We present the first multi‐instrumental results on the ionospheric response to the geomagnetic storm of 17–18 March 2015 (the St. Patrick's Day storm) that was up to now the strongest in the 24th solar cycle (minimum SYM‐H value of −233 nT). The storm caused complex effects around the globe. The most dramatic positive ionospheric storm occurred at low latitudes in the morning (~100–150% enhancement) and postsunset (~80–100% enhancement) sectors. These significant vertical total electron content increases were observed in different local time sectors and at different universal time, but around the same area of the Eastern Pacific region, which indicates a regional impact of storm drivers. Our analysis revealed that this particular region was most concerned by the increase in the thermospheric O/N2 ratio. At midlatitudes, we observe inverse hemispheric asymmetries that occurred, despite the equinoctial period, in different longitudinal regions. In the European‐African sector, positive storm signatures were observed in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), whereas in the American sector, a large positive storm occurred in the Southern Hemisphere, while the NH experienced a negative storm. The observed asymmetries can be partly explained by the thermospheric composition changes and partly by the hemispherically different nondipolar portions of the geomagnetic field as well as by the IMF By component variations. At high latitudes, negative ionospheric storm effects were recorded in all longitudinal regions, especially the NH of the Asian sector was concerned. The negative storm phase developed globally on 18 March at the beginning of the recovery phase.


Certain factors appeal to us in a severe case of laryngeal diphtheria. The main point to be considered, however, is to afford instantaneous mechanical relief and prevent asphyxia. This, to my mind, is of more importance than the consideration of what the real therapeutics shall be. If therefore, a child has recovered from the exhaustion following this mechanical relief by intubation, then it is necessary to commence with the real therapeutic management of the case. If a history of diphtheria exists, and we are positive of the diagnosis, then we should without delay inject our case with either 5 c.cm. of antitoxin of the strength of 500 normal units, and if no relief is afforded in twenty-four hours, then we repeat the injection of the same dose of antitoxin. The choice as to the location of the injection depends on the practitioner. My own preference has been, that seen by


Abstract : The collapse of the Soviet Union, although providing a host of welcome opportunities for people of that nation, also exacerbated a number of transnational concerns just as serious as those that emanated from the bipolar hostility of the previous 50 years. Among these challenges is the marked increase in the theft of and illegal trafficking in nuclear materials, often referred to as nuclear smuggling. Prior to the early 1990s, nuclear smuggling generally involved small quantities of bogus materials or, at most, nuclear-associated materials that posed no serious danger to security. Recently, however, several disturbing incidents involving kilogram quantities of sensitive nuclear materials suitable for constructing bombs have occurred. No one doubts that hostile groups could conceivably bring weapons-usable nuclear material into the United States. Moreover, nuclear smuggling represents a possible shortcut for states such as Iran seeking plutonium or highly enriched uranium for their weapons program. The consequences of such states succeeding would be profound. The U.S. Government takes the threat of nuclear smuggling seriously. Congress has provided funds and the Executive Branch has devised numerous successful programs targeted to reduce this danger at its source-but much remains to be done. This book will contribute to filling that gap by providing a new tool, the nuclear smuggling pathway model, for addressing the nuclear smuggling phenomenon in a holistic way. This model is based on a general systems model and designed specifically as an analytical tool to assist national security personnel at all levels to understand, analyze, and prevent instances of illicit trafficking in nuclear materials. By offering a comprehensive approach usable by many different national and international agencies, the model may help counter a growing national security threat.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children's prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children's attitudes towards people with disabilities: children's understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children's behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents' attitudes and children's attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children's understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people with disabilities were found to be positively related to their feelings about people with disabilities; children's understanding of disabilities was a significant moderator of the relation between their behavioral intentions and activity contexts or types of disabilities. The hypothesized association between parents' attitudes and children's attitudes was not significant. Preschoolers may benefit from having more regular contact with people with disabilities to develop positive feelings towards their peers with disabilities, which is also related to their understanding of disabilities. Children's behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions need to be understood in relation to their understanding of disabilities, the demand of activity contexts, and types of disabilities.


MEMS based timing devices have been proposed as an alternative to Quartz systems for certain applications. Through using an oven-controlled system it is possible to stabilize the frequency response of such a MEMS system over a large ambient temperature range. This work presents a BAW MEMS resonator in poly-SiGe which achieves significantly lower power consumption for frequency stabilization over temperature through Joule heating than for a similar system in SOI, while showing promising phase noise performance in an oscillator setup. Since the poly-SiGe resonator can be processed on top of standard CMOS, this enables the possibility of full integration of an Oven-Controlled MEMS Oscillator.


Learning invariant representations from images is one of the hardest challenges facing computer vision. Spatial pooling is widely used to create invariance to spatial shifting, but it is restricted to convolutional models. In this paper, we propose a novel pooling method that can learn soft clustering of features from image sequences. It is trained to improve the temporal coherence of features, while keeping the information loss at minimum. Our method does not use spatial information, so it can be used with non-convolutional models too. Experiments on images extracted from natural videos showed that our method can cluster similar features together. When trained by convolutional features, auto-pooling outperformed traditional spatial pooling on an image classification task, even though it does not use the spatial topology of features.


The phase compensation mechanism induced by anomalous dispersion in the reflection process of four-wave mixing (or reflection from a grating) in a three-level system is investigated, where the four wave vectors do not match in vacuum. An efficiency of the reflected signal of as high as 43% from a hot atomic cell of Cs is observed. The maximum reflection occurs when the frequency of the probe beam (and consequently the frequency of the reflected signal) is slightly red detuned from the transition frequency, which is attributed to the phase compensation from the steep anomalous dispersion accompanied with a strong probe absorption. The dependences of the efficiency on the angle between the coupling and probe lights, on the intensity of the coupling, field and on atomic density are studied. A theoretical model is presented and it is in good agreement with the experimental results.


A seismic-reflection survey on the Oregon continental margin conducted in 1989 indicates the widespread presence of gas hydrate beneath the middle and lower slope of this accretionary margin. The seismic signature of gas hydrate, a bottom simulating reflector (BSR) with negative polarity that locally cuts across stratigraphic horizons, is especially well developed beneath Hydrate Ridge. This anomalously shallow accretionary ridge was drilled during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 146 to study fluid venting. In this paper we focus on the seismic data from the southern part of Hydrate Ridge, where little evidence of active venting has previously been reported but where the seismic data indicate a complicated subsurface plumbing system. Apparent disruptions of the BSR beneath the western ridge flank suggest dissociation of gas hydrate in response to slumping. A double BSR beneath the southern crest suggests hydrate destabilization in response to tectonic uplift and folding. On the basis of these and other observations, we propose a qualitative model for the evolution of a hydrate-bearing ridge in an active accretionary complex in which gas hydrate initially stabilizes the sea floor, permitting construction of large ridges that are then eaten away by slumps along their margins. The north-to-south variation in sea-floor venting and subsurface seismic structure along Hydrate Ridge may reflect different stages in the temporal evolution of one of these ridges.


Grazing systems and stocking rates are used to influence livestock grazing behavior with the intent of improving livestock and vegetation performance. In 1982, a study was initiated to determine effects of continuous, rotationally deferred, and short-duration rotation grazing and moderate and heavy stocking rates on steer gains, range vegetation, and distance traveled by and activity patterns of steers. Steers were observed from dawn to dark on 12 dates during 1983, 1984, and 1985, and activity recorded every 15 minutes. Eight steers per treatment (system X stocking rate combination) per date were observed in 1983 and 1984, and 10 per treatment in 1985. In 1984 and 1985, map locations of all steers were recorded at the same times as activity, and distance traveled summed from distances between successive map locations. In 1984, activity of 3 steers per treatment was electronically monitored during darkness. Steers grazed approximately 8.6 hr per day during daylight and 1.6 hr during darkness. Steers grazed an average of 8.9 hr/day during daylight under moderate vs 8.1 hr under heavy stocking, but stocking rate interacted with date in 1984 and grazing system in 1985. Steers traveled farther under continuous than under short-duration rotation grazing at both stocking rates in 1984, but only at the high stocking rate in 1985. Steers had to travel farther to water in the continuous pastures, and may have had to cover a greater area in an effort to select a more desirable diet, particularly under heavy stocking. These differences were not reflected in differences in gain among stocking rates or grazing systems.


This study was an attempt to analyse the relationship between Brent crude oil prices, the South African rand US$ exchange rate and fuel prices in South Africa. Covering the period between 2003 and 2013, the ultimate objective was to test if there is asymmetric prices adjustment between Brent crude oil prices and the rand US$ exchange rate, on the one hand, and retail fuel prices on the other hand. As a time-series analysis, the study used the Augmented Dickey Fuller and PhillipsPerron tests for stationarity, as well as some cointegration tests. The results show that the effect of the current crude oil price and the exchange rate between the ZAR and the US$ on current fuel prices is insignificant. Instead, the current fuel prices are affected mainly by the previous month's fuel price, the crude oil price and the exchange rate. Furthermore, the results of the threshold autoregressive model (TAR) do not prove the presence of asymmetry in the fuel price adjustment on a month-to-month basis in South Africa. The conclusion here is that the basic fuel price model is aligned to its import parity objective of symmetric adjustment in fuel prices. However, there exist some structural inefficiencies in South Africa`s fuel market, therefore policymakers should address those short-term inefficiencies in the price transmission from crude oil to fuel prices.


