The association between Self-Rated Health (SRH) and poor health outcomes is well established. Economically and socially marginalized individuals have been shown to be more likely to have poor SRH. There are few representative studies that assess the factors that influence SRH amongst individuals in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This study assessed factors associated with poor self-rated health amongst individuals from KwaZulu-Natal using data from the 2012 South African national household survey.

 The 2012 South African population-based nationally representative household survey employed a multi-stage stratified cluster randomised crossectional design. Multivariate backward stepwise logistic regression models were used to determine whether SRH is significantly influenced by socio-demographic and health-related factors.

 Out of a total of 5192 participants living in KZN, 18.1% reported having fair/poor SRH. In the multivariate logistic regression model the increased likelihood of reporting fair/poor was significantly associated with being older, HIV positive, being an excessive drinker, and not having medical aid. The decreased likelihood of reporting fair/poor was associated with being educated, not having a chronic condition, being physically active, being employed, and not accessing care regularly.

 This study has shown that marginalized individuals are more likely to have poorer SRH. Greater efforts need to be made to ensure that these individuals are brought into the fold through education, job opportunities, health insurance, social support services for poor living conditions, and poor well-being including services for substance abusers.


Ultrasonography is highly effective in diagnosing pyelocalyceal dilatation. Confirming the distension of these collecting structures, indicating probable obstruction, is more difficult since the degree of dilatation does not always correspond to the degree of distension. Renal studies were performed in 244 patients including 51 patients with dilation or renal obstruction. Doppler ultrasonography was used to measure the Pourcelot's resistive index of arcuate and interlobar arteries for each kidney. Results demonstrate: 1) for healthy patients the average vascular resistive index is 0.54 +/- 0.02 (minimum 0.48 +/- 0.02, maximum 0.60 +/- 0.02). 2) in cases of acute obstruction, this resistive index for pathologic kidney is elevated greater than 0.7. The difference in resistive indices between the pathologic and contralateral kidney was greater than 0.10. 3) in the patients with intermittent junctional syndromes when an intravenous furosemide test is used, there is an increase in the resistive index. 4) in case of chronic obstruction well tolerated, the increase in resistive index is moderate. If there is an acute deterioration, the resistive index become greater than 0.8. Concurrent abnormalities which affect only one kidney (pathology of the renal hilum, tumoral syndromes) may make it difficult to interpret certain results. Ultrasonography together with Doppler scanning may be in certain cases a reasonable alternative with IVP.


Objective:The objective of this study was to characterize the physicomechanical, thermal, and degradation properties of several types of biologic scaffold materials to differentiate between the various materials. Background:As more biologic scaffold materials arrive on the market, it is critical that surgeons understand the properties of each material and are provided with resources to determine the suitability of these products for specific applications such as hernia repair. Methods:Twelve biologic scaffold materials were evaluated, including crosslinked and non-crosslinked; those of bovine, human, and porcine origin; and derivatives of pericardium, dermis, and small intestine submucosa. Physicomechanical, thermal, and degradation properties were evaluated through biomechanical testing, modulated differential scanning calorimetry, and collagenase digestion assays, respectively. Biomechanical testing included suture retention, tear strength, uniaxial tensile, and ball burst techniques. Results:All scaffolds exhibited suture retention strengths greater than 20 N, but only half of the scaffolds exhibited tear resistance greater than 20 N, indicating that some scaffolds may not provide adequate resistance to tearing. A wide range of burst strengths were observed ranging from 66.2 ± 10.8 N/cm for Permacol to 1,028.0 ± 199.1 N/cm for X-Thick AlloDerm, and all scaffolds except SurgiMend, Strattice, and CollaMend exhibited strains in the physiological range of 10% to 30% (at a stress of 16 N/cm). Thermal analysis revealed differences between crosslinked and non-crosslinked materials with crosslinked bovine pericardium and porcine dermis materials exhibiting a higher melting temperature than their non-crosslinked counterparts. Similarly, the collagenase digestion assay revealed that crosslinked bovine pericardium materials resisted enzymatic degradation significantly longer than non-crosslinked bovine pericardium. Conclusions:Although differences were observed because of cross-linking, some crosslinked and non-crosslinked materials exhibited very similar properties. Variables other than cross-linking, such as decellularization/sterilization treatments or species/tissue type also contribute to the properties of the scaffolds.


Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) at rest is a risk factor for death in patients with sickle cell anemia. Exercise treadmill stress echocardiography (ETSE) is able to detect latent PH. Objective: To investigate the occurrence of exercise-induced PH in patients with sickle cell anemia and normal pulmonary pressure (PP) at rest, and its relationship with clinical and echocardiographic variables. Design: observational transversal study. Patients and Methods: We studied 44 patients (22 men, mean age = 25.3 y.o.) with sickle cell anemia and normal PP at rest (tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity: TRV 2.7 m/s). The cut off points of TRV at rest and exercise were derived from healthy control subjects, matched for age, sex, and body surface area. Data obtained from ETSE were correlated with clinical, echocardiographic and ergometric variables, including left atrial volume indexed for body surface area and E/E' ratio derived from pulsed wave and tissue Doppler. Student's t test e chi-square test were used for statistical analysis. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to determine the independent predictors of abnormal PP response to exercise. Statistical significance was defined as a p Results: The exercise-induced PH occurred in 57% of patients (G2), with levels of TRV ranging from 2.8 to 4.5 m/s (3.4 ± 0.4m/s), significantly higher than those observed in G1 (2.5 ± 0.3m/s, p 2 , and E/E' ratio ≥ 6.3. When the multivariate analysis was performed, TRV at rest [OR 6.5 (1.3–33.6), p = 0.03], left atrial volume index [OR 6.4 (1.2–33.5), p = 0.03]; and E/E' ratio [OR 5.6 (1.2–26.5], p = 0.03) remained independently related to exercise-induced PH. Conclusion: Patients with sickle cell anemia and normal PP at rest may exhibit exercise-induced PH which was independently related to increased baseline PP levels, increased left atrial volumes end indirect parameters of left ventricular and diastolic pressure. The clinical relevance of these findings deserves future studies.


The article analyses the results of surgical treatment of 227 patients with osteomyelitis of the foot bones. The peculiarities of the course of the disease, determined by the anatomical and functional features and the concomitant pathological conditions, are evaluated. Comparative appraisal of various methods of examination showed the radionuclide method to be most informative. The peculiarities of surgical operations in pyoinflammatory diseases of the foot bones, which are due to the necessary preservation of a segment of the foot for subsequent correction, call for obligatory application of combined necrectomy and a complex of agents with polyfunctional activity in addition to the traditional mechanical methods of treatment of the bone defect. The results of complex treatment were good in 72%, satisfactory in 23%, and poor in 5% of patients.


Foodborne disease and food contamination continue to be significant public health issues in the Pacific. The exact number of people suffering from foodborne diseases is unknown due to many unreported cases and that monitoring and surveillance systems remain weak. Food safety is a shared responsibility between all stakeholders along the food chain including producers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers. Assuring food safety in the Pacific is a great challenge due to weak national food control systems, limited awareness of food safety risk factors among consumers and limited compliance capacity among food businesses. Most countries in the region either have or are in the process of developing risk-based food legislation in line with Codex and a common Pacific approach. However, enforcement and compliance need substantial improvements and considerable capacity building of food inspectors is needed. In the case of Fiji, the "Food Safety Regulation 2009" came into effect in 2010 after some life-threatening food poisoning episodes resulting in hospitalization of several people and death of one person. Food safety and quality challenges for Fiji include the control of cyanide in cassava, cadmium in taro, mercury, histamine and ciguatera in fish and Escherichia coli in green leafy vegetables as well as contamination of ready-to-eat foods. Aggravation of microbial contamination is mainly due to poor handling practices, improper preparation and storage as well as time-temperature abuse. Food quality issues include inadequate labeling, poor grading and packaging compliance. Some major challenges for Fiji to be addressed include poor hygienic practices among food handlers, limited capacity and resources as well as unclear division of roles and responsibilities between town/city councils and the Food Unit of the Ministry of Health. The control of imported foods is also an enormous challenge for Fiji which needs greater coordination and harmonization of food regulatory systems between Fiji and its trading partners.


An acetic acid bacterium, designated as isolate AC28, was isolated from a flower of red ginger (khing daeng in Thai; Alpinia purpurata) collected in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at pH 3.5 by use of a glucose/ethanol/acetic acid (0.3%, w/v) medium. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences for 1,376 bases showed that isolate AC28 constituted a cluster along with the type strain of Kozakia baliensis. However, the isolate formed an independent cluster in a phylogenetic tree based on 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region sequences for 586 bases. Pair-wise sequence similarities of the isolate in 16S rRNA gene sequences for 1,457 bases were 93.0–88.3% to the type strains of Asaia, Kozakia, Swaminathania, Acetobacter, Gluconobacter, Gluconacetobacter, Acidomonas, and Saccharibacter species. Restriction analysis of 16S-23S rDNA ITS regions discriminated isolate AC28 from the type strains of Asaia and Kozakia species. Cells were non-motile. Colonies were pink, shiny, and smooth. The isolate produced acetic acid from ethanol. Oxidation of acetate and lactate was negative. The isolate grew on glutamate agar and mannitol agar. Growth was positive on 30% D-glucose (w/v) and in the presence of 0.35% acetic acid (w/v), but not in the presence of 1.0% KNO3 (w/v). Ammoniac nitrogen was hardly assimilated on a glucose medium or a mannitol medium. Production of dihydroxyacetone from glycerol was weakly positive. The isolate did not produce a levan-like polysaccharide on a sucrose medium. Major isoprenoid quinone was Q-10. DNA base composition was 63.1 mol% G C. On the basis of the results obtained, Neoasaia gen. nov. was proposed with Neoasaia chiangmaiensis sp. nov. The type strain was isolate AC28 ( BCC 15763 NBRC 101099).


