) was mixed with titanium (IV) isopropoxide [C12H28O4Ti] and strontium nitrate [Sr(NO3)2]. Then, two solutions were electrospun using coaxial electrospinning technique to generate nanoscale fibers incorporated with NiOx nanoparticles. The fibers were then heat treated at elevated temperatures for 2hr in order to transform the strontium titanata and nickel oxide into crystalline form for a better photocatalytic efficiency. The morphology of fibers was characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the surface hydrophobicity was determined using water contact angle goniometer. The UV-vis spectrophotometer was also used to determine the band gap energy values of the nanofibers. This study may open up new possibilities to convert water into fuel directly using the novel photocatalysts.


In recent literature, ECG-based stress assessment has become popular due to its proven correlation to stress and increased accessibility of ECG data through commodity hardware. However, most ECG-based stress assessment models use supervised learning, relying on manually-annotated data. Limited research is done in the area of self-supervised learning (SSL) approaches that leverage unlabelled data and none that utilize contrastive SSL. However, with the dominance of contrastive SSL in domains such as computer vision, it is essential to see if the same excellence in performance can be obtained on an ECG-based stress assessment dataset. In this paper, we propose a contrastive SSL model for stress assessment using ECG signals based on the SimCLR framework. We test our model on two ECG-based stress assessment datasets. We show that our proposed solution results in a 9% improvement in accuracy on the WESAD dataset and 3.7% on the RML dataset when compared with SOTA ECG-based SSL models for stress assessment. The development of more accurate stress assessment models, particularly those that employ non-invasive data such as ECG for assessment, leads to developments in wearable technology and the creation of better health monitoring applications in areas such as stress management and relaxation therapy.


Immunoglobulin preparations against tick-borne encephalitis with the increasing content of Fab-fragments (from 16% to 45%) have been experimentally obtained. As revealed by testing these samples in vivo for specific activity (in the biological neutralization test), the preparations containing 16% of Fab-fragments show no perceptible decrease of specific activity; its sharp decrease (2-16 times) can be observed in preparations with a high degree of fragmentation (the content of Fab-fragments being equal to 30-45%).


Reflecting on past experiences is crucial for learning from them and reconsider actions that have been taken in order to make better future choices. Different tools have been developed to support reflection both as an individual and collaborative activity. Aim of these tools is to provide individuals with information related to experience in order to make them reflect about it. However reflecting in a setting which is not the one where the object of reflection happened affects the reflective process due to the lack of the context in which the experience took place. This work aims at investigating how the usage of the Augmented Reality can be exploited in order to support reflection. In particular the main goal of the work is to study how Augmented Reality can trigger reflection on work practices that rely on deployment and management of resources in space. The outcome of this work is the analysis of a system that allows users to collect contextual information that has a strong spatial dimension and the design and implementation of an Augmented Reality application for tablet-device in order to visualize the information collected. A high level architecture of both the overall system and the prototype implemented is provided as well as storyboards for the solution proposal. The prototype implemented has been object of an experts evaluation in order to assess the potential usefulness of the application in real settings connected with the Italian Civil Defense. A workshop paper based on the work done in this thesis has been also written in concert with my supervisor Professor Monica Divitini and my co-advisor Simone Mora.


Lipoprotein-apheresis (apheresis) removes LDL-cholesterol in patients with severe dyslipidemia. However, reduction is transient, indicating that the long-term cardiovascular benefits of apheresis may not solely be due to LDL removal. Microparticles (MPs) are submicron vesicles released from the plasma membrane of cells. MPs, particularly platelet-derived MPs, are increasingly being linked to the pathogenesis of many diseases. We aimed to characterize the effect of apheresis on MP size, concentration, cellular origin, and fatty acid concentration in individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Plasma and MP samples were collected from 12 individuals with FH undergoing routine apheresis. Tunable resistive pulse sensing (np200) and nanoparticle tracking analysis measured a fall in MP concentration (33 and 15%, respectively; P < 0.05) pre- to post-apheresis. Flow cytometry showed MPs were predominantly annexin V positive and of platelet (CD41) origin both pre- (88.9%) and post-apheresis (88.4%). Fatty acid composition of MPs differed from that of plasma, though apheresis affected a similar profile of fatty acids in both compartments, as measured by GC-flame ionization detection. MP concentration was also shown to positively correlate with thrombin generation potential. In conclusion, we show apheresis nonselectively removes annexin V-positive platelet-derived MPs in individuals with FH. These MPs are potent inducers of coagulation and are elevated in CVD; this reduction in pathological MPs could relate to the long-term benefits of apheresis.


This article analyses the intertemporal development of the regional and spatial distribution of agricultural production in the territory of the EC-9. The analysis is based on a unique set of data: the analysed territory has been divided into 88 regions and data from these regions over a period of more than 40 years (1950/53-1993/96) are used. Different methods are applied to analyse the developments: maps and the skewness of distribution (coefficient of Gini) are combined with rank correlation (coefficient of Spearman), the calculation of the centre of gravity, and spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I). These methods are applied to two crops, wheat and tobacco. The results of the analyses of wheat cultivation indicate that the regional concentration has remained more or less unchanged, while the spatial concentration has decreased considerably. The centre of gravity has moved 600 km to the north-west. The research results for tobacco cultivation show an increasing regional concentration, combined with a stable or decreasing spatial concentration. The centre of gravity has moved 600 km to the south-east.


: The purpose of the study was to research the quantitative composition and sensibility to antibiotics of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms in mouth cavity liquid and parodontal pockets in elderly patients with chronical inflammatory diseases of parodont, namely in patients with chronic cataral gingivitis (38 patients), chronic generalized parodontitis (ChQP; 32 patients, easy form) and in patients with ChQP (34 patients) with relatively heavy form. It was established the increases of quantity microorganisms in mouth cavity liquid of patient all of groups in comparison with healthy group. First of all, it was depended mainly from clinical severity of pathological processes. Simultaneously it was observed association of parodontopathogenic microorganisms in patients of all groups and high variability their association, both susceptibility and resistance to antibiotics, used in stomatological practice.