Abstract Are joint meetings between boards of directors and top management teams associated with better decision making or higher agency costs? We examine formally scheduled joint board-management meetings as a channel for closer interaction between boards of directors and top management teams. Using publicly disclosed data from Indonesian firms, we find that about half of our sample firms hold joint board-management meetings and more meetings are associated with higher firm performance. This suggests that the benefits from information sharing at joint meetings are greater than the agency costs. This relationship is most significant when companies hold 10-12 joint board-management meetings per year, in companies with good governance and when companies are experiencing poor performance. For policymakers and practitioners, we highlight a formal channel for closer interaction between directors and management that benefits shareholders. Abstract Are joint meetings between boards of directors and top management teams associated with better decision making or higher agency costs? We examine formally scheduled joint board-management meetings as a channel for closer interaction between boards of directors and top management teams. Using publicly disclosed data from Indonesian firms, we find that about half of our sample firms hold joint board-management meetings and more meetings are associated with higher firm performance. This suggests that the benefits from information sharing at joint meetings are greater than the agency costs. This relationship is most significant when companies hold 10-12 joint board-management meetings per year, in companies with good governance and when companies are experiencing poor performance. For policymakers and practitioners, we highlight a formal channel for closer interaction between directors and management that benefits shareholders. 4


Objective: To assess the impact of CT window for postmastectomy breast irradiation on Gross tumor volume (GTV) and Internal target volume (ITV) definitions for a target with large movements. Materials and Methods: Tumor movement was simulated with a phantom composed of a water filled table tennis ball. The phantom was elliptically moved in the ap-pa and cranio-caudal or in ap-pa and lateral direction, respectively. CT scans were acquired for the ball with and without movement, both in a "slow" 3D-CT scan and in a 4D-CT scan. The treatment protocol used involved a boost block with ipsilateral breast exclusive of 4 cm around the breast plug. The ball was contoured as GTV or ITV using different window settings (for e.g. "breast window", "soft tissue" window) and the volumes were compared to mathematically calculated volumes ("gold standard"). Results: In the 3D-CT of the ghost without development window settings had just a minor effect on GTV. The maximal deviation to the figured size was 12%. Amid moderate 3D-CT sweeps of the moving ball extensive contrasts between the window, settings were found. Best concordance to the ascertained qualities demonstrated the breast window setting (-16.8% and 19.1%). Unmistakable thought little of ITVs were formed utilizing the 500 and delicate tissue window (-84% to -99%). A significant littler impact was found for the 4D-CT. Movement heading had a vital effect on the objective outline, with an underestimation of volumes in the cranio-caudal bearing and an overestimation of volume in the horizontal course for the moderate 3D-CT shaped in breast window. Conclusions: Window settings are vital in the shaping of moving targets, while they are less pertinent for static targets. In moving targets cautious thought of window settings for shaping ought to be finished. Regardless of whether breast windowing is utilized, we emphatically prescribe reconsideration of the formed focus in various planes for the moderate 3D-CT. 4D-CT limits vulnerabilities.


The need for smaller, faster and lighter products has put considerable demands on the thermal management of microelectronics. This paper outlines the issues in thermal management of consumer and aerospace electronics. Some typical solutions for complex high-end systems are presented. The role of the thermal interface material is a key to the thermal management of high performance consumer electronics and is also addressed in this paper.


Background. Caregiver‐provided physical therapy home programs (PTHP) play an important role in enhancing motor outcomes in pediatric patient populations. Purpose. This scoping review systematically mapped clinical trials of caregiver‐provided PTHP that were aimed at enhancing motor outcomes in children who have or who are at risk for motor delay, with the purpose of (1) describing trial characteristics; (2) assessing methodologic quality; and (3) examining the reporting of caregiver‐related components. Data Sources. Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Cochrane CENTRAL, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, ProQuest Central, CINAHL, LILACS, and OTseeker were searched up to July 31, 2017. Study Selection. Two reviewers independently assessed study eligibility. Randomized or quasi‐randomized controlled trials on PTHP administered by parents, other family members, friends, or informal caregivers to children who had or who were at risk for motor delay were included. Data Extraction. Two reviewers independently appraised trial quality on the PEDro scale and extracted data. Data Synthesis. Twenty‐four articles representing 17 individual trials were identified. Populations and interventions investigated were heterogeneous. Most of the trials had important research design limitations and methodological issues that could limit usefulness in ascertaining the effectiveness of caregiver‐provided PTHP. Few (4 of 17) trials indicated involvement of caregivers in the PTHP planning, assessed how the caregivers learned from the training or instructions provided, or carried out both. Limitations. Included studies were heterogeneous, and unpublished data were excluded. Conclusions. Although caregiver‐provided PTHP are important in addressing motor outcomes in this population, there is a lack of evidence at the level of clinical trials to guide practice. More research is urgently needed to determine the effectiveness of care‐giver‐provided PTHP. Future studies should address the many important issues identified in this scoping review to improve the usefulness of the trial results.


Scalarization approaches are the simplest methods for solving the multiobjective problems. The idea of scalarization is based on decomposition of multiobjective problems into single objective sub-problems. Every one of these sub-problems can be solved in a parallel manner since they are independent with each other. Hence, as a scalarization approach, systematically modification on the desirability levels of the objective values of multiobjective problems can be employed for solving these problems. In this study, desirability function-based scalarization approach is converted into parallel algorithm and applied into seven benchmark problems. The performance of parallel algorithm with respect to sequential one is evaluated based on execution time on different graphical processing units and central processing units. The results show that even the accuracy of parallel and sequential codes are same, the execution time of parallel algorithm is up to 24.5-times faster than the sequential algorithm (8.25-times faster on average) with respect to the complexity of the problem.


Room modes are a recognised problem in small critical listening rooms and are known to cause colouration of sound reproduced within them.
Investigations on the causes and solutions for this problem have been carried out for some time. Interest in the topic has extended to loudspeaker manufacturers who have mainly concentrated in developing methods for controlling the loudspeaker-room interaction in order to ameliorate low frequency reproduction.
Compared to objective work on passive and active control methods, the study of the subjective perception of room resonances has been somewhat neglected. Available publications mostly concern the effects of single resonances, which are perhaps not fully representative of conditions as experienced in real rooms.
A study into the subjective perception of room modes is presented. The experimental methodology employs psychoacoustic techniques to study the perception of factors such as modal distribution, and effects of resonances on single tones. Results show that the subjective perception of room modes is strongly affected by temporal issues, and that changes exerted merely on magnitude frequency response are detectable but not likely to remove the effects of resonances for all listeners.
Furthermore, it is shown that a reduction of the modal Q-factor, associated with a reduction of decay rates, has a significant effect in decreasing the detection of resonances. Q-factor difference limen were evaluated for three reference decay characteristics corresponding to reference Q-factors of 30, 10 and 1. The limen were 6±2.8, 10±4.1 and 16±5.4 respectively, meaning that detection of changes to modal decay decreases with decreasing decay time.
These results may be used to define more perceptually relevant design guidelines for critical listening environments, and indicate target criteria for control techniques used in room correction. The outcomes of this investigation will have repercussions on the design of better rooms for critical listening.


The incorporation of rare-earth ions into glass fibres to form fibre lasers and amplifiers is not a recent development. In fact the first glass laser ever demonstrated was flash-pumped in the form of an optical fibre, a configuration which was used to overcome the difficulties of obtaining high-quality glass in bulk form. Apart from a report in 1974 of laser operation in an Nd3+-doped silica multimode fibre, the idea of guided-wave glass lasers attracted little attention for the next 24 years. The idea resurfaced in 1985 because both optical-fibre and laser-diode technologies had advanced to a stage where low-loss, rare-earth-doped, single-mode fibres could be made and high-power semiconductor sources were available to pump them. In addition, low-cost fibre components (couplers, polarisers, filters) were available which allowed construction of complex, all-fibre ring and Fabry-Perot resonators' to form a unique and powerful new fibre-laser technology. Even so, it was only the announcement in 1987 of a high-gain, erbium-doped fibre amplifier' (EDFA) operating in the third telecommunications wavelength-window at 1.54µm that sparked widespread interest in rare-earth-doped fibres in the optical telecommunications community. From that moment, frenzied worldwide activity has brought numerous new fibre amplifier developments and recently resulted in several commercial products appearing, a time-lag of only three years after the first research announcement. The fibre laser, on the other hand, is only now beginning to receive widespread attention as a possible contender for a well-controlled, stable light source for telecommunications, despite its obvious advantages of high-power pulsed operation, single-frequency capability, ease of access to the resonator and compatibility with communications fibre.