Since 2003, various viruses from the subfamily Megavirinae in the family Mimiviridae have been isolated worldwide, including icosahedral mimiviruses and tailed tupanviruses. To date, the evolutionary relationship between tailed and nontailed mimiviruses has not been elucidated. Here, we present the genomic and morphological features of a newly isolated giant virus, Cotonvirus japonicus (cotonvirus), belonging to the family Mimiviridae. It contains a linear double-stranded DNA molecule of 1.47Mb, the largest among the reported viruses in the subfamily Megavirinae, excluding tupanviruses. Among its 1,306 predicted open reading frames, 1,149 (88.0%) were homologous to those of the family Mimiviridae. Several nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) core genes, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase genes, and the host specificity of cotonvirus were highly similar to those of Mimiviridae lineages A, B, and C; however, lineage A was slightly closer to cotonvirus than the others were. Moreover, based on its genome size, the presence of two copies of 18S rRNA-like sequences, and the period of its infection cycle, cotonvirus is the most similar to the tupanviruses among the icosahedral mimiviruses. Interestingly, the cotonvirus utilizes Golgi apparatus-like vesicles for virion factory (VF) formation. Overall, we showed that cotonvirus is a novel lineage of the subfamily Megavirinae. Our findings support the diversity of icosahedral mimiviruses and provide mechanistic insights into the replication, VF formation, and evolution of the subfamily Megavirinae. IMPORTANCE We have isolated a new virus of an independent lineage belonging to the family Mimiviridae, subfamily Megavirinae, from the fresh water of a canal in Japan, named Cotonvirus. In a proteomic tree, this new nucleocytoplasmic large DNA virus (NCLDV) is phylogenetically placed at the root of three lineages of the subfamily Megavirinae—lineages A (mimivirus), B (moumouvirus), and C (megavirus). Multiple genomic and phenotypic features of cotonvirus are more similar to those of tupanviruses than to those of the A, B, or C lineages, and other genomic features, while the host specificity of cotonvirus is more similar to those of the latter than of the former. These results suggest that cotonvirus is a unique virus that has chimeric features of existing viruses of Megavirinae and uses Golgi apparatus-like vesicles of the host cells for virion factory (VF) formation. Thus, cotonvirus can provide novel insights into the evolution of mimiviruses and the underlying mechanisms of VF formation.


Intensive work is under way to detect the direct and indirect signs that can be used to predict the behavior of a tumor process with greater or lesser assurance. The authors have studied different aspects of the clinical course and recurrence of intracranial meningiomas, investigated the morphological features of their individual forms, their mitotic activity and, on this basis, considered the degree of differentiation and prediction of a recurrence. The findings should be the basis for searching for parallels between morphological, demographic, and clinical characteristics. Such a comprehensive study and search for mutually determining links between the findings will shed light upon a diversity of problems that are of theoretical and practical value.


Under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, Russia continues to search for its new role in the world. Forming relationships with Western neighbors is a crucial part of this search, since both Europe and Russia are undergoing tremendous internal changes. However, questions far outnumber answers in the search, since the quality of this relationship depends in many ways on international security and the global order. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Over the course of many centuries, Russia's main security interests concentrated around Europe. From the time of Peter the Great up to the end of the 20th century, Europe was the major partner, the magnet, the irritant, and the catalyst for every aspect of Russian life--from military arts and science to architecture, literature, and fashion. The onset of 20th century came at a peak of Russian and European power. The geopolitical scene was abruptly altered by World War I, the Bolshevik Revolution, the ensuing series of revolutions, and then World War II. Europe was divided into two enemy camps, intensifying the trend of decay on the continent. The Soviet Union was a superpower for much of the 20th century. The map of Europe primarily interested Soviet leaders from the perspective of security: observing which side a country took in the global struggle, deciding how a country could be used to the Soviet Union's advantage, and preventing the United States from pulling it into their own sphere of interest. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, Russia was forced to urgently develop a new foreign policy framework. The collapse of Communism and the crash of the Soviet central-command economy demanded that this foreign policy be built on fundamentally new principles. The Kremlin found itself in a sort of political isolation, without a clear understanding of how to behave in Europe. It was forced to take into account the opinions and positions of countries which it had previously ignored, or, in the cases of Ukraine and the Baltic countries, had been a part of the Soviet empire. Russia could no longer ignore economic interests in the pursuit of its political and ideological goals. It had to ensure its own political and economic security. But perhaps the most serious factor influencing post-Soviet foreign policy in Europe was its lack of a coherent European policy. The relationship between Russia and Europe is a combination of contradictory domestic and foreign factors. These include the Kremlin's periodic attempts to formulate a new European policy doctrine, as well as its desire to play an international role on the continent for which it has neither the economic nor the political capacity. They also include the rejection of US unilateralism and Moscow's repeated attempts to create a multipolar world while maintaining certain former Soviet republics under its control. Russia also faces a geopolitical nostalgia for empire and attempts to transform the country into a global energy export leader. All these factors have resulted in a Russian foreign policy defined by unpredictable zigzags and frequent improvisations in its agenda. Additionally, Russia's own internal processes, the shift in its elites, and the shift in its system of values have all had a direct influence on policy choices, including those dealing with Europe. Russian behavior toward Europe can be understood by analyzing several important factors, a complex mix of Communist heritage, a new democratic approach, increasing nationalism, chauvinism, and possible regional imperialism. Cold War Heritage In many ways, the Russian elite continues to base its understanding of the world on beliefs from during the Cold War or even earlier. Over the past decade, Russian foreign policy has frequently ended up in the hands of dilettantes; it has been hostage to the Kremlin's internal struggles, and its course was monopolized by special interest groups or sold off to various lobbies that have intensified these ideological remnants of the Cold War. …


Consider a simplicial complex that allows for an embedding into $\mathbb{R}^d$. How many faces of dimension $\frac{d}{2}$ or higher can it have? How dense can they be?
This basic question goes back to Descartes' "Lost Theorem" and Euler's work on polyhedra. Using it and other fundamental combinatorial problems, we introduce a version of the Kahler package beyond positivity, allowing us to prove the hard Lefschetz theorem for toric varieties (and beyond) even when the ample cone is empty. A particular focus lies on replacing the Hodge-Riemann relations by a non-degeneracy relation at torus-invariant subspaces, allowing us to state and prove a generalization of theorems of Hall and Laman in the setting of toric varieties and, more generally, the face rings of Hochster, Reisner and Stanley. This has several applications:
- We fully characterize the possible face numbers of simplicial rational homology spheres, resolving the $g$-conjecture of McMullen in full generality and generalizing Stanley's earlier proof for simplicial polytopes. The same methods also verify a conjecture of Kuhnel: if $M$ is a triangulated closed $(d-1)$-manifold on $n$ vertices, then \[\binom{d+1}{j}\mathrm{b}_{j-1}(M)\ \le \ \binom{n-d+j-2}{j}\ \quad \text{for}\ 1\le j\le \frac{d}{2}.\]
- We prove that for a simplicial complex that embeds into $\mathbb{R}^{2d}$, the number of $d$-dimensional simplices exceeds the number of $(d-1)$-dimensional simplices by a factor of at most $d+2$. This generalizes a result going back to Descartes and Euler, and resolves the Grunbaum-Kalai-Sarkaria conjecture. We obtain from this a generalization of the celebrated crossing lemma: For a map of a simplicial complex $\Delta$ into $\mathbb{R}^{2d}$, the number of pairwise intersections of $d$-simplices is at least \[\frac{f_d^{d+2}(\Delta)}{(d+3)^{d+2}f_{d-1}^{d+1}(\Delta)}\] provided $f_d(\Delta)> (d+3)f_{d-1}(\Delta)$.


: Traditionally, assessment of therapeutic efficacy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been based on objective measurement of disease parameters, such as the number of tender and swollen joints, 10-cm analogue pain scale, or grip strength. More recently, however, it has been realized that these parameters may not provide a true reflection of the impact of disease or therapy on the patient's overall emotional state and ability to function--the "quality of life." Nontraditional measurements of health status have been used by several researchers in order to provide comprehensive data about the benefits of drug therapy. Most recently the Auranofin Cooperating Group conducted a prospective, 6-month, randomized, double-blind, multicenter study that compared auranofin (AF) oral gold with placebo in the treatment of RA. The study was unique in that it assessed the efficacy of AF using a battery of nontraditional health status measures ("quality-of-life" measures) in addition to the traditional parameters used to chart rheumatic disease activity. Composite scores were calculated for 4 distinct dimensions of RA: physical, functional, pain, and global. Pairwise correlations between composite scores ranged from 0.45 to 0.67, indicating that the scores represented different dimensions of the impact of RA. Results indicated that AF effectively improves several dimensions of RA. In addition, it was apparent that several health status measures are sensitive to changes in clinical status. These measures may be useful in future clinical trials of RA, perhaps indicating when DMARD therapy should be initiated. They should also prove useful in drug trials for other diseases.