This article presents the results of a spectroscopic observations of faint meteors made from Arecibo during an observing campaign in May 2012. The scientific interest is reduced because the authors have not clearly identified the origin of the meteors studied, and the paper lacks of clear goals, more than a presentation of results. I also found that the paper lacks of scientific justification for many of the results presented. On the other hand, the manuscript doesn't include a proper citation of previous literature on the topic. Finally, the scientific discussion and the conclusions are too vague as well. In these circumstances, I think that the authors should rewrite the entire manuscript. In order to help them to make it publishable, let me provide a detailed review with major


The future of structural reforms in Latin America is under discussion. The purpose of this document is to synthesize the facts and opinions that underlie this debate. The first section shows that although the reform process has not ground to a halt, it has been incomplete and uneven, both across countries and different areas of reform. The greatest progress has been made in reforming the trade and financial sectors. In terms of tax reform and privatization, the record has been mixed across countries. The most modest progress has been made in the area of labor code reform. The second section analyzes the status of public opinion of the reform process. Disillusionment with the reforms has been growing, particularly among the middle class. This disapproval, rather than reflecting concerns about the state of the economy or the degree of progress of the reforms, stems from the corruption that has tainted the privatization process in some countries. The third section reviews the effects of the reforms. Their impact on growth seems to have been positive, albeit temporary, but the effects on employment and income distribution have varied in different areas of reform and according to the particular context in each country. Specifically, the effectiveness of reforms has depended heavily on the quality of public institutions. The fourth section summarizes the main proposals to expand or reorient the reform agenda in the region. One set of proposals suggests broadening the Washington Consensus with more active policies aimed at addressing the need for greater economic stability, social integration and equitable income distribution. Another set of proposals, guided by a more encompassing view of the goals of development, emphasizes the interaction among civil society, the private sector, and the government. Finally, a more radical vision proposes a new national and international institutional architecture that would limit the role of markets and mitigate the effects of globalization.


A review is provided of some ways in which statistical ideas have influenced research into image analysis, in particular the problems involved in making inferences about the true scene and any parameters in the underlying model. The emphasis will be on the application of general statistical paradigms such as maximum likelihood, implemented using tools such as the EM algorithm, and Bayes' Theorem. The resulting procedures can be regarded as particular recipes for regularisation or deconvolution, according to the context.


A number of writers have referred to the particular issues surrounding doctors and healthcare professionals, both on team leadership and leadership in general. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between selfesteem, and extroversion on clinical leadership competency among Clinicians in Lagos and Ondo States Nigeria. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between self-esteem, and extroversion on clinical leadership competency among Clinicians in Lagos and Ondo States Nigeria. This phase of this study was conducted using, Ex- Post facto factorial design since it attempted to explain consequence based on antecedent condition. Employees in the health industry in Lagos and Ondo states metropolis constitute the population of the study. Principal component analysis was used for factor analysis in the pilot study. In order to determine the extent and direction of associations among the study variables, Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) analysis was conducted. Multiple regression analysis was then used to test hypothesis 1, 2 and 3. The analyses were conducted using SPSS 17.0 Wizard. Result indicated that age, gender, job position, job tenure and academic qualification had no significant relationship on clinical leadership. However, marital status depicted significant relationship with clinical leadership. Results show that self esteem did not have a significant relationship with clinical leadership [r (410) = -0.017; p > 0.05]. This implies that self esteem does not have any relationship with clinical leadership. Extroversion had significant negative relationship with clinical leadership [r (410) = -0.198; p < 0.01]. This imply that clinicians who reported high extroversion show low clinical leadership competency. Based on the findings, the study has empirically demonstrated that clinicians who perceived a diminish sense of self esteem, and extroversion showed higher tendency to demonstrate clinical leadership competence than their counterparts in healthcare management.


Asthma is a disorder characterized by inflammation of the airways which leads to variable airflow obstruction and symptoms of wheezing, chest tightness, cough, and dyspnea. Decisions concerning the type and intensity of therapy for asthma are generally based on the severity of the disease in a given individual. Guidelines for asthma management classify disease severity on the basis of symptom frequency and intensity as well as the degree of physiological impairment. Because treatment decisions are currently not based on markers of airway inflammation, it is important to know how well the underlying inflammatory pathology correlates with clinical and physiological variables and whether airway inflammation, if undertreated, leads to longer term adverse outcomes such as chronic persistent airway obstruction. Studies of asthma pathology reveal an inflammatory response characterized by infiltration of the airways with eosinophils, mast cells and lymphocytes; disruption of the epithelium; thickening of the reticular basement membrane; and increases in smooth muscle mass. These findings are qualitatively found in mild as well as severe asthmatics, and attempts to draw quantitative correlations between severity and intensity of inflammation have yielded discordant results. Although antiinflammatory therapy with corticosteroids decreases the intensity of the inflammation in association with improved clinical variables, the association is circumstantial and it is unclear which marker of inflammation correlates best with the severity of acute episodes or the severity of the disease in patients who are stable. Problems in relating the underlying pathology to disease severity are largely due to inadequate tissue sampling as bronchoscopically obtained specimens do not permit an evaluation of the outer airway wall or small airways and their surrounding parenchyma.


We investigate the dynamics of kinetically constrained models of glass formers by analysing the statistics of trajectories of the dynamics, or histories, using large deviation function methods. We show that, in general, these models exhibit a first-order dynamical transition between active and inactive dynamical phases. We argue that the dynamical heterogeneities displayed by these systems are a manifestation of dynamical first-order phase coexistence. In particular, we calculate dynamical large deviation functions, both analytically and numerically, for the Fredrickson–Andersen model, the East model, and constrained lattice gas models. We also show how large deviation functions can be obtained from a Landau-like theory for dynamical fluctuations. We discuss possibilities for similar dynamical phase-coexistence behaviour in other systems with heterogeneous dynamics.


Abstract Constitutions are commonly described as national products shaped by domestic politics. This paper develops and empirically tests a different hypothesis, which is that constitutions are also shaped by transnational influence, or "diffusion". Constitutional rights can diffuse through four mechanisms: coercion, competition, learning and acculturation. To test diffusion, we traced the historical documents of all post-WWII constitutions and documented the presence of 108 constitutional rights. Using a sample of these rights in 180 countries between 1948 and 2001, we estimate a spatial lag model to explain their adoption. Our results show that countries follow the choices of their former colonizer, countries with the same legal origin, the same religion, the same former colonizer, and the same aid donor. We also find that diffusion explains only 3 percent of the variation in adoption. However, when a country adopts its first constitution, diffusion is much stronger and explains 46 percent of the variation.