The intestinal di- and tripeptide transporter hPEPT1 is considered responsible for the absorption of di- and tripeptides arising from digestion, along with several drugs and prodrugs. In order to gather information on the binding site of the protein, several structure-affinity relationships have been suggested. However, these are not necessarily predictive of compounds that are actually translocated by hPEPT1. More information on affinity to and translocation via hPEPT1 of side-chain-modified dipeptides may be gained by conducting a study of selected dipeptide derivatives with variety in size, hydrophobicity, and bond type. The aim of the present study was to synthesize new esters and amides based on L-Glu-Sar and investigate the effects that bond type and size of modification of the N-terminal side chain of sarcosine-containing dipeptides have on the affinity to and translocation via hPEPT1. The esters L-Glu(O-i-Bu)-Sar and L-Glu(OCH(2)Ada)-Sar and the amides L-Gln(N,N-dimethyl)-Sar and L-Gln(N-piperidinyl)-Sar were synthesized, and affinity to and translocation via hPEPT1 were investigated in mature Caco-2 cell monolayers, grown on permeable supports. Affinity was estimated in a competition assay using (14)C-labeled Gly-Sar. Translocation was measured as fluorescence ratios induced by the substrates using the fluorescent probe BCECF and an epifluorescence microscope setup. All compounds showed high affinity to hPEPT1, but only the amides L-Gln(N,N-dimethyl)-Sar and L-Gln(N-piperidinyl)-Sar were translocated by hPEPT1. hPEPT1 is very susceptible to modifications of the N-terminal amino acid side chain of dipeptidomimetic substrates, in terms of achieving compounds with high affinity for the transporter. However, as affinity is not predictive of translocation, derivatization in this position must be performed with great caution since some of the compounds investigated turn out not to be translocated by the transporter.


We elicited preferences for 2 arthritis health states (mild and severe) using visual analog scales, time tradeoff, and standard gamble by interviewing 104 individuals from the general public, 51 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and 43 health professionals. The health scenarios were based on attributes described in a health status classification instrument, the EuroQol (EQ-5D). In addition, we compared the ratings in our survey with those obtained for the same scenarios by one of the scoring algorithms used for the EQ-5D (York weights). Statistically significant differences were observed in the ratings of the health scenarios, mostly for the severe vignette. Most of the variability was related to the method employed. The cost-utility ratio for a hypothetical intervention varied according to the method employed to determine the utility of the health states, from $15,000 to $111,000 US per quality adjusted life year (QALY). Patient derived weights resulted in cost-utility ratios that ranged from $39,000 to $222,000. Our findings show that the methodology used to elicit and analyze utilities can have substantial implications in the economic evaluation of interventions for patients with RA.


In this paper, we propose a generalized structure for constructing space-time codes (STCs), which achieves generalized optimum diversity (GOD). A GOD class of STCs can achieve the full diversity and an optimized coding gain with minimum delay for any number of transmit antennas (Nt) and any rate (R), if the rate is less than or equal to the rank of the channel matrix. The structure combines mutually exclusive R data symbols with complex weights at each transmit antenna and the same set of data symbols is repeated at every time slot in a code block, but is transmitted through different transmit antennas with different sets of complex weights. In addition, it does not need any restrictions to the complex weights, thus the code can be designed with the maximum degrees of freedom. Optimized codes based on the proposed structure are obtained under the well-known rank and determinant criteria by applying two design constraints in order to reduce the design complexity. Even using two constraints, however, the proposed structure has an unaffordable design complexity when the number of complex weights gets larger. Hence, we provide some guidelines for code design, which can further reduce the design complexity by examining the characteristics of the determinant of codeword difference matrices


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the dynamics of pleasure related to chemsex from the perspective of French gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Recognising that participants in chemsex are social actors, the authors diverge from the prominent "pathology paradigm" used in public health.

Design/methodology/approach
In-depth interviews were conducted with gay men and other MSM engaging in chemsex via snowball sampling (n=33). The authors explored the definitions of pleasure and the role of stimulants, sexual activity, smartphones and partners in chemsex pleasures.

Findings
Chemsex pleasures encompass multiple dimensions that go far beyond bodily pleasures, such as love or romantic relationships, socializing with significant others and sexual discovery through disinhibition. Narratives of pleasure were also, simultaneously, stories of suffering and distress. This dissonance can pose challenges to the participants in chemsex, their entourages and care providers.

Practical implications
Given that the focus of care for gay men and other MSM is on risk behaviors, the findings of this paper help nurture discussions where pleasure is integrated into a new, value-neutral framework of care that incorporates chemsex pleasures.

Originality/value
This study examined the perspectives of those actually participating in chemsex, allowing gay men and other MSM to relate the entirety of their experiences, in which pleasure is often at the forefront, without restriction.


The work in three Volumes is based on the original German work by Winternitz. The entire work is reproduced in three volumes. Each volume is devoted to the study of different aspects of Indian literature and period.


Although fields such as e-commerce, information systems, and computer-mediated communication CMC acknowledge the importance of validity, validating research tools or measures in these domains seems the exception rather than the rule. This article extends the concept of validation to one of an emerging genre of web-based tools that provide new measures, the Wayback Machine WM. Drawing in part on social science tests of validity, the study progresses from testing for and demonstrating the weakest form of validity, face validity, to the more demanding tests for content, predictive, and convergent validity. Finally, the study tests and shows nomological validity, using the diffusion of innovations theory. In line with prior diffusion research, the results of tests for predictive and nomological validity showed significant relationships with organizational characteristics and two WM measures: website age and number of updates. The results help validate these measures and demonstrate the utility of the WM for studying evolving website use.


In this talk, we are interested in the analytical study of a nonlinear Stochastic Partial Differential Equation arising as a model of phytoplankton aggregation. This SPDE consists in an integro-differential advection-diffusion equation with a branching noise. It has been derived as an Eulerian version of an individual-based model which provides an explanation of the aggregation behavior in phytoplankton in terms of attraction mechanisms among cells caused by chemical signals, a branching process (random births and deaths), in addition to individual random dispersal of cells described by Brownian motions. Existence  of weak solutions and uniqueness are established through weak convergence and tightness arguments


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE During pregnancy many substantial changes occur in the cardiovascular system. Aim of this study was to examine how physiological preload alterations influence left ventricular haemodynamic parameters. PATIENTS AND METHODS During the 9th, 24th and 33rd weeks of pregnancy and 8 weeks after childbirth 36 patients underwent echocardiographic studies. 36 young not pregnant women (25 +/- 7 years) served as controls. The following Doppler echocardiographic parameters were measured: peak early diastolic flow velocity (VE, ms); acceleration (AT; ms) and deceleration time (DT; ms) of flow velocity in early diastole; peak late diastolic flow velocity (VA; m/s) and isovolumetric relaxation time (IVRT; ms). In all women the left ventricular muscle mass index (LVMMI), fractional shorting (FS; %) and the ratio between septum and posterior ventricular wall were calculated. RESULTS During pregnancy all women showed an elevation of the left ventricular muscle mass index (LVMMI: from 66 +/- 6 to 100 +/- 9 g/m2; p < 0.01) and a decrease of fractional shortening (FS: from 38 +/- 4 to 31 +/- 3%). All patients developed a relevant diastolic dysfunction: reduced early diastolic flow velocity (VE: from 0.89 +/- 0.11 to 0.83 +/- 0.19 m/s; P < 0.01), reduced E/A ratio (1.7 +/- 0.4 to 1.2 +/- 0.4; P < 0.01), prolonged IVRT (72 +/- 12 to 114 +/- 12 ms; P < 0.01) and deceleration time (DT: to 189 +/- 17 to 227 +/- 18 ms; P < 0.01). Eight weeks after childbirth all parameters of left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions were normal. CONCLUSION Preload alterations during normal pregnancy lead to reversible physiological left ventricular hypertrophy. Furthermore, we found a short-time reduction of systolic function just before childbirth and a significant alteration of the left ventricular diastolic filling pattern (abnormal relaxation pattern). While left ventricular systolic function was normal in all patients one week after childbirth, left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction persisted for nearly two months.


Sea urchins are key herbivores in many coastal ecosystems. The purple sea urchin, Heliocidaris erythrogramma, is widely distributed across temperate Australia where it exhibits considerable plasticity in feeding behaviour and ecophysiology. In this study we examined H. erythrogramma populations on subtidal reefs along ~4° of latitude in south-west Australia. We used a multi-factorial survey design to assess variability in H. erythrogramma abundances between locations (>200 km part), sites (≥1 km apart) and habitat types (reef flats and slopes). We also examined spatial variability in urchin size, condition (measured by gonad index), and the relative abundances of two co-occurring subspecies. Urchin densities were generally low and did not vary between locations, but did vary between habitat types and amongst sites. Site-level variability in urchin size and condition was also pronounced. The southernmost population comprised smaller individuals and greater relative abundance of the H. e. erythrogramma subspecies, which is abundant on the east coast of Australia. We observed no indication of population-level responses to a recent extreme warming event that impacted the wider ecology of the region, but further investigation into the effects of both gradual warming and short-term climatic events on the ecology of H. erythrogramma and other key herbivores is required.


ABSTRACT In this study, we report that Lactococcus lactis strains producing exopolysaccharides (EPS) are sensitive to virulent phages. Eight distinct lytic phages (Q61 to Q68) specifically infecting Eps+ strains were isolated in 47 buttermilk samples obtained from 13 North American factories. The eight phages were classified within the 936 species by the multiplex PCR method, indicating that these phages are not fundamentally distinct from those infecting Eps−L. lactis strains. The host range of these phages was determined with 19 Lactococcus strains, including 7 Eps+ and 12 Eps− cultures. Three phages (Q62, Q63, and Q64) attacked only the Eps+ strain SMQ-419, whereas the five other phages (Q61, Q65, Q66, Q67, and Q68) infected only the Eps+ strain SMQ-420. The five other Eps+ strains (H414, MLT2, MLT3, SMQ-461, and SMQ-575) as well as the 12 Eps− strains were insensitive to these phages. The monosaccharide composition of the polymer produced by the seven Eps+ strains was determined. The EPS produced by strains MLT3, SMQ-419, and SMQ-575 contained glucose, galactose, and rhamnose. The EPS fabricated by H414 contained only galactose. The EPS made by MLT2, SMQ-420, and SMQ-461 contained glucose and galactose. These findings indicate that the sugar composition of the EPS has no effect on phage sensitivity. The plasmid encoding the eps operon was cured from the two phage-sensitive strains. The cured derivatives were still phage sensitive, which indicates that EPS are not necessary for phage infection. Phage adsorption assays showed that the production of EPS does not confer a significant phage resistance phenotype.