Given the pervasiveness and extremely critical nature of activities performed by cyber-physical systems (CPSs), a better integration of security into the core architecture of the system is required in order to design and deploy survivable and secure infrastructures.
The major challenges of modeling, designing and securing CPSs arise from the intrinsic heterogeneity, the geographical scale and the uncertainty regarding sensors readings, status and trustworthiness. These fundamental system properties of CPSs require to address security in ways more closely tied to the physical application and through a design that supports the inclusion of security within the application architecture.
This thesis addresses challenges in both design and security of cyber-physical systems and its contribution is threefold. First, it proposes compositional and multiformalism modeling approaches for the design and validation of large scale monitoring infrastructures. The proposed approach is intended to integrate and model the interaction between different embedded nodes and between the environment and embedded nodes. The main limitation of state of art solution to modeling and simulating monitoring infrastructure, arise from their specificity: they are able to give a number of details on a particular aspect. Most of them are specifically intended to model a system part: such as network simulators, software simulators and hardware platform simulators. On the other hand, compositional and multiformalism modeling approaches allow the adoption of the best suiting modeling formalism at different levels of system abstraction and provide a concrete scalable mean to perform early performance evaluation and what-if analysis to ease the design process. They have been adopted in this thesis with regard to CPS's monitoring infrastructure modeling and simulation.
Second, it proposes two ways to advance the software and hardware security for CPSs monitoring infrastructures. Todays approaches to secure the monitoring infrastructure are based on lightweight hardening techniques, in order not to stress the limited resources of wireless sensor nodes and this may limit their strength. Moreover, security seems to be approached as a feature that is not considered from the early stages of design and consequently is not intrinsically integrated within the embedded nodes architecture. On the other hand, this thesis proposes mechanisms for software and hardware security that are closely tied to the embedded architecture. As regards the software security, in this thesis efforts have been done to make security Adaptation Techniques (AT) applicable for embedded sensor nodes. Mechanisms based on AT consider security in a proactive way; the system is modified over time in order to reduce vulnerability exposure and disrupt attackers reconnaissance efforts. To make it possible to exploit the advantages of AT at the monitor infrastructure level, a novel node's software reconfiguration framework is presented. The feasibility of the proposed mechanism is shown for battery-supplied wireless sensor nodes through the demonstration of how to alter the network topology, exploit software diversity and react to threats. As regards the advances to the hardware security of the monitoring infrastructure, the thesis presents a special purpose hardware architecture specifically intended to address CPSs' physical security challenges through the adoption of TPM-based (Trusted Platform Module) architectures. An architecture based on FPGA is proposed and it is shown how it can provide secure primitives to asses the hardware and software integrity, as well as offering cryptographic operation.
Finally, the thesis focuses on improving the processing infrastructure security. Efforts aimed at protecting CPSs should not only focus on the monitoring infrastructure even if it seems the weakest point. The processing infrastructure is generally composed of several networked systems. In this field a number of state of art solution are applicable. This thesis investigates the adoption of novel security adaptation techniques in order to overcame the limitation of static hardening techniques that are generally applied to networked systems. The focus will be on disrupting attacks that are intended to identify the CPS processing infrastructure's network architecture. The thesis will address this challenge by looking at security from a control prospective. Again it will exploit adaptation techniques but with the final goal of disrupting reconnaissance attack targeting CPS's back-end infrastructures. The thesis proposes a graph-based algorithmic solution to manipulate attacker's view of processing systems. This formalization is then used to design a deception based defense to defeating operating system and services fingerprinting. Experimental results show that the proposed approach can efficiently and effectively deceive attackers.


Studies in nonhuman primates are indicated in translating research results towards a clinical application, in particular to assess the safety and efficacy of immunosuppressives and cell therapy products. This requires a thorough consideration of animal well-being, i.e., the 3 Rs refinement, reduction, and replacement. A comprehensive refinement approach was initiated in the model of transplanting insulin-producing porcine pancreatic islets of Langerhans into diabetic macaques; this model is considered most close to the clinical condition in a diabetic patient. The approach was as follows: Training animals for cooperation with handlers, including handfeeding and drinking; shifting; and limb presentation for examination, injection, or intravenous access for blood sampling and administration of medication, fluids and nutrition. Cooperation with handlers completely eliminated restraint in routine handling, and significantly reduced the stress to the animals as concluded from pathophysiological parameters. Animal cooperation facilitates medical management in chronic (disease) models and allows early detection of adverse events; Implementation of vascular access ports and in-depth evaluation of risk factors for adverse events in relation of the respective procedures. The introduction of novel placements and refinements significantly increased patency, substantially lowered infectious complications, and facilitated cooperation with handling in the familiar homecage. Also, a procedure was developed for access to the portal vein to deliver medication or cell therapy products in the liver, enabling repeated access without the need for multiple major surgeries; Optimization of diabetes induction using the chemotherapeutic streptozotocin, based on careful analysis of adverse events and illustrated by case studies. Also, protocols were developed to recognize adverse events in the earliest stage so that animals could recover from life-threatening adverse events with appropriate medical management; Evaluation of the limitations of the model. Using a well-selected immunosuppressive regimen, islet function and diabetes reversal up to 6 months was achieved. When combined with refinement described above, this period could be extended to meet requirements defined in a consensus statement written by international experts. However, complications were observed such as the absence of weight gain turning in progressive weight loss: this affected the consistency in outcomes and appeared intrinsic to the model and prompted for an in-depth evaluation. Contributing factors were identified and included metabolic incompatibilities (i.e., control of blood glucose) between the species, characteristics of the islet product, and absorption characteristics of immunosuppressive medication. This evaluation included data from other groups that reported long-term outcomes in pig-to-macaque islet transplantation, and the comparison with outcomes in clinical islet transplantation and macaque-to-macaque islet transplantation. These limitations are relevant and give a better positioning of the model when defining studies aimed to translate animal research to a clinical application. This comprehensive approach enabled to capitalize on synergies between various refinement tools, i.e., avoidance of stress and sedation/restraint when using vascular access ports in animals trained for cooperative handling. It is postulated that the increase in refinement leads to a reduction in animal numbers, on the one hand by increasing the scientific quality of outcomes (i.e., limiting confounding by interfering factors), and on the other hand by reduction of non-informative cases.


Neisseria gonorrhoeae expresses two hemin-binding proteins (HmBPs) of 97,000 and 44,000 in molecular weight. A murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) produced against the 97-kDa HmBP from N. gonorrhoeae PID543 specifically inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner the ability of hemin to promote growth. The anti-97-kDa HmBP MAb competitively inhibited binding of the 97-kDa HmBP to a hemin-agarose affinity column. In Western immunoblots, the MAb recognized the 97-kDa homologs from a limited survey of clinical gonococcal isolates. These results support the contention that the 97-kDa HmBP is involved in the gonococcal hemin acquisition pathway.


Transition metal borides, carbides and nitrides are candidates for very high temperature applications. A review of various processing techniques to fabricate dense monolithic and composite materials is presented. In particular, we focus on reactive hot pressing (RHP) which allows synthesis and densification to be achieved simultaneously. We report the RHP of composites in the Ti-B-N, Zr-B-C and Zr-B-Si-C systems using the reactions of Ti/BN, Zr/B4C (Si, SiC particulate) powder mixtures at moderate pressures and temperatures. Substantial reductions in processing temperature may be realized from those in excess of 1800°C down to as low as 1200°C by exploiting a combination of transient liquid phases, plasticity in a non-stoichiometric ZrC and enhanced transport in a sub-micron microstructure.


Critically ill children in the pediatric intensive care environment are at particular risk for experiencing health care interventions that hinder them from progressing through their normal developmental milestones. Knowledge of the factors that influence iatrogenic developmental insults can help the nurse develop the skills and sensitivity to meet the complex needs of these children and their families.


The immune haemolytic anaemias comprise a set of diseases characterised by shortened red blood cell survival (haemolysis) mediated by the action of antibodies and serum complement. The haemolysis is evidenced by a raised reticulocyte count in the absence of blood loss. Activity of the immune system is diagnosed by the presence of antibody or fragments of complement components (mainly C3 and C4) on the red blood cell surfaces by means of the direct antiglobulin test. Pathogenic antibodies may bind optimally at either 37°C (warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia) or at 4°C (cold agglutinin disease). Drugs may also cause immune haemolysis either by induction of drug-dependent antibodies to red blood cells or by induction of autoantibodies.

Key Concepts:

The immune haemolytic anaemias are characterised by shortened red blood cell survival mediated by the action of antibodies and complement.

The key laboratory finding is the demonstration of antibody or complement on red blood cells by means of the direct antiglobulin (Coombs) test.

Antibodies may bind optimally at body temperature (37°C; warm antibody autoimmune haemolytic anaemia) or at 4°C (cold agglutinin disease).

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia is most often idiopathic, but some cases occur in association with other diseases, most commonly a lymphoma or systemic lupus erythematosus.

Drugs may cause antibody binding to red blood cells by three distinct mechanisms. Nowadays, the most common offending drugs are second and third generation cephalosporins.

Treatment options include glucocorticoids and splenectomy (warm antibody autoimmune hemolysis); rituximab (warm antibody autoimmune haemolysis and cold agglutinin disease); and removal of the offending drug (drug-immune haemolytic anaemia).

Transfusion should not be withheld from patients with symptomatic anaemia while awaiting a response to other treatments.

Keywords:

antibody;
haemolysis;
anaemia;
reticulocyte;
complement


First-principle calculations reveal that the configuration system of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer with triangular vacancy can induce obvious magnetism, contrary to that of the nonmagnetic pristine boron nitride monolayer. Interestingly, the h-BN with boron atom vacancy (VB-BN) displays metallic behavior with a total magnetic moment being 0.46μB per cell, while the h-BN with nitrogen atom vacancy (VN-BN) presents a half-metallic characteristic with a total magnetic moment being 1.0μB per cell. Remarkably, piezoelectric stress coefficient e11 of the VN-BN is about 1.5 times larger than that of pristine h-BN. Furthermore, piezoelectric strain coefficient d11 (12.42 pm/V) of the VN-BN is 20 times larger than that of pristine h-BN and also one order of magnitude larger than the value for the h-MoS2 monolayer, which is mainly due to the spin-down electronic state in the VN-BN system. Our study demonstrates that the nitrogen atom vacancies can be an efficient route to tailoring the magnetic and piezoelectric properties of h-BN monolayer, which have promising performances for potential applications in nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanoscale electronics devices.