Background— Information about physicians' adherence to cholesterol management guidelines remains scant. The present survey updates our knowledge of lipid management worldwide. Methods and Results— Lipid levels were determined at enrollment in dyslipidemic adult patients on stable lipid-lowering therapy in 9 countries. The primary end point was the success rate, defined as the proportion of patients achieving appropriate low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals for their given risk. The mean age of the 9955 evaluable patients was 62±12 years; 54% were male. Coronary disease and diabetes mellitus had been diagnosed in 30% and 31%, respectively, and 14% were current smokers. Current treatment consisted of a statin in 75%. The proportion of patients achieving LDL-C goals according to relevant national guidelines ranged from 47% to 84% across countries. In low-, moderate-, and high-risk groups, mean LDL-C was 119, 109, and 91 mg/dL and mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was 62, 49, and 50 mg/dL, respectively. The success rate for LDL-C goal achievement was 86% in low-, 74% in moderate-, and 67% in high-risk patients (73% overall). However, among coronary heart disease patients with ≥2 risk factors, only 30% attained the optional LDL-C goal of <70 mg/dL. In the entire cohort, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was <40 mg/dL in 19%, 40 to 60 mg/dL in 55%, and >60 mg/dL in 26% of patients. Conclusions— Although there is room for improvement, particularly in very-high-risk patients, these results indicate that lipid-lowering therapy is being applied much more successfully than it was a decade ago.


Metastasis of the kidney carcinoma of leopard frogs (Rana pipiens) has been induced by exposing tumor-bearing animals for approximately 50 days to a constant temperature of 28°C. Under these conditions 54 per cent of the frogs developed secondary growths, whereas in groups kept at 18° or at 7° metastatic dissemination was found in only 6 per cent. Moreover, at the elevated temperature the metastases were usually more numerous and more widely disseminated; they were also fairly uniform in size, suggesting that they had developed at nearly the same time. Dissemination of the kidney tumors was influenced by the nutritional state of the frogs, occurring more readily in well nourished than in poorly nourished animals. Periodic Roentgen ray examinations showed that the size of the primary tumors was not significantly or uniformly affected during the course of the experiments. No correlation was found between change in size of the kidney tumors and the incidence of their metastasis. Although the mechanism by which temperature induces metastasis of frog carcinoma cannot as yet be elucidated, previous experiments with this tumor indicate that certain factors at least may be involved: Elevation of temperature has been found to cause more ready detachment of cells of frog carcinoma in tissue culture; to bring about increased velocity of locomotion of the detached cells; to lead more promptly and efficiently to vascularization of transplants; and to effect their greater invasiveness.


One of the main challenges in designing large scale quantum processors is connecting separated qubits. In this thesis, we explore new opportunities that mesoscopic manybody systems provide for creating quantum correlation between isolated quantum systems. In particular, we study entangling two non-interacting qubits through an intermediate mesoscopic system consisting of identical two-level systems. Two uncoupled qubits can be entangled either by projectively measuring a joint property of them or by creating an indirect interaction between them. The focus of this thesis is on procedures that are based on joint measurement on the qubits. We propose a new method for entangling two non-interacting qubits by measuring their parity indirectly through an intermediate mesoscopic system. Indirect joint measurement scheme benefits from coherent magnification of the target qubits' state in the collective state of the mesoscopic system; such that a low-resolution measurement on the mesoscopic system suffices to prepare post-selected entanglement on the target qubits. The protocol is designed to require only global control and course-grained collective measurement of the mesoscopic system along with local interactions between the target qubits and mesoscopic system. A generalization of the method measures the hamming weight of the qubits' state and probabilistically produces an entangled state by post-selecting on hamming weight one. Our technique provides a new design element that can be integrated into quantum processor architectures and quantum measurement devices. We quantify the resources required for implementing the indirect joint measurement technique when the intermediate mesoscopic system consists of spin-1/2 particles with internal dipolar coupling. A mesoscopic spin system consisting of two non-interacting halves, each coupled to one of the target qubits is proved to provide a helpful geometry that allows implementing the coherent magnification process with experimentally available control tools. We show that the requirements on the amplified state of the target qubits and the mesoscopic spin system perfectly maps to the specifications of micro-macro entanglement between each target qubit and its nearby half of the mesoscopic spin system. In the light of this equivalence, the effects of experimental imperfections are explored; in particular, bipartite entanglement between the target qubits is shown to be robust to imperfect preparation of the mesoscopic spin system. Our analysis provides a new approach for using an intermediate spin system for connecting separated qubits. It also opens a new path in exploring entanglement between microscopic and mesoscopic spin systems.


Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) has received increasing attention in science and technology because of not only the availability of large amounts of cellulose in nature but also its unique structural and physical features. These high-aspect-ratio nanofibers have potential applications in water remediation and as a reinforcing scaffold in composites, coatings, and porous materials because of their fascinating properties. In this work, highly porous NFC aerogels were prepared based on tert-butanol freeze-drying of ultrasonically isolated bamboo NFC with 20-80 nm diameters. Then nonagglomerated 2-20-nm-diameter silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles (NPs) were grown firmly onto the NFC scaffold with a high loading content of ∼500 wt % to fabricate Ag2O@NFC organic-inorganic composite aerogels (Ag2O@NFC). For the first time, the coherent interface and interaction mechanism between the cellulose Iβ nanofiber and Ag2O NPs are explored by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and 3D electron tomography. Specifically, a strong hydrogen between Ag2O and NFC makes them grow together firmly along a coherent interface, where good lattice matching between specific crystal planes of Ag2O and NFC results in very small interfacial straining. The resulting Ag2O@NFC aerogels take full advantage of the properties of the 3D organic aerogel framework and inorganic NPs, such as large surface area, interconnected porous structures, and supreme mechanical properties. They open up a wide horizon for functional practical usage, for example, as a flexible superefficient adsorbent to capture I- ions from contaminated water and trap I2 vapor for safe disposal, as presented in this work. The viable binding mode between many types of inorganic NPs and organic NFC established here highlights new ways to investigate cellulose-based functional nanocomposites.


Multi-spectral remotely-sensed data such as satellite imagery can yield excellent insights into complex phenomena such as weather systems. Analysing the multi-channel space to separate out different features still presents a challenge, which may increase with the availability of hyperspectral satellites. We use component labelling and population thresholding techniques to separate out clusters in hyper-dimensional channel space and use this information to identify different cloud types in geostationary satellite imagery. Three dimensional visualisation techniques are used to study the hyper-dimensional channel population data.