Although there has been some research on how to use short fibers from mechanically recycled textiles, little is known about how to preserve the length of recycled fibers, and thus maintain their properties. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a pre-treatment with lubricant could mitigate fiber length reduction from tearing. This could facilitate the spinning of a 100% recycled yarn. Additionally, this study set out to develop a new test method to assess the effect of lubricant loading. Inter-fiber cohesion was measured in a tensile tester on carded fiber webs. We used polyethylene glycol (PEG) 4000 aqueous solution as a lubricant to treat fibers and woven fabrics of cotton, polyester (PES), and cotton/polyester. Measurements of fiber length and percentage of unopened material showed the harshness and efficiency of the tearing process. Treatment with PEG 4000 decreased inter-fiber cohesion, reduced fiber length loss, and facilitated a more efficient tearing process, especially for PES. The study showed that treating fabric with PEG enabled rotor spinning of 100% recycled fibers. The inter-fiber cohesion test method suggested appropriate lubricant loadings, which were shown to mitigate tearing harshness and facilitate fabric disintegration in recycling.


Twenty-four patients (aged 34-68), with mild to moderate essential hypertension, received 10 weeks of treatment with the new calcium-channel blocker PN 200-110. Eighty-six percent of the patients achieved goal blood pressure (i.e., sitting diastolic pressure less than or equal to 90 mmHg). The average reduction in sitting and standing systolic and diastolic blood pressure (-14 +/- 2/-15 +/- 1 mmHg, -14 +/- 3/-13 +/- 2 mmHg, respectively) was highly significant (p less than 0.001). No reflex tachycardia (sitting pulse 1 +/- 2 bpm; standing pulse 3 +/- 2 bpm) or weight change (-0.3 +/- 0.9 pounds) accompanied the hypotensive response. Although the fall in blood pressure was accompanied by a small but significant increment in plasma renin activity (0.5 +/- 0.2 ng/ml/hr [p less than 0.05]), no significant changes in plasma angiotensin II, aldosterone, or prostaglandin E2-metabolite occurred. There was no significant correlation between the fall in blood pressure and baseline (pretreatment) or stimulated (posttreatment) levels of plasma renin activity, angiotensin II, aldosterone, or prostaglandin E2-metabolite.


This guide is a collection of resources for mobile technologies that are available for the UA Health Sciences Library users.


This survey paper presents an overview of the fault-models available to the researcher who wants to parameterise system-models in order to study Quality-of-Service (QoS) properties of systems with service-oriented architecture. The concept of a system-model subsumes the whole spectrum between abstract mathematical models and testbeds based on actual implementations. Fault-models, on the other hand, are parameters to system-models. They introduce faults and disturbances into the system-model, thereby allowing the study of QoS under realistic conditions. In addition to a survey of existing fault-models, the paper also provides a discussion of available fault-classification schemes.


In this work, we report an extension of our previous development of the universal state-selective (USS) multireference coupled-cluster (MRCC) formalism. It was shown [Brabec et al., J. Chem. Phys. 136, 124102 (2012)] and [Banik et al., J. Chem. Phys. 142, 114106 (2015)] that the USS(2) approach significantly improves the accuracy of Brillouin-Wigner and Mukherjee MRCC formulations, however, the numerical and storage costs associated with calculating highly excited intermediates pose a significant challenge, which can restrict the applicability of the USS(2) method. Therefore, we introduce a perturbative variant of the USS(2) approach (USS(pt)), which substantially reduces numerical overhead of the full USS(2) correction while preserving its accuracy. Since the new USS(pt) implementation calculates the triple and quadruple projections in on-the-fly manner, the memory bottleneck associated with the need of storing expensive recursive intermediates is entirely eliminated. On the example of several benchmark systems, we demonstrate accuracies of USS(pt) and USS(2) approaches and their efficiency in describing quasidegenerate electronic states. It is also shown that the USS(pt) method significantly alleviates problems associated with the lack of invariance of MRCC theories upon the rotation of active orbitals.


Analogs of GnRH, given chronically in a continuous fashion, produce a paradoxic inhibition of pituitary gonadotropin secretion and, consequently, gonadal steroidogenesis. Thus, GnRH analogs are an attractive class of compounds for achieving a medical castration in the treatment of hormone-dependent neoplasms. In a group of 25 premenopausal patients with progressive advanced breast cancer, daily sc administration of 1-10 mg Leuprolide [D-Leu6-Pro9GnRH ethylamide (NEt)] induced objective tumor regression in 44% with a median duration of 9 months. All women treated for at least 10 weeks developed amenorrhea. Profound suppression of gonadotropins, estradiol, and progesterone secretion occurred in all patients on chronic therapy and persisted for the whole treatment period. These effects on tumor growth and ovarian hormone levels are similar to those observed after surgical ovariectomy. Other GnRH analogs such as Buserelin and Zoladex have been found to have similar antitumor and hormonal effects which are also comparable to those produced by surgical ovariectomy. The mode of drug administration is important. Consistent suppression of ovarian function has only been observed with sc injections of the analogs. Chronic intranasal therapy has been found to induce an incomplete suppression of ovarian function in most patients, probably as a result of the poor absorption of these compounds through this route (approximately 2%). Treatment of metastatic breast cancer with GnRH analogs has been associated with remarkable absence of significant toxicity. Despite some evidence in favor of a direct antitumor effect independent of suppression of ovarian function, the use of GnRH analogs in the therapy of advanced breast cancer should be restricted to premenopausal women.


Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an ideal material for tissue regeneration. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a hyaluronan amide derivative (HAD) can enhance the mineralization of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). Osteogenically induced hMSCs cultured with or without HAD at different concentrations (0.5 mg/mL or 1 mg/mL) were analyzed for mineral matrix deposition, metabolic activity, cellular proliferation and the expression of 14 osteogenic genes. Unmodified HA (HYAL) was used as control. We demonstrated that only cells treated daily until day 28 with 0.5 mg/mL HAD, but not with 1 mg/mL of HAD and HYAL, showed a significant induction of mineralization at day 14 compared to the osteogenic control group. HAD at both concentrations tested, significantly decreased the expression of the proliferating marker MKI67 at day 2. By contrast, increased metabolic activity was induced only by HYAL from day 14. HAD at both concentrations significantly down modulated SNAI2, DLX5, RUNX2, COL1A1 and IBSP genes, while significantly up regulated COL15A1. The induction of mineralization of 0.5 mg/mL of HAD at day 14 was significantly dependent on a specific modulation of RUNX2 and COL1A1. Our data demonstrate that only 0.5 mg/mL of HAD, but not HYAL, modulated hMSCs osteogenic differentiation, suggesting that the physicochemical features and concentration of HA products could differently affect osteogenic maturation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The concern for more energy efficient vehicles has grown in the last years; the increase of oil prices and the need to curb greenhouse gas emissions has called for the search of solutions and alternatives to the fossil-fuel usage. On one hand there is the search for better fuel sources while on the other, the development for better driver assistance systems These systems should be capable of maximizing the driver's security and comfort while minimizing the fuel consumption. This can be achieved by the understanding of the environment surrounding the vehicle. Therefore the assistance should use this knowledge of its environment to alert the driver from any situation of risk so that they can be prevented. Moreover, reducing the number of accidents and unnecessary maneuvers will help reduce the fuel consumption by avoiding emergency breaking and other unnecesary situations. This thesis explains the development of a maneuver prediction system for highway scenarios. The system should identify lane changing vehicles with enough time to allow the driver to take the necessary precautions and maintain an efficient and more secure driving. To achieve this gial a set of features that describe the environment around the Ego vehicle is obtained. Afterwards, these Features are analyzed using state of the art data mining techniques and their performance is evaluated using a set of classification algorithms (Linear Discriminant Analysis, Neural networks and Random Forests). According to the present set of input data, it is possible to identify a left lane change from a right lane change with low misclassification error. But it is not possible to identify with the same efficiency a lane change from a no lane change. The best performance was obtained with a random forest where half of the lane changes are recognized while at the same time achieving a low number of false alarms; in another test, using a sub set of data by filtering noisy observations, it was possible to recognize left and right lane changes with more than 70\% efficiency.


Algebraic network information theory is an emerging facet of network information theory, studying the achievable rates of random code ensembles that have algebraic structure, such as random linear codes. A distinguishing feature is that linear combinations of codewords can sometimes be decoded more efficiently than codewords themselves. The present work further develops this framework by studying the simultaneous decoding of multiple messages. Specifically, consider a receiver in a multi-user network that wishes to decode several messages. Simultaneous joint typicality decoding is one of the most powerful techniques for determining the fundamental limits at which reliable decoding is possible. This technique has historically been used in conjunction with random i.i.d. codebooks to establish achievable rate regions for networks. Recently, it has been shown that, in certain scenarios, nested linear codebooks in conjunction with "single-user" or sequential decoding can yield better achievable rates. For instance, the compute–forward problem examines the scenario of recovering <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$L \le K$ </tex-math></inline-formula> linear combinations of transmitted codewords over a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-user multiple-access channel (MAC), and it is well established that linear codebooks can yield higher rates. This paper develops bounds for simultaneous joint typicality decoding used in conjunction with nested linear codebooks, and applies them to obtain a larger achievable region for compute–forward over a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-user discrete memoryless MAC. The key technical challenge is that competing codeword tuples that are linearly dependent on the true codeword tuple introduce statistical dependencies, which requires careful partitioning of the associated error events.