Coupled processing of N and C in headwater wetlands can strongly affect downstream water quality. To understand how wetlands affect dissolved N and C concentrations in surface waters and the factors that influence changes in concentration, we measured landscape and physicochemical variables and dissolved N and C concentrations at the in- and outflows of 10 headwater wetlands in a suburban watershed (New Hampshire, USA) over 18 mo. We analyzed changes (Δ) in dissolved N and C concentrations (outflow – inflow) with linear mixed-effects models. A pulse in N2O concentrations that exceeded mean values by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude was observed during a summer characterized by rapidly fluctuating water-table elevations. NO3− concentrations were significantly lower, and DOC and DON concentrations were significantly higher at outflows than inflows. ΔNO3− was predicted by inflow concentrations of NO3−, NH4+, and DON, ΔDON, and season. ΔDON was predicted by inflow DON and DOC concentrations, ΔDOC, and dissolved O2 (as the mean of in- and outflow concentrations). ΔTDN (total dissolved nitrogen) was predicted by inflow TDN and DOC concentrations, dissolved O2, and season. ΔDOC was predicted by DON inflow concentration and ΔDON, season, and the ratio of study-wetland to subwatershed area. No significant predictors of ΔN2O or ΔNH4+ concentrations were found. In this suburban watershed, the passage of surface water through headwater wetlands is associated with decreased NO3− concentrations, increased DON and DOC concentrations, and seasonal shifts in TDN fractionation. Linear mixed-effects modeling was an effective approach to understanding coupled N and C dynamics in the study wetlands.


Corporations hold significant cash balances (Ferreira and Vilela, 2004). There are benefits to holding cash such as decreasing the risk of financial distress and decreasing the reliance on expensive external financing or the fire sale of assets (Opler, Pinkowitz, Stulz and Williamson, 1999). The main cost of holding cash is the opportunity cost of lost returns that could have been generated if the company invested the cash in positive net present value projects (Ferreira and Vilela, 2004). In a cross-country analysis on cash holdings of 45 countries by Dittmar, Mahrt-Smith and Servaes (2003), Egypt has been found to have the highest cash ratio by a large margin. There are three established theories that attempt to explain corporate cash holdings, namely the trade-off, pecking order and agency cost of free cash flow. Al-Najjar (2013) highlights the importance of further academic enquiry into cash holdings in developing economies, particularly from a firm-level corporate governance perspective. The recent political and economic instability, the inherent market risks and the low shareholder protection in Egypt offer an ideal context for investigating the cash holding theories previously examined in developed economies. Therefore, this thesis contributes to the existing literature by analysing the determinants of corporate cash holdings of firms listed on the Egyptian stock market. Ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares and generalized method of moments regression estimators are used on a sample of 157 Egyptian listed firms from 2008-2015. The findings confirm strong evidence of the trade-off theory, agency theory and partial evidence of the pecking order theory. The findings will help managers, boards of directors, investors and policy makers understand the reasons behind cash hoarding in Egypt. This research will help improve cash management in Egypt and hence will increase shareholder wealth, attract more investors to the market and thus contribute to the improvement of the Egyptian economy.


The properties of shape memory alloy wires (SMA wires) have still not been sufficiently investigated, which is the reason why shape memory-based actuators can hardly be found in serial or commercial applications in industry. The most important parameter for industrial applications is the fatigue strength of SMA wires under cyclic activation with mechanical stress. So far only isolated and application-specific investigations have been carried out. Thus there are no reliable statements on fatigue strength or reliable design calculations for design and application. Among other things, this circumstance is considered to be the reason why the majority of companies is still not ready or willing to use SMA technology in series production. This paper deals with a series of tests to determine the fatigue life of shape memory wires of different diameters by means of the design of experiments. Primarily the results aim at making more reliable predictions about the fatigue strength of shape memory wires, which are subject to statistical safety. Besides, the focus is on the influence of the wire diameter on the fatigue strength. The interdependency parameters are strain, stress and wire diameter. The fatigue strengths are shown in standardized Wohler diagrams, which should serve as a basis for future fatigue tests of shape memory wires. The main influence on the fatigue strength is the strain as expected. Another interesting tendency can be seen in the dependence on the wire diameter. Thus, this paper makes a contribution to the further application of this technology in both industrial and scientific environments.


Results: There are significant differences in PI values in normal pregnancy and pregnancy complicated by intrauterine growth restriction with hypoxia, especially in M2 segment. The prognostic values of abnormal M2 PI in prediction of fetal hypoxia were: sensitivity and positive predictive value of birthweight below 10 centile, 60 and 89%, respectively; sensitivity and negative predictive value of admission to NICU, 78 and 85%, respectively; and sensitivity and negative predictive value of artificial ventilation, 89 and93%, respectively. There were found low sensitivity and positive predictive value of pH and BE in umbilical artery, with high specificity and negative predictive value, 82 and 85%, 82 and 95%, respectively. Specificity and negative predictive value of pH and BE in umbilical vein, also were high, 85 and 89%, 84 and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: PI of M2 segments of the MCA seems to be a good predictor of fetal hypoxia during the second half of pregnancy complicated by growth restriction.


In order to assess socio-economic characteristics of cattle breeders and their effect on farmers' practices, a survey was carried out in Vina division within the Adamawa highlands of Cameroon, from November, 2009 to October, 2010. Data were collected from 159 farmers in 9 localities, using a structured questionnaire. Information on breeder's ethnic group, age, marital status, education level, number of children, reasons for rearing cattle, labor distribution, herd size and composition, feeding and reproductive practices were obtained. Many (64.8%) cattle breeders were from the Peulh and Mbororo ethnic groups. More than 59% of the farmers were between 26 and 45 years old. The educational level was mostly primary and coranic. Wealth accumulation and social status were the main reasons for cattle breeding. The reasons for keeping cattle varied with ethnic group, age and educational level of farmers. Herd size ranged from 50 to 250 cattle. Health activities were carried out by herd owners. The Gudali zebu (48%) was the most common breed. More than 90% of cattle owners responded to practice feed supplementation with salt, cotton seed cake and cereal bran. Farmer's education level had an effect on supplementation practices. There was no significant difference (Z = 0.29)between the ability to detect estrus or not of cattle breeders. Free mating was the common breeding practice. Udder and abdomen development were the main criteria for pregnancy diagnosis.


Objective Childhood obesity is rising and dietary intake is a potentially modifiable factor that plays an important role in its development. We aim to investigate the association between dietary patterns, obtained through principal components analysis and gains in fat and lean mass in childhood. Design Diet diaries at 10 years of age collected from children taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 9 and 11. Setting Longitudinal birth cohort. Subjects 3911 children with complete data. Results There was an association between the Health Aware (positive loadings on high-fiber bread, and fruits and vegetables; negative loadings on chips, crisps, processed meat, and soft drinks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain in girls. After adjusting for confounders, an increase of 1 standard deviation (sd) in this score led to an estimated 1.2% decrease in fat mass gain in valid-reporters and 2.1% in under-reporters. A similar decrease was found only in under-reporting boys. There was also an association between the Packed Lunch (high consumption of white bread, sandwich fillings, and snacks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain (1.1% per sd) in valid-reporting but not under-reporting girls. The main association with lean mass gain was an increase with Packed Lunch pattern score in valid-reporting boys only. Conclusions There is a small association between dietary patterns and change in fat mass in mid-childhood. Differences between under- and valid-reporters emphasize the need to consider valid-reporters separately in such studies.


The role of an AAA protease FtsH (slr0228) in the turnover of the D1 protein was studied under moderate heat stress conditions using wild-type cells of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803 and the mutant cells lacking a homologue of FtsH (slr0228). When the growth temperature of the wild-type was shifted from 30 °C to 40 °C, growth and oxygen-evolving activity were partially inhibited. Under the same heat stress, growth of the mutant was inhibited more significantly (63% inhibition after 5 days heat stress, compared with 26% inhibition with the wild-type cells) and the oxygen-evolving activity was also impaired in parallel. With heat stress at 42 °C, the level of the D1 protein of wild type cells was decreased, whereas that in mutant cells was not. The responses of cyanobacterial cells to heat stress observed here are quite similar to those to light stress that were reported previously [P. Silva, E. Thompson, S. Bailey, O. Kruse, C. W. Mullineaux, C. Robinson, N. H. Mann and P. J. Nixon, Plant Cell , 2003, 15 , 2152-2164, ref. 24]. From these results, we suggest that the FtsH protease (slr0228) is responsible for both the heat-induced and light-induced degradation of the D1 protein. Notably, the amount of FtsH increased when the wild-type cells were exposed to heat stress or light stress, indicating that the up-regulation of the FtsH protease in the thylakoids is crucial for the cyanobacterial cells to cope with these abiotic stresses.


Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAID) have been associated with a sudden and sustained rise in the incidence of gastrointestinal ulcer complications. The aim of the study was to reveal the endoscopical abnormalities found in the duodenum & proximal jejunum due to NSAID. Thirty eight patients taking NSAID for their arthritis or rheumatism were included in this study. Gastro-duodeno-jejunoscopy was done with Olympus PCF-10. The endoscopical appearances of NSAID entero gastropathy were evaluated with a scoring system. The NSAID-entero-gastropathy appearances were endoscopically seen as hyperemia, erosion and ulcer. From all patient recruited, 7.9% complaint of diarrhea and 71.1% complaint of dyspepsia. Endoscopically, in the duodenal bulb we found 79% cases of hyperemia, 39.5% cases of erosion and 7.9% cases of ulcer. In the second part (descending part) of the duodenum we found 28.9% cases of hyperemia, 15.8% cases of erosion and 2.6% case of ulcer. In the jejunum, we found 7.9% cases of hyperemia, 2.6% case of erosion and no ulcer. It is concluded that the most frequent abnormal endoscopical appearances in NSAID- enteropathy was hyperemia. The most frequent site of NSAID-enteropathy abnormal findings was in the duodenal bulb. (Med J Indones 2005; 14: 225-9) Keywords: NSAID-enteropathy, endoscopical appearances.