Morphometric characterization using truss network systems has been widely used for fish identification and stock identification. In Sri Lanka, differentiation of Oreochromis mossambicus and O. niloticus , the two major species in reservoir fishery, using conventional morphometric characteristic and phenotypic variations is problematic, due to the reasons that both species share somewhat similar body shape characteristics and that the populations of the two species have mixed characteristics as a result of introgressive hybridization. In the present study, an attempt was made to employ truss network analysis to differentiate O. mossambicus and O. niloticus . Truss measurements of 100 specimens of O. mossambicus from Negombo lagoon and 100 specimens of O. niloticus from Baira lake were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA). Before the analysis, two approaches of data transformation were employed to minimize to eliminate any size effect in the data set of truss measurements. It was concluded that the data standardization method using a geometric mean regression techniques on the logarithms of truss length and total length was more effective for morphometric differentiation of the two cichlid species than using ratio of truss length to standard length for data transformation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljas.v16i0.6705 Sri Lanka J. Aquat. Sci. 16 (2011): 01-10


In recent years, the design of highly liquid-repellent surfaces has received great attention. Here, we report a facile method of creating a surface that repels both water and oils; using simple spray-coating, a hierarchically rough ZnO–PDMS composite can be applied to a variety of substrates that serves as a nanostructured surface for further modification. We applied an overcoating of either a fluoropolymer (Teflon AF) or perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane to fabricate low energy surfaces that repel water and oil for a variety of potential uses. The resultant surfaces are superomniphobic, have static contact angles of >140° for droplets of both liquids, and have low sliding angles for both water and oil droplets: <5° for water and <20° for oil.


Soils and rocks from a number of areas underlied by carbonatite rocks in Kenya have been associated with high radioactivity. A study, comprising background radiation measurements, and radioecological and health surveys in some of these areas was initiated recently. In this paper we provide a preliminary result of the background radiation measurements carried out in three areas: Ruri, Kuge and Sokolo in the Lambwe east location of Suba district, southwestern Kenya. These areas are roughly between latitudes 0 ̊30'S and 1 ̊00'S, bounded on the east by longitude 34 ̊30'E and on the west by the shores of Lake Victoria and the Kavirondo gulf. Altitudes range from about 1000 m on the shores of Lake Victoria to above 1800 m on top of the Ruri hills. Absorbed dose rates in outdoor air in the areas were measured using survey meters. The values range from 614 to 6000 nGyh with an overall mean of 2106 nGyh. Gamma-ray spectrometric analyses of samples of soils and rocks were also carried out using high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The mean activity concentrations in the samples are 1215 Bqkg; 123 Bqkg and 511 Bqkg for Th, Ra, and K, respectively. The results show that external doses in air in these areas are many times higher than in the normal background radiation areas. The main contribution is from the naturally occurring radionuclides in the soils and rocks, particularly those associated with carbonatites, but it was also found that the contribution from Cosmic rays is enhanced at these altitudes.


The genetic variation,correlation and principal component of 12 agronomic characters of 11 soybean varieties of south group A in Huanghuaihai region were analyzed.The results showed that the variations of No.of branches per plant,lodging scale and pods per plant were the greatest,with a value of 60.93%,34.40% and 27.89%,respectively,and variations of growth period were the least,with a value of 4.17%.Correlation analysis indicated that there was a significantly positive correlation between yield per plot and seed weight per plant,and there was also a positive correlation tends among plant height,pods per plant,No.of seeds per plant,seeds per pod and yield per plot.Principal component analysis showed that the first four principal components accounted for 92.16% of total variation.It is very important to select these agronomic characters which have bigger variant coefficient and have high yield,seed weight per plant,pods per plant,No.of seeds per plant,seeds per pod.


It is known that the production of cytolytic T lymphocytes requires growth factors such as interleukins 2 and 4 (IL-2 and IL-4). Elsewhere we have described bioassays that detect a cytokine that operates in concert with growth factor to generate cytolytic T lymphocytes. The factor that is termed cytolytic T-lymphocyte differentiation factor (CDF), together with IL-2 and lectin, mediates the formation of CD8+ killer cells in 2 days from thymocyte or peripheral lymphoid precursors. CDF is not mimicked by natural or recombinant sources of interferons, colony-stimulating factors, and IL-1 to IL-4. Here we use these bioassays to isolate and further characterize a single 24-kDa CDF protein from the conditioned medium of stimulated human blood mononuclear cells. CDF is first enriched by three successive chromatographic procedures that utilize anion exchange, hydroxyapatite, and phenyl-Superose. A single 24-kDa band with CDF activity is then isolated on 12% NaDodSO4/PAGE and clearly distinguished from the 17-kDa band of IL-2. The apparent molecular mass is similar under reducing and nonreducing conditions. After elution from NaDodSO4/PAGE the cytokine is maximally active at 0.25 nM in the CDF assay and has no growth factor activity for T lymphoblasts. To generate cytolytic CD8+, CD4- cells from spleen and lymph node T lymphocytes, IL-2 and small numbers of accessory dendritic cells must be applied together with CDF.


Aim The aim of this study was to report the anatomical location and histologic type of colorectal polyps in a large series of Iranian patients that attended for colonoscopy. Background Polyps that develop through the adenoma-carcinoma pathway are considered neoplastic and may eventually progress to invasive carcinomas. In addition polyps can develop with no neoplastic potential. These neoplastic and non-neoplastic polyps can be identified and removed at colonoscopy. Patients and methods In this retrospective study, the medical records of patients who had attended for colonoscopy were reviewed. Patient demographics and colonoscopy findings were reviewed. The anatomical location, macroscopic appearance and histological assessment of any polyps were recorded. Results 716 patients' records were reviewed. 437 patients (61 %) were male and 279(39%) were females. The mean patient age was 55.3 yr (18-89 yr). A total of 936 polyps were identified. 779 (83.3%) were neoplastic and 157(16.7%) polyps were non-neoplastic.727 of the polyps were adenomatous. Of the 727 adenomatous polyps: 198(27.2%) were in sigmoid, 156(21.24%) were in caecum and ascending colon, 153(21%) were in descending colon, 131(18%) were in transverse colon and 89(12.3%) were in rectum. 39.5% of adenomas were proximal to the splenic flexure. Carcinoma was observed in 52 cases. 18 carcinomas (34.5%) were left sided and 34 (65.5% of carcinomas) were right sided. Of the 716 patients, 179 patients (25%) had synchronous lesion(s). Conclusion A significant number of adenomas and carcinomas lie proximal to the splenic flexure and occur in the absence of distal lesions. These lesions would be missed if the distal colon was examined and the entire colon examined only if a distal lesion was identified.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary cancer of the liver and the fifth most prevalent cancer worldwide, with cirrhosis being the main risk factor for the development of HCC. The American Association for Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) recommends surveillance of patients with cirrhosis for HCC using ultrasound (US) of the abdomen every 6 months as a cost-effective intervention to reduce mortality and improve survival. However, it is widely known that surveillance is not consistently completed, and the rates of HCC surveillance are very low. The purpose of this integrative review was to evaluate and summarize the available data related to provider and patient factors that are associated with surveillance and missed surveillance for HCC in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, and to recommend interventions to improve these rates of surveillance and subsequently improving survival in patients with cirrhosis.