The aim of writing this article is to describe communicative approach in learning Indonesian scientific writing. This article consist of implementing Indonesian scientific writing by using communicative approach. The method used in this research is research and development. The technique used in collecting the data are observation, interview, theoretical foundation, and teaching in the class and out of the class. The data analysis technique used consist of two approaches, qualitative and quantitative approach. The result effectiveness test shows that means of class that uses communicative approach is 66, meanwhile class that uses conventional approach is 54. The students activity of model class is more than 91% are active and high motivation in learning, meanwhile the non model class the students activity less than 70%. Based on the data, it can be concluded that implementing of the communicative approach in learning Indonesian scientific writing are able to improve the students' process and learning achievement of Indonesian scientific writing.


Nurses, particularly rehabilitation nurses, are at considerable risk for on-the-job back injuries and resulting back pain. The article by Menzel, Lilley, and Robinson presents the results of a pilot study to test the effects of two different programs to reduce back pain of rehabilitation hospital nurses. The researchers tested ergonomic intervention and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In choosing these, the researchers looked at past research of programs that teach body mechanics and use patient-handling equipment. They found that addressing body mechanics alone was not successful, but using patient-handling equipment reduced back injuries, compensation costs, and lost time away from the job. A program providing patient-handling equipment and training (ergonomics) was selected as the basic intervention (control group). However, the researchers were not content to test a single "good enough" intervention. They further researched risk factors for back pain and successful prevention programs, finding that the most successful programs included elements addressing workplace stress and psychological factors. Using a value-added approach, a comprehensive intervention including CBT (a psychological treatment shown to have a strong preventive effect on low-back pain disability) was added to the ergonomics intervention to create a better intervention. The study described in this article is a pilot study-a small-scale trial to test study procedures and instruments that is conducted before implementing a full-scale clinical trial. Pilot studies are especially important in complex intervention studies that use a repeated measures design, where several measures are obtained over the course of the study (McGuire & Yeager, 1999). Goals of a pilot study depend on what the researchers need to learn but may include testing procedures, tools, interventions, and protocols; measuring the potential effect of an intervention; and working out study personnel roles, data collection methods, and timelines. Pilot studies do not determine whether a given program actually works or is successful, but they do provide important information about whether the program should be studied further. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether the CBT program was feasible and how much effect CBT and ergonomics, singly and combined, might have on back pain, disability, stress, pain-coping skills, and mood. As is typical in pilot studies, the interventions were tested in a small sample (31 people). Feasibility of the CBT intervention was supported by a high rate of attendance and completion of the sessions, as well as by positive comments from participants. CBT was most effective for reducing disability in self-care and life-support activities and fairly effective for reducing disability in social activities. Both ergonomics and CBT improved measures of back pain intensity and unpleasantness. However, the combined intervention did not improve outcomes over either intervention alone. Such findings are typical for pilot studies because of the small sample sizes used. Readers should be cautioned against applying these findings to their own practice settings without careful thought. This study adds to past research supporting patient-handling equipment and training as likely to improve back pain outcomes and applies them to a rehabilitation setting. It also suggests that more comprehensive programs might be more helpful. The authors offer their vision for future research in this area and are more fully prepared to carry it out because of the knowledge and experience gained by this study.


Within clinical disciplines there are considered to be three dimensions to teaching. The first is the theoretical dimension, delivered in a variety of media in a lecture room situation; the second is the practical dimension delivered in a clinical setting where students practice their skills in preparation for clinical practice and the third dimension, where the application of the theoretical aspects are applied to the practical dimension with patients. Traditionally, students undertaking clinical teaching have relied upon the experiences of the clinical teaching staff to provide the third dimension of learning, namely the application of theory to practice. The nature of the composition of this input can be seen to change incrementally as the students progress through each stage (year) of the pathway, so that 1st and 2nd year students require a higher input from teaching staff, but the final year students reliance on tutors decreases as their own experiences become established prior to graduation and practice in their own right.

This paper investigates the extent to which the computer can provide that third dimension of learning and examines the impact this has upon the nature of information flows within the clinical environment. Traditionally information flows have existed between the patient, student and tutor. The introduction of the CAL room was seen to change the nature of these information flows and the computer plays an important part in the process of reaching a range of differential diagnoses before decisions are made on a preferred diagnosis, and the completion of an agreed treatment plan.


Bipolar plate is the key component of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and represents a significant part of the overall cost and the total weight in a fuel cell stack. The thin sheet metal, with usually 0.1~0.3mm thickness, deformed to bipolar plate with flow channel 0.5~2mm width and depth, by rubber pad stamping can reduce the cost greatly. The rubber pad is simulated by solid element and hydraulic pressure respectively. Experiment shows that the hydraulic pressure can simulate the rubber pad. The thin sheet metal is modeled by solid element and shell element respectively. Considering thin sheet metal material size effect, the shell element cannot simulate the thin sheet metal stamping process because of small corner radius. Modeling rubber pad by hydraulic pressure and thin sheet metal by solid element, the simulation of the rubber pad stamping process shows that 1) the sheet metal in channel appears large uneven strain with high stress; 2) convex fillet make the sheet metal two direction tensions and should keep large fillet corner. Those simulations are validated by experiments. The research on rubber pad stamping will improve the understanding of this micro forming process and provide design guide of flow channel.


The study by Ebell and colleagues makes an important contribution to our understanding of the outcomes of hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Although most prior work has focused on predictors of survival, Ebell et al focused on predictors of a good outcome, which they define as survival to hospital discharge with minimal neurologic disability. In a large group of patients who underwent CPR, they developed and validated the Good Outcome Following Attempted Resuscitation (GO-FAR) score, a prognostic index that has solid accuracy. The GO-FAR score identifies a large proportion of patients (28.3%) who have a low or very low likelihood (<2%) of achieving the good outcome defined by the authors. The variables in this prognostic index are widely available, enhancing the ability to apply this model to most hospitalized patients. The GO-FAR score can be helpful in clinical decision making. As with any prognostic index, however, clinicians should use it in conjunction with, and not as a replacement for, their clinical judgment. Prognostic indexes provide useful estimates of the probability of various outcomes but often do not identify subtle patient characteristics, such as functional, cognitive, and psychological features, that may render the patient's chance of a good outcome either better or worse than that predicted by the index. Clinicians can and should use their clinical judgment to adjust the risk estimates from a prognostic index upward or downward. In addition, the GO-FAR score developed by Ebell et al needs to be used in conjunction with patient preferences. Although it identifies patients likely to survive with little neurologic disability, many patients would accept CPR if it allowed survival with more moderate or even severe forms of disability. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is just one of many preference-sensitive interventions we perform in the hospital. Too often, discussions of patient preferences and goals in the hospital begin and end with "code status." However, the best clinicians work to understand the outcomes that matter most to their patients and make sure treatments are consistent with patients' overall goals. This requires getting to know which outcomes matter most to our patients. Such an understanding often is very influential in defining the benefits and risks of the interventions that we offer patients in the hospital. Related article ioi130086 Using the GO-FAR Score Editor's Note


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the evolution of "push" marketing in the confectionery industry in Britain during the 1930s. It examines the interplay between a manufacturer and advertising agency in creating advertising for cocoa and chocolate.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of the literature examines the uses of health and well-being in the design of advertising in Britain between the wars. The records of Rowntree and its main advertising agency, J Walter Thompson, are used to examine the themes and tactics used in advertising for cocoa and Aero chocolate bars during the 1930s.

Findings

The paper emphasises the different ways in which health and nutrition was used in advertising for the two products. The campaigns of the 1930s built on earlier use of these themes. J Walter Thompson looked for ways of presenting commodities as "new and improved" and their role extended into pressing for changes to production methods and the nature of products. Themes of modernity, sexuality and lifestyles all featured, confirming conclusions of earlier studies. However, targeting of mothers and of different age and gender groups indicated that market segmentation was used extensively via print media and tailored advertising messages.

Originality/value

Although Cadbury, Rowntree and confectionery have been studied in depth before, this paper emphasises their role in applying new advertising ideas to everyday items. It points to the influence of advertising on the mass of consumers compared to the middle- and upper-income groups targeted in the marketing of houses, motor-cars and new consumer durables.


Abstract: As consumers' social and environmental concerns have grown in the last decade, so has interest in eco-fashion. Behind fast-changing fashion trends, the apparel industry generates substantial environmental and resource depletion problems throughout the textile lifecycle. To respond to these trends, fashion designers and merchandisers have been motivated to practice sustainability in design and production. Some sustainable options are available, such as organic fibres and environmentally safe dyes. Still, there are challenges for apparel designers and merchandisers when trying to realize sustainability. To help undergraduate apparel students learn problem-solving approaches to sustainable garment design, a problem-based learning project was created and implemented in an undergraduate design course. In the course, students designed and produced an original sustainable garment. Student feedback following the project was largely positive, with most students indicating they would continue using sustainable practices in future work.