BACKGROUND
We present an educational model that describes physician skills for addressing psychosocial concerns of patients, ranging from basic medical questions to in-depth psychotherapy. This model improves upon previously published models by integrating into one hierarchy levels of physician involvement with individual patients and levels of involvement with families.

METHODS
Ten faculty family physicians were videotaped during 200 office visits. Interviews were categorized according to the model, with a 79% interrater agreement.

RESULTS
Most visits involved the lower three levels of physician involvement (41%, level 1; 35.5%, level 2; and 23%, level 3). Discussion of family context occurred in a majority (58.5%) of visits, primarily when another family member was in the room and during preventive care visits. Higher levels were associated with longer visits--about 3 minutes more for each additional level.

CONCLUSIONS
This investigation suggests that the levels of physician involvement model can be reliably measured. This model may be a useful tool for education and research, particularly the study of physician interview skills appropriate to family medicine.


Machining of titanium alloys as aerospace material that has extremely strength to weight ratio and resistant to corrosion at high-elevated temperature, become more interested topic. However, titanium alloys have low thermal conductivity, relative low modulus elasticity and high chemical reactivity with many cutting tool materials. The turning parameters evaluated are cutting speed (55, 75, 95 m/min), feed rate (0.15, 0.25, 0.35 mm/rev), depth of cut (0.10, 0.15, 0.20 mm) and tool grade of CVD carbide tool. The results that pattern of tool life progression is rapidly increase at the initial stage. It was due to small contact area between the cutting tool and the workpiece. At the first step of machining, the chip welded at the cutting edge but some chip removed away from the cutting edge. Wear mechanism produced are abrasive wear, adhesive, flaking, chipping at the cutting edge and coating delamination.


In this thesis, we study the Partial Set Covering Problem (PSCP) as well as some new extensions of the PSCP. We present a new extension of the PSCP which is called the Multiple Coverage Partial Set Covering Problem (MCPSCP). The model combines the aspect of multiple coverage with the PSCP.

Heuristic and approximative algorithms are proposed. Here, the focus lies on the PSCP and the MCPSCP for which several local search and Langrangean-based algorithms are presented. The heuristics are tested on a wide variety of benchmark problems. Furthermore, we report about an application of the PSCP and the MCPSCP in railway networks. The models are used to find optimal positions for vehicle testing stations.


We study the problem of instance alignment between knowledge bases (KBs). Existing approaches, exploiting the "symmetry" of structure and information across KBs, suffer in the presence of asymmetry, which is frequent as KBs are independently built. Specifically, we observe three types of asymmetries (in concepts, in features, and in structures). Our goal is to identify key techniques to reduce accuracy loss caused by each type of asymmetry, then design Asymmetry-Resistant Instance Alignment framework (ARIA). ARIA uses two-phased blocking methods considering concept and feature asymmetries, with a novel similarity measure overcoming structure asymmetry. Compared to a state-of-the-art method, ARIA increased precision by 19% and recall by 2%, and decreased processing time by more than 80% in matching large-scale real-life KBs.


Abstract Based on petrographic, mineralogical, isotope, and facies assemblage analysis, a microbial origin is established for the formation of dolomite associated with gypsum in Miocene evaporite lake deposits of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. In these deposits, dolomite is present as both intercalated carbonate beds, locally showing domal stromatolite structures between packages of selenite Christmas tree-like gypsum, and patches replacing macrocrystalline gypsum. Texture of the dolomite is characterized by crystal aggregates showing a variety of crystal sizes and morphologies, e.g., platelets, rhombs, micro-rods, and rings, whilst larger crystals are commonly spherical and/or wheat-grain shaped. Organic remains, in the form of filaments, shrubs, micro-fibrils, and strands, are also common and contain significant amounts of carbon. These textural features are also recognized in dolomite replacing gypsum, where Fe oxide and sulfide as well as celestite are ubiquitous mixed with the dolomite groundmass. The dolomite, whether primary or replacing gypsum, is poorly ordered and slightly Ca-rich, thus non stoichiometric. Stable-isotope compositions are characterized by negative values for both oxygen and carbon. Dolomite beds featuring domal stromatolites have δ18O values ranging from −2.99‰ and −3.79‰ and δ13C values ranging from −4.67‰ and −7.35‰, whilst δ13C values determined in the dolomite replacive of gypsum shows a small range of variation between −5.70‰ and −6.96‰. By contrast, δ18O values of replacive dolomite oscillate in a wider range (from −3.04‰ to −7.99‰). Formation of the dolomite was associated mainly with microbial mats, having taken place in relatively diluted lake water. Further evaporative concentration resulted in precipitation of gypsum crystals sealing the mats and creating endoevaporitic microenvironments in which endolithic cyanobaterial activity produced extensive boring and corrosion of the gypsum crystals. Hiatuses in gypsum growth caused an intensification of the corrosion process and favored the precipitation of dolomite mediated by microbes, resulting in pervasive replacement of the sulfate.


Part I of this Note describes the conflict of laws between foreign bank secrecy policies and United States tax laws, and how the use of unilateral investigatory methods have intensified that conflict. Part II surveys the development of compelled waiver case law in the United States and the Cayman Islands since the introductino of the evice in 1981, and sicusses how use of the waiver has raised questions of international comity and conflict of laws. Part III evaluates the failure of United States courts to address completely the international legal problems posed by unilateral investigatroy methods, and cites the analysis of cross-border subpoenas as a vivid example of this failure. Part IV proposes that the United States and the Cayman Islands acknowledge that the conflict between their national policies cannot be resolved in the courts of either state and suggests that they negotiate a treaty. The Note concludes that only through international cooperation will the public policies of each jurisdiction be given fair, unbiased treatment. COMPELLED WAIVER OF BANK SECRECY IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS: SOLUTION TO INTERNATIONAL TAX EVASION OR THREAT TO SOVEREIGNTY OF NATIONS?


Classification management is one of nature reserves management system in China. But state nature reserves and local administration nature reserves under the regulations are only the approval system and embody the concept of protection. Management pattern of nature reserves can be divided into nine types. There are big differences in the nine patterns in management foundation and coordination ability of management because different management pattern occupies different resources of administration, personnel, financial and law enforcement. By analyzing management pattern, thirty-eight indexes in thirteen categories were selected to evaluate the management effectiveness of national nature reserves subordinate to the State Forestry Administration (SFA). Results show that the management effectiveness of national nature reserves is good as a whole, and the management effectiveness is direct proportional to administration level. Provincial administration has the higher efficiency than municipal and county administration. Direct administration by governments at all levels has the higher efficiency than departments' administration at the same level.


ABSTRACT Anticipating the competitive disadvantage of economically weak regions in an integrated European single market, the European Union (EU) redistributes money to alleviate economic inequalities and increase cohesion. However, the amount of European redistribution is very moderate and the recent years have shown that Eurosceptic parties gain ground, especially in economically weak areas. So is Eurosceptic voting related to an insufficient compensation of the losers of EU integration? Combining European Social Survey data with information on regional funding for 123 EU regions, I demonstrate that the probability of a Eurosceptic vote is highest under insufficient compensation. Insufficient compensation occurs among middle income regions that are cut-off from the bulk of funding due to the regional policies' targeted approach. Moreover, some of the poorest regions miss out as well, as the more developed areas among the poor are favored in funds allocation. A taming effect of funding on Eurosceptic voting is therefore restricted to the more prosperous regions in Europe's lagging areas.


Being an immaterial product, every cultural event follows the market rules, therefore it can be realized, valorized and communicated by appropriate marketing instruments.With evolution and developing of more accurate models of analysis in support of cultural sector marketing decisions, the importance of realizing the specific studies is becoming more and more evident. They should be based on such a conception of a product or service as a consumer's experience. The primary goal of this work is to provide the management with a new instrument of interpretation of an event, that transforms the intangible components into a concrete structural units, functional for the planning, production and evaluation of a live cultural event.The research developing begins with the analysis of specialized literature in the field that consents to identify a guidelines for the redefinition of the «participation» concept and for the systematization of separate elements. The proposed model has been adopted as an instrument for the in-depth investigation of a contact between the live show and its public, for observing the dynamics of interaction and offering a detailed framework based on these elements, sustained by the construction of a specific terminological apparatus. A multisided sociological survey of the phenomena supports and completes the research by means of three-step work: a qualitative research in the field, an empiric quantitative analysis of public aimed at verification of the model applicability, and finally a second quantitative analysis that offers the first practical application of the model.


Background: Sleep disturbance is prevalent among patients with chronic diseases. Thus, the use of non-pharmacological interventions is needed. Progressive muscle relaxation is considered effective to improve sleep quality, but its discussion is still limited. Objective : To investigate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation on sleep quality among chronic disease patients. Design: Literature review. Data Sources : Search was performed through the CINAHL, Science Direct, and ProQuest database from 2014 to 2019 for English-based, full-text research articles. Review Methods : Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methods was used to select articles. Critical Appraisal Skills Programme was used for quality assessment. Results : From the 644 articles yielded, six articles were included. Progressive muscle relaxation could be given alone or in combination with cognitive behavioural therapy. It also has been proven to improve sleep quality among patients with chronic diseases regardless their ages. Procedures in progressive muscle relaxation vary, but all studies reported significant improvements on sleep quality. Most of studies used audio as a medium for progressive muscle relaxation training. Conclusion: Progressive muscle relaxation significantly improves the sleep quality among patients with chronic diseases. It is recommended for future studies to compare the effectivity between 4 or 7 muscle groups and 16 muscle groups on sleep quality.