Skeletal muscle is a highly adaptable tissue. It responds to environmental and physiological challenges by changes in size, fibre type and metabolism. All of these responses are underpinned by our genes and it is therefore generally assumed that genetic variation between individuals may account for the differences in musculature and athletic capabilities between people. Research into the genetic influences of our muscle is at an embryonic stage, but some early insight into potential regulators has recently emerged, which is reflected in this review. Broad heritability, which appears to affect muscle size and strength more than metabolism has been assessed in twin and sibling studies. It appears to account for more inter-individual variation in the young as opposed to older people. However, the studies reported to date do demonstrate a large degree of diversity, which is probably predominantly due to different methodological approaches being adopted as well as distinct populations being studied. At a molecular level, there has been enormous progress in identifying regulators of atrophy and hypertrophy though the study of knock-out and transgenic animals and also through the utilisation of cell culture models. Among others, the insulin-like growth factors, calcineurin, desmin, myf5, mrf4, MyoD and myogenin have been identified as positive regulators of muscle size, while TNF-alpha, myostatin and components of the ubiquitin pathway have been recognized as regulators of muscle wasting. However, given the ethical and mechanistic constraints of performing similar studies in humans, difficulties have arisen when attempting to translate the animal and cell culture findings to humans. However, the current search for target "exercise genes" in humans has yielded the first successful results. Variations in the genes encoding for: the angiotensin converting enzyme, alpha-actinin 3, bradykinin, ciliary neurotrophic factor, interleukin-15, insulin-like growth factor II, myostatin and the vitamin D-receptor have all been found to account for some of the inter-subject variability in muscle strength or size. However, the influences of these genetic variations are somewhat weak, and not always reproducible and furthermore they are predominantly based in young healthy people. Hence, a key topic, namely the molecular mechanisms of muscle frailty in the elderly still remains to be elucidated.


The effect of diffraction on the transmission pattern of an infinite Ronchi grid and the moire image of two equal Ronchi grids was studied. Transmission patterns and moire images of two equal Ronchi grids with and without a phase object, at a wide range of conditions, are presented. Diffractional phenomena were found to affect the transmission pattern and the moire image significantly. In order to minimize their effect, the distance between the grids must be exactly one of the Fourier-image planes of the grid. The moire image of a given phase object, even under these conditions, has an inherent error that can be precisely calculated. Deflection mapping and the uncertainty (because of diffraction) of lenses were calculated.


Proceedings of the 4th Annual Conference on Carbon Capture and Sequestration DOE/NETL (CCS 2005), Arlington, VA, May 2 - 5, 2005 Researchers at the University of California, Davis, in support of the Department of Energy's Fossil Energy programs, are developing engineering/economic/geographic models of fossil hydrogen energy systems with carbon capture and sequestration. In this paper, we present initial results from an ongoing assessment of alternative transition strategies from today's energy system toward widespread use of H2 from fossil fuels as an energy carrier with capture and sequestration of CO2. This study is coordinated with the National Energy Technology Laboratory Carbon Sequestration program and hydrogen modeling efforts at UC Davis and within the USDOE such as H2A. In the future, we plan to utilize data on CO2 sequestration sites from the NATCARB program, and the Regional Sequestration Partnerships. Our model for the design and economics of a fossil H2 energy system with CO2 sequestration considers a number of factors including: * Cost and performance of component technologies making up the system (e.g. fossil energy complex including CO2 capture technology and co-production of hydrogen and electricity, CO2 pipelines and hydrogen storage, distribution and refueling stations). * The location and characteristics of the CO2 sequestration site (storage capacity, permeability, reservoir thickness), * The location, type, size and geographic density of the H2 demand. * Cost, location and availability of primary resources for H2 production such as coal or natural gas. * Location of existing energy infrastructure and rights of way. We have developed techniques for studying regional H2 and CO2 infrastructure development and transition strategies, based on use of Geographic Information System (GIS) data and network optimization techniques. GIS facilitates this analysis by allowing one to use spatially-referenced data, such as existing power plants, coal resources, population distribution, existing rights of way, and CO2 sequestration sites, to calculate the location and magnitude of hydrogen demand and optimize the placement of production facilities and pipeline networks for transporting hydrogen and CO2. We have applied the model to a regional case study of a coal-based hydrogen economy in Ohio with CO2 capture and sequestration. The objective is to model the optimal hydrogen infrastructure design for the entire state under different market penetration scenarios, and find the cost of building the system. In the future, we will extend this work to different regions of the US to conduct a national case study, in coordination with the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, NATCARB and the Regional Sequestration Partnerships.


FPGAs require a much longer compilation cycle than conventional computing platforms like CPUs. In this paper, we shorten the overall compilation time by co-optimizing the HLS compilation (C-to-RTL) and the back-end physical implementation (RTL-to-bitstream). We propose a split compilation approach based on the pipelining flexibility at the HLS level, which allows us to partition designs for parallel placement and routing then stitch the separate partitions together. We outline a number of technical challenges and address them by breaking the conventional boundaries between different stages of the traditional FPGA tool flow and reorganizing them to achieve a fast end-to-end compilation. Our research produces RapidStream, a parallelized and physical-integrated compilation framework that takes in an HLS dataflow program in C/C++ and generates a fully placed and routed implementation. When tested on the Xilinx U250 FPGA with a set of realistic HLS designs, RapidStream achieves a 5-7X reduction in compile time and up to 1.3X increase in frequency when compared to a commercial-off-the-shelf toolchain. In addition, we provide preliminary results using a customized open-source router to reduce the compile time up to an order of magnitude in the cases with lower performance requirements. The tool is open-sourced at github.com/Licheng-Guo/RapidStream.