With an obligate intracellular lifestyle, Alphaproteobacteria of the order Rickettsiales have inextricably coevolved with their various eukaryotic hosts, resulting in small, reductive genomes and strict dependency on host resources. Unsurprisingly, large portions of Rickettsiales genomes encode proteins involved in transport and secretion. One particular transporter that has garnered recent attention from researchers is the type IV secretion system (T4SS). Homologous to the well-studied archetypal vir T4SS of Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the Rickettsiales vir homolog (rvh) T4SS is characterized primarily by duplication of several of its genes and scattered genomic distribution of all components in several conserved islets. Phylogeny estimation suggests a single event of ancestral acquirement of the rvh T4SS, likely from a nonalphaproteobacterial origin. Bioinformatics analysis of over 30 Rickettsiales genome sequences illustrates a conserved core rvh scaffold (lacking only a virB5 homolog), with lineage-specific diversification of several components (rvhB1, rvhB2, and rvhB9b), likely a result of modifications to cell envelope structure. This coevolution of the rvh T4SS and cell envelope morphology is probably driven by adaptations to various host cells, identifying the transporter as an important target for vaccine development. Despite the genetic intractability of Rickettsiales, recent advancements have been made in the characterization of several components of the rvh T4SS, as well as its putative regulators and substrates. While current data favor a role in effector translocation, functions in DNA uptake and release and/or conjugation cannot at present be ruled out, especially considering that a mechanism for plasmid transfer in Rickettsia spp. has yet to be proposed.


This presentation describes a research investigation to access the feasibility of using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) method to predict and detect faults at an early stage in power systems. An AI based detector has been developed to monitor and predict faults at an early stage on particular sections of power systems. The detector for this early warning fault detection device only requires external measurements taken from the input and output nodes of the power system. The AI detection system is capable of rapidly predicting a malfunction within the system. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are being used as the core of the fault detector. In an earlier paper [11], a computer simulated medium length transmission line has been tested by the detector and the results clearly demonstrate the capability of the detector. Today's presentation considers a case study illustrating the suitability of this AI Technique when applied to a distribution transformer. Furthermore, an evolutionary optimisation strategy to train ANNs is also briefly discussed in this presentation, together with a 'crystal ball' view of future developments in the operation and monitoring of transmission systems in the next millennium.


1. In Britain, five indirect methods have been used to survey for the presence of red Sciurus vulgaris and grey squirrels S. carolinensis and to monitor population trends through time. These are: visual counts along line transects, the use of hair tubes, counts of dreys, cone line feeding transects in conifer forests and feeding signs on whole maize bait at feeding stations.

2. Drey counts and cone feeding transects cannot differentiate between red and grey squirrels and are not suitable for areas where both species may be present. Hair tubes require expertise and facilities to identify hairs to species, and the relationship between tube visits and animal density in different habitats is only known for red squirrels in Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis dominated plantations. Visual counts along line transects are the simplest method to do and require little equipment. However, in general, few squirrels are seen in a single count which leads to difficulties in estimating densities.

3. In this paper we present data from several studies carried out in Britain to illustrate the type of data that may be collected, and to evaluate their accuracy and precision with which they could detect population change. Hair tube lines and drey counts required the fewest number of samples to detect population change. When effort was also considered, visual transects and drey counts were more economical. However, none of the monitoring methods discussed is very precise and it may be best to monitor squirrels only in terms of relative changes in numbers or indices of numbers through time.

4. Our results for red and grey squirrels also illustrated that the number of samples required to detect population change is likely to differ according to the size of the survey area. Monitoring programmes should therefore be carefully planned in relation to spatial scale in order to be able to detect real population changes. Species-specific, quantitative thresholds to determine the significance of detected declines may need to be established for threatened UK mammals and assessed in relation to what would constitute a significant decline and whether it requires management intervention.


High-profile design patent litigation between Apple and Samsung has made headlines in the last few years. Not surprisingly, thereafter, design patents and related litigation have risen exponentially, and have become more important to the economy. Design patents provide legal protection for aesthetic and ornamental aspects of a manufactured product. While there is a rich and longstanding empirical literature and a crucial understanding about many facets of utility patent litigation, almost nothing is known about the design patent litigation world. This article fills that void. By building a novel and comprehensive database of all lawsuits alleging design patent infringement from 2000 to 2016, this article reports the results of a broad empirical exploration of design patent litigation, while giving an overview of the design patent litigation process.

The study reveals that while utility and design patent litigation look similar at first glance, they are actually very different in several important respects. First, we find that unlike utility litigation, which almost always often involves a large company, almost half of design patent litigation involves small or medium-sized companies as both plaintiffs and defendants. Second, the amount of design patent litigation has continuously increased over the last decade, whereas utility patent infringement lawsuits sharply increased and then dipped over the same period. Third, design patent plaintiffs tend to file cases in different districts than utility patent plaintiffs. Namely, we find that design patent asserters did not participate in the flood of litigation in the Eastern District of Texas. Finally, design patent plaintiffs are almost all practicing entities who manufacture products rather than non-practicing entities (so-called "trolls"). These empirical findings have important implications for the law of design patents. While the courts treat utility and design patent litigation as similar for many purposes, including understanding the doctrine and managing the docket, the actual litigation on the ground is starkly different.


Protein synthesis involves two methionine-isoaccepting tRNAs, an initiator and an elongator. In eubacteria, mitochondria, and chloroplasts, the addition of a formyl group gives its full functional identity to initiator Met-tRNAMet. In Escherichia coli, it has been shown that the specific action of methionyl-tRNA transformylase on Met-tRNA f Met mainly involves a set of nucleotides in the acceptor stem, particularly a C1A72 mismatch. In animal mitochondria, only one tRNAMet species has yet been described. It is admitted that this species can engage itself either in initiation or elongation of translation, depending on the presence or absence of a formyl group. In the present study, we searched for the identity elements of tRNAMet that govern its formylation by bovine mitochondrial transformylase. The main conclusion is that the mitochondrial formylase preferentially recognizes the methionyl moiety of its tRNA substrate. Moreover, the relatively small importance of the tRNA acceptor stem in the recognition process accounts for the protection against formylation of the mitochondrial tRNAs that share with tRNAMet an A1U72motif.


The paper is concerned with the results of combined therapy of 210 rectal cancer patients (stage III1 using hyperthermia, hyperglycemia and monochemotherapy (5-FU), and 6 patients with metastatic liver cancer who received intraportal chemotherapy. A selective damaging effect of hyperglycemia on a tumor cell was revealed. The use of hyperglycemia-hyperthermia-chemotherapy in the preoperative period was substantiated, the 3-year survival of 69 patients who had received single sessions of hyperthermia-hyperglycemia-monochemotherapy, was 77%. Positive results of intraportal administration of 5-FU were noted in the patients with metastatic liver cancer.


This study investigated the impact of five organic loading rates (OLRs) ranging from 16 kg COD/m3-d to 32 kg COD/m3-d on the performance of a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) for biological hydrogen production, with molasses as substrate. Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was kept at 6 hours and the temperature 35°C. Oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) varied from -328 mV to -419 mV. The ethanol-type fermentation has been conducted during the process. A positive statistical correlation was observed between OLR and biogas yield; however, it became negative for the OLR of 32 kg COD/m3-d (Fig1). The system maintained the highest average biogas and hydrogen yield of 14.66 L/d and 5.17 L/d at OLR of 28 kg COD/m3-d. Compared with the first stage (16 kg COD/m3-d), ethanol and butyric concentration of the last stage (32 kg COD/m3-d) increased about 2.01 and 3.79 times, respectively; Acetic acid concentration surged around 200 mg/L; Prop ionic acid concentration dropped slightly; Valeric acid concentration, which took a small portion in the volatile fatty acid (VFA), kept low. When OLR was kept at 28 kg COD/m3-d, the average ethanol to acetic acid ratio is 3.90.Thus proved that the optimal OLR for hydrogen production under experimental condition is 28 kg COD/m3-d.


Probiotic bacteria are used to treat or prevent a broad range of human diseases, conditions, and syndromes. In addition, there are areas of medical use that have been proposed for future probiotic applications. Randomized double-blind studies have provided evidence of probiotic effectiveness for the treatment and prevention of acute diarrhea and antibiotic-induced diarrhea, as well as for the prevention of cow milk–induced food allergy in infants and young children. Research studies have also provided evidence of effectiveness for the prevention of traveler's diarrhea, relapsing Clostridium difficile–induced colitis, and urinary tract infections. There are also studies indicating that probiotics may be useful for prevention of respiratory infections in children, dental caries, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease. Areas of future interest for the application of probiotics include colon and bladder cancers, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. The probiotics with the greatest number of proven benefits are Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG and Saccharomyces boulardii.


This study investigated the degree to which positive illusions about one's spouse and marriage are a universal feature of human cognitions about marriage or are culturally moderated. Positive marital illusions were compared across three samples (49 American spouses, 58 Turkish spouses in nonconsanguineous marriages, and 56 Turkish spouses in consanguineous marriages). Positive illusions were assessed by comparing positive and negative trait ratings of the spouse and the generalized other. The positive trait ratings were consistent with the cultural moderation hypothesis and inconsistent with the universal account. The three groups differed in how positively they rated the generalized other. The negative trait ratings supported the universal theory of positive illusions. These results add to the growing evidence that culture moderates positive illusions.