This paper present hematological data obtained during space flights of the third and the fourth prime crew flights (EO-3 and EO-4). In the EO-3 flight, RBCs, WBCs and blood formed elements were counted by the cosmonaut-researcher. In the EO-4 flight, blood was drawn by the cosmonaut-researcher and analyzed on the ground; also, blood smears treated in the Microview unit and videotaped were used. Blood parameters in EO-3 and EO-4 crewmembers were close or equal to the normal. However there were cases with changes in bends, myelocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes; also anisocytosis, hypochromia, target-like erythrocytes, and single acanthocytes were seen. Comparison of blood smears on unstained and stained glass slides revealed significant differences in the amount of target-like erythrocytes in the same cosmonaut at the same time (on the prestained glass slide only 4 erythrocytes and no aggregates in single fields of vision were detected while on the unstained glass slide aggregates in single fields of vision were seen). Pre- and postflight examinations of bone marrow revealed polymorphocellular marrow and mature hemopoietic cells.


Background: The burden of occupational injury in most developing countries including Ethiopia is becoming a public health problem. Therefore, information that shows the magnitude and predictors of occupational injury in most risky work places in Ethiopia such as large scale metal manufacturing industries is indispensable for proper health intervention programs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and factors affecting occupational injuries among workers engaged in large scale metal manufacturing industries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted among 829 workers engaged in large scale metal manufacturing industries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from February 1 to March 30, 2010. Fifty percent (50%) of large scale metal manufacturing industries were selected by simple random sampling after stratification. Then, calculated sample size was allocated for each industry by probability to proportional sample size. Subjects were stratified by working sections and those who were directly engaged in the work were selected from each stratum by simple random sampling after preparing a frame from payroll of those industries. The data were collected by pretested structured questionnaire. Observational checklist and in-depth interview with key informants were held to triangulate the information with quantitative findings. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were done to identify factors of occupational injury. Results: The magnitude of occupational injury was 489 per 1000 exposed workers per year. Twenty nine percent of injured workers were hospitalized of which 98 (82.4%) for 24 or more working hours. Sex of workers [AOR: 3.32, 95% CI: (1.88, 5.85)], safety and health supervision [AOR: 1.60, 95% CI: (1.03, 2.60)], hours worked per week [AOR: 2.37, (95% CI: (1.55, 3.61)], cigarette smoking [AOR: 3.36, 95% CI: (1.73, 6.50) ] and presence of functional danger signs/posts [AOR: 2.65, (95% CI: (1.67, 4.19)] were significantly associated factors with magnitude of occupational injury. Conclusion: The burden of occupational injury in metal manufacturing industry is really significant public health problem. Emphasis should be given to provide health and safety services on sex of workers, safety and health supervision, hours worked per week, cigarette smoking and functional danger signs.


A numerical method for simulating the motion and deformation of an axisymmetric bubble or drop rising or falling in another infinite and initially stationary fluid is developed based on the volume of fluid (VOF) method in the frame of two incompressible and immiscible viscous fluids under the action of gravity, taking into consideration of surface tension effects. A comparison of the numerical results by this method with those by other works indicates the validity of the method. In the frame of inviscid and incompressible fluids without taking into consideration of surface tension effects, the mechanisms of the generation of the liquid jet and the transition from spherical shape to toroidal shape during the bubble or drop deformation, the increase of the ring diameter of the toroidal bubble or drop and the decrease of its cross-section area during its motion, and the effects of the density ratio of the two fluids on the deformation of the bubble or drop are analysed both theoretically and numerically.更多还原


Background: Mouse double minute 2 (MDM2) contributes to cancer metastasis and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT). This study aimed to investigate small mothers against decapentaplegic (Smad) signaling in MDM2-mediated EMT in lung adenocarcinoma (LAC). Materials and methods: Expression patterns of MDM2 in LAC tissues, adjacent tissues, and cell lines (BEAS-2B, PC9, H1975, and A549) were detected. We then overexpressed MDM2 in PC9 cells and knocked it down in H1975 cells. To explore whether MDM2 activates EMT through the Smad2/3 signaling pathway, Smad2 and Smad3 were also silenced by siRNA in H1975 cells. Male BALB/c nude mice were used in in vivo model to validate the effects of MDM2 on LAC cells. Results: MDM2 was significantly upregulated in LAC tissues compared with adjacent tissues. The expression of MDM2 was relatively higher in PC9 cells and relatively lower in H1975 cells compared with A549 cells. Overexpression of MDM2 significantly increased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in LAC cells, while inhibiting apoptosis in PC9 cells. On the contrary, silencing of MDM2 significantly inhibited the expression of EMT-related genes N-cadherin and vimentin, while promoting the expression of E-cadherin and β -catenin. In vivo, MDM2 knockdown inhibited tumor growth. In addition, the expression of Smad2/3 was correlated with MDM2 in H1975 cells transfected with Smad2 and Smad3 siRNAs, which inhibited EMT progress. Conclusion: MDM2 can activate the Smad2/3 signaling pathway, which promotes the proliferation and EMT progress of LAC cells.


Protein is of vital importance for the nutrition of animals and humans. A growing world population is dependent on the efficient supply of proteins. It is also dependent on sustainable production of proteins since environmental impacts associated with animal-based protein provision are widely perceived as surpassing ecological boundaries in the long run. Connecting this perception with consumer demand for regional products the study computes regional animal demand and feed crop supply of crude protein in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The results show that self-sufficiency of crude protein for livestock farming cannot be reached by increasing high-protein legume cultivation alone: either a third of pig- or cattle-livestock would have to be reduced. Alternatively, plant-based sources like sunflower proteins could serve as substitutes – these, however, do need further research in order to reach comparable functionality and market potential as soy products.


This study re-examines the variation in selling prices between the auction and private treaty method of sales. Using sales data from five major Australian capital cities over a four year period, we estimate a hedonic pricing model. Results indicate that for house sales, auctions lead to greater selling prices across all cities examined. However, results for unit sales reveal that this auction premium is only evident in two cities where auctions are less prevalent. Further analysis reveals that self-selection (where a particular method of sale is selected to maximise the selling price) is evident across the sample. After controlling for this self-selection bias using a two-stage model, houses sold via auction generally command a higher price. This suggests that the auction method of selling provides a price premium over the private treaty method of sale. Abstract This study re-examines the variation in selling prices between the auction and private treaty method of sales. Using sales data from five major Australian capital cities over a four year period, we estimate a hedonic pricing model. Results indicate that for house sales, auctions lead to greater selling prices across all cities examined. However, results for unit sales reveal that this auction premium is only evident in two cities where auctions are less prevalent. Further analysis reveals that self-selection (where a particular method of sale is selected to maximise the selling price) is evident across the sample. After controlling for this self-selection bias using a two-stage model, houses sold via auction generally command a higher price. This suggests that the auction method of selling provides a price premium over the private treaty method of sale.


A majority of previous studies on disaster diplomacy has been limited to short-term case studies. This study advances disaster diplomacy by increasing the number of disasters investigated, as well as incorporating international relations cooperation theoretical arguments to test possible consequences of offering aid to an afflicted state. Using Joshua Goldstein's conflict-cooperation scale, the thesis compares the average cooperation level one year pre-disaster and average cooperation levels post-disaster over a two year time period. This is done to determine if disaster-related assistance by a donor state to an afflicted (recipient) state leads to greater longterm cooperation between the recipient and the donor state. Fifty-five cases are drawn from natural disasters that occurred from 1992 to 2002 in which at least 50,000 people were left homeless. Preliminary results suggest that the offer of aid increases the probability of future positive average cooperation levels. INDEX WORDS: Disaster relief, Disaster Diplomacy, International Cooperation IS THERE A SILVER LINING? LONG-TERM CHANGES IN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION LEVELS AFTER A NATURAL DISASTER by


Although uncertainty avoidance is identified as an important concept for understanding intrapreneurial intentions, empirical findings have not been consistent in portraying a broader picture of how uncertainty avoidance shapes intrapreneurial intentions. This study bridges this gap through a four-level conceptual model of the role of uncertainty avoidance in the formation of employees' intrapreneurial intentions, differentiating among unit- and country-level uncertainty avoidance. Using the established relationship between behavioral control and intentions, we consider how employee creativity and self-efficacy influence intrapreneurial intentions. Following the person-environment fit paradigm and the resulting fit traditions of complementarity and supplementarity, we narrow in on how these processes operate within specific (stimulating or inhibiting) cultural settings in terms of uncertainty avoidance at both the unit and country levels. Using data from 787 employees on the first level nested into 73 units on the second level, 19 organizations on the third level, and eight countries on the fourth level, study shows evidence for a beneficial interplay between unit-level uncertainty avoidance and creativity or self-efficacy when there is a supplementary or complementarity fit. The interplay between behavioral and contextual factors is negative, however, when neither type of fit applies. Finally, country-level uncertainty avoidance seems to be irrelevant to intrapreneurial intentions.


Dental therapists encounter patients with various systemic diseases of which cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients form a significant segment. Relation between oral health and cardiac diseases has been well established. Common cardiac disorders encountered in a dental practice include arterial hypertension, heart failure, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrhythmias, infective endocarditis, stroke, and cardiac pacemaker. Patients with CVDs pose a significant challenge to dental therapy. These patients need special considerations and an adequate understanding of the underlying cardiovascular condition to provide safe and effective dental treatment. Based on the cardiac condition, an appropriate modification in dental care is crucial. A multidisciplinary approach including the patient's cardiologist can potentially reduce complications and improve dental treatment results. This review aims at unfolding the risks associated with the dental management of a cardiac patient and outlines the measures to be undertaken for optimum dental treatment.