In this letter, we propose a clustering model that efficiently mitigates image and video under/over-segmentation by combining generalized Gaussian mixture modeling and feature selection. The model has flexibility to accurately represent heavy-tailed image/video histograms, while automatically discarding uninformative features, leading to better discrimination and localization of regions in high-dimensional spaces. Experimental results on a database of real-world images and videos showed us the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


We analyzed factors influencing the contamination rate of allografts and blood samples obtained from postmortem bone donors. 5,710 allografts were harvested, from 550 donors of which 3,164 (55%) were swab culture negative. Blood cultures were positive in 140 donors (26%). The risk of graft contamination increased with each extra team member (Odds Ratio 1.9). It was also higher with organisms of greater virulence in donors with a positive blood culture (OR 3.5). The risk of blood contamination increased per hour postmortem (OR 1.1) and the same increase was seen with organisms of high virulence. In donors with multiple trauma, the risk of blood contamination with organisms of high virulence was greater (OR 8.2), but smaller in donors with preceding organ procurement (OR 0.1). To minimize the bacterial load, donors should be obtained in operating rooms, using aseptic techniques with only a few personnel for procurement. The postmortem time should be kept to a minimum. The procurement cultures from donors with multiple trauma should be carefully interpreted. Blood cultures should be taken into account, since these can help to find contamination not detected by swab cultures.


: Under study were the data obtained in 29 patients with malignant nonepithelial gastric tumors, which indicated a high incidence of this affection in persons under 50. Gastric reticulosarcomas are most frequently observed. The diagnosis is very difficult to establish both before and during laparatomy. Favourable late results were most frequently noted in patients subjected to radical surgical interventions. Radical and tentative laparotomies may be followed by chemo-or radiotherapy.


ABSTRACT We evaluated the cardiometabolic effects of a 15-week combined exercise programme, implemented in sports clubs, for 50–70-year-olds with low aerobic fitness. In a randomized controlled trial, 45 participants (26 women) with low fitness were randomly assigned (2:1-ratio) to a training group (TG, n = 30) or inactive control group (CG, n = 15). TG had 15 weeks with one weekly 90-min supervised group-based session in a recreational sports club with combined aerobic exercise and strength training and were encouraged to perform home-based training 30 min/wk. Evaluations of relative VO2max (mLO2/min/kg), blood pressure, resting heart rate (HR), echocardiography, peripheral arterial tonometry, body composition, lipid profile and HbA1c were performed at 0 and 15 wks. Average HR during supervised training was 113 ± 13 bpm (68.6 ± 7.0%HRmax), with 4.3 ± 6.6% spent >90%HRmax. At 15-wk follow-up, intention-to-treat analyses revealed no between-group difference for VO2max/kg (0.4 mLO2/min/kg, 95%CI −0.8–1.5, P = 0.519; −3 mL/min, 95%CI −123–118, P = 0.966) or other cardiovascular outcomes (all P > 0.05). Compared to CG, total fat mass (−1.9 kg; 95%CI −3.2 to −0.5, P = 0.005), total fat percentage (−1.3%, 95%CI −2.2 to −0.3, P = 0.01) and total/HDL cholesterol ratio (P = 0.032) decreased in TG. Regular adherence to supervised training was high (81%), but 0% for home-based exercise. In conclusion, the group-based supervised training was associated with high adherence and moderate exercise intensity, whereas insufficiently supported home-based training was not feasible. Together, 15 wks of combined exercise training did not improve aerobic fitness or affected cardiovascular function in 50–70-yr-olds with low aerobic fitness, whereas some positive effects were observed in metabolic parameters. Highlights Combined exercise training implemented in a sports club elicited moderate aerobic intensity in 50-70-year-old untrained individuals. Supervised group-based training had high adherence whereas unsupported home-based training had very low adherence. 15 weeks of low-frequency combined moderate intensity exercise training improved lipid profile and fat mass, but had no effect on cardiovascular fitness.


In this investigation, a long-standing grain growth question is addressed in a Fe-3.5% Si steel. This material undergoes secondary growth of Goss oriented grains, but the underlying mechanisms of this growth remain unresolved despite extensive investigations for almost a century. In this investigation, a key question concerning this subject is resolved i.e. whether the nature of primary recrystallization grain boundaries solely determines the growth of Goss grains during secondary recrystallization. To address this issue undeformed and lightly deformed samples were subjected to recrystallization annealing under identical conditions. Although the extent of the deformation is light, such that it creates only limited modifications in the grain boundary structures, the recrystallization mechanism changes from abnormal secondary growth to conventional grain growth. In the former case, recrystallization commences at higher temperatures when the MnS inhibiting particles become dissolved, and in the latter mechanism, recrystallization occurs at lower temperatures due to the differences in stored energy between grains sharing a common boundary. This occurs through strain-induced grain boundary migration.


In the context of Bosnia Herzegovina (BIH), this study explores the role of memory and culture of remembrance using art. More specifically it considers the example of a photographic exhibition, showing in various sites, called 'War of Memories' and curated by the Centre for Non-Violent Action. The aim of this paper is to provide insights, by investigating how the exhibition was de-signed and its connection with peace-building and reconciliation. With new political and economic developments in BiH, the question addressed is how post-conflict reconciliation can be promoted – or not – through the use of the creative arts, in this case photographic images of places of suf-fering (marked and unmarked). To gather data on the topic, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of three groups: members of the Centre for Non-Violent Action, com-munity members and local organisers involved in peace activities and politics. Overall the finding was that the exhibition's contribution to peace-building is present but with limitations, possibly because audiences tend to be those already in favour of reconciliation, rather than those opposed to it. This finding is of potentially great importance, since building peace-building and reconciling BiH society – or any other post-conflict setting - is vital for a transformation from 'negative' to 'positive' peace. The dilemma remains of how to expand the potential reach of such arts projects for peace, across all sectors of the community. In a modest way, I believe that this study contributes to the wider field of peacebuilding, and focuses on the, admittedly limited, ability of the creative arts to challenge complex political and social attitudes that contribute to 'ethnic' conflict.


Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) is a popular probabilistic model for information retrieval. Many extended models based on LDA have been introduced during the past 10 years. In LDA, a data point is represented as a bag (multiset)of words. In the text case, a word is a regular text word, but other types of data can also be represented as words (e.g. visual words). Due to the bag-of-words assumption, the original LDA neglects the structure of thedata, i.e., all the relationships between words, which leads to information loss. As a matter of fact, the spatial relationship is important and useful. In order to explore the importance of the relationship, we focus on an extensionof LDA called Topic Ngram Model, which models the relationship among adjacent words. In this thesis, we first implement the model and use it in for text classification. Furthermore, we propose a 2D extension, which enables us to model spatial relationships of features in images.


Although the influence of long‐term musical training on the processing of heard music has been the subject of many studies, the neural basis of music imagery and the effect of musical expertise remain insufficiently understood. By means of magnetoencephalography (MEG) we compared musicians and nonmusicians in a musical imagery task with familiar melodies. Subjects listened to the beginnings of the melodies, continued them in their imagination and then heard a tone which was either a correct or an incorrect further continuation of the melody. Only in musicians was the imagery of these melodies strong enough to elicit an early preattentive brain response to unexpected incorrect continuations of the imagined melodies; this response, the imagery mismatch negativity (iMMN), peaked ∼175 ms after tone onset and was right‐lateralized. In contrast to previous studies the iMMN was not based on a heard but on a purely imagined memory trace. Our results suggest that in trained musicians imagery and perception rely on similar neuronal correlates, and that the musicians' intense musical training has modified this network to achieve a superior ability for imagery and preattentive processing of music.


Reservoir tidal land used for agriculture is generally done when the reservoir water level begins to shrink. This land is used as a moor in dryland or lowland rice fields in the wetland. The purpose of the study was to determine the soil fertility status of the tidal land of the Tirtomarto reservoir, Central Java. Parameters tested include cation exchange capacity (CEC); base saturation (BS); C-Organic; total soil P and K levels according to the technical instructions for evaluating soil fertility. Soil samples were taken from three location points by the purposive sampling method. The results showed that most of the soil samples contained low to very low nutrients, except for the total P content which had a high value. Therefore, the fertility status in the tidal land of the Tirtomarto reservoir, Central Java, can be categorized as low. The low fertility status of the soil at the study site was due to the limiting factors, namely the low C-organic content of the soil, low K total soil, and low cation exchange capacity and base saturation.


The primary objective of present study was to explore the hepatoprotective activity of Nymphaea nouchali flower extract against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced liver necrosis. Nymphaea nouchali flowers were extracted with organic solvents like ethanol and n-hexane. These extracts were subjected to phytochemical studies. After the confirmation of flavonoids in the extracts, they were tested for in-vivo hepatoprotective activity. The study was carried out by taking female Wister rats in five groups, where each group consists of five rats. Biochemical and histological studies were carried out as a testimonial of hepatoprotective effect. Increased levels of biochemical tests like Albumin, direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, total bilirubin, serum glutamateO-methyl transferase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transferase(SGPT) and alkaline phosphate (ALP) provide an evidence of liver necrosis in CCl4 induced group. Pre-treatment with Nymphaea nouchali ethanolic extract (NNEE) showed a significant recovery effect equally as that of the standard drug (silymarin) when compared with Nymphaea nouchali n-hexane extract (NNHE). The hepatoprotective effect was statistically analyzed by ANOVA and was found to be significant (P<0.0001).


Detailed bathymetric mapping of the area of 15°N (MAR) as well as geological mapping of the Logatchev hydrothermal field at 14°45´N (MAR) leads to a very well description of the Logatchev hydrothermal field and adjacent areas. Main parts of the Logatchev hydrothermal field are located in a depression filled with talus material and pelagic sediment this causes an increase in porosity and permeability in the subseafloor influencing fluid pathways importantly and provide aquifers wherein fluids can spread out laterally in layers of mafic/ultramafic talus. The 'smoking craters' of the Logatchev hydrothermal field are rare structures which have only been identified at Logatchev and the, in 2005 newly discovered, Nibelungen-Field at the southern MAR (Koschinsky at al., 2006). Bathymetric maping of the seafloor reveal that the hydrothermal activity at Logatchev mainly is fault controlled. The Logatchev hydrothermal field is characterized by five smoking craters, two hydrothermal mounds with black smokers and a couple of diffuse vent sites. The smoking craters emanate fluids with temperatures up to ~350°C. Host Rocks of the field are mainly serpentinites (>70%) and gabbroic rocks (>20%) with subordinately basalt. Serpentinites, gabbroic rocks, and altered sediments were sampled from the active ultramafic hosted Logatchev hydrothermal field (LHF) by ROV deployments and TV-guided grab. In this study we present new data of clay-size separates and whole rock chemistry as well as strontium and oxygen isotopic compositions in order to investigate the alteration processes, water-rock reactions and associated elemental exchanges. The samples of mantle peridotites are mostly serpentinized (>95 vol%) whereas some gabbroic samples are moderately to completely altered. Changes in geochemical compositions, especially trace element compositions, of the altered rocks indicate a highly heterogeneous distribution of alteration styles. Light rare earth elements are enriched in all serpentinites and suggest a strong influence of Logatchev vent fluids during some stages of serpentinization. Oxygen isotopic data of lizardites reveal formation temperatures of 130-150°C whereas chlorite formation in altered gabbroic samples occurred between 150° and 200°C in the LHF. Negative as well as positive Eu anomalies in serpentinites suggest varying alteration processes: (1) high temperature alteration in acidic, reducing conditions as well as (2) low temperature alteration in neutral, oxidizing environments. The absence of brucite and the formation of talc indicate high concentrations of aquatic silica in the Logatchev area. Petrographic investigations, high field strength element data and elevated rare earth elements indicate that melt–rock interaction is also an important factor affecting mantle peridotite prior to serpentinization processes at LHF. Therefore gabbroic intrusions are the most probable source for aquatic silica. Strontium isotopic data suggest high water/rock ratios in the range of 2.6-27 and alteration fluids which are characterized by high contents of heated seawater.Calculations of relative gains and losses of major and trace elements as well as mineralogical observations reveal that a large variety of alteration styles take place at the Logatchev hydrothermal field. A combination of serpentinization, hydrothermal fluids, melt-rock interaction and low-temperature seafloor weathering lead to significant gains and losses of major and trace elements. We found that serpentinization at Logatchev was isochemical for the most major elements (excepting a loss of TiO2 and CaO). However, the concentration of trace elements e.g., Cu, Nb, Ba, La, Sm, Eu, Th or U increases strongly in the serpentinites. In addition, gabbroic intrusions are a sink for MgO during the formation of chlorite and serpentine after clinopyroxene and play a major role as distributors of SiO2, TiO2, CaO, and Na2O as well as numerous trace elements in the circulating fluids.