The demands on successfully teaching intervention skills in macro (community) environments are numerous and extend beyond the confines of any one academic discipline. In particular, when considering community, the compounding of the multiple factors of social economics, diversity, social policy, history and political agendas requires an integrative approach. This mixed-methods retrospective article analyses the use of service-learning in an advanced Master of Social Work community practice course. Special attention is given to the construction of academic and community experience that facilitates learning integration and understanding of the ways in which factors compound on community wellbeing. Specifically this project involved students in efforts constructed to address violence directed by and against inner-city youth in a mid-sized northeastern city in the United States that is beset with gang violence and has led its state in per capita murders for four of the past five years. Recommendations and lessons learned presented in this article are directed at exploring a construction of service-learning that could address integrative learning in community intervention courses.

Keywords: Service-learning, teaching, macro practice, violence


OBJECTIVES
To investigate the impact of race on the likelihood of patients being recommended for surgery after a diagnosis of oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

METHODS
A total of 68,445 cases of oral and oropharyngeal cancer were extracted from the 1988 to 2005 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. County-level rurality data and income data were merged using the US Department of Agriculture Rural-Urban Continuum Codes dataset and US Census Bureau Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates dataset. We used logistic regression analyses to investigate the impact of race on being recommended to surgery for oral and oropharyngeal cancer, adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical factors. Stratified analyses were further conducted by tumor site and rural/urban status.

RESULTS
Recommendation to surgery varied significantly by race, with black patients less likely than white patients to be recommended to surgery for their oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The racial difference in recommendation to surgery varied significantly by age, geography, and tumor subsite. Racial disparities are most evident in lip and buccal cancer from rural areas (OR, 4.4; 95% CI, 2.6-7.5); and least evident in oropharyngeal cancer from urban areas (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3). The magnitude of the racial disparity is attenuated with increasing age.

CONCLUSIONS
We observed substantial racial disparities in surgery recommendation for oral and oropharyngeal cancer in the United States. Our results suggest the need to improve accessibility to better health care in racial minority groups, particularly in rural areas, and call for individual and institutional efforts to avoid physician bias related to the patient's sociodemographic characteristics in healthcare service.


We compare and contrast the genetic architecture of quantitative phenotypes in two genetically well-characterized model organisms, the laboratory mouse, Mus musculus, and the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, with that found in our own species from recent successes in genome-wide association studies. We show that the current model of large numbers of loci, each of small effect, is true for all species examined, and that discrepancies can be largely explained by differences in the experimental designs used. We argue that the distribution of effect size of common variants is the same for all phenotypes regardless of species, and we discuss the importance of epistasis, pleiotropy, and gene by environment interactions. Despite substantial advances in mapping quantitative trait loci, the identification of the quantitative trait genes and ultimately the sequence variants has proved more difficult, so that our information on the molecular basis of quantitative variation remains limited. Nevertheless, available data indicate that many variants lie outside genes, presumably in regulatory regions of the genome, where they act by altering gene expression. As yet there are very few instances where homologous quantitative trait loci, or quantitative trait genes, have been identified in multiple species, but the availability of high-resolution mapping data will soon make it possible to test the degree of overlap between species.


The efficacy of Toyocerin® was evaluated on doe rabbit performance. Two isonutritive diets were formulated corresponding to 2 levels of Toyocerin®: 0 (diet T1) and 200 mg (diet T2) of Toyocerin®/ kg of feed. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Toyocerin® on rabbit doe performance in two different experimental periods of twelve and six months, respectively. Thirty-eight breeding cages were assigned to each treatment. No interaction was found between dietary treatment and experimental period. As a consequence, the results of the two trials were treated as a whole. Inclusion of Toyocerin® shortened interval from parturition to effective mating (15.0 vs 10.4 d, P = 0.05) and between parturitions (47.0 vs 42.2 d, P = 0.05) and tended to improve litter size at weaning (by 9.9%, P = 0.09). Consequently, numerical productivity increased from 59.6 to 71.2 weaned rabbits per cage and year (P = 0.01). Litter weight at weaning (25 d) also tended to be higher for diet supplemented with Toyocerin® (3673 vs 3952 g, P = 0.10). As treatment had no effect on daily feed intake (370 g as an average) of rabbits does during lactation, feed efficiency (kg of weaned rabbits per kg of feed intake) increased (P = 0.01) from 0.272 to 0.314 with Toyocerin® supplementation. Treatment did not affect doe body weight at parturition or at weaning, the mortality of rabbit does and the mortality of young rabbits during lactation. These results suggest the interest of the inclusion of 200 ppm Toyocerin® in the diet of lactating rabbit does to reduce parturition interval and increase feed efficiency and numerical productivity.


OBJECTIVE: In 2004, after an 18-month investigation, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) directed pharmaceutical manufacturers to add a black box warning to antidepressants regarding increased risk of suicidality in children. Our objective was to evaluate the quality and content of and overall impression conveyed in news coverage of this issue. METHODS: We collected all news stories on pediatric antidepressant use and suicidality published in a convenience sample of 10 of the highest-circulation print newspapers in the United States, the 3 major television networks, and a major cable news network in 2003 and 2004 (N = 167). Two researchers coded news articles by using a 9-item instrument. RESULTS: The quality of news reporting on key health messages included in FDA warnings was mixed. The overwhelming majority of news stories correctly described a risk of suicidality associated with pediatric antidepressant use, as opposed to suicide itself. However, other key health messages highlighted in FDA warnings often were absent from news coverage. News stories were more likely to include anecdotes of children harmed versus children helped by antidepressants, whereas expert sources quoted were more likely to emphasize the benefits of antidepressants over their risks. However, the majority of news stories conveyed neither the overall impression that the risks of pediatric antidepressant use outweighed the benefits nor the impression that the benefits outweighed the risks, and coverage became increasingly neutral over time. CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of key health messages in FDA safety warnings was not sufficient to ensure their communication to the public through the lay press.


The objective in this work was to study the effects of environmental factors on subcutaneous fat thickness (BFT), loin eye area (REA) and body weight (BW) measured at 19 months of age and to estimate genetic parametersfor these traits. It was used information obtained from 987 Canchim (5/8 Charolais + 3/8 Zebu) and MA genetic group (offspring of Charolais bulls and 1/2 Canchim + 1/2 Zebu cows) bulls and heifers, born in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Covariance components were estimate by restricted likelihood method using animal model with fixed effects (year of birth, genetic group, herd, and sex) and residual and direct additive genetic random effects. Means of loin eye area and weight were higher for males than for females. In the MA genetic group, the means, for all traits, were higher than in the Canchim group, and there were still the effects of herd and year of birth. The heritability estimates of REA (0.33 ± 0.09), BFT (0.24 ± 0.09) and BW (0.23 ± 0.09) were moderate, while genetic correlation estimate (0.21 ± 0.24) between BFT and REA was low, suggesting that traits are controlled by different sets of genes with additive action. Genetic correlations of BW with BFT (0.57 ± 0.23) and REA (0.62 ± 0.16) are moderate. It is possible to conclude that those traits can respond for selection and they indicate that selection for BW will increase also enhance BFT and REA and vice versa.