New experimental profiles of stable species concentrations are reported for formaldehyde oxidation in a variable pressure flow reactor at initial temperatures of 850–950 K and at constant pressures ranging from 1.5 to 6.0 atm. These data, along with other data published in the literature and a previous comprehensive chemical kinetic model for methanol oxidation, are used to hierarchically develop an updated mechanism for CO/H2O/H2/O2, CH2O, and CH3OH oxidation. Important modifications include recent revisions for the hydrogen–oxygen submechanism (Li et al., Int J Chem Kinet 2004, 36, 565), an updated submechanism for methanol reactions, and kinetic and thermochemical parameter modifications based upon recently published information. New rate constant correlations are recommended for CO + OH = CO2 + H (R23) and HCO + M = H + CO + M (R24), motivated by a new identification of the temperatures over which these rate constants most affect laminar flame speed predictions (Zhao et al., Int J Chem Kinet 2005, 37, 282). The new weighted least-squares fit of literature experimental data for (R23) yields k23 = 2.23 × 105T1.89exp(583/T) cm3/mol/s and reflects significantly lower rate constant values at low and intermediate temperatures in comparison to another recently recommended correlation and theoretical predictions. The weighted least-squares fit of literature results for (R24) yields k24 = 4.75 × 1011T0.66exp(−7485/T) cm3/mol/s, which predicts values within uncertainties of both prior and new (Friedrichs et al., Phys Chem Chem Phys 2002, 4, 5778; DeSain et al., Chem Phys Lett 2001, 347, 79) measurements. Use of either of the data correlations reported in Friedrichs et al. (2002) and DeSain et al. (2001) for this reaction significantly degrades laminar flame speed predictions for oxygenated fuels as well as for other hydrocarbons. The present C1/O2 mechanism compares favorably against a wide range of experimental conditions for laminar premixed flame speed, shock tube ignition delay, and flow reactor species time history data at each level of hierarchical development. Very good agreement of the model predictions with all of the experimental measurements is demonstrated. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 39: 109–136, 2007


The English Baccalaureate (EBac), a performance measure for English secondary schools, was introduced by the British Coalition government in 2010. As a narrow range of traditional academic subjects, the EBac contrasted with the previous broader, more flexible curriculum. The stated policy purpose was to ensure that all students had access and encouragement to study EBac subjects.

The research aims are to investigate why the EBac policy was introduced at this time, to examine the potential and actual impact on the school curriculum from the perspectives of teachers and to identify the potential winners and losers of this policy. This study provides critical reflection around the implementation of the EBac policy within a poststructural approach, making recommendations for socially just refinements. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is deployed within Scheurich's policy archaeology framework to explore policy implementation via semi-structured interviews with school leaders in four contrasting secondary schools. CDA highlights a set of socially constituted issues, which in turn lead to the identification of the problem of low educational standards, (particularly among disadvantaged students) and hence to the construction of a politically acceptable policy solution, namely the EBac.

Five key themes arose from the interviews: the nature of knowledge; differentiation and hierarchy; choice and resistance; control and accountability, and equality. Teachers' discourse centred on notions of student 'ability' in contrast to the anticipated focus on student characteristics of social class, gender and ethnicity. Teachers' pre-occupation with outcomes of high-stake educational tests created self-governance and restricted access to EBac subjects for students deemed 'not capable' of achieving the pass grade of A*-C. The study concludes that the EBac in its present form might exacerbate educational achievement inequalities rather than resolve them. The neoliberal drive for outcomes and performance measures has resulted in some students continuing to be diverted away from EBac subjects.


Abstract : Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) has been a new area of research - seeking to provide situational awareness to mission and maintenance operations, and for improved decision-making with increased self-autonomy. This research effort developed an analytic architecture and an associated discrete-event simulation using Arena to investigate the potential benefits of ISHM implementation onboard an UAS. The objective of this research is two-fold: firstly, to achieve continued airworthiness by investigating the potential extension of UAS expected lifetime through ISHM implementation, and secondly, to reduce life cycle costs by implementing a Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) policy with better failure predictions made possible with ISHM. Through a series of design experiments, it was shown that ISHM presented the most cost-effective improvement over baseline systems in situations where the reliability of the UAS is poor (relative to manned systems) and the baseline sensor exhibited poor qualities in terms of missed detection and false alarm rates. From the simulation results of the test scenarios, it was observed that failure occurrence rates, sensor quality characteristics and ISHM performance specifications were significant factors in determining the output responses of the model. The desired outcome of this research seeks to provide potential designers with top-level performance specifications of an ISHM system based on specified airworthiness and maintenance requirements for the envisaged ISHM-enabled UAS.


While online dating platforms offer new IT-enabled capabilities which do not exist in the physical world before, little is known about whether any fundamental matching rules are reshaped in the online environment. In this paper, we address the gap by studying one such factor, i.e. mate physical attractiveness, in an online dating platform. By using a unique dataset and machine-learning based algorithmic approach, the study successfully overcomes various confounding issues, selection bias and physical attractiveness measurement issues and estimates the physical attractiveness effect in online users' dating decision. Results reveal the essence of physical attractiveness in online context and the disappearing geographic boundary. The findings and methods are essential to both our understanding of the mechanisms that drive match mating online and our knowledge of how to propagate them in various fields where large scales of objective physical attractiveness and behavioral data are emerging.


PURPOSE
To map vitamin E as a function of distance from the foveal center in the primate retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid.

METHODS
Eyecups from rhesus monkeys were dissected with circular trephines so that the innermost disc, centered on the fovea, was in the center of a series of concentric rings. Two different types of dissection were performed. For one type, the authors used circular trephines with diameters of 1, 4, 8, and 10 mm (1,4-D), whereas for the other type the diameters were 2, 5, 8, and sometimes 10 mm (2,5-D). When possible, the neural retina was separated from the RPE-choroid. Tissues were analyzed for vitamin E, retinyl palmitate, and protein.

RESULTS
Surface area, volume, and protein were used as indexes of the amount of tissue analyzed. Distributions of vitamin E in neural retina were dependent on the tissue metric used and type of dissection performed. However, regardless of the tissue metric used, the central 1-mm disc of the 1,4-D was, on average, higher in vitamin E content than was the central 2-mm disc of the 2,5-D. This was particularly true when volume was the tissue metric. From the average values of vitamin E in a series of concentric discs, a composite plot of the vitamin E concentration in the neural retina was generated that took into consideration both types of dissection. That plot displayed a local maximum in the fovea and then precipitously declined to a minimum in the region between 0.5 and 1.0 mm eccentricity (near the foveal crest); at greater eccentricities, the vitamin E concentration rose to a value similar to that in the fovea, i.e., the composite plot indicated that vitamin E has a V-shaped distribution in the central neural retina. Vitamin E distribution in the RPE-choroid, with surface area as the tissue metric, also was measured. For this tissue, the foveal region displayed a local maximum.

CONCLUSIONS
By combining the results of two different types of dissection, the authors found that in the neural retina, vitamin E displayed a minimum near the foveal crest. This minimum correlated anatomically with the site at which areolar (geographic) atrophy frequently occurs in retinal pigment epithelial cells in the human disease, age-related macular degeneration.


The growing scale of resource development activities accentuates the complexity underlying the sustainability of traditional livelihoods in Mongolia. At the same time, Mongolia experiences growing vulnerability to climatic variability and change, expressed in the form of intense desertification, water stress, and extreme dzuds. This paper is based on APN-funded capacity building workshops that focused on understanding a) how climatic changes impact herding and mining—although in varied forms, and b) how each sector may leverage its resources to devise action, strategies and tools that may help build capacities and boost resilience towards changing climatic conditions. Workshop discussions highlighted that traditional livelihoods remain under multiple threats from climatic variability and change; and institutionalised mechanisms of creating cross-sectoral partnerships – such as a network hub of key stakeholder groups – is fundamental in ensuring climate-resilient coexistence between mining and herding sectors.


The prevalence rate of Chlamydia trachomatis in the vagina of prepubertal sexually abused children was examined. Additionally, the culture technique was compared to direct immunofluorescence assay (DFA) for diagnosing chlamydial infections in the vaginas of prepubertal children. The study group included 50 consecutive prepubertal girls examined for sexual abuse in an urban pediatric hospital's emergency room. Vaginal swabs were obtained for culture and direct immunofluorescence assay of C trachomatis and for gonorrhea culture. of these, 8/47 (17%) of the Chlamydia cultures, 4/43 (9.3%) of the direct immunofluorescence assay specimens, and 0/49 gonorrhea cultures were positive for Chlamydia. All patients with positive findings by direct immunofluorescence assay also had positive chlamydial cultures. Of the four other patients with positive cultures for Chlamydia, two had negative findings by direct immunofluorescence assay and two had inconclusive results reported. Twenty-nine patients had a syphilis serologic study performed, and all had negative results. There was no significant difference between the Chlamydia-positive and -negative groups with regards to age, race, nature of the abuse, frequency of abuse, and symptoms or findings on physical examination. Although not statistically significant, children with cultures positive for C trachomatis reported rectal penetration five times and vaginal penetration twice as often as those children with C trachomatis-negative results. This study demonstrates a significant prevalence of vaginal chlamydial infections in sexually abused children. Vaginal cultures for C trachomatis should be included in the medical evaluation of sexually abused girls. The culture technique was superior to the direct immunofluorescence assay in this group of patients.