Foreign body in the nasolacrimal duct is extremely rare. We present a case of foreign body of nasolacrimal duct responsible for recurrent dacryocystitis which was removed with the help of an endoscope.


Orthodontics is based upon the cellular response to biomechanical forces. To better investigate about the manner in which cells respond to such forces, we have devised an experimental model to permit morphologic and metabolic characterization of human cells subject to a range of cyclic or static mechanical stimuli similar to those which may prevail in orthodontic-orthopedic therapy. The most recent data in the literature indicated that cyclic forces could have bigger effect on cells than continuous ones. To better understand the rationale of the cyclic force effect, a morphological study on human fibroblast was performed. We found that stretching or compression delivered an immediate and proportional deformation on cells. After 10-15 minutes the morphology of cells readapt to the new mechanical environment, this causing the lost of the biological activation. A new mechanical stimuli should be necessary to determine a new biological reaction.


Based on a non-parametric, structural equation modelling framework, this paper compares a set of highly congested US and European airports in order to assess the impact of approaches on overall social welfare, considering airline and airport surplus and passenger welfare. This paper discusses the data collected in order to estimate the impact of administrative changes with respect to slots on the most congested airports in Europe and the potential impact of introducing such a system in the United States.


This paper proposes a new non-contact type chewing sensor using photo-reflector. The modulated infrared rays from the infrared LED of photo-reflector irradiate the mandible. The reflected light is received by the photo detector of photo-reflector. The chewing sensor recognizes chewing from the big movement of the mandible by chewing. By wearing the sensor in the ear, this sensor can be used in any place. The unpleasantness when using the chewing sensor is a little because the chewing sensor is non-contact type. In addition, the chewing sensor can accurately judge whether the user is chewing or not.


Purpose This study aimed to evaluate oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among a sample of senior students at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), and to assess differences among these factors between genders. Methods A total of 1177 senior university students at KAU were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were selected by stratified random sampling. KAU has three main streams categorized by field of study. One faculty was randomly selected from each stream. Information regarding oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors was collected with a validated self-administered questionnaire. A knowledge score was calculated, and predictors of oral health knowledge were assessed by linear regression. Results In general, the mean oral health knowledge score of females (8.1 ± 1.8) was significantly higher than that of males (7.2 ± 2.1) out of 13. Relative to males, females reported a greater frequency of teeth cleaning and of using a toothbrush with proper technique (p < 0.001). Females were also more likely to have ever visited a dentist than males (95% and 86%, respectively). The linear regression model revealed that students in non-medical faculties and those who were not shown how to brush their teeth by a dentist had lower oral health knowledge scores, than their counterparts. Students older than 22 years and females were more likely to have higher oral health knowledge scores than were their counterparts. Conclusion Oral health knowledge was relatively low among the university students, but females showed better oral health knowledge and behaviors than males did.


A complex ion forms from a metal ion and a ligand because of a Lewis acid–base interaction. The positively charged metal ion acts as a Lewis acid, and the ligand, with one or more lone pairs of electrons, acts as a Lewis base. Small, highly charged metal ions, such as Cu2+ or Ru3+, have the greatest tendency to act as Lewis acids, and consequently, they have the greatest tendency to form complex ions.


Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, we have investigated the mechanical properties and the microstructural evolution of nanocrystalline tantalum (NC-Ta, grain size from 3.25 nm to ~13.0 nm) under uniaxial tension. The results show the flow stress at a given offset strain decreases as the grain size is decreased within the grain size regime studied, implying an inverse Hall-Petch effect. A strain rate sensitivity of ~0.14, more than triple that of coarse-grain Ta, is derived from the simulation results. Twinning is regarded to be a secondary deformation mechanism based on the simulations. Similar to nanocrystalline iron, stress-induced phase transitions from body-centered cubic (BCC) to face-centered cubic (FCC) and hexagonal close-packed (HCP) structures take place locally during the deformation process, The maximum fraction of FCC atoms varies linearly with the tensile strength. We can thus conclude that a critical stress exists for the phase transition to occur. It is also observed that the higher the imposed strain rate, the further delayed is the phase transition. Such phase transitions are found to occur only at relatively low simulation temperatures, and are reversible with respect to stress.


Abstract Public transportation is often disrupted by disturbances, such as the uncertain travel time caused by road congestion. Therefore, the operators need to take real-time measures to guarantee the service reliability of transit networks. In this paper, we investigate a dynamic scheduling problem in a transit network, which takes account of the impact of disturbances on bus services. The objective is to minimize the total travel time of passengers in the transit network. A two-layer control method is developed to solve the proposed problem based on a hybrid control strategy. Specifically, relying on conventional strategies (e.g., holding, stop-skipping), the hybrid control strategy makes full use of the idle standby buses at the depot. Standby buses can be dispatched to bus fleets to provide temporary or regular services. Besides, deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is adopted to solve the problem of continuous decision-making. A long short-term memory (LSTM) method is added to the DRL framework to predict the passenger demand in the future, which enables the current decision to adapt to disturbances. The numerical results indicate that the hybrid control strategy can reduce the average headway of the bus fleet and improve the reliability of bus service.


Traffic circles have been used in many countries all over the world. Traffic circles can be defined as intersections where traffic circulates around a center island where priority is given to the vehicles entering from branches and are designed considering weaving movements as the basic goal. There are two most common capacity analysis methods for traffic circles: the method of critical gap acceptance and the method of regression analysis. This study explains the methods of gap acceptance and regression analysis. Ashworth and Field method is investigated and the applicability of these capacity models in Turkey is discussed. The obtained results have shown that both methodologies give satisfactory results; however, the existing methods should be improved (modified) considering conditions.