The research described in this thesis has aimed to further investigate magnetic resonance (MR) thermometry (MRT) techniques as to become a reliable guidance tool for thermal therapy. The various physical processes allowing for temperature measurements based upon the MR signal are described. It is demonstrated that proton resonance frequency shift (PRFS)-based MRT, which employs the temperature dependence of the proton electron screening constant of water, is the method of choice. Potential sources of error in PRFS-based MRT are identified, in particular time varying magnetic field inhomogeneities and heat-induced changes of the magnetic susceptibility of tissue. A source of time varying magnetic field inhomogeneities in vivo is respiration. A study was conducted to quantify respiration-induced field inhomogeneities in the human breast, to assess its impact on PRFS-based MRT. The average field fluctuation due to regular respiration was 0.13 ppm and due to maximum capacity respiration 0.16 ppm. These numbers can be misinterpreted as temperature changes of 13 oC and 16 oC, respectively, when PRFS based MR thermometry is used during thermal treatment of breast cancer. In conclusion, respiration causes significant field fluctuations in the breast that should be corrected for to allow accurate MR thermometry in the human breast under free breathing circumstances. Furthermore, the influence of the temperature dependence of the susceptibility of tissue on PRFS-based MRT during thermal therapy was studied. Heating experiments were performed in a controlled phantom set-up to show the impact of temperature-induced susceptibility changes on PRFS-based temperature maps. To study the implications for a clinical patient, simulations were performed in a 3D breast model for the specific clinical case of MR-guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) in the breast. The simulations showed that an ellipsoidal HIFU thermal spot of diameter 8 mm and length 20 mm and a maximum temperature increase of ΔT = 30 oC led to temperature errors in the glandular tissue ranging between -8.6 oC and +6.2 oC, depending on the orientation of the focal spot. It was concluded that the influence of susceptibility changes may lead to significant temperature errors in PRFS-based MRT that are not to be neglected. Rather, a more thorough understanding of the relation between temperature and magnetic susceptibility was found to be required. Especially the temperature dependence of the susceptibility of fat tissue is of interest, since it is reported to be in the same order of magnitude as the temperature dependence of the proton electron screening constant of water. However, no values have been reported in literature on the temperature dependence of the susceptibility of human fat tissue. Therefore, a study was conducted in which this temperature dependence was measured for human breast fat tissue. In this work ex vivo measurements were performed on a 14.1 T five millimeter narrow bore NMR spectrometer. Breast fat tissue samples were collected from six subjects, directly post-mortem. The susceptibility was measured over a temperature range from 24 oC to 65 oC. A linear behaviour of the susceptibility over temperature was observed in all six samples. The resulting temperature dependence of the susceptibility of human breast fat ranged between 0.0038 and 0.0076 ppm/oC. The outcome of this study supports the previous findings that the impact of heat-induced susceptibility changes of fat during thermal therapy in the breast may not be neglected. There is an additional issue regarding tissues containing fat. The electron screening constant of protons in fat is near independent of temperature which hampers PRFS-based temperature mapping in fatty tissues. However, the presence of fat may be used to our benefit by using it as a temperature independent reference signal which allows for absolute rather than relative MR temperature measurements. Multiple resonances can be separately detected in spectroscopic data. An image-based MR technique which allows for the acquisition of spectroscopic data at high temporal and spatial resolution is the multi gradient-echo (mGE) sequence. The application of the mGE sequence for MR thermometry purposes was further developed. The possibility of post-processing the mGE data into absolute temperature maps using time domain analysis of the magnitude of the mGE signals was investigated. In vitro experiments were performed to provide proof of concept for retrieving absolute temperature maps from the time domain analysis of mGE magnitude images. It is shown that this technique is insensitive to both field drift and local field disturbances. Furthermore, ex vivo bone marrow experiments were performed, using the fat resonance as a reference for absolute temperature mapping. It was shown that the post-processing based on the magnitude signal in the time domain allows for the determination of the resonance frequency difference between water and fat in bone marrow. However, it was concluded that the relation between this frequency difference and absolute temperature has to be examined more extensively because temperature dependent electron screening might not be the only factor influencing the frequency difference between water and fat in tissue. The post-processing of the MR signal to obtain temperature maps is based on certain assumptions with regard to the acquired signal. Specific situation exists in which the assumed properties of the acquired signal are incorrect. MR thermometry techniques that are based on the temperature dependence of the water proton resonance frequency are generally considered to be insensitive to static field inhomogeneities, because they either employ subtraction of successive phase images (PRFS-based MRT) or use an internal temperature-independent reference component (mGE-based MRT). It is shown that MR thermometry measurements are most certainly affected by the presence of static background field gradients, and in particular by background gradients that are aligned with the read-out gradient. Both theoretically and in phantom experiments it was shown that static background field gradients alter the effective echo time in gradient-echo acquisitions, which induces temperature errors in PRFS-based and mGE-based MR thermometry. The impact of static background gradients on MRT in vivo was assessed by static field gradient mapping in the breast of a volunteer. It was concluded that accurate field gradient mapping would facilitate better choices with regard to the direction and strength of the read-out gradient employed, to avoid errors due to background gradients in vivo. Finally, it is hypothesized that polyethylene glycol signals from pegylated liposomes may provide a temperature insensitive proton resonance frequency component than can serve as a reference for absolute MR temperature measurements. The feasibility of performing dynamic absolute MR thermometry using a multi-gradient echo sequence in combination with pegylated liposomes is evaluated. It was shown by a dilution experiment that at clinical relevant concentrations, the liposomal formulation and MR imaging parameters used in this study do not allow for precise absolute mGE-based MR temperature measurements with the PEG resonance as reference, due to insufficient signal-to-noise ratio. For translation to in vivo applications of this PEG-referenced MR thermometry technique, increased signal from the PEG resonance is thus required, which may be achieved by active targeting or by chemical adjustments to increase the PEG-load per liposome


Runtime power management using dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) has been extensively studied for video processing applications. But there is only a little work on game power management although gaming applications are now widely run on battery-operated portable devices like mobile phones. Taking a cue from video power management, where PID controllers have been successfully used, they were recently applied to game workload prediction and DVFS. However, the use of hand-tuned PID controller gains on relatively short game plays left open questions on the robustness of the controller and the sensitivity of prediction quality on the choice of the gain values. In this paper, we try to systematically answer these questions. We first show that from the space of PID controller gain values, only a small subset leads to good game quality and power savings. Further, the choice of this set highly depends on the scene and the game application. For most gain values the controller becomes unstable, which can lead to large oscillations in the processor's frequency setting and thereby poor results. We then study a number of time series models, such as a Least Mean Squares (LMS) Linear Predictor and its generalizations in the form of Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) models. These models learn most of the relevant model parameters iteratively as the game progresses, thereby dramatically reducing the complexity of manual parameter estimation. This makes them deployable in real setups, where all game plays and even game applications are not a priori known. We have evaluated each of these models (PID, LMS, and ARMA) for a variety of games-ranging from Quake II to more recent closed-source games such as Crysis, Need for Speed-Shift and World in Conflict-with very encouraging results. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that systematically explores (a) the feasibility of manually tuning PID controller parameters for power management, (b) time series models for workload prediction for gaming applications, and (c) power management for closed-source games.


Introduction: Optimal bond between denture base and the soft liner is necessary as adhesion failure is the most common problem encountered clinically. Hence, this study evaluated the tensile bond strength of two commercially available temporary soft liners to different types of denture base resins. Materials and Methods: Prepared wax specimens were heat cured to get 16 samples of each type of denture base resin specimens (DPI, Trevalon, and Trevalon HI). A 3 mm section of acrylic denture base material from the center of each specimen was removed, and the two parts of the fragmented specimens were then repositioned into the aluminum die for the application of temporary soft liners (Group A, Viscogel and Group B, GC tissue conditioner). The specimens were tested for bond strength using universal testing machine and debonded surfaces were observed under a stereomicroscope for analysis of failure. Results: Viscogel showed the highest tensile bond strength with all three different types of denture base resins. Viscogel was significantly superior over GC tissue conditioner. Trevalon exhibited better bond strength results with both Viscogel and GC temporary soft liners as compared to other two types of denture base resins. Conclusion: Viscogel, a temporary soft liner, showed better bond strength compared to GC soft liner in bonding conventional and modified denture base resins.


This paper presents the design and analysis of a data science competition on a problem of time series regression from aeronautics data. For the purpose of performing predictive maintenance, aviation companies seek to create aircraft "numerical twins", which are programs capable of accurately predicting strains at strategic positions in various body parts of the aircraft. Given a number of input parameters (sensor data) recorded in sequence during the flight, the competition participants had to predict output values (gauges), also recorded sequentially during test flights, but not recorded during regular flights. The competition data included hundreds of complete flights. It was a code submission competition with complete blind testing of algorithms. The results indicate that such a problem can be effectively solved with gradient boosted trees, after preprocessing and feature engineering. Deep learning methods did not prove as efficient.


Public participation in water conservation projects is gaining more and more attention in the information era. Public opinion, showing the focus and interests of the public, is the basis of public participation. This paper proposes a social sensing system based on social media platforms, which employs two natural language processing technologies, namely, sentiment analysis and topic modeling. The public opinion on water conservation projects is monitored from three perspectives: public opinion intensity (POI) monitoring, topic detection, and sentiment analysis. To test their effectiveness, a case study on the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) in China is conducted. The public opinion data were acquired from Sina Weibo, China's largest social media platform. The results indicate that: (1) POI peaks when hot project-related events occur, and POI of direct stakeholders apparently exceeds indirect stakeholders; (2) different stakeholders have different topics of concern closely associated with their interests; (3) negative events always lead to dramatic decreases in the sentiment value (SV), while positive events only slightly lift SV. The proposed system has achieved real-time monitoring of the public opinion on water conservation projects. Consequently, it can help to improve the level of public participation and provide a valuable reference in project management and policy-making.


Aluminium is a toxic metal of known importance in patients with chronic renal failure on hemodialysis, with a gastrointestinal absorption modulated by several factors including gastric pH which modifies the solubility of Aluminium hydroxide and can increase its absorption. We studied twenty six patients with normal renal function: control (n = 13); presurgery (n = 8); postsurgery (n = 5) by an aluminium hydroxide absorption test (30 mg/kg); serum and urinary aluminium was determined as well as gastric pH and hematologic parameters at different time periods. It was observed that presurgery ulcer patients (pH mean = 2.09) increased serum and urine aluminium levels as well as aluminium/creatinine ratio in urine after the test, opposite to what occurs in the postsurgery group (pH mean = 5.78) in which such parameters were not significantly modified. No differences were found in hematological parameters between the two groups. Our results indicate that acid gastric pH seems to be a factor capable of increasing gastrointestinal absorption of aluminium hydroxide since its solubility and thus its disponibility is increased, and make a point on the risk of a prolonged administration of antacids containing aluminium in patients with normal renal function.


Summary This article presents a brief overview of fiber-optic sensors and their development in the past 30 years. The new technologies like FBG or OTDR sensing principles have formed an entirely new generation of sensors. Some of these sensors, depending on their applications and measurands, have been successfully commercialized and they are shown in this article. Also, a multimode fiber optical sensor that measures vibrations, is presented. Multimode fiber has a relatively large number of modes that travel simultaneously through the fiber and interfere with each other. By applying various forces upon the fiber, mode's way of propagation will be changed, consequently their interference distribution will be changed, therefore generating a different field pattern at the fiber end. Difference in field pattern can be used for obtaining vibration parameters such as the amplitude and the frequency.