Dynamically assigning subcarriers of OFDM systems to multiple different terminals in a cell has been shown to be beneficial in terms of different transmission metrics. However, the success of such a scheme depends on the ability of the access point to inform terminals of their newest subcarrier assignments as well as on the accuracy of the channel state information used to generate new assignments. It is not clear whether the overhead required to implement these two system abilities consumes all of the potential performance increase possible by dynamically assigning subcarriers. In this paper, a specific MAC structure is selected enabling the operation of a dynamic OFDM system. Then, we study the question of the required overhead. A static assignment variant serves as a comparison scheme. We investigate the performance difference of these two schemes for various scenarios where at first signaling and then realistic channel knowledge is added to the system model. The results in terms of average throughput and goodput per terminal are obtained for a varying number of terminals in the cell as well as for a varying transmit power. We find that the performance is not only decreased for the dynamic scheme but also for the static one, such that the overall ratio favors the dynamic rather than the static scheme especially in realistic system environments.


Background: Human milk is the ideal and uniquely superior food for infant for first year of life. Some sociodemographic factor correlate most strongly with the prevalence and duration of breast feeding. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of breast feeding and factors influencing the feeding practices in a study population in Thi-Qar governorate. Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: in three hospitals in Thi-qar governorate, the mother of infants in the primary health care units of these hospitals, had been randomly selected and interviewed with a questionnaire which included information about the age, sex and mode of feeding for the infants, and the sociodemographic status of the mothers. The sociodemographic variables included, urban / rural residence, educational level, occupation or employment, family income, place and type of delivery and contraceptive use. Results: the prevalence of breast feeding was 90%, and bottle feeding prevalence was 10%; the mean time of weaning was 11 months. Factor that were significantly associated with duration of breast feeding were maternal age, level of education, area of residence, occupation, family income, place and type of delivery and contraceptive use. The most common reasons for refusing to breast feed were in adequately secreted milk and the mother employment outside the home. Conclusions: the prevalence of women nursing breast feeding was higher than the estimated national data the prevalence of the bottle-feeding was higher in women who needed to work out of their homes and in those with higher educational level


The canonical ubiquitin 26S proteosome dependent protein degradation pathway and its sub-branch N-end rule pathway are important ubiquitin dependent processes in eukaryotes. The majority of substrates are predominantly targeted for degradation by the proteosome. Expression of a ubiquitin variant with Arg instead of Lys at position 48 (ubK48R) in the Arabidopsis RV86-5 line leads to cell death. In order to understand the downstream effects of this pathway, the ubK48R expressing line RV86-5 and the suppressor line of ubiquitin variant induced cell death, sud2, were used as tools. Fine mapping with 1239 recombinants narrowed down the sud2 mutant locus to the south arm of chromosome III, between loci At3g44400 and At3g44900. Problems caused by low recombination and repeated sequences were overcome by sub-genomic PCR-based amplification of a 350 kb region and subsequent Solexa sequencing of this region of interest. The data analysis tailored for nucleotide based comparison to reference sequence identified 15 candidates, 5 of which could be verified by conventional sequencing. In an alternative approach, microarray-based transcriptional expression differences between RV86-5 and sud2 identified 10 additional candidate suppressor genes, the majority of which are of unknown function. Among mutations in 9 of the tested candidates, 8 were able to prevent the lethal phenotype of RV86-5, indicating their involvement in the cell death process.
The main interest of the ubiquitin research field is to identify E3-ligases and their interacting substrates. The second part of this work involved the search for novel E3 ligases that modify a known test protein with an aliphatic hydrophobic amino-terminal residue, Leu, which is targeted by none of the known plant N-end rule E3 ligases, PRT6 and PRT1. EMS mutagenesis on a plant line expressing a test protein with L-GUS followed by live tissue GUS staining, to screen for transgene stabilization, identified the 2 complementation groups PRT8 and PRT9, representing candidates for putative E3-ligases involved in destabilization of test proteins with amino-terminal Leu. The prt8 mutant shows delayed development. With the creation of a mapping population, the basis for the identification of locus was laid in this work.
Arabidopsis mutants in the functionally unknown UBR domain proteins BIG and PRT7, which share homology with the mammalian N-end rule pathway components UBR4 and UBR7, were analyzed. A mutant in PRT7, isolated by T-DNA library screening, showed premature leaf senescence. In contrast, the big mutant showed delayed senescence and in addition no enzymatic affinity to test substrates with a basic N-terminus. Mutants were
9
isolated in two putative Arabidopsis deamidases, NTAN and NTAQ that are distantly related to mammalian deamidases. These were crossed into reporter lines expressing N-GUS and Q-GUS test proteins to deduce whether these enzymes provide substrates to Arg-t-RNA protein transferase as in mammals. These created mutants have laid the basis to analyse unknown functions of N-end rule pathway components in Arabidopsis.
The importance of NO in signaling in plants has been long studied, but its molecular mechanism is still not well understood. In this work, it was found that in the Arabidopsis N-end rule pathway, NO targets test substrates with N-terminal Cys for degradation in a proteosome dependent manner and that this process is dependent on O2. With these results, strong evidence was obtained that the N-end rule pathway has a role in NO signaling and sensing. This finding has brought new insights into the plant N-end rule pathway.
Taken together, the research work of this Thesis has developed new methods to overcome the low recombination problem during the mapping process, identified candidates that could potentially link the cell death processes to the ubiquitin dependent degradation pathway and identified putative E3-ligases of the N-end rule pathway by a novel way of EMS mutant screening supported by live tissue GUS assay. This research work found a connection between NO and the N-end rule pathway in A. thaliana. A complete set of mutants in all known plant N-end rule pathway components has been created, opening a window of possibility to further find natural substrates of this pathway.


Solutions to many-body problem instances often involve an intractable number of degrees of freedom and admit no known approximations in general form. In practice, representing quantum-mechanical states of a given Hamiltonian using available numerical methods, in particular those based on variational Monte Carlo simulations, become exponentially more challenging with increasing system size. Recently quantum algorithms implemented as variational models have been proposed to accelerate such simulations. The variational ansatz states are characterized by a polynomial number of parameters devised in a way to minimize the expectation value of a given Hamiltonian, which is emulated by local measurements. In this study, we develop a means to certify the termination of variational algorithms. We demonstrate our approach by applying it to three models: the transverse field Ising model, the model of one-dimensional spinless fermions with competing interactions, and the Schwinger model of quantum electrodynamics. By means of comparison, we observe that our approach shows better performance near critical points in these models. We hence take a further step to improve the applicability and to certify the results of variational quantum simulators.


The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) developed the Milestones as a tool to aid trainee assessment based on the framework of the six core competencies of practice. Variability in the interpretation and application of the original Milestones prompted the ACGME to convene work groups within the different specialties and subspecialties to update the Milestones. The Geriatric Medicine work group was convened in 2019 with the goal of clarifying and simplifying the language of the Milestones, revising content to be specific to geriatrics, and developing supplemental resources to aid in implementation and use. We suggest using a practical, four‐step process to implement the updated Milestones, called the Milestones 2.0, in fellowship programs by: (1) training faculty in the use of the Milestones 2.0, including an overview of the background and updates, (2) mapping the Milestones 2.0 to existing assessments, (3) educating fellows about the Milestones 2.0 and (4) presenting and discussing the Milestones 2.0 at Clinical Competency Committee meetings. This systematic approach promotes the development of a shared mental model for trainee assessments.


The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum has been a preferred model organism during the last 50 years, particularly for the study of cell motility and chemotaxis, phagocytosis and macropinocytosis, intercellular adhesion, pattern formation, caspase-independent cell death and more recently autophagy and social evolution. Being a soil amoeba and professional phagocyte, thus exposed to a variety of potential pathogens, D. discoideum has also proven to be a powerful genetic and cellular model for investigating host-pathogen interactions and microbial infections. The finding that the Dictyostelium genome harbours several homologs of human genes responsible for a variety of diseases has stimulated their analysis, providing new insights into the mechanism of action of the encoded proteins and in some cases into the defect underlying the disease. Recent technological developments have covered the genetic gap between mammals and non-mammalian model organisms, challenging the modelling role of the latter. Is there a future for Dictyostelium discoideum as a model organism?


This paper deals with the class of polynomially uncertain continuous-time linear time-invariant (LTI) systems whose uncertainties belong to a semi-algebraic set. The objective is to determine the minimum of the smallest singular value of the controllability or observability Gramian over the uncertainty region. This provides a quantitative measure for the robust controllability or observability degree of the system. To this end, it is shown that the problem can be recast as a sum-of-squares (SOS) problem. In the special case when the uncertainty region is polytopic, the corresponding SOS formulation can be simplified significantly. One can apply the proposed method to any large-scale interconnected system to identify those inputs and outputs that are more effective in controlling the system. This enables the designer to simplify the control structure by ignoring those inputs and outputs whose contribution to the overall control operation is relatively weak. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the results.


Historical dendroarchaeology uses annual tree-ring widths varied by climate to crossdate structures of potential historical significance. In the Southeastern U.S. Piedmont specifically, crossdating these structures can lead to a broader historical interpretation during and after the colonial era. Our study used historical dendroarchaeology to date the Graves Mill grist mill located in Madison County along the western edge of the Virginia Piedmont. The mill and mill site reflect a regional trend in eighteenth century land use as agriculture transitioned from tobacco to wheat production in response to demand from international markets, as well as the adverse impact of tobacco cultivation on piedmont soils. Mills in this region have also been subject to flooding events from storms, with events recorded in the colonial era to a recent record flood in 1995, as well as re-building with changes in mill technologies through time. In an effort to date this structure as part of its restoration, and to verify the repeatability of this dating, ring widths from six timbers from the upper stories were analyzed independently at tree-ring laboratories at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Rider University. Both laboratories identified an 1816 cutting date for these samples, supporting documentary evidence that the mill likely underwent modifications over time after it was initially constructed in the eighteenth century. The consistent crossdating of these samples highlights the usefulness of dendrochronology as a research tool in the Southeastern U.S. for interpreting historical structures and their surrounding historical context. © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.